Santa Clara is a city in Washington County, Utah, United States and is a part of the St. George Metropolitan Area. The population was 7,553 at the 2020 census, up from 6,003 at the 2010 census, and 4,630 at the 2000 census. The city is a western suburb of St. George.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train. The massacre occurred in the southern Utah Territory at Mountain Meadows, and was perpetrated by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints involved with the Utah Territorial Militia who recruited and were aided by some Southern Paiute Native Americans. The wagon train, made up mostly of families from Arkansas, was bound for California, traveling on the Old Spanish Trail that passed through the Territory.
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 1995 until his death in January 2008 at age 97. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history until Russell M. Nelson surpassed his age in 2022.
Temple Square is a 10-acre (4.0 ha) complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately adjacent to Temple Square. Contained within Temple Square are the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake Assembly Hall, the Seagull Monument, and two visitors' centers. The square was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1964, recognizing the Mormon achievement in the settlement of Utah.
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Beehive House was one of the official residences of Brigham Young, the second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The Beehive House gets its name from the beehive sculpture atop the house.
Jacob Hamblin was a Western pioneer, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a diplomat to various Native American tribes of the Southwest and Great Basin. He aided European-American settlement of large areas of southern Utah and northern Arizona, where he was seen as an honest broker between Latter-day Saint settlers and the Natives. He is sometimes referred to as the "Buckskin Apostle", or the "Apostle to the Lamanites". In 1958, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Ira Hatch was an American Mormon missionary. He spoke 13 languages and spent most of his life working with the Native Americans of Southern Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. One of Hatch's wives was Miraboots, also known as Sarah Dyson, who was a Paiute. He was one of the founding fathers of Ramah, New Mexico.
The Gardo House was a Gilded Age mansion in Salt Lake City, Utah. Built from 1873 to 1883, it became the official residence of the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the tenures of John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff. It was later occupied by several different families from Salt Lake City's high society, before being demolished in 1921 to make way for the Federal Reserve's Salt Lake City branch building.
Florence Smith Jacobsen was an American religious leader associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who served as the sixth General President of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association (YWMIA) from 1961 to 1972.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an armed confrontation in Utah Territory between the United States Army and Mormon Settlers. In the summer of 1857, however, Mormons experienced a wave of war hysteria, expecting an all-out invasion of apocalyptic significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders prepared Mormons for a seven-year siege predicted by Brigham Young. Mormons were to stockpile grain, and were prevented from selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.
The pursuit of the perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows massacre, which atrocity occurred September 11, 1857, had to await the conclusion of the American Civil War to begin in earnest.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the second-largest religious denomination in Arizona, behind the Roman Catholic Church. In 2022, the church reported 439,411 members in Arizona, about 6% of the state's population. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, roughly 5% of Arizonans self-identify most closely with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1857, at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Brigham Young, was serving as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as Governor of Utah Territory. He was replaced as governor the following year by Alfred Cumming. Evidence as to whether or not Young ordered the attack on the migrant column is conflicted. Historians still debate the autonomy and precise roles of local Cedar City LDS Church officials in ordering the massacre and Young's concealing of evidence in its aftermath. Young's use of inflammatory and violent language in response to a federal expedition to the territory added to the tense atmosphere at the time of the attack. After the massacre, Young stated in public forums that God had taken vengeance on the Baker–Fancher party. It is unclear whether Young held this view because of a possible belief that this specific group posed a threat to colonists or that they were responsible for past crimes against Mormons. According to historian William P. MacKinnon, "After the war, Buchanan implied that face-to-face communications with Brigham Young might have averted the Utah War, and Young argued that a north–south telegraph line in Utah could have prevented the Mountain Meadows Massacre."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Utah. Utah has more church members than any other U.S. state or country. The LDS Church is also the largest denomination in Utah.
The Brigham Young Winter Home and Office is a historic house museum located in St. George, Utah. The home and office once belonged to Brigham Young, the foremost Mormon pioneer and second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During Young's later years, his arthritis precluded him from spending winters in the Salt Lake City region, so a winter home in St. George—located in the arid Dixie region of the state—was acquired. He seasonally occupied the property from 1873 to 1877.
The Council House, often called the State House, was the first public building in Utah; being constructed in 1849–50. The building stood in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, on the corner of Main Street and South Temple Street. On June 21, 1883 the building was destroyed when a neighboring wagon depot caught fire and several barrels of gunpowder exploded, spreading the fire to the Council House.
The Mormon Pioneer Memorial Monument is a private cemetery and memorial. It is the burial site of Brigham Young and several of his wives and children. Part of the property was dedicated to the Mormon pioneers who died making the journey to Utah from Illinois and other parts of the world between 1847 and 1869.
The Brigham Young Forest Farmhouse is a historic home in Salt Lake City, Utah. The building was once owned by Brigham Young, an early leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and first governor of Utah Territory. Built between 1861 and 1863, it was located on Young's Forest Farm near the southern boundary of Salt Lake City. Restored from 1969 to 1970, the home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and subsequently relocated to This Is the Place Heritage Park in 1975.
