The Mormon Battalion

It is noteworthy that three members of our Dalton family in Utah were members of the Mormon Battalion. Below is the history of the Mormon Battalion & the story of these Dalton men.

In July 1846, under the authority of U.S. Army Captain James Allen and with the encouragement of Mormon leader Brigham Young, the Mormon Battalion was mustered in at Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory. The battalion was the direct result of Brigham Young's correspondence on 26 January 1846 to Jesse C. Little, presiding elder over the New England and Middle States Mission. Young instructed Little to meet with national leaders in Washington, D.C., and to seek aid for the migrating Latter-day Saints, the majority of whom were then in the Iowa Territory. In response to Young's letter, Little journeyed to Washington, arriving on 21 May 1846, just eight days after Congress had declared war on Mexico.

Little met with President James K. Polk on 5 June 1846 and urged him to aid migrating Mormon pioneers by employing them to fortify and defend the West. The president offered to aid the pioneers by permitting them to raise a battalion of five hundred men, who were to join Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, Commander of the Army of the West, and fight for the United States in the Mexican War. Little accepted this offer.

Colonel Kearny designated Captain James Allen, later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, to raise five companies of volunteer soldiers from the able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five in the Mormon encampments in Iowa. On 26 June 1846 Allen arrived at the encampment of Mt. Pisgah. He was treated with suspicion, as many believed that the raising of a battalion was a plot to bring trouble to the migrating Saints.

Allen journeyed from Mt. Pisgah to Council Bluffs, where on 1 July 1846 he allayed Mormon fears by giving permission for the Saints to encamp on United States lands if the Mormons would raise the desired battalion. Brigham Young accepted this, recognizing that the enlistment of the battalion was the first time the government had stretched forth its arm to aid the Mormons.

On 16 July 1846 some 543 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. From among these men Brigham Young selected the commissioned officers; they included Jefferson Hunt, Captain of Company A; Jesse D. Hunter, Captain of Company B; James Brown, Captain of Company C; Nelson Higgins, Captain of Company D; and Daniel C. Davis, Captain of Company E. Among the most prominent non-Mormon military officers immediately associated with the battalion march were Lt. Col. James Allen, First Lt. Andrew Jackson Smith, Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke, and Dr. George Sanderson. Also accompanying the battalion were approximately thirty-three women, twenty of whom served as laundresses, and fifty-one children.

Each soldier was issued the following: 1 Harpers Ferry smoothbore musket, 1 infantry cartridge box, 1 cartridge box plate, 1 cartridge box belt, 1 bayonet scabbard, 1 bayonet scabbard belt, 1 bayonet scabbard belt plate, 1 waist belt, 1 waist belt plate, 1 musket gun sling, 1 brush and pike set, 1 musket screwdriver, 1 musket wiper, 1 extra flint cap. Each company was also allotted 5 sabers for the officers, 10 musket ball screws, 10 musket spring vices, and 4 Harpers Ferry rifles.

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The battalion marched from Council Bluffs on 20 July 1846, arriving on 1 August 1846 at Fort Leavenworth (Kansas), where they were outfitted for their trek to Santa Fe. Battalion members drew their arms and accoutrements, as well as a clothing allowance of forty-two dollars, at the fort. Since a military uniform was not mandatory, many of the soldiers sent their clothing allowances to their families in the encampments in Iowa.

The march from Fort Leavenworth was delayed by the sudden illness of Colonel Allen. Capt. Jefferson Hunt was instructed to begin the march to Santa Fe; he soon received word that Colonel Allen was dead. Allen's death caused confusion regarding who should lead the battalion to Santa Fe. Lt. A.J. Smith arrived from Fort Leavenworth claiming the lead, and he was chosen the commanding officer by the vote of battalion officers. The leadership transition proved difficult for many of the enlisted men, as they were not consulted about the decision.

Smith and his accompanying surgeon, a Dr. Sanderson, have been described in journals as the "heaviest burdens" of the battalion. Under Smith's dictatorial leadership and with Sanderson's antiquated prescriptions, the battalion marched to Santa Fe. On this trek the soldiers suffered from excessive heat, lack of sufficient food, improper medical treatment, and forced long-distance marches.

The first division of the Mormon Battalion approached Santa Fe on 9 October 1846. Their approach was heralded by Col. Alexander Doniphan, who ordered a one-hundred-gun salute in their honor. At Santa Fe, Smith was relieved of his command by Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke. Cooke, aware of the rugged trail between Santa Fe and California and also aware that one sick detachment had already been sent from the Arkansas River to Fort Pueblo in Colorado, ordered the remaining women and children to accompany the sick of the battalion to Pueblo for the winter. Three detachments consisting of 273 people eventually were sent to Pueblo for the winter of 1846-47.

