History of the Saints (2010) | Couchpile

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History of the Saints (2010) | Couchpile

Season 1: The Martyrdom to the Salt Lake Valley

34 Episodes

2010

E01

The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum

11/21/2010

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E02

"The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith"

10/10/2010·30m

On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed in an attack inside the jailhouse at Carthage, Illinois. This episode discusses the martyrdom and the events leading up to it, including the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor. Scholars interviewed include: Kenneth W. Godfrey, Jeffery N. Walker

E03

The Aftermath of the Martyrdom

10/17/2010·30m

Following the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, many enemies of the Church hoped its members would disband, and the Church disintegrate. This episode discusses how people, both in and out of the Church, reacted to the murders, along with the funeral of Joseph Smith, and how the trial of the accused killers played out. Scholars interviewed include: Kenneth W. Godfrey, Dean C. Jessee, Jeffery N. Walker.

E04

The City of Joseph Part 1

10/24/2010·30m

This episode tells the story of the momentous days and weeks immediately after the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Critical decisions were made and dramas played out that set the course of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for generations to come. Scholars interviewed include: Richard E. Bennett, William G. Hartley, Glen M. Leonard, Ronald K. Esplin, Susan Easton Black, Susan Sessions Rugh.

E05

The City of Joseph Part 2

10/31/2010·30m

By the summer of 1845 the time of Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois was coming to a close. Persecution and public opinion were mounting against them. They would have to leave. Where would they go and by what miracle would they get there? This episode tells the story of the last days of Nauvoo. Scholars interviewed include: Richard E. Bennett, William G. Hartley, Glen M. Leonard, Ronald K. Esplin, Susan Easton Black, Susan Sessions Rugh, Fred E. Woods.

E06

The Nauvoo Temple

11/7/2010·30m

As with the ancients, the Latter-day Saints are a temple building people. First there was the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio where the Lord revealed himself. Then others were planned in Independence and Far West Missouri that the Saints were unable to complete. Then in October of 1840, the Prophet Joseph Smith announced they would build another Temple; this one in Nauvoo, Illinois. This episode tells the story of the Nauvoo Temple. Scholars interviewed include: Richard E. Bennett, William G. Hartley, Glen M. Leonard, Richard O. Cowan, Susan Easton Black, Don F. Colvin.

E07

The Great Western Measure

11/14/2010·30m

Far from being an accidental or sudden idea, the exodus of the Latter-day Saints to the West was an informed and planned decision. It was not an idea that originated with Brigham Young, but rather with Joseph Smith who spoke of it as early as the 1830s. When the Saints went west, it was not the migration of random peoples looking for gold, game, or fur—it was the movement of a displaced people—an entire culture—looking for a home. Scholars interviewed include: Alexander L. Baugh, Fred R. Gowans, Richard E. Bennett, William G. Hartley, Fred E. Woods, Glen M. Leonard.

E08

Across Iowa

11/21/2010

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E09

Brigham Young: The Lion of the Lord

11/28/2010

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E10

Spring Exodus

12/5/2010

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E11

The Mormon Battalion - Part 1

12/12/2010

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E12

The Fall Exodus

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E13

Thomas L. Kane: Friend of the Mormons

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E14

Winter Quarters - Part 1

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E15

Winter Quarters - Part 2

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E16

Beyond Winter Quarters: The Ponca Saints

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E17

Beyond Winter Quarters: The Dissenters

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E18

The Mormon Battalion--Part 2

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E19

The March to California

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E20

The West before the Mormons

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E21

The Donner Party - Part 1

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E22

The Donner Party - Part 2

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E23

The Mormon Train: Preparing to Depart

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E24

The Mormon Trail - Part 1: Nebraska

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E25

The Mormon Trail - Part 2: Nebraska

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E26

The Trail of Diarists

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E27

Frontier Forts

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E28

Out of Pueblo

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E29

Across Wyoming

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E30

Sam Brannan and the Brooklyn

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E31

Into the Valley

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E32

The Pioneer Trail: A Perspective

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E33

The Mormon Battalion in California

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

E34

The First Days in the Valley

History of the Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Season 3: The Kingdom Endures poster

Season 3: The Kingdom Endures

30 Episodes

2013

The Handcart Story Part 1: The Plan

E01

The Handcart Story Part 1: The Plan

1/1/2013·23m

Though relatively few Latter-Day Saint pioneers crossed the overland Trail with a handcart, those handcart pioneers have become representative of the entire pioneer trail experience. The experiences of the Willie and Martin handcart companies in late 1856 have particularly come to represent the whole of the Latter-Day Saint handcart experience. This is not an accurate representation. This episode of History of the Saints presents the larger story of the Latter-Day Saints and handcarts.

The Handcart Story Part 2: The Ellsworth, McArthur, and Bunker Companies

E02

The Handcart Story Part 2: The Ellsworth, McArthur, and Bunker Companies

·23m

There were three other hand cart companies that made the trek before the Willie and Martin companies made their tragic journey across the plains in late 1856 - accomplished the journey with great success. See the stories of the Ellsworth, MacArthur, and Bunker handcart companies.

