The Mormon Migration to the American West

From the moment it was organized in the 1830s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attracted a great deal of contention. Because of their controversial religious beliefs, such as the practice of polygamy and the avowal that God had ordained their founder, Joseph Smith, as a prophet, the Church faced considerable ridicule, rumors, and even assassination. In the 1840s, however, the Church began what was to become perhaps their greatest legacy to the country that had often treated them cruelly -a westward movement that culminated in the founding of one state and settlement in many more. Led by a charismatic leader, Brigham Young, a man who was considered to be the American Moses, the Colonizer, and history's greatest real estate developer, the Church would go on to settle hundreds of cities, towns, and villages in twelve western states. From controversy to triumph, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints showed how a determined group of individuals could turn their many negative experiences into prosperity by volunteering for the Mormon Battalion and blazing a path to the West with the Mormon Trail.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were a nomadic people from almost the moment of the Church's inception. That they were so nomadic in the early decades, moving from place to place, one could make the comparison that they were following the example of the Jews, whom they believed to be the ancestors of the Native Americans Jesus Christ visited whilst visiting the Americas after His resurrection. The Church had to move so frequently in the early years because they faced an intense amount of persecution due to their beliefs as revealed to them by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church. Smith did not merely start a new church. He declared that he had received a prophecy from God and had been visited by angels who told him that his was to be the only true church and that God had declared that he should be a prophet. In addition, rumors quickly spread that men who belonged to the Church practiced plural marriage or polygamy. In August 1835, in order to help stop some of the harsh treatment towards them, the Church issued a denial that they practiced polygamy. This was a lie. Joseph Smith had actually been partaking in this practice since at least 1831. The Church's beliefs differed from those of mainstream Judeo-Christian beliefs, as well. Often, they used the same words but they mean something else entirely. The trinity, for instance, includes two separate exalted physical men and a third, purely spiritual being instead of, as many other denominations of Christianity believe, the three as essentially parts of the same being. God, known as the Heavenly Father, has a wife, the Heavenly Mother. These things separated the Mormon Church (so nicknamed because their holy book was the Book of the Mormon) from other Second Great Awakening movements and, as a result, many people found them not only heretical, but threatening as well.

Smith had a revelation that their Promised Land, New Jerusalem, would be found somewhere in the American West. He moved his growing band of followers to Ohio where they were attacked by mobs. Later, he moved them to Missouri where the Church members' experiences with Missourians would have a profound effect on them. There, clergymen denounced their faith and other settlers feared their growing numbers. Rumors began to spread that they were stealing, stirring up Native Americans, planning to free the slaves, and printing counterfeit money. Joseph Smith was beaten, tarred, jailed, and, finally, after the governor of Missouri ordered that they leave or face extermination, he declared that they should move once again.

From Missouri, they moved to Illinois and founded the town of Nauvoo. The Church, under the leadership of Joseph Smith, supervised the founding of more than a dozen settlements in Missouri, Illinois, and Eastern Iowa. In Illinois, the situation was much the same as it was in Missouri. Despite his earlier denial that the Church practiced polygamy, rumors began to spread that they did. For his part, Smith ordered the presses of his detractors destroyed, further angering the citizens. In 1845, he was arrested for inciting a mob. While in jail, on 27 June, Joseph Smith, the founder, president, and prophet of the Church was shot to death by a mob in Carthage, Illinois. The assassination, or, as the Church considered it, martyrdom, was intended to stop Mormonism for good. Instead, it had the opposite effect. It made the members stronger and more die-hard in their faith. They were more determined than ever to carry on the plans for migration that were already in fruition.

Enter, Brigham Young. If Joseph Smith invented Mormonism, Brigham Young perfected it -playing the part of the Apostle Paul to Smith's Christ. Young had been baptized, made an active member of the Church, and was ordained an elder on the same day -14 April 1832. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Church hierarchy, becoming the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by the time of Joseph Smith's assassination. Although he did not actually become president of the Church (and prophet) until 1847, three years after Smith's death, he was considered the de-facto leader of the Church, the one who was going to make Smith's dream of reaching a desert -or, as the Church called it, Deseret- paradise a reality. After reading John C. Fremont's description of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake as "suitable for civilized settlement", in 1846, he decided to take his Saints there.

