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    • Main contributor: Dr. David Heffernan
    Joseph Smith

    The Mormon War (1844–1846) was a conflict which occurred in Illinois between 1844 and 1846 between members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) movement and other inhabitants of the state, as well as within the LDS movement itself. It broke out as a result of the murder of the founder of the Church of LDS, Joseph Smith, in Carthage, Illinois. After two years of clashes, a large section of the Church of LDS, led by their new leader, Brigham Young, decided to leave Illinois and head out further westwards, just as the American West was opening up. In 1847 they settled in what is now Salt Lake City in Utah and established it as their new religious Zion. They would try to create their own country here, a plan which brought them into conflict with the federal government and resulted in the separate Utah War between 1857 and 1858. The Mormon War of 1844 to 1846 drove a large section of the Church of LDS to settle in Utah and shaped the demography, culture, religion and ethos of that state in profound ways all the way down to present times.[1]

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    Mormon War chronology of eventsMormon War chronology of events

    Title page from the 1st ed. of the Book of Mormon

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was born during a period in American religious life known as the Second Great Awakening, an era of intense religious revival that occurred roughly between 1790 and 1840. This occurred most conspicuously amongst Non-Conforming Protestant groups like the Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians. The Church of LDS was founded towards the end of the Second Great Awakening by Joseph Smith, a native of Vermont who began preaching in the west of New York State in the late 1820s. He claimed to have received visions from god which led to him producing the Book of Mormon, a commentary on and re-evaluation of the Bible and other elements of Christian belief. After gaining a large number of followers, he established the Church of LDS in 1830.[2]

    Smith and his adherents began migrating westwards not long after he set up his movement. They intended to establish what Smith termed a Zion or New Jerusalem out west away from the trappings of settled society on the East Coast. Their movements were often forced upon them. When they arrived to a given region, Smith and his followers would often fall out with the locals over their beliefs and they were frequently asked or forced to move on. A major event of this kind occurred in Missouri between August and early November 1838, following which the Mormons, as Smith’s followers became known, moved onwards to Illinois, which at that time was being heavily settled around Chicago and other places.[3]

    Brigham Young

    The Mormon War, which should not be confused with the Utah War of 1857 to 1858, occurred while the Mormons were in Illinois. The Mormons were living in Illinois by 1839 after being driven out of Missouri. They had purchased lands here at a place called Commerce and began establishing their New Jerusalem as a settlement called Nauvoo from a Hebrew term approximating to ‘the beautiful’. Illinois was thinly populated by Americans and Europeans in those days and Nauvoo soon became one of the largest urban centers.[4] However, as more and more non-Mormons arrived to the area, they clashed with Smith and his followers. The issue of polygamy, whereby Mormon men took multiple wives, was an especial point of conflict. Things boiled over when Smith and several others were arrested and taken to the town of Carthage. There a mob stormed the small prison and Smith was killed on the 27th of June 1844. This triggered the outbreak of the Mormon War.[5]

    The ‘war’ was a strange mix of vigilante attacks against Mormons in Illinois and efforts by the Church of LDS to fight back. It was now under a new leader by the name of Brigham Young. They were far from powerless. Nauvoo’s population grew at one point to some 12,000 people and was rivaled only by Chicago for size in the state.[6] Still, as substantial as they were in number, there was no defeating the non-Mormon population of Illinois, which grew month by month and which had the tacit backing of the federal government. Eventually, in the winter of 1845, Young and the other seniors took the decision to abandon Nauvoo and to continue on westwards beyond the reach of the federal government into lands inhabited only by the Native Americans.[7]

    The Mormons left to go west at the very beginning of 1846, establishing the Mormon Trail out west through Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming to Utah. Once in Utah they would establish a settlement by the Great Salt Lake as their New Jerusalem, what is now known as Salt Lake City. Over time many more Mormons joined them. Others would spread out from Utah. For instance, some trekked down into Nevada and northern California, establishing Church of LDS settlements there in the second half of the nineteenth century. Thus, the Mormon War was responsible for the migration of the Mormons to Utah and the establishment of that state as the heartland of Mormonism.[8]

    Extent of migration caused by the Mormon WarExtent of migration caused by the Mormon War

    Salt Lake City in 1888

    The initial party that arrived to Utah in 1847 consisted of only 143 people. This might not appear like a large number. However, it was sufficient to locate a thinly inhabited place near water where the Mormons could begin founding their New Jerusalem.[9] Word was then sent back east to other Mormon groups and they began speedily making their way out westwards to Salt Lake City in growing numbers. There were upwards of 40,000 people living in Utah by the time the Utah War broke out with the federal government in 1857, though not all of these were Mormons. The movement of adherents of the Church of LDS continued, even after government intervention. In all, it is understood that around 70,000 Mormons migrated to Utah between the pioneering party in 1847 and the end of the 1860s. It continued beyond this and even today some Mormons relocate to Utah to live in the heartland of the Church of LDS movement.[10]

    Demographic impact of the Mormon WarDemographic impact of the Mormon War

    The long term demographic and cultural impact of the Mormon War in Illinois has been very profound. Utah is an arid, mountainous part of the United States. It would not have experienced as much settlement over the last 175 or so years if it had not become the home of the Church of LDS. For instance, Utah has a state-wide population of three and a half million people. Neighboring Wyoming, which is a slightly larger state, and which has better agricultural land, has just under 600,000 inhabitants. It is hard to put this down to anything other than Utah becoming the home of the Church of LDS. Furthermore, Salt Lake City, with a metropolitan population of one and a quarter million people is the second largest city in the region of the Rocky Mountains. Only Denver in Colorado is bigger.[11]

    See alsoSee also

    Explore more about the Mormon WarExplore more about the Mormon War

    References

    1. ↑ John E. Hallwas and Roger D. Launius, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois (Boulder, Colorado, 1995).
    2. ↑ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormons-smith/
    3. ↑ https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/mormon.asp
    4. ↑ https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/trek/nauvoo-city-beautiful?lang=eng
    5. ↑ George R. Gayler, ‘The Mormons and Politics in Illinois: 1839–1844’, in Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring, 1956), pp. 48–66.
    6. ↑ John E. Hallwas, ‘Mormon Nauvoo from a Non-Mormon Perspective’, in Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 16 (1990), pp. 53–69.
    7. ↑ Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict.
    8. ↑ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormon-migration/
    9. ↑ https://www.thechurchnews.com/2009/10/14/23269058/biographies-of-the-original-1847-pioneer-company/
    10. ↑ Martin Mitchell, ‘Gentile Impressions of Salt Lake City, Utah, 1849–1870’, in Geographical Review, Vol. 87, No. 3 (July, 1997), pp. 334–352.
    11. ↑ https://www.statista.com/statistics/815769/salt-lake-city-metro-area-population/


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    Dr. David Heffernan. (2025, May 25). *Mormon War (1844–1846)*. MyHeritage Wiki. https://www.myheritage.com/wiki/Mormon_War_(1844%E2%80%931846)