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> Led from his base in Sonoma by a Mormon farmer and miner named William B. Ide, the California Republic officially declared independence on June 14, 1846 I ha
by devmunchies 8y ago
> Led from his base in Sonoma by a Mormon farmer and miner named William B. Ide, the California Republic officially declared independence on June 14, 1846
I had learned recently that the first mayor of San Fran was also mormon. Did the mormons have a bigger influence on western expansion and the early "wild west" than public schools taught me?
- cafard 8y agoThey were out there early, as Anglos go. It was a Mormon worker who first discovered gold at Sutter's mill.
- shifter 8y agoVery much so, beginning with this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_pioneers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_pioneers
- jmspring 8y agoSam Brannon who started the first paper in SF and hyped the Gold Rush was a mormon and did quite well for himself (considered the first gold rush millionaire). Mormons also were amongst the early workers at Sutter's Mill.
- Aloha 8y agoThere are huge swaths of the west (particularly the intermountain west) that never would have been settled without LDS pioneers. Say what you may about their religion (though in a vacuum, I'd argue its no stranger than any other faith, it just has less history between founding and now, to loose details to the sands of time) - they had a huge effect on the west overall.