Inspired by the 1996 sesquicentennial of the arrival of the Brooklyn, the ship that brought almost two hundred Latter-day Saints to the shores of the Golden State, California is an impressive addition to the Regional Studies series and has many interesting stories to tell. Since the arrival of those first Saints, California has witnessed important events in both national and Church history. The book's fifteen articles treat subjects as diverse as the march of the Mormon Battalion, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the riots that erupted in Los Angeles following the Rodney King trial. Organized chronologically, the essays present a myriad of images, each one adding a distinctive flavor. Eliminating any single essay would leave the work incomplete. The contributors bring to the volume numerous approaches and perspectives, giving the reader a taste of the richness and variety that has characterized the Saints' experiences in California. With some articles focusing on individuals, others on groups or events, and all demonstrating the Golden State's significant role in the past, present, and future of the Church, California is never boring. However, with the exception of the article by Richard Holzapfel, the volume might have benefited from illustrations that would give life to lengthy descriptions of people and places.

Regional Studies in LDS Church History: California

History

World

Brigham Young Univ Press

In 1855, LDS Church President Brigham Young declared that “Iron we need and iron we must have.” The mid-nineteenth century Mormon pioneers of Utah depended on the metal, using it in the manufacture of stoves, plows, sawmill bearings, even nails. Shipping iron from St. Louis was expensive, and Young envisioned a regional iron works that would meet the community’s needs and make the Mormon Zion self-sufficient. The LDS Iron Mission was established in April of 1850 in southern Utah and, for the next decade, this colony of hard-working Saints tested a variety of smelting techniques, yielding objects such as pots, crank shafts, and bells. Despite sustained, even heroic, efforts, the iron missionaries did not succeed. Nature itself worked against them. Droughts, floods, and inferior raw materials challenged them at every turn. The iron works closed in 1858, but its legacy remains today in townships that have survived for over 150 years. A Trial Furnace chronicles the lives of the people who discovered an inner strength and resilience more durable than the iron they went south to find. Distributed for BYU Studies.

A Trial Furnace: Southern Utah's Iron Mission (Studies in Latter-Day Saint History)

Morris A. Shirts

Kathryn H. Shirts

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Books by Brigham Young Univ Press

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Regional Studies in LDS Church History: California

A Trial Furnace: Southern Utah's Iron Mission (Studies in Latter-Day Saint History)