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49-825: Brigham Young called twenty-seven men from the Salt Lake Valley to form the Salmon River Mission and preach to the "remnants of the House of Jacob," meaning the Native Americans Thomas S. Smith led the group and George Washington Hill served as their main Shoshonean language interpreter. The party travelled about 380 miles north of Salt Lake City to the Salmon River valley (then in Oregon Territory ). They selected

98-589: A War Crime" in the October/December, 1980, issue of the " Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars ". An editor from the United Press International had told Powell his story was "old news," and it was not published by mainstream publications. However, with the documents that he had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Powell was able to provide additional evidence supporting his earlier reports in

147-585: A charge of sedition. Each count in the indictment was punishable by up to twenty years in prison and up to $ 10,000 in fines. The most damaging charge was that the defendants had falsely reported that the United States had engaged in bacteriological warfare during the Korean War , and that North Koreans had forced American Prisoners of War to read published reports of these charges as part of their indoctrination processes and brainwashing . In their coverage of

196-474: A permanent site to build a settlement on June 15, 1855 on land used by Bannock , Shoshone , Nez Perce and Flathead peoples. Access to each of these nations made the location ideal for a missionary outpost. The Nez Perce and Bannock leaders agreed to let the missionaries use the land for fishing, hunting, and logcutting, as long as it was not done to make a profit. The community grew to over 200 people. The settlers brought stock raising and irrigated farming to

245-558: A profit. They next settled into a pattern of buying, rehabilitating, and reselling fourteen houses and several apartment buildings. "It was kind of rough," John Powell said, "Obviously, I couldn't get a job on a newspaper. I tried various things, working as a salesman, selling teaching aids to schools." Eventually, the Powells bought a house on Church Street, in San Francisco's Mission District , and lived there for thirty years. This house had

294-539: A rescue. On February 28, 1858, Ezra J. Barnard and Baldwin J. Watts snuck away from the fort and travelled the four hundred miles to arrive in Salt Lake on March 8. The last two days of their journey they had no food and only one horse. Details of the attack were stitched into the lining of Barnard's coat. Brigham Young ordered his followers to abandon the mission. He also ordered Colonel Andrew Cunningham to lead three companies of men from Davis, Weber, and Utah Counties to aid

343-672: A single count of conspiracy, each. The Powells responded to the charges by asserting they had properly reported on what was said by Chinese officials and troops coming from the front lines of the Korean War . Powell's trial, which ended in a mistrial, took place in 1959 at the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco, the same location where Marie Equi had been tried and convicted of sedition in 1918. The treason charges against Powell were formally dismissed in July, 1959, and two years later, in 1961, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy finally dropped

392-464: Is 1,029,655 as of 2010. Brigham Young said, "this is the right place," when he and his fellow Mormon settlers moved into Utah after being driven out of several states. The Valley is surrounded in every direction except the northwest by steep mountains that at some points rise 7,100 feet (2,200 m) from the valley floor's base elevation. It lies nearly encircled by the Wasatch Mountains on

441-585: The Book of Mormon . In Mormon scripture, King Limhi organized an expedition that lasted 22 days, the same duration it required the Mormon missionaries to reach the Salmon River. Consequently, they named their mission after King Limhi, and Limhi eventually became "Lemhi." Over time the surrounding valley, mountains, pass, a branch of the river, county, and Native Americans took on the name "Lemhi." Gaining Native American allies

490-575: The Daybreak Community , has substantial portions already completed but continues construction. It will focus on transit-oriented development (it already has service by TRAX light rail and will also feature a ski resort in the Oquirrh Mountains and a university campus). Interstate 15 runs north to south through the middle-eastern portion of the Valley and Interstate 80 runs east to west in

539-609: The Eisenhower Administration 's Department of Justice pressed sedition charges against Powell, his wife Sylvia, and Julian Schuman, after federal prosecutors secured grand jury indictments against them for publishing allegations of bacteriological warfare . However, the prosecutors failed to get any convictions. The defendants invoked their Constitutional right to refuse to reveal self-incriminating evidence, and U.S. Department of Defense officials also refused to provide any incriminating archives or witnesses. This information

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588-839: The Lemhi River and valley surrounding the mission site, as well as to the Lemhi Shoshone whom the mission served, the Lemhi Pass and eventually Lemhi County . The site is on the National Register of Historic Places . Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a 500-square-mile (1,300 km ) valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah . It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray , Sandy , South Jordan , West Jordan , and West Valley City ; its total population

637-671: The Wasatch Front , including the Salt Lake Valley, in addition to three light rail lines (known as TRAX) in the Valley. A commuter rail line known as FrontRunner runs north to Pleasant View in Weber County and south to Provo in Utah County. 40°41′02″N 111°58′41″W  /  40.6839°N 111.978°W  / 40.6839; -111.978 John W. Powell John William Powell (July 3, 1919 – December 15, 2008)

