Customer Reviews

Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847-1896

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I agreed with the previous reviewers in saying that this is one of the best books regarding the theocratic state that the Mormons tried to create during their early territorial years. The book does a wonderful job contrasting the theocratic values of the Mormon's ideal world to the republican ideology of the United States at that time.

The key figure of this book proves to be the theocratic dictator of Utah Territory, Brigham Young, prophet and president of the LDS. Its pretty clear by the book that Young saved his church from destruction and with his single-minded clarity of mission, managed to saved Utah for the Mormons. But in doing so, he committed himself to unforgivable sins, worst being the cover-up of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. But it was also interesting how he created a shadow government to off set the loss of formal position. But to paraphase one of the quotes from the book, "I may be the governor of the territory but Young is the govenor of the people" (close?). His defense of polygamy aided the enemies of his church and his willingness to over looked the misdeeds of his underlings marked him as a great but deeply flawed man. The book covered this struggled between Young and all his foes who stood against his theocratic dictatorship.

The book appears to be very well researched, clearly written and easy to read. Its an interesting read of Utah's politics, wars and religious conflicts as the Mormons slowly but surely, began to assimulated into the American society.

Bigler accomplishes what he set out to do. He has created an integrated picture of the "State of Deseret," a frontier government ruled by God through Brigham Young. Other books have treated various aspects of 19th Century Utah from the time of the arrival of the Mormons in 1847 until statehood in 1896. Bigler goes a step further and brings together these many historical threads into a well-crafted product. It gives the reader an excellent feel for life in Utah during its tumultuous first 50 years.

Westerners International gave David L. Bigler's Forgotten Kingdom its Best Book award for 1998.

Will Bagley, Series Editor

My interest in this book was triggered by an encounter with a brother-in-law who denied any blood-atonment incidents in the early Basin Kingdom. I knew otherwise from reading Mike Quinn and Mountain Meadows history. Forgotten Kingdom was a good dispassionate source confimring the rough-and-tumble times of early Utah. Full-fledged democratic institutions hadn't yet taken shape in the US generally, much less on the frontier, much less in a territory dominated by a theocratic kingdom not yet ready to accommodate outsiders. Violence was a part of life, just as it is now (only more institutionalized now).

I didn't sense any particular ideology or ax to grind. You don't get that voyeuristic feel of sensationalism that you might with a less sympathetic view. Biglet lets the story tell itself. He doesn't pull punches or whitewash, but neither does he judge from a 21st century view how these frontiersmen made do in their lives. The most important thing I look for when I read a history is a sympathetic storyteller - someone who doesn't judge participants from a narrow point of view. Bigler's history is sympathetic and compassionate.

I have ancestors who settled in southern Utah, and Bigler helps me understand better what they went through. The vision of an independent kingdom of God was doomed from the start, for the same reasons that it failed in Ohio, Missour, and Illinois, You can't help but admire the audacity and tenacity of these early settlers, though. Forgotten Kingdom does a useful services by shedding light on these times.

If you are looking for a comprehensive and accurate history (1847-1896) of the Mormons this book is the one to buy. David Bigler's ability to accurately research and write about Mormon history is second to none. From the discovery of gold at John Sutter and James Marshall's lumber mill to the Mountain Meadows Massacre this book covers some of the most important events in the history of the United States.

This important and seminal work should be required for those interested in or those currently studying Mormonism and its forgotten legacy to western America.

Beggining with the Arrival of the Mormons in 1847 and the creation of the state of Deseret we are taken through the many twists and turns of the Mormon effort to establish a country west of the mississippi. Truly a tale of endurance and originality. This was the only state ever created in the americas not relying on colinialism to create it. Here the 'Saints' built schools, railroads and an army. The settled the land from California to Nevada to Arizona and beyond. The almost came to war with the American government in 1858. Some mormons massacred a group of Gentiles traveling through Utah(but gee history seems to have forgotten the massacres of mormons back east). We learn of the regime of Young.

The book details the indian wars and immigration. Like estbalishing the state of Israel by the Jews, these pioneers esablished their own Zion which in many ways parrallels the creatiion of the Jewish state a 100 years later.

This bridges the gap between the mormon histories of Nauvoo, the hero making of Orrin Port Rockwell, and the modern mormon books that detail the power and secrecy of the chruch. This book also goes beyond the sensationalistic accounts of the Mountain Meadows Massacre(titled 'American Massacre' it would have been more aptly named for the Waco massacre in 93.)

An important book, well written and structured so as to make it easy for the reader to grasp.