Henretta, James A., Rebecca Edwards, and Robert O. Self. America's History. Seventh ed.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. Corrections to information on pages 339-41 submitted by

Elise Mackley. Original text in bold.
Image on page 339 A Mormon Man and His Wives in Americas History
This Mormon household, pictured in the late 1840s, was unusually prosperous,
partly because of the labor of the husbands multiple wives. Although the cabin provides
cramped quarters for such a large family, it boasts a brick chimney and a luxury for any
pioneer home a glass window. Library of Congress
Corrections:
The image was taken by photographer Andrew J. Russell in 1869 when he was on
contract with the Union Pacific Railroad to document the completion of the transcontinental
railroad. The image shows one man, five women, and five children and the original subtitle
simply states Mormon Family, Great Salt Lake Valley without reference to their marital or
biological relationships, their economic status, or their employment. A copy of the book the
image was included in, The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photographic Views, is in Yale
Universitys Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Collection.

Mormon family, Great Salt Lake Valley. (1869)

Mormon Family

Creator: Russell, Andrew J., 1830-1902 -- Photographer

Medium: Albumen prints
Plate: 48
Source: Book titled The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photographic Views Across The
Continent Taken Along the Line of the Union Pacific Railroad, west from Omaha, Nebraska:
with an annotated table of contents, giving a brief description of each view, its peculiarities,
characteristics, and connection with the different points on the road.
Published/Created: New York: printed by David H. Prime by authority of the Union Pacific
Railroad Company, 1869.
Source Description: 50 photographs; 29.3 x 29.2 cm. or smaller
Collection: Yale University

Page 339 original text in Americas History

Constantly harassed by hostile anti-Mormons, Smith struggled for years to find a
secure home for his new religion. At one point, he identified Jackson County in Missouri as
the site of the sacred City of Zion, and his followers began to settle there. Agitation led
by Protestant ministers quickly forced them out: Mormons were the common enemies of
mankind and ought to be destroyed, said one cleric.
Corrected information:
The persecution of Mormons in Missouri was not only led by Protestant ministers, but
included the general non-Mormon public as well as some state-sanctioned forces. The Mormons
were anti-slavery and Missouri was a slave state, so their views clashed with the locals. The
Missourians also feared the fact that the Mormons were growing in numbers and were very
united in their economics and politics. Mobs attacked Mormon settlements and drove them from
Jackson County and then from Clay County and forced them into Caldwell and Daviess the
least populated counties in Missouri.1 Then in August of 1838 during the elections in Daviess
County a riot broke out, which led to houses being burned and other property destroyed. The
Governor Lilburn W. Boggs told the Mormons they must fight their own battles. When they
did, things got even worse. Mormons and Missourians were killed in the Battle of Crooked River
and other confrontations.2
On October 27, 1838, Governor Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, also known
as the "Extermination Order," which stated that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and
must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary."3 (The Extermination Order was
finally rescinded on June 25, 1976, by Missouri Governor Christopher Bond.4) On October 30,
1838, about 30 Mormons who lived near Hauns Mill were attacked and over half were
massacred.5 The rest of the Mormons had gathered at Far West, Missouri and were surrounded
by the state militia. The brokered surrender to Major General Samuel D. Lucas included giving
up their arms, selling their lands to repay the locals for damages, evacuating the state by
spring, and the arrest of Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders.6 The next day much of the
Mormons personal property was destroyed, animals were shot, crops trampled, etc. and Lucas
ordered the execution of Joseph Smith and others after a court martial. But on November 1
Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan refused to execute the Mormon leaders and they were
imprisoned in Liberty, Missouri for months instead. While their leaders were in prison awaiting
trial, the remaining 12,000 Mormons were forced from Missouri that winter. Leaving most of
their belongings behind and without adequate supplies, they evacuated the state in February
1839.7 Some even died from exposure on the way to settle in Iowa and Illinois.

