Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven Plot Summary

Introduction

In the spring of 1820, a fourteen-year-old farm boy named Joseph Smith walked into a grove of trees in upstate New York to pray. What happened next would launch one of America's most distinctive religious movements and set in motion a fascinating historical struggle between religious identity and social integration. The Mormon experience in America represents a profound case study in how religious communities navigate the competing demands of maintaining their distinctive beliefs while adapting to broader social pressures. Throughout their nearly two-century history, Mormons have faced a fundamental dilemma: how much of their unique identity must be sacrificed for acceptance in American society? This tension has shaped every aspect of Mormon development, from their early persecution and westward migration to their eventual mainstream acceptance and the emergence of fundamentalist splinter groups determined to preserve traditional practices at any cost. By examining this religious journey, readers will gain insight into broader questions about religious freedom, cultural assimilation, and the powerful role of faith communities in American life. This historical narrative offers valuable perspective for anyone interested in understanding how religious groups balance tradition and adaptation in a pluralistic society.

Chapter 1: Origins: Joseph Smith's Vision and Early Persecution (1820-1844)

The story of Mormonism begins during America's Second Great Awakening, a period of intense religious revival that swept across the United States in the early nineteenth century. In this atmosphere of spiritual fervor, young Joseph Smith claimed a remarkable divine encounter. According to his account, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision, instructing him to join none of the existing churches as they had all fallen into error. This extraordinary claim marked the beginning of a new religious movement that would face intense persecution from its earliest days. By 1823, Smith reported receiving visitations from an angel named Moroni, who directed him to ancient gold plates buried in a nearby hill. These plates, which Smith claimed to translate through divine power, became The Book of Mormon, published in 1830. That same year, Smith formally organized the Church of Christ (later renamed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) with just six official members. The fledgling faith grew rapidly, attracting converts with its claims of restored gospel truths, modern revelation, and a distinctly American religious narrative that placed Native Americans as descendants of ancient Israelites. As Smith's followers increased in number, so did opposition from neighbors who viewed the new religion with suspicion and hostility. The Mormons established communities first in Ohio, then Missouri, and finally Illinois, facing escalating persecution at each location. In Missouri, conflicts culminated in an "extermination order" issued by Governor Lilburn Boggs in 1838, declaring that Mormons "must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state." This forced exodus led the Saints to establish Nauvoo, Illinois, which quickly grew into a thriving city with its own university, militia, and temple under construction. During the Nauvoo period, Smith secretly introduced controversial theological innovations, including plural marriage (polygamy) and temple rituals that promised eternal progression toward godhood. These practices, revealed only to a select inner circle, would later become defining features of Mormon theology but also sources of intense conflict. Smith's growing political power alarmed many non-Mormons, especially when he announced his candidacy for U.S. president in 1844. Internal dissent also emerged when some of Smith's closest associates learned about polygamy and other controversial doctrines. The mounting tensions reached their climax when dissidents published a newspaper exposing Smith's secret teachings. Smith ordered the printing press destroyed, leading to his arrest and imprisonment in Carthage, Illinois. On June 27, 1844, an armed mob with blackened faces stormed the jail, shooting and killing Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. This martyrdom, rather than destroying the movement, transformed Smith into a powerful symbol of sacrifice for the faithful and cemented the Mormons' self-perception as a persecuted people. The violent death of their prophet would profoundly shape Mormon identity and set the stage for their epic journey westward under new leadership.

Chapter 2: Exodus and Kingdom: Brigham Young's Theocratic Vision (1844-1877)

