October 16th, 1878
No news from the East has arrived in some time, though I have a terrible feeling of dread nearly every day. We know something horrible has happened, but the telegraph isn’t working.
January 4th, 1879
Riders have finally reached Prescott with the news, and it is dreadful. My hand cannot bear to repeat it on this paper. My dear wife Jessie is even more stricken than most of us; she has gone to the chapel since she heard and has not come back for hours.
What has become of the country that I have spent my life serving? What will become of it?
June 15th, 1879
Our supplies dwindle, and no source of replenishment is in sight. The citizenry is acting very restless as well; thieving and violence has risen dangerously since before the caravans stopped. We have a lot of refugees from California, and not nearly enough food for all of them. I am considering imposing martial law so that my soldiers can take what they need and maintain stability in the region.
Jessie is spending nearly all of her time in prayer. She tells me she feels a hole in her soul. I feel it too, but I have work to do.
November 21st, 1879
The last of the rebel leaders have been rounded up, and the situation has been stabilized. We are coordinating with the governments of Utah and New Mexico to get resources distributed and trade up and running again. Is that the light at the end of the tunnel?
Jessie's been talking to some of the Mormons that have a colony a few miles away from Prescott; I'm amazed at how her mood improves each time she's back from a meeting with them.
March 21st, 1880
The garrison in Tucson has fled up and regrouped with us here in Prescott. They report being attacked by a large group of armed bandits, though we are not sure whether is was Mexicans or Indians. Such a march without proper supply in this damned desert—it’s no wonder so few of them made it back here. It looks like the whole southern territory is lost; we’ll have to focus on what we have.
January 29th, 1881
The bandits came at us from California, but our scouts spotted them well in advance. Unfortunately, the ambush only partly worked, and they were able to escape southward. I am going to take my soldiers and follow them. Our ultimate goal is to recapture Phoenix and Tucson.
This expedition is only possible because of the support we have received from the Utah Territorial government. Jessie tells me she’s ready to join the Mormon church, as long as I'm ready to do it with her. Maybe there’s something to that—if our old God led to the destruction of our nation, perhaps there’s something to the Mormon one.
February 19th, 1881
When we reached Phoenix, we had them cornered. A huge group of them, bandits, mostly Mexicans. The ones that had no English, we executed; the rest have been pressed into service. But we know that an even larger group of them has been operating out of Tucson.
My scouts have just reported that indeed, another large bandit group—an army, says my scout—is coming from the east, marching towards Tucson. But he says they’re being chased by Mormons!
April 2nd, 1881
The Utah government was impressed by the campaign I waged here with limited resources, and extremely happy the way I helped them encircle those bandits from New Mexico. Jessie and I openly converting to the Mormon religion has sealed the deal. I have been placed in charge of the combined forces of the American West (they even say the Californians are coming to join up with us), and we are marching south, into Mexico. We will end the Mexican bandit threat and to ensure safety and security for the Mormon colonies there, as well as for the large number of Americans who have fled there since the Fall. God be with us.