Mormon Studies Commons^™

Review Of Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives Of The Mountain Meadows Massacre, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

A review of the book Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, edited by David L. Bigler and Will Bagley (Norman, Okla.: Arthur H. Clark, 2008), the twelfth volume of the Kingdom in the West book series.

My Dear Friend: The Friendship And Correspondence Of Brigham Young And Thomas L. Kane, David J. Whittaker

BYU Studies

This article, originally a lecture given at Brigham Young University in 2009, was published as part of a special issue of BYU Studies featuring Thomas L. Kane. Although Kane was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was an advocate for the Mormon cause and a trusted friend of Mormon leaders for almost forty years. This article focuses on the correspondence between Kane and the Mormon prophet Brigham Young. There are about 125 known letters exchanged between Young and Kane, beginning the year they met in 1846 and extending to 1877, the year Young …

Forty Ways To Look At Brigham Young: A New Approach To A Remarkable Man, By Chad M. Orton And William W. Slaughter, Kimberly Webb Reid

BYU Studies

Forty Ways to Look at Brigham Young: A New Approach to a Remarkable Man, by Chad M. Orton and William W. Slaughter (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2008)

"I Long To Breathe The Mountain Air Of Zion's Peaceful Home": Agnes O'Neal's Letter To Brigham Young From War-Torn Virginia, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies

As the Civil War raged in America, thousands of Latter-day Saints hazarded the trip west through this war-torn land. For a variety of reasons, however, some Saints did not reach their desired haven in the Salt Lake Valley, which lay safely within the borders of Utah Territory. One was a Scottish sister named Agnes, who, at age thirty, embarked from her native town of Paisley. Accompanied by her husband, Hugh Campbell, and their three sons, Agnes crossed the Atlantic in the fall of 1845, bound for Zion.

A Superlative Image: An Original Daguerreotype Of Brigham Young, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Thomas R. Wells

BYU Studies

In July 2005, the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City published a story with the punning headline "Old Young Photo donated to BYU." Even though Mark and Suzanne Richards had donated the rare 1850s daguerreotype of Brigham Young to BYU in December 2004, the donation did not draw media attention until just days before the July 24 pioneer holiday in Utah. For historians, especially photographic historians, the story was compelling—one of those rare moments when something thought to have vanished suddenly reappears. It was known that this particular precious daguerreotype had been created because a later photographic copy of …

Brigham Young's Word Of Wisdom Legacy, Paul H. Peterson, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies

During the thirty-three years that Brigham Young led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1844-77, he set the Church on a course of following the Word of Wisdom to the letter. While most Church members failed to obey the revelation's proscriptions during Brigham's lifetime, he set the goal that members would eventually comply with the Word of Wisdom. During his tenure, he changed the standard from moderate use of tobacco, alcohol, tea, and coffee to full abstinence.

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Lawrence Coates

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Paul H. Peterson

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Thomas G. Alexander

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

A Mysterious Image: Brigham Young With An Unknown Wife, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Robert F. Schwartz

BYU Studies

Of the hundreds of images of Brigham Young, until recently only two were known that show Brigham posing with one of his wives. While rumors of a third such images have existed for some time, no one could find a copy of it until this year. What we found was a photograph of the original daguerreotype (fig. 1); the original itself, printed on a small coper plate, is still missing. This rumored image was mysterious not only because it had disappeared but also because the wife's face on the daguerreotype had been completely obliterated. Unanswered questions regarding its damage make …

The Youngs At West Point, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

In 1871, Willard Young, eleventh son of Brigham Young, was the first Mormon to receive an appointment to West Point Academy. His attendance at the military academy drew national attention and criticism from opponents of polygamy. Despite the opposition, he soon gained the respect of his classmates and graduated fourth in his class. He returned to teach engineering in 1879, served in the Spanish-American War, earning a commendation from President McKinley, and during World War I was supervisor of army engineering work on the Missouri River. In 1877, one of Brigham's grandsons, Richard W. Young, was the second Mormon to …

Brigham Young And The Mission Of Mormonism, Jed Woodworth

BYU Studies

For the most part, Brigham Young chose to ignore his critics, but on occasion he personally responded to them. The letter printed below contains Brigham Young's 1869 answer to a newspaper editor's question, "What is the mission of the Mormons?" Mormonism's fruits, Brigham attested, substantiated its faith claims.

