Mormon Settlement in Arizona | Page 7

his "surveying
party" hardly had improved the situation in bringing dissension into the
American armed forces. General Kearny had been dispatched with all
speed from Fort Leavenworth westward, with a small force of dragoons,
later narrowly escaping disaster as he approached San Diego. There
was necessity for a supporting party for Kearny and for poor vision of
troops to enforce an American peace in California. To fill this breach,
resort was had to the harassed and homeless Saints.

The route was taken along the Santa Fe trail, which then, in 1846, was
in use mainly by buffalo hunters and western trading and trapping
parties. It was long before the western migration of farm seekers, and
the lure of gold yet was distant. There were unsatisfactory conditions of
administration and travel, as narrated by historians of the command,
mainly enlisted men, naturally with the viewpoint of the private soldier.
But it happens that the details agree, in general, and indicate that the
trip throughout was one of hardship and of denial. There came the loss
of a respected commander and the temporary accession of an impolitic
leader. Especially there was complaint over the mistaken zeal of an
army surgeon, who insisted upon the administration of calomel and
who denied the men resort to their own simple remedies, reinforced by
expression of what must have been a very sustaining sort of faith.
A more popular, though strict, commander was found in Santa Fe,
whence the Battalion was pushed forward again within five days,
following Kearny to the Coast. The Rockies were passed through a
trackless wilderness, yet on better lines than had been found by
Kearny's horsemen. Arizona, as now known, was entered not far from
the present city of Douglas. There were fights with wild bulls in the
San Pedro valley, there was a bloodless victory in the taking of the
ancient pueblo of Tucson, there was travail in the passage of the desert
to the Gila and a brief respite in the plenty of the Pima villages before
the weary way was taken down the Gila to the Colorado and thence
across the sands of the Colorado desert, in California, to the shores of
the western ocean.
All this was done on foot. The start from Leavenworth was in the heat
of summer, August 12, 1846. Two months later Santa Fe was entered,
Tucson was passed in December and on January 27, 1847, "was caught
the first and a magnificent view of the great ocean; and by rare chance
it was so calm that it shone like a great mirror."
In detail, the following description of the march, as far as Los Angeles,
mainly is from the McClintock History of Arizona.
Organization of the Battalion

Col. Stephen W. Kearny, commanding the First Dragoon regiment,
then stationed at Fort Leavenworth, selected Capt. James Allen of the
same regiment to be commander of the new organization, with
volunteer rank as lieutenant-colonel. The orders read: "You will have
the Mormons distinctly understand that I wish to have them as
volunteers for twelve months; that they will be marched to California,
receive pay and allowances during the above time, and at its expiration
they will be discharged, and allowed to retain as their private property
the guns and accouterments furnished them at this post."
Captain Allen proceeded at once to Mount Pisgah, a Mormon camp 130
miles east of Council Bluffs, where, on June 26, 1846, he issued a
recruiting circular in which was stated: "This gives an opportunity of
sending a portion of your young and intelligent men to the ultimate
destination of your whole people at the expense of the United States,
and this advance party can thus pave the way and look out the land for
their brethren to come after them."
July 16, 1846, five companies were mustered into the service of the
United States at Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory. The company officers
had been elected by the recruits, including Captains Jefferson Hunt,
Jesse B. Hunter, James Brown and Nelson Higgins. George P. Dykes
was appointed adjutant and William McIntyre assistant surgeon.
The march westward was started July 20, the route through St. Joseph
and Leavenworth, where were found a number of companies of
Missouri volunteers. Colonel Allen, who had secured the confidence
and affection of his soldiers, had to be left, sick, at Leavenworth, where
he died August 23.
At Leavenworth full equipment was secured, including flintlock
muskets, with a few caplock guns for sharpshooting and hunting. Pay
also was drawn, the paymaster expressing surprise over the fact that
every man could write his own name, "something that only one in three
of the Missouri volunteers could accomplish." August 12 and 14 two
divisions of the Battalion left Leavenworth.
Cooke Succeeds to the Command

The place of Colonel Allen was taken, provisionally,