Memo. for S. M. Blair,
To the Hon. Z. Snow
Judge of Probate in and for the County of Cedar, Territory of Utah.
Your Petitioner complains of the wrongs and injuries done to A. F. McDonald, and H. H. Kerns, under and by the alleged authority of one Peter K. Dotson, U. S. Marshal for the Territory of Utah, in conveying as prisoners and committing to the charge of A. S. Johnston, Brevet Brigadier General U. S. Army, the bodies of the said McDonald and Kerns; closely which Brevet Brigadier General as aforesaid, as jailer, retains in his in close custody and under military guard at Camp Floyd, the aforesaid McDonald and Kerns. Your petitioner further says that the said McDonald and Kerns having been subpoenaed as witnesses before the Hon. John Cradlebaugh, Judge of the Third Judicial District for the Territory of Utah, were by his order treacherously arrested; that the Grand Jury for the said District were then sitting; that the said McDonald and Kerns were at once Committed to a prisoner formed of a detachment of the U. S. Army, of which Captain Henry Heth, U. S. Army was commandant and jailer; that by the arbitrary and unlawful proceedings of the aforesaid Judge Cradlebaugh, & the terrorism created by the treachery and terrorism <of aforesaid> and the presence of a large military force parties required as witnesses of having good reason to apprehend arrests when answering the subpoenaes, fled into the mountains or beyond the reach of <the> military powers <escorts which invariably> accompanied the U. S. Marshal, consequently it was rendered impossible for the said McDonald and Kerns were allowed no opportunity to procure <the necessary> evidence <for their defence>; that the Grand Jury subsequent to the arrest and imprisonment of the said McDonald and Kerns, was discharged having for made no presentment against them; that after the discharge of the Grand Jury, the aforesaid Judge Cradlebaugh refused upon motion of Counsel, to discharge the said McDonald and Kerns, but as a Committing magistrate ordered them brought xxxx into the custody of the aforesaid U. S. Marshal, and by him to be removed beyond the limits of the County in which they resided, and in which the Crime for which they were arrested was alleged to have been Committed, to the aforesaid military prison at Camp Floyd, there to be retained by the aforesaid Genl. Johnston, acting as their jailer, for an indefinite period of time:-- all of which contrary to the Constitution and Laws of the United States and Laws of the Territory and the customs and usages of all civilized people. Your petitioner further says that the Court by whose order the said McDonald and Kerns were arrested was sitting in direct opposition to the Laws of the United States, and the prisoners therefore were unlawfully arrested.
Your petitioner prays your Honor that you issue a Writ of Habeus Corpus, directed to the aforesaid General A. S. Johnston, commanding him to be and appear before your Honor, forthwith, and with him to bring the aforesaid McDonald and Kerns; and shew cause, if any, why the said McDonald and Kerns should not be set at liberty.