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. …
Tag: Johnston’s Army
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 164: Mormon Mail and the Pony Express
Before texts, tracking numbers, and two-day shipping, a letter could take months to cross the continent, assuming it arrived at all. In this episode, Lindsay and Bryan saddle up for the tangled story of Mormons, mail, freighting, and power in the American West, from Brigham Young’s ambitious Y.X. Company and the political chaos of the …