Correspondence of General David R. Atchison to Governor Boggs, October 16, 1838. 39. Missouri State
Archives. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
2
The Missouri Mormon War. Missouri State Archives. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
3
Governor Boggs Extermination Order, October 27, 1838. Missouri State Archives. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
4
Governor Bonds Rescission Order, June 25, 1976. Missouri State Archives. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
5
Correspondence of S. M. Smith to Governor Boggs, March 21, 1839. 8. Missouri State Archives. n.p., n.d. Web.
5 Nov. 2014.
6
Correspondence of Major General John B. Clark to Governor Boggs, November 10, 1838. Missouri State
Archives. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014., 65-68.
7
Parkin, Max H. The Missouri Conflict. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Harold B. Lee Library, n.d. Web. 5 Nov.
2014.

Pages 339-340 original text in Americas History

Smith and his growing congregation eventually settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, a town
they founded on the Mississippi River. By the early 1840s, Nauvoo was the largest utopian
community in the United States, with 30,000 residents. The rigid discipline and secret
rituals of the Mormons- along with their prosperity, hostility toward other sects, and bloc
voting in Illinois elections-fueled resentment among their neighbors. That resentment
turned to overt hostility when Smith refused to abide by any Illinois law of which he
disapproved, asked Congress to turn Nauvoo into a separate federal territory, and declared
himself candidate for president of the United States.
Moreover, Smith claimed to have received a new revelation justifying polygamy, the
practice of a man having multiple wives. When leading Mormon men took several wives,
they sparked a contentious debate among Mormons and enraged Christians in neighboring
towns. In 1844, Illinois officials arrested Smith and charged him with treason for allegedly
conspiring to create a Mormon colony in Mexican territory. An anti-Mormon mob stormed
the jail in Carthage, Illinois, where Smith and his brother were being held and murdered
them.
Corrected information:
The citizens in Quincy, Illinois welcomed the Mormons. Mormons purchased large tracts
of land on both sides of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, Illinois and Lee County, Iowa.
They began settling primarily in the small village of Commerce, Illinois (which they renamed
Nauvoo). The Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal charter, permitting the city its
own court system and militia, called the Nauvoo Legion.8 In 1840, the population of Nauvoo,
Illinois was only 2,900 and 4,470 in Chicago.9 Thousands of Mormon converts from Great
Britain and Europe moved to join the rest of the church members in Nauvoo and, by 1845,
Nauvoos population had increased to more than 15,000. (Chicago had a population of about
12,000 by then.) Total church membership throughout the world was 30,300 in 1845.10 This
rapid growth and economic prosperity began to concern the Mormons Illinois neighbors.
Because of their losses in Missouri, the Mormons formally but unsuccessfully sought
redress for their grievances from the state of Missouri. Under their First Amendment right to the
free exercise of their religion, Joseph Smith then appealed to the federal government.11 Joseph
Smith and another church leader met with President Martin Van Buren and members of Congress
in the winter of 1839-1840. President Van Buren told them, Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I
can do nothing for you. If I take up for you I shall lose the vote of Missouri.12 In 1843 Joseph
Smith again sought redress from the federal government and wrote letters to each of the
candidates for president and asked how they would respond to a redress petition.13 After
receiving no response or negative responses, he announced his candidacy for president of the
8

Kimball, James L., Jr. The Nauvoo Charter. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Harold B. Lee Library, n.d. Web. 5
Nov. 2014.
9
http://www.census.gov
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_membership_history
11
Minutes of a Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 210. The Joseph Smith Papers. n.d.
Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
12
History, 18381856, vol. C-1, 1015-1016. The Joseph Smith Papers. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
13
Memorial of the Inhabitants of Nauvoo in Illinois, Praying Redress for Injuries to the Persons and Property by
Lawless Proceedings of Citizens of Missouri (Joseph Smith, Et Al), 11/28/1843. National Archives and Records
Administration. n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.

