Before Lot Smith’s raid on the Wagon Supplies, conventional wisdom in the Government and the Nation seemed to be that talk of the Latter-day Saints actually resisting the Army was just that – Talk. But when news of the raid finally reached the states, it was shocking. Overnight, Johnston’s Army lost roughly half its supplies for the campaign. Johnston and his troops would spend a hungry, freezing winter on half-rations in the ashes of what had once been Fort Bridger – which also had been burned by the Nauvoo Legion to deny shelter to Johnston’s troops.
But Lot Smith's raid sparked a dangerous escalation of the conflict. A Grand Jury hastily handed down indictments for treason against Church Leaders, raising the grim prospect of death by hanging. Army leaders -- Johnston, McClellan, William T. Sherman, Harney -- all longed for a pitched battle against the Mormons. Latter-day Saints faced danger and new threats from the north (with native tribes turning against them), from the south (with the intrepid Captain Randolph Marcy on the verge of finding a way through Utah's arid red rock desert), and from the west (as Californians clamored to raise a force to attack Utah and avenge the murders of the Baker-Francher Wagon Company at Mountain Meadows). On this episode, we explore what easily could have been the most precarious and dangerous moment the Latter-day Saints have ever faced.
For the materials and sources in this story, we owe a special thanks to Utah War historian William "Bill" MacKinnon - His two-volume set, "At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858" is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Utah War.
Search Terms: Utah War, William McClellan, "Little Mac", William Tecumseh Sherman, Albert Sidney Johnston, William Selby "Squaw Killer" Harney, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Poerter Rockwell, Civil War, Mormon History, Latter-day Saints, Utah Territory, Polygamy, Plural Marriage, U.S. Army, Fort Bridger, Lot Smith, Salt Lake City, 2LT James Henry Martineau, George Watts, Echo Canyon, Albert Sidney Johnston, Brigham Young, Charlie Becker, James Ferguson, Wild Bill Hickman, Nauvoo Legion, International Latter-day Saints, Immigration, Prisoners, Law of War, Law of Armed Conflict, Russia, British Empire, Alaska, British Colombia.