utah militia organized—elected captain of a company—hear of johnston's army—scouting party sent out—i am chosen as guide—travel to the bear lake country—cold nights and little food—complaint in the party—prove that i am right—reach lost creek—some of the men object to double guard—a discovery that removes all objections—strike the trail of horsemen—prepare for action—take a camp by surprise—the men are friends—arrive at ogden—called to go on an important errand—tussle with an indian—fail in getting desired information, and return to ogden.
in the spring of 1857 i rented some land and put in a crop. soon after this an order came from governor young to the weber county officials to organize the militia of the county, which was done. i was elected captain of the first company of infantry in the weber militia district. the company consisted of captain, commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and one hundred men of the rank and file. chauncey w. west, then the bishop of weber county, was commissioned general of the district. he appointed days for drill, and four companies came together in ogden city for that service.
at that time we had not learned of threatened danger from any source except occasional indian raids; but no sooner had we got properly organized and ready for self-defense than news came from the east to governor young that an invading army was coming, with hostile threats against the citizens of utah.
as the governor had not been officially notified of the approach of united states troops, his official oath bound him to repel any invading forces. he accordingly sent out scouts to ascertain the movements of the troops referred to, and soon learned that there was a well equipped army of nearly ten thousand men on their way west, with the avowed purpose, it was said, of destroying the mormon church and people.
some time in august general west called out twelve or fifteen men as a scouting party, to go over in the bear lake country, along the emigrant road, and from there to the head of lost creek and down the weber river. he had heard of a party going up lost creek, and over to the bear lake country. general west appointed major monroe to take charge of the party, of which the writer was called to be one, as i had been acquainted with mountain travel and understood the indian language. general west told the major to make no move of importance without consulting me as to the journey.
the party proceeded to the divide between north ogden and ogden valley, where we halted and the major privately told me that he was not accustomed to journeys of that kind, and wished me to lead the party through, for i had more experience than he had. i declined the responsibility, but the major said: "i will be responsible if you will lead." so i headed out to blacksmith fork and thence to bear lake, and around the east side thereof to the river. we crossed to the california road near the present site of montpelier, thence back east to the road where cokeville settlement is now located. as we failed to learn anything of importance, we returned back over the river and struck out for the head of lost creek, where it was supposed that we would fall in with the scouts from the approaching army.
the nights began to be cold, and the food supply was getting low. the horses were somewhat jaded, the route very rough, and the most of the party were young and inexperienced. they began to complain and said that nobody had ever traveled in so rough a country as that, and it was all foolishness to be wearing ourselves out in that way. they said the writer did not know himself where he was going, and i had no business to be on the lead, as that was major monroe's place. the major, however, promptly told the party that i was in the proper place. finally i called a halt and told the party that i knew that we were going just right and had been on a trail all day, but they did not know it. they asked, "where is your trail?" and i again told them that we were on it. they laughed at me when i said, "i can prove it to you, and even tell you the color of the horses that have passed this way." but they thought me a fool to talk thus, so i told one of the young men to jump down and remove the leaves from a root of a tree that stood near by a steep bank, as it was plain to the practiced eye that an old trail passed there, and when the leaves were removed he would find that the bark had been bruised at the roots of the tree by the hoofs of passing horses. he found the trail and the bark off the tree roots, as i had said. i told the men to look on the tree about the height of a pony's side, and they would find hair that would tell them the color of the ponies that had passed there. they found bay and white horses' hair. next i said to them, "look on the point of that snag which projects over the trail." they did so, and found a duplicate of the hair they had found on the tree. then they said that i could prove anything i pleased, and they would not dispute with me any more.
the party passed on down lost creek, to a point where the country was more open. when camping time came we turned into a little creek bottom and put out the stock. i remarked to the major that i felt as though we should put on a double guard that night. this was more than some of the boys thought they could stand. several said that i would run the party to death, but that they would not submit to any extra guard. others said there was no use for any guard, for nobody but brown would ever lead a party there; but just then some one hallooed, and we found, on looking, that no one was missing from camp. one said it was a coyote, another that it was an owl. again the cry was heard distinctly, and no doubt remained of its being a human voice. then the order was given to get up the stock, ready for whatever might come. the horses were soon picketed near camp, and every man thought it was proper to put on a double guard that night, some of the boys remarking that brown was not such a fool as they had thought.
things settled down for the night, and next morning the party started out. we had gone less than a mile when we saw fresh horse tracks made by shod horses, and the droppings looked so new that i directed a young man to ascertain if they were warm. the novel way in which the young man performed that task created some merriment for the moment. then the party continued on a short distance, when we saw a smoke just over the creek bank ahead. every man was ready to obey orders, and all dismounted at command and tightened up their saddle girths. then came the order to see that every tube was filled with dry powder, and each man was assigned his position for action.
the party was instructed not to halt without orders, and not to let a horse put his head down to drink. if perchance we saw a blanket, a handkerchief, or any camp equipage, we were to pass it unnoticed; if brush or any obstructions were observed, we might be certain that all such signs meant ambuscade. we then advanced cautiously and found evidence of a party about our own number, lying encamped at the fire. we pressed forward on the trail, and found several bushes lapped across it, so that we felt certain we would soon fall in with those ahead, whom we felt sure could be none other than a scouting party from johnston's army. we prepared for the worst, and as we were moving on double-quick time we saw a man running towards a grove of cottonwood trees, from a point of the mountain. next we saw the horses of a party of scouts, the top of whose tent was soon discovered.
quickly capturing the horses, we charged on the tent and surrounded it. taking the men by surprise. as they began to file out of their tent, our party leveled their rifles and called on them to surrender. just at that moment one of the surprised party recognized one of our men, so that we only required them to acknowledge that they were "dropped on," a phrase used in those times to express the condition. we were not long in ascertaining that the party was a scout from davis county, in pursuit of the same reported detachment we had been sent to intercept. but neither of us had seen or heard anything of the party that was supposed to be in the region of country we had been over. without much delay, our party hastened home to ogden city, and joined our regiment, finding much excitement and hearing many rumors.
it seemed that there was no rest for me, for in a day or two general west called on me to visit the camp of james and ben simons, who lived about twenty miles up the weber river. the men named were cherokee indians who, it was said, were in possession of some important information which the general wanted to get. he told me to learn what i could from the simonses, as they were friendly.
when i got to the mouth of the canyon i chanced to meet ben simons coming from salt lake city. it was evident the indian had been drinking, and as soon as i met him he drew his colt's revolver and said, "hold on there!" threatening to kill me if i was uncle sam's man. i succeeded in riding close alongside of him, grabbed his pistol and held the muzzle away from me. i tried to persuade him not to shoot, for we must be good friends. he yelled again that if i were a mormon i must fight his old uncle or he would kill me. he was a powerful man, and i had all that i could do to keep the pistol turned from me.
for ten miles i had to tussle with that indian, and at times thought i would have to shoot him in self-defense; but after the most disagreeable and hazardous ten miles' ride of my whole life, we came to gordon beckstead's ranch. simons regarded beckstead as his friend. the latter persuaded the warrior to dismount and have a drink of whisky with him, and let me go my way, for i was a good friend to both of them.
i went to james simons' camp but failed to get the information desired. simons was very friendly, and said that if he heard anything of interest he would be pleased to let us know it at once. i then returned to my regiment, which was ordered into camp the next day. we bivouacked on the east bench in ogden city.
