24 minute read
Isaac Trumbo and the Politics of Utah Statehood
Utah Historical Quarterly
Vol. 41, 1973, No. 2
Isaac Trumbo and the Politics of Utah Statehood
BY EDWARD LEO LYMAN
WHEN UTAH'S ADMISSION INTO the Union was assured by Congress, immediate past delegate Joseph L. Rawlins and Delegate Frank J. Cannon received due credit for their efforts. But the most laudatory congratulatory messages poured in to a now-forgotten, former California businessman, Colonel Isaac Trumbo. By those in a position to really know how statehood had been attained, Trumbo was given credit for having clone most to reach that long-sought goal.
Trumbo played an important though controversial role in one of Utah's most crucial eras. For eight years prior to 1896 he labored and lobbied extensively with statehood as his aim. The political associations formed and the interest aroused largely by him paved the way for achievement of that elusive end. Having helped secure statehood for Utah Trumbo next sought a place for himself in the political structure of the new commonwealth. His aim was to win election as one of Utah's first United States senators. That effort, unlike his lobbying in behalf of the enabling act, went contrary to his hopes. Disappointed when Frank J. Cannon and Arthur Brown were chosen for the honor, Trumbo soon left Utah for his mansion home on San Francisco's Sutter Street.
In the years since that time, Trumbo's name has gone almost totally unmentioned in Utah's written history. Although this obscurity has made biographical information sketchy, the most significant contribution of the man—his role in Utah politics during the decade leading to statehood—can be reconstructed.
Isaac Trumbo was born in the Nevada section of Utah Territory at Reese's Station, Carson Valley, in 1858. His Mormon grandfather was Colonel John Reese, the first permanent settler in that part of the West. Trumbo's mother, Mary Reese, married one of her father's Gentile associates, John K. Trumbo. During Isaac's childhood the family moved to Salt Lake City where their neighbors included Mary Trumbo's cousin, Hiram B. Clawson, one of the city's most prominent men. Young Trumbo grew to maturity without ever affiliating with Mormonism. At the age of twenty-two Isaac left Utah for greater opportunities in California. After establishing himself through successful mining ventures in Sutter County he moved his base of operations to San Francisco. From there, capitalizing on a natural speculative instinct, he entered many profitable enterprises, including additional mining properties, wheat marketing, and cracker manufacturing. In 1887 Trumbo served on California Governor Robert W. Waterman's staff as an executive officer in the national guard. His rank of colonel remained a constantly used title thereafter.
Trumbo's interest in Utah was probably rekindled by H. B. Clawson who since the early 1880s had been extensively involved with the Bullion-Beck silver mine at Eureka. Alexander Badlam, another San Francisco financier with a Mormon background, was among the other Californians interested in the mine. These two men were also drawn to Utah by a projected railroad scheme. In the latter part of 1887 they were active in promoting and incorporating the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railroad, apparently in association with both leaders of the Mormon church and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
In late 1887 Trumbo and Badlam were in Washington, D.C, and visited Utah Congressional Delegate John T. Caine. They expressed interest in the straits the Mormons were then in largely as a result of the stringent Edmunds-Tucker Act passed earlier that year. They mentioned to Caine that on their return West they intended to stop off at Salt Lake City to discuss these matters with church leaders. This was the beginning of an involvement in Utah affairs which would continue for more than a decade.
Trumbo and Badlam came upon the scene during a crucial year in Utah's political history. The territory was mounting its sixth and most concerned fight for statehood. John W. Young, one of the most active in that effort, was in New York City securing extensive arrangements for altering the image of the Mormons through the press. Younghad recently suggested that the church enlist the services of a trustworthy non-Mormon agent to promote favorable news items so that the cooperating newspapers would not be open to the charge of obtaining their stories from Mormon sources.
Trumbo proved to be just the man for such an endeavor. His subsequent efforts met with marked success. President Joseph F. Smith later praised Trumbo and his associates, saying they had "traveled through the United States and had subsidized the leading newspapers and prevented their making any hostile statements concerning the 'Mormons' during the statehood movement." Similar expressions of appreciation and recognition were frequent among private communications of the General Authorities and their associates.
