This episode continues the adventures of Thomas L. Kane, who left his home in February 1858 and set out for Salt Lake City. His self-imposed mission was to stop the Utah War. His plan was, as his wife Elizabeth later wrote, was somewhat hazy: “Tom’s plan was to go in disguise to Utah by way of California, winter though it was, and make his unexpected appearance at Brigham Young’s very gates, relying upon his own mental force and Young’s knowledge of the sincerity of his goodwill to the Mormons. He actually intended to turn a whole people’s will and make them ask for peace in the hour of their triumph.” But before he could get to Brigham Young's gates, he first had to pass through the towns of Los Angeles and San Bernadino. At the time, both these towns were hornet nests of anti-Mormon frenzy.
On this episode, we recount:
o How Thomas Kane assumed the identity of "Doctor Osborne," and came up with a cover story about needing to get to Utah to collect specimens of western flora. We recount how (somewhat ham-fisted) effort at undercover work.
o Just how dangerous Los Angeles and San Bernadino were for Latter-day Saints in 1857 - 1858. For background, we recount the (mis)adventures of William Wall, who passed through San Bernadino on his way home to Provo from a mission to Australia. He was pursued by a lynch mob, but managed to evade them twice. But he had a final confrontation as he prepared to leave the City. We recount how, as William Wall was surrounded, he bore a "powerful testimony of the Gospel." Then, he bore a different kind of testimony with what he called a "splendid double-barreled shotgun" and a "good Bowie knife," impressing upon the mob that some of them would die along with him.
o The Vigilance Committee of San Bernadino's efforts to hunt the mysterious "Doctor Osborne."
o How Kane saved from the violence of the Vigilance Committee by Frances Swan Clark and Colonel Alden Jackson.
To learn more about the stories in this episode, please check out these (excellent!) sources:
o Ardis A. Parshall, "Frances Swan Clark: A Kindness Remembered," essay posted 18 May 2008 and last visited on 6 November 2022, http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2008/05/18/frances-swan-clark-a-kindness-remembered-redux/. I came across Parshall's essay in MacKinnon, At Sword's Point, Part 2 Chapter 7, n. 34, so thanks to both Parshall and MacKinnon!
o 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. It is available on Amazon and Google Books.
Search Terms: Frances Swan (Kimball Clark) Clark, Winter Quarters, Thomas L. Kane, Patrick Kane, Utah War, Albert Sidney Johnston, "Doctor Osborne," George Clark, William Wall, William Pickett, Elizabeth Kane, James Buchanan, Brigham Young, Ebenezer Hanks, Los Angeles, San Bernadino, Mississippi River, Mormon Pioneers, Plural Marriage, Polygamy, Secret Identity, Vigilance Committee, Lynch Mobs, Old West, Colonel Alden Jackson,