686-556: The "China Monthly Review". While in China, Powell was an advocate for Chinese sovereignty and was a supporter of Chinese president Cao Kun . During the Red-baiting 1950s, the Federal government initially accused Powell and his wife of treason . On April 26, 1956, the Powells, along with an associate at the "China Monthly Review", learned that a Federal Grand Jury had indicted each of them on

735-836: The "China Monthly Review". The second article, "Japan's Biological Weapons, 1930-1945," was published in the October 1981 edition of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . It wasn't until 1989 that a detailed account of the Japanese bacteriological warfare experiments in China appeared. The British journalists Peter Williams and David Wallace published their book, "Unit 731: Japan's Secret of Secrets" (London: Hodder and Stoughton). [Also published in New York City that same year as "Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II"]. Even in

784-699: The 21st Century, 60 years after the Japanese bacteriological warfare camps, American intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense still withhold certain information about the World War II Japanese program in China. Powell's articles in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists eventually led to the broadcast of segments on the CBS -TV investigative news program 60 Minutes and ABC -TV's 20/20 program. Powell's reporting had brought widespread public attention to

833-583: The Bitterroot valley and beyond. After a prayer circle meeting with Young where they discussed Fort Lemhi, Wilford Woodruff wrote, "This [Fort Limhi] is the key of this continent and I think we had better keep near the lock and keep the key in our own hand." While the local Native American tribes had agreed to a small mission outpost, they were against a permanent settlement. The colony required more buildings, fences, and land, which soured relationships with local native tribes. Furthermore, Flathead leaders throughout

882-545: The Lakota, Blackfoot, Bannock, Nez Perce, Shoshone, and Flathead nations. Brigham Young visited Fort Lemhi in spring of 1857 to turn the mission into a more permanent settlement. He traveled in a mile-long caravan of 115 men, 22 women, 5 boys, 168 horses and mules, 54 carriages and wagons, and two light boats for river crossings. Notable members of the party included Heber C. Kimball , Daniel H. Wells , Chief Arapeen and his wife Wispit, and interpreter Dimick B. Huntington . Young

931-617: The Mormons at Fort Limhi held mountaineer John W. Powell in custody when asked to by the Nez Perce, which angered the Bannocks, with whom Powell had connections. In need of supplies to survive a winter encampment, Albert Sidney Johnston sent a party northward from Camp Scott to buy 500 cattle from the mountaineers around the upper Columbia and Missouri rivers. Led by Benjamin Franklin Ficklin ,

980-412: The Nez Perce, Walla Walla, Snakes, and Flatheads with weapons, inciting hostilities, and encouraging them to fight against the U.S. Government. The commissioner of Indian Affairs J.W. Denver reprimanded Young, writing "you fitted out an expedition yourself, and conducted it northward, out of your superintendency, to give presents to Indians not under your control." This letter, along with 46 other files from

1029-716: The Northwest worried the Mormons "should overrun and occupy their lands in force." Brigham Young's visit to Fort Lemhi also came under federal scrutiny. The journey took Young outside of his jurisdiction as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Utah Territory. His visits with Native Americans of the Oregon Territory, and the gifts he gave them, violated federal law; Young later documented these items as gifts for Utah Indians. The visit also spawned rumors from Native American leaders and U.S. Indian Agents that Mormons were supplying

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1078-598: The Office of Indian Affairs, was included in President Buchanan's report to Congress justifying his order to send troops into Utah. Native tribes became less friendly with the settlers as they awaited the outcome of the impending Utah War and more colonists arrived to the fort and competed for resources. The settlers also interfered in a Bannock, Shoshone, and Nez Perce tribal dispute over horses, though they were largely ignorant of their complex relationships. In December 1857,

1127-568: The US army to show their peaceful intentions, but was unsuccessful in persuading them to pursue peace. Kane then prepared to visit the US army at Camp Scott to attempt brokering peace. News of the Fort Lemhi attack reached Brigham Young on March 8, the day Kane planned to leave. Kane noted a dramatic change in Brigham Young's demeanor, though Young did not mention the attack to the ambassador. While enroute to

1176-428: The United States. In contrast, the attack demonstrated the Bannocks' hostility and a willingness to work with the US army. The attack also forced the closure of Fort Lemhi, a key supply station in the event of a northern evacuation. With nowhere to go, Young began peacemaking efforts with the U.S. government. Throughout the first week of March, Thomas L. Kane had attempted to convince Brigham Young to send provisions to