In April 1889 Colonel Trumbo and Alex Badlam gave the First Presidency of the church a grand tour of the San Francisco-Monterey vicinity. They introduced their guests to leading local dignitaries, including Senator Leland Stanford. The California senator had often been an ally of the Mormons and expressed a willingness to further aid them in their cause. Probably even more significant was the First Presidency's introduction to Judge Morris M. Estee who had been chairman of the 1888 Republican party convention when it had nominated the successful candidate for president, Benjamin Harrison. Estee, through the efforts of Trumbo, had become interested in helping the Mormons, and he too did invaluable service in the Saints' political interest.
Besides working with the newspapers, Isaac Trumbo often traveled to the nation's capital where with Estee's help he soon became well known to many prominent Republican leaders. Colonel Trumbo played a key role in securing the amnesty proclamation which relieved polygamous Mormons from prosecution for past offenses. He was similarly in the forefront of successful efforts to have church property held under provisions of the Edmunds-Tucker Act returned to its rightful owners and to prevent further disfranchisement of the Saints.
In 1893 Trumbo and James S. Clarkson, one of Estee's associates who was chairman of the national Republican Party Central Committee, supplemented their political ties to Utah by entering a business association with the Mormon leaders to build a railroad from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. As financial agents, Trumbo and Clarkson pressed the sale of bonds for the railway. Church leaders were eager to include these men not only because of their eastern financial connections but also because they felt that their contacts in California would be useful in securing terminals and other concessions in that state.
However, the greatest effort Trumbo engaged in was in lobbying at the capital to get Utah's enabling act passed. With the word out that polygamy had been abandoned, his job lay mainly in convincing the nation's lawmakers of the trustworthiness of the Mormons. The colonel incessantly expounded on the good faith, industriousness, and patriotism of the citizens of Utah. Eventually many elements in Congress came to acknowledge the reality of Trumbo's pronouncements and to visualize the potential of the territory as a model new state.
In 1894 Utah's delegate to Congress, John L. Rawlins, introduced the bill to enable Utah to enter the Union as a state. As he guided it toward passage in the Senate, it became apparent that Senator Orville H. Piatt of Connecticut was going to oppose the bill. But as Piatt rose to speak, a Republican colleague whispered a message which induced him to resume his seat, and the Utah bill passed without opposition. Later Rawlins discovered that the whispered communication was to the effect that "if Utah were admitted into the Union she would line up as a Republican state." Such assurance, probably made by Trumbo or a close associate, was sufficient to quiet the senator from Connecticut.
During this period church leaders had been drawing closer to the Republican party, depending more on that party's support to get Utah admitted as a state. Joseph F. Smith, who had spent some time in the nation's capital, had earlier been reported as saying, "I know many prominent men of this party who are today our friends and are working in our interests, but I do not know a single Democrat who is helping us. Such men as [James G.] Blaine, Clarkson, Stanford, and Estee are deeply interested in our affairs and desire to do us good." Through lack of communication, Trumbo, Clarkson, and others apparently came to believe the church had promised to maintain Utah as a permanently Republican state as a reward for those services.
Further misunderstanding led Clarkson to believe he had been conceded a voice in choosing Utah's first United States senators. After discussion with such fellow party leaders as Senators Orville H. Piatt, Matthew r S. Quay, and Nelson A. Aldrich, Trumbo was designated as one senator and President George Q. Cannon as the other. Mention of these men in connection with the senatorship was subsequently widespread.
When the great day of admission came at last, Trumbo's name was hardly mentioned in Utah. However, the leading lights of the GOP in Congress made very clear in the telegrams they sent to Trumbo their high regard for him, his efforts, and his future. Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller, who had become a friend and occasional house guest of Trumbo's, said, "You have made the best fight ever before the American Congress and all sing your praises." Congressman Jonathan P. Dolliver similarly stated, "No one ever came to this city who made so many friends and had so poor a cause." The long-time opponent and recent key convert to Utah's cause, Senator Orville H. Piatt, remarked that "you have built yourself as well as the Mormons in good faith before the country." The "czar" of the House of Representatives, Speaker Thomas B. Reed, expressed the sentiments of many colleagues when he said, "I feel assured that the faithful work you have done will be recognized by a generous people."
