The Utah Territorial Militia was the territorial Militia for the Mormon forces in the Territory of Utah in the United States.
31-485: Daniel H. Wells Hosea Stout Robert T. Burton Stephen S. Harding A predecessor known as the Nauvoo Legion was formed as a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois , United States and was active February 4, 1841 until January 1845. In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young reformed the remnants of Nauvoo Legion into a fully functional paramilitary force, which was organized into sub-units for each of
62-408: A fine of from $ 500 to $ 800 and imprisonment of up to five years. It dissolved the corporation of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $ 50,000. The act was enforced by the U.S. Marshal and a host of deputies. The act: (See text of the act scanned from the U.S. Statutes at large, linked elsewhere on this page.) In 1890
93-1361: The Lot Smith Cavalry Company . Wells also commanded the Utah Territorial Militia during the American Civil War and the Morrisite War . Wells married Eliza Rebecca Robison in 1837 and with her had one son, Albert Emory Wells. His wife refused to accompany Wells to Utah in 1848 and later divorced him. Between 1849 and 1852, Wells married six additional wives: Louisa Free, with whom he had eight children; Martha Givens Harris, with whom he had seven children; Lydia Ann Alley, with whom he had six children; Susan Hannah Alley, with whom he had four children; Hannah Corilla Free, with whom he had eight children; and Emmeline Blanche Woodward , with whom he had three children. Louisa Free, Hannah Free, and Emmeline Woodward were all previously married and divorced or widowed. Each had one or more children whom Wells adopted and reared as his own. In 1852, Wells married his seventh wife, future Relief Society General President Emmeline B. Wells . They had three daughters. Marriages and Children: Wells died in Salt Lake City at
124-708: The St. George Temple on April 6, 1877. From 1888 to 1891, he was the first president of the Manti Utah Temple . From 1848 until 1863, Wells was superintendent of public works for the LDS Church and presided over the continuing construction of the Salt Lake Temple (completed 1893) and the Salt Lake Tabernacle (completed 1867). When Wells was no longer in the position, the operation of the church's public works program
155-834: The Timpanogos , known as Special Order No. 2. The decision was the result of a meeting with Isaac Higbee, bishop of Fort Utah , together with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles . Higbee reported conflict between the pioneers and the Timpanogos, and it was unanimously decided the only way to keep Fort Utah would be to exterminate the Timpanogos. The initial detachment commenced battle on February 8, 1850 under Captain Grant. However, after hearing reports of poor attitude of
186-525: The 1830s.) In 1870 the Utah Territorial governor, J. Wilson Shaffer forced the Legion inactive unless he ordered otherwise. Federal troops dispatched in response to the 1870 Ghost Dance ensured Shaffer's order was enforced. The Utah Territorial Militia never gathered again, and the 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act permanently disbanded it. In 1894, in anticipation of statehood, the non-sectarian Utah National Guard
217-747: The LDS Church. An amendment to the earlier Edmunds Act , it was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and the LDS Church regarding polygamy . The act was found at 48 U.S.C. § 1480, with the full text of the law published at 24 Stat. 635. In 1978, the act was repealed by Public Law 95-584, the full text of which was published at 92 Stat. 2483. The act was named after its congressional sponsors, Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont and Congressman John Randolph Tucker of Virginia. In President Grover Cleveland's annual address to Congress in December 1885, he emotionally discussed
248-606: The Legion nor any other Mormon troops participated in the main theaters of the war, and the Legion's involvement ended in 1862 after Congress had passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act . The final use of the militia was in Utah's Black Hawk War 1865–1872 when over 2,500 troops were dispatched against Indians led by Antonga Black Hawk . (Antonga Black Hawk was a Ute and has no connection to the Illinois Sauk chief Black Hawk of
279-535: The Mormon Battalion was enlisted in July, 1846, about 450 Model 1816 muskets were issued to the infantry. Five 1803 Harpers Ferry rifles were issued to the hunters of company A. Records for the weapons issued to the other companies are missing. After the men were released from service in 1847, they headed for home, many stopping for temporary employment at Sutter's Fort. 6 of their group built the mill at Coloma, where gold
