DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



219 



On approaching the summit the traveler may notice on the north 

 side of the valley, only a short distance from the track, a mine at 

 which considerable work has been done. This mine, as well as one 

 north of Colton and some others on the west side of Soldier Summit, 



ing ill feeling on both sides. On one 

 occasion the records of the United 

 States district courts were taken from 

 a judge's office during his absence and 

 a bonfire was made of his books and 

 papers. He of course supposed that 

 the records were also consumed and 

 so made affidavit on his return to 

 Washington. The records had, in fact, 

 been removed and were in safekeep- 

 ing ; but this escapade of the mob was 

 noised abroad with manj' exaggera- 

 tions and excited much unfavorable 

 comment. 



After several years of friction no 

 Gentiles could be induced to accept 

 office in a land where, according to 

 common belief, they could perform 

 their duties only at the peril of their 

 lives. Bancroft sums up the situation 

 as follows : 



" It was now established, as was 

 supposed, on sufficient evidence, that 

 the Mormons refused obedience to 

 Gentile law ; that Federal officials had 

 been virtually driven from Utah, and 

 that one at least of the Federal judges 

 had been threatened with violence 

 while his court was in session ; and 

 that the records of the court had been 

 destroyed or concealed. With the ad- 

 vice of his cabinet, therefore, and 

 yielding perhaps not unwillingly to 

 the outcry of the Republican party. 

 President Buchanan determined that 

 Brigham Young should be superseded 

 as governor, and that a force should 

 be .sent to the Territory, ostensibly as 

 a posse comitatus, to sustain the au- 

 thority of his successor." 



In July, 1857, Albert Gumming was 

 appointed governor and at about the 

 same time a force of about 2,500 men 

 was sent from Fort Leavenworth to 

 put down the rebellion in Utah. This 

 army was harassed by a band of Mor- 



mon forces, and when it reached Fort 

 Bridger, Wyo., late in the autumn, 

 found itself with supplies sufficient 

 only to carry it through the winter 

 and without stock to transport its 

 equipment into Utah even if the way 

 had been open. The commander, Brig. 

 Gen. A. S. Johnston, decided that noth- 

 ing could be done until the next sum- 

 mer, so he went into winter quarters 

 near Fort Bridger. 



During this unexpected delay Presi- 

 dent Buchanan was persuaded by Col. 

 Thomas L. Kane, of Philadelphia, a 

 Mormon sympathizer, to send him as 

 a commissioner to Utah to investigate 

 matters and see if a peaceable settle- 

 ment could not be effected. Kane 

 reached Salt Lake City in February, 

 1858, and arranged a general confer- 

 ence, which showed that most of 

 the charges were without foundation. 

 When matters reached this happy 

 stage of adjustment the new governor 

 was sworn in, the President's procla- 

 mation of amnesty was read through- 

 out the Territory, and it was agreed 

 that the army should enter Salt Lake 

 Valley without molestation. 



In accordance with this agreement, 

 Gen. Johnston with his command en- 

 tered the valley by way of Emigration 

 Canyon on June 26, 1858, and marched 

 to Cedar Valley, 6 or 8 miles west of 

 Utah Lake. Here he established a 

 camp, which he named Camp Floyd. 

 Gen. Johnston left Utah in March, 

 1860, and the next year was given a 

 command in the Confederate Army. 

 The soldiers under his command were 

 sent in parties to other camps as the 

 threatening cloud of rebellion grew 

 blacker, and it was some of these par- 

 ties that followed the trail eastward 

 over Soldier Summit and gave it its 

 name. 



