Mormon settlement History of Utah

1 mormon settlement

1.1 colonizing desert

1.1.1 displacement of native americans


1.2 state of deseret (proposed)
1.3 utah territory

1.3.1 slavery
1.3.2 utah war
1.3.3 transcontinental telegraph
1.3.4 civil war
1.3.5 polygamy
1.3.6 women s suffrage

mormon settlement

bonneville salt flats

members of church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, known mormon pioneers, first came salt lake valley on july 24, 1847. @ time, u.s. had captured mexican territories of alta california , new mexico in mexican–american war , planned keep them, territories, including future state of utah, officially became united states territory upon signing of treaty of guadalupe hidalgo, february 2, 1848. treaty ratified united states senate on march 10, 1848.

upon arrival in salt lake valley, mormon pioneers found no permanent settlement of indians. other areas along wasatch range occupied @ time of settlement northwestern shoshone , adjacent areas other bands of shoshone such gosiute. northwestern shoshone lived in valleys on eastern shore of great salt lake , in adjacent mountain valleys. years after arriving in salt lake valley mormons, went on colonize many other areas of utah, petitioned indians recompense land taken. response of heber c. kimball, first counselor brigham young, land belonged our father in heaven , expect plow , plant it. land treated united states public domain; no aboriginal title northwestern shoshone ever recognized united states or extinguished treaty united states.

colonizing desert

upon arriving in salt lake valley, mormons literally had make place live. created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches , schools. access water crucially important. immediately, brigham young set out identify , claim additional community sites. while difficult find large areas in great basin water sources dependable , growing seasons long enough raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began formed.

shortly after first company arrived in salt lake valley in 1847, community of bountiful settled north. in 1848, settlers moved lands purchased trapper miles goodyear in present-day ogden. in 1849, tooele , provo founded. year, @ invitation of ute chief wakara, settlers moved sanpete valley in central utah establish community of manti. fillmore, utah, intended capital of new territory, established in 1851. in 1855, missionary efforts aimed @ western native cultures led outposts in fort lemhi, idaho, las vegas, nevada , elk mountain in east central utah.

zion national park

the experiences of returning members of mormon battalion important in establishing new communities. on journey west, mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers , fertile river valleys in colorado, arizona , southern california. in addition, men traveled rejoin families in salt lake valley, moved through southern nevada , eastern segments of southern utah. jefferson hunt, senior mormon officer of battalion, actively searched settlement sites, minerals , other resources. report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in iron county, near present-day cedar city. these southern explorations led mormon settlements in st. george, utah, las vegas , san bernardino, california, communities in southern arizona.

displacement of native americans

prior establishment of oregon , california trails , mormon settlement, indians native salt lake valley , adjacent areas lived hunting buffalo , other game, gathered grass seed bountiful grass of area roots such of indian camas. time of settlement, indeed before 1840, buffalo gone valley, hunting settlers , grazing of cattle severely impacted indians in area, , settlement expanded nearby river valleys , oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. brigham young s counsel feed hungry tribes, , done, not enough. these tensions formed background bear river massacre committed california militia stationed in salt lake city during civil war. site of massacre inside preston, idaho, thought within utah @ time.

state of deseret (proposed)

statehood petitioned in 1849-50 using name deseret. proposed state of deseret have been quite large, encompassing of utah, , portions of colorado, idaho, nevada, wyoming, arizona, oregon, new mexico , california. name of deseret favored lds leader brigham young symbol of industry , derived reference in book of mormon. petition rejected congress , utah did not become state until 1896.

the boundaries of provisional state of deseret—as proposed in 1849—are shown dotted line. utah territory organized in 1850, shown in blue black outline.


utah territory

in 1850, utah territory created compromise of 1850, , fillmore (named after president fillmore) designated capital. in 1856, salt lake city replaced fillmore territorial capital.

slavery

the first group of pioneers brought african slaves them, making utah place in western united states have african slavery. began purchase indian slaves in well-established indian slave trade, enslaving indian prisoners of war. slavery didn t become officially recognized until 1852, when act in relation service , act relief of indian slaves , prisoners passed. slavery repealed on june 19, 1862 when congress prohibited slavery in territories.

utah war

disputes between mormon inhabitants , federal government intensified after church of jesus christ of latter-day saints practice of polygamy became known. polygamous practices of mormons, made public in 1854, 1 of major reasons utah denied statehood until 50 years after mormons had entered area.

