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an expedition,...should have been taken ...without one step being taken to verify the truth or untruth of the representations made." B. H. Roberts EB: I found my family in poor circumstances, having lost about forty head of cattle during the winter. The winter before I arrived they had also passed through what was called the "Grasshopper War." Soon after my arrival I was made Bishop of the Second Ward in Ogden and labored in that capacity until I moved to Dixie. Soon after arriving from England, Edward returned to Ogden. There he found his wives, Emily and Sarah, each with their own bedroom, living in one house. It must have seemed strange to see the changes in all the children and see Hannah for the first time. She was born after Edward had left for his mission. Emily and Sarah had arranged their affairs as best they could with Sarah doing most of the cooking and Emily teaching the children in school. Edward's reunion with his family must have been a most glorious occasion. Struggles they had experienced while he was gone were very evident. He was no doubt tired from his long trip, but he realized the necessity of utilizing every bit of time available in preparation for the coming winter. As he visited with the town fathers during the month of October he may not have been aware of the new challenges that were shortly to come his way. On October 25th the city of Ogden held a special election, and Edward was elected a member of the City Council. At that time the election was almost a formality or public endorsement of those that were chosen to run for the office by the presiding church authorities. They must have found favor with Edward's dedication and continued devotion to the cause. At that time he was also called to preside as Bishop over the Ogden 2nd Ward. On November 4th, 1856 he was duly sworn in as a Council member and issued a certificate by A. D. Wm. Critchlow, the city clerk. He swore that he would "support the constitution of the United States, the laws of this Territory and of Ogden City, and discharge the duties of Councillor in Ogden City Council according to the best of his knowledge and ability." He had little time to rest and reflect on the great experiences of the past several years. One of Edward's first acts as a City Councilman was at the December 13th, 1856 meeting. The city had what was called "The Dog Law" which affected the control of stray dogs in the city. Edward moved that it be repealed. Councilman Sprague seconded the motion, but when a vote was called for, the motion failed. He may have been an experienced frontiersman and missionary, but he was not yet an effective diplomat and as such did not either: understand the mood of his counter-parts or have enough political clout to carry the issue. Late in December the Council met to discuss the business of the design and construction of a road from the northeast corner of the city wall to where Ferron's Sawmill stood. Edward and Armsted Moffett were appointed as a committee to lay out the road. He was now increasing his understanding of the process of engineering and road building. On Christmas Eve President Brigham Young sponsored what was called "An Entertainment" at his home, The Lion House, for those who had recently returned from foreign missions. No doubt Edward was invited and possibly attended, renewing his association with his beloved brethren from his mission. On December 28th, 1856, Luman Shurtliff undertook the local initiation of the church wide "Reformation". He was assigned by the Weber Stake to be a missionary, circulate among the members in Ogden, and have each recite a lengthy twenty-seven question catechism. Every person was "allowed to confess to the proper authorities so that the adversary [devil] would not have an opportunity to take advantage of their human weakness and thereby destroy their soul." As a part of the reformation many were rebaptized and the devout Saints consecrated their property to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members deeded to Brigham Young, as trustee-in-trust, "all their real or personal property". Edward was a local leader, a councilman, and Bishop, and as such probably led out in compliance with the effort. As City Council meetings continued into the spring of 1857,
Edward became a more active participant. He raised three
motions, which all carried. He was taking a more active role in his
position as a councilman, just in time for the normal elections on
March 30th, 1857. As a result of the elections the following were
elected to the Ogden City Council,
