Book Description
“The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.”
(John F Kennedy, President of the United States)
Since its inception nearly two hundred years ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormons) has been subjected to continuous persecution: members imprisoned and murdered, their homes looted, and their churches burnt, sometimes with the approbation of government authorities.
Few people, however, realise that during the nineteenth century, this ‘American’ church was in fact mainly British. Tens of thousands of British citizens became converts, mostly choosing to ‘gather’ in America.
There, the Saints’ unity in religious, political, and economic belief aroused animosity among their neighbours, escalating into violent confrontation. In 1848, encouraged by a state extermination order, a mob drove them out of Illinois. What followed was a historic migration across the plains of North America to a desert valley in the Rocky Mountains, founding what is now the State of Utah.
Over the next few years, thousands more followed, many walking 1,300 miles and suffering severe hardship on the way. From the Salt Lake Valley, they spread outwards, settling over six hundred towns and cities, including Las Vegas and San Francisco.
This is their story, that of the British Latter-day Saints: their background, conversion, decision to ‘gather’, and experiences as pioneers in the ‘Wild West’.
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