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Show characterized by crisis and change. 28 After about 1880, the Mormons found themselves forced to confront issues which had been forgotten or ignored during the exigencies of pioneering a new land. As the frontier period came to a close, it became increasingly clear that the same old issues that had plagued the Kingdom in the east were indeed alive and well in the Great Basin. 29 The separation of church and state, the practice of the doctrine of plural marriage, economic compet ition between Mormons and Gentiles, communitarian ideals versus personal ambitions--all were problems that the Church had faced before and had generally circumvented by moving to another location. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, however, there was no place left to go. Zion had been established in the Rocky Mountains and as pressure for change intensified, decisions had to be made between maintaining the distinctive principles of the church and preserving the institution of the church itself. In the end, Church leaders chose the latter course--Mormonism survived but it was a changed religion. The Church abdicated its direct role in government affairs, the principle of polygamy, so vital to the concept of restoring the ancient church to the earth~ was disavowed, Mormon and Gentile merchants joined forces in the capitalization of the economy, and the communitarian programs of the United Order were abandoned. 30 In 1896, Utah was admitted to the Union and the Kingdom Building phase of Mormon history came to an end. In the Sanpete Valley, the sweeping changes of the period were felt perhaps less directly than in the metropolitan area of Salt Lake City, Rival political parties sprang up where before there had been only a Church party. 31 Polygamists ceased but change occurred nonetheless. being arrested and were seen building small, separate homes for their 77 |
