Buchanan, James:

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. VOL. I.

Washington: Cornelius Wendell, Printer, 1857. 35th Cong., 1st Sess. SED11. 775pp, disbound else Very Good.

At midstream of the Buchanan administration, his disastrous Kansas policy alienates his Democratic support in the North; even pro-slavery northerners find it difficult to stomach the election frauds and violence necessary to sustain the Lecompton government there.
Buchanan's Message also dwells on Utah, and the "fanatical spirit" of the Mormons, who threaten "open rebellion" against the national government. "This is the first rebellion which has existed in our Territories; and humanity itself requires that we should put it down in such a manner that it shall be the last." He also discusses the Walker filibustering expedition in Central America, and other matters of foreign policy. The Interior Department's report on Indian Affairs includes material on Texas and the Southwest, Utah, and the Pacific Northwest.

[offered with] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. DECEMBER 5, 1857. IN MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. VOL. II. SED11. 572pp, disbound. Contents clean. Very Good.
Material on the Utah expedition, with Stewart Van Vliet's report of his interview with Brigham Young, who said "that the Mormons had been persecuted, murdered, and robbed, in Missouri and Illinois, both by the mob and State authorities, and that now the United States were about to pursue the same course; and that, therefore, he and the people of Utah had determined to resist all persecution at the commencement, and that the troops now on the March for Utah should not enter the Great Salt Lake Valley..." Reports on turmoil in Kansas include Governor Walker's Message on election day, September 1857. Appendix H is Francis Bryan's Report concerning operations of a party assigned to explore the route from Fort Riley to Bridger's Pass. "Being the report of the Secretary of War, the volume contains sizable quantities of material about the West." Graff.

[offered with] MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. VOL. III. SED11. [2], [573] - 1120 pp. Disbound, else Very Good. Reports from the Secretary of the Navy and the Postmaster General.
Wagner-Camp 286. Graff 4416. Fales & Flake 96, 104. Item #39037

Price: $450.00