The Mormon Battalion Part 7

They were incorporated into the pioneer company and came on with it to Salt Lake valley, and undoubtedly members of this group would be upon the ground that 23rd day of July, when ploughing was first attempted on the south fork of City Creek, on the present site of Great Salt Lake City.

The annals of that day say that the ground was so dry and hard that in the attempt to plow it several plows were broken. Whereupon, at someone's suggestion--who it was that made it the annals do not disclose, and it is not known--a company was set at work to put in a dam in the creek and flood the land in order to plow it. This was the beginning of Anglo-Saxon irrigation.

As already stated, who it was that made the fortunate suggestion that the water be turned out upon the land in order to make it possible to plow it, is not known, but we have seen that thirteen members of the Battalion were among the pioneers, and some of them had seen irrigation in operation among the Mexicans at Santa Fe and further south in the valley of the Rio Grande. What more likely than that some of those men who had seen irrigation in progress should suggest the flooding of the land to prepare it for plowing, as they had seen it conducted over the land to convey moisture to the growing vegetation? The probability of it has moral certainty.

FOOTNOTES:

[78:a] History U. S. (Morris), 1877 ed., p. 326.

[78:b] History of the U. S. (Fiske), 1877 ed., p. 336.

[78:c] Conquest of Mexico and California--Cooke, p. 159. Also History of the United States--Morris, p. 326.

X.

THE SUBSEQUENT DISTINCTION ACHIEVED BY THE BATTALION'S COMMANDING OFFICERS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Philip St. George Cooke]

It may be of interest, and certainly it belongs to the history of the Battalion, to say that its commanding officer and the two lieutenants of the regular army, his staff officers, rose later to honorable distinction during the war between the States.

=Colonel Cooke.=--Col. Cooke, after returning to the east with Stephen W.

Kearny, continued in the military service of the United States and was active in the Kansas-Nebraska troubles of the early fifties. In 1857-8 he commanded the cavalry in the Johnston expedition to Utah; and it is of record that when that command pa.s.sed through the streets of Salt Lake City, en route from the mouth of Emigration Canyon to the place of its encampment west of the Jordan, the Colonel rode with uncovered head, through the city; "out of respect to the brave men of the Mormon Battalion he had commanded in their march to the Pacific."

For a time after the departure of Albert Sidney Johnston for the east, or rather to the south,--for that officer espoused the cause of the Southern Confederacy, against the Union, Col. Cooke for a time was in command of "Johnston Army" at Camp Floyd, in Cedar Valley, west of Utah Lake.

During the Civil War Col. Cooke though a Virginian served on the side of the Union army, and rose through the grade of brigadier general (1861), to the rank of brevet Major General (1865).

=Lieut. A. J. Smith.=--Lieutenant A. J. Smith in the same war rose from the grade of commander of California volunteers to that of brigadier general of volunteers (1862); and to major general of volunteers (1864).

In the battle of Nashville he commanded the sixteenth corps of General Thomas' right, and received the brevet of major general in the regular army for his services in that battle.

=Lieut. George Stoneman.=--Lieutenant George Stoneman in 1861 was in command at Fort Brown, Texas, with the rank of captain. Later he was in command of the Union cavalry in the Peninsula campaign. After the death of General Philip Kearny, at Chantilly, Stoneman took the command of the fallen general's division, and commanded the Third Corps at Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville he commanded the federal cavalry. In a raid upon Andersonville, the object of which was to liberate the federal soldiers imprisoned there, he was captured by the confederates.

After the war he was in command of one of the many military departments created by the government; and from 1883 to 1887 was governor of California.

XI.

ANECDOTES.

Col. Cooke in addition to natural austerity of temperament was a strict disciplinarian, and generally held himself aloof from the men. A few anecdotes that fortunately survived the march, and which were related by Wilford Woodruff at the celebration of Pioneer's Day, in 1880, show the Colonel in some of his better moods, and witness the fact that he could be somewhat broadly tolerant of the independent att.i.tude of some members of his Mormon command. The Woodruff narratives follow:

=Character of Col. Cooke.=--"Those who marched with him (Colonel Cooke) can understand him much better than I can describe him. I think he possessed a better heart than his language would sometimes indicate. He was a strict disciplinarian, and, like Lord Nelson, expected every man to do his duty. But he had a peculiar streak in his composition at times that induced him to see how far the Mormon Battalion would go in obeying his commands and that were inconsistent with reason and good judgment.

