Copied from Walter Caldwell’s sketch on the life of his father and mother, David Henry Caldwell and Fanny Catherine Johnson.

Not the least of these good peoples troubles and fears were the Indians, who then were very treacherous. They would often lie in ambush until the men were gone to work and would come to the house and frighten the women. Of these conditions, David Henry [Caldwell] had this to say;

“When we first settled Rush Valley, the Indians were very troublesome. Often after our day’s work was done, we would have to stand guard at night in order to protect our families and live stock. The men taking turns as sentinels. After all our precautions, they stole many of our animals and slaughtered them. I have been on three expeditions to recover animals they had stolen. The first one in May 1858, to recover the body of Joseph Vernon, who had been killed by the Redskins, near the town of Vernon, which bears his name. Luke S. Johnson was captain of this expedition. The last, with myself in command, when we recovered all our stolen cattle except one. We were shot at many times and one horse I was riding was shot.”

No doubt the experience Captain Caldwell had previously as a commanding officer in the Utah Militia fitted him for this work. The sword he carried on these expeditions may be seen with other relics, in the Utah State Capital.