United States in January 1844. His platform as stated in General Smiths Views of the Powers
and Policy of the Government of the United States included giving the president of the United
States power to send an army to suppress mobs, ending slavery, annexing Oregon and Texas,
and reforming the prison system.14 Joseph Smith was formally nominated for president at the
Illinois state convention on May 17, 1844. The national convention was scheduled for July 13.
As it had the people in Missouri, the economic and political unity of the Mormons as well
as some of their religious practices caused friction. Through revelations from Jesus Christ,
Joseph Smith had restored various Old and New Testament practices including priesthood
blessing and anointing, vicarious baptism, and polygamy.15 These doctrines, particularly
polygamy, divided the Mormon community and concerned other religious groups. A disgruntled
member of the church published a newspaper article on June 7, 1844, accusing Joseph Smith of
adultery, among other things, and denouncing some church doctrines. Joseph Smith met with the
Nauvoo City Council and after the newspaper was declared a public nuisance for publishing
libel, the Council ordered it destroyed. The owners of the printer sought redress through the
courts and Joseph Smith was arrested for inciting a riot a week later.
On June 14, Joseph Smith wrote to Thomas Ford, the Governor of Illinois, explaining his
position and concerns for constitutional and civil rights. Another newspaper published additional
complaints and people within the county sent their own petition to the Governor. Joseph Smith
was charged with treason for calling out the Nauvoo Legion to keep the peace on June 18. He
and three other church leaders surrendered on June 25 under the promised protection of
Governor Ford. The men were taken to a jail in Carthage, Illinois to await trial. Two days later,
on June 27, 1844, the militia that Governor Ford sent to protect Joseph Smith and a mob of about
200 stormed the jail. They shot and killed both Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. John
Taylor, another church leader, was shot four times but survived the attack.

14

Smith, Joseph, Jr. General Smiths Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States.
Nauvoo: John Taylor, 1844. Project Gutenberg. 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
15
See, for example, 1 Corinthians 15:29; Exodus 2, 18, and 28-30; 1 Kings 19; Leviticus 14 and 15; Genesis 4, 16,
21, 25, 26, 28, 29; Judges 8; 1 Samuel 1 and 25; 2 Samuel 5; 1 Kings 11 in the King James Version of the Bible. See
also Doctrine and Covenants 132.

Page 340 original text in Americas History

Led by Brigham Young, Smiths leading disciple and an energetic missionary, about
6,500 Mormons fled the United States. Beginning in 1845, they crossed the Great Plains
into Mexican territory and settled in the Great Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. Using
cooperative labor and an irrigation system based on communal water rights, the Mormon
pioneers quickly spread planned agricultural communities along the base of the Wasatch
Range. Many Mormons who rejected polygamy remained in the United States. Led by
Smiths son, Joseph Smith III, they formed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and settled through the Midwest.
Corrected information:
After the Smiths were killed, the tension between Mormons and other Illinois citizens
grew. Some members of the church also divided into several small groups, with various men
claiming leadership. One group of Mormons moved to Texas, another settled in Wisconsin, a
third in Michigan, but eventually the majority headed west to what was then Mexico. Before that,
however, vigilantes began to burn the homes and farms of the Mormons in an effort to drive
them out of Illinois. In early 1845 the Nauvoo city charter was repealed and in October 1845 the
tension had increased to armed conflict. Once again a truce was brokered with an agreement that
the Mormons abandon their property and leave the state before spring.
In February 1846 the first Mormons crossed the Mississippi River into the present-day
state of Iowa. Thousands spent the winter on the open plains, unable to return to their homes in
Nauvoo, and hundreds died of exposure and sickness. In July 1846 the United States Army asked
the Mormons to provide volunteers to serve in the Mexican-American War. Five hundred men
and a few women volunteered and for a year they helping build roads and supply lines from
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to California. (The Mormon Battalion is the only religiousbased unit ever formed in the U.S. military and their 2,000-mile march from Iowa to California is
the longest in U.S. military history.)
In 1847 the first group of Mormons, led by Brigham Young, reached what is now Salt
Lake City, Utah. By 1850, when the Territory of Utah was created from the former Mexican
lands, more than 15,000 Mormons had settled in the Utah/Idaho/Colorado/Arizona area.16 Some
of the Texas Mormon group later joined with the group from Wisconsin and another Mormon
faction and in 1852 formed what would become the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints (RLDS) under the leadership of Jason Briggs and Zenos Gurley. The RLDS
Church rejected the polygamy that had been practiced by some within the Mormon groups in
Michigan, Illinois, Texas, and Utah. Eight years later, in 1860, Joseph Smith III (Joseph Smiths
son), accepted the invitation to lead the RLDS Church, known as the Community of Christ since
2001.17

