History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

612
PROGRESS OF EVENTS.
Floyd, or, as it was now termed, Fort Crittenden. 20
Here it was supposed that the volunteers would encamp,
and their commanding officer was informed
that no nearer approach to the capital would be permitted.
The colonel paid no heed to this warning.
"He would cross the Jordan," he declared, "though
all hell should yawn beneath it." On the next day
his men, after passing through Salt Lake City with
fixed bayonets, loaded rifles, and shotted cannon, encamped
on the brow of a hill 21 east of the city, their
artillery being pointed at Brigham's residence. To
this spot was given the name of Camp Douglas, the
site being afterward declared a military reservation. 22
The presence of the volunteers, though they were
not sufficient in number to overawe the populace, and
could have been readily annihilated by the Nauvoo
legion, was a source of constant irritation. The Mormons
were not backward in their denunciations, while
mischief-makers were constantly spreading reports that
served to increase the mutual distrust. An elder who
was passing Waite's residence, while the judge was in
' The third infantry California volunteers wants to go home—not for the purpose
of seeing the old folks, but for the purpose of tramping upon the sacred
soil of Virginia, and of swelling the ranks of the brave battlers for the brave
old flag.' About $25,000 was subscribed by the men on condition that they
were sent east, one private named Goldthaite, in company G., contributing
$5,000. On the same date Colonel Connor wrote to General Halleck, stating
that the men had enlisted for the purpose of fighting traitors, that the infantry
was of no service in the territory, as cavalry alone could act effectually against
Indians, and there were enough men of that arm to protect the mail route.
'Brigham Young,' writes the colonel, 'offers to protect the entire line with
100 men. Why we were sent here is a mystery. It could not be to keep
Mormondon in order, for Brigham can thoroughly annihilate us with the 5,000
to 25,000 frontiersmen always at his command.'
20 By order of Col Cook, his purpose being to disconnect it with the name
of Floyd, who was a secessionist. Stenhouse mentions a story current among
the volunteers to the effect that Brigham, on hearing of their approach, had
ordered the flag-staff at Fort Crittenden to be cut down and left on the public
road. This was not the case. The flag was hoisted on the brow of a hill east
of Brigham's residence. Stenhouse's Rocky Mountain Saints, 422, 602.
21 Termed the bench.
2 - Stenhouse's Rocky Mountain Saints, 603; Harrison's Grit. Notes on Utah,
MS., 20; Rae's Westward by Rail, 140; Gazetteer of Utah, 182. The site at first
included one square mile, but was afterward enlarged to 2,560 acres. The
men passed the winter of 1862-3 in dug-outs— in this instance holes dug in the
earth and covered with a frame-work of logs— permanent quarters being built
the following summer, without expense to the government, except for the naila
and shingles.