"LOT'S HUNDRED"
Nauvoo Legion ("Utah Cavalry"), U.S. Army, proceeding up
Immigration Canyon, May 1862
by Artist Frank M. Thomas
Original Art Canvas, 32 sq. ft. (48" x 96") - Found in the artist's collection
Historical Background:
Major Lot Smith and his hundred man Nauvoo Legion cavalry company (U.S. Army, May 1862) proceeding up Immigration Canyon, bound for the plains of Wyoming.
Lot Smith, an early Mormon Church leader and rugged frontiersman was an officer in the Nauvoo Legion. In 1857 he led a territorial militia force against supply trains and livestock of the approaching U.S. Army's Utah Expedition (the Utah War), commanded by General Albert S. Johnson. His actions in capturing 1,400 animals and burning many wagons, to stop Johnson in Wyoming, earned him the title "Mountain Fox."
Early in 1862, the Civil War began. By that Spring, following deployment of the U.S. Army's 4th Cavalry Regiment into Tennessee, a disturbing lack of military influence was felt along the Overland Trail. As a result, the Shoshone Indians increased their murderous depredations against travelers and commercial shippers following the route through the Rocky Mountains.
Click on photo above for larger image
Finally, in April, 1862, LDS Church President Brigham Young received a telegram from United States President Abraham Lincoln authorizing him to raise, equip and arm a company of cavalry for service on the Overland Trail, to be funded by the U.S. Government. (See Deseret News, 7 May 1862.) When requisitioned on short (two day) notice by Territorial Adjutant General Daniel Wells, the Legion¹s horses were quickly supplied by Orin Porter Rockwell.
Under command of Major Lot Smith (the "Mountain Fox"), Utah Territory's Nauvoo Legion horse soldiers (all volunteers, many former members of the Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army) took to the field in Wyoming.
Our Territorial Nauvoo Legion militia was a forerunner of Utah¹s Army National Guard, and is, today, found only in the lineage of southern Utah¹s modern 2/222 Field Artillery Battalion, now (during 2006-07) on active duty...service in Iraq.
The artist, Frank Thomas, a former Utah National Guard officer, once commanded Service Battery, 2/222 Field Artillery, Beaver, Utah. He has portrayed himself in this painting as the buckskin-clad scout reporting to Major Lot Smith. The current (2006) commanding officer of the battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Rawlinson, is portrayed as the horse soldier on the far right.
Canvas Art Print Offerings:
14" x 28" (signed by artist/rolled - ready to stretch)..........................$148.50
tube shipped.......................+$10.50
14" x 28 " (signed by artist/stretched - ready to frame)......................$178.50
flat package shipped.............+$18.50
18" x 36" (signed by artist/rolled - ready to stretch)..........................$257.25
tube shipped.......................+$13.50
18" x 36" (signed by artist/stretched - ready to frame)......................$297.25
flat package shipped.............+$21.50
30" x 60" (signed by artist/rolled - ready to stretch)..........................$651.75
tube shipped........................+$17.25
36" x 72" (signed by artist/rolled only - ready to stretch)...................$742.50
tube shipped.........................+$21.50
(NOTE: The rolled print may be stretched in most frame shops before framing.)
*Please note*: Artist Frank Thomas' studio lithographic art print and giclee' canvas art print sales have now been resumed as of November 1st, 2008. He and his wife, Patreecia, have completed an eighteen month mission in the Ohio-Cleveland Mission, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at the Kirtland Historic Village Sites, Kirtland, Ohio. He was asked by LDS Church General Authorities to paint early Church history scenes of 1830's Kirtland.
He has now returned home to his art studio at 206 North 100 East, Holden, Utah 84636 and is producing LDS historical paintings and Old West paintings at that site. His art prints may be purchased online by credit card or by personal check.
Call Frank at his Studio" (435) 795-2206 or (435) 406-9526, or contact directly by email wildgoose@crystalpeaks.com.