“Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine,” God told Joseph Smith in 1831.1 Almost from the beginnings of Mormonism, the drive for unity and order was viewed as the only cure for chaos inherent in a pluralistic society. Early attempts to make the Saints one in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois failed. The failure was due to their inability to solve internal disorders among themselves and to live harmoniously with non-Mormon neighbors. With the move to Utah Territory, the threat of Gentile interference was removed, giving added hope to Church leaders that the kind of society necessary to usher in the millennium could be molded.
Given these factors, it was to be expected that Latter-day Saint leaders in Utah Territory would treat any deviation from the norm, any rift-making or contention, as ominous threats to be stamped out immediately. Thus, mild reform impulses can be observed shortly after the Saints arrived in the valley. In early 1851 Heber C. Kimball noted “that there is a reformation about to commence and my heart and soul is in it.”2 A year later Brigham, sensing that lethargic and sinful ways were slowing up the progress of the Kingdom, [31] urged the assembled Saints to covenant with the Lord that they would never do another evil thing as long as they lived.3 Occasionally, reformational sermons became more emotional and pointed. In 1853 Orson Hyde referred to the stealing, dissension, and apostasy among the Saints and suggested harsh reform measures. “The best way to sanctify ourselves,” observed Hyde, “. . . is to rid ourselves of every thief, and sanctify the people from every vile character.”4 Executing violators, reasoned the Mormon apostle, would throw terror into the hearts of would-be perpetrators of evil. A month later an editorialist in the Deseret News wrote that “Reformation is the order of the day.”5
It was in 1854, however, that reform became a recurrent theme. The continued influx of Gentile merchants, the difficulty of assimilating increasing numbers of immigrants to Zion, and the surfacing of apostates were among the factors contributing to the increase in reform sentiment.
Mormons did not, of course, oppose all Gentile intrusion. Brigham’s policy was quite clear. All those who were willing to subscribe to the Mormon way of life were welcome.6 Honesty, chastity, obedience, sobriety—these were among the cardinal virtues that all inhabitants of Utah Territory must practice. Not surprisingly, not all Gentiles felt as strongly as Brigham did about such standards. [32] Many of them were frequently drunk in the streets, a condition which irritated Church leaders.7 Irritation turned to contempt when some of them abused the hospitable treatment they had received by “breaking through the bulworks with women.”8 Wilford Woodruff recorded on February 4, 1855, that “some of the strongest preaching ever delivered to the saints was heard this day.”9 When Jedediah Grant, Brigham’s second counselor, spoke, “large guns were fired with red Hot balls [and] the Gentiles were told of their wickedness and corruptions, and abominations & strongly warned against attempting any further to traduce & corrupt wives & daughters of the Latter-day Saints.”10 Heber C. Kimball followed Grant at the pulpit and threatened to withdraw fellowship from any sister who consorted with Gentiles and said “if he caught any man committing adultery with one of his daughters He would kill them both.”11 Such threatening rhetoric must have created a temporary stir, for Woodruff wrote the following day that “there is quite an excitement through the City today among the Gentiles.”12 [33]
Probably the most offensive Gentiles were some of the political appointees that were sent to Utah when the area was made a territory in 1850. In 1851 disagreement over judicial matters, among other things, caused four of them to leave the territory, carrying reports back to Washington of so-called Mormon lawlessness. After four years of comparative calm, trouble again erupted when federal officials accused Church leaders of illegally encroaching on their domain and leveled several serious charges against the Saints. These reports, though distorted and in some instances false, created fears among Church members that hostile mobs would be sent to Utah to curb the alleged abuses.13 For a people who had sought refuge in order to build a kingdom, this was an unpropitious sign.
The Saints, however, were never concerned about exterior threats as much as interior rumblings. Gentiles might be irritating, but bickering and apostate Mormons were regarded as pestiferous cancers that needed to be arrested and, if necessary, removed. Church leaders naturally hoped that all immigrants to Zion were men of faith and testimony, but given the widespread emphasis on gathering, it was inevitable that some of those who would come would do so for other than religious reasons.
