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Show AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF UTAH, THE MORMONS, AND THE WEST Why a p e r s o n a l approach? With a n c e s t o r s who occupied "bounty l a n d s " in e a r l y Arkansas T e r r i t o r y , and w i t h p a r e n t s who became c o n v e r t s to Mormonism in Arkansas and l a t e r moved t o the "Far West," I f e e l t h a t I have been a p a r t of both the "Westward Movement" and t h e "Gathering to Zion„" Also both Dr. C. Gregory Crampton, chairman of my d o c t o r a l committee, and Dr. Leland H. C r e e r , a member of my committee and Chairman of the H i s t o r y Department, did t h e ir d o c t o r a l work under P r o f e s s o r Herbert E. Bolton at the U n i v e r s i ty of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley. Their Spanish Borderlands and American West i n f l u e n c e , along with the t r a i n i n g on Utah and the Mormons under Dr. David E. M i l l e r , leads me t o s e a r c h for the broader background a g a i n s t which the events t h a t t r a n s p i r e d in Utah-Mormon h i s t o ry too k p l a c e . The Mormons became involved in the g e n e r a l movement westward. An u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the h i s t o r y of the American West has helped me with the study of Mormon h i s t o r y . Thus works r e l a t i n g to Utah, the Mormons, and the West are included t o g e t h e r here because I b e l i e v e t h a t the knowledge of Utah and the West a r e n e c e s s a ry background to the r e s e a r c h and w r i t i n g of Mormon h i s t o r y. The keeping of r e c o r d s by the Church of Jesus C h r i s t of L a t t e r - d a y S a i n t s began w i t h the appointment of Oliver Cowdery as Church Recorder on the date of the o r g a n i z a t i o n of the Church, April 6, 1830. The following e x c e r p t s from the Doctrine and Covenants r e f e r to t h i s a s s i g n m e n t , and to the t r a n s f e r of the appointment |