Sentinel in the East: A Biography of Thomas L. Kane

Salt Lake City: Nicholas G. Morgan, Sr, 1965. First Edition. 260pp. Octavo [22.5 cm] Burgundy cloth with the title gilt stamped on the front board and backstrip. Near fine/Near fine. Although never Mormon himself, Thomas L. Kane (1822-1883) nonetheless was a friend and confidante of Brigham Young. While still a young man he become interested in the Mormon cause, and gave up his practice of law to make a trip west in 1847. During President Buchanan's administration serious trouble arose between the federal government and the Mormons, and in 1857 Kane was appointed special agent to the Mormons. He came west by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and arrived in Salt Lake City on February 25, 1858. Through his efforts at mediation, peace was declared on April 24, 1858. His diaries contain "confidential entries for my dear wife," all jotted down on the journey, and consist for the most part of descriptions of things seen on the way, and on the mission to the Mormons. A rich and scarce work. OCLC notes two holdings.