Brigham Young's Homes

Chapter 9. Beyond Salt Lake City

Chapter 9 Beyond Salt Lake City Judy Dykman, Colleen Whitley, and Kari K. Robinson When Brigham Young moved the Latter-day Saints into Mexico’s Great Basin in 1847, he protected them from mob violence and corrupt politics but didn’t end their worries. Now isolated from major communities and sources of supply, cut off from affordable and dependable freight and mail service until 1869, the settlers tried to “make do.”1 They imported and exported goods and mail through the Brigham Young Express and Carrying Company and made use of local materials. During the early years companies were formed to grow beets for sugar, to turn wood pulp and rags into paper, and to make pottery from local clay deposits. In 1862 a large mill was built on Parleys Creek in the Salt Lake Valley to process sheep fleece into wool.2 Events in the l850s created crises for the Mormons and increased their distrust of outsiders and gentiles. Although the neutrality of the Salt Lake Valley kept local natives from attacking, settlers in other parts of the state found some stiff resistance from the indigenous occupants. In 1853–1854, Chief Walker led his Utes against settlers in central Utah. During that same period there were constant food shortages because of crop disasters. Then in the next two years, tens of millions of grasshoppers infested many communities and attacked the precious crops. Then in 1857 President Buchanan decided to send 2,500 soldiers to Utah to put down an alleged rebellion against the United States government, an action called the Utah War. No such rebellion existed, of course, but the federal government intended to establish a presence and replace Brigham Young as governor.3 General Patrick Connor, decidedly no fan of the Mormons, established his headquarters at Fort Douglas, overlooking Salt Lake City. Creating more than a military presence, Connor encouraged his soldiers to explore for gold and silver, hoping to generate a gold rush that would bring in crowds of gentiles to alter the population balance in Utah. He anticipated an influx of outsiders could destroy the Mormons’ communal lifestyle and threaten their practices of polygamy and theocratic government. Connor also pushed for investigations into the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which had occurred during the Utah War of 1857, hoping to at least embarrass Brigham Young and Over time Utah Territory covered varied parts of several states. Since Brigham Young needed to visit the Saints in many areas, some of his wives maintained homes in several cities. William H. Gamble, County map of Utah and Nevada, 1870 (Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1871). Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, all rights reserved. at most implicate him directly in the horrible crime.4 As the transcontinental railroad moved closer, Brigham stated his and his followers’ fears of contamination: Our outside friends say they want to civilize us here. What do they mean by civilization? Why, they mean by that, to establish gambling holes— they are gambling hells—grog shops and houses of ill fame on every corner of every block in the city; also swearing, drinking, shooting and debauching each other. Then they would send their missionaries here with faces as long as jack asses’ ears, who would go crying and groaning through the streets, “Oh, what a poor, miserable, sinful world!” That is what is meant by civilization. That is what priests and deacons want to introduce here; tradesmen want it, lawyers and doctors want it, and all hell wants it. But the Saints do not want it, and we will not have it.5 It was reported that the congregation said, “Amen!” Brigham had always pushed for self-sufficiency among the settlements in Utah, but these crises and the fears they raised reinforced the Mormons’ belief that they needed to take care of themselves . Almost from the beginning of the Utah settlement Brigham had assigned men to find and refine useful minerals, and their explorations spread far beyond the boundaries of Salt Lake City. Las Vegas was settled to mine lead and men were sent to California to mine gold for currency to trade with the outside world. In 1850 Brigham sent a group of people to settle Parowan to mine iron and coal and smelt iron. In l854, l856, and l861 many converts from the southern states and several European countries were assigned to grow cotton along the...