[6] Soon after he was ordained to the office of High Priest and later became an early participant in plural marriage when he married Matilda Nease.

[7] In 1846, while encamped at Council Bluffs, Iowa, he joined the Mormon Battalion, which was formed at the request of the U.S. government for participation in the Mexican–American War.

During the Mormon Battalion's journey Hunt's company made the first known gesture of peace between Mexico and the United States in what was called "The Exchange at the Presidio".

The statue was dedicated in 1996 by Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

His entire family journeyed with the battalion as they completed what may be the longest march in U.S. military history, ending in San Diego, California.

After being discharged from the Mormon Battalion, Hunt and his family settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1847.

Soon thereafter, Hunt proposed traveling back to California to bring food and supplies for other recent Utah arrivals.

On his way to California in 1851, Hunt was elected to represent Iron County in the legislature of the State of Deseret.

Jefferson Hunt is buried at the Red Rock Cemetery in Bannock County, Idaho, US.