Have you ever wondered why there are so many Mormons in Utah? Or why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often incorrectly called "the Mormon church") is headquartered there? How did Mormons end up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the first place?
Early Mormons Were A Cohesive Group
To understand how Mormons ended up in Utah, one must look further back to the earliest history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
From its founding in 1830 until the early 1900s, Mormons gathered in one place as a cohesive group. As new converts joined the faith, they emigrated to wherever the church was gathered. Before gathering in Utah, places such as New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois were previously headquarters of the church.
Mormon History of Religious Persecution
Religious persecution often forced Mormons to move on. They were expelled from the state of Missouri by an "extermination order" from the governor in 1838. Mormon prophet Joseph Smith sought redress for this injustice from U.S. president Martin VanBuren and was told, in Smith's words, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you."
Mormons relocated in a swampy area of Illinois that they revamped and named Nauvoo, swelling the city to over 20,000 citizens (most of whom were Mormons.) People in Illinois distrusted the Mormons and their peculiar way of life, and mounting tensions led to the destruction of an anti-Mormon printing press and the mob-incited murder of Joseph Smith.
Mormon Pioneers Leave for Utah
After Smith's murder in 1844 and the revoking of the Nauvoo city's charter allowing citizens to maintain a militia for self-defense in 1845, it became clear to Mormons that they would have to relocate again for their own safety.
The plan was to leave Nauvoo for the West in the spring of 1846, but increasing mob violence caused the Mormons to leave earlier than they planned. Between February and September of 1846, virtually all of the Mormons in Nauvoo left for the West.
Settling in Salt Lake City
The Mormon Trail, which overlaps portions of the Oregon Trail and the Reed-Donner Trail, leads from Illinois across the Mississippi River, then through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally to Utah.
At the time Utah was part of a loosely-controlled Mexican province, but Mormon officials later petitioned the government to incorporate Utah (or Deseret, as it was originally called) first as a U.S. territory, then as a state.
The first group of pioneers arrived in Salt Lake Valley in late July 1847. Joseph Smith's successor, Brigham Young, was lying in a wagon sick with mountain fever as they pulled into the Salt Lake Valley and was reported by Wilford Woodruff to have said, "It is enough. This is the right place."
By 1850, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had established communities in and around the area. The line running from Salt Lake City to San Diego was sometimes called the "Mormon Corridor."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints no longer encourages its members to gather in one central location, as once was the practice. But Mormon heritage is rich in Utah, and generations later many members of the faith are still drawn to the area that was once selected by Mormon leaders as a place where they could escape religious persecution.
Sources:
The Pioneer Story. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000. Website accessed 3 February 2012.
Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church History in the Fulness of Times, 2nd edition Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve, 2000.
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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