Patrick Edward Connor was a military officer who was given the duty of guarding the overland mail route in the West during the civil war. In addition to this he was to watch the Mormons in Utah and determine their loyalty to the government of the United States. He was the commander of the Military District of Utah and he established his headquarters at Camp Douglas which was near Salt Lake City, Utah.While stationed in Utah, Connor saw action against hostile Indians on the Bear River in Idaho and other places; had some problems with the Mormons; and became interested in the mining possibilities of the Utah territory.

Since no writing is entirely objective, it is the contention of this thesis that Dr. Juanita Brooks and Dr. LeRoy R. Hafen, the most authoritative writers of the Southern Nevada and Southern Utah region, were greatly influenced in their writings by the folklore of the region and of the people. The two aspects of folklore which are most prominent in their writings are, first, those which treat the supernatural aspect of divine intervention, and, second, those which surround the struggle for survival.Folklore stories of divine intervention include the lore of divine aid given in time of great need, divine counsel presented as a guide, and divine healings obtained through the medium of the church. Both good and evil influences are manifest.Folklore stories of survival include the lore centered about the home, the land, the food, the medicinal supplies, etc. Both the folklore stories of divine intervention and the folklore stories of survival are influenced by the region from which they arise, and from the kind of people who live in the region.The Southern Nevada and Southern Utah region is comprised of desert land which depends upon a notionable river for irrigation water. The people who live there belong to a church which embraces very emotional precepts. Given, then, a land which has been difficult to conquer, and a people who have relied upon divine intervention in every emergency, and one has the basis for the background of Dr. Brooks and Dr. Hafen. They are so much a part of their own survival lore and their own need for divine intervention in time of crisis, that the folk stories which have grown up around these motifs either find their way into their writings, or, are closely associated with those which are included.

This thesis found that the three communities of Midvale, Murray, and Sandy were the center of the smelting industry in the Salt Lake Valley. These communities became the center of smelting because of their central location, the readily available water supply, and the availability of an inexpensive, efficient transportation system to ship the bullion. The smelters were surrounded by two major mountain ranges which provided a ready supply of good lead, silver, and copper ore.The development of the smelting industry followed three separate phases or periods. The first phase was one of experimentation or period of discovery, in which the smelters operated without the technological skill necessary to be financially successful. The second phase was highlighted by the emergence of skilled German mining engineers who enabled the smelters to be financially successful. Phase three was ushered in during the late nineteenth century by the industrialists who consolidated the smaller smelters and built larger, more efficient plants.

Since the issuance of the Manifesto by President Wilford Woodruff on September 25, 1890, discontinuing the practice of plural marriage by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, intensive efforts have been made by dissenters to show that authority to practice polygamy has secretly continued to the present day. Claiming that the Church departed from its original teachings when it discontinued the practice of plural marriage and that the Manifesto was adopted merely as an act of appeasement, "fundamentalists" have attempted to show that the doctrine of plural marriage was revealed to the Latter-day Saints as an irrevocable decree, essential to the highest exaltation in the world to come. They further claim that since the time of Joseph Smith a special "higher priesthood" organization has secretly functioned independent of the Latter-day Saint Church through which authority to solemnize plural marriages has continued to the present day. Asserting that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints," and that men are commanded to obey God's laws "in total disregard of the laws of man which might conflict therewith." "Fundamentalists" conclude that it is not within the power of the Latter-day Saint Church or the Federal or State Government to prohibit plural marriages.A consideration of this position indicates that only after a unique interpretation of certain carefully selected excerpts from Latter-day Saint Church history and in some instances a complete fabrication of events, can evidence be found for the contention that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints."On the other hand, a review of the history and doctrine of the Church indicates, that no provisions were made for a succession of authority from Joseph Smith independent of the present Latter-day Saint Church leadership; that the practice of plural marriage was not dogmatically regarded as an irrevocable decree or an essential to the highest exaltation regardless of circumstances; and that the suspension of the practice of plural marriage was accomplished by the same authority by which the practice was introduced.

