Captain Jefferson Hunt, Of The Mormon Battalion
Reprinted from an article by Richard A. Smith (gggrandson) in a 
"Provo [UT] Daily Herald" Supplement, March 16, 1997


On April 1, 1849, the Hunt family arrived at the Provo River in a group of 
approximately thirty families called by Brigham Young to settle the Utah 
Valley.  By that time, Jefferson Hunt was already locally famous.

After arriving at Council Bluffs in June 1846, Jefferson and his sons 
Gilbert and Marshall were among the first to volunteer in the Mormon 
Battalion.  Brigham Young designated him as captain of the first company.

Battalion Commander Lt. Col. James Allen became sick as they arrived at Fort
Leavenworth.  He gave temporary cammand of the battalion to Capt. Hunt.  
After the sad death of Lt. Col. Allen, regular Army Lieutenant A. J. Smith 
usurped command.

A letter arrived too late from Brigham Young stating that Lt. Col. Allen had
made commitments such that "...the command must devolve upon Captain 
Jefferson Hunt...".  Under Lieutenant Smith, the tired battalion men were 
not happy along the Santa Fe trail.

At Santa Fe, Lt. Col. P. St. George Cooke took command of the battalion.  
Approximately 150 sick soldiers in three groups, plus the dependent families,
were sent to Pueblo on the Arkansas River for the winter.  Along with some 
Saints out of Mississippi, they went north to Fort Laramie the next spring, 
and from there west arriving in the Salt Lake Valley July 29, 1847.  
Corporal Gilbert Hunt was part of the small escort force assigned for 
protection.

The battalion marched out of Santa Fe on Oct. 19, 1846.  At the end of a 
2,030-mile road-building trek, they arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847,
just two weeks after the last battle.  In Southern California, Capt. Hunt 
became acquainted with local ranchers while he supervised the construction 
of Fort Moore in Los Angeles.

On May 14, 1847, he wrote to Brigham Young about "... a good opportunity to 
purchase a large valley, 8,000 head of cattle...and an immense quantity of 
horses, by paying $500.00 down, and taking our own time to pay the remainder."

On July 4, 1847, the U.S. flag was placed at the top of a very tall pole by 
Private Marshall Hunt.  After the battalion had been discharged on July 16,
a travel company of 52 ex-soldiers elected Capt. Hunt to be their captain of
50.  He led this group by way of Santa Barbara northward on the El Camino 
Real to Monterey, then on to Sutter's Fort.  At Monterey, he signed the 
final pay and supply documents for Lt. William Tecumseh Sherman.

From Sutter's Fort, Capt. Hunt rode east and led his pack horse with two 
bushels of seed wheat by way of Fort Hall in Idaho to meet his family in 
the Salt Lake Valley, arriving in October.  There he found the great need 
for provisions and offered a plan that persuaded Stake President John Smith 
and the High Council to send for supplies from California.  In a Church 
calling on Nov. 16, 1847, Jefferson Hunt, sons Gilbert, Peter and John, 
along with 14 others, started south to follow the old Spanish Trail.

Few white persons had preceded them into the pristine Utah Valley.  After 45
arduous, starving days, they arrived Christmas Eve at the Isaac Williams 
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino.  They left Chino Feb. 14 and returned through 
Utah Valley in late May 1848 with pack animals loaded with seed grain, seed
potatoes and fruit-tree cuttings plus one bull and 97 cows.

Then on June 9, Hunt took mail on the Mormon Trail eastward to report about 
the battalion to Brigham Young who was then at Winter Quarters.  Hunt 
arrived at home inside the Salt Lake City fort on September 20.

Beginning in April, 1849, the Utah Valley settlers began to build a fort 
which was defended by a 60-man militia commanded by Capt. Hunt.  His two 
families lived inside Fort Utah for the next two years, farming and keeping
school.  He was elected to the legislature of the State of Deseret and gave 
the invocation at its beginning session in Salt Lake City on July 2, 1849.

During 1849, many caravans of prospectors came into Utah on their way to 
the gold fields.  Some arrived too late to safely pass over the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains befor winter.  Foodstuff was in very short supply, so 
Brigham Young called Hunt on a two-fold church mission:  to pilot the 49ers 
to California via the old Spanish Trail and to open a wagon road.  Some 500 
persons with 107 wagons paid $10.00 per wagon for his guide service.