The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in American military history, serving from July 1846 to July 1847
during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of about 500 Latter-day Saint men led by Mormon
company officers, commanded by regular army officers. The battalion eventually made a grueling march from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California.
While in California they engaged in public works projects, road-building, local security and also help to discover gold at Sutter's Mill.
In 1851, several former battalion members led a group of colonists back from Utah to settle present day San Bernardino. But
that settlement was abandoned in 1857.
California History of the Mormon Battalion
Imperial Valley - First entry into California and famous desert crossing.
Inland Empire - Postings in Temecula Valley and Cajon Pass
North County - First sighting of Pacific Ocean near Mission San Luis Rey and main
base for Mormon Battalion.
Lake Tahoe - Discovery of ill fated Donner Party near Truckee.
Mormon Battalion Commemoration [4th Sat of Jan]
- Annual Military Parade and Dutch Oven Bakeoff in San Diego Old Town State Park - Children's crafts and games, pioneer music,
living history reenactments, wagon rides.
Mormon Battalion Visitors Center -
Old Town San Diego
Church operated museum commerating the 1847 completion of the longest infantry march in US History, over 2000 miles from
Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego. The Mormon Battalion consisted of five companies that totaled over 500 men.
Multimedia presentations, historic artifacts including authentic muskets, cannon, and fine artwork.
Mormon Battalion Historic Sites 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 between Mt. Pisgah (Iowa) and San Diego. The following landmarks are found in California:
Box Canyon historical site - Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, on Highway S-2, approximately 8.7 miles south of Highway 78 (Scissors Crossing). (GPS location: N33.0152,W116.4429) Here in 1847, the Battalion cut a road into the rocky side of a canyon which was otherwise impassable to wagons. Remnants of the road cut into the rock wall are still visible.
Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial - the largest bas-relief military monument in the United States, on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, dedicated in 1958 at the site of historic Fort Moore built by the Mormon Battalion in 1847, decommissioned in 1853.
Mormon Battalion Mountain - a low-lying mountain within San Bernardino County's Glen Helen Regional Park at the mouth of Cajon Canyon, where in April 1847 a detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived from Los Angeles with the assignment to set up camp, build a fort or redoubt and guard the pass from any Indian raids. A historic marker within the park commemorates this event.
Mormon Rocks - northwest of San Bernardino, California in the Cajon Pass, just west of Interstate 15 on State Route 138. Near Mormon Rocks, the first wagon road was blazed through the Cajon Pass in 1848 by 25 veteran Battalion soldiers, with the wagon of Captain Daniel C. Davis, wife Susan and son Danny in their journey to the Salt Lake Valley.
The Mormon Battalion Memorial - in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego erected in 1998.
Presidio Park - A sculpture of an infantryman of the battalion by Edward J. Fraughton erected in 1969 at Presidio Park, San Diego.
Mormon Battalion River Crossing Monument West Wetlands Park, Yuma AZ.
Fort Moore Pioneer Monument Hill Street - Chinatown - Los Angeles, CA. -
Site of Fort built and manned by Mormon Battalion 1847 during occupation of Los Angeles
in the Mexican-American War.
Heritage Farms Oak Glen Mormon Pioneer Trek Reenactment
Mormon Battalion Reenactment
Several Working Living History Farms and Apple Orchards are located near scenic Oak Glen,
high in the hills above Yucaipa. The farms grows apples, blackberries, cherries, pumpkins and raspberries.
Several homesteads host a wide range of living history festivals and themed dinner shows
from the civil war, colonial era, pioneer era and other great legends.
Latter-Day Saint Church - LDS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints aka Mormon features uniform traditional family-centered
religious worship at many located in the area. Special programs include women's relief society, youth groups,
scouting, welfare services, family history centers, sports and cultural events, and daily religious study groups (seminary and institute).
The LDS Church is the third largest religious denomination in America (coming behind Catholics and Protestants).
Family Search - Genealogical Resources for California Researching your Early Family History in California - try these resources:
California Genealogy
- Collections of Early California cemetary records, obituaries, mission stories, 49 pioneer stories and more.
California History Project
- County Genealogy Groups and Early Newspapers
California Pioneer List
- a list of settlers to California who migrated to or were born in California prior to 1880
California Historical Society
- early pioneer history
California State Library
- Official State History Collections.
Cindy's List
- Directory of California Family History Sites
Family Search - Google Books Researching your Early Family History in California - try Google Books:
California Saints A 150 Year Legacy in the Golden State
From aiding in the early development of San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento to the ministry of Howard W Hunter
as the first President of the LDS Church from California, Cowan and Homer share with us California's rich LDS history.
Gold Rush Saints California Mormons And the Great Rush for Riches Owens & Bagley - University of Oklahoma Press;
From 1846 to 1857 Mormons played a crucial role in shaping events in California and the West. They were the first American settlers
of San Francisco, and without them, John Sutter might not have built his sawmill and thus discovered gold in 1848.
In Gold Rush Saints, Kenneth N. Owens combines narrative history and documentary accounts to reveal a hidden wealth of California and Mormon history.
The first-person accounts of pioneer Mormons, both men and women, offer new perspectives on myths and realities of gold rush California.
The Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine is San Diego's landmark destination and
a Mobil 4-Star and AAA 4-Diamond Award winner.
California Mormon Battalion
You may have the administration of angels, you may see many miracles; . . . but I claim that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man.
- The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898)
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California History of the Mormon Battalion
