- Expansion and conflict, '50-'53
On February 28, 1850, Young organised a Board of Regents to establish the University of Deseret in the Salt Lake Valley. That same year, Mormon pioneer William Davis explored the region at the northern end of the Wasatch Front. He returned to the area in 1851 with his family and others to create a permanent settlement. In 1852, Brigham Young direct Lorenzo Snow to create a self-sufficient city at the site. The settlement was eventually named Box Elder in 1855.
In 1850 Hobble Creek was settled by eight pioneer families, who upon arriving at Salt Lake Valley from the East were directed by President Young to settle 50 miles to the south. Incorporated in 1853, the city was so named because their horses were often hobbled and left along the stream to graze in the lush grass, and when the horses wandered into the creek the hobbles would come loose.
In 1851, a toll bridge was constructed across the Platte river using funds provided by the Church. It's creation led to the demise of the old ferry, but the bridge provided a more secure and quicker method of crossing, easing the long trek. Further developing the pioneer routes, Colonel John Reese and a band of eighteen men established Mormon Station, a trading post near Eagle Valey, thirty miles from Lake Tahoe.
Also in 1851, Brigham Young acted upon the report of Parley P. Pratt (who had performed reconnaissance in the Little Salt Lake Valley, notably finding iron deposits), and called for the establishment of settlements in the region to produce much-needed iron for the growing Mormon community. Mormon apostle George A. Smith was appointed head of this "Iron Mission" that year, and led the first company of 120 men, 31 women, and 18 children south from Provo (recently renamed from Fort Utah). This company broke the trail, clearing roads and building bridges on their route, reaching Center Creek in 1851. This new community became Parowan.
Parowan soon earned the name "Mother Town of the Southwest", because of the many pioneers who left from there to start other communities. In its first year, colonists established Johnson Fort (founded by Joel H. Johnson), as well as Fort Cedar, which was established equidistant from iron and coal deposits.
By 1852, relations between the Mormons and Bridger (co-owner of the eponymous Fort Bridger) has deteriorated badly. That year, a group of the Battalion rode east to arrest Bridger for selling alcohol to the Natives, a transgression of the Church's law. He escaped, and returned to the East; in the meantime, the Mormons established Fort Supply near the existing fort.
Since 1848, the settlement of Manti had been struggling to prosper in the Sanpete Valley. Initially relations between the settlers and the Ute Natives had been good; the Mormons felt it their duty to bring the gospel to the natives, and when a measles epidemic broke out the Mormons used their limited medicine to aid the natives. Similarly, the Indians provided the settlers with food in the first bitter winters. Indeed, in 1849 Chief Walkara negotiated trade with the settlement, and later was baptised into the Church.
However, relations between the two peoples would deteriorate rapidly. The expansion of the Latter-day Saints throughout the Great Basin increased pressure on the natives and limited their raiding and hunting lifestyle, while the Saints often objected to the native slave-trade. In addition, the growing gold rush in California proper saw increasing numbers of non-Mormons passing through the lands to the south. Some natives were killed in disputes, and Walkara and other leaders became increasingly angry with both the Mormonees and the Mericats, designations used by local tribes to distinguish Mormon settlers from non-Mormon Americans.
These pressures, additional measles epidemics in the 1850s, and the rise of competing bands of Shoshone raiders ultimately led to a brief conflict known as the Walker War. The conflict seemed to have two converging origins: Walkara's failure to acquire a Mormon wife, and a confrontation between James Ivie and a native in Hobble Creek that resulted in the death of the Ute tribesman.
The war itself consisted of raids conducted against Mormon outposts in central and southern Utah and retaliations by organized the Battalion. In one case, four settlers driving oxen-drawn wagons to Salt Lake City from Manti were attacked and killed at Uintah Springs on the night of September 30, 1853. Historical accounts indicate that the Battalion retaliated for the killings two days later, killing Natives. In a passive defence effort, Young directed settlers to move within the forts that were located in most Mormon settlements (highlighting that these forts were first and foremost for the protection of settlers rather than military institutions).
Due to the actions of Young and the Battalion, casualties during the war totalled twelve white settlers and an equally modest number of Indians (while the most published figures, these are generally thought to account only civilian losses; the Battalion recorded twenty of its own dead or wounded, and at least twice this inflicted upon the Ute braves).
The Walker War ended through an understanding negotiated between Young and Walkara during the winter of 1852 and finalized in May 1853 in Levan, near Nephi, Utah. The peace was a welcome one, but did little to solve the underlying causes of the conflict. Following the Walker War, the Mormon Battalion was officially renamed the Nauvoo Legion. The renaming was both a ceremonal break from the United States, and an honour to the previous Nauvoo Legion.