In the wake of the Protestant penetration into the Near East, Jacob Spori was sent to Constantinople in 1884 to open a mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Turkey. Spori and later his companion, Joseph M. Tanner, preached first to the Europeans of Constantinople, then projected their efforts down into the major cities of Palestine. Among the German colonists, the missionaries found several valuable converts, most of whom emigrated to Utah.Ferdinand F. Hintze gained the title "Father of the Armenian Mission" through his extensive preaching tours throughout the interior of Asia Minor. He found the Armenians to be curious, imaginative, creative, but lacking in leadership ability and stability, being very enthusiastic for a cause one day and a few months later wanting nothing to do with it. It was among these Armenians that the Mormon mission developed.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) is a lay church inasmuch as it has no professionally trained ministers. Because of this, the Chaplains Corps during World War II questioned whether members of the Mormon faith could serve effectively as chaplains. The answer to the effectiveness of Mormon chaplains is found in their performance as many received high praise from their superiors.During the Second World War, the Mormon Church provided the military services with a total of 45 chaplains, and although only 45 served, they saw duty in all theaters of war and served at such major battles as Attu, Kwajalein, Iwo Jima, Biak, Salerno, and the Battle of the Bulge. Several became command chaplains and two were awarded the Silver Star for heroism.In addition to serving as Protestant ministers, the Mormon chaplains played a significant role in the Church service–men's program, because they had the authority to organize and set apart men for the MIA Group Leader program.

The Latter-day Saint settlements in southeastern Utah, namely Bluff, Monticello and Blanding, were impacted by the physical and cultural geography of the area. These geographic elements hindered, and in some cases prevented, the Latter-day Saint colonizers from fulfilling the seven basic principles of Latter-day Saint expansion and colonization in the Great Basin. The impacts of physical geography were the geology, the climate, the soil and the rivers and streams. The impacts of cultural geography were the Navajo Indian Tribe, the Paiute Indian Tribe, and the criminal element. This thesis discusses the geographic elements of the area, how they impacted the settlements of Bluff, Monticello and Blanding, how the Mormons reacted to the situation, and how the impacts were eventually dealt with and solved.

This thesis is a study of the Mormon adoption program developed by the Mormons in response to the Indian slave trade in Utah, 1850-1880. It focuses on the Mormon justifications, as enumerated by Brigham Young, for the adoption policy and it links those justifications to expected results. Further this thesis compares the Mormon's expected results with the actual results of the adoption program through an analysis of historical accounts and Mormon ordinance records.

The public image of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the product of several factors. This thesis investigates that image as presented in national periodicals from 1970 to 1981. During this time "Mormons" and "Mormonism" was a popular topic as the religion gained notoriety, and as an awareness of its peculiar beliefs and practices increased. The rationale for using national magazines to assess public image is the assumption that they "reflect prevailing points of view" and help "formulate public opinion." Since popular attitudes are one of the factors that influence how the Church is accepted in the world, this study will enhance the reader's understanding pertaining to the factors that molded those views. This study was preceded by a thesis covering the same subject from 1961-1970 by Dale P. Pelo, and a doctoral dissertation covering 1850-1961 by Richard O. Cowan.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Church programs in preparing young Latter-day Saint servicemen to accept and live the gospel of Jesus Christ as determined from the opinions of servicemen and bishops. The teaching programs, counseling, continual Church activity, Church publications, and the preservice and inservice Church orientations were evaluated for their effectiveness in teaching the five objectives: Testimony building; commandment living; continual activity, missionary work, and patriotism. One hundred eighteen servicemen, who had completed basic training and were attending technical training schools, along with seventy-seven bishops provided the information used in this study. The findings indicated that in the opinion of these servicemen and bishops effective training was being provided servicemen in building testimonies, living the commandments, and continuing to be active in the Church. However, missionary work and patriotism were ineffectively taught.