(MORMONS) Small archive of letters and an account of mules p

Sale 2486 - Lot 329

Price Realized: $ 3,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

(MORMONS.) Small archive of letters and an account of mules purchased for the Mormon War of 1858. 5 items, various sizes and conditions. Vp, 1858-59

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Additional Details

The central figure in this lot is Captain Stewart Van Vliet (1815-1901), who played an important role in the conflict--he rode alone to Salt Lake City in September 1857 to present the demands of the federal government, leaving behind his troops to avoid putting their lives at risk. As quartermaster he was later central to supplying the expedition; he later rose to Major General. This lot includes Van Vliet's letter to Colonel D.D. Mitchell regarding the ready availability of mules for the expedition, Fort Leavenworth, KS, 27 March 1858 A contemporary copy of a letter from James S. Green to Secretary of War John B. Floyd, complaining that Van Vliet had cheated a supplier on 2000 mules, Washington, 20 May 1858 Letter from N.G. Elliott to Van Vliet, supporting the decision to reject a group of mules as "not of the kind fitted for the Utau service," Fort Leavenworth, 1 June 1858 Van Vliet's retained draft of his letter to General Jessup, defending himself against the "malicious & baseless" charges of a George V. Hebb, Fort Leavenworth, 27 April 1859 "Statement of the Number of Mules Purchased at Fort Leavenworth by Capt. Stewart Van Vliet . . . Showing from Whom Purchased and at What Prices," April to June 1858.