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WESTERN EXPANSION continued...

THE MORMONS AND UTAH continued...
Lot Symbol CatNo. Lot Description CV or Estimate
561   [Burning of the Temple at Nauvoo] Choice content letter by I.S. Fontelly of Montrose, IA, just across the river from Nauvoo, who reports to John Spring in Brimfield, MA, that The Morman temple that Joseph Smith was the prophet of...was burned[Burning of the Temple at Nauvoo] Choice content letter by I.S. Fontelly of Montrose, IA, just across the river from Nauvoo, who reports to John Spring in Brimfield, MA, that "The Morman temple that Joseph Smith was the prophet of...was burned to the ground a few days ago. It was set on fire after the surfeses of the day was done. It was the most splendid building. It was bilt of Stone. It was as large as the State house at Boston and most splendidly bilt. It was two hundred feet high, and set on a rise some higher than whare the meeting house sits in old B." With manuscript Montrose postmark and 10 rate. The temple had been set on fire in October, at the behest, it is believed, of Brigham Young, who had openly expressed his wish that it would burn. Far from the community that had settled in Utah, the Illinois temple was likely to fall under the control of a rival sect of Latter-day Saints and could claim precedence over the new temple Young planned for Salt Lake City. (Image) Est. $400-500

SOLD for $11,500.00
Will close during Public Auction
562 c   Salt Lake Cal., July 16 (1849), manuscript postmark while attached to the California Territory for administrative purposes and 10 rate on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass., very fine ex-Rohloff. When the PoSalt Lake Cal., July 16 (1849), manuscript postmark while attached to the California Territory for administrative purposes and "10" rate on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass., very fine; ex-Rohloff. When the Post Office was established by the U.S. Government on 18 January, 1849, no expense provision or contract was made to transport the mails. It was left to the Mormons to carry the U.S. mails at their own expense. This letter was carried east by a special express headed by A. W. Babbitt, which left Salt Lake City on 27 July, 1849 for Kanesville, Iowa on the Missouri River.The letter was written by Ursulia B. Hascall to her sister in North New Salem, Massachusetts under date of "Great Salt Lake City July 6th 1849". The following is from the letter: "The mail will now be more regular but it is impossible to pass through the rocky mountains in Winter without people and animals both perishing....We have moved our cabin from the fort to the lots....Francis has a cartage and a span of the largest and best horses in the city. We ride to meeting every Sabbath." Ursulia then relates to personal friends and the selling of livestock: "I kept one yoke of oxen....that we came into the valley with. I gave forty dollars for them. Sold one for beef (the fattest ox I ever saw) for forty dollars in gold dust. I am going to have spectacle, bows and thimble made of some of it if I can find a goldsmith....Now for the gold mine, the topic of conversation through out the world. It is a fact the Mormons found a gold mine, not in the rocky mountains, but in California mountains, eight hundred miles from this city and two hundred from the bay of (San) Francisco. The bretheran were on their way home from the Mexican war. They went back to Francisco and showed the ore to Elder Branan. He found it to be pure gold. They dug each a thousand or so and came (back) to enjoy the way of the saints rather than dig gold when they could dig a hundred dollars a day with ease and already there, and small expense for living. It has made Brannon incalcubally rich. The best time is now over as it reqires double the labor now that it did then. There is gold enough no mistake....Fifteen thousand have started from the States for the mines. Hundreds and hundreds came through this city worn down with fatigue .. already has small bands of robbers conceled themselves in and about the mountains to rob and murder the gold digger, this we hear from newspaper authority. Now dear brother and sister you have heard the gospel preached by our elders time after time and have not obeyed - remember that no other elder but those of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints preach the gospel - I call upon you to repent of your sins and flee to this .. I call upon you thus that you may rise up and say Ursulia you knew all this .. Ophelia did I not spew the profhecy spoken by Joseph Smith by the authority of Jesus Christ concerning the overthrow of the United States - the destruction of the states as a nation is just as sure as the sun will ever rise and set - it is near at hand, it is all ready to burst upon it. May the God of Israiel bless and protect you and bring you into his kingdom is the prayer of your sister. Ursulia B. Hascall"Early in April of 1847 Brigham Young and his Pioneer Company left Winter Quarters and headed west in their search for the new Land of Zion. On July 24th Brigham Young looked down upon the valley of the Great Salt Lake from the Big Mountain and proclaimed "this is the right place". Such was the beginning of the City of the Saints and the kingdom of the Mormons in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.When the Pioneer Company left the Winter Quarters on the Missouri River they carried their own postmaster, in the person of Willard Richards, to handle and distribute the mail, well before the establishment of the Utah Territory in 1850. On January 18,1849 the first U.S. Post Office was established under the name Great Salt Lake City and attached it to California for administrative reasons. Joseph L. Heywood was the first official Postmaster. (Image) Est. $3,000-4,000

