Brigham Young

1801 – 1877

Brigham Young was an American religious leader who succeeded Joseph Smith as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847 and led the Mormon migration to the Salt Lake Valley, which he governed as the first territorial governor of Utah. He openly practiced and aggressively promoted polygamy, taking at least 55 wives, and as territorial governor in September 1857 his rhetoric and the militia under his authority laid the groundwork for the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a Mormon militia disguised as Native Americans murdered approximately 120 unarmed Arkansas emigrants. He also instituted a priesthood-and-temple ban barring Black members from full participation, a doctrine that remained official church policy until 1978.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM