On 26 June 1858, COL Albert Sidney Johnston ordered his troops forward, marching them towards Salt Lake City. For over a year, they had endured cold, hunger, and grueling marches. Now, as they entered Salt Lake City, they found it abandoned -- other than a few Soldiers of the Nauvoo Legion, who stood ready to set the city ablaze if Johnston’s Soldiers began rampaging. How did Johnston’s Army feel about this ambiguous end to a year-long campaign? How did Latter-day Saints deal with uncertainty am...
Apr 22, 2023•14 min•Season 4Ep. 12
In March 1858, Thomas Kane’s efforts to end the Utah War had been fruitless. a week with COL Albert Sidney Johnston and the U.S. Army on the plains of Wyoming. President James Buchanan had sent the Army to Utah, to remove Brigham Young as Governor and replace him with Alfred Cumming. This had led to a months-long armed standoff between the US Army and the Latter-day Saint militia. Sensing that he alone could work out a peace between the two sides, Thomas Kane raced to the Wyoming Wilderness, at ...
Mar 05, 2023•15 min•Season 4Ep. 11
On the night of 9 March 1858, Thomas L. Kane was trudging through a heavy snow storm on his self-appointed mission to End the Utah War. He had convinced Brigham Young and Church Leaders to extend an olive branch to the Army Expedition by offering them large quantities of food and supplies. But now, over 25 feet of snow buried the mountain roads. With temperatures plummeting and winds howling, Kane found himself growing weaker while the storm raged around him. Sensing that he might not survive, t...
Jan 17, 2023•15 min•Season 4Ep. 10
In February 1858, the Latter-day Saints and the U.S. Army were in an armed standoff on the frozen plains of Wyoming. The Army, under the command of COL Albert Sidney Johnston, were on half rations, and suffering from a lack of salt. The Latter-day Saints seemed to have the upper hand for the time being, though they faced growing threats from all sides. In the middle of this stalemate a strange letter arrived in Salt Lake City for Brigham Young. It had come express from the town of Nephi, about 8...
Dec 25, 2022•13 min•Season 4Ep. 9
This episode continues the adventures of Thomas L. Kane, who left his home in February 1858 and set out for Salt Lake City. His self-imposed mission was to stop the Utah War. His plan was, as his wife Elizabeth later wrote, was somewhat hazy: “Tom’s plan was to go in disguise to Utah by way of California, winter though it was, and make his unexpected appearance at Brigham Young’s very gates, relying upon his own mental force and Young’s knowledge of the sincerity of his goodwill to the Mormons. ...
Nov 06, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 8
At the crisis of the Utah War -- Arguably the most dangerous moment in the history of the Latter-day Saints -- Colonel Thomas Kane set out on a bold plan: He would travel to Utah and Wyoming, in the dead of winter, throw himself between the U.S. Army and the Latter-day Saints, and hammer out a peace agreement. Nobody -- including President James Buchanan and his own father, Judge John Kane -- believed he would succeed. Yet Thomas Kane declared to Buchanan, "I am determined to go, with or without...
Oct 23, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Before Lot Smith’s raid on the Wagon Supplies, conventional wisdom in the Government and the Nation seemed to be that talk of the Latter-day Saints actually resisting the Army was just that – Talk. But when news of the raid finally reached the states, it was shocking. Overnight, Johnston’s Army lost roughly half its supplies for the campaign. Johnston and his troops would spend a hungry, freezing winter on half-rations in the ashes of what had once been Fort Bridger – which also had been burned ...
Sep 24, 2022•13 min•Season 4Ep. 6
In the 1920s, an elderly and well-respected Oregon Rancher, Charlie Becker, prepared a sketch of his adventurous life, the places he had seen, the adventures he had lived, and the hardships he had overcome. He also disclosed that, as a young man, he had served as a Civilian Teamster accompanying Johnston’s Army during the Utah War. In an unguarded moment, he allowed himself to be captured by a Latter-day Saint Raiding party. He would spend the next months a prisoner in the Utah Territory, where ...
Aug 23, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In August of 1857, Brigham Young delivered a speech to the saints assembled in the Tabernacle. As he contemplated the Army force marching closer to the home of the Saints, he bitterly remembered how, over the last he and the Latter-day Saints, over the last 20 years, had been brutally victimized by armed bands, from Ohio to Missouri to Illinois. He saw the approach of federal troops as simply the latest armed force to set out to destroy them. But he decided that this time would be different. He ...
Jul 16, 2022•10 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In 1857, the Buchanan Administration sent an Army Expedition to Utah. It was sure to be an arduous, difficulty journey, with many ways to suffer and few to win glory. But who were the Soldiers marching against the Latter-day Saints? On today’s episode, we explore the Soldiers and Teamsters, which included both selfless heroes and hopeless drunks, public servants and fugitive criminals, that made up Johnston’s Army. Discussions include: A letter from Robert E. Lee warning Albert Sidney Johnston n...