SOLD for $10,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
563 c   Salt Lake City Cal.July 16 (1849), manuscript postmark and 10 rate on folded letter with integral address leaf to Richmond, Indiana, cover silked, fine.This letter was carried east on the same Mormon express as the Hascall letter offered in thSalt Lake City Cal./July 16 (1849), manuscript postmark and "10" rate on folded letter with integral address leaf to Richmond, Indiana, cover silked, fine.This letter was carried east on the same Mormon express as the Hascall letter offered in the previous lot on July 27, 1849. In it the writer states "...you can write to us now and it will come direct as there is a post office established here and contract for the mail through to the bay once in three months..." The reference to the "bay" must be San Francisco, but this letter was carried east to the Missouri River. The first westbound contract was not awarded until 1851. (Image) Est. $500-750

SOLD for $625.00
Will close during Public Auction
564 c   [Babbits Mormon Mails, 1849], folded letter with integral address leaf to Iowa City, Iowa datelined Orrigan Pacific Springs, July 27th 1849 in which the writer, C Swan, states ..I expect Mr. Babbit along with the Mormon mails, entered th[Babbit's Mormon Mails, 1849], folded letter with integral address leaf to Iowa City, Iowa datelined "Orrigan Pacific Springs, July 27th 1849" in which the writer, C Swan, states "..I expect Mr. Babbit along with the Mormon mails", entered the mails with manuscript "Kane Iowa/Sep 6" postmark and "10" rate, trivial soiling, very fine.Almon W. Babbitt left Salt Lake City on duly 27, 1849, the very same day this letter was written, with an express mail and a memorial to congress for territorial status for Utah. It is possible and very probable that Babbitt did pick up Swan's letter at Pacific Springs and deliver it to the Kanesville post office. On September 17th the Frontier Guardian reported that Babbitt with the Mormon mails, arrived at Kanesville on September 3rd, three days before this letter was postmarked.Pacific Springs was located three miles west of the South Pass in present day Wyoming. Kane was the name of the Post Office which was the same as Kanesville and was changed to Council Bluffs on 10 December, 1852. (Image) Est. $1,000-1,500

SOLD for $2,900.00
Will close during Public Auction
565 c   Great Salt Lake City July 27 1850, dateline on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass. carried by Mormon express, entered the mails with light Kane, Iowa datestamp and partial handstamped 10 rate, very fine.LongGreat Salt Lake City July 27 1850, dateline on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass. carried by Mormon express, entered the mails with light "Kane, Iowa" datestamp and partial handstamped "10" rate, very fine.Long letter from Ursala Hascall to her sister mostly discussing personal matters, but also mentioning the throng of gold miners on their way to California. (Image) Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $10,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
566 c   Salt Lake Deseret, Nov 19 1850, strong manuscript postmark and 10 rate of folded letter with integral address leaf to Sabula, Iowa, carried by Woodson with the first official contact mail eastbound in late November of 1850, cover with some aginSalt Lake Deseret, Nov 19 1850, strong manuscript postmark and "10" rate of folded letter with integral address leaf to Sabula, Iowa, carried by Woodson with the first official contact mail eastbound in late November of 1850, cover with some aging and silked splits along the folds, fine; the only known cover bearing the designation "Deseret" in the postmark.This letter was written by Andrew McFarlane who had stopped off at Salt Lake City on his way west to the gold mines in California. He writes in part "I started about the 10th of April from Independence with the express to Ft Laramy and intended going to California from that point with pack animals but mules and poneys cost so much here that I concluded to come back to Independence and take a fresh start. When I got back to Independence again about the first of June when I got a chance to drive a mule teem back again to Ft Laramy for 25 dols a month - arrived at Ft Laramy again about the tenth of August when I got a chance to go throw to the great salt lake valey among the Mormons whare I arrived on the 23 day of September ad 1850 and calculate to stay here to about the first of April when I intend to go to Calafornia by the way of the cut off (Hastings?) with pack animals. I am living among the Mormons about as a hospitable a set of people as I have been among since I left home,"With the end of the Mexican war, the area west of the Rocky Mountains, which included the present state of Utah and parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, which had been claimed by Mexico, was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Early in March of 1849 a constitution was adopted and a provisional government was organized under the name of the State of Deseret with Brigham Young as governor. The new government then sent a memorial to Congress for statehood and then on May 4, 1849 sent a second request for territorial status. Actually the Mormons wanted statehood in order to reduce federal influence from Washington. It would be forty-six years before Congress granted statehood on January 4, 1896. The word Deseret is taken from the Book of Mormon meaning honeybee.On September 9, 1850 Congress created the Utah Territory dashing all hopes for a State of Deseret. Early in 1850 Samuel Woodson and James Brown were awarded the mail contract from Salt Lake to the Missouri River to begin July 1st of that year. However the first mail did not reach Salt Lake until early in November. The mails were so slow and irregular that the official news that the Utah Territory had been established the year before did not arrive in Salt Lake City until January of 1851. (Image) Est. $4,000-5,000

