Army Exploration

Army explorations begun by Fremont were continued by a distinguished group of officers. Howard Stansbury in 1849 was sent to survey the Great Salt Lake and adjacent valleys. Under Jim Bridger's guidance he undertook unsuccessfully to find a new road to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Later he made a land journey around the lake to get an idea of the problems its survey would entail. His subordinate, John W. Gunnison, meanwhile surveyed Utah Valley. Next spring the two officers surveyed the Great Salt Lake itself, giving the islands their present names, after which they returned east via the Golden Pass Road.

Gunnison came back in 1853, exploring for a central Pacific railroad route. While reconnoitering the Sevier Lake area, in October, 1853, he and six men were slain by Pahvant Utes. E. G. Beckwith took the survivors north to Salt Lake. In the spring of 1854, after examining the Weber and Provo canyons with a side-journey to the vicinity of Fort Bridger by way of Chalk Creek, Beckwith carried Gunnison's exploration the rest of the way to California, crossing the Salt Desert south of the old Hastings road.

During this time Fremont reappeared in Utah. Stung by the fiasco of his expedition of 1848-1849, which ended in the southern Rockies amid new scenes of cannibalism, Fremont courted trouble by another winter journey. His party endured great privations, and one died before they reached Parowan in February, 1854. Fremont went on to California by a route through the deserts west of Cedar City. He had left the Army in 1847, and this exploration was designed to establish the feasibility of a railroad route, never adopted.

Friction between the Mormons and the Federal Government, extending over a period of years, led to troops being ordered to Utah in 1857, the so-called Utah War. One side effect, the profoundest tragedy in Utah's history, was the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September, 1857, when upwards of 140 California emigrants were murdered on the Southern Road to Los Angeles. The troops themselves had to winter at Camp Scott near Fort Bridger. They reached Salt Lake Valley in June, 1858, and went on-to establish Camp Floyd (later Camp Crittenden) in Cedar Valley. Some of these troops, under Colonel W. W. Loring, were sent back to New Mexico across southeastern Utah. In the summer of 1860, another force under extending over a period of years, led to troops being ordered to Utah in 1857, the so-called Utah War. One side effect, the profoundest tragedy in Utah's history, was the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September, 1857, when upwards of 140 California emigrants were murdered on the Southern Road to Los Angeles. The troops themselves had to winter at Camp Scott near Fort Bridger. They reached Salt Lake Valley in June, 1858, and went on to establish Camp Floyd (later Camp Crittenden) in Cedar Valley. Some of these troops, under Colonel W. W. Loring, were sent back to New Mexico across southeastern Utah. In the summer of 1860, another force under Lieut. Colonel E. R. S. Canby marched from Utah under similar orders, en route transforming into a wagon road that variant of the Spanish Trail which went up over Soldier Summit.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 1858, one of the Army's most accomplished Topographical Engineers, J. H. Simpson, came out to Utah. He located a supply road from Camp Floyd to Fort Bridger by way of the Provo River and Chalk Creek then began explorations for a road across the Great Basin from Camp Floyd to Carson Valley. Preliminary explorations took him as far as the Dugway Mountains, and in the spring of 1859 he went the rest of the way. Returning, he examined a route to the south, shorter but dryer and therefore less useful. Simpson's outbound trail was largely that adopted for the tempestuous Pony Express, which began carrying a weekly overland mail in April, 1860, and continued until the completion of the Overland Telegraph late in 1861.

A final exploration by the Topographical Engineers in the summer of 1859 brought J. N. Macomb into the San Juan country from New Mexico, under instructions to examine the Spanish Trail to determine its utility for a supply road, and also to establish the exact locality of the junction of the Green and Colorado Rivers. He was more successful in the former mission than the latter, baffled by the red rock country through which the two rivers have cut their chasms.

1. In 1849 ____ was sent to survey the Great Salt Lake and adjacent valleys.

John W. Gunnison
Howard Stansbury
John C. Fremont
J.H. Simpson

2. In October of 1853 ____ was killed by indians while exploring the area of Sevier Lake.

J.H. Simpson
John C. Fremont
Howard Stansbury
John W. Gunnison

3. In 1854 John C. Fremont stumbled into the Southern Utah town of ____ , barely surviving a winter journey.

Parowan
Sevier
Cedar City
Salt Lake City

4. Tensions brought about by the "Utah War" resulted in the murder of 140 immigrants at ____ on the Southern Road to Los Angeles.

Cedar City
Fort Bridger
Mountain Meadow
Provo River

5. The ____ began carrying weekly overland mail in April of 1860.

Southern Pacific Railroad
Pony Express
The soldiers from Camp Floyd
Topographical Engineers

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