"I Was Not Ready to Die Yet": William Stowell's Utah War Ordeal

Authors

R. Devan Jensen, Brigham Young University
Kenneth L. Alford, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Mormon studies, Utah militia, Utah Territory

Abstract

In the fall of 1857, twenty-one-year-old Cynthia Jane Stowell bade farewell to her husband, William R. R. Stowell, a lieutenant in the Utah militia working to hinder the US Army from entering Utah Territory. Cynthia, who was pregnant, was tending nine children—six of whom were orphans she and William had adopted. Sophronia Stowell, a plural wife of William, also had children to tend. That winter they received news that William had been captured and was being held as a prisoner of war at Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, in present-day Wyoming. The two women must have worried that they might never see William again.

Recommended Citation

Jensen, R. Devan and Alford, Kenneth L. (2017) ""I Was Not Ready to Die Yet": William Stowell's Utah War Ordeal," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 56: Iss. 4, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol56/iss4/4