By 1854, it is apparent many “old-stock” Mormons were suspicious of the spiritual fiber of many of the newcomers. After all, these were Saints whose mettle had not been tested by the fires of persecution in Jackson County and Nauvoo. Brigham Young observed [34] in the fall of 1854 that while the majority of the population came with the intent of serving the Lord, there were some who “are actually trying to see how much evil they can commit and at the same time keep their standing among the Saints.”14 Later he indicated that some converts embraced the gospel for “no other motive than to have the privilege of being removed from their oppressed condition.”15 They would “embrace any doctrine under heaven,” reasoned Young, “if you will only take them from their present condition.”16 In correspondence with Orson Pratt, European Mission president, Brigham expressed his determination to stop bringing over men and women to apostatize.17
Mormon Leaders, however, made a distinction between those who had been lulled into a lethargic spiritual state and those who publicly acclaimed their dissatisfaction with Mormonism. The former were potentially decent members who could be saved with some stern preaching. The latter constituted scars and blemishes whose removal would bring about a desired community face-lift. The Saints, of course, had reason to be concerned with apostates. Latter-day Saints had always attributed the majority of their difficulties in the past to dissidents and apostates, not Gentiles.18 Apostle Parley P. Pratt spoke [35] for the majority of Church leaders when he warned apostates to keep their disenchantment to themselves. “People have the privilege of apostatizing from this Church,” observed Pratt, “and of worshiping devils, snakes, toads, or geese, if they please, but only if they let their neighbors alone.”19
In order to keep apostasy at a minimum, to increase faith and devotion, and to build unity in the Kingdom, Church leaders in the 1850s revived one former practice. This was a reintroduction of the law of consecration, which the Saints had tried unsuccessfully to establish in Missouri.20 The law of consecration and stewardship as announced and practiced by Joseph Smith was regarded as the correct economic and social order for the Kingdom of God. To enter the law three steps were necessary: first, the transfer of all property to a Church agent; second, the allotment of a stewardship to the member by the bishop; third, the transfer of surpluses realized from the operation of the stewardship back to the bishop.21 The restoration of this economic system in Utah had both defensive and offensive purposes. While checking the worldliness of some Saints on one hand, it would also enable Church leaders to solve more adequately the pressing financial burdens associated with the gathering and subsequent settlement of the Saints.22 Ultimately, of [36] course, it was hoped that the instigation of God’s economic law would bring about increased unity and oneness of purpose. This in turn would result in the Lord’s blessing the Saints with increased power to fulfill their destiny.23
The new economic law was announced to the lay membership in April general conference 1854. Over the next eight years, hundreds of individuals deeded their property and belongings to the Church. Most members, however, did not. Leonard Arrington and Dean May pointed out in their study of Mormon communitarianism that even though records were missing in some counties, there was little doubt that the number of people consecrating made up less than half of the seven thousand heads of families residing in Utah in 1858.24
Curiously, Brigham Young never seemed interested in carrying out the program fully. He always insisted that it was voluntary, never bothered to give out consecrations, and after 1855 never pressed the issue.25 Furthermore, consecration was never a major consideration during the Reformation of 1856–57, the stress being placed instead on payment of tithes. This lack of emphasis on consecration was deliberate as Reformation missionaries were instructed [37] by Apostle Franklin D. Richards to be cautious and circumspect when discussing it with Church members:
There is a subject that has been alluded to tonight, [that is] consecration. It is one which I would like to see Judiciously presented before the people. Do not crowd it on the people with a law which is imperative. I would just lay it before them, and let them be reminded of it. . . . Present it beautifully, and [do] not crowd it on the hearts of the people, and you will understand the measure of faith the people have in their hearts. Say it before them, not by commandment, but by permission and you will see the workings of the spirit in them; it is . . . the best weathercock of their feelings and the faith that is among them. It will tell you another thing: It will not only tell you who are the first born, but it will show those that are not going to do the works of righteousness and are silently laying over till Spring opens to go off.26
This seemingly casual approach of Church leaders toward implementation of the economic law has puzzled historians. Arrington and May have postulated that, among other reasons, possible entanglements over confirmation of land titles might have made Brigham Young hesitant to apply the program with vigor.27 More likely, as Franklin Richards implied, Brigham reinstituted the law of consecration to assess the willingness of the Saints to give their all for the Kingdom. If indeed this was the case, he could not have been overly happy with the results.