SOLD for $9,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
567 c   [Brigham Young Free Frank] Official Brigham Young, Governor clear manuscript frank in his hand on folded letter with integral address leaf to Tallahassee, Florida with manuscript Salt Lake City, U.T.June 1st, 1851 postmark, extremely fine t[Brigham Young Free Frank] "Official Brigham Young, Governor" clear manuscript frank in his hand on folded letter with integral address leaf to Tallahassee, Florida with manuscript "Salt Lake City, U.T./June 1st, 1851" postmark, extremely fine; the earliest recorded use of the Salt Lake City manuscript postmark.The letter, written entirely in Brigham Young's hand and signed by him, concerns official business of the territory. Though he franked the cover as Territorial Governor, he did not have authority to do so under the Postal Laws & Regulations rules of the Post Office Department. (imagea) (Image) Est. $3,000-4,000

SOLD for $10,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
568 c   Salt Lake City, U.T., July 1 (1851), clear straightline postmark and matching 6 rate on buff cover to Hopewell, N.J. mailed on the first day of regular mail service under Woodson subcontract and first day of new 1851 postal rates (6c prepaid ovSalt Lake City, U.T., July 1 (1851), clear straightline postmark and matching "6" rate on buff cover to Hopewell, N.J. mailed on the first day of regular mail service under Woodson subcontract and first day of new 1851 postal rates (6c prepaid over 3,000 miles) correctly re-rated with red "5" due handstamp for unpaid 3c rate under 3,000 miles, cover with light pocket folds, still very fine. (Image) Est. $3,000-4,000

SOLD for $2,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
569 c   [First Trip Dalles to Salt Lake City Route] folded letter with integral address leaf datelined Fort Boise Sept. 13th, 1851 to Kirksville, Missouri, sent unpaid at the 3c rate and carried on the first run to Salt Lake City, where it received a c[First Trip Dalles to Salt Lake City Route] folded letter with integral address leaf datelined "Fort Boise Sept. 13th, 1851" to Kirksville, Missouri, sent unpaid at the 3c rate and carried on the first run to Salt Lake City, where it received a clear straightline "Salt Lake City, U.T./Oct. 1" postmark and rated 5c collect with their "5" handstamp, very fine; ex-Jessup, Haas.On 22 May, 1851 a mail route contract was awarded to L.G. Torrence and J.L. Brown to carry the mails from the Dalles to Salt Lake City via Forts Boise and Hall. The mail was to leave Salt Lake City on August 1st at arrive at the Dalles on August 30th. The eastbound was to leave September 3rd to arrive at Salt Lake City on September 30th. By this time most of the migration had been diverted to California because of the discovery of gold in 1848.The following is from the letter by I.M. Ebey to his brother in Missouri: "I have just time to drop you a line as the Mail Carrier from the Dalles to Salt Lake wates for me to do so. I met Rebena and the children all well near the first crossing of Snake river 180 miles west of Ft. Hall... The Company have enjoyed health in a remarkable degree and have little loss of stock ... A good deal of difficulty has happened this year between here and Ft Hall with Indians. Many have been killed but all the misfortunes that have occurred either in life or property have resulted from want of caution. Companies that came from Ft Hall strong have had nothing happen to them. Our Company had a slight brush - Some shooting - No persons hurt... We are now through the bad Indians..."There were three Fort Boises. The first was a log trading post built for the Hudson's Bay Co. before 1836. About 1838 the site was changed and a new fort was built on the east side of the Snake River about one mile north of its confluence with the Boise River. This second fort was one of the most celebrated stopping points on the Oregon Trail, along with Forts Hall and Walla Walla. In 1855 the Hudson's Bay Co. sold most of its holdings in the Oregon country and Fort Boise was abandoned.The third Fort Boise was built by the U.S. Army in 1863 on the present site of the city of Boise, Idaho. There were no post offices at the three forts. This cover was rated 5 cents collect at Salt Lake City for under 3,000 miles. (Image) Est. $2,000-3,000

