. 124 EARLY HISTORY OF THE MORMONS. 



events and motives which led to their planting such a settlement 

 in the midst of a barren wilderness, may not be without interest. 



The City of the Great Salt Lake, the capital of the settlement, 

 was founded in 1847, by a religious community of people known 

 among us by the name of Mormons, but who style themselves the 

 " Latter-day Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ." It is situated 

 in lat. 40° 46' north, and long. 112° 6' west, at the foot of the 

 western slope of the Wahsatch Mountains, an extensive chain of 

 lofty hills, forming a portion of the eastern boundary of what is 

 known in our geography as the " Great Basin." 



The origin of this new religious sect in our country is well 

 known, and therefore it will only be necessary to advert to it very 

 briefly. It was first organized in 1830, under the auspices of 

 Joseph Smithy the founder ; and, after a temporary residence in 

 Kirtland, Ohio, was removed to Jackson county, Missouri, where 

 by divine revelation "the saints" were directed to build a magnifi- 

 cent temple, the pattern of which was to be revealed from on high. 

 The corner-stone of this edifice was laid, but the builders were 

 eventually driven from the State by an armed mob. They next 

 removed to Illinois, where, upon the bank of the Mississippi, 

 they built a flourishing city, which they called Nauvoo. They 

 lived here until 1844, when they became obnoxious to the inha- 

 bitants of that State also, and were finally attacked by an en- 

 raged multitude, and their prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother 

 Hyrum, murdered in the jail of Carthage. During the year 1845, 

 these persecutions continued ; and threats of greater outrages 

 being held out, the Mormons found their situation no longer tole- 

 rable within the boundaries of that State, and at length, in a solemn 

 council, determined to abandon their homes in their city of 

 Nauvoo, and to seek, in the wilds of the Western wilderness, a spot 

 remote from the habitations of men, where, secure from lawless 

 violence, they might worship according to the rites of the new reli- 

 gion they had introduced. 



Into the particular causes which led to the expulsion of the Mor- 

 mons from Missouri and Illinois it is not the province of this report 

 to inquire. The facts have long been before the country, and its 

 judgment has been passed upon them ; but the results of the per- 

 secutions to which they were subjected have been as curious as they 

 were wholly unlooked-for. 



The Mormons having resolved to emigrate, preparations for the 

 journey were immediately commenced, by hastily and at much 



