discipline of the Mormons were supposed peculiarly to fit them for this service. As California was supposed, also, to be their ultimate destination, the long march would cost them less than other citizens. They were accordingly invited to furnish a battalion of volunteers early in the month of July" (p. 27).
The transaction seems, then, one of convenience on both sides; the government wanted some good troops, and the Saints were willing to fight for pay, especially in the direction and against an enemy which harmonized so remarkably well with their ulterior designs. They were at that time, too, in great need of ready funds, and the bounty, or portion of the pay, which is said to have amounted to some $20,000, was paid to the authorities of the Church, and more than counterbalanced the inconvenience arising from the absence of that number of men.
Early in the spring of 1847, a pioneer band of one hundred and forty-three men, with seventy wagons, started on their westward journey, with all the means and appliances for forming a settlement. They reached the valley of Great Salt Lake in July, laid the foundation of their present capital, and put in extensive crops for the future necessities of the incoming Saints. Others followed at short intervals, and some four thousand people became the inhabitants of the valley during that year. In 1848, nearly all that remained made their way to the new land of promise. Fortunately, the land cost them nothing, and all the money and goods saved from the wreck of their property at Nauvoo they were able to devote to other uses than acquiring a property in the soil.