SOLD for $9,500.00
Will close during Public Auction
570 c   Salt Lake City, U.T., Nov 1, beautifully struck Utah territorial period postmark on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass., rated unpaid double rate with X handstamp and corrected to single rate with matching 5 hanSalt Lake City, U.T., Nov 1, beautifully struck Utah territorial period postmark on folded letter with integral address leaf to North New Salem, Mass., rated unpaid double rate with "X" handstamp and corrected to single rate with matching "5" handstamp, extremely fine; ex-Baker.Irene Hascall writes a long letter on personal matters, a few interesting extracts from the letter include: "...The mail leaves this city for the states every month and arrives the same once every month...Mr. Pomeroy (Francis M.) is not altered much excepting older. he has been through a good many hardships in travelling. He has been to the coast (and) to the mines (California). He says it is perfect confusion. Drinking, gambling, cursing, swearing, murdering, burning and he would not stay there for all the gold ther is there...he understands the Spanish (language) and was requested to go by the church (to) trade with the Spaniards..." (Image) Est. $1,000-1,500

SOLD for $5,500.00
Will close during Public Auction
571 c   Salt Lake City, Utah, Sep. 1 (1855), bold blue datestamp and matching Paid24 in circle handstamp on cover to Ayr, Scotland, 3 credit handstamp, arrived in England with red tombstone Paid inAmericaLiverpool28 Oc 55 postmark, Ayr arrivalSalt Lake City, Utah, Sep. 1 (1855), bold blue datestamp and matching "Paid/24" in circle handstamp on cover to Ayr, Scotland, "3" credit handstamp, arrived in England with red tombstone "Paid in/America/Liverpool/28 Oc 55" postmark, Ayr arrival backstamp, very fine. (Image) Est. $300-400