Leopold Bierwirth's Impressions Of Brigham Young And The Mormons, 1872, Donald Q. Cannon

BYU Studies

Tourists frequently passed through Salt Lake City after the trans-continental railroad was completed in 1869. Many visitors recorded their impressions of the city and its inhabitants. One visitor, Leopold Bierwirth, a New York City merchant, kept a diary during his 1872 railroad journey from New York to San Francisco. The diary is similar to other travel narratives but contains much more detail and insight than most others. Bierwirth's observations are particularly valuable because they were written during his visit rather than later. The portion of Bierwirth's diary reporting his visit to Salt Lake City, including his impressions of Brigham Young, …

Father Brigham In His Western Canaan, John K. Carmack

BYU Studies

If you were to paint a word picture of Brigham Young by comparing him to an earlier spiritual leader, to whom would you compare him? Maybe the most dramatic comparison comes from that pivotal moment when he spoke to nearly five thousand Saints gathered in Nauvoo to select those who would take the reins of leadership in the restored Church. To many, including my own forbears, as he delivered his address he looked and sounded like Joseph Smith. Or perhaps, as Leonard Arrington did, you would compare him to Moses leading the children of Israel on a long and perilous …

The Lion And The Lioness: Brigham Young And Eliza R. Snow, Jill Mulvay Derr

BYU Studies

He was born in 1801, she in 1804. He was a man known for his humor and gruffness, she a woman known for her sobriety and refinement. He preached unforgettable sermons, though he never learned to spell. She wrote reams of poetry and songs. He provided her a home as one of his wives for thirty years, but she never took his name. Both he and she were passionately devoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith and his expansive vision of eternity. President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and presidentess of its Relief Society, Brigham Young and …

“Cows To Milk Instead Of Novels To Read”: Brigham Young, Novel Reading, And Kingdom Building, Richard H. Cracroft

BYU Studies

To read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise.

—Henry David Thoreau

Read the true and the wise. The perusal of the rest is worse than time wasted, it is time abused.

—Brigham Young

“A Man Of God And A Good Kind Father”: Brigham Young At Home, Dean C. Jessee

BYU Studies

On January 31, 1857, Brigham Young (fig. 1) walked into the Church Historian's Office in Salt Lake City and gave instructions that he wanted very little about his family included in the history of the Church. His reticence no doubt stemmed form people's curiosity about the Mormon leader's polygamous lifestyle, which subjected his family to an inordinate amount of scrutiny and ridicule in the public press. Consequently, during his lifetime, the story of Brigham Young's family remained largely untold. Even now, the literature about Brigham Young focuses disproportionately on his public life, his accomplishments as Church President, colonizer, governor of …

New Photograph Of The Granite Shaft For The Brigham Young Monument, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, J. Michael Hunter

BYU Studies

In July 1987, Latter-day Saints from throughout the Intermountain West gathered for a five-day celebration honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of Brigham Young to the Great Basin. On the first day of the celebration, a large crowd gathered at the intersection of Main and South Temple to dedicate an unfinished monument (fig. 1). A lone statue of Brigham Young stood upon a tall granite shaft taken from Little Cottonwood Canyon in June 1897, just weeks before. A rare photograph recorded the scene after the shaft was loaded onto a wagon for the first leg of it journey to …

East To West Through North And South: Mormon Immigration During The Civil War, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies

When LDS immigrants on their way to Utah crossed the Atlantic Ocean or the Eastern United States between 1861 and 1864, they encountered the difficulties of traveling in a nation at war. Their first-person accounts paint a vivid picture of the obstacles faced by these Saints as they journeyed to Utah during the U.S. Civil War. The narratives also depict an effective immigration system directed by Brigham Young and operated by dedicated immigration agents and other faithful Mormons who assisted immigrants along their journey.

