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| Lot Smith | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lot Smith |
| Birth date | 15 August 1830 |
| Birth place | Kirtland, Ohio |
| Death date | 3 October 1892 |
| Death place | Payson, Utah Territory |
| Occupation | Pioneer, Militia leader, Polygamist, Irrigation promoter |
| Notable works | Cutting telegraph lines during the Utah Expedition; defense and policing in Utah Territory |
Lot Smith Lot Smith was a 19th-century American pioneer, Latter-day Saint frontiersman and militia leader known for his role in the Utah Expedition and subsequent actions in the Utah Territory. He participated in LDS Battalion migrations, frontier defense, and community development, becoming a controversial figure in conflicts involving United States Army, Paiute people, and territorial authorities. His activities intersected with political, military, and religious currents involving figures such as Brigham Young, John W. Geary, and Alfred Cumming.
Born in Kirtland, Ohio to a family that joined the Latter Day Saint migration, he moved with church members to Nauvoo, Illinois and later to the Salt Lake Valley. During the overland trek west, he associated with veterans of the Mormon Battalion and leaders from Kirtland and Nauvoo circles. His formative years included exposure to the leadership of Joseph Smith Jr., the succession politics after the assassination of Joseph Smith, and the organizational efforts of Brigham Young.
During the Utah Expedition (1857–1858), he led mounted companies engaged in frontier guerrilla tactics aimed at delaying federal troops under orders from territorial leaders. His forces targeted telegraph and supply lines, cutting wires and harrying army detachments to impede the advance of Albert Sidney Johnston-era veterans and their successors. Actions attributed to him affected communications with postings such as Fort Bridger, Camp Floyd, and Salt Lake City, and involved confrontations with detachments associated with Governor Alfred Cumming and officials like James H. Carleton.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, territorial security concerns shifted; he organized patrols and scouting parties to defend settlements against raids and criminal bands associated with the Plains Indian Wars and localized disputes. He cooperated at times with Union Army officials stationed in the West and negotiated tensions involving Brigham Young’s policies and federal representatives such as Richard C. Kerens and John W. Geary. In later decades, he engaged in actions during conflicts with Paiute people and other Indigenous groups in the Great Basin, participating in skirmishes that intersected with campaigns led by regional figures including James H. Carleton and Patrick Edward Connor.
Beyond military activities, he contributed to irrigation, settlement, and civic organization across communities in the Utah Territory, including Lehi, Utah, Payson, Utah, and outlying settlements. He held local supervisory roles in irrigation projects, helped coordinate migration parties linked to the Perpetual Emigration Fund and assisted in establishment efforts that connected to wider Transcontinental Railroad impacts. His leadership intersected with territorial institutions such as the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society and local ward administration under the direction of church leaders like Heber C. Kimball.
He practiced plural marriage in accordance with then-prevailing Latter-day Saint doctrines, fathering children who became part of prominent pioneer families in the Wasatch Front and other Utah settlements. His household and familial relations connected him to local civic elites and religious authorities including Brigham Young’s inner circle and other leading families such as the Kimball family and Harris family. Personal correspondence and community records link him with contemporaries like Orson Pratt, Amasa Lyman, and Daniel H. Wells.
Historians and local chroniclers have debated his legacy, portraying him variously as a folk hero of Mormon pioneers, a pragmatic frontier defender, or a contentious actor in episodes of confrontation with federal authority and Indigenous peoples. Monographs and regional histories situate his actions within broader narratives about territorial resistance, the consolidation of Salt Lake City and surrounding settlements, and the evolution of LDS Church—United States relations. Modern scholarship examines primary sources from archives in Salt Lake City, territorial court records, and collections associated with institutions like the Church History Library to reassess his role in 19th-century western expansion.
Category:People of the American Old West Category:Latter Day Saints Category:Utah Territory