Utah - Timeline Event
Founder
Brigham Young
Time Period
07-24-1847
Description
Since Mormons were experiencing persecution in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, Brigham Young led an exodus of Mormons to "Deseret," later known as Utah. This journey began in 1846, only a couple years after Brigham Young was named Joseph Smith’s successor. The exodus of Mormons was likened to the Hebrew exodus out of Egypt, and Young is viewed as an "American Moses" because of his brave leadership. Utah itself was viewed as a Mormon "Zion" and the Mormons were God’s "chosen people." The government became theocratic, and the authority of Young was interpreted as divinely-willed. In 1849, Young was elected governor of what was known as the "Deseret" at the time, and subsequently became governor of Utah once it was officially incorporated into the United States as a territory in 1850.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Timeline Entries for the same religious group: Latter-day Saints Family (Mormonism)Latter-day Saints Family (Mormonism): Other ARDA Links
Latter-day Saints Family (Mormonism): Religious Family Tree
Biographies
Young, BrighamRelated Dictionary Terms
Latter-day Saints Family (Mormonism), Smith, Joseph (1805-1844), Young, Brigham (1801-1877)Photographs
Salt Lake City, Utah 1896- Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-17879
Brigham Young portrait- Internet Archive- from Life of Brigham Young by Edward W. Tullidge
First glimpse of Salt Lake Valley- Internet Archive- from Salt Lake City Past and Present by E. V. Fohlin
Mormon pioneers hand cart train- Internet Archive- from Popular History of Utah by Orson F. Whitney
Salt Lake City, Utah- Internet Archive- from The Religious, Social and Political History of the Mormons by Samuel M. Smucker
Book/Journal Source(s)
Queen, Edward, Stephen Prothero and Gardiner Shattuck, 1996. The Encyclopedia of American Religious History New York: Facts on File.Web Page Contributor
Benjamin T. GurrentzAffliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
