Item Detail
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24581
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2
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0
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English
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Saving Sacrifice of the Mormon Battalion : from the journals of Levi Ward Hancock, ed. Herbert A. Hancock
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Salt Lake City
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Bystanders at Large Productions
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July 20, 1846 to October 14, 1847. In his diary, Hancock accounts the daily trail life of the Mormon Battalion from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Los Angeles, California and back to Salt Lake City, describing such elements as topography, vegetation, and landmarks along the way. He describes problems in the camp such as crudeness of language and general light-mindedness. Hancock also notes the chronic shortness of water, noting the necessity to drink mud mingled with buffalo urine. Hancock records many original songs, describing such events as their battle with the bulls and their quarrels with explorer John C. Fremont. He provides descriptions, both original and borrowed, of various prominent locations: Yuma, as a potential Garden of Eden and Mexicali as the Infernal Desert, Glorietta Pass, and Las Vegas. He finishes his account a few days before re-entering the Salt Lake Valley.