Jul 05, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 3
On July 24, 1857, the Latter-day Saints learned – in the middle of the 10th Anniversary Celebration – that President Buchanan had ordered an Army to the Utah Territory. Though they did not know what the Army’s mission or the intent behind the expedition, they learned that the expedition was to be led by William Selby Harney – and the choice of Harney portended the very worst. In his council, Brigham Young called for a vote on a rather shocking proposal. He wrote in his journal, “It was carried u...
Jun 12, 2022•11 min•Season 4Ep. 2
The Utah War is one of the strangest footnotes in American History, and almost entirely forgotten. But it was the largest military campaign the United States undertook between the Mexican War and the Civil War. It took a third of the entire Army (and one lone, dogged Marine) and pitted them against the Latter-day Saint Nauvoo Legion, a force that, according to Historian Bill MacKinnon, was arguably the nation’s largest and most experienced militia. Ultimately, the conflict would destroy Buchanan...
Jun 05, 2022•10 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In 1923, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the famous author of Sherlock Holmes – embarked on a worldwide speaking tour. But this tour was not to sell books of his famous detective. Instead, it was to win converts to spiritual,ism – the idea that through seances, knocking, and advances in photography, the living could commune with the dead. With hundreds of millions grieving in the years following the First World War and the Spanish Flu, Sir Arthur felt that the world needed to hear his message, includin...
Apr 11, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 12
In February 1858, the United States Senate was debating a new bill from the House. They knew that the Army, under the command of Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, was on its way to Utah to put down the reported Mormon rebellion. Now, James Buchanan was asking Congress to approve a second Army of regular troops to Utah. While the Republic was quickly unraveling between the North and South, everyone seemed to agree that an Army – maybe two – would teach a salutary lesson to the Mormons, a lesson the...
Feb 21, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Of all the people to go down as villains in the history of the Latter-day Saints, perhaps none were as colorful as the infamous W. W. Drummond, Federal Judge of the Utah Territory in 1855. Arriving with a flamboyant woman whom he introduced as Mrs. Ada Drummond, the Judge immediately set out to cut away at the legal foundations of the Latter-day Saint settlements up and down the Utah territory - their probate courts, their water claims, timber claims, grazing claims, and their right to incorpora...
Jan 19, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Of all the people to go down as villains in the history of the Latter-day Saints, perhaps none were as colorful as the infamous W. W. Drummond, Federal Judge of the Utah Territory in 1855. Arriving with a flamboyant woman whom he introduced as Mrs. Ada Drummond, the Judge immediately set out to cut away at the legal foundations of the Latter-day Saint settlements up and down the Utah territory - their probate courts, their water claims, timber claims, grazing claims, and their right to incorpora...
Jan 11, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 9
The 1830s were a time of great religious enthusiasm across the United States and saw scores of ladies take up the call to travel from place to place, preaching faith, repentance, and the coming of judgment. Among these women was the New Hampshire-born Nancy Towle, who traveled across the United States and the British Isles. A fiery preacher with a will of iron, she let anyone within earshot hear her message of repentance-- a message that could, at times, sound like harangues, brimstone, and torr...
Jan 03, 2022•10 min•Season 3Ep. 8
From the fall of 1838 through the Spring of 1839, Joseph Smith and other Church Leaders were confined in the Liberty Jail. They had several attorneys defending them, including Peter Burnett, a Missouri lawyer and--incidentally-- one of the Missouri militiamen who had marched against the Latter-day Saints at Far West. In this episode, we discuss Peter Burnett's account of defending Joseph Smith. Latter-day Saints are familiar with the harsh conditions of the Liberty Jail, but Burnett's account hi...
Dec 16, 2021•14 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Latter-day Saints remember the conflict that has come to be known as the "The Mormon War” in Missouri in 1838. Places like Haun’s Mill, Far West, Clay County witnessed violent and savage persecutions against the newly organized Church, and Latter-day Saints have worked hard to preserve the stories and the voices of the saints who lived through them. But what was it like to muster into the Missouri militia and move against Far West? On this episode, we will explore the Mormon War from the perspec...
Dec 07, 2021•12 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Latter-day Saints are familiar with the Joseph Smith’s account of his First Vision in the year 1820. Less well known, however, are the remarkable dreams of his father, Joseph Smith Senior. In the years leading up to his son’s first vision, Joseph Smith Senior had seven dreams in which, as he described, a messenger came to him, instructed him, and helped prepare him for what lie ahead. On today’s episode, we will explore Lucy Mac Smith’s account of these dreams. To learn more about the material i...
