The Civil War That Almost Was: The Utah War in 16 Events
On June 19, 1858, the New York Herald reported on the culmination of the major military expedition to the Utah Territory that had begun a year before, "Killed, none; wounded, none; fooled, everybody." The Utah War (1857-1858) was considered an anti-climactic blunder on the part of the highly polarized United States government at the time. Although it came to be called the Utah War, and it very nearly came to something fitting to be called that, the sending of U.S. Army troops was not intended to start a war or necessarily to suppress a rebellion, because when he ordered it, President James Buchanan did not expect an armed resistance to his appointing of a territorial governor or the sending of troops to protect the routes of emigration and trade. Yet, there were those killed and wounded, and from the Utahn perspective, the Utah War presents a disturbing cautionary tale of the perils in extreme and insular rhetoric, and of the cycle of violence. What was derided in 18