Driving through some small towns in Central Utah, I couldn't help but wonder if anyone would have chosen to settle in some of those areas if they had not been commanded to do so. Lack of water is a real problem in some areas. My question is, did TSSC mess with the way the Western United States should have been settled?

Is there a proper way the Western US "should" have been settled?

There were about 70,000 mormon immigrants to Utah. Compare that with the nearly a million who came on the Oregon Trail and to California before and during the Gold Rush. The country was moving westward - if the mormons hadn't gotten there first, it would have eventually filled in with other immigrants. I don't think they messed anything up.

I guess I just don't see the allure of the arid landscape. When I see a dying little town, where the residents are trying to grow lawns inspite of the fact that they are going to face water rationing at some point during the summer, I wonder why?

Why is there a town in the middle of no where without the kind of resources that would allow a town to grow.

Why are the people trying to make the dessert blossom like a rose instead of embracing the landscape in it's natural state?

It just looks like a difficult life and I wonder if people would have chosen that life if it had not been thrust upon them.

The towns in the middle of nowhere were built to accommodate the telegraph. There had to be a station every 50 miles for it to work, so the mormons settled every 50 miles from SLC down to SoCal.

The only real impacts I've seen is that in many areas Mormons settled, the downtown areas have letter streets and everything is in a grid pattern. San Bernardino, CA has a downtown like that, and it was that way because of Mormon influence. One thing I have noticed in Mormon founded Las Vegas, people have learned that lawns waste water, so most people have gravel and desert plants in their front yards.

One mans "middle of nowhere" is another mans paradise...Yes, Utah would have been settled whether Mormons came here or not. It still was available land, rich with mineral resources...I was raised in Utah and always loved it...Just because it may not be for you doesn't mean it isn't a good thing for others..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2013 03:59PM by whiskeytango.

I hear all the arguments, but didn't the Western United States have an indigenous culture that had managed to thrive there for thousands of years, despite not having access to modern plumbing and air conditioning?

I fail to see how the West is inhospitable for people.

It's a matter of preference...Some people are desert people,some are Eastern people and some favor the coast....

A number of counties in Utah are on water rationing today and it is only July l. I'm just saying that a prophet should have known where to put his people so that they would have water. I guess the people in Utah haven't been paying their tithing.

I will admit that I am not a dessert person, but even dessert people need water to live.

But not as much as we need chocolate...