Possibly the long-time anti-Mormon lecturer and Washington commentator, Kate Field, best summed up Trumbo's contribution in her widely quoted weekly review:
The congratulatory praise was not limited entirely to the East. In response to a telegram from Clarkson, Trumbo, and Clawson which said "statehood bill signed, your people are free and this ends our labor," the First Presidency sent the following reply to Trumbo:
Soon after, Colonel Trumbo returned to make his permanent residence in Utah. He moved into Brigham Young's former mansion, then known as the Gardo House. Though this has been labeled an ostentatious act, Trumbo did it in cooperation with the church leaders, practically as a favor to them. It was agreed that he would host any dignitaries needing to be entertained as they visited in Salt Lake City. The colonel went to considerable effort to renovate the mansion, decorating it with much of the furnishings from his former fiftythousand-dollar home on Sutter Street, San Francisco.
As his wife later recalled, Trumbo had entered Salt Lake City on a Sunday to avoid the brass band and crowd he assumed would be at the railway station to meet him. He could have spared the effort because there would not have been such a welcome no matter when he arrived. The people of Utah had not been apprised of the colonel's efforts in their behalf, and the voters were never to be convinced that he was entitled to high political office.
In spite of this the colonel established his Utah residence and began quietly seeking means to attain the senatorship he now so much desired. In due time he formed a political alliance and warm personal friendship with Charles Crane, territorial Republican committee chairman. Crane had become chairman of the GOP in time to perfect its local campaign machinery and was given much credit for Frank J. Cannon's victory in the 1894 congressional campaign and for giving the party a favorable edge in the approaching elections of 1895. His name was often mentioned as a candidate for first governor of the state.
By mid-May 1895, with Crane's help, Trumbo had worked his way into the local scene sufficiently to be elected one of Utah's delegates to the annual League of Republican Clubs convention held at Cleveland, Ohio. This off-year gathering was not taken too seriously by many eastern delegations. But the delegates from the Intermountain West planned to make it a forum through which they could defend free silver doctrines, already the most controversial political issue of the times.
Trumbo emerged as one of the leaders of that contest. As chairman of the committee which was to steer the silver fight, he presided over several caucuses of western silver delegates. They planned to present a resolution to the convention boldly favoring free and unlimited coinage at a ratio of sixteen to one and to further publicize their strength by running Trumbo for president of the league against some of the nation's most powerful Republicans. Even before the convention began newspapers throughout the country commented on the proceedings. Trumbo's name was prominently mentioned alongside such well known figures as Senator Stephen B. Elkins, Senator Fred T. Dubois, and General James S. Clarkson.
At the convention Trumbo—along with Senator Thomas H. Carter of Montana, Senator Dubois of Idaho, and Clarence E. Allen of Utah — labored tirelessly with the committee on resolutions, attaining what was considered a victory. Many in the national party had intended to pass an anti-free silver resolution, but the westerners' efforts had prevented any resolutions from coming forth. This strategy left the avenue open for the big fight of the following presidential year convention when silverites could begin the crucial platform struggle without having to overcome any past party declarations against silver coinage.
A considerable segment of the nation's press continued to publicize Trumbo as "silver champion of the West" and leader of the fight to protect the white metal. The notices that followed him on a triumphal visit to New York often mentioned him as a positive selection for one of Utah's first senators. He was undoubtedly the best-known Utah political figure in the nation beyond the Great Basin.
However, his accomplishments were carefully minimized back home by the Salt Lake Tribune which never had a good word for the "California interloper." Even the Salt Lake Herald, later rather friendly to him, accused Trumbo of having acquired his publicity through generous arrangements with the Associated Press news agency.
As interest in the late August 1895 Republican nominating convention began to mount, the Tribune launched a sustained attack on the Trumbo-Crane partnership. Some of the points raised in the barrage of always-biased columns may have been legitimate, but the paper obviously had strong ulterior motives in mind, too. What opponents called the "Tribune ring" hoped to seize the gubernatorial nomination for former Territorial Governor Arthur L. Thomas and send Tribune editor Charles C. Goodwin to Washington as Utah's Gentile senator.
Criticism of Crane centered upon his continuing to hold the position of party chairman after he became an active candidate for governor. The Tribune conceded he was entitled to run for office but held that it was an unfair advantage for Crane to be in a position to use the territorial party machinery for personal ends. They repeatedly called for his resignation and, whether accurately or not, took some credit for his doing so a month before the state GOP nominating convention.
