It also changed the U.S. military. At least 98 men who would become future Civil War generals — 50 confederates and 48 for the Union — served in at least part of the "Utah Expedition," or at the Camp Floyd it created, according to amateur historian Curtis Allen.

Johnston was one. He commanded all western Confederate forces and was killed at Shiloh.

The Utah War showed that Americans who think they are being invaded will fight.

It should have shown the government that more than a mere show of force would be needed to stop a perceived rebellion.

And it should have showed the South that force to quell a revolution was not only possible but almost a sure thing.

Randolph B. Marcy, who had almost ambushed Lot Smith and later became a Union general, observed in his memoirs that he considered the Utah Expedition to be a prelude to the Civil War.

"The sequel of the Mormon expedition," he wrote in his conclusion, "is well known to the public."

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