The Territory Prospers & The Struggle for Statehood Chapters 10 & 11 Utah Studies

Chapter 10-The Territory Prospers

The Railroad Changes Utah Trains were important for moving raw materials from mines to manufacturing centers. They also carried raw material to smelters. The finished product was then shipped to manufacturing places in Utah and other states. Utah could now export and import materials from all over much easier.

Corrine today and in the past Ogden Corrine Union Station in Ogden Corrine today and in the past

Powell Expedition-1869 Just ten days after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, A Civil War Veteran named John Wesley Powell came west to explore the last part of the unexplored west. They lowered their boats into the Green River in Wyoming. They went through a tall, red-rock canyon that they named Flaming Gorge. The men braved rapids and climbed 2000 foot tall canyon walls to collect rock samples.

Powell Expedition-1869 They were running out of food, so three members of the expedition left to find a trail to Salt Lake City. They were never heard from again. As they went further down the Colorado River they ran into rapids that broke their oars and boats. They floated into the hugest, most mysterious canyon ever.

John Wesley Powell with the Paiutes (notice his arm) Powell’s Boat The Emma Dean The Expedition as it entered the Grand Canyon

Schools in Utah Schools were held by Mormons in their churches. Sometimes they built separate school houses as well. Those who had enough money hired a teacher to come to their home to teach children. Presbyterians started 36 schools and 4 academies in Utah. Two schools that were started then-Rowland Hall and Wasatch Academy are still working schools.

The University of Deseret Wasatch Academy The University of Deseret Oneida Stake Academy Rowland Hall

Electricity comes to Utah In 1879 in Menlo Park, New Jersey Thomas Edison invented the first practical light bulb. The first display of electric light in Utah was when the circus came to Utah in 1880. By the early 1890’s only Salt Lake, Ogden, Logan, Provo and Park City had electrical service. As technology improved electric service improved. Mines were the first industry to use electricity. Electric streetcars, trains and telephones made life more convenient for Utahns.

Electric Street Cars in SLC What an early telephone looked like A gas light-predecessor to the electric light bulb An early electric light bulb

Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch Robert Parker, now known as Butch Cassidy was born in Beaver, Utah. He left home as a young teen and lived a life of robbing trains, banks and hiding out from the law. He and his gang known as the Wild Bunch robbed many banks and trains in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. It is rumored they later fled to Argentina and Bolivia.

Robbers Roost Butch Cassidy

Chapter 11-Utah’s Struggle for Statehood

The Struggle for Statehood The people of the Utah Territory asked the U.S. Congress to become a state in 1849, 1856, 1862, 1872, 1882 and 1887. Utah kept trying all of those times because there were many benefits to statehood. There were 8 reasons why. #1-Utah citizens would not be inferior. #2-They could vote in Presidential Elections. #3-Represenatives in Congress could vote on laws.

The Struggle for Statehood #4-Utah could send two Senators to the U.S. Senate. #5-Utah could elect judges instead of having them chosen by the government. #6-Utah could write their own constitution and make their own laws. #7-Utah would have power over education. #8-Utah would receive government services in return for paying taxes.

The State of Deseret as proposed in 1849 The State of Deseret and the Original Utah Territory boundaries. Look at the map on page 225. The State of Deseret as proposed in 1849

The Struggle for Statehood Utah had enough people to become a state. There were lots of things said about the Mormons by those who visited here. There were truths and rumors in what was said. There were seven roadblocks to statehood: #1-Lots of people were concerned about how Mormons combined church with government and economics. #2-All of the Mormon people voted together.

The Struggle for Statehood #3-Mormons settled their own court cases instead of using the courts set up by the government. #4-LDS leaders encouraged Mormons to support Mormon businesses so they could manage the economics of the territory. #5-Mormons thought schools should cost, Non- Mormons did not. #6-Mormon Immigrants were seen as a threat to getting jobs and land. #7-Polygamy was not acceptable to Non-Mormons while Mormons thought it was their duty and right.

These top pictures are some pictures of some polygamist families in Utah. Because the rest of the county did not think polygamy was acceptable, many Mormon church leaders were wanted men who served jail time.

Laws against Polygamy In Washington D.C. leaders vowed to eliminate the “twins of barbarism”-slavery and polygamy. They passed laws that mad life hard on polygamists. The Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 was devastating to the Mormons. It took away the vote from all Utah women and all polygamist men and made polygamy illegal. It also took away the militia and confiscated all of the property of the LDS Church.

Living on the Underground After the Edmunds Act was passed many men and few women went to prison. Others went on the “underground” (in hiding) in the territory, Eastern United States, Canada and Europe. Mormon leaders began organizing colonies in Canada and Mexico. Some polygamists were sent on foreign missions.

Living on the Underground The Mormons thought that polygamy should be protected by the bill of rights of the U.S. Constitution. In a case called Reynolds v. the United States, the Supreme Court said that polygamy was illegal. As a result of this “co-hab” hunts took place and informers were paid $20 for each arrest. Many men went to prison rather than give up plural marriage and abandoning their wives and children.

Living on the Underground In the middle of this chaos caused by the Edmunds Act, Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City in 1877. Brigham Young had been the leader of the Mormon Church for 33 years and accomplished some incredible things. John Taylor, a former Methodist minister, who had been at Carthage Jail with Joseph Smith became the new leader of the Mormon Church. He told Mormon Men it would be better to go underground than to go to prison. He was the father of 35 children by 7 wives.

John Taylor-The leader of the Mormons after Brigham Young John Taylor-The leader of the Mormons after Brigham Young. He died in the Kaysville Farmhouse on the right because he was in hiding because of polygamy and did not want to get arrested. The Lion House-This is where Brigham Young lived in SLC. It was named the Lion House because Brigham Young was called the “Lion of the Lord.” Brigham Young 1801-1877

The Manifesto Ends Polygamy After three years of the Edmunds Act it became obvious that unless polygamy ended the Mormon Church might end too. Wilford Woodruff, who took over for John Taylor issued the Manifesto that told the Mormon people there would be no new plural marriages. The manifesto was a huge step in helping the Utah Territory achieve statehood. President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation forgiving past polygamists.

Wilford Woodruff and the newspaper reporting on it being read and published for the members of the Mormon Church

Women’s Suffrage In the early years of Utah’s settlement people thought that if women got the right to vote, they would end polygamy. The people of Utah were happy to let women vote because they knew they were not being forced into polygamy. The Edmunds-Tucker Act took that right away. Women would get the right when the 19th amendment was passed in 1920.

Writing Utah’s Constitution In 1895, President Grover Cleveland authorized Utah to write a constitution. A constitution is a document that sets out principles of the law and government. It took sixty days, but the document was finished in November 1895. Heber M. Wells was elected as Utah’s first state governor.

Heber M. Wells Grover Cleveland

The Glorious Day of Statehood In 1896 there were about 250,000 people living in Utah. On January 4th, residents received word that the proclamation had been signed declaring Utah the 45th state. People dashed out from a telegraph office and fired a shotgun which was the signal that Utah had become a state. A huge American flag with 45 stars hung from the ceiling of the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Downtown SLC Salt Lake Temple