Col. Philip St. George Cooke

The officer honored here led one army west and quietly defused another. Philip St. George Cooke marched the Mormon Battalion across the Southwest in 1846, opening a wagon road to California in the Mexican War. A dozen years later he helped build Camp Floyd, and in 1860 took command of the whole military district of Utah. When the nation split in 1861 and his superiors — the secretary of war and General Johnston among them — went over to the Confederacy, Cooke stayed loyal to the Union and struck their tainted names from the post, renaming it Fort Crittenden.

What the plaque says

Col. Philip St. George Cooke June 13, 1809 March 20, 1895 Impartial friend, humanitarian, soldier dedicated to the west unequivocally loyal to the Union, Col, Cooke commanded the Mormon Battalion on the greater part of its historic march which contributed to bringing western America under the Stars & Stripes. Cooke helped establish Camp Floyd in 1858 & was from Aug. 1860 to July 1861 the commanding officer of the Military Dept. of Utah, earning the respect & gratitude of the Mormon people. When many persons defected to the South including Sec. of War John B. Floyd & General Albert Sidney Johnston, he changed the name of the post to Fort Crittenden Feb. 6, 1861 Cooke received orders via Pony Express in May 1861, to abandon the fort and return the remnants of Johnston's Army to Fort Leavenworth. Assigned to the defense of the nation's capitol, he was given the rank of Brigadier General. Mormon Battalion S.U.P. - Temple Quarry Chapter S.U.P.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Thanksgiving Point — 11 mi
  A massive complex with dinosaur bones, gardens, and a curiosity museum
• Lehi Roller Mills — 16 mi
  The flour mill from the movie Footloose
• Bingham Canyon Mine — 18 mi
  The largest man-made excavation on Earth
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument — 24 mi
  Three spectacularly decorated caves connected by hand-carved tunnels

More markers nearby

• Camp Floyd, Pony Express, Journalism (3) — steps away
• Stage Coach Inn/Camp Floyd State Park (2) — steps away
• Free Masons — steps away
• Camp Floyd Cemetery Veterans Memorial — 0.6 mi