Excerpt from Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire The man who could achieve these things, even with some aid from fortune, was a man of no common calibre. Without a day of military training, he be came a very efficient general-in - chief to his people, Without an hour's reading of law, he made himself judge and Iawgiver - and in the main a just one - for a whole community. Where his own knowledge was deficient, he had skill to use the ability of others; and to this day, the finances, the government, the merchan dising, the architecture, the social life, and even the agriculture of the Mormon community bear the stamp put upon them by Brigham Young. He matched his wits against the might of the United States government, and did not come off second best. He yielded in outward seeming to federal power; but in reality he was emperor of his little realm to the hour of his death, and his subjects never doubted his supremacy. He drove federal appointees in disgrace from his kingdom, and took their positions for himself and his favourites. No matter how over whelming the power with which he was dealing, Brigham Young never was a suppliant. He stormed, bullied, lied, intrigued, finessed, cajoled; he never pleaded for mercy nor owned himself in need of mercy. He met chastisement with fresh provocation. Knowing polygamy to be the most offensive of his sins in the eyes of the nation, he lived openly with a score of wives, sent his most honoured polygamous apostle to Congress as a territorial delegate, and per mitted his subordinate priests to debate with Christian clergymen on the divinity of plural marriage. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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.

Early in the twentieth century, it was possible for Latter-day Saints to have lifelong associations with businesses managed by their leaders or owned and controlled by the church itself. For example, one could purchase engagement rings from Daynes Jewelry, honeymoon at the Hotel Utah, and venture off on the Union Pacific Railroad, all partially owned and run by church apostles. Families could buy clothes at Knight Woolen Mills. The husband might work at Big Indian Copper or Bullion-Beck, Gold Chain, or Iron King mining companies. The wife could shop at Utah Cereal Food and buy sugar supplied by Amalgamated or U and I Sugar, beef from Nevada Land and Livestock, and vegetables from the Growers Market. They might take their groceries home in parcels from Utah Bag Co. They probably read the Deseret News at home under a lamp plugged into a Utah Power and Light circuit. They could take out a loan from Zion's Co-operative and insurance from Utah Home and Fire. The apostles had a long history of community involvement in financial enterprises to the benefit of the general membership and their own economic advantage. This volume is the result of the author's years of research into LDS financial dominance from 1830 to 2010.

This edition includes: Standard Works: The Bible (King James Version) The Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ) The Doctrine and Covenants The Pearl of Great Price Doctrine: Lectures of Faith by Joseph Smith The Wentworth Letter by Joseph Smith Discourses of Brigham Young Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage The Government of God by John Taylor Items on the Priesthood, presented to the Latter-day Saints by John Taylor A New Witness for God by B. H. Roberts The Mormon Doctrine of Deity by B. H. Roberts Defense of the Faith and the Saints by B. H. Roberts Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith A Rational Theology, as Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day by John A. Widtsoe Joseph Smith as Scientist by John A. Widtsoe Key to the Science of Theology by Parley P. Pratt A Voice of Warning by Parley P. Pratt Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints History: History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Story of the Mormons by William Alexander Linn Essentials in Church History by Joseph Fielding Smith Biographies of Mormon Leaders: The Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet by George Q. Cannon The Mormon Prophet and His Harem (Biography of Brigham Young) by C. V. Waite The Life of John Taylor by B. H. Roberts Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow by Eliza R. Snow The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt

The best history of the Latter-Day Saints addressed to a general audience now includes a new preface, an epilogue, and a bibliographical afterword. "This is without a doubt the definitive Mormon history".--Library Journal.

“From one of the brightest of the new generation of Mormon-studies scholars comes a crisp, engaging account of the religion’s history.”—The Wall Street Journal With Mormonism on the nation’s radar as never before, religious historian Matthew Bowman has written an essential book that pulls back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine. He recounts the church’s origins and explains how the Mormon vision has evolved—and with it the esteem in which Mormons have been held in the eyes of their countrymen. Admired on the one hand as hardworking paragons of family values, Mormons have also been derided as oddballs and persecuted as polygamists, heretics, and zealots. The place of Mormonism in public life continues to generate heated debate, yet the faith has never been more popular. One of the fastest-growing religions in the world, it retains an uneasy sense of its relationship with the main line of American culture. Mormons will surely play an even greater role in American civic life in the years ahead. The Mormon People comes as a vital addition to the corpus of American religious history—a frank and balanced demystification of a faith that remains a mystery for many. With a new afterword by the author. “Fascinating and fair-minded . . . a sweeping soup-to-nuts primer on Mormonism.”—The Boston Globe “A cogent, judicious, and important account of a faith that has been an important element in American history but remained surprisingly misunderstood.”—Michael Beschloss “A thorough, stimulating rendering of the Mormon past and present.”—Kirkus Reviews “[A] smart, lucid history.”—Tom Brokaw