Following Joseph Smith's martyrdom, the Mormon community faced a leadership crisis that threatened to tear the movement apart. Several claimants emerged, but Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, ultimately secured control through a combination of organizational skill, charismatic leadership, and his willingness to continue Smith's controversial practices. Under Young's direction, the Mormons embarked on an unprecedented religious migration that would fundamentally reshape their identity and relationship with American society. In February 1846, the first wagons crossed the frozen Mississippi River, beginning what would become one of the largest organized migrations in American history. Over the next two decades, approximately 70,000 Mormon pioneers traveled west along what became known as the Mormon Trail. This journey was not merely a physical relocation but a profound psychological and spiritual transformation. Young meticulously organized the migration into "companies" of wagons with military-like precision, demonstrating his extraordinary administrative abilities. On July 24, 1847, Young entered the Salt Lake Valley and declared, "This is the right place," establishing what Mormons hoped would be a permanent refuge beyond the reach of persecution. In the Great Basin, Young implemented a theocratic vision he called "the Kingdom of God," where religious and civil authority were effectively unified. As both church president and territorial governor (until removed by federal authorities in 1857), Young directed an ambitious colonization program, dispatching settlers to establish more than 350 communities throughout the Intermountain West. These settlements followed a distinctive pattern with wide streets laid out in a grid, centrally located temples or meetinghouses, and irrigation systems that transformed desert into farmland. Young's famous directive, "It is better to feed the Indians than to fight them," reflected a pragmatic approach to Native American relations that, while paternalistic, avoided some of the bloodshed common on other frontiers. The Mormon commonwealth in Utah represented a radical alternative to American individualism and capitalism. Young implemented cooperative economic enterprises and attempted to establish the United Order, a form of consecration where members dedicated their property to the church. Though these communal experiments achieved mixed results, they reflected the Mormon desire to build a self-sufficient Zion society separate from what they viewed as a corrupt outside world. Young famously declared, "We are not going to wait for angels, or for Enoch and his company to come and build up Zion, but we are going to build it ourselves." This period of isolation and independence could not last indefinitely. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought the Utah Territory under U.S. jurisdiction, and the 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad ended Mormon geographical isolation. Increasing federal pressure, particularly regarding polygamy, forced the Mormon community to begin a long process of accommodation with American society. When Young died in 1877, he left behind a well-established religious commonwealth, but one facing existential challenges to its most distinctive practices. His successors would need to navigate the difficult balance between maintaining Mormon identity and adapting to the demands of the larger society—a tension that continues to shape Mormon experience to the present day.

Chapter 3: Federal Conflict: The Polygamy Crisis and Accommodation (1862-1890)

The practice of plural marriage, publicly acknowledged by the church in 1852, placed Mormons on a collision course with the federal government and American society at large. Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, Congress passed increasingly stringent anti-polygamy legislation, beginning with the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862. These laws proved difficult to enforce initially, as prosecutors needed to prove actual marriage ceremonies had occurred, and Mormon communities protected their polygamous members through silence and evasion. The Reynolds v. United States Supreme Court decision in 1879 delivered a crushing blow to Mormon hopes for religious exemption, establishing that while religious belief was protected by the Constitution, religious practice could be regulated by the government. The conflict escalated dramatically with the passage of the Edmunds Act (1882) and Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887). These laws made "unlawful cohabitation" a crime, disenfranchised polygamists, dissolved the church's legal corporation, confiscated church property exceeding $50,000, and required loyalty oaths from voters and public officials. Federal marshals conducted raids throughout Mormon settlements, forcing men with multiple wives to live "on the underground"—constantly moving between safe houses to avoid arrest. Approximately 1,300 Mormon men were imprisoned for polygamy-related offenses during this period, while others fled to Mexico and Canada to establish colonies beyond U.S. jurisdiction. The Mormon response to this federal pressure evolved over time. Initially, church leaders defiantly proclaimed their right to practice their religion regardless of secular law. John Taylor, who succeeded Brigham Young as church president, declared, "I cannot, in justice to myself, in justice to my family, in justice to the principles of my religion, in justice to the commandments of God, dishonor and throw away those principles." Taylor died in hiding in 1887, still refusing to compromise on what Mormons called "the Principle." The church challenged anti-polygamy laws in court but lost repeatedly, with the Supreme Court ultimately upholding the government's right to dissolve the church corporation and seize its assets. By 1890, the Mormon church faced an existential crisis. Its assets had been confiscated, its leaders were in prison or hiding, and Utah's application for statehood had been repeatedly rejected. On September 24, 1890, President Wilford Woodruff issued what became known as "the Manifesto," officially ending the church's sanction of new plural marriages. In this carefully worded document, Woodruff declared his intention to submit to the laws of the land and advised all Latter-day Saints to refrain from contracting marriages forbidden by law. Though presented as divine revelation, the Manifesto was fundamentally a pragmatic surrender to overwhelming federal power. The abandonment of polygamy marked a crucial turning point in Mormon history—the beginning of accommodation with American society rather than opposition to it. This compromise paved the way for Utah's statehood in 1896 and the church's gradual integration into mainstream American life. However, it also created deep fissures within Mormon culture. Many devout members who had suffered imprisonment and exile for polygamy now faced a troubling question: had the church abandoned a divine principle for worldly acceptance? This tension between revelation and accommodation would eventually lead to the emergence of fundamentalist groups determined to maintain what they saw as essential principles abandoned by the church—a schism that continues to shape Mormon identity to the present day.

