The Strange Case of the State of Utah

[KingM34]

To a certain extent, all American states have a unique history, being settled at different times and by different populations. Some were settled by English colonists and their slaves, others during great land or gold rushes, others by small groups of settlers over several decades. Utah, however, has a history and a population that is unique in the country.

In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young led a group of settlers from the frontier settlements at Nauvoo, Illinois to the desert wilderness where he hoped they would enjoy life in Zion as they prepared for the end days. The unnamed territory to which they traveled was a part of Mexico at the time, but inhabited only by indigenous tribes.

The Mormons had been driven out of the United States after the death of their prophet, Joseph Smith. They had come into conflict with the “gentiles,” as they called non-Mormons in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois for a complex mix of reasons. The Mormons voted as a block and had their own militias. Their communal living patterns and eschatological view were out of touch with the mainstream and apostate members claimed that Joseph Smith was taking plural wives, a claim that he hotly denied. After Smith ordered the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, an apostate newspaper, for repeating the allegations, he was arrested and taken to Carthage, Illinois. A mob attacked the jail in Carthage and Joseph Smith and his brother died in a gunfight with the mob.

Brigham Young gradually took control over the bulk of the Mormon population on Smith’s death, sealing his control by marrying many of Smith’s wives to himself or his closest allies. Together with some 20,000 settlers, they crossed the wilderness and founded communities in the Salt Lake Valley and its surroundings.

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