of the general Government was occupied with the Civil War, and little was accomplished, though an act designed to break up polygamy was passed in 1862. Meanwhile the Perpetual Emigration Fund had been organized in 1849 and thousands of proselytes were brought from Europe. The incoming of non-Mormons was viewed with disfavor. See Mountain Meadows Massacre.
After the Civil War, the opening of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 brought more ‘gentiles,’ and further efforts to enforce the laws were made by some officers, but with little success. The Mormon grand juries refused to indict and the other juries to convict. The death of Young in 1877 apparently made no difference in the condition of affairs. It was finally decided that the only way to break the power of the Church was to deprive its members of political power. The Edmunds Bill in 1882 disfranchised all polygamists, and abolished most of the offices in the Territory. Control was given to a commission of five men. Within two years 12,000 were disfranchised and the indignation was so great that troops were sent in 1885 in fear of an uprising. Continued agitation for Statehood brought no result, and meanwhile, after it had been held constitutional that juries might consist entirely of non-Mormons, prominent officials were convicted and sent to the penitentiary. A more stringent act was passed in 1887, the corporation of the Mormon Church, and the Perpetual Emigration Fund were abolished, and their property escheated. By 1890 468 men had been convicted of polygamy, and President Woodruff of the Mormon Church issued a manifesto declaring that the Church no longer countenanced polygamy, and his action was approved by a General Conference of the Church. This was followed in 1891 by the formation of political parties, on national lines, and in 1893 amnesty was declared to all offenders who could show that they had not broken the law since 1890. Congress passed an enabling act for Statehood in 1894, a constitution was formed on March 6, 1895, was adopted in November, and the State was admitted January 4, 1896. The Constitution forbids polygamy and allows woman's suffrage. Since admission it has been claimed that the people are going back to their old practices, and in 1900 Brigham H. Roberts was not allowed to take his seat in the United States House of Representatives, because of a charge of polygamy.
The State has voted in but two Presidential elections. The silver question was the sole issue in 1896, and the vote was cast for the Democratic Silver candidate. In 1900 by a small majority Republican electors were chosen.
| Governors of Utah | ||
| STATE OF DESERET | ||
| Brigham Young | 1849-51 | |
| TERRITORY OF UTAH | ||
| Brigham Young | 1851-57 | |
| Alfred Cumming | 1857-61 | |
| John W. Dawson | 1861 | |
| Frank Fuller (acting) | 1861-62 | |
| Stephen S. Harding | 1862-63 | |
| James Duane Doty | 1863-65 | |
| Charles Durkee | 1865-69 | |
| Edwin Higgins (acting) | 1869-70 | |
| S. A. Mann (acting) | 1870 | |
| J. Wilson Shaffer | 1870 | |
| Vernon H. Vaughan (acting) | 1870-71 | |
| George L. Woods | 1870-74 | |
| S. B. Axtell | 1874-75 | |
| George B. Emery | 1875-80 | |
| Eli H. Murray | 1880-86 | |
| Caleb W. West | 1886-89 | |
| Arthur L. Thomas | 1889-93 | |
| Caleb W. West | 1893-96 | |
| OF THE STATE | ||
| Heber M. Wells | Republican | 1896— |
Consult: Nichols, Mineral Resources of Utah (Pittsburg, 1873); Bancroft, History of the Pacific States (San Francisco, 1889); Jones, Utah (New York, 1902); and the works named in the bibliography under the article Mormons.
UTAH, University of. A state institution of learning for both sexes at Salt Lake City, Utah, founded in 1850 as the University of the State of Deseret. After one session it was discontinued until 1867, owing to lack of funds and patronage. A new charter was secured in 1894, when the present corporate title was assumed. In the same year the university received a grant of 60 acres on the Fort Douglas Reservation and the Legislature appropriated $300,000 for buildings on the new site. The departments are the School of Arts and Sciences; the State School of Mines, established by the State Legislature in 1901; the State Normal School; and a preparatory department. Students are admitted on examination or on certificate from accredited schools. In 1903 the attendance was 745, the teaching force numbered 30, and the library contained 21,300 volumes and 11,500 pamphlets. The value of the university property was estimated at $350,000 and the gross income at $85,000.
UTAH LAKE. The largest fresh-water lake in Utah, situated 30 miles southeast of the Great Salt Lake, into which it discharges through the river Jordan (Map: Utah, B 1). It is about 25 miles long and eight miles wide, and lies on the extreme eastern border of the Great American Basin, at the western base of the Wasatch Range, and at an altitude of 4505 feet. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, but receives its principal drainage from the east. The chief town on its shores is Provo City.
UTE, ūt, or U′TAH. An important tribe of Shoshonean stock (q.v.), who formerly occupied the mountain region of western Colorado and eastern Utah, with portions of the adjacent territory on the north and south, and extended their hunting and raiding expeditions far down into the plains. They were subdivided into bands, of which the principal were the Tabequache, Muache, Capote, Wiminuche, Yampa, and Uinta. They seem to have been the original nucleus of the Shoshonean stock, as commonly recognized, occupying a central position and having no tradition of any earlier home. They were usually at peace with their neighbors and kindred on the north and west, the Shoshoni, Banak, and Piute, and also assumed a protectorship over the Jicarilla, but carried on constant and relentless warfare with the Navajo and with all the tribes of the plains. They were a restless, warlike, and aggressive people, living entirely by hunting and on wild fruits and roots, and like other tribes of the same stock, were democratic in their tribal life, with centralized or hereditary chiefship and careless of ceremonial. Their native arts were simple, but by trade with the Navajo and Piute they obtained blankets and baskets, while from the Mexicans, and by raids on other tribes, they procured herds of horses,
