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Reviewed by Jeff Needle
12/7/2005 10:41:53 PM
The gold rush of the late 1840's is a well-documented and legend-filled period in American history. The cry "There's gold in them thar hills" attracted treasure seekers of all sorts, anxious to cash in on the new American dream.
Among these seekers could be found a considerable number of Latter-day Saints, members of a new religious sect at the time led by a charismatic prophet named Brigham Young. The role of the Mormons in the Gold Rush saga is not widely known, although their numbers were sufficient to have made a real impact.
What is even less known is the attitude of Brigham Young toward the whole phenomenon. Long before the discovery of gold, California held a special attraction for the young religion, fleeing persecution and seeking a sanctuary:Latter-day Saint leaders began the initial movement of Mormons to California in 1846 as part of their strategy to seek security and freedom for their followers beyond the boundaries of the United States. Early church attempts to establish a faith-based community of devout Saints -- first in Ohio, then in Missouri and western Illinois -- had
encountered virulent hostility and militant opposition. As LDS believers increased in numbers and prosperity in their headquarters city of Nauvoo, Illinois, they faced a growing campaign of anti-Mormon terrorism, culminating in the murder of church founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum by a wrathful mob at Carthage, Illinois, in 1844. (p.
31)
We all know the Saints established their new home in the Great Salt Lake basin area, but California was never out of their minds as a possible home for others wanting to travel to the west coast. The idea of an expanding church persisted into even the most difficult years in early Utah.
The announcement of gold in California was music to the ears of a cash-strapped Mormon leadership. The question to be asked -- if we send people to California, how can we ensure they'll come back? Brigham Young had to walk a delicate line here. He wanted some of the wealth coming out of Sutter's camp, but he didn't want to risk losing good people to the inevitable draw of gold.
The importance of gold to the struggling colony went beyond their basic
need for funding:While exerting the utmost pressure to keep the Saints from leaving
Zion, Brigham Young and other church leaders by necessity looked to
California in hopes that wealth from the gold fields would relieve the
financial crisis in Zion. The LDS colony in 1848 was short of capital
and utterly lacking in circulating coin or currency. When the first
Mormon miners arrived from the placer diggings in fall 1848, their
tithing contributions in some small degree helped ease the strained
condition of the church treasury. More importantly, their deposits of
gold dust and nuggets in a "Gold Account" established by Brigham Young,
for which they were duly credited, became the basis for a church-issued
currency that served effectively as a circulating medium in the region.
By late 1848 church officials had set up a system for coining the dust
and flakes into ten-dollar gold pieces; but in January 1849, the
coinage equipment fell apart. As an expedient substitute, the Salt
Lake municipal council authorized Brigham Young, Heber Kimball, and
Bishop Newel Whitney to issue handwritten bills, based on the reserve
deposits of gold dust. (p. 215)
However beneficial the gold would be to the Mormons, church leaders quickly realized how easy it would be for gold to become their "god." Some members, after immersing themselves in the elusive dream offered by the natural riches of California, would finally return to Utah, seeking redemption. In a very harsh talk, Brigham, never at a loss for words, expressed a "spirit of disapproval for those who had gone to California and then returned to Zion seeking readmission to the full fellowship of the Saints," calling them "poor, ignorant pusillanimous creatures." (p. 243-4)
Yes, the story is a remarkable one, but the true richness of this volume is in the many personal accounts written by those who lived the story. The account comes alive as we read the very words of these pioneers. The author has selected these well, and happily ties them together with a candid assessment of the meaning of these events.
I really enjoyed this book. It filled in many gaps in my knowledge of that period. It's a good choice for anyone building a Mormon history collection.
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