Mormon Resistance - by Leroy R Hafen & Ann W Hafen (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: Utah Expedition, 1857-1858. Glendale, Calif.: A.H. Clark Co., 1958, in series: The Far West and the Rockies historical series, 1820-1875.

Book Synopsis

In 1857 President Buchanan quietly sent new officials to rule the Utah Territory and replace Brigham Young as the territorial governor. With no official announcement, the new leaders were accompanied by a twenty-five-hundred-member troop under the leadership of Col. Albert Sidney Johnston. The secrecy, the size of the military force, and past experiences caused the Mormons to mistakenly believe they were about to be invaded by the federal government. Utah's territorial militia, the Nauvoo Legion, readied itself against the impending invasion until disagreement and disapproval in Washington finally led to successful diplomacy and a reluctant peace.

LeRoy R. and Ann W. Hafen have brought together the principal official documents pertaining to these singular and nearly tragic events as well as excerpts from the diaries and journals of the central figures, speeches given in Congress and in Utah, and pertinent correspondence.

Review Quotes

"One of the best bargains in all publishing is the series called Bison Books from the University of Nebraska. These are reprints of important volumes that have long been out-of-print. . . . The least-known of all of America's many (too many wars) is. . . the Utah War of 1857-58. Here is a documentary history of that forgotten civil war, thankfully a bloodless one."--Richard H. Dillon, True West

"This Bison Book reprint makes available once again an important collection of reports, proclamations, military orders and instructions, diaries, speeches, editorials and correspondence relevant to the conflict between Utah Mormons and the federal government known as the Utah War."--Utah Historical Quarterly

"A useful collection of documentary material which, taken as a whole, provides a basis for a more nearly impartial view of those highly partisan events which occurred just a century ago in the conflict between Mormon settlers of Utah Territory and the federal government."--Mississippi Valley Historical Review

About the Author

LeRoy R. Hafen (1893-1985) was a professor of history at Brigham Young University. He and his wife, Ann W. Hafen (1893-1970), edited Journals of Forty-Niners: Salt Lake to Los Angeles and are the authors of Handcarts to Zion: The Story of a Unique Western Migration, 1856-1860, both available in Bison Books editions.