Mormons in Alta California During the
Mexican–American War (1846–1848), many members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), commonly called Mormons or Latter-day Saints, traveled to
Alta California, then a Mexican territory.
Brigham Young, the church's president, along with a wagon train of
Mormon pioneers arrived in Mexico's
Salt Lake Valley during July 1847, and established
Salt Lake City as the principal settlement for church members. Prior to this, a number of Mormons had already arrived on the
West Coast of the continent via other means. This included the
Brooklyn Saints who had sailed from
New York City to
Yerba Buena (today known as
San Francisco), arriving in July 1846. Additionally, approximately 360 Mormons who made up the US Army's
Mormon Battalion had marched from
Council Bluffs, Iowa to
San Diego to assist in the war effort. The war's fighting was largely at an end when the Battalion arrived in San Diego during January 1847, and the unit's companies were then assigned to San Diego,
Fort Moore at
Pueblo de Los Ángeles, and
San Luis Rey, where they helped develop communities for settlers. , built with the assistance of Mormon workers and the location of 1848's gold discovery The Battalion members were discharged in July 1847, after which the members broke into various groups–some reenlisted and others made plans to travel east and rejoin their families and fellow church members. About half the group turned back and went in the employe of
John Sutter, while the other half continued on to the new settlement of Salt Lake City. While employed by Sutter, some were assigned tasks at
Sutter's Fort and others were sent into the mountains to build
Sutter's Mill. Several ex-Battalion members were present when gold was discovered at the mill site in January 1848, kicking off the
California gold rush. Following the discovery, the Mormons would spend their time off mining for gold.
Return east On March 1, 1848, the employment contract with Sutter expired and the ex-Battalion members began to make plans to head east, as they had stayed a season as requested by Young. On May 1, an advanced group under the command of Daniel Browett, set out to find an alternative route over the
Sierra Nevada mountains, as they planned to avoid crossing at Donner Pass. They found the snow still piled too high and decided to put off travel for several weeks. They spent these weeks panning for gold and obtaining additional supplies. A meeting place was established, called
Pleasant Valley, where those Mormons in California wishing to travel to Salt Lake City could gather. Throughout the month of June, a number of different Mormon groups, including some who had arrived on the
Brooklyn in 1846, gathered in Pleasant Valley. During the gathering, they continued to mine for gold, a venture in which they found much success. On June 25, 1848, Daniel Browett again set out to scout a trail, accompanied by Ezra H. Allen and Henderson Cox. Each of the scouts had their riding animal, a pack mule, their army-issued muskets, along with the gold they had discovered. Journals kept by those still gathering at Pleasant Valley record that many tried to persuade the three men to remain and travel with the larger group, but the scouts were anxious to start and promised to wait for the main party further up in the mountains. On July 3, the main company moved out of Pleasant Valley. The following day, they camped in a meadow they called
Sly Park, here, growing more concerned about the wellbeing of the three scouts, ten men were sent out to search for them. Several days later, the search party returned with no success and the party moved on from Sly Park.
Discovery of the bodies On July 18, the road crew (working slightly ahead of the main party) came across a
spring and an extinguished campfire. Nearby they found a newly made mound of dirt, which some thought might be a grave, possibly containing their missing companions. Leaving the mound undisturbed, they returned to the main party to share news of the discovery. As they made their way back, the road crew encountered a group of Native Americans, one of which was thought to be wearing a vest belonging to one of the missing scouts. On July 19, the entire party arrived at the spring and at once proceeded to open the shallow grave. Inside they discovered the naked bodies of the three missing scouts. Into Browett's face had been sunk an ax or hatchet and one of his eyes had been penetrated. Allen laid next to Browett in the grave, with Cox underneath; around Allen's neck was a
withe, likely used to help drag his body to the grave. Around the site were bloody arrows and blood-stained rocks, some with locks of hair stuck to them, possibly from being used to crush skulls. Everything belonging to the men had been taken, save for a small pouch which belonged to Allen, which had likely slid off his body and went unnoticed by the attackers. The following day, the party dug a new grave for the men, which was surrounded by a rock wall with additional stones piled on top; a large, rounded stone was placed upright at the top of the grave to act as a
headstone. Wilford Hudson used his axe to chop the bark away from one side of a nearby fir tree, after which he carved this memorial: Now known as the Holmes-Thompson Company, the party named the place Tragedy Spring and moved on to Salt Lake City, arriving there in September 1848. The legacy of this party was the construction of the first wagon road over
Carson Pass, today remembered as the
Mormon Emigrant or Carson Trail, which was heavily used by pioneers later bound for the California gold fields.
Allen's gold pouch As the company opened the grave and investigated the scene, they discovered only one item that had belonged to one of the scouts–Allen's blood-stained pouch, which contained gold dust and coin. They proposed that when the perpetrators were removing Allen's clothing, the pouch had slipped from around his neck and went undiscovered, possibly because the attack may have occurred in the dark. Wilford Hudson, a close friend of Allen, volunteered to take the pouch to Allen's wife, Sarah. She had not yet traveled to Salt Lake City and remained in the temporary Mormon settlement of
Kanesville, on the east bank of the
Missouri River. It was here that she received word of her husband's murder and using the gold delivered to her, she had a wedding ring made and purchased the necessary goods to travel to the
Utah Territory.
Perpetrators The traveling companions of the murdered scouts had supposed that the perpetrators had been Native Americans, due to both the sighting of Indians possibly wearing some of the scouts' clothing and the arrows left behind at the scene. This interpretation of events has been called into question, as the native
Washoe people did not bury the dead, nor, according to their descendants, would they have taken a dead person's property. ==Monuments and park==