Tyler's narrative has long been considered the authoritative work on this heroic battalion of Mormon volunteers. The battalion, numbering about 500 men, was organized at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in July 1846. After reaching Santa Fe, they headed to California following the Gila River. They experienced, as reflected in Tyler's vividly written account, a journey filled with unbelievable hardship. Thirst, starvation, heat, and freezing cold were their constant companions." The reached San Diego in January 1847 and, though they never saw combat, they "established Fort Moore in Los Angeles and strengthened the American hold on California. In addition to telling the story of the trek west, Tyler provides and important overview of the bitter rivalry between Stephen Watts Kearny and John C. Fremont for political control of newly conquered California; life in the pueblos of San Diego and Los Angeles; the return journey to Salt Lake City; and the role of several 'Battalion Boys' who were at Sutter's Mill on that fateful January 1848 morning when John Marshall discovered gold."—Zamorano 80