The outrages of these officials reached a climax in the conduct of Associate Judge W. W. Drummond; who, having deserted his wife in Illinois, brought with him a prostitute who sat by him on the judicial bench in open court; and in various ways insulted the people by unwarranted assaults upon institutions religious and social which they held to be most sacred; and even their territorial laws, to which the government at Washington had taken no exceptions whatever, were threatened by this gambler and black-leg, upon whose unworthy shoulders the ermine had been unwisely thrown. To the honor of the Mormon community, he did not long remain in the Territory to disgrace her judiciary, but fled in fear from Utah to California, from which place he wrote his resignation and falsely reported to the Attorney-General that the Mormons were in open rebellion to the government; that the records and papers of the supreme court had been destroyed by order of the Church; that Brigham Young and other leading Church officials were responsible for the murder of a number of U. S. officials who had died in the Territory, and others who had been massacred by Indians. Upon receiving these statements from Judge Drummond, President Buchanan, without taking the pains to ascertain the truth or falsehood of them, about the latter part of May, 1857, ordered an army into Utah to suppress this imaginary rebellion. Many criticisms were made upon the evident inconsiderate action of President Buchanan in this affair. Elder Taylor, in a discussion he had some years later on the "Mormon Question" with Vice-President Schuyler Colfax, in referring to this action on the part of the government, says: "Mr. Buchanan had another object in view, [than that of suppressing the "Mormon Rebellion"] and Mr. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War, had also his ax to grind, and the whole combined was considered a grand _coup d'etat_. It is hardly necessary to inform Mr. Colfax that this army, under pretense of subjugating the Mormons, was intended to coerce the people of Kansas to his views, and that they were not detained, as stated by Mr. Colfax's history, which said: 'The troops necessarily moving slowly were overtaken by the snows of November and wintered at Bridger.' I need not inform Mr Colfax that another part of this grand tableau originated in the desire of Secretary Floyd to scatter the U. S. forces and arms preparatory to the Confederate Rebellion. Such is history and such are facts."