First Settlers

First Settlers

When Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his brother Hyrum were assassinated at Carthage, Illinois, in June 1844, Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders decided to abandon Nauvoo, Illinois, and move west. Their exodus began February 4, 1846.

With the outbreak of the Mexican War, President James Knox Polk asked the Mormons for a battalion of men. Volunteers were recruited and the Mormon Battalion formed. During their famous march of 1846-47 from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to San Diego, California, they forged a wagon route across the extreme Southwest. Their pay and their later explorations helped the pioneer settlers.

Led by Brigham Young, roughly 70,0000 Mormons traveled along the Mormon Pioneer Trail from 1846 to 1869 in order to escape religious persecution. The general route is from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City, Utah, covering about 1,300 miles. The reports of Fremont and conversations with Father De Smet, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, helped to influence their choice to head for the Great Basin. Advance scouts entered Salt Lake Valley July 22, 1847, and the rest of the company, which included three Afro-Americans, on July 24. Planting and irrigating as well as exploration of the surrounding area began immediately.

Although the struggle for survival was difficult in the first years of settlement, the Mormons were better equipped by experience than many other groups to tame the harsh land. They had pioneered other settlements in the Midwest, and their communal religious faith underscored the necessity of cooperative effort. Basic industries developed rapidly, the city was laid out, and building began. Natural resources, including timber and water, were regarded as community property; and the church organization served as the first government.

1. Mormon settlers began moving west in ____ .

1844
1845
1866
1846

2. ____ was President when the war with Mexico broke out.

James Buchanan
James K. Polk
Andrew Jackson
Abraham Lincoln

3. The Mormon Pioneer Trail covered ____ miles.

1100
1200
1300
1400

4. Advanced Mormon scouts entered the Salt Lake Valley on July ____ , 1844 .

21
22
23
24

5. The Mormon pioneers had a better chance of success in the Salt Lake Valley because ____ .

they had a greater population
they had more horses
the long walk had made them resiliant
they had previous experience starting settlements

Your score is out of 5.