Didn’t the USA Government put a bounty on Mormons, for some time? I understand it was not actually lifted until the 60’s ?
There was no bounty. A Governor ordered the extermination of LDS, which LDS use as evidence that people wanted them dead. The problem they have is, the same language was used by Mormons, in that, they sought the extermination of the governor.
In the usage of the word ‘extermination’, of the day, it was meant as “driving out”, not hunt down and murder. The law, like a lot of old laws, remained as a state statute until the mid 20th century. Not enforced. LDS Mormons (Brighamites) will claim the followers of Young leaving Nauvoo as evidence of being driven out. However, many Mormons (non Brighamites) remained in Missouri, and many LDS, after arriving in Utah and finding themselves disillusioned with Young and the desert he brought them to, returned to Missouri. They were never driven out. It is a narrative that LDS use, part of their group mythology, but not grounded in reality.
I also have it to believe that the LDS church members are one of the few groups of people to have ever had the US army, call a draw so to speak.
The context is, Young led his followers to what was then a Mexican territory. He led them out of the United States entirely, and set up a theodemocracy out in the middle of nowhere.
After the Mexican-American war, the Hidalgo-Guadalupe treaty was signed, which turned over a vast stretch of land in what is now the western US to the USA. Where the Brighamite Mormons had settled then became a Territory of the United States.
A territory of the U.S. at the time was governed by a federally appointed Governor, which was made for the Utah territory. But as these Governors were sent to UT, they found that they could not govern because the Mormons followed Young, absolutely, and believed they were under no obligation to obey Federally appointed executives.
Of course, the U.S. disagreed with this idea and so sent Federal troops to get the territory out of the control of Young, and what ensued is now known as the “Utah War”. Young whipped up an atmosphere of fear, telling his followers that the Federal troops were being sent to destroy them (they weren’t), and so the Utah Mormons prepared to defend themselves. The Nauvoo Legion was reformed, the people stock piled food and ammunition and prepared to burn everything rather than give it over to Federal troops.
An advance group of military personnel met with Young, to inform him of their mission: to escort the new Federal appointees, to act as the local law enforcement (a type of sheriff) only when called on by local authorities and to establish at least two and perhaps three new U.S. Army camps in Utah.
Young declared he would not allow the Army or the Federal appointees to enter Utah and declared martial law and became determined to stop the Federal troops from arriving in Utah. The Nauvoo Legion burned the grasses along the trail the Federal troops were taking, to halt their progress, burned Fort Bridger, so the Federal troops could not take possession of it, burned Army supply trains that were behind the main body of Federal soldiers and stole the livestock from the supply trains.
The Nauvoo Legion kept up these type of gorilla tactics, to the point the Army had to respond and one skirmish took place where no one was killed. The Mormons were successful in halting the Army at the burned out Ft. Bridger, where they wintered. The military leaders declared via a Grand Jury that Young and a group of Mormon militia leaders were committing acts of treason.
During the winter “break” (so-to-speak) the tensions relaxed and negotiations were reached between the Army and the Mormons. President Buchanan declared that if the Mormons accepted government authority over Utah, he would pardon all Mormon participants. The newly appointed territorial governor was allowed to take his position in Salt Lake.
The Army, however, was not allowed to enter Utah, and that tension remained. During the following spring and summer, additional Federal troops were sent to reinforce the Army and in Utah, Young grew the Nauvoo Legion and called for Mormon members to supply them with anything they had. He also had the Mormons prepared to leave the Salt Lake valley, with the intent of burning everything behind them. They evacuated south, to Utah Valley, burying the foundations and granite stones that were for the building of their temple, and making the building site look like a plowed field.
Meanwhile, Pres. Buchanan was under pressure from Congress to end the crisis. Buchanan sent a delegation to negotiate the entrance of the Army into Utah in exchange for a submission to government appointees, a promise to not interfere with religious practices, and a full pardon of all Mormons who were involved.
So the “Mormon War” ended, with no casualties, and the Army entered an abandoned Salt Lake valley. The following month the Mormons returned to Salt Lake and the Army settled at Camp Floyd, 50 miles south of Salt Lake. Purposely far removed from Salt Lake proper to avoid creating tension.
The consequence for Buchanan was, the Utah War was seen as an expensive blunder. The consequences for the Mormons were, months of neglecting their crops and other economic activities, that impacted them for a year or more.
