History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

SUBMISSION TO GOVERNOR CUMMING. 52?
dressing a people embittered by many real and many
imaginary wrongs, he stated that he had come among
them to establish the sovereignty of a nation whose
laws he was sworn to uphold, and to which he would
require their absolute submission. Then followed
harangues from certain of the elders, in which were
repeated the oft-told story of the prophet's assassination,
the services of the Mormon battalion, and the
exodus from Nauvoo. One of the speakers declared
that the government intended to occupy the territory
with its troops, whether they were needed to support
the civil officials or not. This remark caused the
wildest uproar; and, writes the governor, "I was fully
confirmed in the opinion that this people, with their
extraordinary religion and customs, would gladly encounter
certain death rather than be taxed with a submission
to the military power, which they consider to
involve a loss of honor." 22
The tumult was stayed by Brigham, and no further
symptoms of rebellion occurred during the governor's
visit. About the middle of May he returned to Fort
Scott, accompanied by Colonel Kane, and reported
that the people of Utah acknowledged his authority,
and that, before long, the transit of mails and passengers
between the Missouri and the Pacific might be
22 On the same sabbath Cumming, having been informed that many persons
desired to leave the territory but were unlawfully restrained from doing so,
caused a notice to be read in the tabernacle asking them to forward their
names and places of residence. He states that 160 persons, most of whom
were of English birth, claimed his protection, asking to be forwarded to the
eastern states. They were sent to Camp Scott, where they arrived in a destitute
condition, some of them without apparel except for garments made from
the canvas of their wagon-covers. The soldiers shared with them their rations
and clothing. In his report the governor also calls attention to the depredations
of Indians, and says he has been informed that Garland Hurt had roused
to acts of hostility the Indians of Uintah Valley. Hurt, who, as will be remembered,
was the only gentile official remaining in Utah after the departure
of Judge Drummond, states that when martial law was proclaimed he was
unwilling to apply to Brigham for a passport, and, with the aid of Uintah
Indians, made his escape, after much privation, to Johnston's camp, then on
the Sweetwater. He declares that he was surrounded by Mormons and escaped
at great risk of life. Brigham, on the other hand, offered him safe and
speedy transportation, and tried to dissuade him from exposing himself to
needless risk and hardship. Copies of the correspondence will be found in
House Ex. Doc, 35th Cong. 1st Sess., x. no. 71. pp. 205-10, passim.