Podcast appearances and mentions of Richard D Poll

In March 1858, Thomas Kane's efforts to end the Utah War had been fruitless.  a week with COL Albert Sidney Johnston and the U.S. Army on the plains of Wyoming. President James Buchanan had sent the Army to Utah, to remove Brigham Young as Governor and replace him with Alfred Cumming. This had led to a months-long armed standoff between the US Army and the Latter-day Saint militia. Sensing that he alone could work out a peace between the two sides, Thomas Kane raced to the Wyoming Wilderness, at personal expense and with no official authority, to throw himself between the Armies and negotiate a peace. But after months of grueling travel, personal danger, and several close calls with death, Thomas Kane had made no progress in convincing COL Johnston or his staff to de-escalate the conflict.     This would change on the night of March 16th, when Kane called on COL Johnston with an usual request. Kane asked for permission to pass through the Army's defensive line to travel to the Latter-day Saint militia and deliver a sealed letter to Brigham Young. As one of the few outsiders that the Latter-day Saints trusted, Kane could cross through the Nauvoo Legion's defenses without trouble, even though they had brought the U.S. Army campaign to a cautious halt.  COL Johnston gave him permission. and so Kane armed himself with two pistols, took his brother's rifle, mounted his horse, and headed west, passing through the Sentry Line and riding towards the Latter-day Saint militia.On this episode, we explore Kane's secret message to Brigham Young, his close call with death as he survived an attempt on his life, his meeting with William Kimball where he proposed an audacious plan - Bring Alfred Cumming alone into Salt Lake City, leaving the Army without a mission or purpose, and set the stage for a lasting peace.  To learn more about the stories in this episode, please check out these (excellent!) sources:  For the materials and sources in this story, we owe a special thanks to Utah War historian William "Bill" MacKinnon - His two-volume set, "At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858" is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Utah War. It is available on Amazon and Google Books.  o   Matthew J. Grow, “I have Given Myself to the Devil: Thomas L. Kane and the Culture of Honor,” 73 Utah Hist. Q. 4 (2005).  o   Richard D. Poll, “Thomas L. Kane and the Utah War,” 61 Utah Hist. Q. 2 (1993). o   Elder Lance B. Wickman, “Thomas L. Kane: Outrider for Zion,” Ensign (September 2003).Search Terms: Thomas L. Kane, Brigham Young, COL Albert Sidney Johnston, CPT Culvier Grover, MAJ Fitz John Porter, Governor Alfred Cumming, Utah War, Camp Scott, Fort Bridger, Wyoming History, Utah History, James Buchanan, Patrick "Pat" Kane, Elizabeth Kane, Echo Canyon, Mormon History, Latter-day Saints, U.S. Army, American West. Note: During their lifetimes, a debate came up between Alfred Cumming and Thomas Kane on one side and Major Fitz John Porter on the other as to whether Cumming was heading off into the unknown or whether Brigham Young had invited him into the Salt Lake Valley. It seems clear that Young had not passed any message to Cumming (a good part of Kane's discussion with William Kimball was focused on what to do if Brigham Young did not agree) -- but Kane may have overplayed his hand in assuring Cumming he would be well received.  

