[From The Works of James Buchanan, vol. 10 (1908)]

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pp. 151-154 (First Annual Message, December 8, 1857)

            A territorial government was established for Utah by act of Congress approved the 9th September, 1850, and the Constitution and laws of the United States were thereby extended over it " so far as the same, or any provisions thereof, may be applicable." This act provided for the appointment by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, of a

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governor, who was to be ex-officio superintendent of Indian affairs, a secretary, three judges of the supreme court, a marshal, and a district attorney. Subsequent acts provided for the appointment of the officers necessary to extend our land and our Indian system over the Territory. Brigham Young was appointed the first governor on the 20th September, 1850, and has held the office ever since. Whilst Governor Young has been both governor and superintendent of Indian affairs throughout this period, he has been at the same time the head of the church called the Latter-Day Saints, and professes to govern its members and dispose of their property by direct inspiration and authority from the Almighty. His power has been, therefore, absolute over both church and State.

            The people of Utah, almost exclusively, belong to this church, and believing with a fanatical spirit that he is governor of the Territory by divine appointment, they obey his commands as if these were direct revelations from Heaven. If, therefore, he chooses that his government shall come into collision with the government of the United States, the members of the Mormon church will yield implicit obedience to his will. Unfortunately, existing facts leave but little doubt that such is his determination. Without entering upon a minute history of occurrences, it is sufficient to say that all the officers of the United States, judicial and executive, with the single exception of two Indian agents, have found it necessary for their own personal safety to withdraw from the Territory, and there no longer remains any government in Utah but the despotism of Brigham Young. This being the condition of affairs in the Territory, I could not mistake the path of duty. As Chief Executive Magistrate, I was bound to restore the supremacy of the Constitution and laws within its limits. In order to effect this purpose, I appointed a new governor and other federal officers for Utah, and sent with them a military force for their protection, and to aid as a posse comitatus, in case of need, in the execution of the laws.

            With the religious opinions of the Mormons, as long as they remained mere opinions, however deplorable in themselves and revolting to the moral and religious sentiments of all Christendom, I had no right to interfere. Actions alone, when in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, become the legitimate subjects for the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate.

1857]   FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE 153

My instructions to Governor Cumming have therefore been framed in strict accordance with these principles. At their date a hope was indulged that no necessity might exist for employing the military in restoring and maintaining the authority of the law; but this hope has now vanished. Governor Young has, by proclamation, declared his determination to maintain his power by force, and has already committed acts of hostility against the United States. Unless he should retrace his steps the Territory of Utah will be in a state of open rebellion. He has committed these acts of hostility notwithstanding Major Van Vliet, an officer of the army, sent to Utah by the commanding general to purchase provisions for the troops, had given him the strongest assurances of the peaceful intentions of the government, and that the troops would only he employed as a posse comitatus when called on by the civil authority to aid in the execution of the laws.

            There is reason to believe that Governor Young has long contemplated this result. He knows that the continuance of his despotic power depends upon the exclusion of all settlers from the Territory, except those who will acknowledge his divine mission and implicitly obey his will; and that an enlightened public opinion there would soon prostrate institutions at war with the laws both of God and man. He has, therefore, for several years, in order to maintain his independence, been industriously employed in collecting and fabricating arms and munitions of war, and in disciplining the Mormons for military service. As superintendent of Indian Affairs he has had an opportunity of tampering with the Indian tribes, and exciting their hostile feelings against the United States. This, according to our information, he has accomplished in regard to some of these tribes, while others have remained true to their allegiance, and have communicated his intrigues to our Indian agents. He has laid in a store of provisions for three years, which, in case of necessity, as he informed Major Van Vliet, he will conceal, " and then take to the mountains, and bid defiance to all the powers of the government."

            A great part of all this may be idle boasting; but yet no wise government will lightly estimate the efforts which may be inspired by such frenzied fanaticism as exists among the Mormons of Utah. This is the first rebellion which has existed in our Territories; and humanity itself requires that we should put

154 THE WORKS OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857

it down in such a manner that it shall be the last. To trifle with it would be to encourage it and to render it formidable. We ought to go there with such an imposing force as to convince these deluded people that resistance would be vain, and thus spare the effusion of blood. We can in this manner best convince them that we are their friends, not their enemies. In order to accomplish this object, it will be necessary, according to the estimate of the War Department, to raise four additional regiments ; and this I earnestly recommend to Congress. At the present moment of depression in the revenues of the country I am sorry to be obliged to recommend such a measure; but I feel confident of the support of Congress, cost what it may, in suppressing the insurrection and in restoring and maintaining the sovereignty of the Constitution and laws over the Territory of Utah.

