Simms repeated the exact same journey he"d first made when circumstances had forced him west, less than a year before. There were some differences – new homesteads, a cluster of buildings heralding the birth of a new town – but the land itself remained the same. Arid, harsh; the heat unrelenting. At the rail terminus, he alighted and secured himself a horse, together with supplies and enough water to get him across the prairie to Fort Bridger.
The Fort, now rebuilt, bristled with troops when Simms walked his horse towards the Army livery stables. The war against the Mormons had flickered out to nothing more than a few smoldering hotspots. Up until now no one had died, a fact which brought a sense of relief to Simms as he waited for Colonel Johnstone to return to his command tent. A war wi