16
17

Before the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, approximately 60,000 Mormons moved to the region.
Years of Confusion and Disorganization (1844-1860). Community of Christ. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.

Page 340 original text in Americas History

When the United States acquired title to Mexicos northern territories in 1848, the
Salt Lake Mormons petitioned Congress to create a vast new state, Deseret, which would
stretch from Utah to the Pacific coast. Instead, Congress set up the much smaller Utah
Territory in 1850 and named Brigham Young its governor. Young and his associates ruled
in an authoritarian fashion, determined to ensure the ascendancy of the Mormon Church
and its practices. By 1856, Young and the Utah territorial legislature were openly vowing to
resist federal laws that were of right not in force in this territory.18 Pressed by Protestant
churches to end polygamy and considering the Mormons threat of nullification a
declaration of war, the administration of President James Buchanan dispatched a small
army to Utah.19 As the Nauvoo Legion resisted the armys advance, aggressive Mormon
militia massacred a party of 120 California-bound emigrants and murdered suspicious
travelers and Mormons seeking to flee Youngs regime.20 Despite this bloodshed, the
Mormon War ended quietly in June 1858. President Buchanan, a longtime supporter of
the white South, feared that the forced abolition of polygamy would serve as a precedent
for ending slavery. So he offered a pardon to Utah citizens who would acknowledge federal
authority, an offer accepted by Young and other leaders in order to prolong Mormon rule.
(To enable Utah to win admission to the Union in 1896, its citizens ratified a constitution
that forever banned the practice of polygamy. But the state government has never
strictly enforced that ban.21)

18

This January 6, 1857 statement read, in part, [W]hile we respect the General Government and are at all times
willing to observe the laws thereof, so far as they may be applicable to our condition in our Territorial capacity, we
will resist any attempt of Government officials to set at naught our Territorial laws, or to impose upon us those
which are inapplicable and of right not in force in this Territory. The Deseret News, October 7, 1857, 5. Web. 5
Nov. 2014. The Territorial Legislature was relying on Section 17 of the Congressional Act that established the
territorial government of Utah which stated, The Constitution and laws of the United States are hereby extended
over and declared to be in force in said territory of the Utah, so far as the same, or any provision thereof, may be
applicable. Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America Passed December 1, 1845 - March 3,
1851. Vol. IX. 457. Boston: Little, Brown, 1862. Google Books. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. On December 15, 1857, the
Utah Territorial Legislature declared that the residents of Utah are guaranteed that great Constitution right of the
governed to elect their own officers, and be guided by the laws of their own consent and to the free exercise of
religion and the federal laws depriving them of those rights were of no force in the Territory of Utah.
19
The standing army of the United States after the war with Mexico was only 10,317, so the initial force of 2,500
sent to Utah was approximately one-fourth of the U.S. army. General Winfield Scott was later asked to lead 3,000
additional troops along with two volunteer regiments. Chambers, John Whiteclay II, ed., The Oxford Companion to
American Military History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 50. Print.
20
Presumably the suspicious travelers referred to here were the six members of the Aiken Party who were killed
in November 1857. They were traveling from California to meet up with the Army and, suspected as spies for the
federal government, were arrested and jailed. When released they were killed in at least two separate attacks. Orrin
Porter Rockwell was charged with killing two members of the Aiken party, but died before his trial began. Another
death in Utah at the time was that of ammunition trader Richard E. Yates in October 1857. His death has been
attributed to Bill Hickman, but the circumstances are still debated by historians. The killing of Mormons seeking to
flee Youngs regime is unsubstantiated.
21
Mormons who continued to practice polygamy after 1904 were excommunicated from the Church. In 1935
cohabitation was made a felony under Utah law and raids on polygamist settlements (in Utah and Arizona) began. In
the 1940s the arrests and imprisonment of polygamists continued. Some appealed their cases to the U.S. Supreme
Court (see, for example, Musser et. al. v. Utah). The largest raid was in 1953 and resulted in the arrests of hundreds
and the placement of 160 women and children in foster homes for over two years. The cost to the state made further
raids impractical.

