Overview | Prehistory | American Indians | Explorers and Trappers | Mormon Settlement
Territorial Days | Crossroads of the West | Mines and Minorities | Transition| Statehood
Adjustment | War and Depression | Utah Today | Bibliography | Glossary

Brigham Young

Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders decided to abandon Nauvoo, Illinois, when Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was killed at Carthage, Illinois, in June 1844. Their move to the West began February 4, 1846.

With the outbreak of the Mexican War, President James Knox Polk asked the Mormons for a battalion of men. Volunteers were recruited and the Mormon Battalion formed. During their march of 1846-1847 from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to San Diego, California, they blazed a wagon route across the Southwest. Their pay and their later explorations helped the pioneer settlers.

Wagon train heading west

In April 1847 the pioneer company of Mormons traveled from Winter Quarters, Nebraska, to Utah. The company included 143 men (including three African-American men), 3 women and 2 children. An advance party entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 22, 1847. The rest of the group entered on July 24. Planting and irrigation began immediately.

Though survival was difficult in the first years of settlement for the people in Utah they were better able to tame the harsh land. The Mormons had pioneered other settlements in the Midwest. Their faith stressed cooperative effort. Natural resources, including timber and water, were regarded as community property. The city was laid out according to a set plan, and building began. The church organization served as the first government.

Settlement of other areas began when possible. Bountiful, Farmington, Ogden, Tooele, Provo, and Manti were settled by 1850. The typical family of 1850 consisted of two parents in their 20s or early 30s and three children. More than half the population were farm families. The church authorities would choose a leader for each settlement. Small settlements were frequently forts with log cabins arranged in a protective square.

The Mormon village in Utah was a planned community of farmers and trades people. The village would include a main living area and farms and farm buildings on the land beyond. Life in these villages centered on the day's work and church activities. Music, dance, and drama were favorite activities of the early pioneers.