Brigham Young decides to go west

The new leader of the Mormons decided to go where Joseph Smith refused to go.

He had heard of an area off the Oregon Trail called the Great Salt Lake which was isolated and outside the control of the US government. He agreed with the Illinois authorities that they would go as long as they were safe until then.

By now Smith had 27 wives! (Eight of these were married to Smith!) In total 16,000 followers were to trek west.

Young led a Pioneer Band of settlers to go ahead of the others, building shelters and planting crops for the rest of them. Their journey was broken up into manageable chunks. The winter of 1847 was bitter though and over 700 of them died!

Crossing the frozen Mississippi

Young's band met the famous trapper Jim Bridger at the entrance to South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. He bet them $1,000 that they would fail to thrive at Salt Lake. Another Mormon, Sam Brannan, urged them to go to California. Young was stubborn - it was destined to be the Salt Lake or nothing!

In July they reached Salt Lake.

How did they do it?

• Mormons were well used to life on the move!

• They pulled together as a community!

• Brigham Young was an excellent organiser!

• He was also very strict and a bit of a misery-guts!

Some Mormons said it looked like the biblical lands. Young said there was to be no private ownership of land or water. Farm land would be assigned to families according to their needs.

In spring 1848 something weird happened which made the Mormons think that this was a miracle.

A plague of crickets darkened the sky and threatened to eat all their wheat. when a flock of seagulls descended and ate the insects. The crop was saved!

1848 The United States takes over.

The US beat Mexico and added a huge area of land to its empire. This land included the Mormons' territory. Young wanted to form a new state called Deseret (honey bee), but the US created a territory called Utah instead.

Brigham Young was to be the new governor.

Settling Utah Territory

Young planned new towns across Utah. Carson City and Las Vegas were amongst the dozens of new towns set up to guard the borders of Utah. More people were needed so the Mormons paid for new converts to come over from across the world, especially Great Britain. This 'Perpetual Emigrating Fund' was like a loan which covered the costs of emigration. Thousands arrived each year. Special two-wheeled handcarts were made to be used instead of expensive wagons or prairie schooners.

A Mormon cart

The Mormon War

There was growing tension between the Mormons and other settlers. Non-Mormons accused them of charging too much for supplies. Rumours spread of Mormon plots to kill 'gentiles' and that the Indians were being armed by them.

The US army was sent in to attack the Mormons, who fled to Salt Lake City. The Mormon army, the Danites, fought a guerrilla war against the Americans.

Mountain Meadow Massacre

A group of 140 non-Mormon settlers was massacred at Mountain Meadows. Many of these settlers had been abusing the Indians and it is believed that the Mormons helped them get revenge. The rest of the US was outraged and newspapers urged the government to invade Utah. Eventually the government agreed to let them be as long as they obeyed Washington.

The Mormon Temple

Polygamy or Statehood?

The Mormons had to ban polygamy in order for Utah to become a full state. In 1896 they got their wish and Utah was made a state. This meant that the Mormons could have full representation in Washington.

Salt Lake City, 2003

The Mormon Temple, 2003

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