Chapter 4: The Fundamentalist Schism: Preserving 'The Principle' (1890-1930)

The 1890 Manifesto prohibiting new plural marriages created an immediate theological crisis within Mormonism. For decades, church leaders had taught that plural marriage was essential for exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Joseph Smith's revelation on plural marriage, canonized as Section 132 of The Doctrine and Covenants, declared it an "everlasting covenant." Now, these same leaders appeared to be abandoning a principle they had previously defended as divinely mandated. This contradiction generated confusion and resistance among the faithful, particularly since some apostles and even church presidents continued to secretly authorize and perform plural marriages well into the early 1900s. This ambiguity ended abruptly in 1904 when Church President Joseph F. Smith issued a "Second Manifesto" with more forceful language and real consequences—excommunication for those who continued to practice polygamy. In 1911, Apostle John W. Taylor (son of former church president John Taylor) was excommunicated for continuing to advocate and practice plural marriage. His fellow apostle Matthias F. Cowley was also disciplined. These high-profile enforcements signaled the church's determination to eliminate polygamy from mainstream Mormonism, regardless of its theological importance in earlier decades. As the institutional church moved toward accommodation with American society, groups of devout believers began organizing to preserve what they considered essential Mormon doctrines. These early fundamentalists pointed to a purported 1886 revelation received by John Taylor that declared the "principle of plural marriage" was everlasting and would never be revoked. They also cited a meeting where Taylor allegedly ordained men to continue performing plural marriages regardless of church policy. Lorin C. Woolley emerged as an early fundamentalist leader, claiming authority through these ordinations from John Taylor. His narrative of secret authorization became the foundation for most subsequent fundamentalist groups. By the 1920s, distinct fundamentalist communities had formed in isolated locations throughout the Intermountain West. Short Creek (later renamed Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah) became one such haven, established specifically as a refuge for polygamists. These communities developed distinctive interpretations of Mormon doctrine that went beyond merely preserving plural marriage. They emphasized the "United Order" (a communal economic system), distinctive priesthood authority structures separate from the mainstream church, and apocalyptic expectations about the "one mighty and strong" who would come to "set in order the house of God" when church leaders strayed from true principles. The mainstream LDS Church responded to these developments with increasingly aggressive measures. In 1935, the church published "The Final Manifesto," threatening excommunication for anyone teaching or practicing plural marriage. Church leaders cooperated with law enforcement to prosecute polygamists and publicly denounced fundamentalist groups as apostates. This hardening stance completed the separation between mainstream Mormonism and fundamentalist branches, creating parallel religious traditions with shared historical roots but divergent evolutionary paths. The fundamentalists viewed themselves not as schismatics but as the true heirs of Joseph Smith's restoration, preserving essential doctrines that the institutional church had abandoned under worldly pressure.

Chapter 5: Isolation and Control: FLDS Communities in Modern America (1930-2000)

From the 1930s through the end of the twentieth century, Mormon Fundamentalist communities evolved into highly structured, isolated societies with distinctive social patterns. The largest group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), established its primary settlement in Short Creek, straddling the Utah-Arizona border. This remote location allowed them to practice plural marriage with minimal interference, despite its illegality in both states. In 1953, Arizona authorities staged a dramatic raid on Short Creek, arresting men and placing children in foster care. However, the public backlash against separating families ultimately strengthened the fundamentalists' resolve and reinforced their isolation. FLDS communities developed rigid hierarchical structures centered on patriarchal authority. The prophet, believed to communicate directly with God, exercised near-absolute control over all aspects of community life. He determined which men could take wives, assigned women and children to different husbands, and controlled all community property through the United Effort Plan trust. This economic arrangement, called "consecration," required members to donate all property to the church, which then provided for their needs. The system created extreme dependency, as individuals owned nothing and could be expelled from their homes if they displeased leadership. Daily life in these communities reflected their nineteenth-century Mormon roots. Women wore distinctive pioneer-style dresses and elaborate hairstyles, while education focused primarily on religious instruction and practical skills. The "keeping sweet" doctrine demanded absolute submission to male authority, with women and children taught that their salvation depended on obedience. Arranged marriages of teenage girls to much older men became increasingly common, particularly under FLDS leader Rulon Jeffs and his son Warren, who succeeded him in 2002. These communities maintained their cohesion through several mechanisms: physical isolation, economic control, limited education, information control (prohibiting television, internet, and outside reading materials), and a persecution narrative that portrayed the outside world as wicked and dangerous. Former FLDS member Carolyn Jessop explained: "The outside world was painted as this terrible place. We were taught that we were the chosen few who would be saved when the world was destroyed." This worldview created a powerful psychological barrier to leaving, even for those who suffered abuse within the community. Other fundamentalist groups developed different approaches to navigating modern society. The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), headquartered in Bluffdale, Utah, maintained plural marriage but allowed members greater integration with mainstream society. AUB members typically owned their own homes, attended public schools, and worked in conventional jobs. Similarly, the Centennial Park group (a 1984 offshoot of the FLDS) practiced polygamy but rejected arranged marriages and encouraged education for both men and women. These variations demonstrated that fundamentalism encompassed a spectrum of adaptations rather than a monolithic movement. By the 1990s, these communities faced increasing challenges from both external pressures and internal strains. The growth of electronic media made information control more difficult, while economic changes undermined traditional livelihoods. Legal prosecutions targeted leaders who arranged marriages with underage girls. Despite these challenges, fundamentalist communities demonstrated remarkable resilience, adapting their practices while maintaining core beliefs. Their persistence represented a living alternative to the assimilation path chosen by mainstream Mormonism—a constant reminder of the tension between religious distinctiveness and social integration that has characterized Mormon history from its beginnings.