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pp. 167-169

TO MR. KANE.[1]

WASHINGTON CITY, December 31, 1857.

            MY DEAR SIR : You furnish the strongest evidence of your desire to serve the Mormons by abandoning the comforts of friends, family, and home, and voluntarily encountering the perils and dangers of a journey to Utah at the present inclement season of the year, at your own expense, and without official position. Your only reward must be a consciousness that you are doing your duty. Nothing but pure philanthropy and a strong desire to serve the Mormon people could have dictated a course so much at war with your private interests.

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            You express a strong conviction, in which however I do not participate, that a large portion of the Mormons labor under a mistake as to the intentions of the federal government towards them. If this be so, my late message will disabuse their minds. My views therein expressed, as I have already informed you, have undergone no change. These sentiments were expressed in sincerity and truth, and I trust that your representations of them may meet with the success you anticipate. I hope that the people of Utah may be convinced, ere it is too late, that there exist no duties of higher obligation than those which they owe to their country. They cannot doubt your friendship, and the services which you have rendered to them in times past will conciliate their regard.

            At the same time I deem it my duty to say that, whilst reposing entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of your motives, and entertaining a warm personal regard for yourself, I would not at the present moment, in view of the hostile attitude they have assumed against the United States, send any agent to visit them on behalf of the government. If the case were otherwise, however, I know no person to whom I should more cheerfully confide such a mission than yourself.

            With every sentiment of personal regard, I remain truly your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

COLONEL THOMAS L. KANE.

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TO MR. KANE.[2]

WASHINGTON CITY, December 31, 1857.

            MY DEAR SIR: As you have been impelled by your own sense of duty to visit Utah, and having informed me that nothing can divert you from this purpose, it affords me pleasure to commend you to the favorable regard of all officers of the United States whom you may meet in the course of your travels. Pos-

1858] KANSAS AFFAIRS 169

sessed as you are of my confidence, and being well informed as to passing events, you may have it in your power to impart to them useful information from this side of the continent. I do not doubt that they will, in the exercise of whatever discretion their instructions may permit, render you all the aid and facilities in their power in expediting you on your journey, undertaken of your own accord, to accomplish the pacific and philanthropic objects you have in view.

            Heartily wishing you success, I remain, very respectfully, your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

COLONEL THOMAS L. KANE.

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pp. 202-206

PROCLAMATION ON THE REBELLION IN UTAH.[3]

[April 6, 1858.]

BY JAMES BUCHANAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

            Whereas, the Territory of Utah was settled by certain emigrants from the States, and from foreign countries, who have for several years past manifested a spirit of insubordination to the Constitution and laws of the United States. The great mass of

1858]   REBELLION IN UTAH         203

those settlers, acting under the influence of leaders to whom they seem to have surrendered their judgment, refuse to be controlled by any other authority. They have been often advised to obedience, and these friendly counsels have been answered with defiance. Officers of the federal government have been driven from the Territory for no offence but an effort to do their sworn duty. Others have been prevented from going there by threats of assassination. Judges have been violently interrupted in the performance of their functions, and the records of the courts have been seized and either destroyed or concealed. Many other acts of unlawful violence have been perpetrated, and the right to repeat them has been openly claimed by the leading inhabitants, with at least the silent acquiescence of nearly all the others. Their hostility to the lawful government of the country has at length become so violent that no officer bearing a commission from the Chief Magistrate of the Union can enter the Territory or remain there with safety; and all the officers recently appointed have been unable to go to Salt Lake or anywhere else in Utah beyond the immediate power of the army. Indeed, such is believed to be the condition to which a strange system of terrorism has brought the inhabitants of that region, that no one among them could express an opinion favorable to this government, or even propose to obey its laws, without exposing his life and property to peril.

