Beschreibung:

half-length albumen portrait of Rockwell, a quite scary looking individual with very long hair and beard, backmark as above and period ink inscription on rear Porter Rockwell, the Mormon "Destroying Angel", Rather an Angelic appearance think you not. Orrin Porter Rockwell (1813-78) is one of the most colorful and notorious characters in Utah history, a frontiersman, Utah pioneer, and lawman. Converted to The Church of Latter-Day Saints, sometime in the mid-1830s, he quickly became associated with the Mormon Danites, a band of male defenders of the Mormons. Joseph Smith made a prophesy concerning Rockwell on Christmas of 1843, stating that as long as Rockwell remained loyal to the faith, he should fear no evil, Cut not thy hair and no bullet or blade can harm thee. After Smith's death at the hand of a mob at Carthage, Illinois, Rockwell shot and killed Frank A. Worrell, the man who had been in charge of protecting Smith. Rockwell went west with Brigham Young and became the Marshal of the new provisional State of Deseret in 1847. When President Buchanan appointed Cumming to replace Young as Governor in 1857, enforced with U.S. troops, Young choose Rockwell to lead the Mormons in harassing the troops and their supporters. Rockwell was involved in the Aikens party massacre and was not indicted until 20 years later and by that time was able to escape justice due to lack of witnesses. After the outbreak of the Civil War he acted as a scout and guide for the army. The Salt Lake City Tribune published an editorial in which it claimed that Rockwell participated in at least 100 murders. Rockwell lived to the age of sixty-five and the Smith prophesy was "proven" as he died of natural causes. Considered by many as one of the founding fathers of Utah, see H. Schindler, Orin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thumder, 1966 and F. Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1913. Provenance: Ex James E. Sanders Collection Condition: VG.