The Mormon Battalion

This monument in Oceanside, California says:
…at Council Bluffs Iowa during late June And early July 1846 discussions with federal officials resulted in the enlistment of 500 volunteers as soldiers In the army of the united states to march to California in Defense of its people.”

After completing the longest infantry march in military history and without firing a shot in mortal combat, they arrived here in January of 1847. They were thereafter garrisoned at the Mission San Luis Rey.

Their heritage was in service and virtue. They built roads, irrigation ditches, homes and Fort Moore in Los Angeles. They Harvested crops and built mills. Leaders and citizens offered them great inducements to re-enlist. Some did and their legacy remains in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Francisco and other cities of the Golden State.

The Spirit of these individuals is epitomized by the fact that the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill was reported by “Battalion men” who after fulfilling their contracts, left the riches of the world behind to return to the hardships of building “Zion.”

This page is to document the people and places of the Battalion I come across in my exploring and documenting.

Monuments:

• Hastings Cutoff – Broad Hollow ( East Canyon, UT )
• Mormon Battalion Monument ( Salt Lake City, UT )
• The Mormon Battalion ( Oceanside, CA )
• Mormon Island ( Folsom, CA )
• Mormon Pioneer Adobes ( Fremont, CA )
• Old Spanish Trail – Mormon Road Historic District ( Nevada )
• Thomas L. Kane and the Mormons ( Salt Lake City, UT )
• Women of the Mormon Battalion ( San Diego, CA )

People of the Mormon Battalion:

• Col. Philip St. George Cooke