Veterans Burial Allowance & Transportation Benefits

 

Find out how to get Veterans burial allowances (sometimes called “Veterans death benefits”) to help cover some of the costs of the burial, funeral, and plot or interment. You can also get reimbursed (paid back) for the cost of transporting a Veteran’s remains for burial in a national cemetery.

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Am I eligible for allowances to help pay for a Veteran’s burial and funeral costs?

You may be eligible for Veterans burial allowances if you’re paying for the burial and funeral costs and you won’t be reimbursed by any other organization, like another government agency or the Veteran’s employer. You must also meet all of these requirements.

1 of these relationships or professional roles describes your connection to the Veteran:

• You’re the Veteran’s surviving spouse (Note: We recognize same-sex marriages), or
• You’re the surviving partner from a legal union (a relationship made formal in a document issued by the state recognizing the union), or
• You’re a surviving child of the Veteran, or
• You’re a parent of the Veteran, or
• You’re the executor or administrator of the Veteran’s estate (someone who officially represents the Veteran), or
• You’re a family member or friend who isn’t the executor of the Veteran’s estate, or
• You’re a representative from a funeral home, cemetery, or other organization

The Veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and 1 of these circumstances must be true:

• The Veteran died as a result of a service-connected disability (a disability related to service), or
• The Veteran died while getting VA care, either at a VA facility or at a facility contracted by VA, or
• The Veteran died while traveling with proper authorization, and at VA’s expense, either to or from a facility for an examination, or to receive treatment or care, or
• The Veteran died with an original or reopened claim for VA compensation or pension pending at the time of death, and they would’ve been entitled to benefits before the time of death, or
• The Veteran died while receiving a VA pension or compensation, or
• The Veteran died while eligible for compensation or a VA pension at their time of death, but instead received full military retirement or disability pay

Or:

• The Veteran had been getting a VA pension or compensation when they died, or
• The Veteran had chosen to get military retired pay instead of compensation

Note: We’ll also pay you back for for the cost of transporting a Veteran’s remains for burial in a national cemetery.

You can’t get burial allowances for certain individuals

• We don’t provide burial allowances if the individual died in any of these ways:On active duty, or
• While serving as a member of Congress, or
• While serving a federal prison sentence

What kind of burial benefits can I get?

If you’re eligible, you may receive these benefits:

• Payments (called burial allowance) to help you cover some of the burial and funeral costs
• Payments (called plot or interment allowance) to help you cover some of the plot (gravesite) or interment costs
• VA transportation reimbursement for the cost of transporting the Veteran’s remains to the final resting place (we’ll pay you back for costs you paid directly if you have a receipt in your name)

We provide burial benefits for all legal burial types, including cremation and burial at sea. We also provide burial benefits for donating the Veteran’s remains to a medical school.

Find out the current burial allowance amounts

Is there a time limit for filing?

In some cases, there’s a time limit for filing. Keep reading to learn more.

Note: If we changed the Veteran’s discharge status after their death from dishonorable to another status, you must file a burial allowance claim within 2 years after the change. 

If the Veteran’s death was Service Connected

There’s no time limit if the Veteran’s death was Service Cconnected and you’re claiming the burial or transportation allowance.

We consider a death Service Connected if it was due to an illness or injury caused—or made worse by—active-duty service.

If the Veteran’s death wasn’t Service Connected

You must file a claim within 2 years after the Veteran’s burial, unless 1 of these is true:

• Exception 1: There’s no time limit for filing if the Veteran’s death wasn’t service connected and they died while under VA care either at a VA health facility or a facility contracted by VA.
• Exception 2: There’s no time limit for filing if the Veteran’s death wasn’t service connected and you’re claiming the allowance for plot or interment, or for transportation.

For state or tribal organizations

There’s no time limit if you’re an eligible state or tribal organization and you’re claiming state allowance for plot or interment.

What documents do I need to submit with my application?

You may need to provide copies of these documents:

• The Veteran’s death certificate including the cause of death
• An itemized receipt for transportation costs (only if you paid transportation costs for the Veteran’s remains)
• We also recommend providing a copy of the Veteran’s DD214 or other separation documents including all of their service periods.

If you don’t have their DD214 or other separation documents, you can request these documents now.

Learn more about requesting military service records

And if you’re claiming a burial allowance for a service-connected death, you can submit additional supporting documents (like medical records).

