Brigham Young

675 Pages·2012·5.21 MB·English

by  Leonard J. Arrington

LEONARD J. ARRINGTON
Brigham Young
Leonard J. Arrington wrote several books on Mormon history and the American
West, including Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of Latter-day
Saints, 1830–1900 (1958) and, co-authored with Davis Bitton, The Mormon
Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints (1979). A regular contributor to
many scholarly journals, he received a number of awards. Professor Arrington
taught at North Carolina State, UCLA, Utah State University, and as the Lemuel
Redd Professor of Western History at Brigham Young University. He served as
Director of the History Division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
ALSO BY LEONARD J. ARRINGTON
Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (1958) The Changing
Economic Structure of the Mountain West, 1850–1950 (1963) Charles C. Rich, Mormon General and
Western Frontiersman (1974) David Eccles, Pioneer Western Industrialist (1975) Building the City of
God: Community and Cooperation Among the Mormons (with F. Y. Fox and Dean L. May, 1976) From
Quaker to Latter-day Saint: Bishop Edwin D. Woolley (1976) The Mormon Experience: A History of the
Latter-day Saints (with Davis Bitton, 1979) Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History
(with Davis Bitton, 1981) Sunbonnet Sisters: Women in Mormon History (with Susan Madsen, 1984)

FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, JUNE 2012
Copyright © 1985 by Leonard J. Arrington
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc.,
New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in
hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Inc., New York, in 1985.
Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Knopf edition as follows:
Arrington, Leonard J.
Brigham Young: American Moses.
1. Young, Brigham, 1801–1877.
2. Mormon Church—Presidents—Biography.
3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Presidents—Biography. I. Title.
BX8695.Y7A85 1985 289.3’32’0924 [B] 84–48650
eISBN: 978-0-345-80338-2
www.vintagebooks.com
Cover design by Cardon Webb
v3.1
TO MY ASSOCIATES IN CAMELOT
CONTENTS
Cover
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
List of Illustrations
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
Prologue: “A Portly, Frank, Good-natured … Man”
1 Boyhood in Vermont and New York
2 Conversion and Commitment
3 Ardent Disciple, 1832–1834
4 Apostle
5 The Missouri Interlude
6 The British Mission
7 Nauvoo
8 City of Joseph
9 The Pioneer Trek to the Great Basin
10 To Zion, 1848
11 The Colonizer President
Photo Insert I
12 President of the Church
13 Indians: Friendship and Caution
14 Governor of Utah
15 The “Invasion” of Utah
16 Babylon Wars: Zion Grows
17 Governor and Counselor
18 Public Image and Private Reality
Photo Insert II
19 Protecting the Kingdom
20 Responding to the Challenges of the 1870s
21 The Last Year
Epilogue: Beyond Eulogy: The Legacy of Brigham Young
APPENDIXES
Appendix A: Chronology of Events in the Life of Brigham Young
Appendix B: The John and Abigail Young Family
Appendix C: Brigham Young’s Family
Appendix D: The Settlement of the Brigham Young Estate, 1877–1879
NOTES AND REFERENCES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrations were provided courtesy of the following organizations:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Graphics Library (LDS)
Utah State Historical Society Photograph Collection (USHS)
University of Illinois and Huntington Library (UI)
Photo section I
i1.1 Earliest known photograph of Brigham Young (LDS)
i1.2 Joseph Smith, Jr. (LDS)
i1.3 Cabinet made by Young (LDS)
i1.4 Home built by Young in New York State (USHS)
i1.5 Mormon temple in Kirtland, Ohio (LDS)
i1.6 Mormon city of Nauvoo, Illinois, ca. 1845
i1.7 Brigham Young’s residence in Nauvoo (USHS)
i1.8 Young and his second wife, Mary Ann Angell, and their children
(USHS)
i1.9 Brigham Young, about 1847 (LDS)
i1.10 Mormon pioneer company crossing the Plains to Utah
i1.11 Heber C. Kimball (LDS)
i1.12 Willard Richards (LDS)
i1.13 Daniel H. Wells (LDS)
i1.14 Orson Pratt (LDS)
i1.15 Wilford Woodruff (LDS)
Photo section II
i2.1 State of Deseret, 1849–51 (map)
i2.2 Main Street in Salt Lake City, about 1862 (LDS)
i2.3 George Q. Cannon (LDS)
i2.4 George A. Smith (LDS)
i2.5 The “Mansion House” or “White House” (LDS)
i2.6 Official residences and offices of Young in Salt Lake City (LDS)
i2.7 Mary Ann Angell (“Mother Young”) (LDS)
i2.8 Lucy Decker (USHS)
i2.9 Eliza Roxcy Snow (LDS)
i2.10 The Young brothers, about 1856 (LDS)
i2.11 The interior of Young’s office, 1871 (USHS)
i2.12 Mormon farmer and family (UI)
i2.13 Summer visit to a Mormon settlement (USHS)
i2.14 The Mormon Tabernacle and Salt Lake City, about 1867 (LDS)
i2.15 Brigham Young, about 1873 (LDS)