The elections were probably in compliance with national laws. Utah was making every attempt to prepare itself for admission as a state to the Union, but its 1857 application for statehood was rejected in Washington. The mood in Washington D.C. was not favorable toward the Mormons. There were some questions about jurisdiction in the Utah territory, a possession of the United States. Judges had been appointed from Washington to preside in the ter-ritory, but some who had prior experience with the Mormons were not acceptable to the saints. Judge Stiles and Judge Drummond were both associate judges that held court in Utah prior to 1857. Judge Stiles had been a Mormon, was excommunicated on grounds of adultery, but continued to preside and decide local legal questions. This was a strained relationship. When he turned to Brigham Young for support, he was told, "if he could not sustain and enforce the laws, the sooner he adjourned his court the better." Judge Drummond was from Illinois. Upon his appoint-ment, he abandoned his wife and children, and relocated to Utah with his mistress. French travelers passing through Utah said the judge was "not a very estimable character, being notorious for the immorality of his private life." His judicial practice was to have his mistress sit beside him on the bench and assist him in handing out justice. While in Fillmore, Utah he instructed his servant to "horse whip" a local merchant, which his servant did. When he and his servant were arrested for assault and battery with intent to murder, he fled to California. Judge Drummond wrote publicly of tales of corruption and subversive acts against the United States by the Mormons. His comments were editorialized in the California press and found their way to Washington. At this same time mail service to Utah was poorly adminis-tered by those who held the private contract. Utah was isolated from the rest of the country and heavily depended on the mail. Only twenty percent of the mail was arriving on time, so the Mormons decided to establish their own mail service from Missouri to California. The Mormons submitted a bid to Washington that was one-half the amount paid to the firm that previously held the contract. When the contract was awarded to the Mormons, the president of the competing firm met with President Buchanan to offer some personal advice on how to handle the Mormons. He said, "There is no vestige of law and order, no protection for life and property, the civil laws of the territory are over shadowed and neutralized by so-styled ecclesiastical organization, as despotic, dangerous and damnable, as has ever been known to exist in any country." These tales of horror and the issue of polygamy prompted President Buchanan to proceed with a plan to send an expeditionary force of 2,500 solders to stabilize and control the territory. The plan was dependent on a sudden forced march that would quickly move from east to west and seize the government of Utah. In preparation for the march, provisions and supplies were sent in advance along the trail. These events all preceded the summer of 1857. On July 24th of that year Brigham Young staged a ten year anniversary celebration of the saints' entering the valley of the Great Salt Lake. All were invited to Big Cottonwood canyon southeast of Salt Lake City. Edward and his family made preparations for the grand event and were in attendance. Orin Porter Rockwell did not attend because of his duty to carry the mail. When Rockwell encountered Salt Lake Mayor Smoot returning from the east with word of the advancing army, he quickly returned to Utah and the 24th celebration with the news. EB: Some time later I was in Big Cottonwood Canyon celebrating the 24th of July, 1857, when word came that Johnston's army was coming to exterminate the Mormons. We all returned to our homes and prepared for the worst. The militia was called out and sent into Echo Canyon and Johnston's Army was obligated to winter on Ham's Fork. The "Utah War" was a critical time for the Mormons. Any attempts the Mormons made to assure that they were in complete support of the constitution and government were not enough. B. H. Roberts writes: "It seems incredible that such an expedition, involving the movements of so large a body of troops and at the expenditure of millions of the nation's treasure, should have been taken upon the representations of a dissolute judge, and the spite of a disgruntled mail contractor; and this, too, without one step being taken to verify the truth or untruth of the representations made." Brigham Young sensed that the intent of the Army was to bring the Mormons under control. He determined that this may well be a war. He therefore vowed that if the Army were to come to Utah they would find a barren waste, burned to the ground, both house and field. He would turn the Indians loose and 50,000 men would not be enough to cope with the terrain and what they may find. As the Army arrived, they found Fort Bridger (owned by the Mormons) had been burned to the ground. A group of Mormons burned the fields along the route, harassed the troops, scattered the livestock, and burned the supply trains. Johnston's army stopped short of the valley, returned to the ashes of Fort Bridger, and made camp for the winter at nearby Fort Scott. The excitement that summer of the impending military action
must have been enhanced by the anticipated birth of Edward's fifth
and sixth children. Sarah was expecting her third child and first
with Edward. Emily was expecting her fifth.