Brigham Young's attitude toward the persecution the Church had been facing was that it was necessary. He felt that the Church had to face trials so that they could prove themselves worthy of what was to come -Heaven. In the Mormon Church, the Celestial Kingdom is the highest level that one can attain after death. Only those who have proven themselves worthy can hope to attain it and staying faithful through trials, tribulations, and persecution is necessary. People who are not persecuted, unmolested, or undisturbed, he thought, were more likely to become cold, indifferent, or lose their faith. Therefore, he felt that even though the persecution by the government was the cause of the members having to move so often, they should still be cheerful and work through the hardship. He told his followers, the Saints, that it was not their fault that they were persecuted. Instead, it was the fault of Satan -that if Mormonism were a false doctrine it would be left alone and their beliefs, like polygamy, had nothing to do with it. His followers took these words to heart. Later, on the Mormon Trail, they were called fools and were mocked and people sneered at them. In response, they said that they were going to Zion and that their taunts would not discourage them in the least.

Initially, Young was incredibly thorough in his plans for the Church's journey, the one that would take them, like the Jews in Israel, to the Promised Land. The people would be divided into caravans that would leave at regular intervals. Each caravan would stop on the trail periodically to plow fields and sow seeds so that those who came after could reap the harvest and then replant the fields for the next caravans . Although the Mormon Trail would later be come to known for this organization, that was a later development. In the early months, there were frequent delays and bad weather often separated the different divisions more than they would have liked. The journey was similar to other movements in that its participants were both running away from something and running toward new opportunities. It was unique, however, in that this was one of many migrations the Church had made as a whole, the people involved were all of one faith and had the same shared experience of conversion, and all were under the direction of one charismatic leader, Brigham Young. During their journey, the émigrés observed the Sabbath and rested every Sunday. The animals rested every day at noon, at which point the settlers would eat a lunch that they had prepared the night before.

On 4 February 1846, the first wagons of Mormon settlers were ferried across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. Immediately, because it was winter, that first group dealt with harsh snowy weather, below freezing temperatures, and a shortage of food. There few only a few roads, so the Church literally forged their own path and built roads that would eventually take untold numbers of settlers across the prairie. They had to maintain a precarious balance of staying close enough to settlements in order to purchase food, but far enough away so as to prevent situations like those that had occurred in Missouri. By the end of the month, however, more than 400 wagons had arrived at Sugar Creek where the Trail officially began. From here, it developed in two stages. In the longer portion, they travelled from Sugar Creek across Iowa to Council Bluffs where Winter Quarters were established. They spent the better part of a year there. The second, easier, portion, involved leaving Winter Quarters and going through the Rocky Mountains via the South Pass to their final destination, the Great Salt Lake.

Although initially it was easier, the journey from Sugar Creek across Iowa would prove to be the longest and most difficult part of the Church's move to the West. What was initially a mutual degree of fear between Iowans and Mormons became a beneficial relationship for all when the Iowans sold and traded goods with the Mormons in exchange for manual labor. On 27 March 1846, Young, after conferring with other leaders of the Church, issued proclamations that reorganized the groups and helped keep the members from having to compete against each other for goods. Unfortunately, however, they had to once again build their own roads and bridges and the heavy snowstorms thawed into marsh-like conditions on the flat lands.