Dec 02, 2021•12 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This episode draws on the account of Utah and Latter-day Saint voices who did their best to convey what it was like to fight in the Great War. In this episode, we cover the experience of Arthur Guy Empey, a Utah native and grandson of Latter-day Saint pioneers, who left an indelible firsthand account about the horrors of going "over the top." Calvin Smith, the son of LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith (and grandson of Hyrum Smith) became known as "Utah's Fighting Chaplain" for his willingness ...
Oct 23, 2021•12 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Soldiers who were swept up in the First World War faced a shocking level of interpersonal violence. How did LDS Soldiers deal with fear? What was it like for them, living under the shadow of death, violence, and suffering? And how did they deal with the troubling prospect that their duty as soldiers may require them to kill their fellow Latter-day Saints? We will explore these questions and more on this episode of Latter-day Saints – Fighting in the Great War. This episode draws on the experienc...
Sep 27, 2021•12 min•Season 3Ep. 3
This episode continues the story of Latter-day Saints in the Great War, 1914-1918. Whether Americans, Germans, Canadians or British, Latter-day Saints either volunteered or were conscripted into their nation's Armed Forces. Then began the long, grueling process of hammering the one-time citizens into Soldiers. This episode explores, from the first-hand accounts of US, UK, Canadian and German Latter-day Saints what it was like to train for war. Key Words: J. Reuben Clark, Archibald Bennett, Hugh ...
Sep 05, 2021•14 min•Season 3Ep. 2
On June 28, 1914, Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot dead by a Serbian assassin. At the time, nobody suspected that this murder had lit the fuse to a global conflagration, a cataclysm that would sweep up nations, empires, and peoples. Among those swept up in the First World War were the Latter-day Saints, whose members made up congregations throughout the United States, Canada, Britain, and Germany. What was it like for Latter-day Saints in the Great War? ...
Aug 30, 2021•14 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This episode concludes the story of the cascade of bizarre, unintended consequences coming from Abraham Lincoln's decision to appoint John Dawson as Governor of the Utah Territory in 1861, culminating with the discovery of a massive grave robbing operation within the Salt Lake City Cemetery, and - reportedly – a French Ghost haunting the Great Salt Lake. Key Words: Jean Baptiste, Grave Robbery, Ghosts, Haunting, Henry Heath, Albert Dewey, Moses Clawson, Moroni Clawson, George Clawson, Brigham Yo...
Jul 12, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln appointed John W. Dawson as the third Territorial Governor of Utah. Lincoln’s decision would lead to a cascade of bizarre, unintended consequences – from Utah’s first #MeToo episode involving a governor, to yet another gunfight involving Porter Rockwell, to the discovery of a massive grave robbing operation within Salt Lake City, and - reportedly – a French Ghost haunting the Great Salt Lake. On today’s episode, we will explore the Governor, the Gunfight, and the Ghost o...
Jul 05, 2021•11 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln appointed John W. Dawson as the third Territorial Governor of Utah. Lincoln’s decision would lead to a cascade of bizarre, unintended consequences – from Utah’s first #MeToo episode involving a governor, to yet another gunfight involving Porter Rockwell, to the discovery of a massive grave robbing operation within Salt Lake City, and - reportedly – a French Ghost haunting the Great Salt Lake. On today’s episode, we will explore the Governor, the Gunfight, and the Ghost o...
Jun 20, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In 1861, a Missourian named Orion Clemmons became Secretary to James Nye, Governor of the Nevada Territory. He traveled by stagecoach, passing through the 14-year old Great Salt Lake City and the Mormon settlements. He brought along his younger brother, 25-year old Sam Clemmons. Sam would later become famous, writing under the pen name Mark Twain. In his 1872 book "Roughing It," Mark Twain gives an account of what it was like to pass through Salt Lake City, including his observations about issue...
May 28, 2021•8 min•Season 2Ep. 4
This episode concludes the story of "The Man Who Shot Frank Worrell." On September 16th, 1844, Frank Worrell was a man on a mission. Flanked by a group of friends, Worrell galloped out of Carthage, Illinois on the main road to Nauvoo. Worrell had enough of the Jack Mormon Backenstos (the term meant a person friendly towards the Mormons though not a Mormon himself). Worrell believed that, if they were ever going to drive the Mormon people from Illinois, Backenstos had to die. Worrell's mission? C...
May 19, 2021•11 min•Season 2Ep. 3
On September 16th, 1844, Frank Worrell was a man on a mission. Flanked by a group of friends, Worrell galloped out of Carthage, Illinois on the main road to Nauvoo. Worrell had enough of the Jack Mormon Backenstos (the term meant a person friendly towards the Mormons though not a Mormon himself). Worrell believed that, if they were ever going to drive the Mormon people from Illinois, Backenstos had to die. Worrell's mission? Chase down the sheriff and shoot him dead before he could reach the saf...
May 19, 2021•11 min•Season 2Ep. 2