More on the sick detachment:

On Nov. 10th 1846, a detachment of fifty-five sick men of the Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant W. W. Willis, was separated from the main body and started back to Pueblo. The Willis Company took one wagon, loaded with sick men and provisions, pulled by two worn-out mule teams. Those who could walk did so. Two days later John Green died. On Sat. 28th Elijah Freeman and Richard Carter, members of the Battalion (Lieut. Willis' detachment), died, and were buried by their comrades four miles south of Secora, on the Rio Grande. On Sun. Dec. 20th, 1846 Capt. Willis' detachment of the Battalion joined the other detachments of Captains Brown and Higgins that was already at Pueblo. This group of Mormon Battalion members lived as best as they could of over 6 months in pueblo before starting another long trek back north to find Brigham YoungÕs wagon train.

The trip to Salt Lake City - May 24th, 1847:

The sick detachment traveled about two miles and were visited that night by Jefferson Hunt who spoke words of comfort to the men and administered to the sick. The group consisted of besides Captain Brown, Captains Nelson Higgins, and William J. Willis. There were 140 of the sick detachment and 40 of the Mississippi Saints also bound for Utah. There were only 29 wagons, 1 carriage, 100 horses and mules, and 300 head of cattle to make the journey.

They traveled north to Fort Laramie and then found the Mormon Trail and headed west. They found out that Brigham Young and the original vanguard Co. was only a few days ahead of them. This company arrived in Utah just five days after the arrival of the original company on July 29, 1847. On July 31, 1847, Brigham Young assumed command of the soldiers and ordered them together brush for the bowery. They built a comfortable shelter forty by twenty-eight feet in size. During the week the soldiers worked under church direction, cultivating the soil and making adobes for both living quarters and a fort.

Edward and Harry Dalton were then the first two DaltonÕs into the Salt Lake valley. They were each later assigned a plot of land and started to build the first of many Dalton cabins yet to come.

The trip to California:

The remaining soldiers, including Henry Simon Dalton, with four wives of officers, left Santa Fe for California on 19 October 1846. They journeyed down the Rio Grande del Norte and eventually crossed the Continental Divide on 28 November 1846. While moving up the San Pedro River in present-day Arizona, their column was attacked by a herd of wild cattle. In the ensuing fight, a number of bulls were killed and two men were wounded. Following the "Battle of the Bulls," the battalion continued their march toward Tucson, where they anticipated a possible battle with the Mexican soldiers garrisoned there. At Tucson, the Mexican defenders temporarily abandoned their positions and no conflict ensued.

On 21 December 1846 the battalion encamped on the Gila River. They crossed the Colorado River into California on 9 and 10 January 1847. By 29 January 1847 they were camped at the Mission of San Diego, about five miles from General Kearny's quarters. That evening Colonel Cooke rode to Kearny's encampment and reported the battalion's condition. On 30 January 1847 Cooke issued orders enumerating the accomplishments of the Mormon Battalion. "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry. Half of it has been through a wilderness where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found, or deserts where, for lack of water, there is no living creature."

The men of the Mormon Battalion are honored for their willingness to fight for the United States as loyal American citizens. Their march of some 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs to California is one of the longest military marches in history. Their participation in the early development of California by building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, building a courthouse in San Diego, and making bricks and building houses in southern California contributed to the growth of the West.

During the remainder of their enlistment, some members of the battalion were assigned to garrison duty at either San Diego, San Luis Rey, or Ciudad de los Angeles. Other soldiers were assigned to accompany General Kearny back to Fort Leavenworth.

All soldiers, whether en route to the Salt Lake Valley via Pueblo or still in Los Angeles, were mustered out of the United States Army on July 16, 1847. Eighty-one men chose to reenlist and serve an additional eight months of military duty under Captain Daniel C. Davis in Company A of the Mormon Volunteers. The majority of the soldiers migrated to the Salt Lake Valley and were reunited with their pioneering families.

The men of the Mormon Battalion are honored for their willingness to fight for the United States as loyal American citizens. Their march of some 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs to California is one of the longest military marches in history. Their participation in the early development of California by building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, building a courthouse in San Diego, and making bricks and building houses in southern California contributed to the growth of the West.

After the volunteers were released in San Diego on March 14, 1848, some men went northeast to Utah and the other half, as well as Henry Dalton traveled north to Yerba Buena (San Francisco) They build flourmills, sawmills, and other structures in northern California. Some were among the first to discover gold at Sutter's Mill.

Men from Captain DavisÕ Company A were responsible for opening the first wagon road over the southern route from California to Utah in 1848.

ÒThe five companies of the Mormon Battalion, Army of the West, were discharged officially at Fort Moore in Los Angeles on July 16, 1847, one year after their enlistment. There were 317 men who lined up for the brief ceremony. After discharge, it took several days for them to receive their pay and to complete arrangements for their journey [to join their families in Utah or wherever they might be at the time]...Each man received $31.50, but no transportation allowance for traveling back as promised. When the companies were paid, they purchased animals and supplies for the return journey. Several men noted [in their journals] that the price of horses increased when the Mormons began buying so many. Quantities of flour and salt were purchased.Ó

Jacob Truman was among the 223 men of the Levi Hancock company who traveled north from Los Angeles to take the northern route over the Sierra Mountains. They broke into smaller groups, but all ended up together again in the Sierras after a brief stop in Sacramento to replenish their supplies and provisions for the trip from John Sutter. When they were together at Truckee Lake, Captain James Brown, who had been sent to California by church authorities to collect the pay from the Army for the soldiers in the sick detachment that went to Pueblo, came into their camp with a letter from President Brigham Young.

