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Henry William Bigler: Soldier, Gold Miner, Missionary, Chronicler, 1815-1900

Henry William Bigler; M. Guy Bishop (Editor), Logan: Utah, Utah State University Press, softbound, 200 pages.

This title was the winner of the 1999 Certificate of Commendation from the American Association of State and Local Historians

Henry Bigler was one of several Mormon Battalion veterans employed by John Sutter, under James Marshall's supervision, to construct the mill that was the site of the California gold discovery. As it turned out, Henry diligently kept the most immediate and accurate record of the event, which historians have since used to determine the official date of discovery--January 24, 1848.

Bigler kept many journals and observed or participated in other significant events in early Mormon and western history, from the Mormon exodus out of Nauvoo through western trail-blazing with the Mormon Battalion to proselyting in mid-nineteenth century Hawaii. But with the exception of brief fame in California after his diary account became known, Bigler led a life of obscurity and poverty. Time has brough him additional posthumous fame, though, as the personal records he kept have become widely used by historians seeking sources on a variety of western history topics.

By providing much context on the history that Bigler lived and wrote, and by carefully reconstructing the experience of one average, devout, frontier farmer and missionary, Bishop tells much about run-of-the-mill nineteenth-century Mormon lives that biographies of the famous, powerful, or elite may not be able to convey.

Review Excerpts:

"Bishop's book is an easy, interesting read. It is seldom that one finds such a rich source of American, Western, Utah, and church history in 160 pages (followed by an extensive bibliography). . . . I heartily recommend Bishop's biography of Henry Bigler. Much research and work went into this book, and if it is true that 'good things come in small packages,' this certainly qualifies." ---Violet T. Kimball, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (vol.33, no. 4, Winter 2000)

"The narative consistently relates Bigler's life to the larger culture without losing track of the uniqueness of Bigler's own story. Readers leave the text appreciating Bigler's very real sacrifices, while, at the same time, recognizing that the Mormon commonwealth was built on similar sacrifices by thousands of others." --Jed L. Woodworth, BYU Studies

Title: Henry William Bigler: Soldier, Gold Miner, Missionary, Chronicler, 1815-1900

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