In February 1858, the Latter-day Saints and the U.S. Army were in an armed standoff on the frozen plains of Wyoming. The Army, under the command of COL Albert Sidney Johnston, were on half rations, and suffering from a lack of salt. The Latter-day Saints seemed to have the upper hand for the time being, though they faced growing threats from all sides. In the middle of this stalemate a strange letter arrived in Salt Lake City for Brigham Young. It had come express from the town of Nephi, about 80 miles to the south. The note, scrawled in a hurry, contained this cryptic message: “My dear sir, I trust you will recognize my handwriting. That I have made [the journey] in six weeks from New York may persuade you that I am on no fool’s errand . . . . I send this to you by express, and urge you to postpone any military movement of importance until we meet and have a serious interview. If you cannot see the expediency of doing so on other grounds, I entreat it as a favor – in requital of the services which I rendered your people in their less prosperous days. I remain their friend, to serve them faithfully, Dr. Osborne.”
Two days later, pale and shaking with illness, the mysterious “Doctor Osborne” arrived in the city – it was none other than their friend, Colonel Thomas Kane, who could now dispense with his pseudonym. He had indeed made the trip in 6 weeks, traveling night and day to reach Salt Lake City before the Latter-day Saints and the U.S. Army came to battle. But his message to the Saints -- to welcome the Army into the valley, and immediately send them food and supplies, turned out to be a hard sell. Some (like George A. Smith) scoffed at this idea. How COL Kane managed to (as his wife Elizabeth would later write), "turn a whole people’s will and make them ask for peace in the hour of their triumph.”
To learn more about the stories in this episode, please check out these (excellent!) sources:
David L. Bigler, "The Crisis at Fort Limhi 185, 35 Utah Hist. Q. 2 (1967), available at https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume35_1967_number2/s/104099.
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: Thomas L. Kane, Brigham Young, George A. Smith, Utah War, Fort Bridger, James Buchanan, Patrick "Pat" Kane, Echo Canyon, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Mormon History, Latter-day Saints, U.S. Army, American West, Fort Limhi, Shashone, Bannock, Attack.