(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This is Richard Rael.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long with the VOA Special English historyprogram, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Today, we continue the story ofevents in the United States during the eighteen-hundreds.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the eighteen-twenties, a man named Joseph Smith started theMormon religion in New York state. Smith based the religion on whathe said were God's words to the ancient people of America.

Many people became members of the Mormon church. Other peoplelaughed at some of their different beliefs. This led to trouble.Smith had to move his people many times. For a while, they settledin Illinois state, in a town they built and called Nauvoo.

The church split when Joseph Smith said that Mormons could havemore than one wife. The split led to violence and great publicopposition to the Mormons. Smith was arrested and put in jail. A mobattacked the jail and killed Smith and his brother. The governor ofIllinois ordered the Mormons to leave.

VOICE TWO:

Brigham Young became the newleader of the Mormons. He told his people that he had seen their newhome in a dream. He said it was a wide, beautiful valley in thewest. He said he would recognize it when he saw it.

The Mormons left Illinois in the spring of eighteen-forty-six.There were more than fifteen-thousand people, and many wagons andfarm animals. The trip west was hard. Many of the people died. Aftermonths of slow travel, they stopped to make their winter camp.

VOICE ONE:

Explorers visited the camp. They told Brigham Young about a greatsalt lake in a wide valley on the western side of the RockyMountains. From the way they described it, young believed it was thevalley of his dream.

He started to move his people toward the great salt lake as soonas the winter snows melted. They arrived in the summer ofeighteen-forty-seven. Brigham young looked out over the valley."This," he said, "is the right place."

VOICE TWO:

The Mormons wasted no time. Two hours after arriving, they beganto prepare the ground for planting. The lake water was too salty touse. So they built a system of canals to bring water down from themountains.

The first few years were difficult. Cold weather and insectsdestroyed their crops. Yet the Mormons continued to work hard tomake their settlement a success. They refused to think of leaving.

VOICE ONE:

At first, the Mormons were ruled only by the laws of their churchand by their leader. Then gold was discovered in California. Manynon-Mormons passed through the salt lake area on their way to thegold fields. Some of them stayed. It soon became clear that new lawswere needed to govern the growing population.

The Mormons asked Congress to approve a territorial governmentfor their land. They called the land "deseret." That was a Mormonword meaning "honey bee."

The Mormons claimed a large area. It stretched from the mountainsof Colorado west to the mountains of California; from Arizona northto Oregon.

VOICE TWO:

Congress rejected the large claim of deseret and made it a muchsmaller territory. It also refused to accept the name deseret.Instead, Congress called it Utah, after the Ute tribe of nativeAmerican Indians that lived there. As a compromise, Brigham yYungwas named governor of the new Utah territory. Most of the newterritorial officials were Mormons, too. Four were not Mormon.

VOICE ONE:

Governing the territory would not be easy. There were disputesduring the administrations of several American presidents. As aresult of one dispute, the four non-Mormon officials returned toWashington. The Mormons then formed their own territorial governmentwith a legislature and courts.

Other federal officials were sent to Utah. Some of them were notprepared for the job. Usually, they did not stay long.

VOICE TWO:

Some of the officials made many charges against Brigham Young andother Mormon leaders. They said Mormons refused to recognize thepower of the federal government. They said Mormons put the words ofYoung above the laws of Congress. They said the church had a secretorganization to take the lives and property of those who questionedthe power of the church.

There were charges that Mormons had burned the papers of theSupreme Court of the territory. And there were charges that Mormonswere responsible for Indian attacks on some officials.

President Franklin Pierce decided he should make someone elsegovernor of Utah. The man he chose, however, did not want the job.Instead, he urged the president to let Brigham Young remain.President Pierce agreed.

VOICE ONE:

Relations between the Mormons and the government did not improvein the next three years. Territorial officials resigned. Theycharged that the Mormons were in open rebellion against the federalgovernment.

The next president, JamesBuchanan, dismissed Brigham Young as governor. He ordered more thanone-thousand soldiers to go to Utah to put down the rebellion. Healso sent a new governor, Alfred Cumming, with the soldiers. TheMormons prepared to fight.

A small group of Mormon men attacked and destroyed the army'ssupply wagons. They forced the soldiers to stop for the winterbefore reaching the salt lake valley. The soldiers could do nothinguntil spring.

VOICE TWO:

In Washington, efforts were made to settle the dispute. A mannamed Thomas Kane asked President Buchanan to let him go to Utah.Kane was an old friend of the president. He also was a friend of theMormons. He had spent much time with them during their long trip toUtah ten years earlier.

Kane feared what might happen to his Mormon friends if fightingstarted. He told President Buchanan that he did not want a job ormoney. He only wanted a chance to be useful. The president agreed tolet him try to settle the dispute.

VOICE ONE:

Thomas Kane arrived in Salt Lake City, the territorial capital,early in eighteen-fifty-eight. He found that the Mormons had decidednot to fight. Instead, they were preparing to search for a new home.They talked of moving to Mexico or perhaps to an island in the SouthPacific.

Kane talked with Brigham Young. Then he went to the army camp totalk with Governor Cumming. The governor agreed to go to Salt LakeCity with Kane. The two men went alone, without any soldiers.

VOICE TWO:

The Mormons welcomed Cumming, but continued their preparations toleave. Cumming called a public meeting.

He said he was in Utah to represent the federal government. Hesaid he was there to make sure the people of the territory obeyedthe constitution and the laws of the United States. He said he wouldnot use military force until every other way had failed. Above all,said Cumming, he would not interfere with the Mormon religion. Heurged the Mormons not to leave the land they had worked so hard tobuild.

Brigham Young agreed to stay.

VOICE ONE:

Governor Cumming returned to the army camp. He told the commanderthat the Mormons had accepted him. He said military force would notbe needed. A few days later, two representatives of PresidentBuchanan arrived. They brought news that the president would not actagainst Mormons who accepted the rule of the United Statesgovernment.

Brigham Young and the other Mormon leaders made a statement. Theysaid they wished to live in peace under the constitution and thelaws of the United States.

The dispute was over. Brigham Young continued to lead the Mormonchurch. But the governor ruled the territorial government. The twojobs were separate and would remain that way.

VOICE TWO:

Congressional elections were held in the United States ineighteen-fifty-eight. One political race created national interest.It was for one of the two Senate seats representing the state ofIllinois. The candidate of the Democratic Party was Stephen Douglas.He was running for re-election. His opponent was a lawyer and memberof the Republican Party. His name was Abraham Lincoln.

That will be our story next time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Today's program was written by Frank Beardsley. This is RichardRael.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long. Join us again for the VOA Special Englishhistory program, THE MAKING OF A NATION.