There is evidence that Crane jeopardized his own popularity through his ties to Colonel Trumbo. One editor, who preferred Crane's candidacy to Thomas's, said Trumbo would "prove a veritable Jonas" to Crane's chances. The Provo Enquirer—speaking for a county delegation that had been most friendly to Crane the year before—observed that "if Charles Crane had rested on his laurels won last fall and not commenced his questionable wire-pulling for office, he could have had anything in sight. His chances of success through his misdirected zeal are now slim. We fear he will never get the nomination."
The questionable tactics referred to the reported use of money to secure delegate and newspaper support. As already indicated, Crane's associate, Trumbo, had been adept at such "subsidizing" on the national scene. Though there is evidence of some success in Utah, the reaction against such alleged practices far offset any good that their cause could have received.
The Tribune, which implied "boodle" repeatedly, printed the following at the height of the fight:
Even the respectable Democratic Salt Lake Herald was accused of accepting access to the "Trumbo money barrel." One editor implicated his fellows by saying "there are so many evidences of boodle that we wonder sometimes what the people think of the newspaper men." Josiah F. Gibbs, one of Utah's most capable editors, hit hard when he said, "There is not a self-respecting Republican in Utah that cares to have future history record that Isaac Trumbo purchased a seat in the U. S. Senate."
The reported attempts to win delegate support by such means may have been even more damaging. Utah County's delegation was later credited with having been instrumental in the defeat of Crane. Prior to the convention, rumors spread countywide that "corrupt agencies" were seeking pledges of delegate votes through bribery. One delegate was proudly quoted as saying "you cannot buy my vote with all the money in Utah County." Most of this important delegation headed for the state convention unpledged, with considerable talk of a compromise candidate for governor.
The most heated exchanges continued between the Ogden Standard and the Salt Lake Tribune. The Standard was as firm in Crane's defense as the Tribune was in attacking him. Just before the Republican convention, the Tribune uncovered an alleged secret society with oathbound loyalty to Crane rather than to the party. The Standard labeled the "expose" the laughing stock of Salt Lake City and denied that any such organization existed.
With the bitter battle persisting right up to convention time, the delegates converging upon Salt Lake City brought with them a primary desire of securing harmony within the party. Many felt that pacification could best be achieved through the nomination of a third, dark horse candidate. The faction opposing Crane also favored putting up the names of other men to draw votes away from him and prevent his nomination on the first ballot. This strategy, they reasoned, would defeat Crane, assuming that some delegates who felt an obligation to cast a complimentary vote for the man who had done so much to strengthen the party as its chairman would then abandon him and vote for someone else. The Crane group ridiculed the idea of a dark horse and claimed their man was the only one deserving of the nomination.
Heber M. Wells was one of the alternate candidates some began to advocate less than a week before the convention. When his name was first publicly mentioned it was received with favor. Although he had done no preliminary campaigning and had no formal headquarters, he sprang into contention for the nomination. 38
Crane's forces continued to canvass through the eve of the convention. At an outing for delegates at Saltair, Trumbo moved actively through the crowd, arguing that Crane was entitled to the nomination.
As the convention opened, the race for the gubernatorial nomination remained the center of interest. Wells's name was put forward first. The nominating speaker promoted Wells as the man to unite the party and said it would be unwise to concede to either the Crane or Tribune factions. Crane and Thomas were then nominated along with two prominent Utah businessmen, Philo T. Farnsworth and George A. Lowe. On the first ballot Crane showed a lead of 200 votes to Wells's 172, but since 269 votes were necessary for a nomination a second ballot was called for. In the hectic interim Crane's supporters "used every art to keep their forces from breaking and to add to their strength." But the second ballot showed that, relieved from their pledges, more delegates preferred someone else, and Wells was nominated.
The following day Crane attributed his defeat more to the general feeling that a Mormon should head the ticket than to any influence of the Tribune. Soon after, the Tribune issued another explanation: "The expressions of the Wells men during the balloting for the governorship showed that a special reason for their fight on Crane was due to his alliance with Trumbo."
Crane's defeat was a blow to Trumbo's hopes as well. If his associate had been victorious, a campaign tour with the gubernatorial candidate w T ould have enhanced his own prestige. Despite this setback, Crane valiantly remained involved. He and Trumbo assembled and financed their own program to supplement the main party campaign contingent of Wells, congressional candidate Clarence E. Allen, and territorial delegate and would-be senator Frank J. Cannon. In company with Standard editor William Glassman, a professional quartet, and a humorist, they stumped the state with vigor. Asked why he continued to campaign, Crane explained he did it for the good of the party, to rally his disappointed supporters behind the Republican nominees. Far from receiving any official party expressions of appreciation for these efforts, the former chairman rather bitterly complained that reports had reached him that the present chairman, George M. Cannon, was trying to discredit them.
