234
HISTORY OF BOX ELDER COUNTY
i n t e n s e r e c r u i t i n g c a m p a i g n h e r e p r e s e n t e d t h e g o v e r n o r ' s staff u p and d o w n the Rocky M o u n t a i n Corridor, and soon won the h o n o r a r y title of major. In his m e e t i n g s a n d conversations Roberts m o t i v a t e d h u n d r e d s of y o u n g m e n t o enlist in t h e m i l i t a r y r a t h e r t h a n w a i t for t h e draft. To a n x i o u s b u t c o m m i t t e d p a r e n t s R o b e r t s said, 'You s e n d y o u r s o n s a n d I w i l l b e a f a t h e r t o t h e m . ' T h e r e w e r e u n d o u b t e d l y Box Elder C o u n t y residents in a t t e n d a n c e at a p a t r i o t i c rally in t h e O g d e n T a b e r n a c l e o n 27 M a r c h 1 9 1 7 , w h e n R o b e r t s p r o m i s e d " . . . t h e fathers a n d m o t h e r s of U t a h t h a t if their s o n s go t o t h e trenches I will go w i t h t h e m . ' For a full t h r e e m i n u t e s t h e a u d i ence cheered." 139 H o w e v e r B . H . R o b e r t s w a s p a s t s i x t y a n d w h e n t h e 145 t h w a s c a l l e d u p for a c t i v e d u t y in S e p t e m b e r 1917 h i s n a m e w a s n o t i n c l u d e d . R o b e r t s c o n t a c t e d U t a h s e n a t o r Reed S m o o t a n d a c o m p r o m i s e was r e a c h e d w i t h a r m y officials. If R o b e r t s served, it w o u l d b e as a lieutenant, n o t as a captain, a n d h e w o u l d have to pass a series of w r i t t e n a n d physical tests at t h e Officers a n d C h a p l a i n s School at C a m p Z a c h a r y Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. Apparently s o m e of the r e q u i r e m e n t s t h r o w n in his p a t h , particularly t h e d r o p in r a n k , were m e a n t to discourage him. His biographer, T r u m a n Madsen, notes t h a t " T o t h e c h a g r i n of h i s family, a n d p e r h a p s also of t h e a r m y , R o b e r t s w e l c o m e d t h e a p p o i n t m e n t o n these terms." 1 4 0 W i t h a fixed d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o serve w i t h his b o y s , t h e old m a n refused all c o m p r o m i s e s at t h e t r a i n i n g c a m p , a n d p a s s e d . W h e n h e w e n t t o j o i n w i t h his m e n before e m b a r k i n g for t h e t h e a t e r of war, he was offered a sedan. He chose instead a spirited horse. He rode most of the morning and as he approached the regiment [which was "on a coastal hike north of Camp Kearney in the California mountains"], he kept out of sight until he was at the head of the column. Then he galloped into view, reining his horse high on its haunches and lifting his hat to sweep the sky in a symbolic gesture that electrified the men. He had made it. Sixteen h u n d r e d men, including the officers, broke rank and cheered him. Then the chaplain left his mount, shouldered the standard sixty-pound pack, and joined his men in the hike on equal terms. In the following seven days the regiment hiked 190 miles to Santa Ana, took three days of rest, and then in six days hiked back to camp."141
