"It was an oasis in the desert," Eldredge says, amid modern-day grass that is so lush that a moose walks nearby as if to underscore the comment.

But Mormon cavalry could watch the Army from hills surrounding the spot, and was continuing raids on livestock and burning forage — usually just out of rifle range for frustrated U.S. soldiers, who at that time had no cavalry with them.

Eldredge tells the modern caravan that Col. Edmund Alexander, the ranking Army officer there, heard that Mormons were fortifying Echo Canyon in front of him. And amid mounting losses from Mormon raids, he decided to try to make an end run around the Mormons by following Ham's Fork toward Bear Lake, hoping to try to approach Salt Lake City and Mormon settlements from the north and gain possible victories against more lightly defended areas.

It was a bad idea that astounded Johnston later because it was a longer route to Utah with no advantages. Mormon militia burned forage in front of the Army and continued to steal livestock from the rear. In fact, Eldredge says, Mormons would end up stealing 800 of the 1,400 head of cattle with the Army there.

As the Army moved north, Lot Smith and 40 Mormon militia were almost ambushed and killed. They ran into Army Capt. Randolph B. Marcy with his 100 men. As Marcy's men loaded guns and formed a battle line, Smith exchanged salutations with Marcy.

Eldredge said Marcy asked Smith's business. Smith replied, "Watching you, sir." Marcy apologized for the conflict that seemed imminent and said officers did not want to come to blows with Mormons. Smith said the Buchanan administration did, and its actions were like holding a "knife to cut his throat."

Smith's militia then tried to escape. Eldredge said the Army reported firing about 40 shots but managed only to hit the hat of one Mormon and to shoot two horses. He said Mormon riders slid to the sides of their horses to shield themselves from Army shots.

Alexander's march up Ham's Fork was a slow-moving disaster. Then, when he caught and imprisoned Mormons who claimed (with wild exaggeration) that the Mormons had 25,000 troops in the mountains ahead, Alexander decided to return to Camp Winfield.

He had wasted a month, livestock were dangerously weakened, and five soldiers had died, including two who Mormons said were shot for being deserters.

Johnston finally arrived and met with troops at the confluence of the Ham's Fork and Black's Fork rivers. With few provisions remaining and in an area without protection and little forage, he decided in November 1857 to move as quickly as possible to Fort Bridger, or to Fort Supply nearby, for the winter.