University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Carthage (Joseph Smith Murder) Trial (1845)
One of the most consequential crimes in American history occurred on a summer day in 1844 when a mob stormed a jail in Carthage, Illinois and murdered Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. The killing of Joseph Smith, the charismatic...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Heritage Gateways: Food
Click through eighteen pages of information about food and cooking as it was experienced by people traveling by wagon train to Utah, and as they began to settle into homesteads and communities. This site began as part of the 1997...
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Mountain Meadows Massacre (1875 76)
Called "the darkest deed of the nineteenth century," the brutal 1857 murder of 120 men, women, and children at a place in southern Utah called Mountain Meadows remains one of the most controversial events in the history of the American...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: John Mayfield, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
An essay in which historian John Mayfield claims Americans' evangelical passion is the "religious equivalent of nationalism."
OpenStax
Open Stax: Antebellum Communal Experiments
Read this section of a chapter on "Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses" to identify similarities and differences among utopian groups of the antebellum era and explain how religious utopian communities differed from nonreligious ones.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Great Salt Lake
This resource provides a natural and human history of the Great Salt Lake.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Statehood for Utah
This site provides discussion of Utah statehood from the Encyclopedia of Utah History.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Utah War
This resource provides information about the Utah War.
Brigham Young University
Library of Congress: Maps: Their Use by Overlanders
Did the settlers know where they were going when they headed west? This site gives an explanation of maps that were used during the westward movement.
Other
Gold Rush Chronicles: The Pony Express
At this comprehensive site, students learn about the first cross-country mail courier service in the United States, the Pony Express.
Northern Arizona University
People of the Colorado Plateau: The Ute Indians
A concise but detailed history and culture of the Ute Indians.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Utah State History for Kids
Kids learn about the history and timeline of the state of Utah including early explorers, Native Americans, the Mormons, and becoming a state.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Equal Rights Amendment
This resource discusses the failed attempts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States, with a focus on the Mormon perspective.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Utopian Communities, 1800 1890
This site is a lesson plan for students to follow for an assignment dealing with Utopian communities but it does include some background on some of the various Utopian communities of the 19th century.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Second Great Awakening
An overview of the Second Great Awakening discussing the different aspects of the revival in New England, western New York, and in the Appalachian region. The article includes information about the work of Charles Finney, the Latter-Day...
Other
Latter Day Saints: The Testimony of Joseph Smith
This article is from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints homepage. It concerns the beliefs of their leader Joseph Smith.
Other
Vermont History: Brigham Young (1801 1877)
A short introduction to Brigham Young. While Young is most closely associated with Utah, he was born and raised in Vermont.
Curated OER
Joseph Smith Biography
An in-depth biography on the life of Joseph Smith beginning at his upbringing as a child up until his death at the hands of an angry mob.
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Illinois: Nauvoo Historic District
A historic district based around a 19th century Mormon settlement; beginning of the Mormon Trail.
Curated OER
The Journey by Land
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses where people came from and the many routes that were taken to get to California. Many traveled the Mormon and Oregon Trails.
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: Distribution of Population , 1850
A map of the United States showing the population distribution in 1850. The map is coded to show population densities ranging from under 2 inhabitants per square mile to over 90 inhabitants per square mile. The map illustrates the...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Utah, 1898
A map from 1898 of Utah showing the capital at Salt Lake City, principal cities and towns, railroads, mountains, lakes, rivers, and the Great American Desert to the west of Salt Lake. "Settled 1848 at Salt Lake by Mormons from Illinois,...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Utah, 1904
A map from 1904 of Utah showing the capital at Salt Lake City, counties and county seats, principal cities and towns, railroads, mountains, rivers, and the Salt Lake desert region. "Utah was organized as a Territory in 1850. Area, 84,970...