The Mormons were in rebellion to the United States government, or so President Buchanan was led to believe, by several officers and government officials who were sent to the territory to dispense justice. Most of these officials quickly returned to Washington with tales of a people who had no respect for the laws of the land. The Mormons claimed their authority came directly from God. Brigham Young was their mouthpiece of the Lord.

Mormons were not comfortable with ‘gentiles’ in their presence, a term used to denote those who were not of their faith. Actually, the Mormons, with few exceptions, were Gentiles, but they used ‘gentiles’ as a disparaging term meant to separate and identify those not of their faith.

The newly elected president, James Buchanan, played a role in repealing the ban on slavery in lands of the Louisiana Purchase. These efforts helped keep southern states in the union, but there was a price to pay from outraged abolitionists. Slaves were property, not citizens. Somehow, the Mormon’s doctrine of polygamy became linked with slavery, thus polygamy and slavery became known as ‘the twin relics of barbarism’. Of course, the leaders of the church believed the doctrine of polygamy to be divinely inspired. Buchanan found this doctrine deplorable, but he promised not to interfere.

Brigham Young and his followers challenged the legitimacy of the federal government. They intended to establish God’s Kingdom as a literal political entity to rule the world upon the return of Jesus Christ. This return was expected to be imminent. There was no intention to make peace with Buchanan or his government. Historical records were selected or dismissed at will. The leaders were in full control of the minds of its members. The mantra of the Saints was: “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done.” All votes were ‘Aye’ and none dared say ‘Nay’.

“We are of the House of Israel, of royal seed and royal blood,” said the man called prophet. He claimed this royal blood from fictional characters depicted in The Book of Mormon, Hebrews who purportedly left Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ. The claim was the American Indians were descendents of ancient Hebrew cultures, the Nephites and the Lamanites. There was a prophecy that these dark skinned relatives would one day become ‘white and delightsome’ and they would act as the Battle-axes of the Lord in the wars and turmoil that awaited the earthly establishment of the Kingdom of God. The Saints believed their Gentile blood was actually cleansed out of their veins and replaced by the blood of Israel; hence, they were Hebrew.

Their belief was God had inspired the framers of the U.S. Constitution to create a land of religious freedom where His Kingdom would be restored and have dominion over all earthly realms, including the American Republic. When Brigham Young led his people to the Great Basin, he was searching for a place where he could live in peace, unmolested by government or people who could not abide by his beliefs. The Basin was five hundred miles in circumference and surrounded by mountains and desert. It offered isolation and abundant room for growth. The land was claimed by Mexico but mostly populated by several Shoshonean tribes.

The 1847 arrivals laid out a city that would be almost an exact copy of the one Joseph Smith had envisioned over a decade earlier and named the City of Zion. The design included a six square mile enclosure called ‘The Big Field’. It was divided into parcels and assigned to farmers. Smaller lots were marked for mechanics and artisans.

No man would have more land than he needed. Every man was expected to be industrious and to take care of his assigned lot. This land was acknowledged to belong neither to Mexico nor the Saints. This was God’s land. The produce would go into tithing houses for storage and distribution according to need. Unfortunately, the land had limited fertile soil and water resources.

Preaching was unrestrained. There were no outsiders to fear and no government other than what they designed. Elders would marry wives of every tribe and in due time the natives would become white and delightsome. With uplifted hands, the saints swore to make every preparation to avenge the blood of their murdered prophet, Joseph, and his brother. Many had taken serious vows of vengeance in the Nauvoo temple prior to their trek west. Young became adamant that no officer of the United States would ever dictate to him when he reached his valley.

Two important events changed the Saint’s plans for their future in isolation. The first was the discovery of gold, which caused countless people to forsake their farms and their families in search of the precious metal, opening the land to those on their way to the California gold fields. Then, in February, 1848, the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo sold virtually the entire U.S. Southwest for less than twenty million dollars to the United States. It may have been God’s land, but the Mormons were now squatters on federal land.

The U.S. government had been selling two-thirds of its domain to private owners at bargain prices. The Mormon Kingdom was supposed to swallow up the United States and all the nations of the world. Still, in the Mormon mind, the land In Zion was reserved for the true or adopted blood of Israel.

When Captain Howard Stansbury of the U.S. Topographical Engineers led his 1849 expedition to survey the Great Salt Lake area, Young made sure there was no welcome mat. He feared the survey would divide the land into townships and sections and swore he would never permit the survey to be made. But Stansbury was quick to put the leader’s fears to rest when he explained the purpose of the project was to survey the lakes and their surroundings. It would benefit the colonizers. Once he was assured he could send his personal representative to keep an eye on the mapmakers, Brigham acquiesced.

The Mormons had requested a territorial government and expected they would be provided with the right to appoint its officers. While waiting for this petition to be delivered and approved in Washington, the names of those chosen as territorial officers were placed before the people, and as all elections in Mormondom, were unanimously approved. In March 1849, the State of Deseret assumed its name as a free and independent government while waiting for admission into the Union. Petition after petition was made for statehood, or territorial government, and petition after petition was denied.

Then, in 1850, some two thousand California-bound emigrants attended the service commemorating the third anniversary of Young’s arrival in Salt Lake Valley. They heard the Mormon version of their Declaration of Independence of Deseret and The Constitution of Deseret, as well as prophecy for the total overthrow of the United States. The entire nation, it was said, would soon be at the feet of the Mormons, begging for protection.

