Charles C. Rich, Mormon General and Western Frontiersman


Book Description

Biography of Charles Coulson Rich (1809-1883), son of Joseph Rich and Nancy O'Neal and grandson of Thomas and Ann Rich. He became a Mormon convert in 1832, became " ... a leader of Mormon defensive forces in Missouri, Illinois and Utah; a leader of colonizing parties in Iowa, Idaho and California." He became a member of the Council of Twelve and was active in politics in both Idaho and Utah. He was born in Kentucky and died in Paris (near Bear Lake), Idaho.




Adventures of a Church Historian


Book Description

Adventures of a Church Historian details how Leonard J. Arrington opened up archival resources and presided, for a time, over an unprecedented era of enlightenment as he and those working under his aegis produced path-breaking works of Mormon scholarship. Arrington was the first professional historian and the first noncentral authority to serve as church historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a position he held from 1972 to 1982. Arrington's church appointment came at a crucial point in LDS history, when the institution was being transformed from a regional church whose ecclesiastical hierarchy directly presided over its congregants into a modern, worldwide church with an elaborate bureaucracy. His description of conducting research in the LDS Church Archives in the days of Elder Joseph Fielding Smith and Brother A. Will Lund provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the LDS First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Riveting chapters on the actions of the controversial Historical Department reveal details of Arrington's release and replacement as the old system gave way to the new.




The Mormon Illusion


Book Description

(Revised and expanded edition) This classic work on Mormonism has more than 135,000 copies in print.




My Own Pioneers 1830-1918


Book Description

Follow the fascinating true stories of one family through the Mormon pioneer era—stories that follow four generations and several of the author’s family lines as they and their fellow pioneers help shape the early history of the Mormon Church, the American West, and even Mexico. This memorable journey is the culmination of fifteen years of painstaking research as the author carefully reconstructs the pioneer struggles from before 1830 to 1918 using information from family journals, memoirs, histories and letters. Volume III (The Last Pioneers/Refuge in Mexico, 1876-1918) concludes the family history by explaining how polygamous family pioneers moved from Utah to settle Arizona and New Mexico; how the pioneers faced Indian and mob threats again in their new home; how, because of polygamy, the threat of imprisonment forced the settlers to flee into Mexico, where they battled Indians and the elements, adjusted to Mexican culture and citizenship, and prospered; how they were soon victims of the Mexican Revolution, caught between two marauding armies; and how they were finally forced back across the border as impoverished refugees in the very states they had once pioneered. My Own Pioneers is an important work illuminating the legacy of the Mormon pioneers. It is a compilation of true chronological accounts through which their lives, their sacrifices, and their considerable accomplishments, despite terrible hardship, may be honored. With its extensive index, this book provides an excellent research tool for academics as well as history enthusiasts; and it uplifts every reader by showcasing the enduring strength and mighty faith of these pioneers.




Apostolic Succession in the Restoration


Book Description

This unique chronology of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follows the Lord's chosen representatives as they were called and released as members of the Quarum of the Twelve Apostles. Beginning with Joseph Smith's ordination in 1829 to the present day, the life of every man who has served in these presiding quorums is illustrated in the brief narratives of this informative and well-written volume. ; ; Now is the perfect time to learn the gospel with your family and discover the humble beginnings of the Lord's Church in these latter days. This work honors the noble men who sacrificed their time and talents to unselfishly serve those around them. It is an excelllent reference for anyone looking to study Church history and the apostolic governing bodies of the Church.; ; Understand the order of succession to the presidency and see firsthand the challenges these quorums faced as they learned "line upon line" the Lord's will in fulfilling their sacred callings.




Mormon History


Book Description




Riches for All


Book Description

An event of international significance, the California gold rush created a more diverse, metropolitan society than the world had ever known. In Riches for All, leading scholars reexamine the gold rush, evaluating its trajectory and legacy within a global context of religion and race, economics, technology, law, and culture. The opportunity for instant wealth directly influenced a dynamic range of peoples, including Mormon military veterans, California Indian workers, both slave and free African Americans, Chinese village farmers, skilled Mexican miners, and Chilean merchants. Riches for All gives attention to the varying motivations and experiences of these groups and to their struggles with both racial and religious bigotry. Emphasizing gold rush social history, some contributors examine the roles and influence of women, workers, law-breakers, and law-enforcers. Others consider the long-term impact of this episode on California and the American West and on subsequent gold rushes in Pacific Rim countries and the Klondike. With lively and incisive strokes, these historians sketch the most broadly contextualized and nuanced portrait of the California gold rush to date.




My Best for the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, a Mormon Frontiersman


Book Description

""My Best for the Kingdom provides a valuable history of several little-known events in early Mormon history--the Church in Tennessee and Kentucky in the 1830s, the Danites in Missouri, Mormon resistance to Missouri persecutions, ... the James Emmett expedition, [and] pioneer Spanish Fork, Utah...John L. Butler's autobiography, given here in full, rivals and adds to the accounts of Hosea Stout and John D. Lee in telling the Mormon story of the 1830s, '40s, and '50s. Butler was a valiant militiaman, missionary, frontiersman, and bishop. A fast-moving, informative, well-researched and well-told account of Mormonism on the frontier...and pioneer Utah.""--Leonard J. Arrington quoted on the back outside jacket. This is the 3rd printing of My Best for the Kingdom (ISBN 978-1-365-73968-2) and is the same as the 2nd printing (ISBN 978-0-9843965-2-8) and 1st printing (ISBN 1-56236-212-7) versions except that the front & end papers (family chart and map) on the previous versions are now included as the final two pages.




Blood of the Prophets


Book Description

The massacre at Mountain Meadows on September 11, 1857, was the single most violent attack on a wagon train in the thirty-year history of the Oregon and California trails. Yet it has been all but forgotten. Will Bagley’s Blood of the Prophets is an award-winning, riveting account of the attack on the Baker-Fancher wagon train by Mormons in the local militia and a few Paiute Indians. Based on extensive investigation of the events surrounding the murder of over 120 men, women, and children, and drawing from a wealth of primary sources, Bagley explains how the murders occurred, reveals the involvement of territorial governor Brigham Young, and explores the subsequent suppression and distortion of events related to the massacre by the Mormon Church and others.




Exiles in a Land of Liberty


Book Description

Using the concept of "classical republicanism" in his analysis, Kenneth Winn argues against the common view that the Mormon religion was an exceptional phenomenon representing a countercultural ideology fundamentally subversive to American society. Rather, he maintains, both the Saints and their enemies affirmed republican principles, but in radically different ways. Winn identifies the 1830 founding of the Mormon church as a religious protest against the pervasive disorder plaguing antebellum America, attracting people who saw the libertarianism, religious pluralism, and market capitalism of Jacksonian America as threats to the Republic. While non-Mormons shared the perception that the Union was in danger, many saw the Mormons as one of the chief threats. General fear of Joseph Smith and his followers led to verbal and physical attacks on the Saints, which reinforced the Mormons' conviction that America had descended into anarchy. By 1846, violent opposition had driven Mormons to the uninhabited Great Salt Lake Basin.