Cable/Telegraph Codes
The substitution ciphers we have looked at can encrypt any message, even words or names unknown at the time a cipher was devised. True codes, on the other hand, are a closed system – when people are assigned new labels (Gazelam for “Joseph Smith,” for instance), you cannot introduce a new name without notifying correspondents of the additional code word.
Nineteenth century Mormon leaders used true codes following the completion of the telegraph, and especially following the completion of the transatlantic cable. Cable codes could be used to maintain secrecy, but generally they were intended to lower the expense of cabling between, say, Liverpool and Salt Lake City, because a single code word could replace the multi-word name of a person or city, or signal the completion of an assignment.
A later instance of a code name began with a simple exchange of letters in 1851. “To Our Dear Friend, Colonel Kane,” began Brigham Young. “Our Friend, a title, than which we can give no greater; … we received it with pleasure, we impart [it] with delight.” “Our friend Colonel Kane” quickly became “our friend” in correspondence; eventually, “Our Friend” was used specifically to conceal Kane’s identity. Cannon’s letter cited in my introduction, for instance, describes his 1872 visit to “Our Friend,” and this 1860 letter from Utah Territorial Delegate William H. Hooper refers cryptically to “our Friend at P—.”
LDS Apostle George Q. Cannon went to Washington in 1872 to assist with yet another bid for Utah statehood. If history proved any guide, failure would have consequences. Cannon wrote: