Mormon Battalion Association

Transcription

1 Mormon Battalion Association Minutes Executive Staff Meeting 10:00 AM, Saturday, 25 October 2014 LTC Max Jamison Residence, 2854 N. Augusta Drive Lehi, UT The Mormon Battalion Association Executive Staff meets at least once per quarter on the third Saturday the month at 10:00 am, except when that day is a holiday or conflicts with another event. In that case, the meeting will be re-scheduled and the Executive Staff will be notified of the change. Members of the public are invited to attend. Policy: As with U.S. Congressional minutes, anyone can read appropriate items into the minutes, but in the interest of expediency we will only discuss those items the Executive Staff deems necessary. Also, detailed discussion of Action Items will be referenced to equivalent sections in Membership Reports, Member Advisory Committee Reports, and New Business. Executive Staff Attendance: The following were present: LTC Max W. Jamison (Battalion Commander) and MAJ Val John Halford (Quartermaster/Logistics Officer). Excused: COL Carl V. Larson (Battalion Executive Officer), Margaret Larson (Membership Officer), COL Jerome G. Gourley (Battalion Commander s Chief Advisor and Executive Secretary to Board of Directors), MAJ Clark Olsen (Community Relations Liaison), and Steven L. Rinehart (Judge Advocate General). Leadership and Guest Attendance: Dennis Holland (Board of Directors). Welcome / Call to Order / Recognize Guests / Administrative Items Invocation Pledge of Allegiance LTC Max W. Jamison MAJ Val John Halford None Minutes of 20 September 2014 Executive Staff Meeting Reviewed and Approved General Business!Recognition & Awards None.!Service Opportunities numerous member advisory committees!pro je c t Re que st Fo rm s No Project Request Forms and Annual Budget Request Forms have been received from local units. We welcome your input on a list of potential projects in which local units can become involved. We need these forms for historical and IRS documentation purposes.!action Item Review Leadership: All: Recruit civic and community leaders to serve on our new Board of Directors. All: Find viable candidates to run for offices of Battalion Commander (e x o ffic io President of Board) and Battalion Executive Officer (e x o ffic io Vice President of Board) in September-October 2014, who will stand for election for two years. LTC Jamison: Create and send cover letter, Membership Forms, and Nomination Forms to all current and former members for general elections. In process. See Membership Committee report below. All: Recruit and vet a new Chief Finance Officer, preferably a CPA already familiar with QuickBooks. No report. Page 1 of 9

2 Recruiting: LTC Jamison: Follow up with representatives of University of Utah and Brigham Young University regarding recruiting of new college aged units. Tabled. LTC Jamison: Follow up with four local universities to recruit university staffs for The Valiant Journal. Tabled. COL and Mrs Larson, James Waite: Visit with CPT James Hansen to reactivate Logan Squad (aka D Company). No report. Journals Transcription: COL Larson and Kevin Henson: Request/create new transcripts of original Battalion journals. Many journals are still in possession of descendant families. Once journals are located, seek opportunities to authenticate current transcriptions and/or retranscribe them, and then post results on website for public use. Kevin Henson: Only minor progress this month. Target publication next year. Graves Memorialization: COL Gourley, COL Larson, MAJ Olsen, and Kevin Henson: Coordinate Graves Memorialization planning with LDS Scouting Representative and Philmont Scout Ranch Representative for Milton Smith gravesite near Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico. COL Gourley to take lead due to proximity of his home, and will arrange to set marker in concrete onsite. Kevin Henson: Need status report from others if they re making progress, or to know if they re not interested in pursuing the opportunity. COL Larson, LTC Jamison, and Kevin Henson: Locate living descendants of Lewis Dent and Dr. George Sanderson to invite to graves memorialization. COL Larson to research placing ad in local St. Louis newspaper. See Graves Memorialization Committee report below. COL Larson and Kevin Henson: Locate living descendants of Thomas P. Dutcher and William Reynalds (Reynolds) in Michigan to invite to graves memorialization. Contact historical organizations in Michigan. Kevin Henson: Slow progress with Dutcher family. Not ready to make any plans. Documentation: LTC Jamison: Find software to translate audio recordings