Smith, Lot

Lot Smith (1830-1892) was member of the Mormon Battalion and led a colonization mission in northern Arizona.

Lot Smith was born in 1830 in Oswego County, New York, to William O. Smith and Rhoda Hough Smith. He marched to California in 1846-7 as the youngest member of the Mormon Battalion. In 1857, he led a militia force against Johnson’s army. In 1876, he led a colonization mission in northern Arizona. The online Utah History Encyclopedia says, “During his last years, relations with his Indian neighbors became increasingly tense as the rangeland around Tuba City was overgrazed.” In 1892, Smith was killed in a gun fight with a Navajo because of this grazing dilemma.

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