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The Power of Persuasion in the Old West Overrides a Vision

Mormonism spawned much controversy in the settling of the Old West. Led by Joseph Smith Jr., many Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois in 1845 to seek relief from persecution. With much optimism, as the romanticized west often upheld, the Mormons headed to the Great Salt Lake Valley to pursue “Zion”, a phrase used to describe God’s Kingdom on Earth (Kerstetter 45). The religious group soon realized, however, that even in the West, their right to worship as they pleased would come under intense scrutiny. America did not approve of the Mormons practice of polygamy. Although the Mormons did all they could to preserve their faith, their members may have came to the stark reality that in order for Utah to be granted statehood, some practices, or values as they were interpreted then, would have to be left behind. As Limerick states, the Western myth “has the undeniable charm of simplicity” (323). The Mormons were banking on that simplicity. When the Mormons headed west they had hoped for complete freedom to practice their religion as it was then. The Manifesto of 1890 publicly denounced the practice of polygamy. The current church President, Wilford Woodruff, announced the “Manifesto” as the word of God to his members. The political changes, diversity, and differing social standards in the Old West forced the Mormons to adjust their beliefs.

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In order to understand the controversy of polygamy and the Mormons, one must understand the history of The Church of Jesus Christ and of its founder; Joseph Smith Jr. Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. While living in New York during a period of religious revival so great it was named the “burned over district” (Van Wagoner 1), Joseph Smith claimed to have been visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni instructed Smith of a place where he was to dig, for there were gold plates there. These gold plates were translated in the Book of Mormon. In 1830 The Church of Christ was formed under Smith. As Van Wagoner puts it, “God could not have chosen a better place, a better time, or a better people than early nineteenth century Americans for the [restoration of all things]” as Joseph Smith claimed the translation of the plates to be. Religions were splintering and people were soul searching (1). Joseph Smith Jr. married Emma Hale Smith in 1827. Although it was rumored that Smith practiced polygamy as early as the 1830’s, and was allegedly accused of inappropriate behavior towards several girls, he didn’t publicly practice polygamy until 1841. It was then that his first plural marriage to Loisa Beaman was “sealed” in an official ceremony (Van Wagoner 6). Ironically, Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma Hale Smith, was always devoutly against polygamy (Van Wagoner 20). In 1844, Joseph Smith Jr. was assassinated and Brigham Young assumed the Church Presidency. This history is very important because of several factors, mainly including the resistance Joseph was met with in the East, but also the religious revival of Joseph’s hometown has some scholars thinking he came up with the religion all on his own (Martin 26). All of these led up to a decision to go west. Brigham Young was more public in his practice of polygamy. Van Wagoner states:

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Once established in the Great Basin, church leaders were less concerned about hiding polygamy than they had been in Illinois. “That many have a

Large number of wives,” U.S, Army officer John W, Gunnison, leader of a government survey crew in Utah, noted in 1850, “is perfectly manifest to anyone residing among them, and indeed, the subject begins to be more openly discussed than formerly” (pp. 66-67). Brigham Young first publicly announced his own polygamous practices on 4 February 1851. “I have more wives than one,” he declared to the territorial legislature; “I have many and I am not ashamed to have it known” (Kenny 4 [4 Feb. 1852]: 12).

This statement by Brigham Young is proof that he was confident in the West being a place of more freedom for his members. He must have felt comfortable stating his beliefs. In 1846, Brigham Young led the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake Valley in the hope they could establish “Zion” in peace. Once the Mormon’s settled, more political upheaval made things difficult. President James Buchanan had ordered the U.S. Army to go west to restore order in Utah (Kertstetter 50). This was seen by the Mormons as a violation of their rights. Brown reminds us of the ethics of the Old West such as “masculine honor” (4) and “no duty to retreat” (2). The Mormons were no exception, and at first held their ground against the government. The tragedy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is arguably proof that the Mormons were going to do everything they could to protect their “manifest destiny” (Udall 73). This political turmoil, however, divided Mormons on the issue of polygamy. After pressure from the

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Government in 1890, the current church President, Wilford Woodruff, announced to his followers, and to the entire nation, the Manifesto. The Manifesto publicly denounced polygamy after Woodruff allegedly had a “revelation” from God. In the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, the Manifesto reads as this:

. . . I, therefore, as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges [that leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy] are false. . . I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws [passed against the practice of polygamy], and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise . . . and I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter Day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.

