"March of the Salt Soldiers: The Utah War"

      One of the concerns of the Utah War Sesquicentennial
Committee was how to reach the general public with the facts
of the Utah War—helping people expand and integrate their
knowledge of “Johnston’s Army,” “the move south,” and the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

The committee knew that most people would not attend history conferences where aspects of the Utah War would be discussed, so they came up with a way of reaching out that would be more fun. They commissioned a play.

They contacted Utah Valley University playwright James Arrington, best known for his one-man play, “Here’s Brother Brigham.” With funds contributed by some of the institutional members of the Sesquicentennial Committee and research funds from a Utah Humanities Council grant, the Committee commissioned Arrington to write a play about the Utah War.

The result is “March of the Salt Soldiers: The Utah War,” a humorous play featuring modern historians bickering about aspects of the Utah War.

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t what the historians had in mind when they chose me,” says Arrington, “I think they kind of thought this would be a costume drama with me playing Brigham Young and peopling the play with Johnston, Buchanan and other historical figures, but I knew that would be expensive and not travel well. Part of the whole idea was to travel the play. So the play is about a panel discussing the Utah War that swings wildly, dangerously, and intensely out of control.”

Arrington and his co-writer and former student Mahonri Stewart created the modern setting so that conflicting views of the Utah War could be explored. The stage characters argue with one another about motivations and actions of the historical figures of President James Buchanan, Brigham Young, Albert Sidney Johnston, John D. Lee, and others while also dealing with personal conflicts.

“March of the Salt Soldiers” was premiered at Utah Valley University and was presented at the Utah State Historical Society’s annual meeting in September, 2008. It was presented in Logan on October 11, 2008, at the Caine Lyric Theatre.

The presentation of “March of the Salt Soldiers”
is funded in part by a grant from the Utah Humanities Council.