ÒBrown delivered the letter from the church leaders, dictated by Brigham Young and addressed to ÔCapt. Jefferson Hunt and the officers and soldiers of the Mormon Battalion.Õ It was dated August 7, 1847, Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Brigham Young and the pioneers had been in the valley only two weeks when he wrote the letter to the battalion. Already they were in destitute circumstances in the valley, and Brigham YoungÕs concern about an influx of people and the resulting strain and hardships it would make on the meager resources of the pioneers in the valley was understandable...

ÒThe letter recommended that those men with adequate provisions proceed to Salt Lake Valley. Others were asked to remain in California to labor until spring, then bring their provisions and earnings with them...

ÒAfter hearing the letter from Mormon Church authorities, the group divided, with approximately half...continuing on and half returning to SutterÕs Fort to find employment.

ÒWhen approximately 100 ex-soldiers returned to SutterÕs Fort after the Sierra meeting with Brown, they joined their comrades who had remained behind. About 20 continued on to San Francisco to find employment. The rest were put to work immediately by Capt. John Sutter, who wrote in the Fort log after the Mormons had returned. ÔI employed about 80 of them.Õ

ÒRecords kept by SutterÕs clerk reveal the Mormons worked as carpenters and laborers, dug ditches, made shoes, tanned hides, built granaries, and a grist mill in Coloma. Others split shingles and clapboards. There were farms to be cultivated and cattle and sheep to be tended.Ó There were blacksmiths and butchers.

While the men were working in Coloma building the sawmill, gold was discovered. ÒThe journal entry of Henry Bigler, an ex-soldier of the Mormon Battalion, that preserved this historic moment for California was the following. ÔThis day some kind of metal was found in the tail of race that looks like gold.Ó It is the only known source indicating the exact date gold was first found.

Two of the ex-soldiers, Sidney Willes and Wilford Hudson, were some of the first to locate and show others where the gold was being found. ÒThe Willes-Hudson strike came to be known as Mormon Island and turned out to be the second major gold strike, one with very Ôrich diggings.

ÒIt was not long until many of the ex-soldiers and men from the ship Brooklyn gathered on Mormon Island to search for gold. They marked off plots of five square yards for each man and worked five men together. The Mormons were situated ideally, being on site at the beginning of the gold rush, working with friends before the onslaught of Forty-niners. The atmosphere was one of openness and trust. They tossed their daily golden findings into containers on their plot and left their tools out at night. One group divided $17,000 at the end of one week. Mormon Island became a very busy place, with about two hundred ex-soldiers and Brooklyn men all panning for gold.

(Did our Henry Simon Dalton try his hand at finding gold? There is no written proof of this. –RD)

ÒEven with the discovery of gold, most ex-battalion soldiers still planned to go to the church and their families. They remembered the letter from church authorities the previous August advising them to work until spring to obtain needed supplies, a plan which they seemed determined to follow...Sutter apparently attempted to settle his accounts with the battalion workers on April 18, 1848, when he wrote, ÔA very busy day to settle accounts with some of the Mormons.Õ

ÒThe soldiers bartered for pay Ôin kind.Õ Sutter gave them wild horses, mules, cattle, oxen, wagons they had made for him, plows, picks, shovels, iron, seeds, plant cuttings, and other items that would be useful when they reached Salt Lake Valley made the first wagon tracks over the Salt Lake Cutoff.Ó

Epilogue:

The Mormon Battalion was involved in numerous significant events in western history between 1846 and 1849. They blazed the wagon route became the southern route to California; they demonstrated the demonstrated the importance of the San Pedro and Santa Cruz rivers as transportation corridors, which led to the Gadsden Purchase; they took part in the conquest of California to claim it as part of the United States. The battalion aided the 1847 move to Utah by the Mormons. Fifteen veterans escorted General Stephen Kearny to Fort Leavenworth when he took John C. Fremont to be court-martialed. They participated in the discovery of gold and opened the highway over Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada. Now called the Mormon-Carson Pass Emigrant Trail, this road became the main entrance to California for approximately 200,000 gold-seeking immigrants during 1849-56. Six ex-soldiers carried two thousand copies of the California Star east that told the world gold had been discovered. They drove the first wagons over the Old Spanish Trail and the Salt Cutoff of the California Trail.

As impressive as these accomplishments are, it is the day-to-day stories of these men and their epic march that remain indelibly stamped on our minds. Traveling together, they experiencing everything in common, bonded the men together in a way that lasted for the rest of their lives. They traveled in small groups or messes of six men to a tent; messmates seemed to have a particularly strong bonding. Frequently, after camping for the night, the weary, starving men carried canteens of water back to their comrades who had fallen along the trail, too weak and to continue. Helping their fallen comrades, the men arrived back in camp in the early morning hours, just in time to begin the next day's march. Recipients of this kind treatment recorded in their journals they may have perished had not their friends returned for them.

