In this comprehensive history, David Bigler demonstrates that the LDS colony, known as the Salmon River Mission (Fort Limhi), played a pivotal role in the Utah War of 1857-58 and that the catastrophic end of the mission was critical in preventing all out war between Mormon Utah and the United states. In the process, he uses a multitude of primary sources to reconstruct a dramatic and compelling story involving stalwart Mormon frontiersmen, Brigham Young, Native Americans, the U.S. Army, and mountaineers. As historian Will Bagley writes in his foreword to this book, “With its astonishing fish stories, desperate Indian battles, life-threatening chases, and heroic rides to rescue a terrified and helpless outpost, this work has all the elements of a great frontier novel.”