From Deseret News archives:
Happy 200th to man who shaped Utah
The person recognized as the first prophet, seer and revelator of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was born two centuries ago in Sharon, Vt., on Dec. 23, 1805. All his life he veered westward, first to New York, then to Ohio, then to Missouri and Illinois. He died on June 27, 1844, a little more than three years before the first Mormon pioneers, almost all of whom knew him personally, entered and settled the Salt Lake Valley.
His death by mob murder in Carthage, Ill., started the chain reaction that reduced Nauvoo, Ill., the previous church headquarters, to ruins and sent the Latter-day Saints on their 1,200-mile pilgrimage to a place where no one would bother them, largely on account of the fact no one was here.
When Brigham Young, Joseph Smith's successor, stopped his wagon at the mouth of Emigration Canyon on July 24, 1847, and said this was that place, it was because the surrounding hills matched the vision of the Rocky Mountain City of Zion Joseph Smith had shared with him.
Appropriately enough, nowhere has the church's yearlong 200th birthday celebration for its founder gotten more play than the place where Joseph's church has lived on. Over the past 12 months, I think it's safe to say no one in history has had more red-punch toasts raised in his honor.
I chose to commemorate Joseph Smith's birthday by reading Richard Lyman Bushman's new Smith biography, "Rough Stone Rolling."
Ten years in the making, the book bills itself as "a cultural biography of Mormonism's founder" and even though Bushman, a Harvard graduate and history professor at Columbia University, is up front about being a "believing historian," he does a remarkable job of getting out of the way of his subject matter.
"For a character as controversial as Smith, pure objectivity is impossible," writes Bushman in his preface, "What I can do is to look frankly at all sides of Joseph Smith, facing up to his mistakes and flaws. Covering up errors makes no sense in any case. . . . Flawless characters are neither attractive nor useful."
The result is a comprehensive, almost exhaustive account of the 38 1/2 years Joseph Smith was alive the highs, the lows, and the polygamy all duly sourced and footnoted.
Comments
- Fire causes couple to relocate 5:07 p.m.
- Ex-rebel Uruguay's next president 4:54 p.m.
- Road rage leads to robbery, assault 4:41 p.m.
- AP: Eli Manning has stress reaction 4:38 p.m.
- Move over, Monopoly 4:16 p.m.
- Trains in gardens a hit 4:16 p.m.
- Trailers spoil the movie plots 4:16 p.m.
- Parents should listen to Lambert 4:15 p.m.
- Toys leave little to imagination 4:15 p.m.
- Holiday cards elicit complaints 4:15 p.m.
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- BYU is champion of the state
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- Credit Coug defense for win
- Field goals, penalties doomed Utes
- Cougar defense rose to occasion
- Marriage definitions vary widely
- Banged up Jazz get best of Blazers
- Jones' joy for life remembered
- Hall comes up big when it counts
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
714 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
465 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - BYU is champion of the state
126 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
117 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
115 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
113 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
90 - Hall's legacy measured today
77 - Y. focused on 10-win season
74
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
When I worked for 3Com, I was hired through a temp agency. My job was to fix...
Wow. . . I served in a Bishopric in Wyoming with Wyoming players who said the...
it seems that everyone on both sides seem to have a "good" reason for...
The fact is BYU beat a mediocre team to win the NC. NC aren't decided that...
So I guess it's ok for my me to teach my son to hate BYU fans and Mormons...
wonder why they're not undefeated? no class max is selish and looks out for...
To: So Then, 4:28 p.m. You need to get your facts correct. The American...
This hatred and lack of integrity all stems from the head coach of the BYU...
I want to apologize to the University of Utah and its team for Hall's...
Can you give specifics on Brian Johnson's comments (like articles, TV...



You can be the first to comment on this story.