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Show Chapter II Gathering Zion: The History of Early Mormonism The settlement of the Sanpete Valley during the second half of the nineteenth century was part of the larger attempt by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons , to build a . millennial Kingdom of God in the Great Basin region of Utah and surrounding states. This kingdom, a latter-day Zion, was for the faithful an earthly realm whose perfection would hasten the arrival of the expected Second Coming of Christ and over which the Savior would reign during the millenium. In their kingdom building efforts, the early Mormons shareq with other millenarian groups the belief that a new vision of heaven must be accompanied by a reformed and restructured social organization on earth. Zion would be composed of the righteous and "pure in heart, 111 but it was also a "people who shall have their abiding place in the mountains, and who shall build a city that shall be called Zion. 112 For Mormons in the nineteenth century, Zion possessed a dual identity: it was at once internally spiritual and externally material. It is this latter, physical manifestation of Zion, in practice, the Mormon community·, which forms the subject of this study. I have attempted in this chap\er to trace the historical development of Zion as the conceptual framework around which nineteenth century Mormon society was organized. The people who settled the Sanpete Valley were but one small group of actors in the unfolding of a much larger drama, their roles carefully scripted by their belief in the restoration of 32 |
