Before I suggest an answer, please consider what the Mormon Battalion did that warrants our support today. In general, historians credit the Battalion for being either the major cause or a significant contributor to the FOUR great movements in the development of the Western United States:
1. Writers acknowledge that the arrival of the Battalion, in what was then Northern Mexico, was most fortuitous for General Kearny who had prematurely released his brigade and was momentarily in danger of a well-organized coup attempt by the Californians. The arrival of the Battalion forestalled it. Also, the subsequent occupation by the Battalion won the friendship and loyalty of the people, thus insuring the successful conquest of Mexico. Governor Stevenson's report to Pres. Polk reflects this when he wrote, "The presence of the Mormon boys did more good to win the loyalty of the populace than a host of bayonets."
2. The maps drawn by the Battalion of their "wagon road" from Santa Fe to San Diego resulted in the purchase of all or part of (now) six states-the Southwestern U.S. Their road was followed by the Butterfield stage, later paralleled by the Southern Pacific RR, and U.S. 66. Returning Battalion men were the first to traverse what is now 1-15, which the Union Pacific parallels. Other returning Battalion men were the first through Carson Pass, headed for Ft. Hall-that road is now interstate 50. These major routes opened the Pacific coast to U.S. Colonization.
3. The gold rush began when Mormon Battalion men, digging a trail race for a sawmill and gristmill at the confluence of the America and Sacramento Rivers, discovered the metal. The resultant mad rush by gold seekers, from not only the Eastern U.S. but from Europe and Asia too, resulted in California becoming a state in two years, and necessitated the acquisition of the territory by the U.S. Government.
4. Mormon Battalion men, who had seen the Indians at Santa Fe
flooding their crops, were among the group at City Creek when Brigham Young ordered the
beginning of plowing. The first plowshares broke, and in the subsequent discussion,
"it is a moral certainty" says B. H. Roberts, "that to dam the Creek and
flood the area first was made by a Battalion Man." Thus began irrigation farming by
an Anglo-Saxon people.
These four achievements opened the West and ensured the boundaries of
the present western United States. They stand as four good reasons to belong to the
present-day Mormon Battalion, Inc. To honor these noble men who did so much to establish
the "United States" is a most worthy cause. But these reasons-as good as they
are-aren't the major reasons for belonging to the U.S. Mormon Battalion, Inc. (see the
next Issue).
TO ENSURE ALL PAID MEMBERS RECEIVE EACH ISSUE OF THE VALIANT, EACH COMPANY COMMANDER NEEDS TO SEND AN UPDATED LIST OF CURRENT PAID MEMBERSHIP TO MAJ. GEORGE BASCOM BEFORE THE 1st OF EACH ODD MONTH (I.E. MARCH, MAY, JULY, ETC.). 123 2ND AVE. #905, SLC, UTAH 84103
The Battalion now has publishing rights to Sgt. Daniel Tyler's book. All members should be selling this authorized history of the U, S. Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War. The price is $15.00 which includes tax.