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Las Vegas Mission (1855-1857)

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Some of the first western settlers that came to the Las Vegas Valley were missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In May of 1855, at the direction of then Church President Brigham Young, thirty-two missionaries were sent to evangelize among Native Americans and establish a mission outpost in the Las Vegas Valley.[1] The mission would eventually be abandoned in December of 1857 due to growing political issues revolving Mormons and the threat of Native American attacks.

Reasoning

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Between the years 1847 and 1869, over 60,000 mormon immigrants came and settled in the Salt Lake Valley.[2] With the influx of population came many settlements throughout Utah making Brigham Young more inclined to expand the Church’s geographical area outside of the Salt Lake Valley. Young directed many members of the Church to settle in areas surrounding Utah, such as the Cache Valley, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.[2]

Mormons hoped that their expansion would result in both a larger geographical area for the Church as well as providing new missionary opportunities.[3] Missionary opportunities came with an increase of interaction with Native Americans. Some of the initial interactions resulted in Mormons being able to gain influence among different Native American groups.[4] This gained influence opened up missionary efforts among Native Americans. Mormons had a unique attitude toward evangelizing among Native Americans. Their belief was that Native Americans came from Israelite descent who at one point migrated to America around 600 BCE, but fell into transgression which caused them to lose favor in the sight of God. Mormons saw Native Americans as people who had gone astray and believed it to be their duty to reintroduce them to the faith they had lost over many centuries.[5] For this reason many Mormon mission outposts were established in the west.

The Las Vegas Valley was one of the areas chosen to establish a mission based off of its geographical location as a midway point between Cedar City, Utah  and San Bernardino, California. The exact site selected was the Las Vegas springs because its small stream created the only oasis for miles.[6] Shortly after settling in May of 1855, construction of the Las Vegas Mormon Fort and houses surrounding it began to take place.[7]

Prominent Missionaries

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The original expedition in 1855 was comprised of 32 missionaries and in April of 1856 Brigham Young dispatched additional missionaries.[1] Many of these missionaries had served missions for the Church previously and had held positions of prominence in the Church.

Jacob Hamblin was called on many missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was known in the Church as the "Apostle to the Lamanites".

William Bringhurst

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William Bringhurst was appointed by Brigham Young to be the President of the Las Vegas Mission.[8] Bringhurst traveled to Utah as a member of the John Taylor company in 1847. (Review Journal) Upon arriving in the mission in 1855, Bringhurst dedicated himself fully to ensure the mission’s success.

In 1856, Nathaniel V. Jones was sent by Brigham Young to the mission to claim some of the missionaries to work in mines for the purpose of smelting ore. Bringhurst refused to allow Jones to take his missionaries and upon later return Jones informed Bringhurst that Brigham Young had denounced Bringhurst’s status as president of the Las Vegas Mission and his membership in the Church.[9]

Bringhurst later regained good-standing with the Church and was appointed by Brigham Young as one of the founding trustees of Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University).[9]

Jacob Hamblin

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Jacob Hamblin was called to the Southern Indian Mission in 1853 and was given the title of “Apostle to the Lamanites” by Brigham Young.[10] Hamblin was instrumental in the establishment of many missions for the Church that reached areas in Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada (including the Las Vegas Mission).[10]

Despite the fact that all the missions that Hamblin helped establish would later fall, Hamblin still was a successful missionary among Native Americans. Part of the reason Mormons were able to gain good relations with Native Americans was because of missionaries like Hamblin who was known as a “friend to the Indians”.[10] Even after the Church halted its efforts of evangelizing to Native Americans after the collapse of their many missions, Hamblin still traveled with the Indian frontier so that he could keep teaching the Natives.[10]

Life on the Mission

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Colonists, sent by Brigham Young and led by William Bringhurst, arrived at the Las Vegas Mission site in June of 1855 .[8] The missionaries held the following primary objectives:

  1. Developing the site’s agricultural potential
  2. Working with and teaching the Native Americans about Christ
  3. Serving as a station linking Mormon settlements between southern Utah and southern California
  4. Protecting and keeping open the trails which allowed year-round travel and trade

With its initial primary objective to develop agriculture and harvest before winter, immediate excavation began to build an irrigation ditch that diverted water from the Las Vegas Creek to the southeast corner of the fort. Further irrigation ditches were dug to provide water to five-acre farm plots (2.5 acres per person).[1] Most of the days were then spent working the fields. Once the crops were growing well in mid-July, the attention was shifted to the public works of the settlement and different projects were started. Bringhurst and a small company of men searched the mountains for timber for building improvements and adobe brick was made and used to build a corral and to build the fort walls.[11] Late in 1855 the mission obtained horses from California and cattle and mules from Salt Lake City to aid in their labors.[11]

The Las Vegas Mormon Fort is still standing today and is open to visitors.

