The General Assembly, chosen later, met on July 2, and adopted a memorial to Congress setting forth the failure of that body to provide any form of government for the territory ceded by Mexico,* declaring that "the revolver and the bowie knife have been the highest law of the land," and asking for the admission of the State of Deseret into the Union. That same year the Californians framed a government for themselves, and a plan was discussed to consolidate California and Deseret until 1851, when a separation should take place. The governor of California condemned this scheme, and the legislature gave it no countenance.
* "When Congress adjourned on March 4, 1849, all that had been
done toward establishing some form of government for the immense domain
acquired by the treaty with Mexico was to extend over it the revenue
laws and make San Francisco a port of entry."—Bancroft's "Utah," p.
446.
The Mormons had a confused idea about the government that they had set up. In the constitution adopted they called their domain the State of Deseret, but they allowed their legislature to elect their representative in Congress, sending A. W. Babbitt as their delegate to Washington, with their memorial asking for the admission of Deseret, or that they be given "such other form of civil government as your wisdom and magnanimity may award to the people of Deseret." The Mormons' old political friend in Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas, presented this memorial in the Senate on December 27, 1849, with a statement that it was an application for admission as a state, but with the alternative of admission as a territory if Congress should so direct. The memorial was referred to the Committee on Territories.
On the 31st of December, a counter memorial against the admission of the Mormon state was presented by Mr. Underwood of Kentucky, a Whig. This was signed by William Smith, the prophet's brother, and Isaac Sheen (who called themselves the "legitimate presidents" of the Mormon church), and by twelve other members. This memorial alleged that fifteen hundred of the emigrants from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City, before their departure for Illinois, took the following oath:—
"You do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, his holy angels, and these witnesses, that you will avenge the blood of Joseph Smith upon this nation; and so teach your children; and that you will from this day henceforth and forever begin and carry out hostility against this nation, and keep the same a profound secret now and ever. So help you God."
This memorial also set forth that the Mormons were practising polygamy in the Salt Lake Valley; that since their arrival there they had tried two Indian agents on a charge of participation in the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri, and that they were, by their own assumed authority, imposing duties on all goods imported into the Salt Lake region from the rest of the United States. Senator Douglas, in an explanation concerning the latter charge, admitted that Delegate Babbitt acknowledged the levying of duties, the excuse being that the Mormons had found it necessary to set up a government for themselves, pending the action of Congress, and as a means of revenue they had imposed duties on all goods brought into and sold within the limits of Great Salt Lake City, but asserted that goods simply passing through were not molested. This tax seems to have been established entirely by the church authorities, the first of the "ordinances" of the Deseret legislature being dated January 15, 1850.
The constitution of Deseret was presented to the House of Representatives by Mr. Boyd, a Kentucky Democrat, on January 28, 1850, and referred to the Committee on Territories. On July 25, John Wentworth, an Illinois Democrat, presented a petition from citizens of Lee County, in his state, asking Congress to protect the rights of American citizens passing through the Salt Lake Valley, and charging on the organizers of the State of Deseret treason, a desire for a kingly government, murder, robbery, and polygamy.
The Mormon memorial was taken up in the House of Representatives on July 18, after the committee had unanimously reported that "it is inexpedient to admit Almon W. Babbitt, Esq., to a seat in this body from the alleged State of Deseret." A long debate on the admission of the delegate from New Mexico had deferred action. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Strong, a Pennsylvania Whig, explained that their report was founded on the terms of the Mormon memorial, which did not ask for Babbitt's reception as a delegate until some form of government was provided for them. Mr. McDonald, an Indiana Whig, offered an amendment admitting Babbitt, and a debate of considerable length followed, in which the slavery question received some attention. The Committee of the Whole voted to report to the House the resolution against seating Babbitt, and then the House, by a vote of 104 yeas to 78 nays, laid the resolution on the table (on motion of its friends), and tabled a motion for reconsideration. On the 9th of September following, the law for the admission of Utah as a territory was signed. The boundaries defined were California on the west, Oregon on the north, the summit of the Rocky Mountains on the east, and the 37th parallel of north latitude on the south.