On the night of 9 March 1858, Thomas L. Kane was trudging through a heavy snow storm on his self-appointed mission to End the Utah War. He had convinced Brigham Young and Church Leaders to extend an olive branch to the Army Expedition by offering them large quantities of food and supplies.  But now, over 25 feet of snow buried the mountain roads. With temperatures plummeting and winds howling, Kane found himself growing weaker while the storm raged around him. Sensing that he might not survive, the sickly Kane decided to prepare for the worst. He wrote a letter to Alfred Cumming, the incoming Governor of Utah traveling with the Army:  "Dear sir: In case of accident I write this memorandum to apprise you that I am the bearer of overtures for peace from Gov. Brigham Young. Letters from Pres. Buchanan throwing light upon my position will be found upon my person. My other letters and effects I beg may be forwarded to my family at Philadelphia."  But three days later, Kane, insensible and frosted, would ride into the Army Camp. On this episode, we explore Thomas Kane's awkward meeting with COL Johnston, how the Soldiers of the expedition openly grumbled that Kane should be hanged as a "Mormon spy," how Kane's relationship with Johnston soured to the point that he challenged the Commander to a duel, and how his efforts to convince Johnston to reciprocate Brigham Young's olive branch instead gave the impression that the Latter-day Saints were weak, divided, and vulnerable.  We remember how, at the end of his week at the Army Camp, Kane was farther from peace then ever . . . And yet how, when all hope seemed gone, he struck upon an idea that would prove his single greatest contribution to end the Utah War.  To learn more about the stories in this episode, please check out these (excellent!) sources:  For the materials and sources in this story, we owe a special thanks to Utah War historian William "Bill" MacKinnon - His two-volume set, "At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858" is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Utah War. It is available on Amazon and Google Books.  o   Matthew J. Grow, “I have Given Myself to the Devil: Thomas L. Kane and the Culture of Honor,” 73 Utah Hist. Q. 4 (2005).  o   Richard D. Poll, “Thomas L. Kane and the Utah War,” 61 Utah Hist. Q. 2 (1993). o   Elder Lance B. Wickman, “Thomas L. Kane: Outrider for Zion,” Ensign (September 2003).Search Terms: Thomas L. Kane, Brigham Young, COL Albert Sidney Johnston, CPT Culvier Grover, MAJ Fitz John Porter, Orin Porter Rockwell, Governor Alfred Cumming, CPT John W. Phelps, Utah War, Fort Bridger,Camp Scott, Ecklesville, James Buchanan, Patrick "Pat" Kane, Elizabeth Kane, Echo Canyon, Mormon History, Latter-day Saints, U.S. Army, American West.The Title of this Episode comes from the report of a French Correspondent with the Army Camp, who reported that Kane "literally fell as a bombshell in the midst of federal officers."  

At the crisis of the Utah War -- Arguably the most dangerous moment in the history of the Latter-day Saints -- Colonel Thomas Kane set out on a bold plan: He would travel to Utah and Wyoming, in the dead of winter, throw himself between the U.S. Army and the Latter-day Saints, and hammer out a peace agreement. Nobody -- including President James Buchanan and his own father, Judge John Kane -- believed he would succeed. Yet Thomas Kane declared to Buchanan, "I am determined to go, with or without your approbation."  On this episode (Part I of III), we remember Colonel Thomas Kane, the greatest hero of the Utah War.  Thomas Kane was born to wealthy and influential parents. His father, John Kane, was a federal judge and a leading Jacksonian Democrat. The Kane family was driven by a deep need for adventure, exploration, and humanitarian causes. Elisha would become a Navy Officer and an explorer.  When the British expedition of Sir John Franklin disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, Elisha would answer the pleas of Lady Jane Franklin for a rescue mission. He would make two grueling expeditions to the frozen Arctic wastes in an effort to find and rescue the unfortunate crew of the Terror. Thomas was, in some ways, different from his brother Elisha. At 5 and a half feet and 130 pounds, Thomas was frequently laid low with illness. But he shared his brother's deep need for hardship and rugged adventure, which seemed to bring him to life.  His brother John would later write, “Tom is never so well as when exposed to that which would kill most men of his build, and that a hard life in open air—not matter how hard—always agrees with him better than the most tranquil sedentary existence." On this episode, we recount:- Thomas's efforts to follow in his brother's tracks, and lead his own expedition to the frozen Arctic to rescue the unfortunate crews of the H.M.S. Terror and the H.M.S. Erebus.  - Thomas Kane's grief at the death of his friend, LDS Apostle Jedediah M. Grant.- Thomas Kane's need for rugged adventure and open-handed philanthropy- Thomas Kane's hair-trigger sensitivity for anything he viewed as a slight to his honor, and even after suffering a gunshot wound to the face during the 1861 Battle of Dranesville (near present-day Arlington, Virginia), he was determined to move forward and fight a duel against a fellow Union Officer.  - His wife Elizabeth's desperate effort to stop her husband from dueling To learn more about the stories in this episode, please check out these (excellent!) sources: o   Matthew J. Grow, “I have Given Myself to the Devil: Thomas L. Kane and the Culture of Honor,” 73 Utah Hist. Q. 4 (2005).  NOTE: In this episode, I state as a fact that Elisha Kent Kane married Margaret Fox.  Matthew Grow's article describes the history of their romance and their love letters.  Margaret Fox claimed they were married; the surviving Kane family strenuously disputed her claim.  o   Richard D. Poll, “Thomas L. Kane and the Utah War,” 61 Utah Hist. Q. 2 (1993) o   Elder Lance B. Wickman, “Thomas L. Kane: Outrider for Zion,” Ensign (September 2003) o For the materials and sources in this story, we owe a special thanks to Utah War historian William "Bill" MacKinnon - His two-volume set, "At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858" is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Utah War.     

