Frederick Gardiner's narrative begins with his childhood in Chalford Hill, England. It was there that he encountered Mormon missionaries and embarked on his journey to the United States, working in New Orleans and St. Louis before making his way to Utah in 1851. The rest of his family arrived by handcart five years later. Gardiner married, began a family, was employed as a mercantile clerk, and was hired by Brigham Young to oversee the toll gate at the mouth of City Creek Canyon. He soon argued with Young over his salary, ...
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Frederick Gardiner's narrative begins with his childhood in Chalford Hill, England. It was there that he encountered Mormon missionaries and embarked on his journey to the United States, working in New Orleans and St. Louis before making his way to Utah in 1851. The rest of his family arrived by handcart five years later. Gardiner married, began a family, was employed as a mercantile clerk, and was hired by Brigham Young to oversee the toll gate at the mouth of City Creek Canyon. He soon argued with Young over his salary, for which he was excommunicated. Gardiner sought protection from Utah's new governor, Alfred Cumming, who provided him an escort as far as Fort Bridger, where he found employment with the invading U.S. troops. During the military occupation of Utah, Gardiner worked as a doctor's assistant at Camp Floyd. He performed his first surgery there, amputating two frozen toes. Gardiner and his family left in 1859 with the surviving children of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, accompanied by federal troops. He spent the Civil War in New Orleans, after which he and his family traveled to England, then returned to Salt Lake City in the spring of 1869. Despite the uncertainty of his standing in Utah, he remained to establish a medical practice and raise his family, dying in 1903.
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