The Mormon Episode
1830-1896


"There is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom . . . you are in possession
 of, but what you have received it from some source."

"True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right."

   

  LECTURE GUIDE

   I. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (= Mormons)
       A. Founded by teenager Joseph Smith, Jr. during 1820s
            1. Visited by God & Jesus Christ near family's farm
            2. Instructed by angel named Moroni to dig
            3. Golden plates w/ history & revelations
                  • written by Moroni's father, Mormon
                  • struggle between 2 tribes of Israel (good & bad)
                      ✓ plates buried by Moroni, good tribe survivor
                      ✓ not preserved today (reburied & lost)
                  • discoverer = return world to true Church of Christ
                  • Smith's translation = Book of Mormon (1830)
       B. Ohio to Missouri to Illinois
            1. Resented & subjected to abuse by locals
                  • training of defensive militia
                  • practice of polygamy
            2. Nauvoo = 20,000 by 1844 (largest Illinois town)
                  • Smith: no state law valid w/o his approval
                  • arrested after Nauvoo Expositor incident
                      ✓ newspaper critical of polygamy
                      ✓ Smith & brother Hyrum lynched
       C. Westward in 1847 to undetermined destination
            1. 14,000 led by Brigham Young along Mormon Trail
            2. Illinois thru Iowa, Neb, Wyo to Utah (1,300 mi)
                  • location divinely selected/inspired
                  • Zion (aka SLC) atypical frontier town
                  • Young designed ingenious system of irrigation
            3. Petitioned for statehood in 1850
                  • Deseret ("honeybee")
                  • parts of 9 states, esp. Utah, Ariz, Nev, south Cal
            4. Congress denied; created Utah Terr. instead
                  • part of encompassing Compromise of 1850 (?)
                  • present Utah, most Nevada, some Colo & Wyo
            5. Utah War = conflict w/ U.S. gov't (1857-58)
                  • Gov. Young's theocratic dominance problematic
                  • Pres. Buchanan sought non-Mormon governor
                       ✓ 2,500 troops under Col. Albert S. Johnston
                      ✓ halted by Nauvoo Legion at Ft. Bridger
                      ✓ Young: secession & "scorched-earth" plan
                  • Paranoia led to Mountain Meadows Massacre
                      ✓ Fancher-Baker wagon train from Arkansas
                      ✓ Mormon "Iron Brigade" & Paiutes
                      ✓ executed 120; spared 17 children
                      ✓ bodies stripped, looted, & abandoned
                      ✓ pledge of secrecy & plan to blame Indians
                      ✓ 9 indictments; only John D. Lee convicted
                      ✓ Young's official involvement = obstruction
                      ✓ 3 monuments today (2 in Utah; 1 in Ark)
                  • Young stepped down; pardoned by Buchanan
            6. Finally granted statehood in 1896 (#45)
                  • unusually long statehood process
                  • complicating issue was polygamy
                      ✓ targeted by 1856 GOP platform (& slavery)
                      ✓ Morrill Anti-Bigomy Act (1862)
                      ✓ Edmunds Act (1882)
                      ✓ Mormon Church v. United States (1890)
       D. Mormon saga = great perseverance
            1. Crickets threatening 1848 crops eaten by sea gulls
            2. Indians = Lamanites, one of 12 lost tribes of Israel
            3. Theocracy = gov't + religion
            4. Endured religious prejudice
                  • practice of polygamy paramount issue
                  • Congressional refusal to grant statehood
                  • 1890 Manifesto officially ceased plural marriage
                  • Utah constitution banned polygamy
  II. Mormonism dominates Utah today
       A. July 24 = "Pioneer Day" (arrival from Illinois)
       B. Monument to miraculous sea gulls in SLC
       C. State highways #ed within shape of beehive
       D. Great emphasis on family values
       E. Univ. of Deseret/Utah (1850) by Young (not BYU)