Zion in the Deser(e)t

Chapter 1 : The General-Marshal

March 10, 1848, Salt Lake City

John Kelly got on his Sunday best, dusted it off, and headed to the new "Capitol Building" that had been set up as a makeshift capital for the new nation of Deseret. John dusted off his suit a second time. It wasn't every day that you met the President of the church, and John wanted to look as nice as he could. The "Capitol Building" itself was a two room log cabin hastily thrown together. John didn't think it would last the winter, but he'd only had one winter here, so he really didn't know how bad it would be. He headed to the building and knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in!"

John opened the door and saw Brigham Young sitting behind a desk that looked just as hastily put together as the cabin. Although he sat surrounded by all these makeshift objects, the Prophet himself looked like he'd always belonged there, and would be there for eons to come.

"Ah, Brother Kelly! It's good to see that my messanger reached you. Please, sit down."

Young motioned towards a large log cut into something of a stool. John sat down, not really caring whether it was a log or a throne.

"Is my information correct that you used to be in the military?"

John was slightly taken aback by the fact that the President of the Church knew his backround, but on further thought, realized that it was perfectly normal for an executive to reasearch somebody he's having a meeting with.

"Well, yes sir. I was in the military for a bit back in Britian, nothing much, just infantry."

"No matter, anyways, I'd like you to look at this."

Young took out a roll of paper from behind his desk and unrolled it on the table. It was a map of the current political status of the area.



"This is a current map of the American West. As you can see, Deseret is fairly large. We've got a lot of land to control, and nobody to control it. That's where you come in. I'm now officially making you the "Grand Marshal of Deseret" and the "Commander of the Calvary". The second title doesn't mean much yet, since we don't have enough money or people to make an efficiant army, but the first means you''ll be patroling the Great Basin looking for dissidents and trying to keep the law. You can pick up you're horse and the rest of your equipment at the stables on the other side of town. Good luck, and may God protect you."

John sat dazed for a minute, trying to process all that the Prophet had told him. Once he had collected his thoughts, he realized that Young was holding out his hand, holding something.

"Here you go. You're badge, General-Marshal Kelly."

Young handed the badge to Kelly. It was gold, and in the shape of three rectangles with points at the top, the middle one being taller.

"That's the planned shape for the new temple we're going to be building here."

John pinned the badge onto his shirt, shaked President Young's hand, and then walked out off the building, headed his home to get packed. It seemed a large task for one man, but if the Prophet had faith in him, then he knew he could do it.

TheMadcapSyd1 : A little immegration will fix that. And since Deseret's culture is super obsorbant, I'll have no problem. But that's something for another update.

Voshkod : I'm accually a fan of your work, and decided to do this mainly because you, or anybody else, weren't doing it.
I'd do Columbia, but I'm not quite that clear on its exact character and don't like the fact that it has absolutly no events. It doesn have huge claims though, which would make it an easier game then doing Cherokee, another American Minor that would be interesting, but also lacks any character.

Chapter 2 : A decade of peace

No map this time, since there's no difference, except more blue to my left.

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July 24, 1857, Salt Lake City, Temple Square

John rode at the front of his newly formed "Knights of St Joseph", a cuirassirer calvary unit that numbered around three thousand during peacetime, but could be bostered to 12,000 in case of war. The knights marched down towards Temple Square in a large parade for the tenth aniversery of the first group of pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. John looked back and almost found it hard to believe that it had been ten years since he first came here, and more than nine years since he got the job as "General-Marshal". Alot had changed since then. The Californian Republic, which guarded Deseret's western flank had been annexed by the US, the population had increased to over a million, and he had finally been able to defer enough of his duties to his men to finally get married. Elizabeth was expecting her first child in the winter, and John had made sure that he wouldn't have to leave the city until after the end of the year. He looked out into the crowd, a very mixed population racially, due to the huge immegration that had caused Deseret's rapid growth. But they had all come here and eventually become a fine part of the Culture of Zion. About the only cultural minority that had remained seperate were the Polish Soldiers that lived in a self imposed ghetto in Salt Lake. John thought that it wouldn't be long before even they became part of Zion. The parade reached the Temple Square, and got off his horse while his soldiers headed for Fort Buenaventura.
John saw the construction site of the Temple on the other side of the Square rising from the ground, but he was headed for the Old Tabernace for his meeting with President Young. The adobe building was nothing to look at, but like so many things around here, it served it's purpose until the permenent building could be built. He went into the building and saw Young sitting on a pew in the back. John sat down next to him.

"Has it really been 10 years since I we came here?"

"I was thinking the same thing. It seems to have passed so quickly and quietly."

"Now there's a miracle. The fact that Mexico hasn't tried to take us back. I suppose the prospect of facing Deseret in the North and the United States of Central America to the South has made them a little tamer. Still, I'm afraid this peace can't last forever. That's why I called you here."

John looked visibly shaken at these words.

"You don't mean you think there's going to be a war, do you?"

"No. At least, I hope not, but we should always be prepared. How many troops do you think that we could muster in the case of a full scale war?"

"Well, maybe about 50,000. But that would put every able bodied man into the military. I wouldn't suggest that except if we really need it."

"Neither would I. No need to worry, Brother Kelly. There won't be a war unless somebody else starts one, and it looks like the North American Continent will be safe for a while."

"That's always good to hear. How are things going with the Congress?"

"Annoying as always. They think that they can do whatever they want without Church aproval. But we know better. Anybody with an ounce worth of sense knows that if they try to do anything too radical, the people will stand behind the Church. I just hope that they know that. Power currupts, Brother Kelly, and we may have given the politicians too much power. I just hope that we never have to find out first hand."

John thought that was common sense. He thought that most everybody would think that common sense. Unfortinitly, there was a good sized and well armed minority in Salt Lake that probably wouldn't think so.