SOLD for $1,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
572 c   [Salt Lake City to Russia in 1856], Cover from The City of Saints to Imperial Russia, right sheet-margin horizontal pair 12c Black (17, small repair at top left corner) tied by well struck blue Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov 1 datestamp to buff c[Salt Lake City to Russia in 1856], Cover from "The City of Saints" to Imperial Russia, right sheet-margin horizontal pair 12c Black (#17, small repair at top left corner) tied by well struck blue "Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov 1" datestamp to buff cover addressed in French to Mademoiselle Ludert at the Establishment Galvanoplastique care of La Grande Duchess Marie Nicolaovna at St. Petersburg, Russia, left New York with red "New York/Am. Pkt./Apr 4" postmark after a long delay in transit, thence to England via U.S. Packet and carried to St. Petersburg via Aachen, Germany, 13 May St. Petersburg arrival backstamp, cover a bit reduced at top and with small corner repairs, fine and rare usage of a pair of the 12c 1851 issue. This cover was rated 21c by British Open Mail via U.S. Packet, thus was overpaid by 3c, the postmaster at Salt Lake City may have charged the sender 3c for the overland rate to New York, although the 21c rate was from any point in the United States, from England the postage would be collect to Russia. During the winter of 1856-7 no regular mail service was performed, because of the deep snows on the plains and in the mountains. It was one of the worst winters in the Rocky Mountains. From September 10th the mail piled up at Salt Lake City until the postmaster contracted with Feramorz Little and Ephraim Hanks to carry the mail to Independence, Missouri. They left on Dec. 10, 1856, performing the service under terrible conditions, and not arriving at Independence until February 27th - almost eighty days in transit. (Image) Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $3,500.00
Will close during Public Auction
573   [The Utah War, Albert Sidney Johnston], An incredible group of six letters, three entirely in Johnstons hand, 1857-58, while a colonel commanding the Army of Utah with one document signed by Johnston and by Jesse L. Reno. Johnston had been sen[The Utah War, Albert Sidney Johnston], An incredible group of six letters, three entirely in Johnston's hand, 1857-58, while a colonel commanding the Army of Utah; with one document signed by Johnston and by Jesse L. Reno. Johnston had been sent west in response to complaints about the near-theocratic control over the Utah Territory exercised by Brigham Young, head the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also governor of the territory. President James Buchanan appointed a new governor, Alfred Cumming, to reinforce US authority there, and dispatched Johnston with 2,500 troops to act as a posse comitatus to keep the peace upon his arrival. In the first letter, from Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory, Johnston writes Assistant Adjutant General Major Irvin McDowell that he has just arrived from Ft. Leavenworth after a seven-day march. He is glad to report that: "There is no indication of an early winter. Beyond Laramie, Capt. (Stewart) Van Vliet writes from Red Buttes that the grass is bad beyond belief. Every thing thus far encourages the belief that there will be no failure of any portion of the troops destined for Utah." (Van Vliet had been sent ahead to try to smooth matters with Brigham Young, but was unsuccessful.) In the next letter, from "Camp on the three crossings of Sweet Water, 13 Octr. '57," he writes to McDowell that he has sent couriers to Col. Edmund Alexander, leading a column far to his rear, and "From them I learn that the Mormons having interposed a force in rear of our troops, then encamped at Hams fork of Green River, succeeded in burning three supply trains with their contents. Message from Col. Alexander was sent by them to Col. CF Smith instructing him to protect the trains in the rear. … leaves Col. Smith with only 22 men; 47 men of his command were left at Laramie as part of the Governor's escort. We will march in the morning and expect to encamp with Col. Smith tomorrow night. Col. Alexander is trying to reach the Valley of Salt Lake by the Bear River … I would direct him to take up a good position for the winter at Hams fork. The road is beset between this & Hams fork with companies of Mormons." With McDowellís forward to the Secretary of War on verso of last page. Five days later he sends a letter to McDowell from the "South Pass - En route to Salt Lake City" enclosing two letters from Alexander (not present) in which the latter questions his own authority to command. Johnston says Alexander's authority "is clearly granted by the 62d. Article of War … in the absence of Genl. Harney … " Alexander has not halted as Johnston advised, and evidently believes that Col. Smith is advancing on the Kinney "you are already apprised, by the proclamation of Brigham Young of the political attitude assumed by the Mormons and the resistance they meditate The General in Chief no doubt has already considered the necessity of a conquest of those traitorous people."On December 13, he writes in holograph to McDowell from Camp Scott, near the site of an older fort (Bridger) that the Mormons had burned. "Two additional companies of volunteers have been mustered into the service of the United States for nine (9) months.' .." He is now "anxious for the certain and safe transit of supplies for the army in the spring .." The winter of 1857-58 was difficult for the soldiers at Camp Scott. Sent into the wilderness so late in the season with such an unreliable supply line, his men nearly starved and froze. Meanwhile, backchannel negotiations eventually convinced Brigham Young to relinquish his governorship and accept Cumming. Still distrustful of the army, Young and his followers abandoned Salt Lake City, hiding in the mountains to the south until it became clear that there would be no violence. On April 22, 1858, from Camp Scott, Johnston sends McDowell a letter from Governor Cumming (not present) "in which he announces that he has been received and recognized as Governor of Utah." He presumes this means the Mormon militia will disperse, but "three days since they were still encamped in the Canyons on the route to the city, in considerable force. I send copies of the Deseret News (not present). You will see the effort the editor makes to inflame the people against the Army." With autograph endorsement on blank integral page by Commanding General Winfield Scott. The last letter, from Camp Floyd on November 2, 1859, he writes Assistant Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas in New York about Maj. Isaac Lynde's expedition, protecting emigrants passing through the territory to California, Washington, and Oregon. All the same, "three parties were robbed and ten or twelve of their members, comprising men, women, and children, murdered; one of these parties was plundered before and two subsequent to the arrival of the troops. The perpetrators of the robbery of the first party were severely chastised" though the others were not found. "They are supposed to be vagabonds from the Shoshones or Snake and Bannack Indians. There is abundant evidence to prove that these robber bands are accompanied by white men and probably instigated and led by them. These bands are composed of vicious tools in the hands of worse white men."Finally, Johnston endorses a 3½ page estimate of ordnance stores for the Department of Utah for the next two years, submitted by Jesse L. Reno, then a brevet captain of ordnance. It includes 12 barrels of .58 caliber rifled muskets, with the necessary ball screws, bullet moulas …. All letters have minor faults, a few small pieces missing, and two with clean hinge separations not affecting text. With Map between Fort Leavenworth and the Great Salt Lake. NY, Ackerman Litho., 1850.Johnston, Albert Sidney - American soldier who fought under the flags of the Union, the Republic of Texas, and the Confederacy (1803-62); considered by many the greatest general in the South at the beginning of the war; shot in the knee at Shiloh, he thought the wound minor, but it had severed an artery and within minutes he was dead; the highest-ranking officer to die during the war. As with most military events in the 1840s and 50s, the men in these letters would find themselves on opposite sides during the Civil War. Jesse L. Reno, fighting for the Union, would die in September 1862, killed by a sniper while reconnoitering enemy positions during the Battle of South Mountain. (imagea) (imageb) (Image) Est. $5,000-7,500