Medical records

If you’re claiming a burial allowance for a service-connected death, we recommend submitting a copy of the Veteran’s medical records. How you submit their records depends on if you have access to them right now.

Note: It’s your choice whether you want to submit the Veteran’s medical records. They’ll help us process your claim and confirm information about the Veteran’s medical history at the time of their death.

If you have access

If you have access to the Veteran’s medical records, you can submit copies of them with your application or send them to us by mail after you submit your application.

If you don’t have access

If you don’t have access to the Veteran’s medical records, you’ll need to authorize the release of their records to us. How you release their records depends on where the Veteran was receiving care at the time of their death.

Provide details about the records or information you want us to request. This will help us request this information.

If the Veteran was receiving care at a VA or federal health facility at the time of their death, you can submit a statement in support of your claim (VA Form 21-4138).

Get VA Form 21-4138 to download

If the Veteran was receiving care at a non-VA private health facility at the time of their death, we’ll try to locate their medical records for you.

You can authorize the release of their medical records online after you submit this application.

Authorize the release of non-VA medical records

Or you can fill out both of these forms and submit them with your application or send them to us by mail after you submit your application:

• Authorization to Disclose Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Form 21-4142) Get VA Form 21-4142 to download
• General Release for Medical Provider Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Form 21-4142a) Get VA Form 21-4142a to download

As a surviving spouse, do I need to file a claim for burial costs?

No, you don’t need to file a claim as a surviving spouse, as long as you’re listed as the Veteran’s spouse on the Veteran’s profile. When we receive notice of the Veteran’s death, we automatically pay a set amount to those eligible surviving spouses to help pay for the plot, the cost of interment, or transportation of the remains to the cemetery.

How do I apply?

You can apply online or by mail.

Option 1: Online. Yes, you can apply online right nowApply for a Veterans burial allowance and transportation benefits

Option 2: By mail. Fill out an Application for Burial Benefits (VA Form 21P-530EZ).

           Get VA Form 21P-530EZ to download

Mail the application and copies of supporting documents to this address:

Department of Veterans Affairs

Pension Intake Center

PO Box 5365

Janesville, WI 53547-5365

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What if I have more questions?

Call us at 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711). 

The VA is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. 

Or call your VA regional office.

BURIAL ALLOWANCE AMOUNTS (2026)

Burial allowance amounts for a service-connected death

Status	Maximum burial allowance
If the Veteran died on or after September 11, 2001	$2,000
If the Veteran died before September 11, 2001	$1,500
If the Veteran is buried in a VA national cemetery	We may pay you back for some or all of the costs of moving the Veteran’s remains

Burial allowance amounts for a non-service-connected death

Status	Maximum burial allowance
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2025	We’ll pay a $1,002 burial allowance and $1,002 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2024, but before October 1, 2025	We’ll pay a $978 burial allowance and $978 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2023, but before October 1, 2024	We’ll pay a $948 burial allowance and $948 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after January 5, 2023, but before October 1, 2023	We’ll pay a $893 burial allowance and $893 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2022, but before January 5, 2023	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $893 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2021, but before October 1, 2022	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $828 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2020, but before October 1, 2021	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $807 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2019, but before October 1, 2020	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $796 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2018, but before October 1, 2019	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $780 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2017, but before October 1, 2018	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $762 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2016, but before October 1, 2017	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $749 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2015, but before October 1, 2016	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $747 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2014, but before October 1, 2015	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $745 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2013, but before October 1, 2014	We’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $734 for a plot

Note: If a Veteran’s remains aren’t claimed, we’ll pay the person or organization responsible for the Veteran’s burial a burial allowance based on the rates in this table. If the deceased qualifies, we may pay you back for the costs of moving the Veteran’s remains to a VA national cemetery.

