Fort Limhi: The Mormon Adventure in Oregon Territory, 1855-1858 by David L. Bigler

Abstract

Fort Limhi: TheMormon Adventure in Oregon Territory,1855-1858 By David L. Bigler Arthur H. Clark, Spokane, Wash., 2003. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 376 pages. $39.50 cloth. Reviewed by Thomas G. Alexander Brigham Young University,Provo, Utah In 1855, as part of Brigham Young's design to proselytize among theAmerican Indi ans, a party of settler-missionaries traveled intoOregon Territory.They settled among the Shoshones, Bannocks, and Nez Perces on the Lemhi River. Building Fort Limhi, they suc cessfullyproselytized among the Indians until February 25,1858, when a forceof Shoshones and Bannocks raided the settlement.These Numics stole virtually all the settlers'horses and cattle, killing two men andwounding fiveothers in the process. The attack led to the abandonment of the settlement. In thisfirst-classbook, David L. Bigler provides a narrative and documents on the activities of the settlers,their relationship with theNative Americans, and the reasons for the abandonment. When theMormons first arrived, they established good relations with the Indians. Those relations deteriorated for a number of reasons. The settlers separated themselves by building a fortand cultivating crops. They re fused to engage in conjugal relationswith the Indians until Brigham Young told them to do so.The Indians regularlyfished the streamas the salmon returned to spawn.The settlersirkedthe Indians by commercializing the fishing.Most significantly,relyingon their interpretationof theBook ofMormon, the settlersexpected the three tribes to share a common culture. In fact, the tribesdistrusted each other; and, inparticu lar,theShoshone and Bannock tribescontended with theNez Perce. The raid seems to have followed, in part, from Mormon assistance to a starvingband of Nez Perce. After theyhad eaten, theNez Perces stole a largeherdfrom the Numics inretaliation for previous rustling. Succeeding events are a bit unclear. Nevertheless, testimony from Ti o-von-du-ah, a Lemhi Shoshone, supports the Mormon belief that a mountain man named John W. Powell incited the Indians. It isalso pos sible thatB.F. Ficklin, a government contractor purchasing cattle for theU.S. Army,may have assisted Powell. Although such attacks presented problems forEuro-Americans throughout the West, this event could not have happened at aworse time. Charges leveled by federal officeholders led government officials in Washington, D.C., to conclude thatthe Mormons had rebelled against the government. President James Buchanan dispatched an armyof twenty-five hundredmen under Col. Albert Sidney Johnston to escort a new governor toUtah,marking thebeginning of the UtahWar of 1857-1858. While theyengaged in active resistance against thearmy,the Mormons sought also places of refuge.Young examined a number ofpossibilities ? including theSalmon River Country, theBeaverhead Valley ofMon tana, and the White Mountains ofNevada ? as potential redoubts. Additional events thwarted theMormon plans to defend themselves or seek another redoubt. Young failed to cement alliances with the Shoshones, Utes, and Goshutes. Instead of helping the Mormons, in 1857a number ofUtes had assisted IndianAgent Garland Hurt. Shortly afterthe attack on Fort Limhi, rumors surfaced thatBen Simonds, aDelaware Indianmountain man, had mustered 250 Shoshones fromLittle Soldier's band tooppose the Mormons. Concur Reviews 327 rently, Goshutes inRush Valley southwestof Salt Lake City began to raid the settlers'herds. Bigler may well be right in his belief that "Brigham Young's decision to evacuate the northern settlements and send his followers, men, women, and children, streaming south like refugeesfleeing before an invading armywas a direct consequence of the Indian raid on theOr egon settlement" (p.277).Nevertheless, as Bigler notes, as early asAugust 1857 Young had begun to plan a policy of evacuating settlements and burning buildings, inspiredbyRussian tacticsat Sebastopol during theCrimeanWar. Early inthe war, Young had recalled settlersfrom southern California, Carson Valley, and Fort Bridger. The attack on Fort Limhi and deteriorating relationships with nearby Indians reduced the Mormons' alternatives. ByMarch 1858,the Mormons were left with littlechoice but to accept Col. Thomas L. Kane's offer to negotiate terms favorable to them. Kane succeeded in spite of Colonel Johnston's misgivings, because Governor Alfred Cumming accepted theMormons' good faith.Whether the subsequent move south to Utah County resulted from their fear of a recurrence of the abuse andmurder theyhad sufferedin Missouri and Illinois or from an effortto publicize their plight, theMormons leftnorthern Utah and Johnston's armymarched through a deserted Salt Lake City. InFortLimhi...