The Mormon Battalion Part 8

"A bronze figure of a Battalion man is mounted upon the front corner.

Flanking him on two sides of the triangle are cut in high relief, on the left, the scene of the enlistment of the Battalion under the flag of the United States of America; on the right a scene of the march where the men are a.s.sisting in pulling the wagons of their train up and over a precipitous ascent while still others are ahead widening a cut to permit the pa.s.sage of the wagons between the out-jutting rocks.

"The background is a representation of mountains of the character through which the Battalion and its train pa.s.sed on the journey to the Pacific.

"Just below the peak in the center and in front of it is chiseled a beautiful head and upper part of a woman, symbolizing the 'Spirit of the West.' She personifies the impulsive power and motive force that sustained these Battalion men and led them, as a vanguard of civilization, across the trackless plains and through the difficult defiles and pa.s.ses of the mountains.

"The idea of the sculptor in the 'Spirit of the West' is a magnificent conception and should dominate the whole monument.

"The bronze figure of the battalion man is dignified, strong and reverential. He excellently typifies that band of pioneer soldiers which broke away through the rugged mountains and over trackless wastes.

"Hovering over and above him the beautiful female figure, with an air of solicitous care, guards him in his reverie. Her face stands out in full relief: the hair and diaphanous drapery waft back mingling with the clouds while the figure fades into dim outline in the ma.s.sive peaks and mountains, seeming to pervade the air and the soil with her very soul.

"'The Spirit of the West' is but one of the many attributes of Deity symbolizing that Infinite Love and care which the Deity has for all his children and it represents the hope, courage, and determination which moved and impelled the Battalion Man, his comrades and all the others who have followed in their footsteps in the settlement and development of the great west.

"It is the Spirit back of the breaking of the soil by the farmer, back of the inst.i.tution of our schools, back of our mines, back of our government and of our very hearthsides. It permeates the air, the soil and the hearts of men. It tempers the character of all who come within the influence of the boundless plains and majestic peaks. It has led men to make a garden of a desert and a treasure house of the mountain. It has justified and approved every sacrifice to make this part of the world a better place in which to live. It is constant, never ending--infinite.

"It is pleasant to contemplate these thoughts as expressed in the model, at this time when the world is all but overcome with the idea of individualism, and while new governments, shifting as the sands, conceived in greed, envy and malice daily are born, struggle and die.

"Our proposed monument represents and commemorates such ideal in co-operation, steadfastness and progress as should be a lesson and an inspiration to this and to succeeding generations.

"The back of the monument has been most happily designed.

"It is the third side of the triangle and remains to be described.

"The central idea is the dimly suggested figure of an Indian woman, of the southwestern type, whose head shows in relief against the background peaks and whose body and outstretched arms draped in the customary blanket are faintly suggested in the crags and rocks. In fact the head is the only part of the figure that is chiseled clear in outline, the balance of the figure being only dimly suggested."

=Evanishment of Race.=--"Just as the 'Spirit of the West' in the front dominates and pervades so this figure has the air of receding and disappearance. The evanishment of a former race. The figure is heroic in size and beautifully conceived. On either side, really on the lower folds of the blanket or on the rocks whereon the blanket is suggested, are two more scenes incidental to the journey and labors of the battalion. On the right half is a scene at Sutter's mill where some of the battalion members in digging the tailrace for the mill turned up the first gold bearing gravel that led to the great gold rush to California in "49,' and contributed so many millions to the wealth of the country.

"On the left half is shown a battalion man digging a ditch and leading the water from a creek to overflow the land so that the pioneers could break the ground that had shattered their plow points and broken their plows.

"This was the introduction of irrigation into Utah.

"The back of the monument in its conception and treatment, by its stateliness and suggested grandeur and what the artists call 'atmosphere' made a distinct impression upon the committee and no changes or modifications were thought of nor suggested. It seemed a very happy solution of a difficult problem.