1225-595: The area's agricultural, defensive, and transportation potential as a new home for Young's followers. Furthermore, Brigham Young felt there might be more security living on the upper Missouri among the Native peoples of the Northwest, as they would be stronger military allies than the tribes of the Great Basin. After receiving the report on the Bitterroot Valley, Young decided to visit the area himself and attempt alliances with

1274-539: The army, Kane was overtaken by messengers with a letter from Young, stating he had just found out the army needed provisions and he would be happy to supply them as a show of good will. On April 14, 1858, the Deseret News reported that Johnston's soldiers had instigated the attack on Fort Lemhi and "offered the Indians $ 150 for every Mormon they delivered to them." Although Ficklin was a private citizen, Johnston had authorized

1323-467: The breaking news, the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, among other news publications, used two-inch-high bold type on its front page, exclaiming "S.F. JURY INDICTS WRITER – SEDITION". The grand jury had charged Powell with a dozen counts of sedition and a count of conspiring to commit sedition. His wife, Sylvia and Julian Schuman, who had been Powell's associate editor, were also charged with

1372-753: The east, the Oquirrh Mountains on the west, Traverse Ridge to the south and the Great Salt Lake on the northwest, with the peaks of Antelope Island visible. Every entrance into the valley is extremely narrow and often congested. They include the Point of the Mountain to the south via the Jordan Narrows , a gap in the Traverse Mountains , narrow entrances between the Great Salt Lake and Oquirrh Mountains to

1421-483: The evacuation. The military escort of 150 militia men led the remaining members of the Salmon River Indian Mission home. An advance party of ten men were ambushed and missionary Bailey Lake was killed. This attack took Brigham Young by surprise and frustrated his plans to evacuate his followers north. Young had hoped the northern tribes would welcome their alliance and join the Mormons in the fight against

1470-404: The fort to propose to native women and were refused. General Daniel H. Wells drilled the Fort Lemhi militia. Upon his return to Salt Lake, Young told his followers the purpose of the trip north had been to "rest the mind and weary the body" and downplayed the quality of land he had visited. However, to his inner circle he praised the abundance of good soil and grazing land and made plans to settle

1519-628: The influential American political journals The New Republic and The Nation , and which featured original reporting, reports on Chinese subjects, and editorials. Interrupting his journalism studies at the University of Missouri , Powell rejoined his father at the China Weekly Review . After the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor , Powell joined the American Office of War Information ,

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1568-433: The land. Unable to convince any remaining non-Mormons to trade, Ficklin turned his attention toward the 250 cattle and 40 horses at Fort Lemhi. He was possibly aided by Powell, who had some influence among the Bannocks. On February 25, 1858, Bannock Chief Le Grand Coquin led 250 Bannock and Shoshone warriors in a surprise attack on Fort Lemhi, possibly with John Powell. They killed two Mormon settlers, wounded five, and forced

1617-401: The military's journalism program, as a news editor. In 1943, Powell was sent to Chungking , China, a city in far southwestern China (and the wartime capital of Free China), where he remained for the rest of the war. For eight years after World War II , from 1945 until June, 1953, Powell published his journal, first as the "China Weekly Review" and later on, when its revenues declined greatly, as

1666-491: The mission without army supervision. Because Ficklin failed to include the attack in his initial report but later claimed in an affidavit that the Mormons had brought it on themselves, it appeared to coverup a US army attack on civilians. Johnston's official investigation attempted to separate the US army from the Fort Lemhi attack and maintain favorable public opinion. Fort Lemhi was reoccupied in 1862 by miners, who grew vegetables there for sale. The name Lemhi became applied to

1715-530: The northern quarter of the Valley from Parley's Canyon into Tooele County to the west (where it cuts across a small portion of the Great Salt Lake). The Interstate 215 belt route, State Route 154 (Bangerter Highway), State Route 201 (21st South Freeway), and State Route 85 (Mountain View Corridor) are also major transportation routes. The Utah Transit Authority operates an extensive bus system across

1764-684: The northwest and the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains to the north, and several canyons to the east including Parley's Canyon and Emigration Canyon . Flowing from Utah Lake in Utah Valley in the south, the Jordan River runs north through a gap in the Traverse Mountains, bisecting the Valley before emptying into the Great Salt Lake . The Jordan River, along with numerous mountain streams and reservoirs, provides irrigation water to

1813-405: The party was made up of entirely civilian volunteers, and not directly under army supervision. On January 4, 1858, around fifty miles east of Fort Lemhi, the party realized the mountaineers had abandoned the area, taking their animals with them. The mountaineers had abandoned their normal winter quarters due to rumors originating from Fort Lemhi that the Mormons were to soon emigrate north and overrun