One of their greatest challenges was burying a comrade in a late, lonely spot. If the burial was to be early in the morning, the body was kept in the tent of the deceased's messmates during the night. Even though the grave was in a remote, lonely spot, and the bodies wrapped only in blankets or tree bark, the burials were conducted with dignity, respect, and caring. A friend was gone, bringing thoughts such as those of John Tippets: "At present it is our daily prayer that there w no more deaths in our midst for truly it is grievous to see our bread left by the side of the road."

It is with great respect that we as members of this early pioneer Dalton family honor these three Dalton men for their great sacrifice and hardships by volunteering for service in the famous ÒMormon BattalionÓ

Roster of the Mormon Battalion:

COMPANY B

Hunter, Jesse Devine, Captain

PRIVATES

Dalton, Henry Simon

Henry Simon Dalton

Henry Simon DaltonÕs story:

Henry Simon Dalton, the second son of Henry Dalton and Elizabeth Green was born on April 3, 1824 in Conklin, Broome Co. New York, although the official LDS Church records shows he was born in Chenango, Broome Co. NY. The reason for this is that the original township was Chenango before it was Conklin. He was one of the sons of Henry Dalton and Elizabeth Green. He later grew up with his cousins near their farm in Wysox.

After his father, Henry Dalton, drowned in the Susquehanna River in 1833, he was "adopted" so to speak by his uncle, John Dalton Jr. He was with the Daltons when they moved to Washtenaw County, Michigan in 1835. Henry Simon Dalton accompanied his uncles to Nauvoo.

Henry Simon Dalton was a member of the Mormon Battalion, Company B. He joined the Battalion in 1846. The Captain was Jesse D. Hunter, with 12 men in Headquarters Company. There were 90 privates, Henry S. Dalton being one of them. Henry belonged to the Santa Fe. On this trek the soldiers suffered from excessive heat, lack of sufficient food, improper medical treatment, and forced long distance marches. The First Division of the Battalion marched to Santa Fe on Oct. 9th, 1846. Three detachments consisting of 273 people eventually were sent to Pueblo, Colo. for the winter of 1846/47. It was this group of Mormons who first established the Anglo-Saxon civilization there. They held the first religious service in English, taught the first school, and erected the first English meeting house.

Henry Simon Dalton left Santa Fe for California on 19 October 1846. They journeyed down the Rio Grande del Norte and eventually crossed the Continental Divide on 28 November 1846. While moving up the San Pedro River in present-day Arizona, their column was attacked by a herd of wild cattle. In the ensuing fight, a number of bulls were killed and two men were wounded. Following the "Battle of the Bulls," the battalion continued their march toward Tucson, where they anticipated a possible battle with the Mexican soldiers garrisoned there. At Tucson, the Mexican defenders temporarily abandoned their positions and no conflict ensued.

On 21 December 1846 the battalion encamped on the Gila River. They crossed the Colorado River into California on 9 and 10 January 1847. By 29 January 1847 they were camped at the Mission of San Diego, about five miles from General Kearny's quarters. That evening Colonel Cooke rode to Kearny's encampment and reported the battalion's condition. On 30 January 1847 Cooke issued orders enumerating the accomplishments of the Mormon Battalion. "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry. Half of it has been through a wilderness where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found, or deserts where, for lack of water, there is no living creature."

During the remainder of their enlistment, some members of the battalion were assigned to garrison duty at either San Diego, San Luis Rey, or Ciudad de Los Angeles. Other soldiers were assigned to accompany General Kearny back to Fort Leavenworth. All soldiers, whether en route to the Salt Lake Valley via Pueblo or still in Los Angeles, were discharged at Los Angeles on July 16th 1847. The Mormon Battalion boys scattered out, some coming to San Francisco. Among them was Henry S. Dalton who went to work in a butcher shop.

The following is an article by Elizabeth Kettleman who married Henry S. Dalton.

Source:
From the Book; "Our Pioneer Heritage; the Brooklyn Ship Saints."

The Ship Brooklyn docked in Yerba Buena, California, arriving on a Sunday, so the Saints held a meeting to praise God for the safe journey. The William Kettleman family lived in San Francisco for three years. Elizabeth Kettleman kept a boarding house on Bush and Montgomery Streets, where the Mills Building now stands.

ÒOn July 16th, 1847 the Mormon Battalion boys were discharged at Los Angeles and scattered out, some coming to San Francisco. Among them was Henry Simon Dalton who came to work in a butcher shop and boarded in our house. He stayed with us until the following March, when we were married by Elder Addison Platt.

We left San Francisco in June of 1849 to come to Utah. We arrived on Oct. 1, 1849 and settled in the First Ward in Salt Lake City. In 1850 we moved north to Centerville, Davis County, Utah, which is about 15 miles from Salt Lake City.

In May of 1856 we were called on a mission to Carson Valley Nev. After serving for one year in the Carson Valley Mission, we returned to Utah, along with all the other Saints. When we arrived back home in Centerville, my husband sold the upper portion of the farm to the Cheneys and then built a new home for us on the other half. We left our home again in 1858 at the time of the Utah War and moved south to Spanish Fork. We got word that we could return again to Centerville in July of that year."