As an ill.u.s.tration of this, for the edification or amus.e.m.e.nt of the remnant of the Battalion who are present, I will refer to a few incidents, and if I do not get everything as it transpired, I will get it as nearly as I can, from the report of those who were present."

=Col. Cooke and Christopher Layton.=--"On one occasion, while the Battalion was crossing a river with a ferry-boat, Col. Cooke was sitting on his mule on the bank looking at them. The boat went down into such deep water that the setting poles did not touch bottom. 'Try the upper side,' said he. They did so, but could not touch bottom. The colonel then took off his hat and said: 'Good bye, gentlemen. When you get down to the Gulf of California, give my respects to the folks.' He then rode off and left them, not waiting to see whether they would reach sh.o.r.e or go down the river. He soon returned and found that they had got ash.o.r.e.

While sitting there, Christopher Layton rode up to the river on a mule to let it drink. Col. Cooke said to him, 'Young man, I want you to ride across the river and carry a message for me to Capt. Hunt.' It being natural for the men to obey the Colonel's order, he [Layton] tried to ride into the river, but he had gone but a few steps before his mule was going in all over. So Brother Layton stopped. The colonel halloed out, 'Go on, young man; go on, young man.' But Brother Layton, on a moment's reflection, was satisfied that if he attempted it both he and his mule would stand a good chance to be drowned. The colonel himself was satisfied of the same. So Brother Layton turned his mule and rode off, saying, as he came out, 'Colonel, I'll see you in h.e.l.l before I will drown myself and mule in that river.' The colonel looked at him a moment, and said to the by-standers, 'What is that man's name?'

'Christopher Layton, sir.' 'Well, he is a saucy fellow.'"

=Col. Cooke and Lot Smith.=--On another occasion, (while the Battalion was at Santa Fe) Col. Cooke ordered Lot Smith to guard a Mexican corral, and having a company of United States cavalry camped by, he told Lot if the men came to steal the poles to bayonet them. The men came and surrounded the corral, and while Lot was guarding one side, they would hitch to a pole on the other, and ride off with it. When the Colonel saw the poles were gone, he asked Lot why he did not obey orders and bayonet the thieves? Lot replied, "If you expect me to bayonet United States troops for taking a pole on the enemy's ground to make a fire of, you mistake your man." Lot expected to be punished, and he was placed under guard, but nothing further was done about it.

=The Colonel, the Mule and Bigler.=--"Col. Cooke called upon W. H. Bigler as a provost guard one day to guard his tent. The colonel had a favorite mule, which was fed some grain on a blanket. One of the freight mules came up and helped to eat the grain. The Colonel drove him off several times, but he would follow him again, until the colonel got vexed, and said to Bigler, 'Is your musket loaded?' 'No sir.' 'Then load it and give it to me.' Brother Bigler is the last man on earth that any one acquainted with him would have supposed would have played any tricks on the colonel. But he took out a cartridge and bit off the ball end, which he dropped on the ground. He then rammed the powder and paper down the gun, capped it and handed it to the colonel. Several of the officers of the Battalion stood looking on. As the mule came back to get the grain and had arrived within a rod of him, the colonel fired the charge into its face; but the only effect that it had upon the mule was to cause it to give a snort, wheel around and kick at him, and then run off a few rods, after which it turned to come back again. This created a good deal of amus.e.m.e.nt with the lookers on. The only remark the colonel made, as he handed back the musket to Brother Bigler, was, 'Young man, that gun was not properly loaded.'"

=Wire, Wire, d.a.m.n You Sir.=--"Col. Cooke had rather more sternness than familiarity in him. When he gave an order, if he was not fully understood by the soldiers, they did not like to question him. On one occasion he wanted some wire to fix up his tent. He ordered one of the soldiers to go to a certain man and get some wire, but he did not speak plainly and the soldier did not understand what he said. Nevertheless the soldier started to go on the errand, but began to think that he could not tell what to ask for. So he went back to the colonel and asked him what he had told him to get. The colonel said, 'Wire, wire, wire, d.a.m.n you sir.' The soldier went to the man and asked for some wire for Col. Cooke. But the man had not got any wire. 'What did you ask for?'

inquired the colonel, when the man returned. 'I asked for wire, wire, wire, d.a.m.n you sir.' 'That will do, that will do, young man. You may go to your tent.'"