310-681: The Senate in January 1886 by a vote of 38–7. It was passed by the House via a voice vote in January 1887. President Cleveland refused to sign the bill but did not veto it, which meant that the Act became law on March 3, 1887. The act disincorporated both the LDS Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund on the grounds that they fostered polygamy . The act prohibited the practice of polygamy and punished it with
341-829: The Utah counties as the Deseret Territorial Militia akin to their contemporaries the Army of the Republic of Texas and the Texas Rangers . In the 1849 conflicts with Native Americans in Utah County , such as the attack at Battle Creek, Utah , and Battle at Fort Utah , foreshadowed the 1853–1854 Walker War between the Nauvoo Legion and Indians led by Chief Walkara ("Walker"). Twenty Mormon militiamen and many Native Americans died in
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#1732852580378372-560: The Walker War. The Nauvoo Legion was called up again in the Utah War against Federal troops entering Utah in the "Utah Expedition" from 1857 to 1858. They employed tactics of supply destruction and avoided direct fighting. The militia clashed with the United States government during the Utah War . With strength of around 6,000 personnel, segments of the northern contingent mobilized to impede
403-461: The advance of Albert Sidney Johnston 's army into Utah. This army was sent in by president James Buchanan to put down the rebellion by the people of Utah, as they called it. Both sides stopped engagements after agreement was reached permitting the army's passage through Salt Lake City, establishing Camp Floyd . After this conflict, the Federal government appointed Utah's territorial governor, and
434-452: The age of 76 and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery . Wells's son by his wife Martha G. Harris, Heber Manning Wells , was the first governor of the state of Utah , serving from 1896 to 1905. Edmunds-Tucker Act The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was an Act of Congress that restricted some practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and disincorporated
465-586: The assassination of church founder Joseph Smith ; Wells defended the city and fought as a Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion , and also provided shelter for evacuees. Wells was not baptized into the LDS Church until August 9, 1846. He emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Mormon pioneers in 1848. Well respected for his integrity and loyal service, he was elected Attorney General of State of Deseret in 1849. When Jedediah M. Grant died in 1856, Wells
496-400: The firm but just execution of the law now in operation, and I should be glad to approve such further discreet legislation as will rid the country of this blot upon its fair fame. Since the people upholding polygamy in our Territories are reenforced by immigration from other lands, I recommend that a law be passed to prevent the importation of Mormons into the country. The Act was passed by
527-623: The force was allowed to exist at the command of the governor. It, however, was not as cooperative in imposing the colonial regime as federal authorities would have liked. Local commanders and members of the Iron County, Utah Territorial Militia, overcome with suspicion and war hysteria, perpetrated the Mountain Meadows Massacre against a group of wagon trains travelling from Arkansas to California in September. At this point Daniel H. Wells
558-457: The invading federal army being among the latter group. The Federal government made a reconciliatory approach to Brigham Young, requesting his help. With his permission, two units of the reorganized Nauvoo Legion were gainfully employed by the United States to protect western mail and telegraph lines from Indian attacks in what is today Utah and Wyoming, but saw no meaningful action. Neither
589-506: The issue of polygamy in Utah: The strength, the perpetuity, and the destiny of the nation rest upon our homes, established by the law of God, guarded by parental care, regulated by parental authority, and sanctified by parental love. These are not the homes of polygamy. . . . There is no feature of this practice or the system which sanctions it which is not opposed to all that is of value in our institutions. There should be no relaxation in
620-556: The other battalion cannon and a smaller, but similar, 2 pound cannon were in the warehouse. The provenance of the 2-pounder is currently unknown. All three Spanish cannons, which were brought to Salt Lake City on pallets, were mounted on carriages copied from the mountain howitzer carriage, probably in preparation for the Mormon defense against Johnston's army in 1857. Daniel H. Wells American Civil War Morrisite War Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891)
