Few events in the history of the American Far West from 1846 to 1849 did not involve the Mormon Battalion. The Battalion participated in the United States conquest of California and in the discovery of gold, opened four major wagon trails, and carried the news of gold east to an eager American public. Yet, the battalion is little known beyond Mormon history. This first complete history of the wide-ranging army unit restores it to its central place in Western history, and provides descendants a complete roster of the Battalion's members.
The great march across the Southwest. The story of that grueling march across wide prairies, mountains, and deserts is central to the battalion's story. It symbolizes the very essence of the Mormon drama as a frontier epic, and proves more than anything else the men's loyalty, stamina, and sacrifice.
For more than a century the history of the American Frontier, particularly the West, has been the speciality of the Arthur H. Clark Company. We publish new books, both interpretive and documentary, in small, high-quality editions for the collector, researcher, and library.
Mabel Finlayson Allred was a wife of Rulon Allred, leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, one of the major groups of fundamentalist Mormons who, since about the 1930s, have practiced plural marriage as separatists from the mainstream Latter-day Saints Church. Mabel’s autobiography maintains a mood of everyday normalcy strikingly in contrast with the stress of the ostracized life she was living. Her cheerful tone, expressive of her wish to live simply and gracefully in this world, is tempered by more somber descriptions of her personal struggle with clinical depression, of Rulon Allred’s inner struggles, of tensions with the law and with Allred’s fundamentalist colleagues, and ultimately by her forthright account of his assassination. Emerging from this unique narrative is the portrait of a woman buoyed by faith in both her religion and her husband, a window into the interior life of a woman seeking a resilient simplicity in an uncommonly challenging life. Plural Wife, conntextualized by Martha Bradley’s introduction, gives us insight into Mabel’s experience of history during an important period of the 20th century and advances our understanding of life ways of 20th century polygamy and the growth of the fundamentalist movement.
The little-known story of the Mormon Battalion is one of faith and fortitude. After being driven from their homes multiple times and being denied protection from their country's government, 500 men from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enlisted in the United States Army at the request of their country. Their 2,000-mile march across hostile territory during the Mexican-American War became the single longest march in United States Military History. This book recounts the events of that march through the eyes of Benjamin Franklin Royal, a fictious character, who relates the experiences of dealing with Native American tribes, Missourians who had previously persecuted members of their church, a doctor who seemed intent upon poisoning the battalion, starvation, dehydration, angry bulls and building a road that would be used by travelers for years to come. As you read this book you will also learn about the role of members of the Mormon Battalion in the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, their escort of John C. Fremont for his court martial, and their discovery of the remains of members of the Donner Party. While a handful of characters are fictious, the events are real.
Thomas L. Kane (1822-1883), a crusader for antislavery, women's rights, and the downtrodden, rose to prominence in his day as the most ardent and persuasive defender of Mormons' religious liberty. Though not a Mormon, Kane sought to defend the much-reviled group from the "Holy War" waged against them by evangelical America. His courageous personal intervention averted a potentially catastrophic bloody conflict between federal troops and Mormon settlers in the now nearly forgotten Utah War of 1857-58. Drawing on extensive, newly available archives, this book is the first to tell the full story of Kane's extraordinary life. The book illuminates his powerful Philadelphia family, his personal life and eccentricities, his reform achievements, his place in Mormon history, and his career as a Civil War general. Further, the book revises previous understandings of nineteenth-century reform, showing how Kane and likeminded others fused Democratic Party ideology, anti-evangelicalism, and romanticism.
This literary historical novel follows the U.S. Army and a Mormon Battalion-with families in tow-on an 1840s perilous trek across the daunting wilderness of the American Southwest-the longest march in U.S. infantry history. Part adventure, part coming-of-age, part military history-their story is a unique challenge of human resilience. This cast of engaging characters includes: an alcoholic eastern intellectual, a young man running to and from love, pregnant Mormon women fleeing religious persecution, and stoic Army officers, each with distinctive stories and voices, who share humor, hardship, and intrepid perseverance.
