nse and even more dangerous than in Utah. The battle in Idaho mirrored the struggle in Utah as the Gentiles made political suppression of the group their principle means of thwarting their advance. Despite considerable effort, anti-Mormonism did not prevent southeast Idaho from becoming a secure place for the Church which flourishes there today.
In a recent oral history project on a large Mormon group in Delaware, a woman described growing up in Idaho in the 1950s and 1960s. In many ways the situation was ideal, "I was active in church and did everything there was to do -- road shows, speech festivals, dance festivals, music festivals" (Taber. 1993, p. 330). Yet she found that she was even happier when she lived in Provo, Utah where the Church's numbers were so much higher -- she felt the most important goal for families, especially for the children of converts, was "to have the experience of being where the church is the majority, where it's wonderful to be a member of the church" (Taber, 1993, p. 333). Despite her happiness in Utah, however, the woman being interviewed understood that she had been called to do missionary work in the East and had, reluctantly, accepted the call. The Mormon faith places great emphasis on proselytizing and expanding into new areas. It has met with significant success in a number of foreign countries and in various states. But in settling the west and establishing God's kingdom, the plan called for "contiguous colonization" first (Meinig, 1965, p. 201).
Moving from New York to Ohio to Missouri and finally to Illinois, the Mormons faced intense persecution that culminated in the murder of the founder, Joseph Smith, in 1844. The Church, with the sense of purpose and organization that has characterized it ever since, carefully weighed all the possibilities in the far west, even petitioning Congress to fund an expedition to Oregon. When this proposal was rejected they settled on Utah Lake, t...