Corrections:
President Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young governor of the new territory of
Utah, which was created under the Compromise of 1850.22 In addition, the president appoints
judges and other executive officers, but Congress may not pass territorial laws that violate
fundamental constitutional laws. Accordingly, Governor Brigham Young and the territorial
legislature organized the territorial government, began building a territorial statehouse, and
established the requisite judicial courts and civil offices required to govern the new territory.
Brigham Young continued as governor by default when President Franklin Pierces choice,
Colonel Edward J. Steptoe, declined the appointment in 1854. 23
Brigham Young was also President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
considered a prophet by Church members.24 Young led the Mormons to this remote area in the
West with the hope that they would be allowed to live in peace and exercise their constitutional
right to the free exercise of their religion. The Mormons began practicing plural marriage (more
than one woman married to one man) in Illinois in the 1840s and publicly announced the practice
in 1852.25 The new Republican Party denounced polygamy and slavery at their 1856 Convention
vowing to prohibit them in the U.S. territories. James Buchanan was nominated by the
Democrats and ultimately won the election by campaigning on the fear that a Republican victory
would lead to civil war.
Brigham Young and the Mormons wanted to establish a state so they could elect their
own leaders and have representation in Congress. President Buchanan was afraid that the
Mormons were becoming too independent. Those fears were exacerbated when two of the three
federally appointed judges to the Utah Territorial Supreme Court resigned in early 1857 claiming
the Mormons were defying civil authority and destroying government records.26 Rather than
investigate the claim and without informing Young of the new appointments, in May 1857
22

The Compromise of 1850 was designed to placate both the north and south on the issues surrounding slavery.
Under the Compromise, California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state; the new territories of Utah and
New Mexico would be allowed to determine for themselves whether or not slavery would be legal no federal
restrictions on slavery would be established in those territories; slave holding would be allowed but the slave trade
was prohibited in Washington, D.C.; and a Fugitive Slave Law was established that required runaway slaves caught
in free states be returned to their owners.
23
Section 2 of the Congressional Act that established the territorial government of Utah stated that the executive
power would be vested in a governor who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be
appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. Minot, George, Esq., ed. The
Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America Passed December 1, 1845 - March 3, 1851. Vol. IX.
453. Boston: Little, Brown, 1862. Google Books. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
24
The Mormon Church has a lay clergy, which means all church leaders and officers have regular jobs and careers
in addition to the unpaid positions they serve in the church.
25
Pratt, Orson. Celestial Marriage. Journal of Discourses. 1:53-66. August 29, 1852. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. See also
Plural Marriages and Families in Early Utah. www.lds.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Web.
5. Nov. 2014.
26
In December 1856 Justice George P. Stiles, an 1855 appointee to the Territorial Supreme Court, was
excommunicated from the Mormon Church for adultery. His office was ransacked and some of his papers and books
were dumped in a nearby outhouse. Charges that territorial court records had been destroyed followed although the
Utah Supreme Court records had not been damaged. Justice Stiles left Utah in April 1857. Justice William W.
Drummond, another 1855 appointee to the Supreme Court of the Territory of Utah, left his post in 1856 and
officially resigned in April 1857 after accusing Brigham Young of treason and murder. (The following month it
came to light that the woman he lived with in Utah and introduced as his wife was actually a prostitute. Judge
Drummond had abandoned his wife Jemima and their 5 children at Oquwaka, Illinois, as revealed in his wifes letter
published in The Deseret News on May 20, 1857.)