            After carefully considering this state of affairs, and maturely weighing the obligation I was under to see the laws faithfully executed, it seemed to me right and proper that I should make such use of the military force at my disposal as might be necessary to protect the federal officers in going into the Territory of Utah, and in performing their duties after arriving there. I accordingly ordered a detachment of the army to march for the City of Salt Lake, or within reach of that place, and to act, in case of need, as a posse for the enforcement of the laws. But, in the meantime, the hatred of that misguided people for the just and legal authority of the government had become so intense that they resolved to measure their military strength with that of the Union. They have organized an armed force far from contemptible in point of numbers, and trained it, if not with skill, at least with great assiduity and perseverance. While the troops of the United States were on their march, a train of baggage

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wagons, which happened to be unprotected, was attacked and destroyed by a portion of the Mormon forces, and the provisions and stores with which the train was laden were wantonly burnt. In short, their present attitude is one of decided and unreserved enmity to the United States and to all their loyal citizens. Their determination to oppose the authority of the government by military force has not only been expressed in words, but manifested in overt acts of the most unequivocal character.

            Fellow-citizens of Utah! this is rebellion against the government to which you owe allegiance. It is levying war against the United States, and involves you in the guilt of treason. Persistence in it will bring you to condign punishment, to ruin, and to shame; for it is mere madness to suppose that, with your limited resources, you can successfully resist the force of this great and powerful nation.

            If you have calculated upon the forbearance of the United States—if you have permitted yourselves to suppose that this government will fail to put forth its strength and bring you to submission—you have fallen into a grave mistake. You have settled upon territory which lies geographically in the heart of the Union. The land you live upon was purchased by the United States and paid for out of their treasury; the proprietary right and title to it is in them, and not in you. Utah is bounded on every side by States and Territories whose people are true to the Union. It is absurd to believe that they will or can permit you to erect in their very midst a government of your own, not only independent of the authority which they all acknowledge, but hostile to them and their interests.

            Do not deceive yourselves nor try to mislead others by propagating the idea that this is a crusade against your religion. The Constitution and laws of this country can take no notice of your creed, whether it be true or false. That is a question between your God and yourselves, in which I disclaim all right to interfere. If you obey the laws, keep the peace, and respect the just rights of others, you will be perfectly secure, and may live on in your present faith or change it for another at your pleasure. Every intelligent man among you knows very well that this government has never, directly or indirectly, sought to molest you in your worship, to control you in your ecclesiastical affairs, or even to influence you in your religious opinions.

1858] REBELLION IN UTAH 205

            This rebellion is not merely a violation of your legal duty; it is without just cause, without reason, without excuse. You never made a complaint that was not listened to with patience. You never exhibited a real grievance that was not redressed as promptly as it could be. The laws and regulations enacted for your government by Congress have been equal and just, and their enforcement was manifestly necessary for your own welfare and happiness. You have never asked their repeal. They are similar in every material respect to the laws which have been passed for the other Territories of the Union, and which everywhere else (with one partial exception) have been cheerfully obeyed. No people ever lived who were freer from unnecessary legal restraints than you. Human wisdom never devised a political system which bestowed more blessings or imposed lighter burdens than the government of the United States in its operation upon the Territories.

            But being anxious to save the effusion of blood, and to avoid the indiscriminate punishment of a whole people for crimes of which it is not probable that all are equally guilty, I offer now a free and full pardon to all who will submit themselves to the authority of the federal government. If you refuse to accept it, let the consequences fall upon your own heads. But I conjure you to pause deliberately, and reflect well, before you reject this tender of peace and good will.

            Now, therefore, I, James Buchanan, President of the United States, have thought proper to issue this, my Proclamation, enjoining upon all public officers in the Territory of Utah to be diligent and faithful, to the full extent of their power, in the execution of the laws; commanding all citizens of the United States in said Territory to aid and assist the officers in the performance of their duties; offering to the inhabitants of Utah, who shall submit to the laws, a free pardon for the seditions and treasons heretofore by them committed ; warning those who shall persist, after notice of this proclamation, in the present rebellion against the United States, that they must expect no further lenity, but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their deserts; and declaring that the military forces now in Utah, and hereafter to be sent there, will not be withdrawn until the inhabitants of that Territory shall manifest a proper sense of the duty which they owe to this government.

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            In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents.

            Done at the city of Washington, the sixth day of April, one (L. S.) thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-second.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

By the President :

            LEWIS CASS, Secretary of State.

