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: Mormon settlement
Episode 165: The Peak of Mormon Polygamy
In this episode, Lindsay and Bryan dive into the 1860s, the decade when Mormon polygamy reached its statistical and cultural peak. Drawing on census data, diaries, oral histories, and the sharp observations of British explorer Richard Francis Burton, they examine how plural marriage became woven into Utah’s theology, politics, economics, and daily life. From Brigham …
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 …