Buchanan ordered a military escort to install the new governor and other territorial officers.27 In
July Brigham Young learned that 2,500 soldiers were marching to Utah on Buchanans orders to
quell a rumored Mormon rebellion. Given the history of persecution the Mormons had suffered
in Missouri and Illinois, Young interpreted the approach of federal troops as a hostile force being
sent to carry out additional harassment or to annihilate the Mormons.28 On August 5, Brigham
Young declared Martial Law in the territory and asked all Mormons to store food and supplies
for the inevitable future stand-off.
The Baker-Fancher party heading from Arkansas to California was traveling through
Utah Territory at the time and the refusal of food and supplies to their group precipitated the
Mountain Meadows Massacre. Some of their cattle were stolen as they traveled through Southern
Utah, and they were attacked by Indians on September 7, 1857. Members of a Mormon militia
joined the group harassing the Baker-Fancher party and, by promising to protect them from the
Indians, convinced the group to disarm. When they agreed to surrender their weapons on
September 11, 1857, only 17 children were spared and the remaining 120 men, women, and
children were massacred.29
Sent by the Department of the Army, Captain Van Vliet met with Brigham Young on
September 8, 1857 to determine what supplies and food the Mormons would sell to the
approaching troops. Young refused to supply the troops and asked Van Vliet to inform the army
that the Mormons were prepared to burn Salt Lake City to the ground so they would find nothing
there if they continued their advance. The army under the command of Sydney Johnston
wintered about 100 miles east of Salt Lake at Fort Bridger after Mormon militiamen destroyed
some of their supplies.
In his December 8, 1857 State of the Union Address, Buchanan asked Congress for funds
to raise four additional regiments.30 In early 1858, preparing for the worst, Young evacuated
30,000 Mormons to an area south of the capital city. The Mormons expected Johnstons Army to
approach from the east and learned that additional troops were coming from California. After 8
months of posturing, Thomas Kane volunteered to travel to Utah and broker a truce. Brigham
Young agreed to welcome the new governor and President Buchanan issued a pardon to the
citizens of the Territory of Utah.31 Governor Cumming entered the deserted city of Salt Lake in
June 1858 and the army peacefully established Camp Floyd 40 miles south. (The army was
recalled three years later when the Civil War began.)

27

The Works of James Buchanan, Vol. 10. 154. James Buchanan Resource Center. Ed. John Bassett Moore.
Dickinson College, 2004. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
28
Young, Brigham. August 5, 1857 Proclamation by the Governor. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. In Brigham Youngs
address in a Church Conference on September 13, 1857 he stated, I do not lift my voice against the great and
glorious Government guaranteed to every citizen by our Constitution, but against those corrupt administrators who
trample the Constitution and just laws under their feet. His rhetoric contributed to the conditions that resulted in the
1857-58 stand-off between the Territory of Utah and the federal government. Movements of the Saints' Enemies
The Crisis. Journal of Discourses 5, 231-232. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
29
Of the estimated 50-70 men who were present and may have participated in the killing, only nine were indicted
for murder, and John D. Lee was the only one ever convicted of the horrific crime.
30
First Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union, 154. December 8, 1857. Web. Woolley, The
American Presidency Project.
31
The Works of James Buchanan, Vol. 10. 202-206. James Buchanan Resource Center. Ed. John Bassett Moore.
Dickinson College, 2004. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.