Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1992 The Geographical Analysis of Mormon Temple Sites in Utah Garth R. Liston Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Geography Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Liston, Garth R., "The Geographical Analysis of Mormon Temple Sites in Utah" (1992). Theses and Dissertations. 4881. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4881 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 3 the geographicalgeograp c ananalysisysls 0off mormormonon tetempletempiepie slsitessltestes in utah A thesis presented to the department of geography brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requiaequirequirementsrementscements for the degree master of science by garth R listenliston december 1992 this thesis by garth R liston is accepted in its present form by the department of geography of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of science f c- H L ricirichardard H jackson 1 committeeoommittee chair alan H grey committecommifctemeflermeymere er i w i ige-e&e date laieialeidleaaleig- J 6tevstevtpvnstldepartmentni d- epartmentepartment chair n dedication0 0 this thesis is dedicated to my wonderful mother luana liston not only has she financed a major part of this work and the rest of my education she has always been a constant support and great friend sincere thanks are extended to dr richard jackson and dr alan grey of the brigham young university geography department who served on my thesis committee dr jackson is possibly the finest geographer in the mormon church who has been heard to say im so humble im proud dr grey contributed greatly to my thesis in the form of a painstaking editing of the second draft not only does dr grey shun the limelight but also the light of his office which he seldom has on but hes never in the dark when it comes to the study of the earth as the home of man also I1 wish to thank the secretarial staff of the geography department for helping me many times in processing forms and filling requirements hiin table of contents page acceptance page ii list of tables vii list of figures ix chapter 1 1 introduction 1 statement of the problem 9 hypothesis I1 9 limitations 10 methodology 11 background information on mormonism 12 utah when the cormonsmormons arrived 0.0 14 chapter 2 review of literature 21 chapter 3 the salt lake city temple site 29 chapter 4 the st george temple site 45 chapter 5 the manti temple site 65 iv chapter 6 the logan temple site 82 chapter 7 the provo temple site 95 chapter 8 the ogden temple site 108 chapter 9 the jordan river temple site 121 chapter 10 the bountiful temple site 134 chapter 11 summary of the provo ogden jordan river and bountiful mornmormonon temple sites 146 chapter 12 conclusion 150 abstract 166 bibliography 167 v list of tables page tabletabie1 utah climatic statistics 31 tabletabie2 origin of mornmormonon place names 50 tabletabie3 population statistics of st george utah and adjacent communities 53 tabletabie4 population statistics of manti utah and adjacent communities 71 tabletabie5 colonization of utah by 1877 77 tabletabie6 the mountain men left names on our map 84 tabletabie7 population statistics of logan utah and adjacent communities 1 91 tabletabie8 provo city statistics 97 tabletabie9 population statistics of provo utah and adjacent communities 107 tabletabie10 ogden city statistics illiiiili111 tabletabie11 population statistics of ogden utah and adjacent communities 119 tabletabie12 south jordan population growth 123 tabletabie13 south jordan statistics 126 viVI table 14 population statistics of south jordan utah and adjacent communities 133 table 15 bountiful population statistics 136 table 16 bountiful city statistics 137 table 17 population statistics of bountiful utah and adjacent communities 145 viivilvn s-m-p- list of figures figure 1 mormon templetempie sitessltes in utah x figure 2 hierarchy of mornmormonon lands and buildings 8 figure 3 physiographic provinces of utah 18 figure 4 fur trapper routes 19 figure 5 westward migration routes 20 figure 6 s- altait lake city templetempie site 39 figure 7 mormon exploration and settlement routes 48 figure 8 mormon expansion by decade 49 figure 9 t george templetempie site 59 figure 10 settlement sequence 70 figure 11 m- antiantl templetempiesite 72 figure 12 mormon settlement sitessltes 76 figure 13 logantemplesitelogan templetempiesite 89 figure 14 rovo templetempiesite 106log figure 15 ogden templetempie site 118 figure 16 saltsaitlake valleyvailey vicinity map 125 viii figure 17 map of bountiful utah 138 figure 18 bountiful temple site 139 IXix figure I11 mormon temple sites in utah source adapted by author from greer etal logan ogden t bountiful saltsait lake city jordan river a provo mantimantl st george x chapter 1 introduction the geography of mormonism the church of jesus christ of latter day saints contains a landscape comprised ofmany significant features of importance of which are the unique temple sites cormonsmormons develop and maintain A mornmormonon temple site is considered the ground on which a mornmormonon temple is situated or is planned for and the land that adjoins the temple and the temple also most temple sites usually contain at least several acres of land and frequently are surrounded with walls or fences to clearly indicate the temple site grounds hereafter in this thesis whenever temple site is used it will refer to a completed or planned mormon temple and the block or parcel of land it occupies A completed temple is also hereafter considered a vertical extension of the temple site temple sites to most cormonsmormons and non cormonsmormons alike represent a visual monument 1 2 of pernpermanencealenceanence and authority from a single functioning temple site in kirtland ohio constructed between 1833 to 1836 berrett pg 125 morncormonsmormonsons now have approximately 50 temple sites operating or being built throughout the world whenever a mormon temple site is constructed and opened for use by devout Morcormonsmormonsmons a geographical temple district is formed to assign cormonsmormons in certain areas to attend a suggested temple usually closest to where they live thus a mormon templetempiesite is symbolically a regional geographic capital in mormondomeMormondome and the world A temple is a holy sanctuary an edifice erected in honor of deity a place in which the divine presence actually exists joseph angus quoted in raynor pg 1 within mormon temples several important ordinances are performed on behalf of living and dead individuals these ordinances are of such importance they can only be performed in a dedicated temple mormon temples proper do not represent seats of church ecclesiastical authority but they do indicate that administrative power is nearby housed in other buildings temples are nearly always built in areas of significant numbers of Morcormonsmormonsmons to ensure consistent 3 utilization of the sacred edifices local administrative and ecclesiastical power is found near temples in mormon chapels where stake presidents and ward bishops preside at public meetings worldwide mormon church hereafter simply stated as church authority is found in salt lake city utah where the presidentprophetPresident Prophet of the church and the quorum of twelve apostles are headquartered A stake president and his counselors and high council quorum preside over a geographical area that can vary considerably in size from a few square miles to several thousand and contain from 800 members Morcormonsmormonsmons to over 11000 nelson pg 57 A stake will normally be made up of five to ten wards of approximately 450 cormonsmormons each within the stake boundaries chapels or meetinghousesmeetinghouses are also important symbols of the mormon landscape representing the earthly structures where entrance to gods kingdom and required fundamental teachings are gained chapels are where nearly all members receive weekly sacrament communion complementing mormon temple sites and chapels are thousand of buildings and acres of land used for the spiritual and temporal support of the church and cormonsmormons and non cormonsmormons alike 4 throughout the world the church has constructed schools for secular and theological training of youth and adults As well as being concerned for the spiritual aspect of members and nonmembernon member lives the church attends to the physical welfare of individuals by operating land holdings such as farllfarminging ranching and other agricultural production that total into the hundreds of thousands of acres commodities from these welfare farilfarmss are distributed to needy families in and outside the area of each enterprise also the church owns and operates many significant and well known business ventures such as radio and television stations retail business outlets real estate companies and others using accumulated profits for church operating costs and welfare assistance to needy people such a diversity of property and buildings in the authors opinion results in a hierarchy of sacred spaces and structures business entities owned by the church operated for profit could be considered a mundane foundation that hardly approaches