Burial allowance amounts for a non-service-connected death if the Veteran was hospitalized by VA at the time of their death

Status	Maximum burial allowance
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2025	We’ll pay a $1,002 burial allowance and $1,002 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2024, but before October 1, 2025	We’ll pay a $978 burial allowance and $978 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2023, but before October 1, 2024	We’ll pay a $948 burial allowance and $948 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2022, but before October 1, 2023	We’ll pay a $893 burial allowance and $893 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2021, but before October 1, 2022	We’ll pay a $828 burial allowance and $828 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2020, but before October 1, 2021	We’ll pay a $807 burial allowance and $807 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2019, but before October 1, 2020	We’ll pay a $796 burial allowance and $796 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2018, but before October 1, 2019	We’ll pay a $780 burial allowance and $780 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2017, but before October 1, 2018	We’ll pay a $762 burial allowance and $762 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2016, but before October 1, 2017	We’ll pay a $749 burial allowance and $749 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2015, but before October 1, 2016	We’ll pay a $747 burial allowance and $747 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2014, but before October 1, 2015	We’ll pay a $745 burial allowance and $745 for a plot
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2013, but before October 1, 2014	We’ll pay a $734 burial allowance and $734 for a plot

We may also pay you back for some or all of the costs of moving the Veteran’s remains if 1 of these descriptions is true:

• The Veteran was hospitalized or in a VA-contracted nursing home at the time of death, or
• The Veteran died while traveling to VA-authorized care

Headstone or marker allowance amounts

Headstone or marker allowance amounts based on when the Veteran died

Status	Maximum headstone or marker allowance
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2025	$441
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2024, but before October 1, 2025	$371
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2023, but before October 1, 2024	$263
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2022, but before October 1, 2023	$255
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2021, but before October 1, 2022	$231
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2020, but before October 1, 2021	$231
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2019, but before October 1, 2020	$236
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2018, but before October 1, 2019	$290
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2017, but before October 1, 2018	$195
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2016, but before October 1, 2017	$208
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2015, but before October 1, 2016	$218
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2014, but before October 1, 2015	$199
If the Veteran died on or after October 1, 2013, but before October 1, 2014	$205

Mormons At Sutter's Mill & Tragedy Spring -- Part Two

So now, if that's the case, and they were in on the ground floor, the very start of the California Gold Rush, why were they leaving California to go to Salt Lake City by mid-1848?  

Well, that's the question that I asked at the end of Mormons At Sutter's Mill & Tragedy Spring -- Part One. And frankly, while it made very little sense to me at first, I've learnd that it has everything to do with priorities and supporting others.

 
Let's remember, half of those discharged Mormon Battalion soldiers decided to go to their Salt Lake City settlement. It's said that they reached Salt Lake City in October of 1847 to find their people in such a critical need for food, that it looked like starvation was going to wipe them out. Seeing what was happening, church leaders proposed sending expeditions back to California where they knew ample supplies of grain and cattle could be found.

In early 1848, to answer the need for food, three separate groups made up of hundreds of Mormons in California all planned to head for their Salt Lake City settlement as soon as the weather permitted.Two of the groups were from Southern California. It is believed that they probably didn't about the gold strike up North. The third group was from Northern California. It's said they left after they deciding they had panned enough, and were satisfied with what they had.

The Northern California group gathered together and planned on leaving on April 15. Deep snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains prevented them from going that early. By June, the group was stopped again because of a heavy Sierra snowpack.

The Mormons working for Captain Sutter agreed to let him know when they intended to leave so that he would be able to hire replacements. That was very polite and extremely nice of them because by then it was becoming very difficult to find anyone who were willing to work for wages. Gold fever was making people crazy.

John Sutter is noted as saying, "The big rush did not set in until the middle of May. By then the whole country seemed to have gone mad. Merchants, physicians, lawyers, sea captains left their wives and families in San Francisco in order to become gold diggers. . . . Everything was in confusion and most people did not know what to do."

As for how Sutter saw the Mormons who worked for him, he said, "So long as these people have been employed by me they have behaved very well, and were industrious and faithful laborers and when settling their accounts there was not one of them who was not contented and satisfied."

In early June, the group gathering their supplies for their journey and met just southeast of Placerville, that place that was known as Hangtown back then. It was in a large green meadow they called Pleasant Valley, while waiting for the snow to melt, that they discovered gold there as well and thus spent their idle time prospecting. It was then decided that a more southerly route using Carson Pass, the same route that John Fremont used to enter California in 1844, would be better.

The group consisted of 45 men and one woman under the leadership of Jonathan H. Holmes. Some accounts say their Wagon Train consisted of 18 wagons, other accounts say it was 22 wagons, all pulled by oxen. Along with the supplies, were 300 cattle. All in all, when thinking about those numbers and them having to build their own road as the went, this was no small challenge to get supplies to Salt Lake City.

