History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

MOVEMENTS OF FORCES. 123
to the houses, they drove off the inmates and destroyed
their property. General Parks then moved his troops
to Dewitt, but found the mob too many for him. They
openly defied him, would make no compromise, and
swore "they would drive the Mormons from Daviess
to Caldwell, and from Caldwell to hell." General
Atchison then went to Dewitt and told the Mormons
that his men were so disaffected 18 that they had better
apply for protection to Governor Boggs. This official
returned answer that, as they had brought the war
upon themselves, they must fight their own battles,
and not look to him for help. Thereupon they abandoned
the place, and fled to Far West.
In order to intercept the mob General Doniphan
entered Daviess county with two hundred men, and
thence proceeded to Far West, where he camped for
the night. In consultation with the civil and military
officers of the place, who, though Mormons, were
nevertheless commissioned by the state, Doniphan
advised them to arm and march to Daviess county
and defend their brethren there. Acting on this advice,
all armed, some going to Daviess county and
some remaining at Far West. 19 The former were met
by Parks, who inquired of them all particulars.
Shortly afterward some families came in from beyond
Grand Eiver, who stated that they had been driven
away and their houses burned by a party under C.
Gilliam. 20
Parks then ordered Colonel Wight, who
held a commission under him as commander of the
13 'At length the general (Atchison) informed the citizens that his forces
were so small, and many of them so much in favor of the insurrectionists,
that it was useless to look any longer to them for protection. . .After the
evacuation of Dewitt, when our citizens were officially notified that they must
protect themselves, ... they assembled in Far West to the number of one
thousand men, or thereabout, and resolved to defend their rights to the last.'
Pratt's Autobiography, 192-3.
19 ' The Mormons in Caldwell were the regular state militia for that county,
and were at the time acting under the legal authorities of the county.' Greene's
Facts, 20.
20 'A noted company of banditti, under the command of Cornelius Gilliam,
who had long infested our borders and been notorious for their murders and
daring robberies, and who painted themselves as Indian warriors, came
pouring in from the west to strengthen the camp of the enemy.' Pratt's Autobiography,
202.