Elizabeth Kettleman Dalton passed away on Dec. 13, 1917 after living for 57 years on the land purchased in Utah in 1849. She was an active Latter-day Saint and was a member of the first Relief Society organized in Centerville.

There is an interesting story about Henry Simon Dalton's death and burial that I found in a State of Utah Cemetery record. It says that when he died in Salt Lake City on Nov. 10, of 1886, he was buried in the old Salt Lake City Cemetery. A few weeks later he was exhumed and taken to Centerville for reburial.

Brothers, Edward & Harry DaltonÕs story:

Roster of the Mormon Battalion:

COMPANY C

Brown, James, Captain

PRIVATES

Dalton, Edward

Dalton, Harry

(Edward & Harry Dalton are brothers & cousins to Henry Simon Dalton)

Edward Dalton

Edward Dalton; The second son of John Dalton Jr.

Edward Dalton was born March 23, 1827, on a farm called Dalton Hollow in the Township of Wysox, Bradford County Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Dalton, Jr., and Rebecca Cranmer. He had gray eyes and black hair. He stood five feet ten inches tall and weighed 190 pounds. Edward traveled with his family to Michigan, Wisconsin and then to Nauvoo, Illinois about 1843. Edward was baptized on June 4th, 1843. He received his endowments in 1846 in Nauvoo.

Edward helped build the Nauvoo Temple in Illinois, and contributed and assisted in the erecting of every Temple up to the time of his death. When the call came from the President of the United States for 500 able bodied Latter-day Saints to march across the country to California to defend the country from Mexico, Edward and his brother Harry, and his cousin Henry Simon Dalton enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. Edward and Harry belonged to Company "D", known as the Santa Fe detachment. The Captain was John Brown; Edward and Harry were both privates. Edward was taken sick along the way so he could only make part of the trip. There being a numerous Mexican population in the Territory of Colorado, this detachment along with sick members were sent to Pueblo, Colorado. Here they were joined by a small company of Saints from Mississippi and Illinois. They spent the winter of 1846-1847 in Pueblo.

It was this group of Mormons who first established the Anglo- Saxon civilization there. They held the first religious service in English, taught the first school, and erected the first meeting house. The first white child born in Pueblo was a girl born to Mormon parents. This detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and were greeted by Brigham Young on July 29, 1847. (Read the story about this in the Henry (Harry) Dalton section of this chapter.)

Edward Dalton was called by Brigham Young to assist the surveyors in laying out Salt Lake City. On March 6, 1848, Edward was married to Elizabeth Meeks by Brigham Young in SLC. His vocation being that of a farmer and lawyer. (Read the history of Elizabeth Meeks in Chapter 10, Vol. 3.)

In January 1852 they moved to Parowan, Utah, where he took an active part in the improvement of that community. He was a leader in governmental, church, and military affairs. Edward Dalton also married a second wife, Jane Benson and a third, Lizzina Elizabeth Warren.

The settlement of "Little Salt Lake" Valley - Parowan:
In December, 1850, a company which numbered 118 men, in which there were thirty families, with 101 wagons, left the Salt Lake colony for "Little Salt Lake Valley," to make a settlement. The "valley" takes its name from a small body of saline water on the east side of what is now Iron county, and just east of the Escalante wide, desert valley. This undertaking was in further fulfillment of the promise made to Walker, the Utah chief that settlers would be sent to his country. The party was under the leadership of George A. Smith, cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and a very practical, sturdy character, henceforth active and prominent in nearly all the colonizing movements in southern Utah.

The company of settlers arrived in Little Salt Lake valley, over 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, on the 13th of January, 1851, and settled on a mountain stream "about three yards wide, one foot deep, with rapid current, and gravel bottom and banks;" afterwards called "Center Creek." The first site of the settlement, after thorough exploration of the surrounding country, was made permanent, and named Parowan, after a Utah Indian chief of the vicinity. The settlers were welcomed by Chief Peteeneet and his people, a miserable tribe known as "Piedes," who expressed themselves as pleased that the brethren were settling in their valley. Peteeneet said his tribes owned the country - a declaration afterwards confirmed by Chief Walker. The pipe of peace was smoked by the Indians and whites.

Canarrah, another Piede chief, having first sent in one of his braves to ascertain if it would be safe for him to venture into the settlers' camp, paid them a visit. "His apparel consisted of a pair of moccasins, short leggings, and a kind of small cloak made of rabbit-skins. He was tall and stately in appearance, though apparently suffering from hunger. His followers were not as well dressed, being really specimens of humanity in its most degraded form."

In March, Chiefs Walker and Peteeneet and about seventy braves visited the settlement and smoked the peace pipe with President George A. Smith. Walker was very friendly and expressed the desire to build a house and teach his children to work. He represented that he had visited all the Indian bands in the surrounding country and advised them to be friendly with the colonists, and not disturb even a brute belonging to them. The object of his visit was to exchange horses for cattle as his people were in need of beef. Walker made known his intention of making a raid into California, but President George A. Smith persuaded him not to go, warning him of the likelihood of coming in contact with United States troops.