of our meetings from Apple format to Microsoft format, so we can transcribe them verbatim, and recreate minutes. Tabled. Mormon Battalion Historic Trails Award: Kevin Henson: Create a small committee to redesign patch and update requirements list, booklet, and appropriate bibliographic/resource documentation and provide to the BSA National Trails Office, the LDS/BSA Relations Office, and the Battalion s webmaster for use on their websites. This committee should make a diligent search of the internet to identify the sources of outdated copies of the Award and replace them with links to the new Award on the Mormon Battalion Association website. Kevin Henson: Need discussion on target audience(s): Scouts only or wider audience. COL Gourley: Ask Elder D. Todd Christofferson to find General Authority contact to coordinate LDS participation in BSA Mormon Battalion Trail Award after Mormon Battalion Association takes over. No report. Website Release 3.0: LTC Jamison and Website Design Member Advisory Committee: Continue design of Release 3.0 of our website. Working with i4 Solutions to finalize long awaited Release 3.0. Despite pledging of a $1,000 by an anonymous donor to fund their work, we still have 23 items on our checklist to work through. Members are welcome to preview the website at and offer suggestions. Kevin Henson: Submit final map of the various Battalion Trails (which we will use in our new Mormon Battalion Trail Award). Kevin has completed the new Mormon Battalion Routes map (below). Though there will be no charge to use the content, the files will have a copyright attached for the purpose of having a central contact person (Kevin) to approve of changes/alterations. He will soon start work on a map of post-discharge return routes to Utah after their mustering out of service in Page 2 of 9

3 The downloadable *.pdf version of the map will contain the following text below the map: The Mormon Battalion was recruited along the western third of the Iowa Mormon Trail between June 27 and July 22, They began mustering into the U.S. Army at Council Bluffs on July 16, 1846 to serve for one year. The Battalion was led to Fort Leavenworth, where they spent two weeks outfitting and preparing to march for Santa Fe. At the Arkansas River crossing near Dodge City, Kansas, families that had been traveling with the Battalion were sent to Pueblo to winter with a group of Mormon families from Mississippi already temporarily settled there. The remainder of the Battalion continued to Santa Fe, where LTC Philip St. George Cooke took command and began the march to San Diego. Two groups of sick men and all but four of the remaining women were later sent to Pueblo; CPT Brown s group was the largest and followed the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. A month later, 2LT Willis Sick Detachment retraced their route up the Rio Grande to Santa Fe, then followed the Trapper s Trail over the Sangre de Cristo Pass and into Pueblo. The Main Command (about 325 men and 4 women) continued westward, creating Cooke s Wagon Road, arriving at Mission San Diego on January 29, They were mustered out of service on July 16, 1847 at Los Angeles. In the spring of 1847, most of the Pueblo group traveled north to Fort Laramie, turned west and followed close behind Brigham Young s Pioneer Company into the Salt Lake Valley. In May, BG Kearny returned eastward from California to Fort Leavenworth, taking a military escort of 15 Battalion men. Traveling quickly on horseback, they followed the California and Oregon Trails. Along the way, they met some of the Mormon emigrant Ship Brooklyn company, buried part of the Donner Party, narrowly missed meeting Brigham Young in western Wyoming, and encountered the Big Company of Mormon emigrants just east of Fort Laramie. The Kearny Escort arrived at Fort Leavenworth on August 22, 1847 and were mustered out of service the next day. This officially ended the Mormon Battalion s service. COL Larson: Insert Database of the Mormon Battalion under the Original Battalion Roster tab. Add tab entitled Annals of the Mormon Battalion, which is a merged, day by day history of 25 Battalion journals, diaries, and autobiographies written by original Battalion members. No report. Page 3 of 9

