History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

VAUGHAN AND WOODS. 661
the territory to be left to itself. To this the general
replied that he was perfectly agreed ; that it would
be the best thing for all if the territory, its governor,
legislature, municipalities, and militia, were left to
themselves; and that if the troops had also been left
alone, instead of being poisoned physically with bad
whiskey and morally with bad influences, there would
have been no trouble with them. Both letters were
published in the Deseret News, 11 and of course drew
forth much comment from the saints, who were probably
of opinion that, if the soldiers had such proclivities,
it was at least the business of their commanding
officer to restrain them.
No further incident remains to be chronicled as to
the career of Governor Shaffer, whose decease occurred
in October 1870, 12 his successor being Vernon
H. Vaughan, 13 a mild and conservative ruler, concerning
whose brief administration there is nothing
worthy of record. 14 To him succeeded George L.
Woods, a Missourian by birth, a pronounced anti-
Mormon, and one who, as a ferryman in Idaho, 15 and
judge and politician in eastern Oregon, had accumulated
and lost a considerable fortune. He was a man
who, though by no means of the highest and purest
morality himself, was, it seems, exceedingly jealous
11 Of Oct. 5, 1870, and also in the Deseret Evening Neivs, the publication
of winch will be mentioned later. De Trobriand states that, as there was no
organization of military districts in the department of the Platte (which included
Utah), the commanders of the several posts must communicate with
the department headquarters, and that as soon as he received the requisite
authority he proceeded to Provo and held an investigation. His letter is extremely
insulting and indecorous.
12 On the 24th of this month Wm H. McKay, with whom the governor had
resided, and two others, robbed the U. S. mail about 100 miles south of S. L.
City, in Juab co. They were captured the next day, and McKay was sentenced
to five years' imprisonment. This was the first mail-coach robbery in
Utah. Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 64. For argument between J. P.
Newman and Orson Pratt at the tabernacle on the polygamy question during
the autumn of this year, see Millennial Star, xxxii. 599-604, passim.
13 Shaffer's secretary, and about a month after his decease appointed governor.
Geo. A. Black, secretary to Woods, was also acting governor in 1871.
Panl'.s Utah Incidents, MS.; Harrison's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS.
n Harrison's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS., 32.
15 At Lewiston, where he and his two partners made from S250 to §300 a
day. Woods' Recoil., MS., 3.