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CHAPTER I I I MORMON TEMPORARY SHELTERS D u rin g i n i t i a l s e t t l e m e n t in t h e Mormon W est, c o l o n i s t s w ere f o r c e d s im u lta n e o u s ly t o c a r r y o u t a number o f u rg e n t ta s k s : p r e p a r a t i o n o f la n d f o r s e e d , d iv e r s io n o f w a te r f o r i r r i g a t i o n , a sse m b ly and p r e p a r a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s f o r c o n ­ s t r u c t i o n , and e r e c t i o n o f s im p le , te m p o ra ry s h e l t e r s . The c o n s t r u c t i o n o f su ch s h e l t e r s r e q u i r e d te m p o ra ry r e d u c tio n o f known f o l k h o u s in g i d e a l s ; no fa m ily c o u ld im m e d ia te ly b u ild t h e dream house i t s o u g h t o r a t t a i n e d i n Nauvoo o r K i r t l a n d . The i n i t i a l p h a se r e d u c tio n p ro c e s s was th e im p o r ta n t form a­ t i v e s ta g e i n th e em ergence i n Mormondom o f a c e r t a i n k in d o f a r e a l u n if o r m ity i n f o lk h o u s in g form , and a c r u c i b l e i n t o w hich p e o p le s o f d iv e r s e o r i g i n s w ere m erged i n t o a more u n i­ form w h o le. Many th o u s a n d s o f th e p a r t i c i p a n t s in i n i t i a l p h a se c o l o n i z a t i o n ( e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r 1850) had n e v e r e x p e r i ­ enced f r o n t i e r l i f e , fo rt. n e v e r s e e n a lo g c a b in , a d u g o u t, o r T hese new ly a r r i v e d members w ere d i r e c t e d t o t h e f r o n ­ t i e r by e x p e r ie n c e d f r o n tie r s m e n who p e r p e tu a te d th e tem po­ r a r y d w e llin g form m odels p a t t e r n e d a f t e r th e d w e llin g s o f t h e f i r s t S a lt. Lake V a lle y s e t t l e m e n t . The i d e n t i f i c a t i o n an d d e s c r i p t i o n o f te m p o ra ry s h e l t e r s in t h i s c h a p te r p ro v id e a b e t t e r u n d e rs ta n d in g o f t h e p r o c e s s e s f o s t e r i n g c o n fo rm ity i n f o l k h o u s in g , p ro v id e d a ta f o r a n a n a l y s i s o f th e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b etw een th e 110 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.