A second objective of Crane's continued campaigning was "the vindication of Colonel Trumbo" who, he felt, had been grossly misjudged and misrepresented in the party and beyond. Crane authored a campaign pamphlet addressed to the Utah legislature and the general public to answer negative reports that had been spread about Trumbo. Denying the prevalent but unsubstantiated allegations of any connection with the sugar trust or Southern Pacific Railroad, this political tract stated that Trumbo was actually as much a long-time and permanent Utah resident as any of the aspiring senatorial candidates. As for Trumbo's being a boodler, "the only time he was ever a boodler was when he was giving of his money lavishly to elect Hon. Frank J. Cannon to congress." Trumbo, Crane asserted, had legitimately contributed more to the party than any other man in Utah. With such a heated campaign both Republican and Democratic candidates drew large audiences throughout the territory. However, it is doubtful that the efforts put forth by Trumbo's people enhanced his chances, for at this same time, he was losing support where he most needed it to secure a senate scat.
Meanwhile, Mormon leaders discussed the approaching state legislative session on several occasions and expressed the most concern about the United States senators that would be selected by that body. On November 21 President Wilford Woodruff indicated his desire that George Q. Cannon be one of the men selected. Cannon confessed on that same occasion his hope that Trumbo would not be one of the senators. "He is not a person whose manners and characteristics we would desire to represent us, for he is very ignorant, and then he would be, no doubt, a boodler, accepting bribes for services which he would render." Commenting in his journal several years later on Trumbo's senatorial attempt, Cannon said that as much as Trumbo had done for Utah and the Mormons "it was never understood by us that he was to be repaid for his services to us by being made a senator." Cannon remembered, "There was a time when I might have felt entirely willing, but after the contest opened it was in a shape that I thought he would not be a suitable man for a senator, and so expressed myself." This feeling, he explained, arose from the way Trumbo had conducted his Utah campaign and the unfavorable comments it had brought forth.
Despite Woodruff's desires, Cannon, as his journal indicates, had no real ambition to go to Washington. He did want his son Frank to go and acted to promote Frank's chances at the expense of Trumbo's.
Frank had allied politically with those who hoped Charles C. Goodwin would be the Gentile senator. This group was also close to Idaho Senator Fred T. Dubois who had long been interested in Utah affairs. In early December 1895, Dubois wrote to Abraham H. Cannon, the apostle son who had most influence with his father. He cautioned against any proposed candidacy of President Cannon and belittled any claims Colonel Trumbo might have to such an honor. Dubois was convinced that the election of Frank Cannon and Judge Goodwin was of the greatest importance to Utah. As he later explained to Goodwin's manager, Tribune publisher Pat Lannan, Dubois had intended the message to Abraham H. Cannon to filter down to his father in hopes of discouraging any lingering senatorial aspirations there.
Abraham H. Cannon soon reassured the Idaho senator that his "father has declared himself unequivocally out of the race for the senatorship. He would not accept it under any circumstances." The letter went on to say that it was President Cannon's feeling that Frank had earned the Mormon senate seat and that the church leaders did not expect to be involved in selection of the Gentile one. Apostle Cannon did promise Dubois that if asked, his own personal choice would be Goodwin. No public announcement of his father's withdrawal from the race would be made until the last minute, Abraham said, for the express purpose of thwarting Isaac Trumbo's plans. The Cannons feared that if Trumbo learned too soon of his abandonment he might retaliate by forming a combination harmful to Frank's chances for success.
As the crucial time drew near, General Clarkson wrote to President Woodruff and reminded him of the men he wanted chosen as senators. The venerable president answered at length. He expressed concern over the subject but stated that because of recent events church authorities felt it advisable to abstain from any active involvement in the political situation. Woodruff agreed that President Cannon would be a most suitable senator but added that Cannon had no aspirations for it and felt reluctant to be nominated. The church leader acknowledged Trumbo's services and his own kind feeling for the colonel. However, Woodruff sensed great obstacles in the way of Trumbo's election.
Finally, Woodruff confessed, the church leaders did not have the power accredited to them to decree their wishes and have them obeyed by the legislature as far as senatorial elections were concerned.
