150 YEARS GO THIS WEEK IN THE UTAH WAR

Modified October 2, 2007

WORDS FROM UTAH WAR PARTICIPANTS:

NEWTON TUTTLE, NAUVOO LEGIONAIRE, on Ham's Fork, 3 Oct. 1857: "In morning our Spy see 5 waggons & 2 man on horse back a head of them towards us from Green river we left 25 men with the pack animals. Lot took 25 and went out to them and told them to go back to the States or we would burn their wagons. We then went on to Green riverand camped 1 mile below the road, their was a large camp of soldiers up by the road but we could not get a chance to Stampead their animals."

4 Oct. 1857: "25 of us went on to Big Sandy & 25 followed after the soldiers over on to Ham's Fork & took 60 head of cattle, 2 of the men went back to the Big Saandy See 26 waggons, we than Started back a bought 1 hour before Sun Down when we got back to Green river in stead of 26 waggons we found 51. We then burnt the two trains & went back to the hills to Big Sandy and camped."

5 Oct. 1857: "We went on to the Sandy got breakfast then we went up to the road & found 24 waggons we burnt 22 of them & took 7 mules & 2 saddles we then went off from the road . . ."

JOURNAL OF HOSEA STOUT, near mouth of Echo Canyon, 6 Oct. 1857: "Learned last night that Capt. Lott Smith had captured six wagons of our enemies and took the cattle in conformity with the orders to annoy and harrass our enemies and break them down but not to kill any of them and also he has since taken and burned 52 more wagons on Green River and took the oxen. These wagons had some 5000 lbs [each] lading of the most choice and costly suplies but he before burning them caused the teamsters to take out their own property and such suplies as they needed to furnish them to the states." (Lot Smith later burned another supply train of about 25 wagons near the Big Sandy River. The captain of this train was Lewis Simpson, son-in-law of Majors of Russell, Majors and Waddell, the main freight contractor for the army. The army never paid the firm for the burned freight although it was the army's failure to protect the trains that caused the problem. This ultimately led to the bankruptcy of the firm.)


CAPTAIN JESSE GOVE, 10TH U.S. INFANTRY, Letters to his wife, Maria - on Ham's Fork, 9 Oct. 1857: "Ere this reaches you you will doubtless hear of battles and engagements, but this will all be unreliable. . . . Three supply rains have been entirely destroyed, two on Green River and one on Big Sandy, 10 miles before or on the other side of Green River. "








JOURNAL OF ANDREW JACKSON ALLEN, NAUVOO LEGIONAIRE, 4 Oct. 1857: "We ware under Poarter Rockwell, took our purvisions on behind us and went to Hams Fork where the soaldiers ware and see how thay ware gettin along and stop them if possable. We intended to stampeed if possable there annamels, when we got there it ware night and there mules ware kept so cloast we could not get to them and there cattle we see ware so weak we concluded to not desturb them and we mooved off about too miles and campt turned out our annimels made no fier but went to bed."