after news of polygamous practices spread, members of lds church viewed un-american , rebellious. in 1857, after news of possible rebellion spread, president james buchanan sent troops on utah expedition quell growing unrest , replace brigham young territorial governor alfred cumming. expedition known utah war.

as fear of invasion grew, mormon settlers had convinced paiute indians aid in mormon lead attack on 120 immigrants arkansas under guise of indian aggression. murder of these settlers became known mountain meadows massacre. mormon leadership had adopted defensive posture led ban on selling of grain outsiders in preparation impending war. chaffed pioneers traveling through region, unable purchase badly needed supplies. disagreement between of arkansas pioneers , mormons in cedar city led secret planning of massacre few mormon leaders in area. scholars debate involvement of brigham young, there conclusive evidence did not sanction attack. 1 man, john d. lee, ever convicted of murders, , executed @ massacre site.

express riders had brought news 1,000 miles missouri river settlements salt lake city within 2 weeks of army s start march west. fearing worst 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3 army then) led general albert sidney johnston started west, brigham young ordered residents of salt lake city , neighboring communities prepare homes burning , evacuate southward utah valley , southern utah. young sent out few units of nauvoo legion (the utah militia consisted of men between 16 , 60, 8,000–10,000 men), delay army s advance. majority sent mountains prepare defenses or south prepare scorched earth retreat. although army wagon supply trains captured , burned , herds or army horses , cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. starting late , short on supplies, united states army camped during bitter winter of 1857–58 near burned out fort bridger in wyoming. through negotiations between emissary thomas l. kane, young, cumming , johnston, control of utah territory peacefully transferred cumming, entered eerily vacant salt lake city in spring of 1858. agreement young, johnston established army @ fort floyd 40 miles away salt lake city, southwest.

transcontinental telegraph

salt lake city last link of first transcontinental telegraph, between carson city, nevada , omaha, nebraska completed in october 1861. brigham young, had helped expedite construction, among first send message, along abraham lincoln , other officials. after telegraph line completed, deseret telegraph company built deseret line connecting settlements in territory salt lake city and, extension, rest of united states.

civil war

because of american civil war, federal troops pulled out of utah territory (and fort auctioned off), leaving territorial government in federal hands without army backing until general patrick e. connor arrived 3rd regiment of california volunteers in 1862. while in utah, connor , men became discontent assignment wanting head virginia real fighting , glory occurring. connor established fort douglas 3 miles (5 km) east of salt lake city , encouraged bored , idle men go out , explore mineral deposits bring more non-mormons state. minerals discovered in tooele county, , miners began come territory. conner solved shoshone indian problem in cache valley utah luring shoshone midwinter confrontation on january 29, 1863. armed conflict turned rout, discipline among soldiers broke down, , battle of bear river today referred historians bear river massacre,where 200 american troops (not confederate states) swooped in , killed on 250 men, women, , children. between 200 , 400 shoshone men, women , children killed, 27 soldiers, on 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering frostbite.

beginning in 1865, utah s black hawk war developed deadliest conflict in territory s history. chief antonga black hawk died in 1870, fights continued break out until additional federal troops sent in suppress ghost dance of 1872. war unique among indian wars because three-way conflict, mounted timpanogos utes led antonga black hawk fighting federal , utah local militia.

on may 10, 1869, first transcontinental railroad completed @ promontory summit, north of great salt lake. railroad brought increasing numbers of people state, , several influential businessmen made fortunes in territory.

polygamy

during 1870s , 1880s, federal laws passed , federal marshals assigned enforce laws against polygamy. in 1890 manifesto, lds church leadership dropped approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. when utah applied statehood again in 1895, accepted. statehood officially granted on january 4, 1896.

women s suffrage

the mormon issue made situation women topic of nationwide controversy. in 1870 utah territory, controlled mormons, gave women right vote. however, in 1887, congress disenfranchised utah women edmunds–tucker act, designed weaken mormons politically , punish them polygamy. in 1867-96, eastern activists promoted woman suffrage in utah experiment, , way eliminate polygamy. presbyterians , other protestants convinced mormonism non-christian cult grossly mistreated women. mormons promoted woman suffrage counter negative image of downtrodden mormon women. 1890 manifesto clearing way statehood, in 1895 utah adopted constitution restoring right of women s suffrage. congress admitted utah state constitution in 1896.