In his report to Secretary Cass, dated May 2, Governor Cumming, after describing this exodus as a matter of great concern, said:—
"I shall follow these people and try to rally them. Our military force could overwhelm most of these poor people, involving men, women, and children in a common fate; but there are among the Mormons many brave men accustomed to arms and horses, men who could fight desperately as guerillas; and, if the settlements are destroyed, will subject the country to an expensive and protracted war, without any compensating results. They will, I am sure, submit to 'trial by their peers,' but they will not brook the idea of trial by 'juries' composed of 'teamsters and followers of the camp,' nor any army encamped in their cities or dense settlements."
What kind of justice their idea of "trial by their peers" meant was disclosed in the judicial history of the next few years. This report, which also recited the insults the governor had received in the Tabernacle, was sent to Congress on June 10 by President Buchanan, with a special message, setting forth that he had reason to believe that "our difficulties with the territory have terminated, and the reign of the constitution and laws been restored," and saying that there was no longer any use of calling out the authorized regiments of volunteers.
CHAPTER XV. — THE PEACE COMMISSION
Governor Cumming's report of May 2 did not reach Washington until June 9, but the President's volte-face had begun before that date, and when the situation in Utah was precisely as it was when he had assured Colonel Kane that he would send no agent to the Mormons while they continued their defiant attitude. Under date of April 6 he issued a proclamation, in which he recited the outrages on the federal officers in Utah, the warlike attitude and acts of the Mormon force, which, he pointed out, constituted rebellion and treason; declared that it was a grave mistake to suppose that the government would fail to bring them into submission; stated that the land occupied by the Mormons belonged to the United States; and disavowed any intention to interfere with their religion; and then, to save bloodshed and avoid indiscriminate punishment where all were not equally guilty, he offered "a free and full pardon to all who will submit themselves to the just authority of the federal government."
This proclamation was intrusted to two peace commissioners, L. W. Powell of Kentucky and Major Ben. McCullough of Texas. Powell had been governor of his state, and was then United States senator-elect. McCullough had seen service in Texas before the war with Mexico, and been a daring scout under Scott in the latter war. He was killed at the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1862, in command of a Confederate corps.
These commissioners were instructed by the Secretary of War to give the President's proclamation extensive circulation in Utah. Without entering into any treaty or engagements with the Mormons, they were to "bring those misguided people to their senses" by convincing them of the uselessness of resistance, and how much submission was to their interest. They might, in so doing, place themselves in communication with the Mormon leaders, and assure them that the movement of the army had no reference to their religious tenets. The determination was expressed to see that the federal officers appointed for the territory were received and installed, and that the laws were obeyed, and Colonel Kane was commended to them as likely to be of essential service.
The commissioners set out from Fort Leavenworth on April 25, travelling in ambulances, their party consisting of themselves, five soldiers, five armed teamsters, and a wagon master. They arrived at Camp Scott on May 29, the reenforcements for the troops following them. The publication of the President's proclamation was a great surprise to the military. "There was none of the bloodthirsty excitement in the camp which was reported in the States to have prevailed there," says Colonel Brown, "but there was a feeling of infinite chagrin, a consciousness that the expedition was only a pawn on Mr. Buchanan's political chessboard; and reproaches against his folly were as frequent as they were vehement."*
* Atlantic Monthly, April, 1859.