| 168 with them also great Archibald Williams, the prime mover of the enterprise, he not being the first man who has got up a popular commotion, and failed to govern it afterwards. Indeed, the whole history of revolutions and popular excitements leading to violence, is full of instances like these. Mr. Brayman, the same day of the rejection of the treaty, reported to me that nearly one half of the anti-Mormons would abandon the enterprise, and retire with their late commanders, 'leaving a set of hair-brained fools to be flogged or to disperse at their leisure.' It turned out, however, that the calculations of Mr. Brayman were not realized; for when Singleton and Chittenden retired, Thomas S. Brockman was put in command of the posse. This Brockman was a Campbellite preacher, nominally belonging to the democratic party. He was a large, awkward, uncouth, ignorant, semi-barbarian, ambitious of office, and bent upon acquiring notoriety. He had been county commissioner of Brown County, and in that capacity had let out a contract for building the courthouse, and it was afterwards ascertained had let the contract to himself. He managed to get paid in advance, and then built such an inferior building, that the county had not received it up to December, 1846. He had also been a collector of taxes, for which he was a defaulter, and his lands were sold whilst I was Governor, to pay a judgment obtained against him for moneys collected by him. To the bitterness of his religious prejudices against the Mormons, he added a hatred of their immoral practices, probably because they differed from his own. Such was the man who was now at the head of the anti-Mormons, who were about as numerous in camp as ever."-Ibid., pp. 416-418.
Bancroft in his "History of Utah" gives the following account of the struggle, its antecedents and consequences:-
"In short, from the 1st of May until the final evacuation of the city, the men of Illinois never ceased from strife and outrage. Of the latter I will mention only two instances: 'A man of near sixty years of age,' writes Major Warren in the letter just referred to, 'living about seven miles from this place, was taken from his house a few nights since,
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