Abstract

Notes by the Way

Nels Anderson's portrayal of the Mormons's ways and attitudes in "Desert Saints" is completely authentic. Mormonisrn was, and is, a compound of archaic theology and crude pragmatism; the secret of its success and its survival is to be found in this combination--and in the fortuitous fact that the two elements were so nicely joined in the practical theocrat, Brigham Young, who succeeded the religious fanatic, Joseph Smith, at just the right moment. Mr. Anderson deals briefly with the founding of the church, but his main story covers the period beginning with the arrival of the pioneers in Utah in 1847 and ending in the late seventies, when the vision of "Deseret" had faded, and Utah's principal objective was to become part of the United States.