History of Salt Lake City the Salt Lake Valley. At the time of its founding there were no Indians present in the Salt Lake valley. The first two in this company to enter the Salt Lake valley were Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow. These members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church") sought to establish an autonomous religious community and were the first people of European descent to permanently settle in the area now known as Utah. Thousands of Mormon pioneers would arrive in Salt Lake in the coming months and years. Brigham Young led the Saints west after the death
First Congregational Church (Salt Lake City, Utah) non-Mormons, as well as to evangelize to the Mormon population. The first worship service that McLeod conducted in Salt Lake City, on 22 January 1865, was the city's first Protestant religious service. McLeod delivered a strong anti-Mormon message in his sermons, attracting large audiences. Soon a congregation was formally organized. At first, services were held in rented space and at Fort Douglas (where McLeod was the military chaplain), but by mid-February the congregation was actively planning to construct a church building of its own. The building project was aided by donations by supporters in California. The church's first permanent home,