ABSTRACT
The popular stereotype of the “Wild West” is based in the reality of the methods by which America enlarged her border: the confl icts that arose between settlers and the uncharted land itself, between settlers and indigenous peoples already inhabiting the land, and between various groups of settlers. The geographic and cultural distance between the West and the centralized federal government in the East exacerbated these confl icts. The portrayal of frontier violence in popular culture emphasizes the basic goodness of the “civilizing” settlers, and the evil intents of those that oppose them, generally Indians or outlaws. In the late nineteenth century, however, concerns about the threat of violence were centered on another, perhaps even more threatening group: the Mormons.
