It is commonly accepted that women in early Mormonism were considered as having received the Melchizedek Priesthood through participation in temple rituals. It is also taken for granted that this understanding was lost over time. What hasn’t been explicitly discussed before is that this loss of understanding that women received priesthood through the temple rituals was accompanied by a loss of understanding that men also received additional higher priesthood authority in the temple. This presentation will document important sources regarding women and the priesthood, as well as when and how church leaders after Joseph Smith minimized temple priesthood authority.