Brigham Young the Colonizer

9781417968466

141796846x

1945. Hunter examines the life and colonization efforts of Brigham Young, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and first Governor of Utah, was the founder and chief builder of the Great Intermountain West of the United States of America. He is recognized as one of the foremost colonizers and empire builders of all time. The contents are organized in the following manner: The first half of the study stresses the personnel of Mormon colonization, methods of land settlements, and industries founded, and the later portion gives an account of the actual settling of the various valleys in the Far West. Comparatively little space has been given to such valleys as Salt Lake and Weber, as numerous accounts of their colonization have been published heretofore. More particular attention has been paid to the land settlement of Utah Valley and some of the valleys inhabited by the Saints shortly thereafter which furnished excellent type examples of directed Mormon colonization. Valleys settled between 1847 and 1857 are discussed rather fully, with special emphasis on the original colony. Those settled between 1857 and 1877 are briefly summarized. At various places, in the book, mention is made of the motivating force back of Mormon colonization-the sincere and impelling faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.