=Col. Cooke's Respect for the Battalion.=--"These instances show a little of the kind of temperament Col. Cooke possessed, but he had a good, generous heart. He entertained great respect for the Mormon Battalion and he always spoke kindly of them before the government and all men.

When he went through Salt Lake City with Col. A. S. Johnston, in 1858, he uncovered his head in honor of the Mormon Battalion, that five hundred brave men that he had led two thousand miles over sandy deserts and through rocky canyons, in the midst of thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the service of their country. May G.o.d bless Col. Cooke; and may he bless the Battalion and their posterity after them."[88:a]

FOOTNOTES:

[88:a] Wilford Woodruff in "Utah Pioneers"--1880--pp. 20-22.

ADDENDA.

THE BATTALION'S MONUMENT.

The March and Achievements of the Mormon Battalion are worthy of celebration in an enduring form that shall perpetuate the memory of them to future generations. This has been recognized for many years and the idea of such a memorial has been kept alive in the community by a women's organization known as the Daughters of the Mormon Battalion, composed of direct female descendants of the men of that organization.

Of late years the interest has taken on a wider scope, until now the whole state of Utah and the surrounding intermountain states have become awakened to the duty of properly commemorating by a Monument, this unique event in the history of our country and of the Utah pioneers.

=The State of Utah Mormon Battalion Monument Commission.=--This awakened sense of duty led to the creation of the State of Utah Mormon Battalion Monument Commission, by the twelfth legislature of the State of Utah. It is instructed to proceed with the erection of a monument upon the capitol grounds to commemorate the important contribution made to the early settlement of the state of Utah and the western portion of the United States by the Mormon Battalion.

The appointment of this commission and the mandate given to it were the sequence of an act of the previous legislature (the eleventh), which had appointed a former commission of seven citizens to investigate the subject of such a monument, choose a site for it upon the capitol grounds, select a design and report to the legislature next succeeding.

Accordingly a site was selected, a compet.i.tion held in which the architects and the sculptors of Utah and also of the United States were invited to partic.i.p.ate, and in which prominent sculptors and architects from the whole country did partic.i.p.ate, submitting plans and models of their designs, from which a committee composed of Utah's prominent artists and architects selected three as winning first, second and third places, respectively, and to which were awarded cash prizes as per terms of the compet.i.tion. Acting upon the judgment of this committee the design accorded first place was recommended by the Monument Committee to the twelfth legislature and an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars asked for, not to be available, however, before 1920, and only when a like amount of money should be raised from other sources.

The report of the first committee resulted, as before stated, in the appointment of the present Commission, the making of the aforesaid appropriation of two thousand dollars additional for contingent expenses, and authorizing procedure with the work.

Mr. G. P. Riswold, the successful sculptor in the compet.i.tion, a.s.sociated with Messrs. James R. M. Morrison and Mr. Walker, architects, Chicago, Illinois, were notified of the action of the legislature. The following spring Mr. Morrison of the firm of the sculptor and a.s.sociated architects, being in Salt Lake City, and meeting with some members of the Commission volunteered the making of a larger model of the design submitted by Mr. Riswold. This model has been inspected by a special committee appointed by the Utah State Commission and finally adopted by the full Commission as the accepted design and model of the monument to be erected on the Capitol grounds.

=Description of the Monument.=--The written report of Mr. Samuel C. Park, formerly mayor of Salt Lake City, made on behalf of the committee that went to Chicago to inspect the model, to the Utah State Mormon Battalion Commission--may well be taken for a description of the Mormon Battalion Monument that it is proposed to erect on the capitol grounds:

"To the Chairman of Members of the Mormon Battalion Monument Commission:

"As a member of your subcommittee delegated to go to Chicago to inspect the model of the proposed Mormon Battalion Monument, I have the honor to report:

"* * * The base is in triangular form with concave sides and rounded corners.