"From the irrigating stream and the tail-race of the mill it is designed to have small streams of flowing water forming a pool in the shape of a half moon at the rear and so arranged as to pa.s.s this water through to the other side to form two pools or lagoons on the front side of the monument.

"Immediately surrounding the monument the architects have laid out a pavement in red brick tile with a border of an Indian design. This dark tile will save the glare and dazzling reflection of the bright sun of our clear atmosphere upon a white granite monument.

"There are also graceful and symmetrical walks, a granite coping and seats suitably located and arranged to give everyone ample opportunity for a casual or studied view of the monument and its parts.

"Beyond these walks and seats immediately around the monument, the pools, lagoon and walks are designed to join in and harmonize with the rest of the capitol grounds.

"Nothing like this monument has ever been designed or built before. It is original and unique. Few states can boast the achievements such as are commemorated in this design. More than 72 years have elapsed since the battalion made its memorable march, and the most of its members have pa.s.sed to the great beyond. So this monument should be built at once if we are to proceed according to first hand evidence and information and not according to more or less fanciful and legendary tales concerning them and their difficult journey.

"It is sufficiently creditable and glorifying to tell their history as it was and without adornment. The most important events are to be shown in bronze and stone upon this monument.

"Its execution will certainly tax the sculptor to his utmost, but I believe it is in thoroughly capable hands and when built will be one of the really great monuments of the United States. * * *

"Therefore, let us adhere to the proposed model with steadfast purpose to build it not only as an added attraction to the many we have for the tourist and visitor, but more especially as an object of great interest for study and inspiration for our children and our children's children."

=The Duty of the People of Utah.=--Such is the Monument to be erected in commemoration of this great march of infantry whose achievements are so closely and inseparably connected with winning for the United States her present inheritance in the intermountain west and on the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific. Also whose achievements and glory are so inseparably connected with the founding of the State of Utah, as the work of part of her pioneer-state builders. It is the duty of the people of Utah, to whom appeal is now made, to raise the $100,000 necessary to make the State's appropriation of a like amount available to build the monument. To fail in such a duty would be to disgrace the State. No other State in the Union has such a unique incident to celebrate as this Battalion incident in our Utah Pioneer history. It is both heroic and dramatic; and in the results achieved is one of the largest events contributed by any state to the history of our country. Utah owes it to the state and to the nation to build this monument, that memory of this greatest march of infantry in the world, and the heroism of those who made it, shall not perish from among men.

It is the purpose of the Utah State Mormon Battalion Monument Commission to raise this fund by the 30th day of January, 1920,--Battalion Day--being the seventy-third anniversary of the official ending of their march, and arrival upon the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific. The respective counties have been organized for the campaign for the funds, subscription lists have been opened. It is proposed to conduct a campaign of public meetings in the interest of the Monument throughout Utah and the surrounding states, and give the people of the inter-mountain west every opportunity to honor themselves and their posterity and their state by fittingly memorializing the March and Achievements of the Mormon Battalion.

Transcriber's note:

Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original.

The following corrections have been made to the text:

Page iii: The Call of the Battalion. [period missing in original]

Page iii: From Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe. [period missing in original]

Page iv: From Santa Fe to the Mouth of the Gila. [period missing in original]

Page iv: Record of the Battalion in California. [period missing in original]

Page v: The Tide of Western Civilization Started 67 [original has 66]

Page v: The Mormon Battalion's "Diggings" on the American River 68 [original has 67]

Page v: Ascent of the Sierras from the Western Side 72 [original has 71]

Page v: Evidence of Appreciation of the Battalion's Services 73 [original has 72]

Page v: Efforts to Raise a Second Mormon Battalion 74 [original has 73]

Page v: Lieut. George Stoneman [original has Stonemen]

Page 9: In it Mr. [period missing in original] Little expresses

Page 14: in the event of [original has or] the Battalion being raised

Page 15: locate on Grand Island until [original has untill]

they could

Page 15: [original has extraneous quotation mark] You can stay till your husbands

Page 16: "Four regiments were called [quotation mark missing in original]