badly wounded. There also is an interesting introductory chapter, written
by Col. Thos. L. Kane, not a Mormon, dramatically dwelling upon the
circumstances of the exodus from Nauvoo and the later dedication there
of the beautiful temple, abandoned immediately thereafter. He wrote also
of the Mormon camps that were then working westward, describing the high
spirit and even cheerfulness in which the people were accepting exile
from a grade of civilization that had made them prefer the wilds. Colonel
Kane helped in the organization of the Battalion, in bringing influence
to bear upon the President and in carrying to Fort Leavenworth the orders
under which the then Colonel Kearny proceeded.


Henry Standage's Personal Journal

One of the treasures of the Arizona Historian's office is a copy of a
journal of about 12,000 words kept by Henry Standage, covering his
service as a member of the Mormon Battalion from July 19, 1846, to July
19, 1847. The writer in his later years was a resident of Mesa, his home
in Alma Ward. His manuscript descended to his grandsons, Orrin and
Clarence Standage.

Standage writes from the standpoint of the private soldier, with the
soldier's usual little growl over conditions that affect his comfort;
yet, throughout the narrative, there is evidence of strong integrity of
purpose, of religious feeling and of sturdiness befitting a good soldier.

There is pathos in the very start, how he departed from the Camp of
Israel, near Council Bluffs, leaving his wife and mother in tears. He had
been convinced by T. B. Platt of the necessity of obedience to the call
of the President of the United States to enlist in the federal service.