The Myth of Mormons, Polygamy, and The
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library CREATING A PSEUDO-HISTORY: THE MYTH OF MORMONS, POLYGAMY, AND THE DANITES IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY FICTION by Amanda Lynn Fuller A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Languages and Literature The University of Utah August 2016 Copyright © Amanda Lynn Fuller 2016 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF THESIS APPROVAL The thesis of Amanda Lynn Fuller has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Margaret Toscano , Chair March 11, 2016 Date Approved Randall Stewart , Member March 11, 2016 Date Approved Christopher Lewis , Member March 11, 2016 Date Approved and by Katharina Gerstenberger , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Languages and Literature and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT This thesis project aims to explore the Mormon myth perpetuated in the nineteenth century by comparing and contrasting two fictional works that treat Mormonism as the enemy of evolved Christian society and traditional Victorian family values. The first is Brigham Young’s Daughter: A Most Thrilling Narrative of Her Escape From Utah, With Her Intended Husband, Their Pursuit by the Mormon Danites or Avenging Angels, Together with An Account of the Adventures and Perils of the Fugitives on the Prairies and While Crossing the Rocky Mountains, To Which is Added A Full Exposé of the Schemes of the Mormon Leaders to Defy and Defeat the U.S. Government in Its Attempts to Suppress the Horrible Practice of Polygamy in Utah. The second is A Study in Scarlet. These works, created by two different authors from different national backgrounds (one American and one British), are written in two differing styles, and for differing purposes. However, the texts do share a common era as well as a moral conflict over Mormon polygamy as central to their plotlines and narrative development. The American text, written by Wesley Bradshaw in 1870, was created as political propaganda to support the legal campaign against Mormonism in the United States. As a result, it blurs the distinction between fact and fiction about Mormons and employs emotional images and language in an effort to incite public outrage against Mormon polygamy. The British text, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, utilized the sensational topic of Mormonism not only to entertain his readers, but also as a way to launch his new detective series in a market over-saturated with crime fiction in an effort to turn a profit. Despite the differences between texts, each draws similar conclusions with regard to Mormons and Mormonism. This project will argue that these similarities reflect and contribute to the creation of a distinct Mormon myth, which, over time, evolved to form a pseudo-history of Mormons in popular culture. iv To my ever-supportive parents, Scott and Cristie, who helped me through this process with patience and love. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. viii Chapters I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………1 II. A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE TWO NARRATIVES....………………………………8 A Brief Summary of Brigham Young’s Daughter ...................................................9 A Brief Summary of A Study in Scarlet .................................................................16 British Notions of Mormonism ..............................................................................21 Conclusion .............................................................................................................23 III. REPRESENTATIONS OF MORMON AND NON-MORMON MEN ....................24 Brigham Young and the Presidency ......................................................................28 Life in a Mormon Community ...............................................................................39 Conclusion .............................................................................................................41 IV. MORMON POLYGAMY: TEXTUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND POPULAR FASCINATION ...........................................................................................................42 Polygamous Marriage as False Marriage ...............................................................47 Moral Necessity to Oppose Polygamy ...................................................................50 Polygamy as Antiwoman in Brigham Young’s Daughter ......................................52 Attitudes Toward Women in A Study in Scarlet ....................................................54 Conclusion .............................................................................................................56 V. REPRESENTATIONS AND NARRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE DANITES .....58 Enforcing Fear and Conformity in Utah ................................................................64 Secrecy of the Danites ...........................................................................................67 Religious Zealots ...................................................................................................69 Conclusion .............................................................................................................71 VI. CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................74 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................78 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my committee, Margaret Toscano, Randall Stewart, and Christopher Lewis, for their aid and support throughout the research and writing of this project. I would especially like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Margaret Toscano, for her continuous support, hours of work, and patience. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This thesis project aims to explore the perpetuated Mormon myth in the nineteenth century by comparing and contrasting two fictional works that treat Mormonism as the enemy of evolved Christian society and traditional Victorian family values. The first is Brigham Young’s Daughter: A Most Thrilling Narrative of Her Escape From Utah, With Her Intended Husband, Their Pursuit by the Mormon Danites or Avenging Angels, Together with An Account of the Adventures and Perils of the Fugitives on the Prairies and While Crossing the Rocky Mountains, To Which is Added A Full Exposé of the Schemes of the Mormon Leaders to Defy and Defeat the U.S. Government in Its Attempts to Suppress the Horrible Practice of Polygamy in Utah.1 The second is A Study in Scarlet. These works, created by two different authors from different national backgrounds (one American and one British), are written in two differing styles, and for differing purposes. However, the texts do share a common era as well as a moral conflict over Mormon polygamy as central to their plotlines and narrative development. The American text, written by Wesley Bradshaw in 1870, was created as political 1 Hereafter, this text will be referred to by the truncated title Brigham Young’s Daughter. 2 propaganda to support the legal campaign against Mormonism in the United States. As a result, it blurs the distinction between fact and fiction about Mormons and employs emotional images and language in an effort to incite public outrage against Mormon polygamy. The British text, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, utilized the sensational topic of Mormonism not only to entertain his readers, but also as a way to launch his new detective series in a market over-saturated with crime fiction in an effort to turn a profit. Despite the differences between texts, each draws similar conclusions with regard to Mormons and Mormonism. This project will argue that these similarities reflect and contribute to the creation of a distinct Mormon myth, which, over time, evolved to form a pseudo-history of Mormons in popular culture. Modern opinions of particular historical events are often informed and conflated with literary works contemporary to the historical period in question. In this way, Mormonism reached mythic proportions in the nineteenth century, and beyond, through the fictional literature produced for popular consumption. Anti-Mormon fiction first began to develop in the 1850s with the plotlines of these early works proving formative for those that followed. These early stories typically “revolved around polygamy as female bondage, and the ‘Avenging Angels’ [or Danites] as terrorist minions of a despotic Brigham Young” (Givens 134-135). For the popular presses, “Exploiting these subjects provided all the eroticism and violence a voracious public appetite could demand” (Givens 135). The popular presses in the nineteenth century helped to create a Mormon myth born out of a combination of fictional texts and exaggerated newspaper articles. For this period, the Mormon myth centered around the idea that the Mormon people were the antithesis of moral Christian society, practicing polygamy (a degrading 3 enslavement of women) and silencing dissenters both inside and outside the church by dispatching the murderous Danites. This project will use the phrase “Mormon myth” throughout on the