Great Western Incl SF Utah, Oregon and “a battle has been fought between the Mormon & government forces in which the latter lost 180 men killed”

New York native Isaiah A. Wilcox writes from San Francisco to his sister Emma Augusta Wilcox (1840-1883) in New York about the climate, recent events, and steamboats in California.

[MORMONS.] Isaiah A. Wilcox, Autograph Letter Signed, to Emma A. Wilcox, December 4, 1857, San Francisco, CA. 4 pp., 7.75" x 10". Cross-hatching on top of first page; some staining; very good.
With Elizabeth H. Knapp, Autograph Letter Signed, to her cousin, January 5, 1851, n.p. 2 pp., 8" x 10.75". Expected folds; small hole at intersection of folds affecting two words.

Excerpts:
Isaiah A. Wilcox
"I have just returned from the social Temple."

"Our city is not free from the ocean fogs we have about half the year. During the rainy season, the wind is from the east, & the weather is mild. During the remaining portion of the year, the wind blows from the Ocean, & is often accompanied by fogs, which are so disagreeable that we bring overcoats, cloaks or talmas into requisition. Even now we wear them, the talmas chiefly because they are more convenient to throw on & off."

"We have just received news from the Mormon Expedition by the way of Oregon, but do not fully credit the report that a battle has been fought between the Mormon & government forces in which the latter lost 180 men killed. For one I have been slow to believe the many reports which have found their way into circulation, since the movement of the government forces towards the Mormon territory."

Wilcox here refers to the Utah War of 1857-1858. In 1857, President James Buchanan sent U.S. soldiers to the Utah Territory to accompany a new territorial governor he had appointed to replace Mormon leader Brigham Young. Fearing that the soldiers had come to annihilate them, the Mormons made defensive preparations. The expedition was marked by a few skirmishes in southwestern Wyoming but no real battles. U.S. forces suffered a total of 38 casualties during the entire war. However, more than 120 civilians were killed, the vast majority in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of a wagon train by Mormon settlers in September 1857. The reports Wilcox received may have been related to that event. The confrontation ended in negotiations and the entire expedition proved to be an embarrassment to the Buchanan administration.

"While I think of the Oregon Boat, I am led to reflect how much steam has been substituted in our crafts, our boats. We now have a regular mail steamer & an opposition steamer to Oregon. We have a steam Boat running to Petaluma; one to San Jose, up the Bay; one down the coast, and another about completed to run from San Diego up the gulf of California to connect with the Colorado or red river.... Business has increased on all the routes so fast that new, more substantial & comfortable Boats are brought on the routes than have been [before?] used. The 'Santa Cruz,' a nice little steamer I forgot to mention, is also running down the coast to Santa Cruz. The most of these boats belong to or are controlled by the 'California Steam Navigation Company,' till the public are being awakened to the importance of opposition. This Company is a Company of Capital, & has become, like the 'Mail Steam Ship Company,' a monopoly. This monopoly also controls the Sacramento River boats; and the amount of travel & freight over this route is now so great that strong inducements are held out for competitors. But it requires a large capital to put on & run a boat on the river. Several Boats have been put on from time to time as opposition Boats, but the ‘Combination’ ‘buy them off’ the route by paying large sums of money, or charter them to use in the line."

Elizabeth H. Knapp
"Isack is better he says that he can kick up his heels pretty well they call him the old bachelor but he says he shall come up with them some time arother. I have had one sleigh ride this winter but I expect you have a good many. I expect our folks home from meeting and I have got to get tea for that reason I shall say but few words more."

Isaiah A. Wilcox (1822-1897) was born in Herkimer County, New York, and taught school and began training as a lawyer. Ill health forced him to give up the study of law. He migrated to California in 1852 via the isthmus of Panama, hoping that a better climate would improve his health. In 1859, Wilcox married Mary F. Abbot (1837-1891), also of New York, in Alameda County, California, and they had six children between 1861 and 1880. By 1860, he was a gardener in Alameda County. In 1867, he moved to Santa Clara County, where he was a pioneer of the county and established a ranch and fruit orchards. In 1884, he was a delegate sent by the California State Horticultural Society to the World’s Industrial Exhibition in New Orleans. He served as a state legislator in California from 1886 to 1888.

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