A history of the Mormon faith and people as they use the art of music to define and re-define their religious identity

It is no exaggeration to say that the Mormons (the Latter-day Saints) are a fascinating people. Since 1830, they have been a part of the great mosaic of America. Persecuted by mobs, driven from place to place, their incredible courage in the face of unrelenting hostility has wielded them into a formidable presence, especially in the State of Utah. Founded in New York State by the charismatic Joseph Smith Jr., he said he was personally commissioned by God to restore pure Christianity to the world. The Book of Mormon, this "most perfect book" was his initial written, binding revelation to his church. Joseph Smith was a controversial figure in his day-accused of being a fraud, a racist, a womanizer, a disrupter of good morals, and a dictator. One thing he did do well was to gather people into his church, make them believe in themselves, and strengthen them into being a formidable force for Mormonism. Smith led them through armed conflict against hostile neighbors, even against government militias. Gun battles and extreme violence were commonplace. Eventually, Joseph Smith was captured and assassinated, all this by age forty. Nobody was convicted of his murder. Smith is perhaps the most understudied, under-estimated, and misunderstood character in American history. "He was no ordinary man." When his successor Brigham Young led the Latter-day Saints to a place of sanctuary (today's Salt Lake City, Utah), it was one of the most epic, unifying journeys in American history. In the past, some of their unusual practices were total obedience to the leadership, blood atonement, and especially polygamy. Some of these were discarded (1890), so today most Mormons are good neighbors. However, there are Mormon "outlaws" who still practice such unsavory things, hoping to resume them all. One goal of the early saints was to conquer Missouri, next the entire country, then the world. Today, the Mormon Church is one of the wealthiest and most powerful organizations on the planet. Its influence and missionary outreach is worldwide. As possibly the fastest-growing faith in the world, maybe someday they will succeed. Then what will be next?

Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Steptoe's escape from encirclement by 1,000 Northern Plateau Indians in 1858 is a familiar story from the Indian Wars. Yet the details of the Battle of Pine Creek (or Tohotonimme) and its aftermath remain subjects of debate. Outnumbered six to one, Steptoe's 164 troops slipped away in the night. Newspapers called it a "disaster." A few weeks later, Colonel George Wright avenged the defeat and Steptoe, who had suffered a stroke months before the battle, lived his final years in relative obscurity in his native Virginia as the Civil War erupted. This definitive biography of Steptoe chronicles the career of a field officer who served nearly four years in the Second Seminole War, won commendation for gallantry during the Mexican War, performed admirably (though controversially) in the Utah Territory, undertook construction of forts at Walla Walla in the newly defined Washington Territory and engaged with various tribes throughout his deployments. His personal letters reveal a thoughtful, sensitive commander who came to question his choice of career even before his final battle.

Mormonism is one of the few homegrown religions in the United States, one that emerged out of the religious fervor of the early nineteenth century. Yet, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have struggled for status and recognition. In this book, W. Paul Reeve explores the ways in which nineteenth century Protestant white America made outsiders out of an inside religious group. Much of what has been written on Mormon otherness centers upon economic, cultural, doctrinal, marital, and political differences that set Mormons apart from mainstream America. Reeve instead looks at how Protestants racialized Mormons, using physical differences in order to define Mormons as non-White to help justify their expulsion from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He analyzes and contextualizes the rhetoric on Mormons as a race with period discussions of the Native American, African American, Oriental, Turk/Islam, and European immigrant races. He also examines how Mormon male, female, and child bodies were characterized in these racialized debates. For instance, while Mormons argued that polygamy was ordained by God, and so created angelic, celestial, and elevated offspring, their opponents suggested that the children were degenerate and deformed. The Protestant white majority was convinced that Mormonism represented a racial-not merely religious-departure from the mainstream and spent considerable effort attempting to deny Mormon whiteness. Being white brought access to political, social, and economic power, all aspects of citizenship in which outsiders sought to limit or prevent Mormon participation. At least a part of those efforts came through persistent attacks on the collective Mormon body, ways in which outsiders suggested that Mormons were physically different, racially more similar to marginalized groups than they were white. Medical doctors went so far as to suggest that Mormon polygamy was spawning a new race. Mormons responded with aspirations toward whiteness. It was a back and forth struggle between what outsiders imagined and what Mormons believed. Mormons ultimately emerged triumphant, but not unscathed. Mormon leaders moved away from universalistic ideals toward segregated priesthood and temples, policies firmly in place by the early twentieth century. So successful were Mormons at claiming whiteness for themselves that by the time Mormon Mitt Romney sought the White House in 2012, he was labeled "the whitest white man to run for office in recent memory." Ending with reflections on ongoing views of the Mormon body, this groundbreaking book brings together literatures on religion, whiteness studies, and nineteenth century racial history with the history of politics and migration.