Establishing a Territory

1847

In July 1847, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) began settling the Salt Lake Valley. At that time, almost all of the people living in the region were Indigenous communities. Mexico owned all of the land from Colorado to California, including Utah, but very few Latinos lived in this part of Northern Mexico.

1848

In 1848, the United States won the Mexican-American War. As part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico lost all of its northern territory, including Utah, to the United States. Suddenly, this land became part of America. The leaders of the LDS church quickly began planning a strategy to become a state.

1849

Church leaders hosted a constitutional convention to write a constitution for the new state. They wanted to name the state “Deseret,” and it would have been huge. It would have included Utah, most of Nevada and Arizona, and parts of southern California, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Idaho.

They also elected leaders for the State of Deseret, with church president Brigham Young as governor. They sent Almon Babbitt to Washington D.C. as their state representative. But the U.S. House of Representatives would not give him a seat, because the State of Deseret had not been approved by Congress.

1850

Congress didn’t want to create such a huge state. In addition, southern states and northern states had been fighting about whether slavery would be allowed in new states in the West. As part of the Compromise of 1850, Congress formed the Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory. Each could vote for themselves whether to allow slavery. 

Utah Territory was smaller than the State of Deseret, but it was much larger than today’s state of Utah.

US President Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young as territorial governor. He also appointed other territorial officials. Some of them were members of the LDS church, and others weren’t.

The LDS settlers didn’t like some of these appointed officials. They wanted to be able to elect their own government. To do this, Utah would have to be a state, not a territory.