The Saints and the Union Utah Territory during the Civil War

By: E.B. Long

This seemed to be a story about the conflict between Brigham Young and U.S. military commander, General Patrick Conner. Patrick Conner was considered to be the father of Utah Mining, which Brigham was vehemently against, and he was for a time a friend with “Wild” Bill Hickman (see Nefarious Elders) when Hickman was on the way out of Brigham’s camp. There was mutual suspicion and bitterness on both Mormon and federal sides, but I think the animosity that each felt for the other had been laid long before the Civil War.