Chapter 6: Violence in God's Name: The Lafferty Brothers and Religious Extremism (1984)

On July 24, 1984—Pioneer Day, Utah's celebration of Mormon settlers' arrival in Salt Lake Valley—a shocking double murder in American Fork stunned the state. Brenda Lafferty, 24, and her 15-month-old daughter Erica were found brutally murdered in their home, their throats slashed. The perpetrators were soon identified as Ron and Dan Lafferty, Brenda's brothers-in-law, who claimed divine revelation had commanded the killings. This horrific crime represented the dangerous intersection of religious extremism, personal grievances, and mental instability that occasionally erupts from fundamentalist Mormon theology when taken to its logical extremes. The Lafferty brothers had been raised in mainstream Mormonism but gradually embraced increasingly radical religious views. Their journey toward violence began when Dan, a chiropractor, discovered historical Mormon texts advocating polygamy and patriarchal authority. Convinced the modern LDS Church had abandoned essential truths, Dan began implementing fundamentalist principles in his home, requiring his wife to wear dresses at all times, pulling his children from public school, refusing modern medical care, and announcing his intention to take plural wives. Dan's zealotry soon influenced his brothers, particularly Ron, who was experiencing personal and financial crises after his excommunication from the LDS Church. As their religious fervor intensified, the brothers' family relationships deteriorated. Ron's wife Dianna left him, taking their six children to Florida. Ron blamed this abandonment partly on Brenda, who had encouraged Dianna to leave her abusive marriage. Brenda had also opposed her husband Allen's involvement with his brothers' extremist beliefs. In March 1984, Ron claimed to receive a revelation—which he called "the removal revelation"—instructing him to "remove" four people who had become "obstacles" to God's work: Brenda, her baby Erica, Chloe Low (a former friend who had helped Dianna escape), and Richard Stowe (the stake president who had excommunicated Ron). The Lafferty case exposed the complex relationship between Mormon theology, fundamentalist interpretations, and violence. The brothers justified their actions through concepts drawn directly from Mormon scripture and history: personal revelation (the belief that God communicates directly with individuals), blood atonement (the idea that some sins can only be atoned for through the shedding of the sinner's blood), and the duty to follow God's commandments regardless of secular law. These concepts, while rejected or reinterpreted by mainstream Mormonism, remained powerful currents in fundamentalist thought. During their trials, psychiatric experts debated whether Ron Lafferty's religious beliefs constituted delusion or merely extreme faith. This question highlighted the difficult boundary between protected religious belief and dangerous fanaticism. The Utah Supreme Court ultimately determined that Ron was competent to stand trial, ruling that his beliefs, however extreme, were comprehensible within his religious context and did not necessarily indicate mental illness. Both brothers were convicted—Dan receiving life imprisonment while Ron was sentenced to death (though he died in prison in 2019 before execution). The Lafferty murders occurred within a broader context of violence associated with Mormon fundamentalism during this period. In 1977, Rulon Allred, leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, was assassinated on orders from Ervil LeBaron, head of a rival polygamist group. LeBaron, who called himself "the one mighty and strong," ordered numerous killings of perceived enemies before his death in prison in 1981. These violent episodes, while exceptional, revealed the dangerous potential within a theology that emphasized personal revelation, prophetic authority, and apocalyptic expectations when combined with isolation from mainstream society and psychological instability.

