THE WEEKLY SYMBOL AND ODD FELLOWS' GAZETTE  (Boston) for Saturday, August 8, 1846 [I:7].

Folio (24½ X 18½ inches). [4] pages (complete issue). Very good. Separated at backfold with some raggedness; small area clipped from upper-right blank margin of front page.

$150

 

 

 

With a rare article on page three about the Mormon Battalion (three column inches). Such appearances in newspapers of the time are difficult to find. Out of thousands (yes, thousands) of newspapers I have examined over the years containing articles on the Mormons, I doubt that I have seen more than twenty or thirty which discussed the Mormon Battalion.

This was only the seventh issue of this new paper, but it is well printed, and the paper is in strong, clean condition. The article is friendly to the Mormons . . .

 

. . . And, the article appears to be quite accurate. Allen and Leonard provide background, beginning in the summer of 1846 as the Mormons were crossing Iowa enroute to the West . . .

Even as the [Missouri] river crossing began, word arrived that Captain James Allen was en route from Mt. Pisgah [Iowa, Mormon camp] seeking volunteers for military service. He was representing Colonel Stephen W. Kearny of the U.S. Army of the West, soon to be engaged in the war that Congress had declared a month earlier in Mexico.

     In 1845 the United States had annexed Texas, but in the process had wounded the pride of Mexico, which still claimed much of Texas territory. War broke out after a skirmish between Mexican and United States troops in the disputed territory. The conflict was popular with American expansionists, for it meant the possibility of new territory for the United States. At the request of President James K. Polk, Congress authorized the enlistment of fifty thousand men to augment regular military forces. Within two years the Mexican provinces of Upper California and New Mexico would be added to the American Union. Upper California included the Great Basin, the destination of the Saints.
. . . . .
      To the surprise of many Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young immediately reacted in favor of the requisition. In a public meeting called to explain the government action, he supported the call as "the first offer we have ever had from the government to benefit us." The men would serve one year and proceed at government expense first to Santa Fe and then to California. After discharge they would retain their arms and supplies. Meantime, the soldiers' pay would help transport their families west. Here was evidence, said President Young, that the government intended not to hinder but to help the Saints reach Upper California. In addition, the Mormons would be able to demonstrate their loyalty. Though President Young did not mention it, it was also a significant symbol for the Saints to help win for the United States the territory they were about to colonize. [James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints (SLC, 1976/86), pp. 225-6]