Sunstone Mormon History Podcast

  Join Lindsay and Bryan as they discuss the 19th century economies of indigenous trafficking in the American west, human enslavement and abuse and how Mormons contributed and impacted it. SHOWNOTES: "Redeeming" the Indian: The Enslavement of Indian Children in New Mexico and Utah by Sondra Jones Bancroft’s History of Utah Utah Indians and the Indian Slave Trade: The Mormon Adoption. Program and its Effect on the Indian Slaves by Robert M. Muhlestein. The Whites Want Every Thing: Indian-Mormon Relations, 1847–1877 (Volume 16) (Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier Series) by Will Bagley

Did you know that Brigham Young called people on official church missions to pan for filthy lucre? Come learn about the Gold Mission with Lindsay and Bryan. SHOWNOTES: The Mormon Gold-Mining Mission of 1849 by Eugene Campbell Bancroft’s history of Utah Kenneth Owens, Gold Rush Saints: California Mormons and the Great Rush for Riches Kenneth Davies and Lorin Hansen, Mormon Gold - Mormons in the California Gold Rush Contributing to the Development of California and the Monetary Solvency of Early Utah Erwin Gudde, Bigler's Chronicle of the West M. Guy Bishop, Henry William Bigler: Soldier, Gold Miner, Missionary, Chronicler

The sale of the Kirtland Temple from the Community of Christ to the LDS church has made headlines lately. Join Bryan and Lindsay as they discuss the long and storied history of the Kirtland Temple ownership. SHOWNOTES: Become a recurring donor at Sunstone.org Davis Bitton, “The Waning of Mormon Kirtland” Roger Launius, The Kirtland Temple: A Historical Narrative Christian Larsen, The Ancient Order of Things: Essays on the Mormon Temple Kim Loving, “Ownership of the Kirtland Temple: Legends, Lies, and Misunderstandings” David Howlett, Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space Jeff Walker, “The Kirtland Safety Society and the Fraud of Grandison Newell A Legal Examination”

Join Lindsay and Bryan as they talk about the state of Mormon historical source material. Does the LDS church hide its history? What sources are available? How do you check our work? We also discuss our new move to Youtube as well. SHOWNOTES: Youtube version of this episode Subscribe to Sunstone's youtube channel Become a recurring donor to Sunstone

Who were the real Mormons? We mean, the top-shelf kind? According to Brigham Young, any of the California Mormons couldn't pass muster. Join Lindsay and Bryan as they talk about the history of how California Mormons came to be. SHOWNOTES: Become a monthly donor here! Pictures of Fort San Bernardino Mormons Created and Then Abandoned San Bernardino The Rise and Decline of Mormon San Bernardino by Edward Leo Lyman The Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, 1851-1857  

Petty jokes about his name aside, who was Richard Ballantyne? Bryan and Lindsay dive into Brother Ballantyne and his history with the history of Sunday School in the Mormon church. Shownotes: DONATE TO SUNSTONE Richard Ballantyne founded the first sunday school in Utah 1897 Things You Didn’t Know (or May Have Forgotten) about Sunday School Mormon Sundays by William G. Hartley

Join Bryan and Lindsay for a special bonus episode! We were honored to talk with professors (and students) from Montana State (and several other universities ) about how we do responsible Mormon history. The panel, Believers and Skeptics in Mormon History has a youtube video which can be found here! Shownotes: Become a recurring donor today!

In this episode, Lindsay and Bryan discuss several expeditions, including the Stansbury Expedition and the Gunnison Expedition and Massacre. Each of these events had a profound effect on early Mormonism. SHOWNOTES: Howard Stansbury’s Expedition around the Great Salt Lake: An Examination of the Route and the Maps by Jesse G. Peterson John W.Gunnison's Letters To His Mormon Friend, Albert Carrington  Gunnison Indian Depredation clippings Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows Review By Thomas G. Alexander, Footnote History of Edward Steptoe Gunnison's book: The Mormons, or, Latter-day saints, in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake Gunnison Massacre Site “Proud as a Peacock and Ignorant as a Jackass”: William W. Drummond’s Unusual Career with the Mormons by Ronald Walker GUNNISON MASSACRE—1853—MILLARD COUNTY, UTAH—INDIAN MAREER'S VERSION OF THE TRAGEDY—1894 by Josiah Gibbs

Join Bryan and Lindsay for another episode of BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS, as they talk about an important (feminist) Mormon pioneer foremother, Emmeline B. Wells. SHOWNOTES: The Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History by Carol Cornwall Madsen An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870-1920 by Carol Cornwall Madsen Pedestals & Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority & Equal Rights by Martha Sonntag Bradley     

If you watched the recent Hulu hit, ABC's Daughters of the Cult about the complicated LeBaron family legacy, check out today's SMHP episode. In this special bonus episode, Bryan Buchanan and historian Cristina Rosetti dive into the early history of the family. If you're curious how Ervil LeBaron's murderous group got started, dive into this special episode.