This is a wonderful sermon given by Richard D. Poll, given in his Palo Alto, California, home ward and then published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Winter 1967). In it, Poll introduces the (now classic) metaphors of "Iron Rod" and "Liahona" Mormons, which he uses to describe two types of active, dedicated Latter-day Saints but who different from each other temperamentally. It is read for Matters of Perspective by Curt Bench

In early 1994 the distinguished career of Richard D. Poll, historian, professor, writer, husband and friend, came full circle. His Liahona/Iron-rod dichotomy, borrowed from the Book of Mormon, had entered the lexicon of Mormon thought almost 30 years earlier in his landmark essay"What the Church Means to People Like Me" (Dialogue 2:4, Winter 1967). His"Pillars of My Faith" sermon in Sunstone called for committed LDS worshipers and writers to join a mighty Christian chorus"in which almost all the singers hear the dissonant sounds of the alternate voices as polyphonic enrichment of the message of the gospel music." For people like him,"neither dogmatic fundamentalism nor dogmatic humanism provides convincing answers to life's most basic questions." He defined history as"human strivings to discover divine realities." Like Paul, Richard Poll lived his life as part of the leaven that"leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9), offering his Liahona questioning in the spirit of"charity, humility, persistence." In a time when men and women are being called sinners for a word (or many words); when the terms"alternate" and"dissident" are being redefined as sinister; when some seek apostasy, while others have apostasy thrust upon them, Richard Poll's calm, reasoned, compassionate voice rings with a clarity that will live on in our hearts and minds.

In early 1994 the distinguished career of Richard D. Poll, historian, professor, writer, husband and friend, came full circle. His Liahona/Iron-rod dichotomy, borrowed from the Book of Mormon, had entered the lexicon of Mormon thought almost 30 years earlier in his landmark essay "What the Church Means to People Like Me" (Dialogue 2:4, Winter 1967). His "Pillars of My Faith" sermon in Sunstone called for committed LDS worshipers and writers to join a mighty Christian chorus "in which almost all the singers hear the dissonant sounds of the alternate voices as polyphonic enrichment of the message of the gospel music." For people like him, "neither dogmatic fundamentalism nor dogmatic humanism provides convincing answers to life's most basic questions." He defined history as "human strivings to discover divine realities." Like Paul, Richard Poll lived his life as part of the leaven that "leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9), offering his Liahona questioning in the spirit of "charity, humility, persistence." In a time when men and women are being called sinners for a word (or many words); when the terms "alternate" and "dissident" are being redefined as sinister; when some seek apostasy, while others have apostasy thrust upon them, Richard Poll's calm, reasoned, compassionate voice rings with a clarity that will live on in our hearts and minds.