Mormon corridor Mormon culture region, Book of Mormon belt | |
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Cultural region of the United States | |
| Nickname: TheJell-O belt | |
 The Mormon corridor, highlighted in red. Striped counties contain major Mormon populations, but are not considered to be a part of the cardinal regions of their states. | |
| Country |  United States |
| States | |
TheMormon corridor are the areas of westernNorth America that were settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who are commonly called "Mormons".[1]
In academic literature, the area is also commonly called theMormon culture region.[2][3] It has also been referred to as theBook of Mormon belt,[4] and theJell-O belt, these being cultural references to theBible Belt[citation needed] of theSoutheastern United States, and theBook of Mormon, along with the perceived favor Mormons have forJell-O.[5]
The Mormon culture region generally follows the path of theRocky Mountains of North America, with most of the population clustered in theUnited States. Beginning inUtah, the corridor extends northward through westernWyoming and easternIdaho to parts ofMontana and the deep south regions of theCanadian province ofAlberta. It reaches south toSan Bernardino, California on the west and throughTucson, Arizona on the east, reaches west to theJordan Valley, Oregon area extending southward toEldorado, Texas, and finally theU.S.-Mexico border, with isolated settlements inBaja California,Chihuahua, andSonora. Settlements in Utah, south of theWasatch Front, stretched fromSt. George in the southwest toNephi in the northeast, including theSevier River valley. The corridor is roughly congruent with the area between present-dayInterstate 15 andU.S. Route 89. Outside of theWasatch Front, and Utah'sCache Valley, most of the population of the state resides in this corridor.[citation needed]
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The larger chain of Mormon settlements, ranging from Canada toMexico, were initially established as agricultural centers or to gain access to metals and other materials needed by the expanding Mormon population. The communities also served as waystations for migration and trade centered onSalt Lake City during the mid to late 19th century.
Communities in the generally fertile but relatively dry valleys of theGreat Basin, Southeastern Idaho,Nevada, andArizona were dependent on water supplies. Irrigation systems, including wells, dams, canals, headgates, and ditches were among the first projects for a new community. Road access to timber in the mountains and pasturage for stock were important, as were carefully tended crops, gardens, and orchards.
Brigham Young, LDS Churchpresident (1847–1877), personally supervised the founding of many outlying communities. Exploring parties were sent out to find settlement sites, and to identify sources of appropriate minerals, timber, and water. HistorianLeonard J. Arrington asserted that within ten years of the LDS arrival in theSalt Lake Valley, "...nearly 100 colonies had been planted; by 1867, more than 200; and by the time of (Young's) death in 1877, nearly 400 colonies."[6] These colonies had four distinct purposes: "...first, settlements intended to be temporary places of gathering and recruitment, such as Carson Valley in Nevada; second, colonies to serve as centers for production, such as iron atCedar City, cotton atSt. George, cattle in Cache Valley, and sheep inSpanish Fork, all in Utah; third, colonies to serve as centers for proselytizing and assisting Indians, as atHarmony in southern Utah,Las Vegas in southern Nevada,Fort Lemhi (north-central Idaho near theLemhi Pass), and present-dayMoab in eastern Utah; fourth, permanent colonies in Utah and nearby states and territories to provide homes and farms for the hundreds of new immigrants arriving each summer."[6]
At times, Young or his agents met incoming wagon trains ofMormon pioneers, assigning the groups a secondary destination to establish a new community. After a relatively brief rest in the growing communities of the Salt Lake Valley, the groups would restock needed supplies and materials, gather livestock, and travel on. In addition, new colonizers could be called from the pulpit. Young read the names of men and their families who were "called" to move to outlying regions. These "missions" for church members often lasted for years, as the families were to remain in their assigned area until released from the calling or given a new assignment. Colonizers traveled at their own expense, and success depended on appropriate supplies and personal resourcefulness, as well as uncontrolled variables such as water supplies and weather.[citation needed]
Several of these colonies could also have provided support for a second migration of the Latter-day Saints which might have become necessary due to pressure by the U.S. government, starting with theUtah War. Some settlements were associated with existing or prior towns, and many were abandoned once the threat of persecution decreased after the1890 Manifesto, and the transportation system in theWestern United States matured. Thefirst transcontinental railroad was especially significant in reinforcing or altering settlement patterns.[citation needed]
After Young's death in 1877, successive leaders of the LDS Church continued to establish new settlements in outlying areas of the west. The Salt River Valley in western Wyoming, now known asStar Valley, was designated for settlement in August 1878, whileBunkerville andMesquite, Nevada were settled in 1879 and 1880 respectively.[7] Communities were also established in eastern and southeastern Utah and western Colorado, primarily populated by LDS Church converts from the southern United States. Historians James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard estimate that at least 120 new LDS-based settlements were founded between 1876 and 1879.[7]
Mounting legislation and prosecution of polygamists within the Latter-day Saint population in the United States led to additional expansion. In 1884, church presidentJohn Taylor encouraged groups of church members in Arizona and New Mexico to cross the border into Mexico, where church leaders had investigated settlement opportunities in earlier years. By the end of 1885, however, the Mormon colonists had been denied the opportunity to purchase land within Chihuahua, by order of the acting governor. While the colonists remained on rented land, negotiations between members of the LDS Church'sQuorum of Twelve Apostles and Mexican presidentPorfirio Díaz were successful and legal barriers were lifted.[7] For his help towards the LDS settlers, the first Mormon colony in Mexico was namedColonia Díaz. This settlement was shortly followed by two additional communities. In March 1886,Colonia Juarez andColonia Dublán were established, with other smaller settlements emerging in future years.
Taylor instructedCharles Ora Card ofLogan, Utah, to investigate, and if possible, establish similar communities of refuge in the CanadianNorth-West Territories. Card led a small group of explorers into present-dayAlberta in 1886 and selected a settlement site. In 1887, enough settlers arrived from northern Utah to establish the community ofCardston.[7] By 1895, many additional LDS-based communities had been established in nearby areas in the province, partially because of a labour contract with the Alberta Irrigation Company.[8]
The Mormon corridor has been nicknamed[9] the "Jell-O belt" due to the popularity of Jell-O in the region. One of the official pins for the2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was a green Jell-O jiggler in the shape of the state.[10]
According to theLos Angeles Times, "Salt Lake City is America's Jell-O-eating capital. Every man, woman and child in Salt Lake City buys two boxes of the stuff annually, or twice the national average, says Mary Jane Kinkade of Jell-O brand gelatin-makerKraft Foods. Utah residents also eat twice as much lime Jell-O as anyone else on the planet."[11]
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