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pp. 206-207

MESSAGE ON AFFAIRS IN UTAH.[4]

            To THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a memorial addressed to myself by a committee appointed by the citizens of that portion of the Territory of Utah which is situated west of

1858] FROM LORD CLARENDON 207

the Goose Creek range of mountains, commonly known as " Carson's Valley," in favor of the establishment of a territorial government over them, and containing the request that I should communicate it to Congress. I have received but one copy of this memorial, which I transmit to the House upon the suggestion of James M. Crane, Esq., the delegate elect of the people of the proposed new Territory, for the reason, as he alleges, that the subject is now under consideration before the Committee on the Territories of that body.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

WASHINGTON, April 9, 1858.

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pp. 217-218

MESSAGE ON AFFAIRS IN UTAH.[5]

            To THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES :

            I transmit the copy of a despatch from Governor Cumming to the Secretary of State, dated at Great Salt Lake City, on the 2d of May, and received at the Department of State on yesterday. From this there is reason to believe that our difficulties with the Territory of Utah have terminated, and the reign of the Constitution and the laws has been restored. I congratulate you on this auspicious event.

            I lose no time in communicating this information, and in expressing the opinion that there will now be no occasion to make any appropriation for the purpose of calling into service the two

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regiments of volunteers authorized by the act of Congress approved on the 7th April last, " For the purpose of quelling disturbances in the Territory of Utah, for the protection of supply and emigrant trains, and the suppression of Indian hostilities on the frontiers."

            I am the more gratified at this satisfactory intelligence from Utah, because it will afford some relief to the Treasury at a time demanding from us the strictest economy, and when the question which now arises upon every new appropriation is, whether it be of a character so important and urgent as to brook no delay, and to justify and require a loan, and most probably a tax upon the people to raise the money necessary for its payment.

            In regard to the regiment of volunteers authorized by the same act of Congress to be called into service for the defence of the frontiers of Texas against Indian hostilities, I desire to leave this question to Congress, observing at the same time that, in my opinion, this State can be defended for the present by the regular troops, which have not yet been withdrawn from its limits.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

WASHINGTON CITY, June 10, 1858.

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pp. 242-245    (2d Annual Message, December 6, 1858)

            The present condition of the Territory of Utah, when contrasted with what it was one year ago, is a subject for congratulation. It was then in a state of open rebellion, and, cost what it might, the character of the government required that this rebellion should be suppressed and the Mormons compelled to yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws. In order to accomplish this object, as I informed you in my last annual message, I appointed a new governor instead of Brigham Young, and other federal officers to take the place of those who, consulting their personal safety, had found it necessary to withdraw from the Territory. To protect these civil officers, and to aid them, as a posse comitatus, in the execution of the laws in case

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of need, I ordered a detachment of the army to accompany them to Utah. The necessity for adopting these measures is now demonstrated.

            On the 15th of September, 1857, Governor Young issued his proclamation, in the style of an independent sovereign, announcing his purpose to resist by force of arms the entry of the United States troops into our own Territory of Utah. By this he required all the forces in the Territory to " hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasion," and established martial law from its date throughout the Territory. These proved to be no idle threats. Forts Bridger and Supply were vacated and burnt down by the Mormons, to deprive our troops of a shelter after their long and fatiguing march. Orders were issued by Daniel H. Wells, styling himself " Lieutenant-General, Nauvoo Legion," to stampede the animals of the United States troops on their march, to set fire to their trains, to burn the grass and the whole country before them and on their flanks, to keep them from sleeping by night surprises, and to blockade the road by felling trees, and destroying the fords of rivers, &c., &c., &c.

            These orders were promptly and effectually obeyed. On the 4th of October, 1857, the Mormons captured and burned, on Green river, three of our supply trains, consisting of seventy-five wagons loaded with provisions and tents for the army, and carried away several hundred animals. This diminished the supply of provisions so materially that General Johnston was obliged to reduce the ration, and even with this precaution there was only sufficient left to subsist the troops until the first of June.

            Our little army behaved admirably in their encampment at Fort Bridger under these trying privations. In the midst of the mountains, in a dreary, unsettled, and inhospitable region, more than a thousand miles from home, they passed the severe and inclement winter without a murmur. They looked forward with confidence for relief from their country in due season, and in this they were not disappointed.