Want to come to Zion? Don't have the cold, hard cash? No worries! Bryan and Lindsay will walk you through how to get there through the 1850's Perpetual Emigration Fund. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Bound for Zion: The Ten-and Thirteen- Pound Emigrating Companies, 1853-54 by Polly Aird Expectations Westward: The Mormons and the Emigration of Their British Converts in the Nineteenth Century by Philip A. M. Taylor

Some historians claim that whenever Mormons moved into town, the crime rate went up. Is it true? Did Mormonism make some prolific thieves and robbers? Join Lindsay and Bryan as they dive into the seedy story. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) John Hallwas and Roger Launius, Cultures in Conflict Bill Shepard, “Stealing at Mormon Nauvoo” Mormon Nauvoo and the Problem of Theft of Non-Mormon Property by Roger Launius John D. Lee Battalion notes by Juanita Brooks Let This Be a Warning to All N*****s by Connell O’Donovan

In the early days of the Utah territory, Mormon leaders decided to exterminate anything that got in the way of their plans to build their Kingdom of God. This episode delves into the ghastly execution of the Timpanogos tribe that occupied lands Mormons invaded. It also tells the story of the "Wasters & Destroyers" contest where Mormons devised a contest to kill as many animals as possible, which added to the devastation. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Daniel Hanmer Wells and Events of His Time The Whites Want Everything by Will Bagley A History of Utah's American Indians by Forrest S. Cuch The Wasters and Destroyers article, Utah Historical Quarterly 1994 - VOL LXII - No 1 A Historical Study of the Exploration of Utah Valley and the Story of Fort Utah  Ute perspectives of the Timpanogos Massacre Donate to the Timpanogos tribe

It's time for another episode of Before They Were Famous. This time we focus on the leader of the Nauvoo Legion, Daniel H. Wells and his role in many massacres against indigenous tribes. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Daniel Hanmer Wells and Events of His Time Defender by Quentin Wells Protecting the Home Front: The Utah Territorial Militia During the Civil War by Ephraim D. Dickson III Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2001), 255–57. Indigenous history of Battle Creek Massacre History of the Timpanogos tribe MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This - Guitar Percussion Cover

In 1849 the Mormons in Utah territory had big, big plans. Too-big-for-their-britches kinds of plans. They called it the State of Deseret and it didn't last long, at least in name. Join Bryan and Lindsay as they discuss this turbulent history and the secret shadow government that still continues in Utah today. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West 1847-1896

  It's the worst war in Mormon history: The Cricket War of 1849. Or is it 1851? (Wait, was it grasshoppers?) Lindsay and Bryan discuss the myth behind the famous lore of the Seagull and the Crickets. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Storytelling Through Brushstrokes: Minerva Teichert's Visualization of the Mormon Pioneer Experience and Messages to Her Audience by Amy L. Williamson Song: Seagulls and Crickets by the The Three D's Mormons, Crickets, and Gulls: A New Look At An Old Story by William Hartley

Alright kids, the pioneers have arrived in Zion. Now what? Lindsay and Bryan talk about their first year in the Great Salt Lake valley. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) A Banner is Unfurled by Ron Walker Sagwitch Bio Open Hand and Mailed Fist: Mormon-Indian Relations in Utah 1847-52 by Howard Christie Information on the different emigrant drop stations Indian Relations in Utah during the Civil War by Kenneth L. Alford

In this episode, Bryan and Lindsay discuss Orson Pratt and the reorganization of the First Presidency. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Buy the book! Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith by Gary Bergera

Well, that took forever... But Bryan and Lindsay finally brought the podcast to Zion! This episode covers the story of Brigham Young's vanguard wagon company as they arrive in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Now the fun can really begin! Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Historic Resource Study: Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail by Stanley Kimball Church overland trail database "This Is the Place": Myth and Mormondom by Richard C. Poulsen, Western Folklore, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul., 1977), pp. 246-252 Finalizing Plans for the Trek West: Deliberations at Winter Quarters, 1846-1847 by Richard E. Bennett, Brigham Young University Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Summer 1984), pp. 301-320 Violence and Disruptive Behavior on the Difficult Trail to Utah, 1847-1868 by David L. Clark, BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 4 (2014) The Pioneer Camp of the Saints: The 1846-1847 Mormon Trail Journals of Thomas Bullock by Will Bagley Intimate

Ever played the old PC game The Mormon Trail? Your ancestors played it in real life and this episode discusses what it was like for them. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in the comment section to say hi!) Historic Resource Study: Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail by Stanley Kimball Church overland trail database