LATTER-DAY SAINT HISTORY IN CALIFORNIA
See https://www.lds.org/news/0,5014,5014-,00.html
As Church members commemorate the 150th anniversary of the handcart pioneers who moved west to the Salt Lake Valley, Saints in California are remembering the sacrifice of Latter-day Saint pioneers who journeyed to California, blazing trails of faith as some moved east to the Salt Lake Valley while others stayed and influenced the establishment of California.
Whenever I think about the History of the LDS in California I always think about the pioneers who did not want to stay in Salt Lake, but instead wanted to press on to California because of the great gold rush. Maybe in a way it was a blessing in disguise because of the very large population of LDS there.
Some of the Saints were sent here by Brigham Young, also, is my understanding. He deliberately sent folks to other areas to settle to expand the church to other regions. In addition, the Mormon Battalion left a legacy here from Sutter's Mill to San Diego.
QUOTE |
The men of the Mormon Battalion are honored for their willingness to fight for the United States as loyal American citizens. Their march of some 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs to California is one of the longest military marches in history. Their participation in the early development of California by building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, building a courthouse in San Diego, and making bricks and building houses in southern California contributed to the growth of the West. Following their discharge, many men helped build flour mills and sawmills in northern California. Some of them were among the first to discover gold at Sutter's Mill. Men from Captain Davis's Company A were responsible for opening the first wagon road over the southern route from California to Utah in 1848. Historic sites associated with the battalion include the Mormon Battalion Memorial Visitor's Center in San Diego, California; Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial in Los Angeles, California; and the Mormon Battalion Monument in Memory Grove, Salt Lake City, Utah. Monuments relating to the battalion are also located in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, and trail markers have been placed on segments of the battalion route. |
Name: Ron
Comments: In the biography of Mormon pioneer, Thales Haskell, I read of his missing father, Ashbel Green Haskell. Ashbel traveled to the California coast by ship and landed just in time to be among the first to be involved in the Sutter's mill episode.
While there, Ashbel's family made the trip from Nauvoo to The Salt Lake valley. Ashbel accumulated a significant amount of gold, and wrote to his wife, saying he would leave with the next company headed to the Salt Lake Valley, and their poverty would finally become history.
The traveling company arrived in the valley, but all his wife recieved was a roll of very fine fabric delivered by a cowboy. Members of the company said the last time they saw Ashbel was at Rock Valley, in California. Ashbel was never heard of again.
Does anyone know where Rock Valley is. I have been unable to locate any such place in California.
Source 1: The biography of Thales Haskell