Indian leaders in the yard of Peter Sarpy’s log trading house. In the preceding
weeks, the Pottawatomie had given the Mormons “sincere, almost delicate”
hospitality, and their leaders agreed to let the Mormons stop on their lands
and “make cultivation and improvement.” In part, the Indians hoped the out-
siders might help to protect their northern flank from marauding Sioux. Both
Allen and federal Indian subagent Robert B. Mitchell signed the agreement,
certifying that the Indians had given their mark of approval. They later gave
Kane affidavits that blessed the agreement.28
Federal officials in Washington still had to accept it, which was Judge John
Kane’s crucial assignment. “You must make up your mind to aid me,” his son
pled. Thomas wanted his father to look over his letter to Polk, smooth out any
awkward phrases, and forward a final copy to the White House, along with the
Allen and Mitchell affidavits and an appeal from Judge Kane himself. Then
Thomas wanted his father to visit Polk. If the president gave his approval,
Thomas told his father to get it in writing.29 John Kane wrote Polk and a few
days later lobbied him in Washington. To speed the approval process, John
Kane gave Polk a possible draft memo that might be signed and issued to
27
. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane D. Kane, July 20–23, 1846.
28. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane D. Kane, July 20–23, 1846, and “Statement of Indian Subagents,” in Thomas L. Kane to William Medill, January 20 [?] , 1847, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received 1846–1872, Department of the Interior, microfilm copy at Utah State Historical Society; Kane, Mormons, 56–57.
29. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane D. Kane, July 20–23, 1846.
22
the prOphet and the refOrmer
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. By October, Polk’s approval was filtering
through the channels of the nation’s Indian bureaucracy.30
Kane wanted his family to keep one part of his agenda private. He was
planning a public relations campaign to vindicate the Mormons: “If public
opinion be not revolutionized before the Sacramento Country fills up with
settlers, the miserable dramas of [the] Missouri and Illinois [persecutions] will
be acted over again,” he warned. Only this time if the church met a new per-
secution, the Pacific Ocean would hem them in like the Red Sea had blocked
Moses and the hosts of Israel. Who would help Mormons gain a latter-day
deliverance? “If God spares my life,” he explained, “I will save them.”31
In a letter to his older brother Elisha, Thomas suggested that all the cir-
cumstances of his life seemed to be coming together. Judge Kane had offered
Thomas the post of clerk in his court. His new salary would possibly allow
Thomas and Elisha to share an office and during off-hours work on their
separate books—Elisha was thinking of a study on natural history.32 To get
started on his book, Thomas went down to the wagon of Willard Richards,
the church’s historian and Young’s counselor, to look over some Mormon his-
torical records.33 Horace Whitney recorded the rumor that Kane intended to
remain with the Mormons to “sketch our history,” which then could be pre-
sented to Polk.34
Thomas then took a jaunt away from the camps into eastern Nebraska. He
had grown tired of the “rascally hybrid Indian population” that hung around
the Pottawatomie agency and, worse, the growing disease. Five of the fifteen
men quartered there were ill, and the sickly season was just beginning. Kane
hired a Canadian to serve as his manservant and guide and set out for Grand
Island. It was his first servant since leaving Philadelphia and was a welcome
return to his usual privilege.35 Kane’s trip was probably intended to get him
acquainted with the pioneer trail as well as Grand Island with its potential
as a Mormon way station and possible federal “blockhouse.” As likely, Kane
30. J
ohn K. Kane to Polk, August 18 and 29, 1846, Kane Collection, BYU and John K. Kane to Polk, August 29, 1846, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received 1846–1872.
31. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane D. Kane, July 20–23, 1846.
32. Kane to Elisha K. Kane, July 22, 1846, APS.
33. Journal History, July 25, 1846.
34. Horace K. Whitney, journal, July 28, 1846, CHL.
35. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane D. Kane, July 24, 1846; Kane, Mormons, 27.
Young to Kane, August 2, 1846
23
wanted to see the region’s famous buffalo herds. He left for Grand Island on
July 27.36
By that time, the Mormons were pushing some of their wagons and cattle
across the Missouri River, now half its former size when the Rocky Mountain
summer runoff had swept by. The immigrants had made a cut through the
steep eastern bank of the river, which gave them access to a ferry that operated
almost nonstop during daylight hours.37 For several days, Young held out hope
that wagons might still be able to reach Grand Island and a small party travel
to the Rocky Mountains that year. However, the battalion had taken manpower
and momentum, and many Saints still had not left Nauvoo. After a day or two
debating with advisers, Young was ready to pull up the migration. Kane, who
had also urged Young go into winter quarters, was one of the first to be told.
Source
Young to Kane, August 2, 1846, box 15, fd 1, Kane Collection, BYU.38
Letter
Head Quarters, Camp of Israel
Omaha Nation.39 Aug. 2d 1846.
