Battalion--the musical where history, faith and romance come alive

JUNE 26th & 27th, 2009

Soldier image courtesy of Mormon Battalion Association

The Outdoor Theatre

@

Huntsville Town Park

Historic Huntsville Utah... in the heart of beautiful Ogden Valley

Pre-Show Entertainment & Pioneer Exhibits

Musical begins at 7:30pm

Admission Fees Waived for Friday & Saturday Performance

If you enjoy the production, please consider making a donation to the Mormon Battalion Museum located at THIS IS THE PLACE STATE PARK!

ABOUT THE MUSICAL

The entire experience surrounding the Mormon Battalion holds a certain mystique to past generations while growing increasingly faint in comparison to the modernity of today. Yet, we should be reminded that the trek of the Mormon Battalion remains the longest forced march in US military history...or that even today it is the only military unit ever drawn from a religious group...or that the Battalion forged the rugged trail that opened up the migration and colonization of the California Territory. But few know how the Mormon Battalion came to be a last resort for survival of the first Mormon pioneers--or more importantly, the sacrifice made possible due to the deep devotion the men and women held for each other at a time when their future was so fragile and their destination so uncertain.

Battalion--the musical takes a brief look at politics, destitution, defiance and romance... all with the very candid narration of Captain Jefferson Hunt, the senior Mormon officer in the Battalion, aided by flashbacks with musical vignettes by the colorful pioneer men and women.

"Battalion--the musical begins in the shipyards of Preston, England with three emigrant couples (Germany, England & Ireland) who express their delight at traveling to America and the city of Nauvoo where life will undoubtedly be sweet and serene. When next we visit them, they are destitute along with thousands of other 'saints' in the wilds of Iowa with no money, no food and fading hope. But Brigham Young's prayers have been answered when President James Polk is 'enticed' to enlist 500 Mormons in the Army of the West. It will be a forced march of over 2,000 miles to California and key to his plan to wrest the California Territory from Mexico. The men must first reconcile that the enlistment is 'manna from heaven' and not a clandestine US government plan to divide and destroy the fledgling religion. More importantly, they must come to terms with the emotionally retching thought of leaving their wives and children alone in the wilderness. The only consolation is their deeply held faith that they will somehow see them again...at an uncertain time...and in an uncertain place. While the vignette flashbacks illustrate deprivations of the soldier's life on the trail with half rations and days without water, the heart of Battalion--the musical is expressed in the way the wives and husbands, while miles apart, are able to increase their love and fondness for one another. For many, they stay connected through reflection of their hopes which is expressed through moving musical renditions...until at last they are indeed brought home to a land they had not yet seen."

The production includes 9 original musical numbers that are certain to leave you either laughing or misty eyed when performed by a troupe of talented actors and actresses from as close as Ogden Valley and as far as Arizona, California, Texas and Oregon. Most are able to trace their heritage back to members of the Mormon Battalion.

The script and lyrics were written by Trace Skeen of Liberty Utah while the music was arranged by Richard Wilson, former professor of music at the University of North Carolina. The script is often times taken from the very journals of those who leave a legacy that will not be forgotten.

Come early to enjoy the pioneer displays and hear some good ol' country music and then settle into our campsite style seating for a visit back in time with some of those ancestors that settled the West.

Arizona monument dedicated to the Mormon Battalion...one of several that can be found along more than 2,000 miles between Council Bluff and San Diego.

Capt. Jefferson Hunt--Mormon Soldier

Jefferson Hunt was a contemporary of Daniel Boone...born and bred in the same Kentucky backwoods where he learned to conquer the wilds with stalwart resolve. He married the beautiful Celia Mounts in 1823 and eleven years later they both converted to Mormonism shortly after the "new American religion" was organized by Joseph Smith amid a pitched wave of fervent religious zeal.

Jefferson Hunt left his Kentucky roots to join the Mormon migration to Far West, Missouri. His skills as a frontiersman were quickly recognized and he was commissioned by Joseph Smith as a Major in the Nauvoo Legion and later participated in the Battle of Crooked River.

Like thousands of other Nauvoo Mormons, Hunt was forced to leave his home and in the early months of 1846 he crossed the ice covered Mississippi River and built a temporary shelter for he and his wife in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was there in June of 1846 that he enlisted in the Mormon Battalion upon request of Brigham Young. His reputation preceded him and at the request of Brigham Young, the U.S. Army agreed to commission him as a Senior Captain by the U.S. Military. He worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Military envoy James Allen and Captain Thomas Kane in overcoming the general feeling of suspicion in recruiting 500 men who readily believed the U.S. Government had abandoned them over the past year.

His rugged physique and gristly beard gave him a patriarchal appearance, but it was his leadership that was highly respected by his fellow soldiers. Just a few months into the one year enlistment campaign he was asked to take command of the entire Mormon Battalion when their trusted U.S. Army leader, Capt. James Allen, suddenly died from a rapid onset of an unknown medical condition.

Feeling the weight of the survival and performance of 500 untrained Mormon soldiers would have caused Hunt to reflect back on the instructions he received from Brigham Young: "...be a father to the men and manage their affairs by the power and influence of their Priesthood and then you will have power to preserve their lives and escape difficulties." Brigham then went on to say that he would not be afraid to pledge his right hand that every man would return alive, if they would perform their duties faithfully and without murmuring.