4 !Membership Reports 1. Board of Directors: Your nominations for the remaining two Director positions and the 1st and 2nd Executive Directors of business administration are welcome. Associate Organization Reports: 1. Battalion Trek Kevin Henson: For the 14th consecutive year, our group was invited to portray the Mormon Battalion at River of Time Living History Encampment at Bay City, Michigan. A new record for school attendance was set (up 10% from prior record) and the public attendance days seemed larger than usual. The log cabin building activity went very well and received a lot of public attention. We even have a photograph of President Lincoln examining our Lincoln Log Cabin. We will expand upon this activity for next year. It was introduced as how the California men constructed log cabins at Coloma and other locations. For the first time ever, our local Scout troops were not a part of our camp, having fallen upon a low-birth rate period. We consequently relied upon more mature individuals and the full-time missionaries were allowed to participate on Friday/Saturday. In addition, the Bay City Ward was allowed to host a FamilySearch booth. In one day, it served 53 people onsite and over 160 people asked for a visit to explain how they could start their family history search. We believe it was our excellent rapport that prompted the River of Time Committee to allow the family history booth as proposed by the Bay City Ward. Consequently, we now have a direct tie of the LDS Church to the River of Time event. We are thoroughly excited about this development. 2. California Pioneer Heritage Foundation Dennis Holland (member of our Board of Directors): a. Rebuilding of Sutter s Sawmill and Mormon Battalion Cabins Here is the information about the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park restoration at Coloma. I went down today and took this picture, so it is up to date. It is due to be completed in November. The 1964 replica of Sutter s 1848 sawmill built by former members of the Mormon Battalion is falling down. The new replica is located nearer to the river and the location of the original. The state of California has ear marked $7 million for a park restoration including the new mill and improvements to the museum. The Park Superintendent has asked my California Pioneer Heritage Foundation to build two new period correct cabins near the new sawmill. One will be a double cabin used by the Wimmer family and the Mormon Battalion boys. The other will be the cabin the Mormon Battalion boys built and moved into in January Drawings for the cabins are under review. We have also petitioned for space for a Mormon Battalion Exhibit in the new improvements to the museum. b. Mormon Battalion Room in San Luis Reyes Mission Gift Shop and Museum Dennis Holland, Director of Public Affairs for California LDS Historic Sites, reports that his representatives have had 3 meetings so far in early discussions of a remodeling of the San Luis Reyes Mission Gift Shop and Museum. They have approached us to provide a Mormon Battalion room in the new museum area that would be totally devoted to the time the MB garrisoned the mission in The opportunities look very promising, but it is still very early to have any concrete details. Page 4 of 9

5 2. Rebuilding of Fort Moore Fort Moore in downtown Los Angeles was finished by Mormon Battalion soldiers stationed there in time to raise the American Flag for the first California celebration of the 4th of July in On 3 July 1957, the present Ft. Moore Memorial was built to honor the Mormon Battalion and other pioneers. In 1977, because of California's drought condition, the water to the waterfall was shut off and has been off ever since. The memorial has since fallen into disrepair and become an area for the homeless. Dennis Holland, Director of Public Affairs over California LDS Historic Sites, first met with the Chief of Staff for Los Angeles Councilman Ed Reyes in 2002, and has had continuing contact since about getting the memorial restored. In 2011, Councilman Reyes office was able to obtain Proposition K monies for a feasibility study. The Church Public Affairs office in Los Angeles has had several meetings with the Los Angeles County Supervisors regarding this project. The County currently has $3.5 million earmarked for restoration of the monument and waterfall to its previous condition with nothing added or deleted, beginning in February We are seeking permission to add a group of story board plaques to tell the Mormon Battalion story. 3. Friends of the Battalion - Erma Bullock: No report. 4. Mormon Battalion Arizona (Mesa Company) Cpt Gary L. Smith: No report. (Very active with Christmas Camp activities.) 5. Mormon Battalion Volunteers, Utah Living History Association MAJ Val John Halford: No report. 6. Sierra Nevada Mormon Pioneers Peter D. Guilbert: Received numerous reports. 