Col. Kane
Dear Sir,
The Council40 improve the earliest moment, to in presenting their
complements and informing you that we have concluded to winter near
the Mo. River, some 15 or 30 miles north of this, to secure the rush and
36. J
ournal History, July 27, 1847.
37. Kane, Mormons, 43.
38. The back of the letter contains the following information: “Col Kane/Elk horn/Omaha/pr M Holqure [Molquire?],” who was possibly a frontiersman going to Grand Island.
39. Young and church leaders were camping near the headquarters of the Omaha Indians, whose main camp lay near present-day Omaha, Nebraska. Bennett, Mormons at the
Missouri, 68–69.
40. Probably the “High Council of a ‘Traveling Stake of Zion,’ ” which was organized on July 21, 1846. The duties of its members were to not “let any pass over the river unless they could be in time to go to Grand Island and cut hay, to watch over the church, establish schools for the winter, etc.” George D. Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1991), July 21, 1846, 286.
24
the prOphet and the refOrmer
pea vine for our flocks,41 Our business will detain in this vicinity till it
will be impolitic to attempt to reach the Mountains or Island this fall.
We have just seen a messenger from Ft Leavenworth, & the Mormon
Battallion, who were 30 miles this side the Ft on Tuesday last, in good
health & spirits, and all parties well pleased.
Col Little left Below on Friday eve for home.42
The Camp will commence a removal in a day or Two,—
Most Respectfully
For the Council
Brigham Young Prst [President]
Willard Richards Clerk
&
nbsp; P. S. We shall be happy to have you visit our Camp. I trust, that
omitting your contemplated journey, your time will not be crowded,—
W.R.
41. M
ormon leaders had not yet chosen the exact spot for their “winter quarters,” but wished to be close to nutritious river rushes and pea vines to feed their cattle. Kane described the latter as having a black and hard seed, which field mice gathered and cached and which were also eaten by local Indians. Kane, Mormons, 61.
42. On July 28, members of the Twelve Apostles blessed Jesse Little prior to his return to his eastern church duties. They directed him to receive any land the federal government would give them or to agree to build any structures on the overland trail commissioned to them.
See Manuscript History of Brigham Young, vol. 2, 11–12, CHL.
2
Kane to Young, September 10, 1846
When Kane reJOined the Mormons, he found that their new headquarters
lay on the Petit Papillon (or “Little Butterfly”) River, about ten miles north of
the Omaha villages, in Nebraska Territory. Instead of the helter-skelter trav-
eling camps of Iowa, wagons and tents were now double-parked in a series
of neat squares. At the center of each square was an open space for breeze.
Well-ordered “streets,” which the Mormons had covered with arbors, divided
the squares and allowed easy access. Although the Petit Papillion camp had
only a brief career in the Mormon migration, it would be Kane’s home for
the next month and would remain for him an example of the Mormons’ high
regard for order.1 Several days after Kane’s arrival, the Mormons named the
place “Cutler’s Park.”
On August 7, Kane was invited to a meeting of church leaders in Heber
C. Kimball’s tent. Young’s terse letter to Kane on August 2 spoke of going to
the “mountains.” During the meeting, Kane wanted to know “the intentions
of the brethren” as to their final destination.2 Young told him that the Saints
would settle in the semi-desert Great Basin or Bear River Valley, though San
Francisco or Vancouver’s Island might be established as distant outposts. Even
though Kane was surprised, the Great Basin had been Young’s goal before
the first wagons left Nauvoo. Since then, he had publicly talked about going
to the Basin, most recently to the mustered troops of the battalion.3 Perhaps
1. Kane,
Mormons, 35.
2. John D. Lee, diary, August 7, 1846, CHL.
3. Elden J. Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846–1847 (Salt Lake City: Elder J. Watson, 1971), 241.
26
the prOphet and the refOrmer
Kane had not been present or had misunderstood. In addition, Mormon lead-
ers had been intentionally ambiguous about their proposed destination with
outsiders.
The decision raised other questions for Kane. By not settling in California,
Young was avoiding the future state’s politicians. Kane wanted to know if
Young meant the same for the Great Basin and if he intended to pursue a
U.S. territorial government. Young’s response indicated that the Mormons
wanted self-government within the American system. For Young, the issue
was local control. “Mob governors” and “mob law” had burned the Saints’
houses, killed his people, and oppressed “us all the day long.” He vowed
never to submit to such misrule again. But American ideals and responsible
American officers were another thing. “We intend raising the American Flag
& sustain the government of the United States,” he told Kane.4
Kane had his own surprising news, which he had withheld when he was
so anxious to get the battalion formed. He announced that former Missouri
governor Lilburn W. Boggs, who had issued an order directing the Mormons
to leave Missouri in 1838 or face “extermination,” was angling to become
California’s territorial governor if the United States won its war with Mexico.
