David W. Patten and the Battle of Crooked River (October 25, 1838)
Event
Skirmish occurred during the 1838 Mormon conflict in Missouri.
A Missouri force raided Latter-day Saint settlements and captured two men.
The Caldwell County militia (a legal Mormon militia) attempted rescue.
Apostle David W. Patten helped lead the charge.
Patten was shot and later died from wounds.
He is remembered in LDS tradition as the first Apostle to die in connection with persecution.
Aftermath
Also killed: Latter-day Saint Gideon Carter.
The incident contributed to Governor Boggs’s Extermination Order.
Johnston’s Army and the “Almost Deserted” Salt Lake City (June 26, 1858)
Historical Context
The Utah War (1857–1858) involved federal troops deployed to Utah.
On June 26, 1858, the U.S. Army marched through Salt Lake City during the “Move South,” when most Saints evacuated temporarily.
Key Clarification
The small group left behind with instructions to burn the city if necessary were members of the Nauvoo Legion (Utah’s territorial militia).
They were not the Mormon Battalion, which had been disbanded in 1847.
Purchase of Egyptian Papyri and the Book of Abraham (July 1835)
Event
In 1835, Joseph Smith and associates purchased:
Several Egyptian mummies
Papyri scrolls
from Michael Chandler.
Joseph produced a text known today as the Book of Abraham, which he identified as translated from the papyri.
Surviving Material
Only fragments of the papyri survive today; most likely perished or were scattered after the 1871 Chicago Fire.
Women’s Suffrage in Utah and Wyoming (February 12, 1870)
Historical Sequence
Wyoming Territory legislated women’s suffrage first (1869).
Utah Territory passed suffrage shortly after, on February 12, 1870.
Utah women became the first in the U.S. to cast ballots under modern suffrage laws.
Federal legislation (1887) revoked Utah women’s voting rights due to anti-polygamy policy.
Utah restored women’s suffrage in 1896 at statehood.
Martin Harris’s Return and Rebaptism (September 1870)
Background
Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses, became estranged amid Kirtland-era turmoil.
He affiliated with several Restoration splinter groups but never denied his testimony.
Return
In 1870, he reunited with the Church in Utah, was rebaptized, received his endowment, and performed temple ordinances.
Sidney Rigdon’s Daughter Eliza – Reported Healing (August 21, 1842)
Claim
LDS sources recount that Joseph Smith blessed Sidney Rigdon’s daughter Eliza, who was believed to be dead or near death.
The account states she revived and testified of the gospel.
Historical Note
These are devotional miracle accounts recorded in LDS history.
No medical verification exists; documentation reflects 19th-century testimonies of healing.
President Millard Fillmore and Latter-day Saints
Relationship
Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young as Governor of Utah Territory.
When some federal officials fled Utah and complained, Fillmore ordered an investigation instead of military intervention.
Officials were told to return or lose their pay.
Many LDS historians regard Fillmore as comparatively fair in an era often dominated by hostility toward the Church.