The Elk Mountain Mission : a history of Moab, Mormons, the Old Spanish Trail and the Sheberetch Utes 1854 - 1855 /
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references.

In 1854 and 1855 Brigham Young sent 53 men to scout and later build a fort and a farm near The Old Spanish Trail crossing of the Colorado River, the site where Moab, Utah is located today. At the time, the Mormons had been in Utah only seven years and the red rock deserts of southeast Utah were still, for all practical purposes, a blank spot on the territorial maps. It was an isolated and dangerous environment. There were mountains to climb, deep rivers to cross, and unexplored canyons filled with the ruins of a mysterious ancient civilization. Warring tribes of Indians were a constant concern. With no hope of help or rescue in any emergency, women and children were not allowed to participate. The effort was called The Elk Mountain Mission. The stated purpose was to explore the area, trade with the Navajos and bring to Christ the Sheberetch Utes, a native tribe that would be completely extinct only 25 years later. A second, unstated and more political purpose, was to establish a fort and a colony at a key point on The Old Spanish Trail, to help protect the early Mormon settlements of southern Utah and to help Brigham Young and the Utah territorial legislature stop the troublesome slave trade between the Indians and slave traders from New Mexico. The undertaking became one of Utah's most incredible, but almost forgotten frontier epics. A story highlighting human virtues and frailties. Duty, honor, faith and sacrifice, mingled with intrigue, incompetence, recklessness and failure.