Melvin T. Smith

MELVIN T. SMITH is the director of the Utah State Historical Society. This paper was originally presented at the Mormon History Association annual meeting, Omaha, May 1982.

Faithful History/Secular Faith

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 4

I readily admit that the topic of “faithful history” may gain more by praying for the demise of the debate than by trying to provide life-extending arguments or by seeking to resurrect it. However, I…

Views of Brigham | Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses, and Newell G. Bringhurst, Brigham Young and the Expanding American Frontier

Articles/Essays – Volume 20, No. 3

Brigham Young: American Moses makes several important contributions. First, it relies on and quotes extensively from primary sources. Readers will glean a number of new insights. Particularly helpful is Arrington’s chapter on Brigham’s youthful life…

A Classic Reprinted | J. Roderic Korns and Dale L. Morgan, eds., West from Fort Bridger: The Pioneering of Immigrant Trails across Utah, 1846-1850

Articles/Essays – Volume 30, No. 4

When published originally in 1951 as volume 19 of the Utah Historical Quarterly, this book made a major contribution to understanding the history of overland routes traveled west from Fort Bridger to California. No other…