ben0628
Banned
So basically in the late 1850's there was conflict between the extremely large Mormon population in Utah Territory and the Federal government. The US government was not very happy with the Mormons practicing polygamy and they were even more upset that the Mormons pretty much had complete political control over the territory. This as well as other problems caused president James Buchanan to replace the Mormon leader and Utah governor Brigham Young with a non-Mormon and sent an Army expedition of 2,500 men to secure Utah territory. This enraged the Mormon population, who were afraid of religious persecution and did not appreciate federal involvement within the territory. This caused the Mormons to rise up in rebellion, reform the Nauvoo Legion (a Mormon militia), and build fortifications in the mountain passes guarding Utah territory.
Fortunately in real life, major conflict was avoided with the exception of occasional Mormon raids on Federal supply trains for the army and a peaceful solution to the conflict was eventually found.
Now what if in a alternate history, a peaceful conflict was not found, and the Mormons attempted to fight for their independence? The Mormons had several advantages such as the terrain benefited defense, they had home field advantage, most people in Utah were Mormons and supported the cause, the war would be a logistics nightmare for the US government, the Native Americans could have potentially sided with the Mormons, and finally, the American Civil War would have started three years after this conflict did and the Mormons would have undoubtedly sided with the confederacy.
Could they have won, especially if they managed to hold out until the beginning of the American Civil War? Could Utah be an independent Mormon theocracy or would it have been eventually crushed?
Fortunately in real life, major conflict was avoided with the exception of occasional Mormon raids on Federal supply trains for the army and a peaceful solution to the conflict was eventually found.
Now what if in a alternate history, a peaceful conflict was not found, and the Mormons attempted to fight for their independence? The Mormons had several advantages such as the terrain benefited defense, they had home field advantage, most people in Utah were Mormons and supported the cause, the war would be a logistics nightmare for the US government, the Native Americans could have potentially sided with the Mormons, and finally, the American Civil War would have started three years after this conflict did and the Mormons would have undoubtedly sided with the confederacy.
Could they have won, especially if they managed to hold out until the beginning of the American Civil War? Could Utah be an independent Mormon theocracy or would it have been eventually crushed?