Letter to Colonel Thomas Swords and list of distances from Fort Vancouver to Salt Lake City, 1857-1858.

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Letter to Colonel Thomas Swords and list of distances from Fort Vancouver to Salt Lake City, 1857-1858.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702178613

ALS (9 p.) from Rufus Ingalls, Quartermaster General for the Department of Oregon and commander of U.S. Army troops at Fort Vancouver in the Western Territories, to Colonel Thomas Swords in San Francisco, discussing potential supply and attack routes to Utah in case of a war between the United States and the Mormons. The letter, dated 1857 Dec 29, was written three months after the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and draws on Ingalls's extensive knowledge of immigrant routes earned through his service with the Steptoe Expedition two winters before. Ingalls compares routes from California through the Sierra Nevada, through San Bernadino via the Mojave, and also mentions the Colorado River route before recommending a supply line from the north via the Columbia River to Walla Walla and Boise. After assessing supply routes, Ingalls also proposes an attack route from the north and concludes his letter with personal observations about the Mormons and potential conflict in Utah. A list accompanying the letter notes distances along and between twenty-two specific points from Fort Vancouver to Salt Lake City, with a breakdown of distances where supplies could be shipped by water and where they would need to be shipped overland. Estimate of cost also included.

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Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 8025671

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Ingalls, Rufus, 1818-1893

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d222d6 (person)

U.S. Army Captain and assistant quartermaster assigned to duty at Fort Vancouver; of Denmark, Me. From the description of Rufus Ingalls letter, 1853 Sept. 9. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 70978486 General Rufus Ingalls (1820-1893), went to Oregon in 1849 as quartermaster with the rank of captain, under Major Hathaway, who established the post at Fort Vancouver. From the description of Letter : to Major General Thomas S. Jesup, Quartermas...

Swords, Thomas, 1764-1843

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xs6dxg (person)

Utah Expedition (1857-1858)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60c93qp (corporateBody)

United States. Army

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6km312r (corporateBody)

The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 and United States Code, Title 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001. As the largest and senior branch of the U.S. military, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which wa...