He may not have been an assinged soldier, but he nevertheless gave his life to protect the pioneers of Sanpete and Juab Counties.

The exact history is a little sketchy, but I did find some papers from 1941, showing family history of people who came to Nephi in the early days of its founding. We know that Wm. Thorpe was sustained on Aug. 13, 1854 as the first leader of the Nephi Pioneer Choir. He held that position for a year, and helped it excel getting it organized and trained, and word was sent back to Brigham Young that "there is an excellent choir at Nephi and the Saints are justly proud of it" and noted in the History of the Church on May 7, 1857. During the same era, many immigrants had difficulty with the local Indians, and now we understand why- the White Man was taking over their lands through Manifest Destiny. Although Mormons were directed to "feed the Indians rather than fight them", confrontations still arose at times. Many of the immigrant's were directed to establish townships in Sanpete County, and as such took their wagons east of Nephi, through Salt Creek Canyon. Although young William Thorpe was just getting settled in Nephi, he was directed to move his family to Ephraim, to assist with the protection of the Mormons. We found a journal entry which reported "he was killed by Indians" then in the book written by Keith Worthington and Sadie Greenhalgh, it reports that "Oct. 17, 1865.......A band of about  30 came down from the canyon....Wm. and 6 others were herding cattle. Wm. was killed and scalped". To connect him with modern day Nephi, I have included a photo of Julia, the daughter of  William and Charlotte Cruse Thorpe. She was born in Nephi on April 1, 1855, then returned to Nephi where she married Timothy Hoyt, who died in 1915. Julia Thorpe was active in the LDS Church; civic organizations and honored by Nephi residents on her 86th birthday in 1941. She passed away two weeks later. The other photo is a son of Julia, who is Will Hoyt. At the time of Julia's death, she was survived by three of nine children born. Will Hoyt  became well known during his mortal existence, becoming the Juab Stake President, then a Patriarch. His excellent leadership and care for people was also demonstrated when he was selected to be a District Judge for the State of Utah.

Now you know a little about the Hoyt family of Juab County.