History of the Mormons
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) was severely persecuted in its early days in the eastern and midwestern United States. The heart of the Mormon Church's response to persecution was to form communities in which its members could freely practice their religion and create the kind of social, cultural, economic and political climate they desired. The Mormons were looking for a place where they could build a kingdom of God on earth. It was in the drive to find and create that place that "the Mormons became a genuine people, a covenant folk like ancient Israel with a shared history and at last a homeland" (Mulder, quoted in Meinig, 1965, p. 197). The Mormon mission was carried out in the Western United States with far greater success than most other recent religions have achieved. Here they established what cultural geographers call a distinct "region," an area in which the Mormons "constitute a highly self-conscious subculture whose chief bond is religion and one which has long established its mark upon the life and landscape of a particular area" (Meinig, 1965, p. 191). Homogeneity was the protection that Mormons sought and, at the center of the Domain in Utah they achieved it after extensive struggles. In other parts of the region the struggle was made more difficult by the presence of so many Gentiles, or non-Mormons. Idaho, as the strongest center of Mormonism outside Utah proved to be a focal point for anti-Mormon feelings and the site of a l
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oon limited by geography. To the east, south and west the colonizers ran out of desirable land. Only the valleys to the north, in what became Idaho, were truly attractive prospects (Meinig, 1965, p. 203-204).
The northernmost settlement in the 1850s was at Fort Limhi in Idaho but it was later abandoned. Serious interest in colonizing the area did not resume until the 1860s (Coates et al., 1994, p. 49). Originally Brigham Young, after a trip there, was unimpressed by the area -- he favored and promoted expansion into Arizona as the alternative. It was believed, erroneously, that agriculture was risky because of potential frosts. In addition the California and Oregon trails were bringing in Gentile farmers interested in settling there (Meinig, 1965, p. 204). It was in Idaho that the Mormons had their first experience of serious competition for the territory with the Gentiles.
The town of Franklin was the northernmost Mormon settlement of size but after the recognition of the Idaho Territory in 1863 it was on the Idaho side of the border. In 1861 Brigham Young decided to colonize the Uitne Basin but Native Americans quickly petitioned President Lincoln to have the land declared a reservation. Therefore Young turned to th
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Approximate Word count = 2367
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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