On the Capitol grounds at Salt Lake soon is to arise a noble memorial of
the service of the Mormon Battalion. The legislature of Utah has voted
toward the purpose $100,000, contingent upon the contribution of a
similar sum at large. A State Monument Commission has been created,
headed by B.H. Roberts, and this organization has been extended to all
parts of Utah, Idaho and Arizona.
In the 1921 session of the Arizona Legislature was voted a contribution
to the Battalion Monument Fund of $2500 this with expression of State
pride in the achievement that meant so much to the Southwest and Pacific
Coast.
From nineteen designs submitted have been selected the plans of G. P.
Riswold. A condensed description of the monument is contained in a report
of the Commission:
"The base is in triangular form, with concave sides and rounded corners.
A bronze figure of a Battalion man is mounted upon the front corner.
Flanking him on two sides of the triangle are: cut in high relief, on the
left, the scene of the enlistment of the Battalion under the flag of the
United States of America; on the right a scene of the march, where the
men are assisting in pulling the wagons of their train up and over a
precipitous ascent, while still others are ahead, widening a cut to
permit the passage of the wagons between the out-jutting rocks. The
background is a representation of mountains of the character through
which the Battalion and its train passed on its journey to the Pacific.
"Just below the peak, in the center and in front of it, is chiseled a
beautiful head and upper part of a woman, symbolizing the 'Spirit of the
West.' She personifies the impulsive power and motive force that
sustained these Battalion men, and led them, as a vanguard of
civilization, across the trackless plains and through the difficult
defiles and passes of the mountains. The idea of the sculptor in the
'Spirit of the West' is a magnificent conception and should dominate
the whole monument.
"The bronze figure of the Battalion man is dignified, strong and
reverential. He excellently typifies that band of pioneer soldiers which
broke a way through the rugged mountains and over trackless wastes.
"Hovering over and above him, the beautiful female figure, with an air of
solicitous care, guards him in his reverie. Her face stands out in full
relief, the hair and diaphanous drapery waft back, mingling with the
clouds, while the figure fades into dim outline in the massive peaks and
mountains, seeming to pervade the air and the soil with her very soul."