While they were attempting to cross Iowa, on 30 June 1846, they were approached by Colonel James Allen at Council Bluff. The United States government, whose persecution of the Church was one of the main reasons they were on that arduous journey, wanted them to form a battalion of around 500 men to help fight the war in Mexico. Despite any bitterness they may have felt toward the government, the Church's general council voted unanimously to comply with this request. Young, in particular, vigorously endorsed enlistment in the battalion, seeing it as the government's way of helping the Church, as he wanted his followers to be among the first to set food in California. He was instrumental in helping convince the other Church members that Allen's request was not a plot against them. On 20 July, 549 men marched off to war. Because this left a lack of able-bodied men for the church's journey, Young decided to postpone their westward journey. They remained at what would become known as their Winter Quarters in Iowa until 5 April 1847.

The Mormon Battalion never fought in the Mexican War. They did, however, march over 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs to California. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, they marched though Santa Fe, crossed the Continental Divide, marched through Tucson, and, finally, entered California in January 1847. They were the first people to take wagons to California over the Southern route. This route proved to be of great use when gold was discovered in Sutter's Mill in 1848, when thousands began flocking to that area. Members of the Mormon Battalion did not have to wear uniforms, so they sent their clothing allowance back to their families in Winter Quarters. The Mormon Battalion had the longest sustained march in United States history. Although some members stayed in California, most made the long journey back to Winter Quarters in Iowa to continue the mission to Salt Lake. After finally leaving the Winter Quarters in 1847, the trek to Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming was comparatively easier. They travelled 522 miles in forty-two days at an average of twelve miles a day. On 7 July, they reached Fort Bridger, which was their last chance to make a change regarding their final destination. They could do as many had done and headed northwest to Oregon or continued southwest through the mountains to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Jim Bridger advised Young and his followers that Salt Lake was unsuitable for settlement. They met with mountain men and even other Mormons who tried to convince them to go to California. They were, however, undeterred and decided to continue to Salt Lake.

On 12 July, Brigham Young sent out an advance party who became the first Church members to reach the Great Salt Lake. Initially, they were discouraged by the barren fields that were surrounded by mountains. Nevertheless, the settlers were industrious and got to work. By the time Young arrived on 24 July, potatoes had been planted, and a dam was being built to irrigate them. He immediately began mapping out plans for the great city he was to build -Salt Lake City.

Immediately after the Mormon Trail was complete for the first settlers, others began pouring in, utilizing the roads and bridges the Church members had built along the way. Between 1847 and 1868, more than 200 companies carrying between 53,000 and 68,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints followed in the path of the initial emigrants on the Mormon Trail. This number is a low estimate because records for at least thirty percent of the travelers were lost or destroyed. As more settlers heard word of the Church's success in establishing residency at Salt Lake, those who had already established themselves there began traveling back East, to St. Louis and Chicago, and even Great Britain and the European Continent. There, they established trade, proselytized to the unconverted, and began taking settlers and even entire companies West along the Trail. Immigrants began moving in and Mormon agents met with them in port cities like New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. They took trains as far West as were available and began outfitting wagons. By 1869, however, construction of the transcontinental railroad, with a station at Promontory Settlement in what had become known as the Utah Territory, was complete. It rendered the Mormon Trail unnecessary, as its tracks, in a nod to the historical importance of the Trail, replicated the route. Nevertheless, the importance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in not just the Utah territory, but the entire West cannot be downplayed. By following the plans first laid out for him by Joseph Smith and ignoring those who voiced their objections to the journey, Brigham Young established his paradise in the West. More than 150 years after the first wagon reached Salt Lake, the Church's presence continues to be felt in that area.

In conclusion, the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, turned the inordinate amount of persecution they faced as an early religious sect into acts of incalculable valuable, the founding of the Mormon Battalion and the Mormon Trail. Although these acts were extremely helpful in the opening and subsequent settlement of the West, they would still not fully rehabilitate the Church's reputation. In 1852, in a long overdue admission, Brigham Young finally went public with what was until that point a secret within the church -that they did in fact practice plural marriage and had for decades. It was only after subsequent prophetic revelation by a later Church president that the practice was formally discontinued and Utah was allowed to enter the Union in 1896. This act, decades after their initial efforts to open the West, finally gained the Church a degree of the recognition and acceptance that it had longed to have.

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