The organization of a home missionary program in October, 1855, was another effort to bring unity and stability to the Kingdom. Evidently Brigham felt that some Saints had fallen into a spiritual [38] lethargy. “Many are stupid, careless, and unconcerned,” remarked Young during general conference. “They are off their watch, neglect their prayers, forget their covenants and forsake their God, and the devil has power over them.”28 Later in his address the Mormon president urged the Saints to repent “that we be chastened no more.”29 To bring about this reform, Utah territory was divided into six districts, each district being presided over by a Mormon apostle who in turn was assisted by five or six missionaries.30 Missionaries were told to preach “the spiritual things of the Kingdom of God, stirring up the people to repentance and a remembrance of their first love, without finding fault with the Saints.”31 The minutes of the various quarterly conferences at which the home missionaries preached give evidence that they did emphasize that the members do their duty, overcome shortcomings, and magnify their callings. Certainly this was an organized attempt at reform, but it should not be thought of as a part of the organized, systematic movement that has come to be known as the Mormon Reformation. Sermons were much more general; pinpointing of [39] individual faults was minimal; and rebaptism in most instances was not deemed essential.32
The reinstitution of the law of consecration and the sending of home missionaries were symptomatic of Brigham’s concern with cracks and blemishes in Zion long before the actual Reformation began in the fall of 1856. There seems little doubt that the Mormon leader was at least mildly frustrated at the inability of the Saints to rise above the occasional pettiness and lethargy to which many were prone. Despite these concerns, it is unlikely that Brigham would have instigated a systematic reformation had not these manifest weaknesses been accompanied or augmented by a series of natural disasters which began in 1855, bringing hardship, anxiety, and bafflement to the Latter-day Saint community.
Grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets had been destructive pests in the past in Utah Territory. In 1854 grasshoppers appeared in great numbers, but fortunately their late arrival permitted a majority of the crops to be harvested.33 Beginning in 1855 the Saints were not so fortunate. On April 30, Young noted that “grasshoppers have made their appearance and are doing extensive damage.”34 Apostle George A. [40] Smith observed some two weeks later that “grasshoppers of small dimensions are far more numerous than the contending armies in Crimea.”35 The grasshoppers continued ravaging crops throughout the summer, “like snowflakes in a storm, occasionally fill[ing] the air over this city, as far as the eye can reach.”36 In some areas locusts and crickets added to the devastation.37
A severe drought accompanied the grasshopper invasion. The winter of 1854–55 had been unusually mild with little moisture. The drought continued through the summer and by August, 1855, replaced the departing hoppers as the most worrisome natural enemy.38 Expectedly, the insects and dry conditions had a devastating effect on crop production. There was a reduction in the wheat crop, and in many places it was a complete failure. Beet crops were a total loss, and potato and corn production was only fair.39 Further damage was brought about by canyon fires which destroyed valuable stands of timber.40 [41]
Still, it appeared that the Saints could squeeze through the winter. Ever thankful and optimistic, Brigham gave thanks to the Lord for withdrawing the grasshoppers when he did and asserted that the Saints would not have to seek food outside of their own borders, an assertion that was based on the belief that the unfortunate natural disasters were a thing of the past.41
But whimsical nature had more tricks to play on the Saints. The winter of 1855–56 was uncommonly severe. It was decided to move many cattle, including most of the Church herds, northward to Cache Valley for more suitable grazing. Biting snows and extreme cold soon proved this to be an unwise decision, and the loss in stock was extensive. Brigham estimated that two-thirds of the total Church stock had perished while Woodruff recorded that only five hundred cattle remained from an original herd of twenty-six hundred. The southern counties fared somewhat better, but they too suffered considerably.42
Not surprisingly, Church members were short on foodstuffs in the winter and subsequent spring. Sego bulbs, thistle roots, and pig weed greens became regular dietary fare for many.43 Others lived on salt and potatoes.44 Poverty was widespread, and begging and hoarding [42] became habitual with some.45 Some Saints resorted to entering neighboring fields to glean. While incensed at unauthorized pilfering, Brigham recognized the need for conserving every morsel, and he instructed grain owners to permit gleaners to follow the rakers and binders, “thus opening an effectual way in which the poor will be able to materially contribute to their own support.”46 For a time Young even considered sending fourteen wagons to the Northwest to bring back loads of dried salmon.47
Money was next to useless and would not buy flour or meal. “Dollars and cents do not count now, in these times,” asserted Heber C. Kimball, “for they are the tightest that I have ever seen in the Territory of Utah.”48 Public works programs were suspended and workers disbanded and told to raise grain for themselves.49 Brigham Young reflected the mood of the times when he observed:
Many persons are reduced to the necessity of living almost entirely upon roots and we expect until blessed with another harvest, to be more or less pinched for provisions. Myself as well as nearly everybody have rationed their families to a half pound each per day and by frequent fastings save considerable amounts even from this allowance, to give to the poor. I pray [43] Heaven that we may have a plentiful harvest. We understand the prospect is for a large emigration this season.50
To add to the Saints’ woes, indebtedness became a paramount problem, and Church leaders were perplexed as to how to meet their growing financial obligations. Daniel Wells observed in March, 1856, that “last season’s operations in the emigration of the poor created over fifty-three thousand dollars indebtedness.”51 In large part the blame was levied at the grasshoppers, drought, and severe winter storms which substantially curtailed the resources of the Church.52 Brigham Young, though admitting that few doctrines outranked the gathering in importance, wondered if it would not make more sense to slow up the immigration until Zion’s foundations could be firmed up. Brigham reasoned that “if those indebted to the fund could and would pay in available means, it would relive matters at once, but this seems impossible.”53
With the critical food shortage it was imperative that the Saints have a favorable harvest the summer and fall of 1856. While the grasshoppers did not appear, there was some problem with worms.54 Lack of water again caused grave concern, but after Jedediah Grant [44] gave his “dry moon” address and urged the Saints to pray for rain, the Lord started “mercifully sending the rains once a week.”55 The rains did not continue, however, and by June, 1856, drought conditions were apparent.56 Young pessimistically conceded that “it is with great difficulty that things seem to grow.”57 His spirits were somewhat rejuvenated when the wheat harvest came “off far better than many anticipated,” and the yield of beets, carrots, and corn, promised to be moderate.58 Still it was apparent that strict frugality would have to be practiced in the upcoming months, “as there was none of any kind to spare.59
Throughout the difficult period of 1855–56, the response of Church leaders to the hardships was both predictable and consistent. Like their Old Testament forbearers they reasoned that modern Israel’s problems were rooted in disobedience and unrighteousness. As it was [45] with ancient Israel, so it would be with the modern Saints—the only cure for pestilence or vexation lay in more strict compliance with divine commandments.60
Mormons had always been quick to point out parallels and similarities between themselves and Old Testament Israelites. They adopted the anthropomorphic God of the Old Testament as the God of their dispensation. Concepts such as promised land, promised people, Zion, prophets, and most notable, polygamy, stemmed from the Old Testament. Names of Mormon priesthood offices also were taken from ancient scripture. The trek westward to a promised land was made up of the same heroic stuff as was the exodus from Israel, and most Mormons felt it was more than coincidental that Utah had its own version of the Dead Sea.61
Comparisons of Brigham Young with Moses were not uncommon, a comparison, incidentally, that Brigham did not find distasteful.62 Heber C. Kimball maintained that “Brigham Young and he had the rod, [46] even as Moses had, & the same power would be seen with the church if the people would rise up.”63 Perhaps the best attestation of the Saints’ identification with Old Testament peoples was evidenced by Brigham Young’s sending Orson Hyde east to procure canvas for a tabernacle, a tabernacle that presumably was to have been used on the exodus to Utah Territory.64
Consistent with their Old Testament orientation, the Saints believed in a highly personal, intimate God, one that intervened often to guide the destinies of his people:
We are in the hands of our heavenly father, the God of Abraham, and Joseph who guided us to this land; who fed the poor saints on the plains with quails; who gave his people strength to labor without bread; who sent the Gulls of the deep as saviors to preserve, the Golden wheat for bread for his people; and who had preserved his saints from the wrath of their enemies. He is our Father and our protector; we live in his light, are guided by his wisdom, protected by his shadow and upheld by his strength.65
While convinced that God did intervene, Latter-day Saints did not always find it easy to chart his course of action. Thus, good Saints listened to the whisperings of the Spirit and kept their “eyes fixed vigilantly upon all movements that [could] in any way help to interpret the opening designs of the Father concerning the great latter-day work.”66 [47]
It became necessary, then, to decipher just what God had in mind when he allowed the Saints to be on the receiving end of nature’s fiery darts. Gentile conflicts, assimilation problems, difficulties with apostates, and especially, natural catastrophes, all implied that God was not happy with the atmosphere in Mormondom. Reading God’s intentions into historical processes, Church leaders probably reasoned that either (1) the Saints were altogether too wicked and unrighteous or (2) the Saints were, collectively speaking, good people, but were not pushing history along quickly enough in order that God’s purposes might be realized.67 Probably the latter assertion has more validity, but the solution would be the same in either case: the Saints must reform and repent.
