Young’s Hostile Attitude Toward U.S. Troops
"In his correspondence with Colonel Alexander, Young had justified his hostile attitude toward the troops on Ham's Fork by certain legalistic quibbles. The Organic Act of the Territory, he maintained,…
Alexander and the Soda Springs Route
"We now moved camp every day or two on account of grass. In about two weeks Colonel Alexander1 came up with one thousand soldiers, but with no orders. The Mormons…
Attack by Lot Smith
"After we had been here about a week, Oct. 4, I think it was, Lot Smith, a Mormon captain with two hundred mounted men came riding into camp, stopped awhile,…
Waiting at Ham’s Fork
"We passed the Rattlesnake Hills [or Granite Mountains] and Sweetwater Mountains and crossed the Rookies at South Pass. We drove on the west slope of the mountains till we reached…
Yoking Oxen
"Our cattle were soon driven into corral for us to yoke. Our train crew of a wagon boss, by the name of Chatham Rennick-a big, six foot two inch man,…
Southern Teamsters
"We learned that most of the men, or teamsters, and all of the train bosses were southern men and most of them were hired in the south to come to…
Changing Landscape
"This country was quite different from that we had passed over. From Leavenworth across to where we struck the Platte River near Fort Kearny, it was a fine, beautiful country…
Cattle for Utah
"Here William McCarthy, a brother of Frank McCarthy, our assistant boss, met us. He had been sent out by Majors, Russel & Waddell in charge of a herd of eight…
Freight Train Crossing the Platte
"We hitched on to about one-third of our wagons with fifteen yoke of cattle to each wagon, but started into the river with only three wagons. Mr. Rennick had ridden…
Teamsters in the Utah War
"On this [riverboat from St. Louis to Leavenworth] were bills posted stating that Majors, Russel & Waddell wanted several hundred young men to drive ox teams across the plains to…
Russell, Majors & Waddell’s Complaint to Congress
"When in 1860 members of the firm Russell, Majors & Waddell came to meditate on their experience in the Mormon War, they were to consider themselves victims of their own…
Mormon Attacks on the Army’s Supply Trains
"On October 4 a small band of Mounted Mormons led by Major Lot Smith bypassed the Tenth Infantry and fell upon two of [Russell, Majors & Waddell's supply] trains camped…
Supply Trains for the Utah Expedition
"[Acting commander Col. Edmund Alexander] was concerned for the column's supply trains, which at this point spread across the Plains west of [Fort Laramie], some of them beyond his protection.…