In the first year the settlers built a fort, at Parowan, enclosing a stockade for their cattle and horses, and on the bastions of the fort placed their cannon in such manner as to command two sides of the fort. Later other settlements sprang up in Little Salt Lake valley, but Parowan marked the southern limits of the settlements founded during the actual existence of the "State of Deseret."

In May 1851 the settlement was visited by Brigham Young and a party of church leaders. They were met some distance from the Center Creek settlement by a large company of horsemen and escorted into the fort, amid the salute of cannons and the rejoicing of the people. Public meetings were held through three successive days, the 11th, 12th, and 13th, of May. The counsel of President Young to these settlers was of unusual interest, and is thus recorded by himself:

"I spoke upon the importance of the Iron county mission and the advantages of the brethren fulfilling it. I advised them to buy up the Lamanite children as fast as they could, and educate them, and teach them the gospel, so that not many generations would pass ere they would become a white and delightful people, and said that the Lord could not have devised a better plan than to have put us where we were, in order to accomplish that thing. I knew the Indians would dwindle away, but let a remnant of the seed of Joseph be saved. I told the brethren to have the logs or pickets of their fort so close that the Indians could not shoot arrows through. I recommended the adoption of the Indian name Parowan for the city."

Edward Dalton and his family settled in Parowan, Iron County Utah after being called to the Iron County Mission by Brigham Young in 1851. Here their children Edward Meeks, Joseph Priddy, John Cranmer, Franklin Stephens, Ida Mary, and Ada Elizabeth Dalton were born. His family bore all the hardships of pioneer life without murmur, always keeping an open house and never turning anyone away. The visiting authorities from the north and most of the people that come up from Dixie to sell fruit stayed at his home. He was a man of great faith and a student of history. Edward surveyed and laid out the city of Parowan and took a prominent part in helping to divide the water of Center Creek, both for city and field purposes. He also surveyed the City of Panguitch. He was one of the first Mayors of Parowan and his name is attached to many original deeds for lots in the city.

Source:
Heart Throbs of the West, Volume 12.

Ranching in the Early Days in Iron County:
ÒOne of the first ranches was owned by Edward Dalton and Robert Miller, north and a little east of the Cheney meadow. They milked cows, made cheese and butter all summer, spring, and fall for many years. John West owned a ranch and dairy a little south of the Dalton Ranch. William Adams ran a dairy on his land east of the Dalton Ranch, right next to the Paragoonah fields. Zach Decker owned a pasture a little south and west of the Cheney Meadow, but did not do much ranching.

In Parowan, Edward took a leading role in all the labors for the improvement of the country, serving as alderman, mayor, probate judge, and being a representative in the legislature. He was a leader in the military operations in the Mormon War, 1857, and the Black hawk wars with the Indians. In June 1866 Indian raiders plundered Beaver of a herd of cattle. Edward Dalton's Militia Company routed the Indians and saved the cattle. Edward Dalton was Captain of the Militia for the protection of the people. He was noted for his fearlessness and was afraid of nothing, yet he would not go blindly into a trail.

On New Year's day, 1870, the men were called out of a dance as the alarm was given that the Navajos had rounded up about 500 head of horses. Among the men who started up Parowan Canyon were the following:

Capt. Edward Dalton, Sydney Burton, Horace Smith, Samuel Orton, Peter Wimmer, Johnathan Prethro, Hugh L. Adams, Charles Adams, James J. Adams, Ed Clark, Ed Ward, Nels Holingshead, Wm. C. Mitchell, Henry Harrop, Oscar Lyman, Hy Paramore, Bill Lister, John Butler, Heber Benson, Tom Butler, Allen Miller and Tom Yardley.

There was so much snow in Parowan Canyon that after attempting to traverse it, they ascended Little Creek Canyon. The men did not overtake the Indians because of the deep snow. They went over to the East Fork of the Sevier River, with no success, so Captain Dalton gave the order to go home. Some of the men wanted to proceed further, but their captain was impressed to go home and all the men followed him. It was learned from scouting parties that they had avoided annihilation from hordes of ambushing redmen.

Source:
Luella Adams Dalton.

Note:
Muster roll of the Company C, 1st Battalion, 10th Regiment of the Legion of Nauvoo, Commanded by Captain Jesse N. Smith mustarded in the Iron County Military District, Parowan, 10th day of Oct. 1857; Edward Dalton.

ÒOnce when Daniel Clark was sheriff, they got onto the trail of a bunch of cattle rustlers, who had driven off a large bunch of cattle from the north of the valley. William West and Edward Dalton offered to help Sheriff Clark. They rode hard to get on their trail, and the second day out spotted the cattle, just before sundown. They planned to camp for the night and surprise them early in the morning. They made camp in an old shack close by. Shortly after making camp William West became violently ill with a pain in his side. The men talked over what was best to do, and decided to send one of the men over to St. George for a doctor. With the snow completely covering all traces of the trail in the darkness, they decided to wait until daylight to go. Before morning Mr. West became so bad, that he passed away with what was most likely a ruptured appendix. When morning came they rolled him in a quilt, packing snow around him and bound him on his horse, and started home with him on his horse. He was a fine man. He left a wife and three children, one boy and two little girls to mourn his early death.Ó

Source:
Luella A. Dalton.

