The Mormons

Where do Mormons live?

Most Mormons live in the state of Utah in the United States. There are Mormons elsewhere in the world, but Utah has been their chief home since 1846, when a picked company of 150 Mormons  under their leader Brigham Young, came to the valley of Great Slat Lake in Rocky Mountains with their horses and livestock, their covered wagons filled with provisions, implements and seed grain.

Sixteen years earlier the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had been founded by Joseph Smith (1805-44) at Fayette  in New York State. Joseph Smith claimed to have obtained the Book of Mormon, through a number of  revelations, in 1827.  This book is regarded by the followers of the sec as of equal authority with the Old and New Testament.

In spite of persecution, the Mormons increased in numbers and sent missionaries to European countries.  Converts were encouraged to emigrate to the United States and to join the "Gathering of Israel". Persecution in America increased and the Mormons were driven from one state to another.

Joseph Smith and other leaders were arrested in 1844, and he and his brother were murdered in the jail at Carthage, Missouri. The leadership passed to Brigham Young, and the Mormons left Missouri for Illinois.

When in 1846 the Mormons were expelled from Illinois, they decided to move beyond the frontier of the United States, at that time the Missouri River, and settle in undeveloped land in the far west where no one would molest them. So it was that Brigham Young, now recognized as one of the great pioneers of American history, led the Mormons on their trek across the great plains. It was mostly desert country in the valley of Great Salt Lake, but, joined by bigger parties, the Mormons succeeded by tremendous effort in turning fit into a fertile land.

Churches and schools were built and industries started. So successful were the Mormons in establishing a thriving community that, after only four years, the Territory off Utah was recognized by the Government and Young was appointed its first governor.

Related:
Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints
http://chonzskypedia.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter.html