7. Sons of Utah Pioneers: Received monthly report. Local Unit Reports: Headquarters (HHC) Company MAJ Clark Olsen: No report. Utah North Platoon CPT Robert Olson: MAJ Olsen, MAJ Halford, and CPT Olson have made numerous Eagle Scout presentations. Eastern Idaho Squad CPT Thomas Griggs: No report. Logan Squad (aka D Company) CPT James Hansen: No report. Ogden Section (aka C Company): No report. Salt Lake Section/Squad (aka A and B Companies): COL Larson and LTC Jamison have made several Eagle Scout presentations. Utah South Platoon LTC Jerry Harris: No report. Albuquerque Squad CPT Blaine Bachman: No report. Cedar City Squad CPT Robert Tingey: CPT Tingey has made several Eagle Scout presentations. St. George Section (aka Dixie Company) CPT Robert Wood: CPT Wood has made a number of Eagle Scout Slide presentations. White Mountain Section CPT David Crockett: No report. Field Company CPT Lynn Tegland: No report. California Detached Section LTC Frank Szeles: No report. California South Squad (aka B Company) No report. Arizona Detached Section LTC Lloyd Smith: No report. Yuma Squad CPT Gary L. Smith: No report. Page 5 of 9

6 !Membership Advisory Committee Reports: 1. Battalion Flag Committee Mike Anderson, Chair: No report. 2. Graves Memorialization Committee COL Carl V. Larson, Chair: a. Dr. George Sanderson LTC Jamison: Received the following reply to his 1 September 2014 to the First Presidency (see 20 September 2014 Minutes) from Elder Kent F. Richards, Executive Director of the Temple Department: The First Presidency has asked that I respond in their behalf to your letter requesting permission to perform temple work for original members of the Mormon Battalion. We are grateful for your desire to help perform these temple ordinances. In a February 29, 2012 letter to members of the Church, the First Presidency directed, "Our preeminent obligation is to seek out and identify our own ancestors. Those whose names are submitted for proxy temple ordinances should be related to the submitter." To perform ordinances for persons to whom we are not directly related, approval is needed from the closest living family member. The First Presidency also encourages members to research their collateral family lines, search for those cousins of their direct ancestors. Although they may be far removed, we would recommend that you continue your descendancy research further to identify those who we recognize would be considered distant relatives of these members of the Mormon Battalion, and seek their approval to perform temple ordinances in behalf of these courageous Saints. We appreciate your dedication to temple work and are grateful for your faithfulness in pursuing this important genealogical research. May the Lord bless you in your efforts. It looks like we need to ask our associates in the Early Saints Research Group (see 15 February 2014 Minutes) to help us find "the closest living family member" of Battalion Members without descendants, no matter how "far removed" they may be. b. Milton Smith No report. c. Thomas P. Dutcher and William Reynalds (Reynolds) No report. 3. Historians Committee Kevin Henson, Chair: a. Journals Transcription: No report. b. Dorothy Boyle s Art Project at UVU: Dorothy Boyle is working on a Master of Fine Arts Degree project at Utah Valley University which will include paintings of Mormon Battalion journal excerpts. Kevin Henson and MAJ Val John Halford are providing her with background information and photographs of the actual locations. We may enlist some of our reenactors to pose for her. Dorothy was our honored guest at our 13 June 2009 Heritage Day program in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, when we displayed many of her drawings across the front of the stage. She is an ardent supporter of the Mormon Battalion Association, and is willing to permit us to market her artwork on our website. 4. Membership Committee Margaret Larson, Chair: LTC Jamison: Due to significant delays in my mailing of forms, the Board of Directors has authorized me to extend our deadlines. They now are:!10 November 2014 Deadline for members of the Mormon Battalion Association in good standing to submit a completed, signed, and dated Membership Form to be eligible to vote in the November Battalion-level general elections. Also deadline for properly registered members of the Mormon Battalion Association to submit a completed copy of the Nomination Form recommending other properly registered members in good standing for election to the offices of Battalion Commander (ex officio President of Board) and Battalion Executive Officer (ex officio Vice President of Board).!10 November 2014 Deadline for Board of Directors to mail Official Ballots to registered members.!21 November 2014 Deadline for receipt of completed Official Ballots by Board of Directors. Page 6 of 9