By this time Frank Cannon was certain of the inside track for a nomination. It was customary for the incumbent territorial delegate to be given a senate seat, and delegate Cannon had been soliciting pledges from probable state legislators since early in the contest. Further support came from his cousin George M. Cannon, the man running the state party campaign, who had publicly pledged to support Frank if George Q. Cannon withdrew as a candidate.
While Utah was still celebrating her entrance into the Union as a state, Isaac Trumbo wrote to the First Presidency. Attempting to rejuvenate the assumed commitment to support his senatorial aspirations, Trumbo reminded the church leaders of his efforts:
Apparently the First Presidency did not answer Trumbo's letter, thus leaving him in a rather helpless position, only able to hope for what he thought was due him.
As the crucial first state legislative session got down to business, the Republican majority held a caucus. The managers for both Arthur Brown and Charles W. Bennett, each confident of winning, wanted to call for a vote on the senatorial nominees immediately while all the GOP legislators were assembled. While the meeting had not been called for such a purpose and many of the members were caught off guard, they decided after some discussion to proceed.
After quickly nominating Frank Cannon by acclamation, the group turned its attention to the selection of his Gentile counterpart. The strategy of Goodwin's supporters called for backing Brown on the first ballot and then leading a breakaway from him to their man on the second ballot. They never dreamed that Brown's floor agents had lined up sufficient support to win on the first ballot. When that happened many decided to remain firm when the formal vote was taken on the floor of the legislature.
Two versions of Trumbo's status at this point later emerged. The less favorable story—allegedly originating with a Tribune reporter —said that the colonel's "name was not presented because no one could be found to nominate him." The more friendly Standard explained that "it was a well-known fact that Col. Trumbo fought against a caucus and refused to have his name presented."
Some pieces of information can now be assembled to indicate what probably happened to the colonel. On the decisive day of the caucus—possibly after hearing rumors of the impending gathering— Isaac Trumbo called on the First Presidency and received their verbal answer to his letter of the previous week. Their response must have crushed his senatorial hopes, linked as they were to George Q. Cannon's candidacy for the other senate seat. For on this very day President Cannon publicly announced that he was not a candidate for the senate. Trumbo was caught, as intended, without the opportunity to cultivate sufficient support independent from President Cannon. Without enough potential votes to be in contention, Trumbo abstained from participation in the caucus.
News of the selection of Utah's senators provoked considerable discussion among the members of Congress. Frank Cannon's choice was well accepted, but, as in Utah, Brown's choice met with little enthusiasm. A special news dispatch to the Herald reported, "The impression prevailed here that Colonel Trumbo would be selected as one of the senators. Some of his friends declare Trumbo's defeat to be a piece of rank ingratitude." His efforts for statehood were well remembered, and it was "expected that he would be rewarded for his loyalty to the Mormons." Some could not understand what had gone wrong.
Trumbo was undoubtedly disappointed. He remained in Utah at least part of the year, having further conferences with President Woodruff. He also invited Apostle John Henry Smith, an ardent Republican, to attend the GOP national convention as his guest. Smith respectfully declined the imitation, and Trumbo was infrequently heard from in Utah thereafter.
Late in the following year, William B. Preston of the Presiding Bishopric, who had a responsibility for some of the church property and finances, sent Trumbo a bill of rent on the Gardo House. Trumbo's pent up feelings burst forth in response:
He had kept his negative feelings to himself, but after talking to Clarkson and other friends he intended to press for settlement of the matter.
President Woodruff immediately apologized and said that Preston's bill had been a mistake, sent without knowledge of the First Presidency. They sent Hiram B. Clawson to San Francisco to try to make a reconciliation. By that time, however, Trumbo had been further incensed by a San Francisco newspaper report linking him to Mormon church property and money. The colonel sent Clawson back with some firm demands that had to be met. The presidency discussed the Trumbo matter, and all expressed a desire to comply with his terms so that they could secure the legal receipt held by Clawson and thus conclude the entire business. Trumbo claimed he had spent $17,000 on the mansion but would be glad to return his claim to the church for $10,000. The First Presidency promptly complied with that proposal.
