Ricardolindo
Well-known member
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What if Joseph Smith never founded Mormonism? What would the settlement of the Mountain West look like? What would Utah, especially, look like?
The world suddenly got an awful lot more boring.
In terms of more practical effects, the entire Mountainous West would be a lot less developed.
Utah certainly would have far less of a population, as pretty much all early immigration was driven by Mormon converts gathering there. Brigham Young was far less of a religious innovator than Joseph Smith, Jr. ever was, but he was something that Smith never came close to being, a shrewd and savvy businessman, and an astute politician. The entire Mormon corridor happened by design. Brigham Young was determined that the Mormons should control all routes from East to West, and so put up strategic Mormon outposts and settlements wherever it seemed like a good likely spot for pioneers to pass through and needing to restock their supplies. It ran from as far north as Alberta in Canada to Chihuahua in Mexico. Without Mormonism, we in all likelihood wouldn't have that Mecca of Vice, Las Vegas, since it was founded by Mormon pioneers for the very purpose of controlling the transcontinental passage. This central control allowed the Mormon community to grow rich, and this helped develop the area further.
Well... I suppose the Baker-Fancher emigrant party isn't complaining...
What about the effects on the evangelization of Oceania? In our timeline, the Mormons played a big role in it. What other Christian denominations could take their place?
Without Mormonism, we in all likelihood wouldn't have that Mecca of Vice, Las Vegas, since it was founded by Mormon pioneers for the very purpose of controlling the transcontinental passage. This central control allowed the Mormon community to grow rich, and this helped develop the area further.
"No Mormons, no Vegas" is NOT the butterfly I was expecting!
"No Mormons, no Vegas" is NOT the butterfly I was expecting!
Even today, Mormons are big in the LVNV business community."No Mormons, no Vegas" is NOT the butterfly I was expecting!
Secondly, an additional twenty-three million dollars, together with seven million dollars already available, will accelerate development of the Rover nuclear rocket. This gives promise of some day providing a means for even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space, perhaps beyond the moon, perhaps to the very end of the solar system itself.