On the 12th of April, Mr. Buchanan appointed L. W. Powell, of Kentucky, and Ben McCulloch, of Texas, Commissioners to Utah, and by them sent on his proclamation of pardon. They reached Salt Lake on the 7th of June, and immediately made known their business to the Mormon authorities. They were instructed to say to the Mormons, in the language of the proclamation, "If you obey the laws, keep the peace, and respect the just rights of others, you will be perfectly secure, and may live in your present faith, or change it for another at your pleasure. Every intelligent man among you knows very well that the Government has never, directly or indirectly, sought to molest you in your worship, to control you in your ecclesiastical affairs, or even to influence you in your religious opinions."
The following extracts from the report of the Commissioners will serve to show the result of their mission:—
"We stated that we wished a free conference with them, and were ready to hear what they had to say. Ex-Governor Brigham Young, Lieut.-Governor Wells, and others, spoke. They expressed their gratification that the President had sent commissioners to Utah. They stated that they were attached to the Constitution and the Government of the United States; they spoke harshly of
many of the officials who had held office in the Territory; they spoke of the wrongs and injuries hitherto done them; they said they desired to live in peace, under the Constitution of the United States. They denied that they had ever driven any officials from Utah, or prevented any civil officer from entering the Territory. They admitted that they burned the army trains, and drove off the cattle from the army last fall, and for that act they accepted the President's pardon. All the charges that had been made against them, except the one last named, they denied. . . . We are pleased to state that the conference resulted in their agreeing to receive, quietly and peaceably, all the civil officers of the Government, and not to resist them in the execution of the duties of their offices; and to yield obedience to the authorities and laws of the United States.
"That they would offer no resistance to the army; that the officers of the army would not be resisted in the execution of their orders within the Territory. In short, they agreed that the officers, civil and military, of the United States, should enter the Territory without resistance, and exercise, peaceably and unmolested, all the functions of their various offices."
The Mormons, on their part, stipulated that the army should not be encamped within forty miles of the city; that they should protect private property; that they should march directly through the city, without halting; and should not encamp until they crossed the Jordan. These conditions were substantially complied with. "On the 26th of June General Johnson marched the army under his command through Salt Lake City, and encamped on the banks of the river Jordan, just without the city limits. The place selected for a permanent camp was in Cedar Valley, about forty miles south of Great Salt Lake City, and known as Camp Floyd, now Fort Crittenden."
On the 5th of July, 1858, the Mormon refugees received orders to return to their homes. With joy and alacrity they prepared to obey the welcome summons.
Governor Cumming had frequently urged them to return, without avail. But when the "mighty man of God" sent forth his mandate, each man sprang to his feet as if by magic,
rushed to his teams, and before the morning sun gilded the eastern hills, "the faithful" were again returning to their Mecca.
A company of United States troops were stationed on what was called "the Dug Out," to prevent collision with the Mormons on their return to Salt Lake. The officer commanding related to me the following incident:—