Trumbo also demanded "complete exoneration by the First Presidency to all the people, showing the position [he] had taken, where [he] had been, and the assistance rendered them." Such an acknowledgement was forthcoming in the Deseret Weekly News. The First Presidency made a lengthy statement concerning the generosity and energetic contributions Trumbo had made in behalf of the church. His newspaper work and the role he had played in securing amnesty and preventing further disfranchisement were outlined and acknowledged. The statement concluded that "probably no single agency contributed so much to making Utah a State as the labor of Colonel Isaac Trumbo."
A similar, though briefer, statement was made by President Woodruff from the Tabernacle pulpit the following Sunday. With these demands met, the First Presidency received the receipt from Trumbo which released President Woodruff and his people from all financial claims for services rendered. However, Trumbo emphasized that "this paper has no political significance whatsoever, nor does it release them from political promises made to the Republican party." When the document had been delivered, the First Presidency discussed the matter. George Q. Cannon commented that "nothing Colonel Trumbo asks in regard to this matter comes in the least conflict with my feelings."
Trumbo had undoubtedly wanted the church leaders to publicly acknowledge his role in Utah's behalf for a long time, and the more recent San Francisco newspaper allegations probably added to the desire for vindication. One of Trumbo's primary objectives in pressing for the statements from the First Presidency was to clear his name with former political associates outside of Utah. He hoped a time would come when he could meet with President Cannon and Bishop Clawson in Washington, D.C, "and have them assure [his] friends personally that [he] in no way sold them out or accepted money in lieu of the promises made to eastern friends." There is no indication that such a meeting ever materialized or that Trumbo ever regained his stature among former associates in political circles of the East.
Isaac Trumbo obviously did not entertain ill will against President Woodruff. In the summer of 1898, the two men celebrated the Fourth of July together in Salt Lake City. Later that summer, the aged president made one of several journeys to the coast to bolster his failing health. He and George Q. Cannon made Trumbo's residence their headquarters. In early September, Cannon telegraphed to Utah that Woodruff was gravely ill and that doctors were pessimistic because of his age. He died the following day at Trumbo's home.
One further episode in Trumbo's connection with Utah history occurred during the election campaign of November 1898. Trumbo, along with Apostle John Henry Smith and other Republicans, spoke at a party rally in Ogden. They all referred to the inconsistency of incumbent Senator Frank J. Cannon who had bolted the party and had subsequently entered the campaign as a Democrat. The same week as the rally, George Q. Cannon noted in his journal that according to a reputable source Trumbo had told a story which reflected adversely upon his son Frank. In the time of the statehood fight a proposal was made to send some bright young Mormons to Washington as examples of the character and intelligence typical of future citizens of Utah. Several men were mentioned, with Trumbo suggesting Frank J. Cannon. Now, more than seven years later, Trumbo's story had reportedly recalled that President Cannon himself had asked that his son's name be withdrawn because he was unreliable.
George Q. Cannon denounced the entire matter as a "myth and a fiction so far as my connection with it was concerned." He did not remember any such incident. However, there was some basis for the allegations. An incident recorded in Abraham H. Cannon's journal could coincide with Trumbo's story. As a result of an alleged drinking spree reported to George Q. Cannon by another son, John Q., Frank's name was withdrawn from a delegation slated to go to Washington to work in the interest of the church. The details vary, but at least there is a marked similarity with what Trumbo had remembered. Right or not, Trumbo had further alienated one of the most prominent families in the state. After that he faded permanently from the Utah scene.
Trumbo's fortunes declined in California as well. He must have lost much of the vigor that had sustained his earlier efforts in behalf of Utah and probably some of his grasp on reality. In 1911 the pathetic story was recounted of Trumbo's expulsion from his Sutter Street mansion for failure to pay an $18,000 mortgage debt even though money was available. It was estimated that the furnishings and art treasures of the house would bring $200,000 at forced sale. Yet the colonel refused to part with a single item. Even after the power and water were turned off in the house, he was said to have sat alone in the dark musing over the beauties of his beloved paintings. Soon afterwards he was forced to auction off the art collection which was the last remaining portion of his wealth. On November 2, 1912, he was found unconscious on the streets of San Francisco, the victim of an apparent beating and robbery. He never regained consciousness. The colonel's Utah obituary reminded a rather unappreciative people of the service he had done in Washington in the interest of the Mormons. It also recalled that "in the heyday of his fortune, he had ambitions toward the United States Senate." Once laid to rest, Isaac Trumbo's name passed from Utah's memory.
For full citations and images please view this article on a desktop.