While in Parowan Edward served on the High Council. On Feb. 15, 1865, Erastus Snow stopped in Parowan on his way to St. George and organized the 9th Quorum of Seventies. He ordained seven Presidents, one of whom was Edward Dalton.

Parowan Stake House is one of the old-time structures erected less than fifteen years after the arrival of the first pioneers. It was built in 1862 of stone at a cost of $10,000, and, strange to say, has never been dedicated. The height of the building is 28 feet with 45 by 50 feet outside measurement. It has a seating capacity of 800, and has seven rooms. The architects were Ebenezer Hanks, Edward Dalton, and William A. Warren. The house stands in the center of an eight-acre block. An entrance to the building leads from each side of the block. On either side of the paths leading from the gates, are avenues of trees, some ornamental and some fruit. A man is paid to take care of the grounds and do the janitor work in the building. Part of the grounds is used for raising crops. The President of the stake, Lucius N. Marsden, in giving a description of the building, says: "If the people would now build a meeting house according to their means, as the people did in 1862, we would have a most magnificent building."

Edward Dalton was gifted in dramatics. He was the President and Director of the Parowan Dramatic Association for many years. They tell the story that Edward and James Adams were fighting a duel in the early plays, but they both were so stubborn that neither one gave up so they had to roll the curtain down.

As Mayor of Parowan City in 1874, Edward Dalton was a delegate to the Territorial Legislature, and while in this capacity, he entered a large tract of 760 acres for the first deeds to land in the valley, farms and city lots. After Fort Cameron was established at Beaver, there was some trouble about land rights. The settlers had held their farms and homes only by squatters rights. Now all the land they held had deeds. One of the first ranches was owned by Edward Dalton and Robert Miller. It was to the North an a little east of the Chimney Meadow, where they milked cows and made cheese and butter, all summer, spring and fall for many years.

A Mayor's Deed from Iron County:
THAT I, Edward Dalton, Mayor of Parowan City, in Iron County, Utah Territory, by an Act of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, approved February 17, 1869, entitled, "An Act prescribing Rules and Regulations for the execution of the Trust arising under an Act of Congress, entitled, 'An Act for the relief of the Inhabitants of Cities and Towns Upon the Public Lands,' approved March 2, 1867," and in consideration of the sum of Two ($2.00) Dollars paid by John Wardell, of Parowan City, County of Iron, Territory of Utah, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, the said John Wardell, on the Ninth day of May, A. D. 1872, having been adjudged by the Probate Court of Iron County, Territory aforesaid, to be the rightful owner and possessor of the following described Lots or Parcel of land, viz: The east part of Lots eleven (11) twelve (12) and thirteen (13) each part of Lot two (2) by eight and eleven-sixteenths (8 11/16) rods, and the east part of Lots fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) each part of lot two (2) by eight (8) rods.

(Signed) EDWARD DALTON

Note:
One of Edward's son Edward Meeks Dalton was murdered by U.S. Marshall William Thompson Jr. on Dec. 16 1886. (See below for this story)

His first wife raised eight children to maturity. His eldest son Edward Meeks Dalton went on a Mission to North Carolina, where he converted Martha Harrell Warren and her daughter Lizzina Elizabeth. They came back to Parowan with him. Edward Dalton took Lizzina Elizabeth Warren for a plural wife on the 14th of June 1882 in the St. George Temple. They left Parowan to live in Manassa, Conejos County Colorado. On March 7, 1886, he was set apart as first counselor to President Silas Sanford Smith in the San Luis stake presidency. While in Colorado, EdwardÕs first wife died and he had four more children by his second wife. He remained until 1892. He then returned to Parowan. He was a Patriarch at the time of his death, April 6, 1896, of stomach cancer.

Dalton, Edward, first counselor of the San Luis Stake presidency, Colo., from 1886 to 1892, was born March 23, 1827, in Bradford, Penn., the son of John Dalton and Rebecca Cranmer. He was baptized June 4, 1843. He was appointed first counselor March 7, 1886, and was set apart to that position June 27, 1886, by John Henry Smith. He died April 6, 1896.

Henry (Harry) Dalton; The first son of John Dalton Jr. and Rebecca Cranmer.

Harry Dalton was born on Jan. 10, 1826 to John Dalton Jr. and Rebecca Turner Cranmer

In Wysox, Bradford Co. Pennsylvania. He married Isabell Ferguson on Feb. 2, 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock Co. Ill. They had 11 children, all born in Utah.

Henry Dalton was always called ÒHarryÓ to tell him apart from his cousin, Henry Simon Dalton.

He was with his father during their travels from Bradford Co. to Michigan, Wisconsin and to Nauvoo where he joined the Mormon Battalion in 1846. His children were:

1-

Amanda Delilah, born May 10, 1849

2-

Melissa Jane, born Apr. 6, 1852.

3-

John William, born Jan. 1, 1855

4-

Daniel Henry Jr., born Dec. 15, 1857.

5-

Orson Nephi, born Apr. 29, 1858.