7 !22 November 2014 Official Ballots will be counted prior to, and the winners announced during our Annual Business Meeting at noon. The new Battalion Commander and Battalion Executive Officer will be sworn in at that meeting or as soon as possible thereafter to serve two years from 18 November 2014 through mid-october In its most recent meeting, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to place any Lifetime Members who do not return signed Membership Forms reaffirming their membership in an inactive status with no rights. After the elections, the new Battalion Commander will send a letter to all inactive members inviting them to reactivate their membership by submitting a signed Membership Form. We will also notify all members that we are going paperless, using hardcopy by special request only. 5. Scouting Relations Committee MAJ Clark Olson, Chair: a. Mormon Battalion Historic Trails Award LTC Jamison: No report. 6. Men s Uniform Committee MAJ Val John Halford, Chair: Kevin Henson: I recently related to Mike Anderson that I d found a reference in Battalion letters to jeans fabric. After researching some, it was clear there were indeed blue jeans type fabrics available before 1846 (even dating back into the 1500 s). Therefore, blue jeans fabrics ARE PERIOD CORRECT for Battalion impressions (though NOT riveted, Levi-Strauss 501 button up pants circa 1848). Mike Anderson was quite aware of this, but it was a revolution from everything I d been told before. MAJ Halford stated that, while blue jeans may be period correct, there is no evidence that any member of the original Battalion actually wore any. Both he and Dennis Holland strongly recommend we discourage their wear by reenactors. There is just too much temptation to use modern blue jeans. 7. Women s Dress Committee Kayla Willey and Wendy Sorenson, Co-chairs: No report.!continental Support Staff Reports: 1. Quartermaster/Logistics Report MAJ Halford: No report. 2. Acting Finance Officer Report LTC Jamison: Our financial status continues to improve. A separate monthly finance report is being ed to the Board of Directors and Executive Staff. New Business (Open to Floor) 1. Enlargement of Mark Stewart s Drawing Mo rm o n B attalio n En d o f Trail LTC Jamison: Mark Stewart of Fountain Green, Utah normally offers his pen and pencil drawing on canvas or paper in two standard sizes: 24" wide x 16" high and 30" wide x 20" high (original size), but also offers other larger or smaller sizes on request. To avoid loss of quality, almost all artwork prints are smaller than the original. We are happy to announce that he was recently able to enlarge a canvas print to 47" wide x 30" high image area without pixilation! (That s Page 7 of 9

8 bigger than the popular print size of Arnold Friberg s George Washington s Prayer at Valley Forge!) Way to go, Mark! Good quality work can handle it! His prints will soon be available on our website. We discussed how best to take the bull by the horns to promote Mark s work on Battalion-related drawings, including creating a list of proposed Battalion-related scenes. LTC Jamison suggested that numerous scenes could be identified in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas. Dennis Holland suggested the following California scenes: 1. Mormon Battalion building Fort Moore in Los Angeles, 2. Mormon Battalion Escort for General Kearny burying remains of Donner Party, 3. Former members of the Mormon Battalion camped outside the old Sutter's Fort after discharge and march from Los Angeles, 4. Former members of the Mormon Battalion employed inside Sutter's Fort, 5. Former members of the Mormon Battalion building Sutter s gristmill in Natomas, 6. Former members of the Mormon Battalion building Sutter s sawmill in Coloma, 7. Former members of the Mormon Battalion building their own cabin near Sutter s sawmill in Coloma, 8. Former members of the Mormon Battalion in early gold discovery and panning at Mormon Island, 9. Former members of the Mormon Battalion gathering at Pleasant Valley to begin trip to Salt Lake Valley, 10. Former members of the Mormon Battalion burying their three scouts at Tragedy Spring, 11. Wilford Hudson blazing the tree marker at Tragedy Spring, 12. Former members of the Mormon Battalion lowering wagons down Devil's Ladder on the Mormon Emigrant Trail. MAJ Halford suggested that most of the boxes in Kevin s Mormon Battalion Routes would be ideal scenes. He will talk with Mike Anderson about creating a list. Recommendations from the general membership are welcome. We also need to insure that there will be no conflict with artwork by Dorothy Boyle. MAJ Halford will talk with Mike Anderson about arranging for a number of reenactors to pose for Mark next spring. We recommend Mark submit it for inclusion in the Ensign magazine. 