Fast forward six years and there was a lot happening in Salt Lake City and environs. Town after town had been built along the route to the south. Waterways and timber have been assigned and cut-off from all except the hierarchy of the church. Indians lost their ability to hunt and fend for themselves. As government officials were appointed to Utah, they quickly fled in fear. Word spread to Washington and Buchanan assigned twenty-five hundred troops to enter Salt Lake City to accompany a newly assigned governor, displacing Brigham Young and adding several non-Mormon justices and other officials

The year 1856 was the year of the handcart tragedies. The Saints were eager for statehood and its advantages but feared their population was too low. This inspired spreading the word abroad and bringing converts to the Great Basin. Conversion of English souls was rather easy, at least, in some locales. The Mormons established the Perpetual Emigration Fund to help the poor make the journey to the gathering place in Utah. Money became tight so the hierarchy agreed to have the emigrants travel by pushing a handcart with a negotiated amount of supplies per person, reducing the need for so many draft animals. It wasn’t a bad plan until two handcart groups found themselves setting off on the trail with carts that were not properly made, the wood not properly seasoned, and winter around the bend. There was rational fear of the possibility of being trapped in snow-filled mountains, unable to move forward. A vote was taken and the decision was made to proceed with the journey. Both the Willie and Martin Handcart companies had to be rescued, but not before the loss of many lives. It happened at a very bad time, when Buchanan’s twenty-five hundred troops were expected to attempt entrance into the Great Basin.

So, we have troops waiting at the door for entry, handcart survivors being escorted into the city, many with frostbitten extremities and in half-starved conditions. This was also the time of the reformation, a movement intended to cleanse the Saints of all unrighteousness so they could appear blameless at the second coming. It was during this time the doctrine of Blood Atonement was acted out. Rather than let an apostate, unbeliever, or sinner face eternal condemnation, special elders slit the throat of the offender to save his life in eternity. It wasn’t murder, but a way to salvation, as many Mormons were convinced. History isn’t clear if ten or a hundred, or even more, lost their life in this manner, but it is clear it actually happened, time and again.

It was a busy time and the troops were at the doorstep in Echo Canyon, a narrow defile which could easily be protected and prohibit government entry into Mormon territory. At this place, Mormon elders kept American troops at bay, ran off their mules, burned their supply wagons, and refused to let them advance. Alfred Cummings, the man selected to replace Brigham Young as governor, was forced to spend the winter hunkered down from the cold and unable to push forward. Camp Scott, close to the ashes of what was once Fort Bridger, was created as a shelter from the severe northern winter and a place to wait for spring. The army was going to enter Salt Lake City and the governor would be replaced. Brigham succeeded in buying time while he caused bitter feelings of mistrust.

Brigham looked for an escape plan. He sent northern Indian missionaries to contact the Hudson Bay Company regarding the sale of the abandoned Fort Hall. This land was home to the proud Flathead Indians. The twenty mile wide Bitterroot River stretched north for one hundred miles to the river’s mouth. The ground was fertile. Because of its lower altitude, one could expect longer growing seasons. Guarded by soaring mountains on three sides, open only on the north side, this turf could be easily defended. When the elders returned to Salt Lake City and told President Young of their finding, Brigham planned a low-key journey north for spring. Ft. Limhi had been established and was considered a possible future home for the Saints who expected to be displaced. This hope fell short of success when the fort was raided of cattle, horses, and mules, and the Flathead Indians ousted the Saints.

David Bigler, a co-author of The Mormon Rebellion, wrote a book entitled Fort. Limhi. I think that will be my next report. This brief but important look into the possibility of another territory for the Saints’ removal is an interesting side trip, and an example of Brigham Young’s willingness to cover all his bases. He trusted the direction he sensed from the Lord, but he always had a plan B.

When bad news arrived from Fort Limhi, the road north was closed. Brigham went forward with yet another plan. He would move everyone in Salt Lake City and environs into the mountains in southern Utah with hopes of rebuilding a different place of isolation. The homes they left behind would be set afire rather than left for the ‘gentiles’. Not all left their homes willingly. Many were forcefully removed.

Brigham Young took a strong stance against the U.S. Army, but in the end the army entered the city and Alfred Cumming was acknowledged as the new governor. This title was in name only. As the years progressed, it was clear Cumming would do whatever he could to protect Brigham Young. The true governor of the territory was still the prophet. Little changed despite the troops.

There were attempts at change. Judge Cradlebaugh, a newly assigned associate justice, took it upon himself to investigate many murders committed in Utah. The Judge was not successful in convicting any crime. In order to protect witnesses as they came forward to share their story, it was necessary to have troops near to guarantee their safety. The leaders of the church and Governor Cumming blocked Cradlebaugh and his investigation on every turn until finally, aware of the powers against him, he retired to a new territory.

The Saints continued to strive for statehood or territorial status, and continued to fail. Polygamy was a major block to this advance, probably more than population count. The stream of new converts from abroad seemed never ending, but it would take more than additional bodies to change the status of Utah. Statehood would finally be granted in 1896, long after Brigham’s death. Before it happened, there would be many changes in Utah including a watering-down of Brigham’s total rule and a growth of ‘gentile’ merchants and their influence among the Saints. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad came an escape route for those who felt trapped. Life in Salt Lake City became a safe place to live and grow old. Many changes were in store for the Utah Saints before the death of Brigham Young.