500 Little Known Facts

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union Army that had entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1858 under Colonel Johnston was withdrawn from the territory. Unable to transport all of the supplies that had accumulated since their “invasion”, the government was prompted to sell the surplus after destroying the munitions. Ironically, the very government that had planned to hurt and humiliate the Saints with the presence of the army, ended up only enriching them. The Saints purchased some $4 million worth of property at 4 cents on the dollar. Sadly, the whole Utah Expedition fiasco according to some estimates, cost the government at least $40 million.

Brown, Cannon & Jackson, p. 98