Deseret
Quick Summary
Deseret was a proposed U.S. state organized in 1849 by Mormon settlers. It was intended to encompass a vast territory west of the Rocky Mountains, including most of present-day Utah and parts of several other western states. The word "Deseret" comes from the Book of Mormon and signifies "honeybee," representing industry.12
The U.S. Congress refused to recognize this proposed state. Mormon leaders' subsequent bids for statehood between 1856 and 1887 were also rejected. Congress required the discontinuation of the church's political involvement, a shift away from an exclusively Mormon economy, and the end of polygamy before assenting to Utah's statehood. The area was eventually organized as the Utah Territory.23
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UtahMormon settlement and territorial growth…as the intermountain empire, or Deseret, the latter the name of a proposed state that incorporated most of present-day Arizona and Nevada, portions of Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and approximately one-third of California. Immigrant converts continued to stream into Utah from Europe (especially from Scandinavia and the United…
Read More…as the intermountain empire, or Deseret, the latter the name of a proposed state that incorporated most of present-day Arizona and Nevada, portions of Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and approximately one-third of California. Immigrant converts continued to stream into Utah from Europe (especially from Scandinavia and the United…
Read More- UtahStatehood of Utah
…in 1849 under the name Deseret, a word from the sacred Book of Mormon meaning “honeybee” and signifying industry. This bid was rejected, as were the efforts of five subsequent constitutional conventions between 1856 and 1887. Before the U.S. Congress and the national administration would assent to statehood for Utah,…
Read More…in 1849 under the name Deseret, a word from the sacred Book of Mormon meaning “honeybee” and signifying industry. This bid was rejected, as were the efforts of five subsequent constitutional conventions between 1856 and 1887. Before the U.S. Congress and the national administration would assent to statehood for Utah,…
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