6-

Albert Alonzo, born Mar. 25, 1860

7-

Susan Rebecca, born Feb. 26, 1862.

8-

Ebenezer Amase, born May 7, 1863

9-

Isaac Ferguson, born Dec. 6, 1867

10-

Edward Milton, born Sept. 30, 1872

11-

Matilda, born about 1874.

 

On April 2 1854, Henry and Isabella Dalton were sealed to each other by President Brigham Young in his office for time and all eternity.

Henry DaltonÕs married a second wife in SLC Utah on Jan. 7 1855. Her name was Sarah Brunyer, born March 9 1832 in Sheffield, Yorkshire England. She later divorced Henry.

They had one child by this marriage:

1- Cornelius Dalton, born July 3 1856. (Died August 18, 1856)

A time line of Henry Dalton's life:
The following are the names of the officers and privates who joined the Lot Smith Company in Salt Lake City, April 30, 1862, during the Civil War years:

Teamsters: Mark Murphy, Elijah Maxfield, Thurston Larsen, Henry Bird, Alfred Randall, Henry Dalton, Wid Fuller, William H. Walton, William Bagley, Lachoneus Barnard, George W Davidson.

In early 1854 Henry left SLC for Parowan with his family to serve a mission in the ÒCotton Mission.Ó In late 1854 he returned north to SLC again to live for three years. In 1857 Henry once again packed his family and moved south to Parowan.

In the 1870 US Census we find Henry Dalton and family in Kanosh, Millard Co., Utah.

The 1880 US Census tells us Henry Dalton is now living alone with his two young boys, Isaac and Edward. Two older sons, Albert and Ebenezer lived with their older brother John. HenryÕs married sons, Daniel H. and Orson N. were living close by.

The 1890 US Census shows Henry living with his oldest daughter, Amanda and her second husband, Ezra Penny in Kanosh.

Henry (Harry) Dalton was a member of The Mormon Battalion (1847- 1848) Company D

along with his brother Edward. Cousin Henry Simon Dalton was a private in Company B. (John Brown was the Capt. of company D. with 14 people in the Company Headquarters and 90 privates including Henry and his cousin, Edward Dalton)

After Henry settled in SLC, he and his family settled in the little town of Parowan, Iron Co. and then in Annabella, Sevier Co. The first two families to settle in Annabella were of Henry Dalton and Joseph Powell.

The little settlement of Annabella was named after Ann S. Roberts, wife of Edward K. Roberts, and Isabella Dalton, wife of Harry Dalton, two of the first women settlers of the place. Harry Dalton settled in the Sevier Valley in the spring of 1871, taking up the springs (with adjacent land) which afterwards became known as Annabella Springs. Brother Dalton built the first log cabin there in the summer of 1871, and soon afterwards brought his family out. Other settlers arrived the same year. An irrigation ditch was commenced and many improvements made, though only a limited crop of grain was raised in 1871 by irrigating from the Annabella Springs. This, formerly known as Omni Point, was organized into an irrigation district in 1871, when the Annabella Precinct was also created. When the Sevier Stake was fully organized in 1877 Annabella was made a part of the Inverury Ward, and Tora Thurston was appointed presiding Elder of the Annabella district. He presided until May 24, 1885, when the saints belonging to the Annabella district, and who had belonged to the Inverury Ward, were organized into a regular bishopÕs ward with Joseph S. Staker as Bishop. On the same occasion a schoolhouse, which had been moved to the town site, and also the town site itself, was dedicated. Bishop Staker was succeeded in 1893 by Joseph W. Fairbanks, who in 1911 was succeeded by William Spafford Daniels, who in 1920 was succeeded by Herbert F. Roberts, who in 1930, was succeeded by Glen W. Thurston, who presided Dec. 31, 1930. On that date the Annabella Ward had 352 members, including 60 children. The whole population of the Annabella Precinct in 1930 consisted of Latter-day Saints, of whom 180 lived in the village of Annabella.

Sources:
From Heart Throbs of the West: Volume 9.

From the Encyclopedic History of the LDS Church.

Henry ÒHarryÓ Dalton was one of the first gold miners in the area of Annabella and Kanosh, Millard, County.

The Golden Curry Lead or Lode located in Ohio District North of Virginia City and running 3000 feet north west from north in the Curry Canyon. One hundred feet from the Curry dump pile south. Claiming all privileges granted by the United States Mining laws located by J. Hess, March 23 AD 1868.

1.

J. Hess, Discoverer, 400 feet

2.

Simeon Stewart, 200, feet

3.

Hyrum Thompson, 25, feet

4.

Robert Jackson, 200, feet

5.

Harry Dalton, 25, feet

6.

Ebenezer Hanks, 100, feet


Filed for Record Sept 7 1868 - Jacob Hess County Recorder.

Source:
First Recorded Mining Deed (Piute County Deeds and Mining Records, Book 1, Page 1)

Henry ÒHarryÓ Dalton was another of our Dalton family members to lead and lived a long, hard and dangerous life. He was another true Utah pioneer. Henry died on Feb. 3,

1906 in Kanosh, Millard Co., Utah and is buried in the Kanosh Cemetery.