1862-586: The rapidly growing Valley. The geography of the Salt Lake Valley combined with the prevalence of industrial pollution and to some extent, fossil fuel burning vehicles, leads to poor air quality in Utah . A company known as Kennecott Land , which owns the eastern foothills of the Oquirrhs in the western part of the valley, recently drafted a plan that would develop the rest of the entire valley within 75 years, adding at least 500,000 residents. The first development, known as

1911-464: The region, and dug ditches which are still in use. At least three of the Mormon missionaries at Fort Lemhi married Shoshone women. According to tradition, Sacajawea was born in an area near where the fort would eventually stand. She led Lewis and Clark's company through the Continental Divide through what is now known as Lemhi Pass. The mission was named Fort Limhi for King Limhi , a king in

1960-509: The remaining 69 colonists to retreat to the log fort. They also captured over 200 cattle and 30 horses. In March, after a rescue effort made by Lehi militia members, the colonizers abandoned the fort and returned to Utah. Ficklin returned with Powell to Camp Scott in April, with only about thirty horses, as Le Grand Coquin kept the rest of the animals for himself. The people at Fort Lemhi endured siege conditions for roughly three weeks while waiting for

2009-576: The rest of the sedition charges. Although direct official evidence such as military records and similar documentation that bacteriological warfare was employed during the Korean War by either side does not exist, some contend that there is overwhelming indirect and unofficial evidence that the US used biological weapons during this war. In an effort to advocate his opinions about American involvement in bacteriological warfare in Asia, Powell published an article titled "Japan's Germ Warfare: The U.S. Cover-up of

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2058-691: The use of bacteriological warfare, which helped prompt the United States Congress into hearing testimony from former American Prisoners of War in 1982 and 1986. Powell met his wife Sylvia Powell in 1947, while he was in Shanghai opening up a news bureau for the Office of War Information, and they were married soon afterwards. After returning to the United States from China, the Powells bought an old house on Potrero Hill in San Francisco , undertook extensive repairs and renovations, and then sold it for

2107-553: The wicked should be destroyed from the face of the earth, and that the Indians would be the principal means by which this object should be accomplished." Fort Lemhi was particularly significant to Brigham Young's war strategy, as it would be a waystation in case of a northern evacuation from Utah. As tensions between the US government and the Utah territory increased, Young developed a contingency plan to evacuate his followers north via Fort Lemhi as far north as Canada if necessary. In October 1856, Fort Lemhi missionary Pleasant Green Taylor

2156-465: Was a journalist and small business proprietor who edited the China Weekly Review , an English-language journal first published by his father, John B. Powell in Shanghai. John W. Powell was tried for sedition in 1959 after publishing an article that reported on allegations made by Mainland Chinese officials that the United States and Japan were carrying out germ warfare in the Korean War . In 1956,

2205-481: Was a key part of Brigham Young's strategy to maintain independence from the United States. Brigham Young and other church leaders taught that by accepting baptism and intermarriage with Mormons, Native Americans would fulfill a Book of Mormon prophecy that Lamanites would return to the House of Israel. While it is no longer a core tenant of the Latter-day faith, at the time leaders taught that "the time had arrived when all

2254-459: Was instructed to contact an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company about purchasing Fort Hall . Taylor and three other missionaries travelled to the Bitterroot Valley to meet with Hudson's Bay agent Neil McArthur. McArthur agreed to pass Young's interest along to Hudson's Bay, and the four Fort Lemhi missionaries returned to Brigham Young with a map and favorable reports of the valley. They were impressed with

2303-414: Was not revealed until decades later as a result of Freedom of Information Act requests. All three of the defendants were acquitted of all charges over the next six years, after a Federal judge dismissed the core aspects of the case against them in 1959, due to obviously insufficient evidence against them. Powell was born in Shanghai, China, in 1919. One year later, Powell's parents decided that Shanghai

2352-489: Was pleased with the growth of the mission and friendly relations he felt the colonizers had with the local Native American tribes. He told the missionaries to move their families to Fort Lemhi. Young also made plans for a second fort on the Salmon River's east fork. In a sermon, Heber C. Kimball reminded the missionaries of their duty to intermarry with the Native Americans and become one people. Nine men responded by leaving

2401-739: Was unsafe for their infant, so they sent him to live with his mother's family in Hannibal, Missouri . In 1917, Powell's father, John Benjamin Powell, had been a co-founder of the tiny publication, the China Weekly Review (originally Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard ’s Review of the Far East , 1922 renamed Weekly Review of the Far East , 1923 renamed The China Weekly Review , retaining the Chinese heading Mìlè Pínglúnbào 《密勒評論報》, i.e. “Millard’s Review”), modeled after

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