Only men were allowed on that journey because it was deemed too dangerous for women and children. That didn't stop William Coray's wife, Melissa. Supposedly, she had traveled the entire Battalion route from Iowa to San Diego in 1847. So no, there was no telling her that she couldn't go.

As they went, smaller groups later joined them, bringing the total party to sixty-five men and two women. The second woman was Rachel Reed, who had recently married Battalion veteran Franklin Weaver. Also in the group was a San Francisco convert, Francis Hammond, who later settled in Huntsville, Utah. To blaze a trail, the group send out three men to scout their way.

Now let's talk about Tragedy Spring

On June 25, 1848, Daniel Browett, Ezra H. Allen, and Henderson Cox set out as scouts to find a trail. Each of the scouts were riding horses and each trailed a pack mule. All of them had their U.S. Army-issued muskets. All three men were former members of the Mormon Battalion who served in the Mexican-American War. So yes, it's believed they were all carrying their U.S. Army muskets, the Springfield Model 1842, which was the first percussion-lock musket ever issued to American soldiers.

Along with their muskets, powder horns, lead balls, and percussion caps, each man had a bedroll for sleeping and warmth, food and water, hard tack, and some basic provisions. Scouts were known to supplement their food by hunting if needed. Of course, each scout had a knife, an axe, a shovel, and carried a few repair items for wagons and gear which were also used as first aid supplies for stitching wounds and such. And yes, in case you're wondering, it's said they had with them the gold they had discovered.

On July 3, the main group moved out of Pleasant Valley and started their journey Northeast. By then, it had been over a week since the scouts had left and was last seen. Because it was feared that they may have gotten lost or were in some sort of danger, a group of ten men were sent out to search for them.

The wagon train moved northeast about ten miles to another valley to await news from the search party. The following day, they camped in a meadow that they called Sly Park -- naming it after member Jason Calvin Sly. Another ten days passed on July 14th, they group moved on from Sly Park. That was the day the search party returned reporting no sign of the missing scouts.

The search party had, however, found passage over the mountains. The Mormons broke camp and began the slow, laborious, ascent over the Sierras. And since I'm used to repeating myself, yes, it's vital to this story that we keep in mind that they had to build a road as they went.

The following day, as they climbed the Sierras, they shot echoing salutes with two cannons they had purchased from Sutter. The salute was their contribution to Governor Mason’s Fourth of July celebration below.

On July 18, the road crew that was working slightly ahead of the main party to build a road for the Wagon Train came across a spring and an extinguished campfire. Supposedly, they also found a mound of dirt covering a grave but didn't bother checking it. Instead, the road crew left everything as it was and returned to the main group to tell them what they had found. It is also claimed that as the road crew made their way back to the main group, that the road crew came across a group of Indians. And supposedly, one of the Indians was wearing a vest that belonged to one of their missing scouts.

The next day, July 19, 1848, the rest of the party caught up. Arriving at the site, they discovered the bodies of the three scouts. Inside a shallow grave was the naked bodies of the three missing scouts. Daniel Browett was stuck in the face with an ax. Ezra Allen was found laying next to Browett with Henderson Cox underneath both men.

For me, none of this sounds like an Indian attack. Granted that accounts agree that, "Around the site were bloody arrows and blood-stained rocks, some with locks of hair stuck to them, possibly from being used to crush skulls." But, according to accounts, the site looked like the men were killed in other spots around that campfire and then "dragged" to that grave and buried.

Why would the local Washoe Indians bother digging a grave, nevertheless deciding to drag their victims and burying their bodies in a shallow grave? That doesn't make sense. Why not simply leave them where they fell? That would have been the normal practice in an attack. 

Besides, to my knowledge, in those days, at the time of the massacre of the three men, the Washoe Indians of California did not bury their dead. So why would they have done that since it wasn't something they practiced for themselves? To me, none of what was found sound like something that the California tribes did back then. 

There is one other part to that mystery. It has to do with the belief of the Washoe people. I've been told that unlike some Great Plains tribes that would strip the dead and steal everything back in the day, the Washoe people believed taking a dead person's property was offensive. It was considered very bad medicine as in bad karma.

So to me, it sounds more like something murderous criminals would do to hide their crime. Would outlaws try to give people the impression that Indians committed their crimes? I think it's very possible that such a thing can happen. In fact, from stage coach robberies to murders being committed, we know of reports of such crimes taken place by criminals who have tried to disguise themselves as Indians just not to be recognized and shift the blame to a local tribe.

