Diary of the Mormon Battalion Mission
Albuquerque: New Mexico Historical Review, [1967]. First Edition. 165-209pp. Octavo [23.5 cm] Green side-stapled wrappers. Near fine. Item #10222
Offprint from the New Mexico Historical Review. The diary here published is Lee's account of his trip, with notes on the terrain, the happenings in camp, and the general condition of the army. Lee made it as far as Santa Fe, before returning to Brigham Young with some money collected. There are few major events in the history of the Far West from 1846 to 1849 that did not involve the Mormon Battalion. Recruits for the Mexican War from migrating Mormons in Iowa, the Battalion helped make that migration to Utah possible, opened four major western trails to wagons (including principal overland routes of the forty-niners), showed the importance of the Gadsden Purchase corridor, participated in the United States conquest of California and in the discovery of gold there, escorted John Fremont to his court martial, and carried the news of the gold east to an eager American public.
Juanita Brooks (1898-1989) is one of the major historians of Utah history and particularly of the history of southern Utah. She was born and raised in the southern Nevada outpost of Bunkerville. After high school she focused on her education first at Dixie College, and then Brigham Young University. After obtaining a master's degree from Columbia University, she returned to St. George, where she was appointed dean of women for Dixie College. She then embarked on a career of research. In 1934, Brooks' "A Close-Up of Polygamy" was published in Harper's Monthly Magazine, the first of over forty articles and fifteen books published during her career.
Price: $75.00