Mormon Wests : The Creation and Evolution of an American Region
Hausladen, Gary
Western Places, American Myths : How We Think About the West
Reno
University of Nevada Press
2003
135-165
"The Mormon landscape (from place names to architecture to cemeteries), the Mormon religion (from beliefs to practices to institutions and customs), and the Mormon people (from demographics to dress) have long attracted the attention of writers and travelers who have visited this region. Not only is the Mormon West distinctive, but also it has persisted for over a century and a half in spite of governmental and private initiatives and intrusion of modern American popular culture that have threatened its distinctiveness. Its persistence, however, does not signify an archaic, unchanging place, rather the term Mormon West is a plural designation, its plurality revealed in its changing character over time and space." [From author's introduction]