Mormon Battalion Association

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1 Mormon Battalion Association Minutes Annual Business Meeting Noon, Saturday, 22 November 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), COL Carl V. Larson (Battalion Executive Officer), and Margaret Larson (Membership Officer). Excused: COL Jerome G. Gourley (Battalion Commander s Chief Advisor), MAJ Val John Halford (Quartermaster/Logistics Officer), MAJ Clark Olsen (Community Relations Liaison), and Steven L. Rinehart (Judge Advocate General). Leadership and Guest Attendance: Ashley Hall (Board of Directors), James Waite (Board of Directors), CPT Blaine Bachman (Commander of Albuquerque unit). Welcome / Call to Order / Recognize Guests / Administrative Items Invocation Pledge of Allegiance LTC Max W. Jamison COL Carl Larson None Reports and Discussion!Results of Elections Sadly, LTC Jamison has been significantly distracted from mailing Membership and Nominations Forms by remodeling of his home and personal health issues. To date, we have received responses from 20 members plus six dead letter returns. Of the 20 responses, we have only received one nomination for Battalion Commander, John Bascomb, and none for Battalion Executive Officer. John is willing to serve, but he is moving back to California. Is having an out of area Battalion Commander a viable option, if he is supported by a Continental Support Staff in Utah handling the Quartermaster s Corner, graves memorialization, website, and various member advisory committees? Should we consider merging with Peter Guilbert s far more active Sierra Nevada Mormon Pioneer Association? (They are already very actively representing us in Northern California.) I recommend we temporarily postpone our elections until we can identify more willing candidates. In the meanwhile, I will continue to mail out Membership and Nomination Forms.!Finance Report Our financial status remains stable, with bank balances holding steady at about $1,2000 after paying for all utilities and supplies. There is a distinct likelihood that our income leaves will grow significantly with the activation of our new website, completion of our new Mormon Battalion Trails Award, and hosting of academic materials on our website. Ashley Hall moved, and Col Larson seconded, to accept and approve the financial report.!member Advisory Committee Reports: Art Committee: To avoid loss of quality, almost all artwork prints are smaller than the original. But Mark Stewart of Fountain Green, Utah was recently able to enlarge his 30" wide x 20" high Mormon Battalion: End of Trail pencil and pen drawing to the Page 1 of 5

47" wide x 30" high enlargement you see hanging on the wall behind me without pixilation! (That s bigger than the popular print size of Arnold Friberg s George Washington s Prayer at Valley Forge!

2 47" wide x 30" high enlargement you see hanging on the wall behind me without pixilation! (That s 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. Mr. Stewart has agreed to consider further work for the Mormon Battalion Association. MAJ Halford suggested that most of the boxes in Mr. Henson s new map would be ideal scenes. Recommendations from the general membership are welcome. MAJ Halford and Mike Anderson are arranging for a number of reenactors to pose for Mark next spring. MAJ Halford, LTC Jamison, Mr. Henson, Mike Anderson, and Dennis Holland are creating a list of proposed Battalionrelated scenes for future artwork 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 and Mr. Henson are supporting Dorothy Boyle in her 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. Graves Memorialization Committee: COL Gourley, COL Larson, MAJ Olsen, and Kevin Henson are coordinating graves memorialization planning with LDS Scouting Representative and Philmont Scout Ranch Representative for Milton Smith gravesite near Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico. COL Larson, LTC Jamison, and Kevin Henson are attempting to locate living descendants of Lewis Dent and Dr. George Sanderson to invite to graves memorialization in the Belfontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. COL Larson and Kevin Henson are attempting to locate living descendants of Thomas P. Dutcher and William Reynalds (Reynolds) in Michigan to invite to graves memorialization. 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: Page 2 of 5

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.

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.

3 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. Historians Committee: COL Larson and Mr. Henson are requesting/creating 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. Col Al Matheson is working with local authorities about erection of Veterans Memorial in Cedar City, Utah. Col Larson assigned to help with wording for plaque. Executive Staff needs to review correct historical perspective and prepare letter of endorsement. Membership Committee: Margaret Larson and Ltc Jamison are in the process of distributing Membership Forms to all known members, and are collecting dues and donations. Scouting Relations Committee: MAJ Olsen, CPT Blaine Bachman, Mr. Henson, and LTC Jamison are completely redesigning our historic trails award program in preparation for taking over the program from the LDS/BSA Relations Office. Due to the potential number of trail segments, we have decided to rename the award the Mormon Battalion Historic Trails Award. We have decided to incorporate the colored lines from Kevin Henson s new map showing the various Battalion routes (see next page), overlaid on the Battalion Soldier and background of sky, landscape and grass. Rather than having an oval-shaped core patch with petal shaped segment patches, we have decided to make it square so we can spiral numerous color coded segment patches outward around it. We have decided that the stitching colors of the various segment patches should match the line color of the associated line on the core patch. Our first cut at the rectangular segment patches will only cover the one year enlistment period, but we may add other rectangular segment patches for the various post-enlistment "return routes" later. Men s Uniform Committee: Kevin Henson recently 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). While blue jeans Page 3 of 5

fabrics ARE PERIOD CORRECT, there is no evidence that any member of the original Battalion actually wore any. We strongly discourage their wear by reenactors.

4 fabrics ARE PERIOD CORRECT, there is no evidence that any member of the original Battalion actually wore any. We strongly discourage their wear by reenactors. There is just too much temptation to use modern blue jeans. Website Design Committee: COL Larson, Mr. Henson, and LTC Jamison continue in their preparation of Release 3.0 of our website with officials of i4 Solutions, our website host. But despite promises of payment by an anonymous source, they have only completed 8 of 25 items required for activation. Mr. Henson has completed a map of the routes of the Mormon Battalion during their period of enlistment, and will soon begin work on a similar map of post-discharge return routes to Utah after their mustering out of service in COL Larson continues his work preparing his Database of the Mormon Battalion and a new merged day to day history of 25 Battalion journals, diaries, and autobiographies written by original Battalion members which will be entitled Annals of the Mormon Battalion. Need to discuss how best to protect copyrights on COL Larson s Database and the various annals. LTC Jamison to discuss with Steven L. Rinehart, our Judge Advocate General. New Business (Open to Floor) Lecture by Dr. Lyman: Bg Ashley Hall, a member of our Board of Directors and Chairman of the Old Spanish Trails Association, attended a presentation/lecture by Dr. Lyman, a professor in St. George, Utah, on the effect of the Mormon Battalion on the Spanish Trails. Ltc Jamison asked him to approach Dr. Lyman about posting the lecture on the Battalion website. Defacement of Mormon Battalion Marker in New Mexico: Cpt Blaine Bachman reported that someone chipped off some words from Mormon Battalion marker, and will look into replacing it. The general question of how best to protect and replace monument markers and graves memorializations from defacement, destruction, and being stolen. 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. Page 4 of 5

5 Benediction / Adjournment CPT Blaine Bachman Next Executive Staff Meeting: 10:00 AM- Noon, Saturday, 17 January 2015 Residence of LTC Max W. Jamison 2854 N. Augusta Drive Lehi, UT Page 5 of 5

Mormon Battalion Association

Mormon Battalion Association Minutes Executive Staff Meeting 10:00 AM, Saturday, 25 October 2014 LTC Max Jamison Residence, 2854 N. Augusta Drive Lehi, UT 84043 The Mormon Battalion Association Executive