SOLD for $35,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
574   [Mountain Meadows Massacre], Angry content letter by Lieut. Benjamin Wingate of the 5th US Infantry, Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, March 24, 1859. He tells his friend A.L. Hardy of Lexington, Indiana, that the mail has been delayed by cold weather[Mountain Meadows Massacre], Angry content letter by Lieut. Benjamin Wingate of the 5th US Infantry, Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, March 24, 1859. He tells his friend A.L. Hardy of Lexington, Indiana, that the mail has been delayed by cold weather and deep snow. The soldiers hope Congress will send them better rations, but Wingate doubts it. They have heard: "from our Col. who is in Washington, that the 5th Infty would be ordered to New Mexico or Orazona this spring. I hope it will be to New Mexico...I have seen enough of mormonism. They are a set of damned sons of bitches and if justice could be done all the head devils would be hung higher than havon. But justice cannot be had. There is not the slightest possibility of the judges being able to inforce the laws. Judge Cradlbough convened his court about two weeks ago at Provo City and yesterday he discharged the grand jury telling them at the same time that they were a set of perjured damned scoundrels. The only bills they could find were against two Indians notwithstanding the judge in his charge to them pointed out several cases of murder and informed them where they could find evidence but no, they could find no bills against Mormons. The judge I believe intends to adjourn his court to this place and make an other effort...I consider the Mormon difficulty no more settled at this time than it was Eighteen months ago. The only difference is that there is a considerable force of United States troops in the Territory...If the government would only say the word for us we are almost spoiling for a mess with the heathen devils."With original cover bearing Camp Floyd, U.T. postmark. Wingate had begun as a private in the service and would ultimately reach the rank of captain and brevet major during the Civil War. He died in June 1862 of wounds suffered months before at the Battle of Valverde in New Mexico. Also an outstanding content manuscript document, a true copy of a statement by Judge Cradlebaugh from the bench, in response to a supposed "proclamation" by Governor Alfred Cumming. Cumming protests the presence of US troops in the vicinity of the Provo courthouse, where the judge presides. Cradlebaugh's reply is savage: "Governor Cumming speaks of a Company...being stationed around the Court House...and also of several Companies...in Sight of the Court House. He also says that the presence of these soldiers has a tendency...to terrify the inhabitants...also to subvert the ends of justice...I have only to say...they are stationed near the court House and on one side of it. The additional troops referred to as being within sight of the Court House, are at least four miles distant...In regard to the inhabitants being terrified...those who seem to have been stricken with terror have fled the country on account of crimes committed by them and the fear of just punishment...Among them are...several of the jurors, Presidents of 'Stakes', Bishops and also officers of the Territory." Furthermore, justice has been subverted by intimidation of witnesses by the locals, and some witnesses have asked the army not to leave, fearing they will be killed. (imagea) (Image) Est. $1,000-1,500

