The Impact of the Mormon Battalion

The Mormom Battalion’s Impact on the Truckee Meadows

On the Mormon Battalion website, there is a written statement that sums up the Mormon Battalion’s total contribution. “In every sense, they of the battalion had marched into history. Behind them would come many thousands of immigrants who would follow the trail they so painstakingly—and painfully—pioneered. They had raised ‘Old Glory,’ the flag of their country, on the Pacific shore. And they had raised the ensign of Zion.”[P1] 

There is no doubt that the Mormon Battalion etched a presence in the Truckee Meadows area as well. The various groups of Mormons going back and forth between Utah and California during this period made the Truckee Meadows/Carson Valley a virtual highway and a necessary way station.

Battalion veterans painstakingly carved out the Emigrant Trail passing through the beautiful Carson Valley. As the men returned to their loved ones, they gave a favorable report about Carson Valley, promoting the area as a suitable place to settle. They were impressed with its beauty, fertility, and location—being located at the end of a strenuous trip through the mountains, or just after the dry difficult journey through the desert. Each person who wrote about the valley, exclaimed how luxuriant the grass was. The trees were plentiful as were the rivers and streams. A few of the battalion members later became guides to those passing through Nevada to California and some of them came back to settle, at least for a short time.

---