The unfolding of the American West is paralleled by the evolution of the Mormon religion. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith. Public hostility to his claims of divine revelations drove the Mormons from New York State to Missouri to Illinois, where Smith was murdered by a furious mob. Leadership was eventually assumed by Brigham Young, who guided his flock westward in search of the "New Zion." Legend has it that, when they reached the vast open spaces of the Great Basin, he ended the journey by declaring "This is the place."
Building on his...