Again, when speaking directly to his Church, are excerpts regarding the Manifesto found in the Book of Mormon:

I have had some revelations . . . and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me. Let me bring your minds to what is termed the manifesto . . . The question is this: Which is the wisest course for the Latter Day Saints to pursue . . . to continue to attempt to practice plural marriage, with the laws of the nation against it and the opposition of sixty millions of people, and at the cost of the confiscation and loss of all the Temples . . . and the imprisonment of the First Presidency and Twelve. . .

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At the risk of excommunication, there were those that continued to practice polygamy. They believed it was the true and original vision of Joseph Smith Jr. This break away sect was “The Work”, which is now known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the FLDS (Wall 8). The existence, or at least the assumption of the freedom in the Old West, gave those that held on to the values of the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the hope that they still would be able to practice their religious beliefs. At least to an extent, that is, without too much trouble. Although the government had been adamant about their views on polygamy as unlawful, the FLDS must have felt more comfortable in the West because they stayed there. They established sects in Utah, Arizona, Texas and Montana. Even in the New West, the group has been able to practice the original teachings of Joseph Smith Jr., including the practice of polygamy. There has been some trouble for the group, including raids which spawned much controversy, and the more recent arrest of FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. The politics and social standards were powerful enough in the Old West to split a religion that had, for the most part, held its ground under intense scrutiny for the last 50 years. As the West was being formed, politicians were probably trying to get a grip on the thin line between church and state with regards to what would become of Utah. Politicians may have felt threatened by the rapid growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its increasing influence. Settlers of the Old West were all trying to create their own lives based on their dream of the West. Non Mormons certainly would have felt threatened by the faith. They must have wondered of the Mormons influence would threaten their way of life. Polygamy was the main factor that threw up a

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red flag to politicians and settlers. As the West was transforming, settlers seem to have known what they wanted. They created a place where a difference of opinion, values, and beliefs were welcome, so long as it didn’t step on too many toes. Polygamy stepped on too many toes. Even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or God, if you believe the Manifesto was a result of his word, made a compromise to fit into the Old West by abandoning polygamy. Mormon leaders argue it was a divine vision received by the Church’s President after a series of attacks against their liberty. A general sentiment was felt among Mormons that the government was trying to destroy their religion (Kertstetter 54). Members of the FLDS, as well as other religious scholars would say it was a political move to gain statehood (Solomon 11). This is a controversy of the interpretation of the facts of the Manifesto. The powerful myth of the West being a place of boundless opportunity is challenged in this controversy. Tompkins provides another point of view: “This West functions as a symbol of freedom, and of the opportunity for conquest. It seems to offer escape from . . . social entanglements . . . political injustice” (4). Brigham Young certainly was not feeling the freedom they had hoped for in the West. Joseph Smith probably saw it as a step up from the entanglements of the East. Woodruff must have felt it was the place to be. However, ask any member of the LDS Church in the New West how they feel about the Utah Expedition and the process of Utah gaining it’s statehood, and they will likely recount stories with a prideful tone. Stories of the long and hard winter are never left out. Stories of the trouble they had with the land and their eventual domination over it (agriculturally speaking). Stories of rapid membership growth, and their gentle dealings with the Indians. What seems to

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be left out by Mormons in today’s West, are usually things like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a more recent Declaration to allow African Americans into the Priesthood, polygamy, and a very important Manifesto. This is all my own personal discussions with family that is Mormon, and other members of the Southern Utah community. Although not at all hidden from the public eye, the Manifesto doesn’t seem to be a big deal to the Mormons. Possibly because polygamy is just a part of the history they would rather leave out. “Zion”, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints refer to the West, is turning out just as planned. Would Joseph Smith Jr. and Brigham Young agree today? Some of their “revelations” have been turned over. It seems that Americans like to choose what they remember about the Old West. That is what makes the West so appealing.