SOLD for $12,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
575   [Mountain Meadows Massacre], murders too horrible to be told & perpetrated by the authority of the Church. Astonishing content letter by Charles Brewer, an assistant surgeon in the US 10th Infantry, 6 pages, 4to, Camp Floyd, Utah Territory,[Mountain Meadows Massacre], "murders too horrible to be told & perpetrated by the authority of the Church." Astonishing content letter by Charles Brewer, an assistant surgeon in the US 10th Infantry, 6 pages, 4to, Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, March 31, 1859. With original cover bearing Camp Floyd postmark and 6-cent rate. Brewer writes in outrage to Dr. Abram Claude in Annapolis, MD: "You are already aware of the horrible state of morality among these people. I can call by names individual cases of men marrying...a mother & her daughters, a man his own 5 & 6 nieces, & even horrible to relate living with their own children: this they do they say to propagate rapidly & make tabernacles for souls which they suppose to be flying about in the air like nats looking for an abode.""Evidence of murders too horrible to be told & perpetrated by the authority of the Church are becoming unraveled. It is now proved that at the massacre of the Emmigrants at the Mountain Meadows, after the men were murdered by the Mormons, the Indians were called in to do the bloodier part of the butchery, and Mormons have told me that defenceless women & children clung in numbers around the legs of the brutal savages in vain imploring mercy and offering themselves as slaves. They were not only scalped, but according to Mormon custom their throats cut from ear to ear & heads severed...The Juries & grand juries are composed of Mormons. This too sanctioned by the Governor who is the pot companion of the Traitor (Brigham) Young & whose private secretary is married to a mother & her daughter.""Judge Sinclair with volumes of evidence of crime before him was forced to adjourn his court as a failure. Judge Cradlebaugh is now using his strongest efforts. The bishops of Provo, Springville & other cities were engaged in the murders. Guilt has driven them to the mountains. When officers approach a city to arrest criminals the alarm is sounded from the walls with a bugle & the criminal is shielded & is assisted to escape. Even when criminals are caught, the legislature have in every way attempted to embarrass the execution of Justice. AT LAST the Judiciary have been vested with the power of calling upon troops to act as a posse comitatus. The Mormons are in a state of rebellion. In their tabernacles they pray that pestilence & famine may destroy the army & foreign power subvert the Government. They preach & practice excommunication against those who sell to the army. Such are the people just pardoned from treason (by President Buchanan, who had just botched a show of military force) Are they not, TRAITORS still?"On September 7, 1857, a group of about 140 emigrants to California were camped at Mountain Meadows, in need of rest and forage before proceeding, since the people of Utah Territory had unexpectedly refused to sell them the food and supplies they had counted on. They were suddenly besieged by hundreds of men who began to fire on their camp. They rallied, but soon their ammunition was used up. An emissary from the attackers arrived with a white flag and offered them the choice of surrender. They complied, and the men, women, and children were marched out of camp in separate groups. Once in the clear, all but the smallest children were shot. The children under eight years old were distributed among a few Mormon families. Brigham Young and his followers blamed the attack on local Native Americans, but it soon became clear that the large majority of the killers were white men, some of whom had darkened their faces. Though several men were indicted, Governor Cumming wished to let the matter drop and the Latter-day Saints actively hindered the investigation and subsequent prosecution using all the methods Brewer lists here. As time wore on, Young distanced himself from the men who were involved (and who thought that they were acting under his orders). In the end, only one man, John D. Lee, was convicted for his part in the massacre, and was executed in 1877, twenty years after the crime. Two years after writing this, Brewer would also be in a state of rebellion, resigning his commission and enlisting in the Confederate army. (imagea) (Image) Est. $1,500-2,000

SOLD for $19,000.00
Will close during Public Auction
576 c   Camp Floyd, U. T., May 12, bold strike of rimless Utah Territory datestamp tying 3c Dull red (26) to fresh blue cover to New York, extremely fine and choice as this marking is usually found poorly struck.Camp Floyd, U. T., May 12, bold strike of rimless Utah Territory datestamp tying 3c Dull red (#26) to fresh blue cover to New York, extremely fine and choice as this marking is usually found poorly struck. (Image) Est. $400-500

SOLD for $850.00
Will close during Public Auction
577 c   [Brigham Youngs Plural Wives] Great Salt Lake City July 21st, 1859 dateline on descriptive letter enclosed within a buff cover to Senecaville, Ohio with 3c Dull red (26, fault) tied by Salt Lake City, U.T.Aug 5 datestamp, very fine.J.C. Lowe[Brigham Young's Plural Wives] Great Salt Lake City July 21st, 1859 dateline on descriptive letter enclosed within a buff cover to Senecaville, Ohio with 3c Dull red (#26, fault) tied by "Salt Lake City, U.T./Aug 5" datestamp, very fine.J.C. Lowery, a westbound emigrant, stops off on his way to California and writes an excellent description of the Mormons and their city. He notes that: "..facing the South stands Brigham Young's houses two in number...Before one of his houses is a portico running up square at the top and on that lays a lion hewn out of a solid rock. Emblem of strength perhaps. These houses are said to be divided into sixty eight apartments and each apparently is said to contain a wife. Brighams family is said to consist of himself Sixty eight wives and a hundred children..." Of historic note he mentions that: "...Horace Greely is in the city and attended church last Sabbath. They honored him with a seat among the elders and while elder Pratte was delivering his discourse H G (Greely) went a sleep..." (Image) Est. $300-400