The prospect of the Saints’ old archenemy having an important position in
the west was deeply disturbing. Boggs might work against Mormon interests
in California, whose state boundaries were very much up in the air but might
include the Great Basin. More troubling was the precedent that Washington
might appoint officers hostile to Mormon interests. Before the meeting
ended, Kane promised to try to secure for the Mormons an “independent”
territorial government, free from California intrigues. He suggested that the
Mormons draw up a series of respectful resolutions to be sent to Polk. Kane
also agreed to work to get the Saints federal contracts for carrying the mail
and for building forts along the trail. Once these items of business were set-
tled, Young expressed to Kane his warm personal regard and began preaching
Mormonism. During the animated discussion, Kane repeatedly reached out
to grasp Young’s hand, along with the hands of other Mormon leaders, “as an
expression of gratitude.”5
Willard Richards, who drafted much of Young’s early correspondence,
immediately began a letter to Polk. It diplomatically thanked Polk for the bat-
talion, which had rekindled Mormon faith in their public officials. Now the
Saints hoped for more favors. They hoped to gain presidential approval for
4. J
ohn D. Lee, diary, August 7, 1846, CHL; Journal History, August 7, 1846.
5. John D. Lee, diary, August 7, 1846, CHL; Journal History, August 7, 1846.
Kane to Young, September 10, 1846
27
a territorial government in the West—but only if it protected the rights of the
people, the letter stated. If asked to submit to officers who delighted in “injus-
tice and oppression, and whose greatest glory . . . [was] to promote the misery
of their fellows, for their own aggrandizement, or lustful gratification,” the
Mormon people would retreat and seek self-government elsewhere. The letter
ended with an appeal to allow the Mormons to stay on “Indian lands”—and
not just on Pottawatomie lands. By crossing the Missouri River, the Saints
were now on the range of the Omaha.6
As the letter was being composed, Kane became gravely ill. Mormon
records gave a day-by-day vigil. On August 8, Young and Richards took Kane
for a carriage ride “for the benefit of his health.” On August 9, Kane was “very
sick” but “more comfortable.” Kane left camp for the prairie, apparently in
the hope for better air. The next day, August 10, Kane was moved back into
camp and to the tent of Jedediah Grant and John Greene. At midnight a cou-
rier was dispatched to Fort Leavenworth for a doctor, who should not “wait
for tired horses or broken carriages” but come “post haste.” On August 11,
the patient was more comfortable but still with a “little fever.” On August 12,
Kane suffered a relapse, had his head shaved, requested the purgative Dover’s
Powder, and was bathed. Two days later, on August 14, Kane was at the point of
death. On August 15, Kane improved. And on August 17, Dr. Edes arrived from
Leavenworth, but the crisis had already passed.7
“The fever prevailed to such an extent that hardly any escaped it,” Kane later
remembered. He estimated that the incidence of disease in some Mormon
camps in 1846 was one in three people.8
His account, drawn from an 1850
lecture and pamphlet, was part of his effort to create a sympathetic picture for
the Saints and may have been overdrawn. But the careful study by one scholar
put the Mormon death rate in the region at one in ten in 1846–1847.9 The local
people called the place “Misery Bottom” for a good reason.10 Kane likely suf-
fered from a malarial fever common to the Missouri lowlands, exacerbated by
his previous nervous and physical complaints.
Kane had asked for a doctor from Fort Leavenworth partly to provide an
outside witness that the Saints were not responsible for his illness. “I find that 6. Y
oung to James K. Polk, August 9, 1846, BYOF.
7. John D. Lee, diary, August 10–15, 1846; Willard Richards, journal, August 10–15, 1846.
8. Kane, Mormons, 48–50.
9. Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 131–41; Thomas L. Kane to John K. Kane and Jane Leiper Kane, July 24, 1846, APS; Kane, Mormons, 50.
10. Kane, Mormons, 48.
28
the prOphet and the refOrmer
there prevails towards . . . [Kane] the warmest and most cordial benevolence of
feeling,” Dr. Edes wrote in response to Kane’s request for a formal statement
(Kane thought the document was about all he got for the $200 bill that “this
extortioner” had given him). Kane’s letters to his family attributed his recovery
to his nursing: “I owe my life to the devoted kindness of those here—devoted
if ever kindness was such.” This care was another binding tie between Kane
and the Saints.11
As his strength began to return, Kane made plans to return to Philadelphia.
The day before his departure, he made an unusual request. He had heard about
the Saints’ “patriarchal blessings” and he wanted to receive one. Mormons
believed these blessings, usually given only to church members, could give
insight into an individual’s future, and Kane was very uncertain about his
own. Apostle Wilford Woodruff took him to Patriarch John Smith’s tent and
wrote Smith’s words.12 Kane was promised life, protection, and success; a dis-
tinguished posterity; and even a fullness of Latter-day Saint priesthood power,
The Prophet and the Reformer Page 5