Latter-day Saints brought distinctive ideas about Native peoples with them as they settled the Great Basin. While those ideas had scant influence on the initial trajectory of conflict and conquest, they mitigated Mormon-Native relations after the earliest years of settlement. This talk will contrast Brigham Young’s policy toward Natives during an 1850 military operation in Utah Valley with his leadership during the 1865 Black Hawk War.
John G. Turner is Professor of Religious Studies and History at George Mason University. He is the author of several books, including Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet and They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty. Yale University Press will publish his biography of Joseph Smith next summer.
Part of our fall 2024 lecture series, "Legacies of Colonialism."
Sponsored by the Kennedy Center for International Studies, the American Studies program, and the History Department.