Brigham Young and the Transformation of Utah Wilderness, 1847-58
Journal of Mormon History
January 2015
41
1
Salt Lake City, UT
Mormon History Association
2015
103-124
Historians who have written on Utah history from 1847 to 1858 have often missed the environmental challenges the settlers experienced. After the shortages of 1849, Leonard Arrington argued that conditions improved. David Bigler generally blamed the Mormon's polito-religious kingdom for their difficulties. Paul Peterson mentioned the poor harvests of 1854-56, but he emphasized other factors in promoting the Reformation of 1856-57. In this article, the author argue that lack of sufficient irrigation water and the reluctance of wealthy people to share with the poor caused starvation. By 1858, wheat smut (Tilletia caries or T. foetida) added environmental challenges. [From the article]