Objective: To examine the increased settlements of Utah and California. Forty-niner Mormon Tabernacle

Since its founding in 1830, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were often harshly treated and persecuted by their neighbors. There was violence directed against the Church, its members, and its leader, Joseph Smith. This among other reasons caused the body of the Church to move from one place to another- Ohio, Missouri, and then to Illinois where church members built the city of Nauvoo. Joseph Smith

1846 - This is the only known photograph of Nauvoo, Illinois during the time it was the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Joseph Smith being tarred and feathered by a mob. (Harper's Weekly)

In 1844 Joseph Smith was killed by a mob while in custody in the city of Carthage, Illinois. “In early 1832, opposition took a physically violent turn. On Saturday, March 24, Joseph was dragged from his bedroom in the dead of night. His attackers strangled him until he blacked out, tore off his shirt and drawers, beat and scratched him, and jammed a vial of poison against his teeth until it broke. After tarring and feathering his body, they left him for dead. Joseph limped back to the Johnsons' house and cried out for a blanket. Through the night, his friends scraped off the tar until his flesh was raw.” – Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, p. 178.

Seeking religious refuge, the Mormons embarked on a long journey to Utah led by Brigham Young. The Mormons established their first community in Utah in 1847. Brigham Young

Approximately 1,300 miles

A Mormon camp in Iowa along the route to Winter Quarters after expulsion from Nauvoo in 1846.

Members of a wagon train along the Mormon Trail

A scene along the Mormon trail.

The trail over a steep mountain.

Approaching Chimney Rock along the North Platte River in Nebraska Approaching Chimney Rock along the North Platte River in Nebraska. (William Henry Jackson, 1929.)

Independence Rock on the Mormon Trail by William Henry Jackson.

South Pass, Wyoming, by William Henry Jackson

Painting by William Henry Jackson depicting the pioneers first view of the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir - listen

California 1848 marked the beginning of a huge increase in immigration.

Gold and Silver Strikes - The CA Gold Rush began in 1849, attracting thousands of gold hunters known as forty-niners.

Audio: The Story of Levi Strauss & Co.

Gold and silver mines were discovered throughout the West. Thousands of miners from the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and China flocked to the West. White and Chinese miners hoping to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush at Auburn Ravine in 1852.

Audio: A Miner’s Life Chinese miners working an abandoned tailing.

A Song Sung by the Forty - Niners Oh California that's the land for me; I'm going to Sacramento with a wash bowl on my knee. I'll be in San Francisco soon and then I'll look around, and when I see the gold lumps there, I'll pick them off the ground. I'll scrap the mountains clean my boys, I'll drain the rivers dry, a pocketful of rocks bring home, so brothers don't you cry. I came from Salam city with a wash bowl on my knee, I am going to California, the Gold dust for to see. It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry, the sun so hot I froze to death, oh brothers don't you cry.

During the early days of the Gold Rush, there was little crime During the early days of the Gold Rush, there was little crime. Gold was plentiful, as was space. By 1849, however, the rivers and streams were crowded, and the easy gold was mostly gone. Men from around the world, who traveled for half a year in life-threatening conditions to get to California, were bitterly let down. Some killed over claims. And some turned to stealing, which became such a problem that in 1851 the state Legislature passed a bill that allowed the death penalty for stealing property worth more than $100. Many of the miners were young, wild and adventurous. Many an armed miner lost his hard-earned gold dust to professional gamblers in saloons where liquor flowed freely. The result was a steady stream of unpremeditated homicides, most of which arose from personal disputes and occurred in or near drinking establishments. During one period, a killing occurred every weekend for 17 straight weeks in Mokelumne Hill in Amador County, CA.