Chapter 7: Adaptation and Resistance: Mormon Identity in Contemporary America

The dawn of the twenty-first century brought unprecedented challenges and opportunities for both mainstream Mormonism and fundamentalist groups. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continued its trajectory toward greater integration with American society, emphasizing elements of its theology compatible with mainstream Christianity while downplaying more distinctive doctrines. Church membership grew to over 16 million worldwide, with Mormons achieving prominence in business, politics, and entertainment. This success came with a cost, however, as some members questioned whether the church had sacrificed too much of its distinctive identity in pursuit of acceptance. Meanwhile, fundamentalist communities faced increasing legal scrutiny and internal challenges. In 2008, Texas authorities raided the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch, removing over 400 children based on allegations of child abuse and forced marriages of underage girls. Though most children were eventually returned to their parents, the raid yielded evidence that led to multiple criminal convictions, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs' conviction for sexual assault of minors, resulting in a life sentence. Despite Jeffs' imprisonment, he continues to lead the FLDS from prison, demonstrating the resilience of fundamentalist belief systems even under extreme pressure. The internet transformed both mainstream Mormonism and fundamentalist communities by breaking their information monopolies. Former members established online support networks and published memoirs exposing abuses, while scholars produced more transparent histories of controversial aspects of Mormon history. The LDS Church responded with greater institutional transparency, publishing essays addressing difficult historical topics like polygamy, race, and temple rituals. This openness represented a significant shift from earlier approaches that emphasized faith-promoting narratives over historical complexity. Popular culture brought increased visibility to Mormon fundamentalism through books, documentaries, and television shows. Reality programs like "Sister Wives" and "My Five Wives" presented polygamous families as functional, if unconventional, challenging stereotypes while raising questions about the legal status of plural marriage. In 2013, a federal judge struck down part of Utah's anti-polygamy law, and in 2020, Utah effectively decriminalized polygamy between consenting adults, reducing it from a felony to an infraction similar to a traffic ticket. These legal changes reflected evolving social attitudes toward alternative family structures. The experiences of women in fundamentalist communities gained particular attention through memoirs like Carolyn Jessop's "Escape" and Elissa Wall's "Stolen Innocence." These accounts revealed patterns of control common across fundamentalist groups: arranged marriages, limited education, economic dependence, and isolation. However, they also complicated simplistic narratives by acknowledging that many women in these communities actively embrace their religious identity and resist characterization as mere victims. As one plural wife explained, "We chose this life because we believe it's God's will, not because we're brainwashed or oppressed." The persistence of Mormon fundamentalism into the twenty-first century demonstrates the enduring power of religious conviction in the face of social pressure. While mainstream Mormonism has largely accommodated to contemporary American values, fundamentalist groups continue to embody an alternative vision—one that rejects many aspects of modernity in favor of what they see as eternal principles. This tension between adaptation and resistance, accommodation and separation, continues to define the Mormon experience in America, reflecting broader questions about religious identity in a pluralistic society. The divided faith of Mormonism thus offers a compelling case study in how religious communities navigate the competing demands of tradition and assimilation, a struggle with relevance far beyond the boundaries of Mormonism itself.

Summary

The Mormon journey through American history reveals a profound tension between religious exceptionalism and the pressure to assimilate into mainstream society. From Joseph Smith's radical visions in the 1820s through the violent conflicts of the mid-nineteenth century to the modern fundamentalist movements, this religious tradition has repeatedly confronted a central question: how much of its distinctive identity must be sacrificed for acceptance? The mainstream LDS Church gradually abandoned its most controversial practices—polygamy, political independence, communal economics—to achieve integration with American society, while fundamentalist groups splintered off to preserve what they considered essential doctrines, regardless of social cost. This dynamic of adaptation versus preservation represents not just Mormon history but a quintessentially American religious pattern. This historical journey offers important insights for understanding religious movements today. First, it demonstrates how persecution often strengthens rather than weakens religious conviction, transforming theological ideas into identity markers worth defending at all costs. Second, it illustrates how religious authority, when combined with isolation and apocalyptic expectations, can enable both extraordinary community cohesion and dangerous extremism. Finally, it reveals the complex relationship between religious freedom and social regulation—a balance that continues to challenge American society as it navigates between protecting individual religious expression and preventing harm. The Mormon experience, in both its mainstream and fundamentalist manifestations, serves as a powerful case study in how religious communities negotiate the competing demands of faith, tradition, and adaptation in a pluralistic society that both celebrates and constrains religious difference.

About Author

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Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.https://www.facebook.com/jonkrakauer

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