In 1846, during the Mexican – American war, the U.S. Mormon Battalion undertook the brutally demanding 2,100 mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California to bolster U.S. forces in California. Arriving in Tucson, Arizona on December 16, exhausted and critically low on supplies, the Battalion somehow managed to avoid hostilities with the Mexican garrison guarding Tucson. Instead, the battalion was able to barter with Tucson residents for supplies needed to continue their journey.
In 1996, sculptor Clyde Ross Morgan was commissioned by the Tucson Mormon Battalion Monument Foundation to create a heroic size sculpture commemorating the event. Morgan is known for creating works that are anatomically correct and historically accurate. The monument, titled “Exchange at the Presidio”, was cast in bronze by the Desert Crucible Fine Arts Foundry. It was dedicated on December 14, 1996, and is located in Presidio Park in Tucson.
https://goo.gl/maps/QBr2XQmuqPL7yRG37
To view sculpture available for purchase, please visit our shop.