Brigham Young wanted the railroad badly, right up until it threatened to destroy the isolation that made Mormon Utah possible. This week, Lindsay Hansen Park and Bryan Buchanan dig into the chaotic arrival of the transcontinental railroad, where unpaid Mormon laborers, corporate brinkmanship, ZCMI boycotts, excommunications, Chinese railroad workers, and a very angry Brigham Young …
Tag: Deseret
Episode 168: Guns Above Zion: Fort Douglas
Why did the U.S. Army build a fort above Salt Lake City with its guns pointed toward the Mormon capital? Lindsay Hansen Park and Bryan Buchanan trace the explosive history of Fort Douglas, from the Utah War and Brigham Young’s theocracy to Patrick Connor’s campaign to contain Mormon power, encourage mining, and remake the territory. …
Episode 167: Before They Were Famous: Orson Hyde
He dedicated Jerusalem for the return of the Jews, renamed Nevada’s oldest town, nearly became president of the LDS Church, and may have helped create one of Mormonism’s most enduring succession myths. This week, Lindsay Hansen Park and Bryan Buchanan trace the astonishing and contradictory life of Apostle Orson Hyde, from orphaned boy who walked …
Episode 110: The State of Deseret
In 1849 the Mormons in Utah territory had big, big plans. Too-big-for-their-britches kinds of plans. They called it the State of Deseret and it didn’t last long, at least in name. Join Bryan and Lindsay as they discuss this turbulent history and the secret shadow government that still continues in Utah today. Shownotes: Donate to …