FW

Mormon Battalion

While the saints are in Iowa a man from the army comes to their camp next to the Missouri river. He is there to find recruits for the army against Mexico. The saints are hesitant at first because of all of the neglect and trouble the government has caused them. Brigham says this is the only way that we can get some of the funds we need to make it across to the west. 400 saints join after listening to Brigham Young, for joining they received supplies and money. Most of the men gave the money to their families for the travel they will have to the west. They head off leaving their families. Brigham did promise them that there will be fighting on there left and on their right but they will not fight during their journey. Although they did not fight during their journey to the west they had some very hard times during their trek. The Mormon battalion makes it to San Diego and some find work and help build a town. Some of the saints move northward to San Francisco where the saints from Brooklyn landed from the boat that they traveled from Brooklyn. Most of the men went back to try and find Brigham and their families that they left behind hoping they would find them on the way. As they travel they meet up with some of the saints that left from Mississippi in Pueblo Colorado, who are also trying to meet up with Brigham on the trail that he is on to the west to Utah. Some of the saints move up to Ft. Laramie Wyoming to wait for Brigham and the saints to come through. They eventually see Brigham and the saints he is with; they were set back because of the hard journey. Some of the saints leave Ft. Laramie and go back to Pueblo Colorado to tell the saints in Pueblo that Brigham has arrived and to meet up with him on the trail to Utah. Sam Brannan who was in the Battalion in San Francisco went west to also find Brigham to try and convince him to have the saints’ move to California. Brigham says "no" and tells Sam to go back and tell the saints in San Francisco and gather the saints there to come up the following year, not this year. They did not have enough supplies for everyone to come there right away.