- Born:
- June 1, 1801, Whitingham, Vermont, U.S.
- Died:
- August 29, 1877, Salt Lake City, Utah (aged 76)
- Title / Office:
- governor (1849-1857), Utah
- Founder:
- Salt Lake City
- Notable Family Members:
- spouse Eliza Roxey Snow Smith
- On the Web:
- BYU ScholarsArchive - Brigham Young and the Book of Mormon (Nov. 01, 2026)
Brigham Young
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Who was Brigham Young?
Brigham Young (1801-1877) was an American religious leader and second president of the Mormon Church. He significantly influenced the development of the American West, dispatching missions to areas in California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, with Salt Lake City as the base for Mormon colonizing.
Young directed the move to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1838, and, after Joseph Smith's death in 1844, took command of the church, leading Mormons westward to escape mob pressure. In 1847, he led a pioneer company to the Rocky Mountains, selected Salt Lake City as a gathering place, and became the church's president.
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What religion was Brigham Young a leader of?
Brigham Young was a prominent leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. After the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, Young took command and led the Mormons westward, out of Illinois, in 1846, eventually settling in the Salt Lake Valley. In December 1847, he officially became the president of the church. Young significantly influenced the development of the American West, dispatching Mormon missions to areas in present-day California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming.
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Why is Brigham Young important in American history?
Brigham Young (1801-1877) was a significant figure in American history as a religious leader and colonizer who profoundly impacted the American West's development. As the second president of the Mormon Church, Young took command after Joseph Smith's death in 1844 and led the Mormons westward, out of Illinois, in 1846, due to mob pressure. In 1847, he led a pioneer company to the Rocky Mountains, selecting Salt Lake City as the Mormons' gathering place.
Young then dispatched missions throughout the West, including areas in California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, using Salt Lake City as a base for Mormon colonization. In 1849, he became the governor of the provisional state of Deseret. Although he was later replaced due to friction between the Mormons and the federal government, Young effectively ruled the people of Utah until his death as the president of the Mormon Church.
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How did Brigham Young contribute to the migration of the Mormon people?
Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon Church, played a significant role in the westward migration of the Mormon people. After the death of Joseph Smith, Young led the Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake, beginning in 1846.
Recognizing the untenable situation in Nauvoo, Young proposed a 1,300-mile exodus to the West. He led a pioneer company to the Rocky Mountains in 1847 and selected the site of Salt Lake City as a gathering place for Mormons.
Under Young's direction, missions were dispatched to colonize areas beyond Utah, including parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming. By 1860, over 150 self-sustaining communities had been established with a total of 40,000 residents.
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What role did Brigham Young play in the founding of Salt Lake City?
Brigham Young played a significant role in the founding of Salt Lake City. In 1847, seeking refuge from religious persecution, Young led a group of 148 Mormon pioneers to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, where they founded Salt Lake City, originally known as Great Salt Lake City, as a gathering place for Mormons. Young laid out the city according to Joseph Smith's plan for the city of Zion, dividing it into 10-acre blocks with wide streets around Temple Square. As president of the Mormon church, Young directed settlers to colonize the area, establishing a prosperous community and political structure. Salt Lake City served as the base for Mormon missions dispatched throughout the West.
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How did Brigham Young's leadership shape the development of Utah?
Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon Church, significantly shaped Utah's development through his leadership in settling and colonizing the American West.
After the death of Joseph Smith, Young led Mormon pioneers to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847, with the vision of transforming the arid land into a thriving "kingdom of God". As a practical leader, Young directed the establishment of over 150 self-sustaining communities, strategically spaced around Salt Lake City, and he implemented irrigation systems that channeled water from mountain streams to cultivate crops in the alluvial valley lands.
Young's direction extended to establishing a provisional state called Deseret in 1849, with him as governor, and later as governor of the territory of Utah. Although conflict arose between the Mormon settlers and the federal government, Young's leadership left a lasting impact on Utah's landscape, economy, and social structure.
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Brigham Young (born June 1, 1801, Whitingham, Vermont, U.S.—died August 29, 1877, Salt Lake City, Utah) was an American religious leader, second president of the Mormon church, and colonizer who significantly influenced the development of the American West.
A carpenter, joiner, painter, and glazier, Young settled in 1829 at Mendon, New York, near where the Book of Mormon was published in 1830. The book soon attracted Young’s interest, and he was baptized into Joseph Smith’s new church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) on April 14, 1832. In the spring of 1834 he joined in the march to Missouri to help dispossessed Mormons regain their lands. He was named third of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835. In 1838, when the Mormons were driven out of Missouri, Young, who had become senior member of the Quorum, directed the move to Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1839 he went to England, where he established a mission that contributed many British converts to the Mormon church in America and that opened the way to winning converts on the European continent, especially in Scandinavia.
When Joseph Smith was murdered (June 1844), Young was in Boston, pressing his leader’s presidential campaign. He returned to Nauvoo and took command of the church. In the face of mob pressure, he led the Mormons westward out of Illinois in 1846. He got no farther than the Missouri River that summer, but in 1847 he conducted a pioneer company to the Rocky Mountains. After selecting the site of Salt Lake City as a gathering place for the Mormons, Young returned to Winter Quarters (Florence, Nebraska, now a part of Omaha) and in December 1847 became president of the church. He returned to Utah with the Mormon emigration of 1848 and remained there for the rest of his life.
With Salt Lake City as the base for Mormon colonizing, Young dispatched missions not only in Utah but to areas now in California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming.
In 1849 the Mormons established the provisional state of Deseret, with Young as governor. The next year this area became the territory of Utah, again with Young as governor. He was appointed to a second term in 1854, but friction between the Mormons and the federal government led to U.S. Pres. James Buchanan’s decision to replace him, at which time (1857) an army was sent to establish the primacy of federal rule in Utah. Young never again held political office, but, as president of the Mormon church, he effectively ruled the people of Utah until his death.
An eminently practical man, Young made few doctrinal contributions. He was an iron-fisted administrator who stabilized Mormon society and gave it a cohesion made possible, in part, by its comparative isolation. Young encouraged education and the theatre, always stressed self-sufficiency, and became a notably wealthy man. Having accepted the doctrine of plural marriage, he took more than 20 wives and fathered 47 children.