What we do know for certain is that the three men were ambushed and murdered. Everything belonging to the men had been taken. Each was striped naked and their possessions, including their boots, trousers, shirts, and heavy woolen blanket coats, everything they had with them were taken before being thrown into a shallow grave near a smalll spring.

The group saw this and named that place appropreately, calling it Tragedy Spring. The group reburied them in a new grave under a tree. They piled rocks and stones on top of it, and placed a large round stone upright at the top of the grave to act as a headstone. They held a service for them and Wilford Hudson used his axe to chop the bark away from one side of a nearby fir tree, which he carved an inscription:

"To the Memory 

of 

Daniel Browett, 

Ezra Allen 

and 

Henderson Cox 

Who were supposed 

to have been murdered 

and buried by Indians 

on the night of the 27th of 

June, 1848." 

In his diary, Henry W. Bigler, one of the members of the wagon train, noted the following: "We cut the following inscription in the Balsam Fir that stood near the grave. To the memory of Daniel Browett, Ezrah H. Allen, and Henderson Cox, who were supposed to have been murdered and buried by Indians on the night of June 27, A.D., 1848. We call the place Tragedy Spring."

Accordding to legend, a pouch filled with gold dust belonging to Ezra Allen was found in the brush. Wilford Hudson, a close friend of Allen, volunteered to take the pouch to Allen's wife, Sarah. She had not yet traveled to Salt Lake City and remained in the temporary Mormon settlement of Kanesville. Ezra's pouch was later given to his widow. Legend sayd she made a wedding ring from part of the gold, and used the remainder to finance her journey from Iowa to Utah to join the Mormon settlement in Salt Lake City.

The Tragedy Spring site was memorialized by the Native Sons of the Golden West in 1921. Later, after the tree fell, the part bearing the inscription was cut away and preserved. It was later placed in the visitors center at the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma, California.

As for the route that was created in 1848 by Mormon laborers who built Sutter's Mill? 

They left the gold fields of California to make sure their people in Salt Lake City didn't starve. In doing so, that group cut a new 170-mile wagon road from near Sacramento through the Sierra Mountains to join the main California Trail. They did so by following ridges, crossing the West Pass, and going over Carson Pass. With their wagons averaging 10-20 miles per day, they took around 4 months to get to Salt Lake City. That was fairly incredible for the times.

The legacy of the Mormon Emigrant Trail is that it became incredibly popular in its day. In fact, imagine this, during good weather of the peak seasons, traffic was so intense that stopping to cross the trail could take hours. As a result, several trading posts were established along the way. The trail created the first wagon road into Northern California over the Sierra Nevada, connecting to the California Trail at Carson Pass. It served as a crucial route used for commerce and by tens of thousands of gold-seekers flooding into California during the Gold Rush.

Its legacy is that of a group of Mormon pioneers who met the challenge, sacrified personal riches to serve the greater good, and in doing so built the first wagon road over Carson Pass. Today remembered as the Mormon Emigrant Trail. For many, it's just a road sign along Highway 88 pointing out a spot of historical interest.

But for you, you now know that the Mormon Emigrant Trail opened by Mormon Battalion veterans, became a crucial, heavily used route for Gold Rush pioneers seeking California's gold fields starting in late 1848 and especially 1849 by offering a shorter, more direct passage through the Sierra Nevada over Carson Pass. While the primary California Trail from Missouri saw the most overall traffic, the Mormon Emigrant Trail route over Carson Pass was vital for those coming from Salt Lake City, becoming packed with wagons heading to the gold that was once California.

Tom Correa

Mormons At Sutter's Mill & Tragedy Spring -- Part One

I'm heading to Carson City, Nevada, this coming Friday. My wife and I will be taking a couple of friends to a resturant that they love for their 36th anniversary. Carson City is only about 2 hours away, and I love making that drive up Highway 88 over Carson Pass and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

Driving up Highway 88, seeing Silver Lake and Caples Lakes, going over the summit is all about seeing some of the most beautiful country around. The summit on Highway 88 is Carson Pass, it sits at an elevation of 8,600 feet. This time of year with the mountains covered in white snow, it's probably one of the prettiest drives you can take.

