West of the Great Bend
"West of the Great Bend [of the Arkansas River], there was, and still is, a marked change in the appearance of the countryside: the green fields gave way to great…
Finest Natural Wagon Roads
"Even though the rivers of the high plains did not provide the westering Americans with navigable waterways, the valleys of two of these rivers did provide the world's finest natural…
Mile 1285: Henefer, UT
"For anyone riding through Utah, be forewarned that the c-store in Henefer is currently dead. There is an ice cream shop attached to it where they'll refill your bottles." [N.B.…
Guarding the Overland Trails: The Eleventh Ohio Cavalry in the Civil War
Robert Huhn Jones, Guarding the Overland Trails: The Eleventh Ohio Cavalry in the Civil War (2005) This book details the efforts of the army to police the Overland Route during…
0 Comments
June 20, 2020
Dobytown
"Two miles west of Kearny, the setlement of Dobytown sprouted, where entrepreneurs sold goods and liquor at inflated prices to plains travelers, traders, stage and freight drivers, and soldiers. They…
The Mormon Conflict
Norman F. Furniss, The Mormon Conflict: 1850–1859 (1960) I came across this book while reading Jess Unruh's The Plains Across. The Mormon Conflict is somewhat tangential to the Pony Express.…
June 19, 2020
Aftermath of the Utah War
"Jesse Gove wrote as his summary of the war: 'Wounded, none; killed, none; fooled, everybody.' But is disappointment at being deprived of a chance to shoot Mormons had made him…
Establishing Camp Floyd
"Upon their arrival in Cedar Valley on July 8 [1858] the officers and men of the expedition established a military post which they appropriately called Camp Floyd, in honor of…
The Army Enters Salt Lake City
"A prerequisite to the establishment of any real peace in the Territory was the entrance of the army and its creation of a military camp without incident. On June 13…
Resupplying the Utah Expedition
"In January 1858 the Government to arrange with Russell, Majors & Waddell to transport approximately sixteen million pounds of freight, most of it destined for Utah. To fulfill this assignment…
Winter Quarters
"With Fort Bridger as the northeastern anchor, the various units of the [Utah expedition] stretched up Black's Fork for a number of miles, the entire settlement assuming the name of…
Fort Bridger
"Jim Bridger always maintained that his strategically located fort had been stolen from him. The Mormons, he insisted, had never bought him out in 1853, as they had said, but…
Mormon Defensive Maneuvers
"On October 3 [1857], Wells and his advisors reached a number of important decisions under the threat of Alexander's rapid advance. First they resolved to destroy Fort Bridger and Fort…
The Nauvoo Legion
"In Missouri, before Joseph Smith had decided that resistance to the Gentiles would only result in massacre of this people, the Saints had formed an irregular army and had fought…
Recall of Mormon Missionaries
"Of greater significance was the closing of two missions in the West, Carson Valley in present-day Nevada and San Bernardino on the Coast. Begun by private individuals in 1849, .…