2. Location of Annual Business Meeting LTC Jamison will likely have his new 10' x 30' ADA compliant rear deck and disability ramp completed by our 22 November Annual Business Meeting. Weather permitting, he would like to invite the Battalion to help break it in with a barbecue that afternoon. Not to worry. It will be able to support people. Projected Action Items Leadership: All: Recruit civic and community leaders to serve on our new Board of Directors. All: Find viable candidates to run for offices of Battalion Commander (e x o ffic io President of Board) and Battalion Executive Officer (e x o ffic io Vice President of Board) in November 2014, who will stand for election for two years. LTC Jamison: Create and send cover letter, Membership Forms, and Nomination Forms to all current and former members for general elections. All: Recruit and vet a new Chief Finance Officer, preferably a CPA already familiar with QuickBooks. Recruiting: COL and Mrs Larson, James Waite: Visit with CPT James Hansen to reactivate Logan Squad (aka D Company). Journals Transcription: COL Larson and Kevin Henson: Request/create new transcripts of original Battalion journals. Many journals are still in possession of descendant families. Once journals are located, seek opportunities to authenticate current transcriptions and/or retranscribe them, and then post results on website for public use. Graves Memorialization: COL Gourley, COL Larson, MAJ Olsen, and Kevin Henson: Coordinate Graves Memorialization planning with LDS Scouting Representative and Philmont Scout Ranch Representative for Milton Smith gravesite near Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico. COL Gourley to take lead due to proximity of his home, and will arrange to set marker in concrete onsite. Page 8 of 9

9 COL Larson, LTC Jamison, and Kevin Henson: Locate living descendants of Lewis Dent and Dr. George Sanderson to invite to graves memorialization. COL Larson to research placing ad in local St. Louis newspaper. COL Larson and Kevin Henson: Locate living descendants of Thomas P. Dutcher and William Reynalds (Reynolds) in Michigan to invite to graves memorialization. Contact historical organizations in Michigan. Mormon Battalion Historic Trails Award: Kevin Henson: Continue leading small committee to redesign patch and update requirements list, booklet, and appropriate bibliographic/resource documentation and provide to the BSA National Trails Office, the LDS/BSA Relations Office, and the Battalion s webmaster for use on their websites. This committee should make a diligent search of the internet to identify the sources of outdated copies of the Award and replace them with links to the new Award on the Mormon Battalion Association website. COL Gourley: Ask Elder D. Todd Christofferson to find General Authority contact to coordinate LDS participation in BSA Mormon Battalion Trail Award after Mormon Battalion Association takes over. Website Release 3.0: Website Design Member Advisory Committee: Continue design of Release 3.0 of our website. Kevin Henson: Start work on a map of post-discharge return routes to Utah after their mustering out of service in COL Larson: Insert Database of the Mormon Battalion under the Original Battalion Roster tab. Add tab entitled Annals of the Mormon Battalion, which is a merged, day by day history of 25 Battalion journals, diaries, and autobiographies written by original Battalion members. Battalion-related Art: Kevin Henson and MAJ Halford: Continue support to Dorothy Boyle. MAJ Halford, LTC Jamison, Mike Anderson, Kevin Henson, and Dennis Holland: Create list of proposed Battalion-related scenes for Mark Stewart. Recommendations from the general membership are welcome. LTC Jamison: Explore the possibility of creating a new Art Membership Advisory Committee to promote work by Mark, Dorothy, and others. Closing Remarks & Inspirational Thought LTC Max W. Jamison We are making definite progress. Our California members are taking tremendous strides. Our website Release 3.0 is nearing activation, with many new products and historical data coming online. We also now have two excellent artists producing Battalion-related art. All we need to do is recruit new members. Benediction / Adjournment LTC Max W. Jamison Next Executive Staff Meeting (Annual Business Meeting): Noon-2:00 PM, Saturday, 22 November 2014 Residence of LTC Max W. Jamison 2854 N. Augusta Drive Lehi, UT Page 9 of 9