From polygamy to propriety

摘要

Near the edge of Temple Square in Salt Lake City is an unobtrusive statue of a man pulling a wooden handcart, with his family walking beside him. It com-memorates a trek more gru-elling than the tourists who gawp at it can imagine. The early Mormons were not popular. They formed an exclusive, polygamous community with a militia and territorial ambitions. The governor of Missouri, Lil-burn Boggs, called for them to be "exterminated or driven from the state". Their prophet, Joseph Smith, was shot dead by a lynch mob in 1844. After his murder, his followers embarked on a great exodus.