When the year 1856 began, the Las Vegas Mission appeared to be making great strides toward permanency. On January 10 the mission received documents which allowed the establishment of an official post office. In late May, three missionaries received permission to bring their families from Salt Lake City to live in the fort.[11] Missionary John Steele reported in April that the lead deposit found in the Potosi mine was large and easily accessible, and a sample of ore was sent to Brigham Young in Salt Lake City.[12] Soon after more missionaries were sent from Salt Lake City by Brigham Young with the focus of extracting the lead ore.

Abandonment

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Struggles with the elements and constant thievery of the Native Americans made it difficult for the mission to last long.[8] The missionaries, however, had more than their own struggles to worry about. Prior to the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, Mormons faced severe conflicts with local and state governments regarding certain religious practices such as polygamy.[3] Once in Salt Lake, tension continued to rise between the US Government and the Mormons, and a federal army was dispatched toward Utah on suspicion of rebellion.[8] As a result, Brigham Young recalled all settlers from Carson Valley, San Bernardino, and Las Vegas in order to better concentrate his people and defenses.[13][3] Within weeks the settlements were abandoned.[8]

Other sources attribute social and political conflicts between those committed to the mission's original and its subsequent objectives to the fort's total abandonment.[1] The mission’s original objective was to develop the site’s agricultural potential, while later more missionaries were sent by Brigham Young to mine and smelt lead ore discovered in the Potosi mountains.[1] The conflict over where to focus the man-power lead to some missionaries leaving the mission and returning to Salt Lake City.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Schoenwetter, James; Hohmann, John W. (1997). "Landuse Reconstruction at the Founding Settlement of Las Vegas, Nevada". Historical Archaeology. 31 (4): 41–58. ISSN 0440-9213.
  2. ^ a b Jackson, Richard H. (1978). "Mormon Perception and Settlement". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 68 (3): 317–334. ISSN 0004-5608.
  3. ^ a b c Meinig, D. W. (1965). "The Mormon Culture Region: Strategies and Patterns in the Geography of the American West, 1847-1964". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 55 (2): 191–220. ISSN 0004-5608.
  4. ^ HOLT, RONALD L.; O’Neil, Floyd; Tom, Lora (2006), "OCCUPATION & DEPENDENCY", Beneath These Red Cliffs, An Ethnohistory of the Utah Paiutes, University Press of Colorado, pp. 3–31, ISBN 9780874216370, retrieved 2019-11-06
  5. ^ Tarcay, Eileen (1959). "Among the Lamanites: The Indians and the Mormons". Western Folklore. 18 (2): 131–134. doi:10.2307/1496477. ISSN 0043-373X.
  6. ^ Hunter, Milton R. (1939). "The Mormon Corridor". Pacific Historical Review. 8 (2): 179–200. doi:10.2307/3633392. ISSN 0030-8684.
  7. ^ Dumke, Glenn S. (1953). "Mission Station to Mining Town: Early Las Vegas". Pacific Historical Review. 22 (3): 257–270. doi:10.2307/4492065. ISSN 0030-8684.
  8. ^ a b c d e Bufkin, Donald (1964). "THE LOST COUNTY OF PAH-UTE". Arizoniana. 5 (2): 1–11. ISSN 0883-346X.
  9. ^ a b "William Bringhurst". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 1999-02-07. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  10. ^ a b c d Peterson, Charles S. (1975). "Jacob Hamblin, Apostle to the Lamanites, and the Indian Mission". Journal of Mormon History. 2: 21–34. ISSN 0094-7342.
  11. ^ a b c Paher, Stanely (1971). Las Vegas. Nevada Publications. pp. 1–30.
  12. ^ Sadovich, Maryellen (1967). Potosi Mine Killed Vegas Valley Mormon Mission. Nevadan.
  13. ^ Ruthven, Malise; Stack, Peggy Fletcher (1991). "The Mormons' Progress". The Wilson Quarterly (1976-). 15 (2): 22–47. ISSN 0363-3276.
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