History of Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, where it has stayed ever since. The city's name was officially changed to "Salt Lake City" at the same time. In 1857, when the Mormon practice of polygamy came to national awareness, President James Buchanan responded to public outcry by sending an army of 2500 soldiers, called the Utah Expedition, to investigate the LDS Church and install a non-LDS governor to replace Brigham Young. In response, Brigham Young imposed martial law, sending the Utah militia to harass the soldiers, a conflict called the Utah War. Young eventually surrendered to federal control when the new territorial governor, Alfred
John Brown (Mormon pioneer) John Brown (Mormon pioneer) John Brown (1820–1897) was a leader among the Mormons in the southern United States and in the Mormon pioneer exodus to the West. He was also a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature. Brown was born in Sumner County, Tennessee. He was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Perry County, Illinois by George P. Dykes. He later served as a Mormon missionary in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. He headed a group of Latter-day Saints, mainly from Mississippi, who moved west in 1846. They did not realize that