Capt. Hunt proved to be a reliable soldier for both the U.S. Army as well as for Brigham Young. By authorizing duly appointed agents to receive the $42 clothing allowance from each of the Mormon soldiers, Capt. Hunt was facilitating the salvation for the Church as well as the families left behind. In a further demonstration of his faith in the providence of the Mormon Battalion, he authorized those agents (Newel K. Whitney, et al) to apply the funds to such uses as they saw fit.

Following his discharge from the Mormon Battalion, Hunt and family settled in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1847. He was later asked by church leaders to help create a Mormon colony in San Bernadino, California which became the first American settlement in California after Statehood. He then served in the California State Assembly from 1853-1857 where during that time he was appointed as a Brigadier General in the California State Militia.

Hunt returned to Utah and founded the town of Huntsville on the Ogden River in 1860 and served as a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1863, representing Weber County. He died in 1879 and the following statesmen are but a smattering of his noble legacy:

• John Hunt Udall, great-grandson, Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona
• Jesse Addison Udall, great-grandson, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
• Don Taylor Udall, great-grandson, Arizona State Legislator
• Nick Udall, 2nd great-grandson, Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona
• Gordon H. Smith, 3rd great-grandson, U.S. Senator from Oregon

The character of Captain Jefferson Hunt will provide the narration for Battalion--The Musical to be performed in Huntsville, Utah on June 26th and 27th, 2009.

Col. Thomas Kane--On a Mission to the Mormons

The son of a prominent and politically connected Philadelphia attorney, Thomas Kane was born into wealth, fame and fortune. He had grown tired of practicing law among the affluent as his eye clearly wandered to the adventures which lay in store with the unfolding of the "Manifest Destiny" doctrine of President James Polk.

While still in Philadelphia, the young Mr. Kane became familiar with a leader of the much maligned Mormon religious movement in the person of Jesse C. Little. "With a little tact and patience and a little maneouvring" he journaled, Kane was able to "get letters of genuine strength to Brigham Young and Orson Hyde and other notable," which seemed a "wild dream" to his ambitions. His relationship with Little included not only a letter of introduction to President Polk but also a conspiratorial tutoring on how to approach the President regarding the financial assistance they so desperately needed in their resettlement in the West. Battalion--the musical includes an re-enactment of that critical confrontation between Jesse C. Little and President James C. Polk--a strategic moment in the history of the Mormon Battalion and the survival of the Mormon movement.

As Kane's ambitions turned to compassion over the ensuing months, there are those who have avowed that Thomas L. Kane did more to insure the survival of the fledgling religion in nineteenth-century America than any other single non-Mormon. Numerous are the recorded words in early journals of the fondness felt among the Mormon pioneers toward the efforts of Col. Thomas Kane. The statue shown below stands prominently on the grounds of the Utah State Capitol.

One can get a sense of the budding energy Kane felt for the Mormon cause in the excerpts that are taken from a letter written to his father in July of 1846. The letter came after Kane had spent several days assisting in the recruitment of the volunteers for the Mormon Battalion and in spending several sessions with the top level leadership of the Church.

T.L. KANE TO MY OWN DEAR FATHER & MOTHER,

...in the first place, you know the importance I attached to the enlistment by the United States of volunteers from the Mormons, and of great benefits I believed would accrue from the measure to our country as well as that poor people. My presence has been of great service in promoting the measure. The relief was imperfectly understood by some of the leaders and much suspected by the great mass of the people. Captain Allen <the military recruiting officer> when I arrived was fidgetting discouraged, mad at being misunderstood--declaring that if, within a time really too brief, the men were not raised, he would return without them--which only increased the distrust of the Mormons. Within twenty minutes after my arrival in the main camp I held a council there for three and a half hours with the Twelve that were there and arranged with them that a grand meeting of the people should be held the very next day. Short as was the notice, a thousand people met. The right course was voted by acclamation of those present....

So the men were levied in a jiffy--married men left their wives & children & goods in charge of the church--and four hundred were raised without regard to sacrifice of feeling in two days work. I feel it a personal battle & fought for its completion accordingly. They are without any exaggeration a body of highly worthy men and they give me their most unbroken & childlike confidence.

I will devote much of my time when I come home to the Mormons...I am going to work for the Mormons, and want all my leisure to manoevure the newspapers and write a book in their vindication. This must be accomplished now, as soon as possible. If public opinion be not revolutionized before the Sacramento Country fills up with settlers, the miserable dramas of Missouri and Illinois will be acted over again there will be no country left to which the persecuted can fly....

I love more & more this suffering people and am determined to befriend them. I should not wonder if I found in this the mission of my life-- When I come home prepared to go to work, I will pray to god for health to labour in their cause, and to tell the world and the people of the Union who these people are who have been chased from hearths and altars--from the bosoms of their friends and the graveyards of their parents and children.

And now, dear Father, the sun having gone down behind the dreary hills over the River it is rapidly growing dark...Hope for me everything there is to be hoped for...what is the greats comfort to me, the knowledge that already, I have not lived in vain--Thomas L. Kane

Thomas Kane was clearly influential in securing the financial relief afforded by the formulation of the Mormon Battalion during the critical year of 1846. But, Kane was also instrumental just a few years later in negotiating a peaceful resolution just as the US Military under General Johnston was about to reign down on Brigham Young's and his followers as part of the ill-fraught Mormon war of 1858.

Battalion--the musical will be presented at the Outdoor Theatre in Huntsville, Utah on June 26th and 27th, 2009.