SOLD for $1,350.00
Will close during Public Auction
578 c   [Utah Mormon War] Salt Lake City, U.T., Mar 16 (1860) bold datestamp ties 3c Dull red (26) to cover to Hendrysburgh, Ohio with interesting letter telling about Camp Floyd, the U.S. Army Expedition to Utah - a useless expenditure, and comments[Utah Mormon War] Salt Lake City, U.T., Mar 16 (1860) bold datestamp ties 3c Dull red (#26) to cover to Hendrysburgh, Ohio with interesting letter telling about Camp Floyd, the U.S. Army Expedition to Utah - "a useless expenditure," and comments on Brigham Young, the Mormons and polygamy, cover with nick at bottom left and some staining at upper left, fine.The great letter written by John G. Hoagland, probably a Scandinavian convert, who had come overland a year or two before this letter, corresponds under the dateline "Salt Lake City Utah Territory, March 11, 1860" He writes in part "...the customs & manners of the people are so different to what I have been accustomed and it is not to be wondered at when one takes into acct. the kinds of people of which society is found here - there is over 100,000 persons thrown together from all nations almost upon the face of the globe - I don't believe there is another man living that could keep this people together...so well as Brigham Young - you will hardly hear of an instance of one going contrary to his council & all go to him for counsel & their affairs - there is no appeal from the decision of him & his councllors of which he has two viz Heber C. Kimball & Daniel Wells, & plurality...exists almost to a man hardly one of them has but 2 wives & many of them from 4 to 6 & 8 but none can have more than one without consent of Brigham & from his decisions there is no appeal in matters of matrimony or divorce - in the latter case if a man & woman cannot agree to live together all they have to do is go (to) him & state their griveances & if he thinks them sufficient import he at once disolves the marriage covenant between them when each one goes their own way & if at a future time they should find other partners go to him & he is just as ready to unite them again & so on to the end of the chapter & all this without fee or reward - very magnanimous!" The letter ends with: "This letter comes to you by a pony express mail that leaves here every friday (March 16, 1860 the day this letter was postmarked) and goes through St. Joseph in 6 days it is carried on pack animals & carries letters only - it is a recent thing & I hope it will be continued although U.S. (Uncle Sam) dont seem to be very favorably disposed towards mail this way..."The first eastbound trip of the Pony Express left Salt Lake City on April 7th and was six days in reaching St. Joseph on the Missouri River on April 13th. Apparently, Hoagland decided against the pony service when he was told the rate was $5.00 per half ounce. (Image) Est. $400-500

SOLD for $8,500.00
Will close during Public Auction
579 c   [Indian War in Utah Territory] On the March from Camp Floyd U.T. to Fort Leavenworth, K.T. soldiers endorsement on cover to Fort Laramie, N.T. (Nebraska Territory, present day Wyoming) with 3c Dull red (26) tied by partial strike of Camp Floyd[Indian War in Utah Territory] On the March from Camp Floyd U.T. to Fort Leavenworth, K.T. soldier's endorsement on cover to Fort Laramie, N.T. (Nebraska Territory, present day Wyoming) with 3c Dull red (#26) tied by partial strike of "Camp Floyd, U.T., Aug 17" datestamp, with original letter, very fine.Thomas Barrett reports on August 17th, 1860 to 1st Lieut. Francis J. Shunk that: "...Lieut. Perkins (Delavan D.) had a fight with the Indians. 3 men of the Artillery wounded and 12 Indians killed and wounded..."The action referred to took place at Eagan Canyon (present day Nevada) & Deep Creek with troops of Company B 4th artillery. Indians had disrupted mail service along the Pony Express route since May 1860. (Image) Est. $300-400

SOLD for $375.00
Will close during Public Auction
580   [Indians in Utah Territory], Excellent Civil War and emigration content letter by Harriet D. Henderson in Willard, Utah Territory, to her uncle, April 24, 1863. She reports that they have begun raising their own cotton because the war has cut off[Indians in Utah Territory], Excellent Civil War and emigration content letter by Harriet D. Henderson in Willard, Utah Territory, to her uncle, April 24, 1863. She reports that they have begun raising their own cotton because the war has cut off the supply from the South. She also reports the Battle of Bear River near Franklin, Idaho, where American troops fought Native Americans, and:"The Indians were worsted in the fight, and They are now Egar for Revenge, so that Traveling in Washington Territory is very dangerous." Though civil war rages throughout the country, "We are Certainly bless'd in this territory with pease and Plenty. Our men are at home pursueing the domestic duties of life and our Mountain Country is fast assuming the appierance of an old Settled Country, altho when our People first Settle here to all apperances it was a Desaret land. Altho our enimies Mob and drove us from our Lawfull possessions in the States it Has resulted in our good. We are here in these peacefull vales - Free from war and strife.""This season we are sending Five Hundred Waggons...to bring some of our people from Florance, Nebraska Territory. We expect that our Emigration to this territory this sason will exceed eight Thousand ..." (Image) Est. $500-750

SOLD for $2,700.00
Will close during Public Auction

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