One Bunker family member wrote: "Sarah's baby, Elethier, was born one month before Emily's Stephen, over which she could chuckle a bit. But Stephen being a boy, Emily could really crow. Just why they crowed more over a boy than a girl, I can't figure--the very same process producing both--but they all crowed more over boy babies. Elethier and Stephen had an unusual love for each other all their lives." Colonel Cooke, who had led the Mormon Battalion from Santa Fe to California, brought six companies to support Colonel Johnston and arrived at Camp Scott near Fort Bridger in November of 1857. His march had been as disastrous as that of Johnston's in the loss of animals by freezing and starvation. He had lost 134 horses and had just 144 remaining. All these incidents did not go without some discussion in the United States Congress. General Sam Houston of Texas addressed the Senate and said the following: "The more men you send to the `Mormon War' the more you increase the difficulty. For some sixteen hundred miles you have to transport provisions. They will find Salt Lake, if they ever reach it, a heap of ashes. Whoever goes there will meet the fate of Napoleon's army when he went to Moscow. These people, if they fight at all, will fight desperately. They are defending their homes. They are fighting to prevent the execution of threats that have been made, which touch their hearths and their families; and depend upon it they will fight until every man perishes before he surrenders. They will fight a guerrilla warfare which will be most terrible to the troops you send there. I know not what course will be taken on this subject. I hope it will be one of conciliation." Once the "Expedition" was safe-locked in the winter snow near Fort Bridger, the Mormons withdrew their forces from the mountains. With the immediate threat passed, the winter of 1857-8 became "one of the gayest winters ever known in Utah." No drunkenness or assaults, but parties, plays, and dances were abundant. The 1857 campaign of the "Utah War" ended without the Utah forces firing a single shot. In February of 1858, Colonel Thomas L. Kane arrived in Utah at his own expense to try and mederate. He was an old friend of the Mormons and met with Brigham Young and other church leaders. He then went to the army camp and arranged for food supplies to be offered by the Mormons. In March the Mormons held a "Council of War" and decided on a policy of "flight now, rather than fight." Shortly thereafter Colonel Kane brought the appointed Governor of the Territory, Alfred Cumming, to Salt Lake from Camp Scott where he had spent the winter. Kane persuaded him to come alone. EB: In the spring of '58 we moved as far south as Payson where we remained all summer. During this time Governor Cumming and Col. Kane came directly from Washington D.C. As Governor Cumming traveled to Salt Lake City, he passed through Davis County. What he saw must have filled him with wonder. The road was filled with "throngs" of Mormons from the northern settlements. They were in wagons loaded with provisions and household effects. Loose cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs were driven in droves before them. It must have seemed reminiscent of the exodus from Egypt. They were moving: "But they were moving confidently, even cheerfully, leaving men in charge of their deserted homes with orders to lay them waste by applying the torch to everything that would burn, and the ax to every shrub and tree that had been planted, in order to leave the settled valleys of Utah a blackened, treeless waste, giving them back, to desolation -- a protest against the injustice of forcing upon an American community officers whom they had no voice in selecting." Stake President and Mayor Lorin Farr led the Ogden migration early in May 1857 to the "Provo bottoms" in Utah Valley. They built homes in wagons, tents and wickiups, built of long canes and flags. Most of the Weber County saints located in what appeared a transient village. Edward was no doubt very instrumental in coordinating the move of the members of his ward. His family continued the self-reliance they had cultivated while he was on his mission, even though he was how home. During the next few months conciliation and agreements were reached whereby the United State Army was allowed to pass through Salt Lake City in good order, the appointed territorial authorities were accepted by the people, and pardons were issued for all Mormons who may have performed contrary to the rule of the United States government. When Colonel Cooke passed through Salt Lake City, he removed his hat to honor the Mormon Battalion that had served under him. EB: Everything was peaceable and in the fall [of 1858] we returned to our home. The Ogden settlers began returning to the north in the first part
of July. This was a little ahead of some the other groups. Lorin
Farr had become worried about inadequate living facili-ties and the
prevalence of disease. He inquired of President Young and gained
permission to return. The stress of the experience must have been
particularly difficult for Sarah who was pregnant when they moved
to Utah County. She had to suffer her first trimester and the
requisite morning sickness in the temporary quarters. Her eldest
daughter, Mary Ann Lang, was ten years old and undoubtedly
carried the burden of aide and helper.
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