Wayward Saints: The Godbeites And Brigham Young Ronald W. Walker, Dean L. May

BYU Studies

Ronald W. Walker, foreword by Jan Shipps. Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. 399 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, notes, index. Hardback, $49.95; paperback, $25.00.

Letters Of A Missionary Apostle To His Wife: Brigham Young To Mary Ann Angell Young, 1839-1841, Ronald O. Barney

BYU Studies

The Quorum of the Twelve's mission to the British Isles impacted not only the Church, but also the personal lives of the missionaries. Brigham Young creates a tender personal portrait in nine never-before-published letters to his wife.

The Lion Of The Lord: Essays On The Life And Service Of Brigham Young Susan Easton Black And Larry C. Porter, Thomas G. Alexander, Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr.

BYU Studies

Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, eds. The Lion of the Lord: Essays on the Life and Service of Brigham Young. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995. xii; 462 pp. Index, notes. $19.95.

The Mantle Of The Prophet Joseph Passes To Brother Brigham: A Collective Spiritual Witness, Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

After the death of Joseph Smith, many of the Saints reported that they received a strong spiritual witness that convinced them the mantle of Joseph had fallen on Brigham Young.

Joseph Smith's United Order: A Non-Communalistic Interpretation By Kent W. Huff; Brigham Young's United Order: A Contextual Interpretation By Kent W. Huff, Warner Woodworth

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

President Young Writes Jefferson Davis About The Gunnison Massacre Affair, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies

Detailed evidence, some published here for the first time, suggests the Mormons were not guilty of conspiracy and complicity in the 1853 Gunnison Massacre.

Brother Brigham Challenges The Saints By Hugh Nibley, Clarence F. Schramm

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Brigham Young To Mary Ann Young: August 17, 1843; Brigham Young To Hiram Mckee: May 3, 1860, Ronald W. Walker, David J. Whittaker

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Development Of The Smelting Industry In The Central Salt Lake Valley Communities Of Midvale, Murray, And Sandy Prior To 1900, Charles E. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis found that the three communities of Midvale, Murray, and Sandy were the center of the smelting industry in the Salt Lake Valley. These communities became the center of smelting because of their central location, the readily available water supply, and the availability of an inexpensive, efficient transportation system to ship the bullion. The smelters were surrounded by two major mountain ranges which provided a ready supply of good lead, silver, and copper ore.

The development of the smelting industry followed three separate phases or periods. The first phase was one of experimentation or period of discovery, in which …

Brigham Young's Indian Superintendency (1851-58): A Significant Microcosm Of The American Indian Experience, Wayne Miles Eckman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a detailed study of Brigham Young's Indian superintendency within a framework of the federal Indian policy of his era. It focuses on Brigham Young's personal challenges and successes in instituting a conciliatory policy with the natives of the Great Basin. Experience taught Brigham Young that it was "cheaper to feed the Indians than to fight them." Brigham Young pursued his policy in spite of opposition from some Mormon constituents until finally his determination overruled pleas to forcibly remove the Indians from their lands.

Another important emphasis of the thesis is the personal interaction between Brigahm Young and …

Cousin Laman In The Wilderness: The Beginnings Of Brigham Young's Indian Policy, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

Historians of the American West have observed that compared with most other mid-19th century American overlanders, whether Oregon-bound farmers or California Agronauts, the Mormons enjoyed a relatively more amicable, more peaceful relationship with the American Indian. Furthermore several contend with cause that Brigham Young was the principal architect of peace with the Ute, Shoshoni, Navaho, Hopi, and other tribes in the deserts and valleys of "Deseret," the Mormon Zion in the Great Basin Kingdom. Leonard Arrington, Davis Bitton, James Allen, and other modern writers have argued that Young pursued a conciliatory (if not self protective and condescending) policy toward the …