THE MORMON CULTURE REGION: STRATEGIES AND PATTERNS IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE AMERICAN WEST, 1847–1964

ABSTRACT

The Mormons, a distinctive American subculture, have long dominated a large area of the Far West, but the extent of the region and the geographic relationships between Mormons and Gentiles (non-Mormons) have never been satisfactorily presented. Historical analysis of expansions, contractions, and reexpansions from the original Utah nucleus and of concurrent Gentile movements into and around Mormon colonies provides the basis for a refined definition of the Mormon culture region. That region is interpreted as having a core in the Wasatch Oasis, a domain over much of Utah and southeastern Idaho, and a sphere extending from eastern Oregon to Mexico. The most recent and important movement has been to the Pacific Coast cities, producing modifications in theology as well as geography, and suggesting the emergence of a Salt Lake City-Los Angeles axis as a pattern of profound influence in the present and future of Mormondom.