Just off of Highway 88, a few miles West just before getting to Silver Lake, is a small alpine freshwater spring known as Tragedy Spring. It's name tells us a lot all by itself. It was named Tragedy Spring after local Indians murdered three Mormon men, Daniel Browett, Ezrah H. Allen, and Henderson Cox, on June 27, 1848. The three men killed were with the group that was blazing the Mormon Emigrant Trail.

Before getting into what happened to the three men, let's talk about Mormons in California, Sutter's Mill, the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, and the Mormon Emigrant Trail in California which was a route that was blazed in 1848 by Mormon laborers leaving Sutter's Mill. 

That's right, they were leaving Sutter's Mill in 1848. Does that make sense? Well, not really. But let me explain what happened.

Mormons showed up in California during the Mexican–American War between 1846 and 1848. In fact, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), commonly known as "Mormons" or "Latter-day Saints," traveled to California before Mexico sold California to the United States. 

During that time, in July of 1847, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Brigham Young and a large Wagon Train of Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley -- which at the time still belonged to Mexico. There, they established their Salt Lake City as the principal settlement for their church.

Months before that, Mormons were already arrived by ship to San Francisco in 1846 and by land to San Diego in January of 1847. The later took place when the US Army's Mormon Battalion, made up of almost 400 Mormons, marched to San Diego from Council Bluffs, Iowa during the Mexican-American War. At the end of some of the war, and their enlistments, while some reenlisted, other members of the Army's Mormon Battalion were discharged and stayed in San Diego. By July of 1847, those who were discharged and didn't want to stay in San Diego decided to head to Salt Lake City.

While en route to Salt Lake City, those Mormon soldiers met up with a messenger from Brigham Young. His instructions to former Battalion members was to stay put in California if they didn't have adequate supplies to make the trip. They were told to remain in California for a season, to find jobs, earn wages, and then purchase the supplies they need before heading to Salt Lake City.

It's said that about half the Mormon soldiers who met up with that messenger decided to continue on to Salt Lake City. The other half turned around and went looking for jobs for the season as instructed. Some were hired by wealthy landowner John Sutter. While some of his Mormons employees were assigned to work and maintain what was known as Sutter's Fort, Sutter sent the others into the Sierra Nevada foothills to build a sawmill. Yes, they were assigned to build Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, on the South Fork of the American River.

 
Sutter's Mill was built by John Sutter who hired former-soldiers of Mormon Battalion as laborers. It was the site where James W. Marshall discovered gold on January 24, 1848. That event lit the fire that became the California Gold Rush. 

My friends, the impact of the California Gold Rush on the history of the United States cannot be overstated. The California Gold Rush from 1848 to 1855 was absolutely pivotal in our history as a nation. While there were other gold strikes here and there, no other event in America History triggered such massive migration, rapid population growth, increase economic growth, created the need for a transcontinental railroad, fueled technological innovation, and fundamentally transforming America by accelerating our Westward expansion, while also establishing the American character as bold risk-takers.

California was fast-tracked to statehood as a slave-free state in 1850, and the California Gold Rush accelerating settlement of the West, including all sorts of towns and cities between the East and West Coasts that are still with us today. All because the influx of gold expanded the U.S. money supply while spurring huge economic growth across the country. activity. The need to connect the distant West led to major investments in transcontinental railroads and telegraph lines.

So yes indeed, the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, land owned by John Sutter who hired James W. Marshall to build the sawmill, took place when former soldiers of the Mormon Battalion and local Nisenan Indians were there to build it. Marshall found gold flakes while they were deepening the mill's tailrace which is a channel for water. They were doing that to improve its water power. James Marshall's discovery of those gold flakes changed the United States.

Since, members of the Mormon Battalion were instrumental in building the mill and were present at the discovery, and several former-Battalion members were present when gold was discovered that day in January of 1848, it makes sense that those Mormons would spend their time off mining for gold.

So after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, those Mormons, those former members of the Mormon Battalion, the ones who built Sutter's Mill, enjoyed the fact that they were on the ground-floor of the discovery. Many were in on the first rush to nearby "Mormon Island" where anywhere from 100 to 150 Mormans flocked together there. It's said that those looking for gold worked in groups of five, each working five square yards of land, Monday through Saturday, each making from ten to fifty dollars a day. So many miners were Mormons that the name "Mormon" was given to places like Mormon sland, Mormon Bar, and Mormon Gulch.

