Founding Salt Lake City: The Mormon Exodus & the "This Is the Place" Moment

Salt Lake City exists because Brigham Young looked at a desert valley and saw Zion.

The Exodus Arc

1. 1830s–44: Persecution in NY, OH, MO, IL — mob violence, extermination order (MO 1838), Joseph Smith martyred (1844).
2. 1846: Nauvoo evacuation — 12,000+ cross Mississippi in winter; Winter Quarters (Omaha) camp.
3. 1847 Pioneer Trek: 148 vanguard (143 men, 3 women, 2 children) — 1,000 mi, 111 days. Brigham Young, ill, rides in wagon.
4. Jul 24, 1847: Enter Salt Lake Valley. Young: "This is the right place. Drive on."
5. Aug 1847: First plat — 10-acre blocks, wide streets (132 ft), temple center.
6. 1847–50: 5,000+ arrive; irrigation, fort, temple foundation, Perpetual Emigrating Fund.
7. 1850: Utah Territory created; Young governor. Population 11,380.

Native Relations

• Ute, Shoshone, Goshute, Paiute — initial trade, then displacement.
• Walker War (1853–54), Black Hawk War (1865–68) — resource competition.
• Modern: Ute Tribe (Uintah-Ouray), Northwestern Band Shoshone — sovereignty partnerships.

City DNA

• Grid + temple center = theocratic urbanism.
• Irrigation mastery → agriculture → industry.
• 2002 Olympics, Silicon Slopes, 2.5M metro — still "This is the place."

A religious refuge became a regional capital — the only U.S. city founded by a single faith's collective migration.