Polygamy in the New West is still thriving due to a view of the Old West as an “experience [that] permanently shaped the American character: hardy, optimistic, egalitarian, [and] impatient of intrusive authority” (Murdoch 3). There have been issues with the FLDS that have inhibited the church’s freedom in its entirety. Raids by the government often force polygamous families in to hiding and caused a lot of controversy (Szasz 156). Young girls have come forth with stories of abuse and rape by leaders of the FLDS (Wall 343). The imprisonment of leader Warren Jeffs in 2007 is another issue. However, there are still polygamous compounds all over the West, and it seems that as long as they stay fairly hidden from view, and women don’t speak out, they remain undisturbed. The New West is still a place of diversity and a certain understanding of personal rights. Polygamy is seen by many as a grey area in the first amendment. Many

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people just look the other way when it comes to polygamy. It may also be hard for the government to prove that families are polygamous because many wives are spiritual wives, sealed in that respect, not necessarily a formal document. Many polygamous wives and children don’t seem unhappy or abused at all. Although the Manifesto proved that the Old West wasn’t up for ANYTHING, it proves that the New West is still very tied to the values of that time.

In conclusion, the Manifesto split the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in to two separate religions. The Manifesto can be viewed as a desperate political move by Wilford Woodruff to gain statehood, and acceptance socially. The Manifesto can also be viewed as God’s word that polygamy is a sin. It all depends on who you talk to. If you believe Woodruff’s statements were motivated by a need for the West to accept the church, which ensured growth, it would certainly challenge the other profits of the church and their revelations. It would prove the power of persuasion in the old West. If you believe his Manifest came straight from God, it would have been very conflicting in the Old West, as Mormons were taught to practice polygamy. The Manifesto overrode a vision by Joseph Smith Jr. Now of course, Mormons have been practicing their religion for the last 115 years without polygamy. When they admire Brigham Young do they also admire his staunch support of this practice? The way current members of the LDS church remember the move and settlement of the West as it was passed down from generation to generation somehow leaves out any indication of polygamy. They are remembering the history how it suits them. This is a common problem in remembering

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the Old West. The independence of thought and defensiveness of personal rights in that time, however, is still seen today. How else could the FLDS have survived? The old

West was a powerful force. It accepted, denied, adjusted, and created the kind of place it wanted to be. I think all sides could agree, at least in part, to that.

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Works Cited

Book of Mormon Doctrine and Covenants Pearl of Great Price. The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1982.

Brown, Richard Maxwell. “Violence.” The Oxford History of the American West.

Clyde A Milner II, Carol A. O’Conner, and Martha A. Sandweiss, eds.

New York: Oxford UP, 1994. 771-800.

Kerstetter, Todd M. God’s Country, Uncle Sam’s Land: Faith and Conflict in the

American West. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Limerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest. New York: Norton, 1987.

Martin, Dr.Walter. The Maze of Mormonism. Ventura: Regal Books, 1978.

Murdoch, David Hamilton. The American West: The Invention of a Myth.

Reno: U of Nevada P, 2001.

Solomon, Dorothy Allred. Daughters of the Saints. New York: W.W. Norton &

Company, 2003.

Szasz, Ferenc Morton, Religion in the Modern American West. Tuscon: U of Arizona

P, 2000.

Tompkins, Jane. West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns. New York: Oxford

UP, 1992.

Udall, Stewart L. The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West.

Washington: Island Press, 2002.

Van Wagoner, Richard S. Mormon Polygamy: A History. Salt Lake City: Signature

Books, 1989.

Wall, Elissa, and Lisa Pulitzer. Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a

Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of

Warren Jeffs. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.