The message that hardship would be alleviated through obedience was disseminated through various channels. Home missionaries were asked to initiate reform in their assigned locales, and Young publicly urged the Saints to repent that “we may be chasteneth no more.”68 Some months later Brigham told lay members that difficulties were seldom found among people that lived gospel principles.69 A psalm, composed by W. G. Mills and read some six weeks after the reformation actually began, reiterated this same theme. The initial [48] portion of Mills’s psalm tells how the Lord blessed the Saints with peace and serenity in their mountain retreat. Then the people forgot their covenants, and the Lord reacted accordingly.
He sent the little grasshoppers like a flying and devouring army upon their fields; and they cut off their wheat and fruit: He sent the deep snows, and nipping frosts, which destroyed their cattle; for He remembers Zion.
Yet he left enough in the land; that they might live and consider Him: that they might see His hand of providence, and turn to Him; for He remembers Zion.
He blessed the parched land again, and drove away the devouring insects; for He loves His people: but they neglect His prophets’ counsels: whom he hath ordained to remember Zion.
So He instructs His servants Brigham, Heber, and Jedediah; and gives them the sword of truth; and they command the people to reform from their evil and filthy ways; for He remembers Zion.
Repent, reform, and renew your covenants; is the cry of God to His people: let every quorum and every Saint in the church obey the words; for He remembers Zion.
He will have a pure and holy people on this land; and make them obedient to His laws: they must have the Holy Ghost in their hearts to serve him; for He remembers Zion.
Humble yourselves; therefore, oh, ye Saints of the Lord; and come with contrite hearts before Him: that His servants may bless you in His name; for He remembers Zion.
Then will your praises be accepted of Him, and ye will grow in strength and power; until His enemies are subdued: and you will gain eternal lives, and full salvation from your Father; He loves and remembers Zion.70
While some Saints probably had difficulty correlating God’s love for Zion with grasshopper invasions, Church leaders felt the period of famine resulted in some valuable by-products. One was that the hard times tended to discourage dispirited Saints enough that they left Utah Territory. “The scarcity of good,” said Brigham, “had it usual effect in sifting out the faint-hearted and apostate Spirits [49] are striking out—some East, some South and some West.”71 Another beneficial result, according to Church leaders, was that the Saints would learn of their dependency on the Lord. On one occasion Young wrote that “the grasshoppers and drought may leave us a little short of provisions another season but we esteem this but another favor from the Lord, who evidently is learning us more fully to lean upon him.”72 Later Brigham expressed thanks that the “pinching hand of want” was compelling men and women to pray for their daily bread.73
To summarize then, it is apparent that as conditions and hardships worsened in the 1850s, a corresponding increase in reform sentiment took place. By 1854, the terms “reform” and “reformation” were used with increasing frequency. In December, 1854, Heber C. Kimball wrote to his son that “there is a reformation in our city,—two, three, and four meetings in every ward, for both old and young.”74 Natural catastrophes in 1855–56 resulted in an increase in reform sermons, and by early 1856 Church leaders were “raining pitchforks” on the heads of the Saints with regularity. [50]
In terms of invective, March 2, 1856, was a particularly eventful day. Brigham observed that “instead of . . . smooth, beautiful, sweet, . . . silk-velvet-lipped preaching,” the people needed “sermons like peals of thunder.”75 Young warned Church members that “the time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet; when we shall take the old broad sword and ask, ‘Are you for God?’ and if you are not heartily on the Lord’s side you will be hewn down.”76 Heber C. Kimball, ever the loyal disciple, followed his leader at the pulpit, remarking that the people were in a “careless, stupid, condition.”77 It remained for Jedediah Grant, however, to cap off this evening of censure with his own brand of vituperation. After stating that he had underestimated the blindness, stupidity, and darkness in Israel, Jedediah ripped into both Gentile and docile Mormon alike.