According to one report: "There was good reason for the gold fever. What they found was incredible, and it was there for the taking. With no more equipment than a pick and shovel or pan, almost everyone who tried found his share. The gold had been deposited in stream beds and rock crevices, little by little, over vast periods of time. Now it lay exposed and inviting, diversified into dust, flakes, and even fist-sized nuggets."

So now, if that's the case, and they were indeed in on the ground floor, the very start of the California Gold Rush, why were they leaving California to go to Salt Lake City by mid-1848?

Well, that's the question that I answer in Mormons At Sutter's Mill & Tragedy Spring -- Part Two.

Tom Correa

American Ranchers On The Border Feel Safer Now Under President Trump

I voted for President Donald Trump three times. Each time I did, I did so because I saw that he had Americans' best interests at heart. Over the past year, since reentering the White House, unlike during the Biden Administration, when a few highly placed Democrats were running the White House, President Trump has worked tirelessly for us, the American people.

We now have President Trump, who, unlike his predecessors, who bowed down to special interests to get votes, fights for law-abiding, hardworking Americans. And yes, when he entered office in January of 2025, he inherited all sorts of problems. Our economy was hitting rock bottom because of the Socialist/ Communist policies coming out of the White House. And yes, the Biden oligarchy running the country decided that they would not secure our borders. Subsequently, they allowed millions of Illegal Aliens to enter by simply opening our borders. Biden, as senile as he was during his term in office, stated how the United States could take in millions of people from around the world with no problem. That was his mindset even before entering office. 

It's true. We know this because in a 2019 campaign comment, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden said the U.S. could "afford to take in another two million asylum seekers in a heartbeat." This statement was made to emphasize the Democrat Party's idea that our nation's capacity to allow Illegal Aliens into our country without having to go through the process was "justifiable" because it was our nation's "humanitarian obligation" to do so.  This was supposed to be his stance on immigration, which was in direct contrast to that of President Trump, who had more restrictive border policies than what the Democrat Party wanted. 

Why would the Democrat Party be okay with the invasion that we all saw take place? The Democrat Party was losing voters and needed to register Illegal Aliens to vote "Democrat." To get those Illegal Aliens to do so, the Biden Administration issued them Social Security cards and gave them all sorts of free benefits. 

That's the reason why, after Joe Biden took office, the U.S.-Mexico border experienced record-high numbers of Illegal Alien traffic. Besides his "open border" policy creating a huge financial burden on the States bordering the U.S.-Mexico border, he was giving away American taxpayer funds to people here "Illegally." Which, by the way, the nation has learned that the word "illegal" seems to mean nothing to Democrats when it's something they are doing that's illegal. 

Of course, besides the financial burden of the States having to deal with the "Invasion" of millions of Illegal Aliens, mostly young men, drugs flooded into our country, and child-sex trafficking increased by more than a thousand times what it was under President Trump prior to the Biden Administration taking control. And yes, violent crime became the norm for Americans, especially for those who lived in fear along the border and in America's inner cities. 

For those along the border, it wasn't unusual for Drug Cartels to shoot at American ranchers and farmers. It wasn't unusual for American ranchers and farmers to live in fear of being murdered. As for the inner cities, that's where the Biden Administration was relocating many of those who were not supposed to be here. It was as if there was a purposeful plan to destabilize our society with violent intruders who didn't give a damn about our laws. 

The Biden administration implemented various policies, including illegally flying in Illegal Aliens from nations not friendly to the United States. And yes indeed, it didn't take long before we, Americans, learned that many of those countries had released their criminals and emptied out their prisons just to send them to the United States. 

The result was that Joe Biden, or whoever was in charge at the White House and the Biden Administration, since we still don't know who was running the country from 2021 to January of 2025, successfully created the worst border situation anywhere in the world. We were told that we couldn't call Illegal Aliens "Illegal Aliens," and instead we were told to refer to Illegal Aliens as "Undocumented Immigrants" to soften the fact that those people were here in violation of our immigration laws. Yes. illegally. 

Of course, Democrats called us "racists" for pointing out that murderous criminals and drugs were flooding into our country and killing our citizens, especially our young people. I was accused of being a "racist" more times than I can count for talking about the violence that was taking place in places around the country by Drug Cartels and Criminal Gangs. All thanks to Democrat politicians who tried to divert our attention to social issues such as the Left's Woke agenda, the Left's DEI demands, and the Left's indoctrination of American children. And don't fool yourself, I completely agree with parents pulling their children out of Public Schools instead of allowing them to be purposely taught to hate everything good about America. No child should be taught to have shame for being White or for being an American. No teacher should be allowed to do that.  

