The timing just doesn’t pan out. Henry died in 1873. Brigham died in 1877; Grant visited Utah in 1876 — so Mark is right that, had the visit occurred as reported, it would have to have been during the winter of 1876-77, after Henry’s death.

Grant is right about the absurdity of the account of reaching Salt Lake Valley.

Some other things that readers might have considered in evaluating the likelihood that this was a more-or-less truthful report, even if garbled in its details:

Can you find any confirming evidence that Henry Troemner actually went out to San Francisco? (I couldn’t. Several Googled sources say he provided the scales for the Mint there, but I couldn’t find any indication that he’d ever been called out to test or seal them.)

Given the conditions of transcontinental travel in 1876, how likely is it that a man of Henry’s age would have made such a trip?

Is there any evidence from Utah sources that Henry was there? You might have searched — vainly — the online Utah newspapers at DigitalNewspapers.org; if you had access, you might also have searched the index to the Journal History in the Church History Library (Henry isn’t listed there). Neither absence would definitively prove he *wasn’t* there, but a note in either place would have definitively proved that he *had* come.

If you’ve ever visited the Brigham Young properties (the Beehive House, the Lion House, the clerks’ office, Brigham Young’s office) in Salt Lake City, you might be scratching your head and wondering where in any of them is a fireplace that could be described as “mastodonic” — you’d know that the rooms in those buildings, especially the offices, are very small, and without large fireplaces. Knowing something of the geography of Utah, the reference to “huge logs” in that “roaring fire” might also raise suspicions.

Other details — like Brigham’s age — 82?? — don’t hold up, either.

So regretfully, much as I like to collect travelers’ accounts of prominent people visiting the 19th century Mormons, I have to relegate this one to the entirely fictional category.

The real question, I suppose, is why the reporter would bother to make up such a report?

That’s the big red flag, isn’t it Mark?! But some of the sources found on Google said that the business was taken over by Troemner’s sons (three of them, I think it was), so consider whether Henry-the-founder might have had a son Henry, Jr. who was active in the business in 1887. Maybe the reporter was sloppy and confused the original Henry with a later one. Could the story still be true, if that confusion were corrected?

Also, I’m pretty sure he met with U.S. President Grant when the latter came on his Salt Lake City visit. In fact, one of my favorite stories I seem to recall (hopefully accurately) is President Grant’s carriage ride around the city with all the children lining the streets waiving flags. Pres. Grant turned to someone and asked, “Whose children are these?” The response, “Why, Mormon children, Sir.” after a long pause, Grant said something to the effect of, “I have been greatly deceived.”

Feel free to correct my historical errors, Ardis. I won’t be offended. I was named for the “other” President Grant. (Although, I can’t help but like the U.S. one too).