            The Secretary of War employed all his energies to forward them the necessary supplies, and to muster and send such a military force to Utah as would render resistance on the part of the Mormons hopeless, and thus terminate the war without the effusion of blood. In his efforts he was efficiently sus- 

THE WORKS OF JAMES BUCHANAN      [1858

tined by Congress. They granted appropriations sufficient to cover the deficiency thus necessarily created, and also provided for raising two regiments of volunteers " for the purpose of quelling disturbances in the Territory of Utah, for the protection of supply and emigrant trains, and the suppression of Indian hostilities on the frontiers." Happily, there was no occasion to call these regiments into service. If there had been, I should have felt serious embarrassment in selecting them, so great was the number of our brave and patriotic citizens anxious to serve their country in this distant and apparently dangerous expedition. Thus it has ever been, and thus may it ever be!

            The wisdom and economy of sending sufficient reinforcements to Utah are established not only by the event, but in the opinion of those who, from their position and opportunities, are the most capable of forming a correct judgment. General Johnston, the commander of the forces, in addressing the Secretary of War from Fort Bridger, under date of October 18, 1857, expresses the opinion that " unless a large force is sent here, from the nature of the country, a protracted war on their [the Mormons'] part is inevitable." This he considered necessary, to terminate the war " speedily and more economically than if attempted by insufficient means."

            In the mean time it was my anxious desire that the Mormons should yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws, without rendering it necessary to resort to military force. To aid in accomplishing this object I deemed it advisable, in April last, to despatch two distinguished citizens of the United States, Messrs. Powell and McCulloch, to Utah. They bore with them a proclamation addressed by myself to the inhabitants of Utah, dated on the 6th day of that month, warning them of their true condition, and how hopeless it was on their part to persist in rebellion against the United States, and offering all those who should submit to the laws a full pardon for their past seditious and treasons. At the same time I assured those who should persist in rebellion against the United States that they must expect no further lenity, but look to be rigorously dealt with, according to their deserts. The instructions to these agents, as well as a copy of the proclamation and their reports, are herewith submitted. It will be seen by their report of the 3d of July last that they have fully confirmed the opinion expressed by General Johnston

1858] SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE 245

in the previous October as to the necessity of sending reinforcements to Utah. In this they state that they " are firmly impressed with the belief that the presence of the army here, and the large additional force that had been ordered to this Territory, were the chief inducements that caused the Mormons to abandon the idea of resisting the authority of the United States. A less decisive policy would probably have resulted in a long, bloody, and expensive war."

            These gentlemen conducted themselves to my entire satisfaction, and rendered useful services in executing the humane intentions of the government.

            It also affords me great satisfaction to state that Governor Cumming has performed his duty in an able and conciliatory manner, and with the happiest effect. I cannot, in this connection, refrain from mentioning the valuable services of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who, from motives of pure benevolence, and without any official character or pecuniary compensation, visited Utah during the last inclement winter for the purpose of contributing to the pacification of the Territory.

            I am happy to inform you that the governor and other civil officers of Utah are now performing their appropriate functions without resistance. The authority of the Constitution and the laws has been fully restored, and peace prevails throughout the Territory.

            A portion of the troops sent to Utah are now encamped in Cedar valley, forty-four miles southwest of Salt Lake city, and the remainder have been ordered to Oregon to suppress Indian hostilities.

            The march of the army to Salt Lake city, through the Indian Territory, has had a powerful effect in restraining the hostile feelings against the United States which existed among the Indians in that region, and in securing emigrants to the Far West against their depredations. This will also be the means of establishing military posts and promoting settlements along the route.

            I recommend that the benefits of our land laws and preemption system be extended to the people of Utah, by the establishment of a land office in that Territory.

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p. 407

MESSAGE

ON AFFAIRS IN UTAH.[6]

[April 3, 1860.]

            To THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES :

I herewith transmit to the Senate a report of the Attorney General, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 21st March, " that the President be respectfully requested to communicate to the Senate the correspondence between the judges of Utah and the Attorney General or the President, with reference to the legal proceedings and condition of affairs in the Territory of Utah."

JAMES BUCHANAN.

WASHINGTON CITY, April 3, 1860.