President Trump has quickly made our U.S.-Mexico border the strongest border in our country's history. In just a few short months, we went from being at our worst to being the best. All it took was America having a President who puts the needs of the American people ahead of the needs of others. 

As President Trump has said, "We’re deporting criminals [and] restoring safety to our most dangerous cities… Drugs brought in by ocean and by sea are now down by 94%."  We have broken the grip of sinister, woke radicals in our schools."

American ranchers living along the U.S.-Mexico border have reported feeling safer now that President Trump is back in office. They report experiencing a significant reduction in illegal border crossings and related criminal activity under the Trump administration's stricter border enforcement policies.

First, crossings have been reduced drastically. Ranchers have stated that the number of Illegals crossing their property daily has decreased drastically under President Trump. And yes, it appears that it remains low with his resumed priority on enforcement. This also provides a sense of relief and improved personal safety to folks along the border.

As for less property damage? With an effort being made on the part of the Federal Government to stop the illegal crossings, American ranchers are reporting less damage to fences, water tanks, barns, livestock, and even their pastures. Less destruction and less theft in general. This all actually allows them to focus more on their work rather than constantly repairing what is vandalized by illegals. It also frees them up from constantly worrying about their security.

It's true. Since President Trump returned to office, ranchers have reported a dramatic drop in trespassers on their properties. Some ranchers along the border are saying that all human and drug trafficking that was so rampant, along with the armed criminals that trafficking brings with it, have "all stopped." 

Many ranchers have long advocated for stronger border security measures, including physical security barriers, which is what a "border wall" is. As for improving their safety and security, ranchers are giving credit where credit is due — namely, to President Trump's efforts to build a wall and increase law enforcement presence.

Of course, ranchers are concerned that the violence will increase later, just as it did significantly aftersomeone in the Biden Administration halted border wall construction and opened the border to the chaos that we all saw firsthand on television. It was so bad that not even the Democrat-controlled Mainstream Media could hide what was happening on the border during the Biden years.   

And no, I don't blame them for being concerned that Democrats will again be in control of the White House and scrub President Trump's policies even though they are effective. Ranchers have noted that more Border Patrol agents are back in the field, and operational control is becoming a reality again because of President Trump. Official statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show a sharp decline in border encounters since the Trump administration took office again. One report indicates a 96% plunge in apprehensions compared to a previous peak during Biden's tenure.

Why the improvement in such a short period of time? 

The reasons cited for this improved sense of safety include the reinstatement of strict border policies such as "Remain in Mexico," the resumption of wall construction, an end to "catch-and-release" have been credited with deterring illegal entries, and an obvious increased law enforcement presence, and the use of enhanced security measures. 

With all available resources in use, President Trump has authorized the deployment of advanced surveillance technology, such as aerostats (blimp-like surveillance systems) and ground sensors, which have also contributed to a sense of enhanced security in some areas by helping law enforcement track and intercept illegal activity. 

Of course, as demonstrated by the Biden Administration's complete lack of resolve, one can have all the tools available to secure what needs to be secured, but without the will to use those tools, nothing gets accomplished. President Trump has the resolve and the will to secure the border out of concern for us, the American people. That's why the improvement has occurred so quickly. That's why he hasn't passed the buck and made excuse after excuse while allowing an invasion to take place, as was the case during Biden's term in office.

With President Trump's return to office in January 2025, the total number of illegal border crossings and apprehensions has plummeted to record lows, with some data indicating the lowest levels in over half a century. So yes, as a result of a significant decrease in illegal crossings and increased enforcement, American ranchers and other folks along the border feel safer under President Trump's administration.

I remember being in contact with friends along the border during the Biden years, and they all said the same things: "Democrats don't care about us. They don't care about working folks, about farmers, about ranchers. They only care about letting Illegals in for votes. Democrats don't care if Illegals destroy our property, kill our livestock, steal our horses, rob us, shoot at us, try to kill us, or kill innocent Americans. Democrats just don't care."

I'm sure now ranchers and others along the border are "sleeping better" at night knowing that President Trump cares about their safety and security. After all, living with a sense of security is reassuring.

Tom Correa