I not only wish but pray, in the name of Israel’s God, that the time was come in which to unsheath the sword, like Moroni of old, and to cleanse the inside of the platter, and we would not wait for decision of grand or traverse juries, but we would walk into you and completely use up every curse who will not do right.78
Ominous threats rolled regularly from the lips of the First Presidency throughout the remainder of March and the ensuing months. [51] Perhaps sensing that reform would have to be carried out on lower, more intimate levels, Young announced his intention of dropping bishops and appointing others “until we get men with good hearts and active brains.”79 Bishops were also encouraged to be aware of everything going on in their wards, even to the point of making a thorough search of members’ homes to ascertain how many were hoarding provisions.80 In June Brigham observed that it was the responsibility of the Saints “to commence the work of the reformation.”81
Considering the amount of criticism heaped upon the Saints by their leaders, it would be easy to overestimate the amount of corruption and wrongdoing among Mormons in Utah territory. While it seems natural to assume that as the numbers of Gentiles and recalcitrant Mormons increased there would be a corresponding increase in sin and vice, the fact remains that Mormon society on the whole was upright and moral. Some months after the reformation commenced, Elder David Calder described the moral atmosphere that prevailed in Mormondom in the fall of 1856.
When this reformation commenced, there was not a distillery, brewery, grog shop, gambling saloon, or house of ill-fame in the Territory: no rowdyism, incendiarism, prostitution, homicides, suicides, infanticides, forgeries or murders; no practice for doctors, lawyers, police or magistrates; no balls or theatrical performances among the people. One would suppose that such a community had nothing to repent of and no place for reform; and Utah might be called the seat of perfection in morals . . . You may ask: “What then is the condition of the people that they require reform?” They have been so much persecuted and [52] driven from their comfortable homes so often, and have had to labor so excessively hard to build up a home in this far-distant and barren country, that they measurably became wearied and fell asleep, and thereby neglected the performance of many important duties tending to hasten on the time when the Lord will more fully acknowledge His people before the eyes of all nations. It therefore became necessary for them to arise and shake off their lethargy, and no more rest, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord; and they have arisen and clothed themselves with the Spirit of God, and gone forth with renewed zeal and energy, and their works have already declared that they are fully determined that building up of the Kingdom of God will be first in all their thoughts and actions.82
While Calder could have suffered from in-house bias, it is noteworthy that non-Mormon travelers tended to concur with his assessment of Mormon society in the 1850s. Jules Remy commented on the lack of grog shops, brothels, and gaming houses,83 while English visitor William Chandless asserted that “taking the people all round, I consider them as moral, industrious, fair-dealing, and hospitable a set, as one is apt to fall in with.”84
Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, Church leaders also recognized that they were dealing in the main with highly-principled people. Amid the fiery rhetoric in the spring of 1856, Brigham conceded that the Saints were not unlike those of Enoch’s time and that most were willing to build up the kingdom.85 Even Jedediah Grant [53] admitted some months later that the Saints were the best people on the earth.86
The point was, of course, that while the Saints were good people, they were not good enough. While they were not unlike Enoch’s people, they were not completely like them, either. As Jedediah put it on one occasion, there was still “some alloy in them which we hate.”87 Indeed, the Saints were “good,” but must be better. That was the only way that God’s purposes could be more quickly realized. [54]
