Most Utahns spent the years between Mormon entry into the Great Basin and statehood for Utah pursuing the traditional frontier-rural life, a mode which had been an integral part of the American experience since earliest colonial times. After the Mormon capitulation and statehood, Utah moved into a transitional phase, a phase between the traditional and the modern in which elements of each were mixed and mingled. This phase ended with the Second World War. This transition to modernity affected migration behavior. Seen in light of migration theory, the Utah experience is something of an anomaly. One theory says that migration is the result of pushes from one place-- unemployment, low wages, poor climate, and similar conditions--and pulls to other places--available jobs, better pay, and lots of sunshine. The history of Utah migration during prewar years suggests another kind of pull, the pull not from outside to leave but from within to stay. The need and commitment to remain in what some call Zion {the Mormon culture region} was strong until the Second world War. After the war other needs and commitments intervened. Government-funded G.I. Bill education and a new sense of personal efficacy caused some to leave Utah for larger industrial and commercial centers. This study concludes by focusing on the experience of a few Utah veterans who migrated to California during the early 1950s.

History of the initial Mormon migration from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Utah territory (Salt Lake City) in 1847.

“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

The story of the Mormon Trail and the migration of Mormons to their new settlement at Salt Lake City.