651-526: The peace there for several years prior to the arrival of large numbers of Latter Day Saints in 1839. Although not a member of the Latter-day Saints, Wells was considered by opponents of the church to be a " Jack Mormon ", a term originally applied to non-members who were friendly to or defended the Latter Day Saints. In Nauvoo, he served on the city council and as a judge. Mobs invaded Nauvoo after
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#1732852580378682-439: The settlers in working with Grants's troops, Brigham Young asked Wells to lead a detachment. On February 11, Wells arrived and split the army into two. One contingent followed the trail of some Timpanogos who had fled up Rock Canyon . Wells led the other contingent south towards Spanish Fork river. He divided them into smaller parties and searched the southern valley for native peoples to kill. On February 14, at Table Rock near
713-497: The source of the cannons was not written. Sutter wrote a letter to the pioneer society in the 1870s where he said that his cannons, except for one Russian 4-pounder, which he donated to a museum in San Francisco, were all Spanish guns. In 2001 three Spanish guns were identified in the LDS Church storage facility in Salt Lake City. The bronze 4-pounder was found to have the crest of King Carlos 3 of Spain. A 6-pound iron cannon, probably
744-660: The southeastern shore of Utah lake, one of the smaller hunting parties captured a band of Utes. Lieutenant Gunnison of the Stansbury Expedition reported that the Mormons promised to be friendly to the Timpanogos men, but then lined up the men to be executed in front of their families. Some attempted to flee across the frozen lake, but the Mormons ran after them on horseback and shot them. At least eleven Ute men were killed. In total, one militia man and an estimated 102 Timpanogos were killed. Wells worked with Brigham Young to form
775-572: Was also a descendant of John Webster, fifth governor of Connecticut. A few years after the death of his father in 1826, Daniel H. Wells left New York with his mother Catherine Chapin Wells and his younger sister Catherine C. Wells and moved to Illinois. Wells arrived in Hancock County, Illinois , in 1835. He lived in Commerce, Illinois—later renamed Nauvoo —and was a major landowner and justice of
806-676: Was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City . Wells was born in Trenton, New York , a member of the sixth generation of his family in America. His original immigrant ancestor was Thomas Welles (1594–1660), who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 and was the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. Wells
837-481: Was discovered. Many of them took time to pan for gold and they were quite successful. When they resumed their journey home, they bought two cannons from Sutter, a four pounder and a six pounder. These were thought at that time to have come from Sutter's purchase of the Russian Fort Ross and to have been either Russian or French cannons. This caused them to be lost after the deaths of the battalion members, because
868-475: Was ordained an apostle of the LDS Church and set apart as Second Counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of the church. Although serving as an apostle, Wells was never sustained as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles . Upon Young's death in 1877, Wells was sustained as a Counselor to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a position he held until his death. On behalf of Brigham Young, Wells dedicated
899-722: Was organized as Utah's official state militia. A small artillery piece, an 1841 12-pound mountain howitzer was issued to the territorial militia. It arrived in Salt Lake in 1852. Today the mountain howitzer is on display in the Fort Douglas museum in Salt Lake City. The 4 pound Spanish bronze is in the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center in San Diego, Calif. The is a copy of it in front of the center. The iron Spanish 2 and 6 pound cannons remain in storage in Salt Lake City. When
930-657: Was placed under the supervision of the Presiding Bishopric . In 1866, Wells was elected mayor of Salt Lake City as a member of the newly formed People's Party ; he was re-elected in both 1872 and 1874. In 1871, he was arrested by U.S. marshals on charges related to polygamy . Wells served twice as president of the European Mission of the LDS Church, first in 1864–65 and again in 1884–87. On January 31, 1850, Wells drafted orders for Captain George D. Grant to exterminate
961-473: Was the chief military commander of the militia. It was also under the auspices of the militia that the groups of men were organized who were instructed to burn down Salt Lake City and other parts of northern Utah should the invading army try to take up residence. During the American Civil War , federal troops either were withdrawn from Utah, or in many cases left to join the rebellion, Johnston who had led