According to Joseph Smith, he had a dream that told him to build a church. He built it and started preaching Mormon beliefs in western New York, 1830. Smith was imprisoned in Illinois for supporting polygamy (the idea that a man can have many wives) ; he was murdered in his cell.

A real photo of Smith's last moments

Brigham Young took his place in the Mormon church and lead them west near the Great Salt Lake in what is now called Utah. The Mormons left New York to go farther west in order to escape persecution and find religious freedom. In 1846, 12,000 Mormons made the journey to the Great Lakes; they reached their destination in 1847.

The land they had planned to build their settlement on was dry and barely suitable for farming. Through hard work and sweat, they made efficient farms and stable agricultural communities. They made sure to carefully plan their cities as you can see today in Salt Lake city.

Salt lake veiw

They made irrigation canals for their farms and put a tax on nearly every resource available, on property too. In order to be self sufficient they made industries to make products that they could trade with the states. They had a very organized and hardworking system in their community.

After the Mexican war in 1848, the Salt lake area expanded and gained more land. In 1850 congress established the area as a U.S. territory and Young became Utah's first governor.

A photo of Brigham Young