The Handcart Story Part 3: Willie and Martin Beginnings

E03

The Handcart Story Part 3: Willie and Martin Beginnings

·23m

By the 25th of June, 1856, the first three handcart companies had outfitted and departed in Iowa City. The next day, another group of 856 saints arrived from England. A second group arrived twelve days later. They were mostly the poor, and they would be the Saints of the Willie and Martin handcart companies. They would experience tragedy in multiples before their journey was through, most of that due to the fact that their ships arrived in America so late. That is the focus of this episode: Why were those ships - the Thornton and the Horizon - so late?

The Handcart Story Part 4: The Journey of the Willie Company

E04

The Handcart Story Part 4: The Journey of the Willie Company

·23m

August 16, 1856, the Willie Handcart Company, led by Captain James Grey Willie, pulled out of Florence, Nebraska, bound for the Salt Lake Valley. They were about 400 in number with some 85 handcarts. There had been an earnest discussion, centering around Levi Savage, about whether to continue so late in the year. When the discussion was over, about 100 people who had been with the company from Iowa City chose not to go on. This episode tells the story of those in the Willie Company who did go on. Why did they continue toward Zion, and could they have all stayed on the Missouri River had that been the decision?

The Handcart Story Part 5: The Call to Rescue

E05

The Handcart Story Part 5: The Call to Rescue

·23m

The story of the Willie and Martin handcart tragedy is not just one story of a single group; it is a story of many distinct groups interacting over a period of months. This episode focuses primarily on the Willie Company stranded on the plains of Wyoming, President Brigham Young and his brethren in Salt Lake City, and those heroic rescuers who left hearth and home to help their fellow Saints. This is the story of the rescue.

The Handcart Story Part 6: The Rescue of the willie Company

E06

The Handcart Story Part 6: The Rescue of the willie Company

·23m

It was the morning of October 21,1856, when Captain James Willie and Joseph Elder led the relief wagons into their camp at the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater. The company was suffering terribly. Several had died, and more would likewise succumb. Though the company had been found, they were not yet safe; in some respects, the worst of the ordeal was yet in front of them. But at that moment, the rescuers were greeted as angels from heaven when they entered the camp.

The Handcart Story Part 7: The Journey of the Martin Company

E07

The Handcart Story Part 7: The Journey of the Martin Company

·23m

A large group of Latter-day Saint emigrants left Liverpool on May 25,1856, on the ship Horizon. They arrived at Iowa City July 8,1856. They were the poorest of the Saints to emigrate that year, three-fourths of them being women, children, and the elderly. A large number of them were organized into two handcart companies - the Havens Company and the Martin Company. They left Iowa City and arrived in Florence, Nebraska, on August 22, 1856. As with the Willie Company, there was a serious discussion at Florence about whether to go on, and the camp voted overwhelmingly to continue. Three days later, with the two companies now combined under the leadership of Captain Edward Martin, they set out for the Salt Lake Valley. They would become known to history as the Martin Handcart Company.

The Handcart Story Part 8: The Rescue of the Martin Company

E08

The Handcart Story Part 8: The Rescue of the Martin Company

·23m

November 2, 1856, the Martin Handcart Company with the help of rescuers reached Devil's Gate, Wyoming, and an old abandoned fort there called Fort Seminoe. However, they could not stay there; it was too exposed and cold. They had to find a place more sheltered from the elements - and that shelter, Martin's Cove, has become immortalized in Latter-day Saint history. This is the story of the rescue of the Martin Company.

The Handcart Story Part 9: The Hunt and Hodgett Wagon Companies of 1856

E09

The Handcart Story Part 9: The Hunt and Hodgett Wagon Companies of 1856

·23m

While modern history celebrates the saga of the Willie and Martin handcart companies, it all but overlooks those who traveled right along with them through the same storms and privations - the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies. This is their story.

The Handcart Story Part 10: Willie and Martin Companies - Aftermath and Legacy

E10

The Handcart Story Part 10: Willie and Martin Companies - Aftermath and Legacy

·23m

By December 15,1856, the last of the emigrants had made it to Salt Lake City. Their arrival was neither the end of their sufferings nor the end of the story. The whole episode was considered a tragedy, an embarrassment-an event not often spoken of for decades to come. Yet somehow, over time, the tragedy of the Willie and Martin companies changed from a regrettable mistake to a badge of honor-a symbol of faith and courage. Those few with handcarts came to symbolize for many the entire pioneer migration experience. This episode explains how that happened.

The Mormon Reformation Part 1

E11

The Mormon Reformation Part 1

·23m

Just before the rescue of the handcart companies got underway in 1856, there was a dramatic movement of reform among the Saints led by President Young's fiery second counselor, Jedediah M. Grant. It has come to be called the Mormon Reformation, and it remains one of Mormonism's most misunderstood historical events.

The Mormon Reformation Part 2: Culture, Context, and Results

E12

The Mormon Reformation Part 2: Culture, Context, and Results

·23m

The Mormon Reformation started in earnest in September 1856 and ended in the spring of 1857. Intense preaching and calls for repentance produced notable improvements but also some excesses. Strong admonitions at the top led to some unfortunate excesses at some local levels - but too many have tended to focus on the excesses and overlook the fact that reformation produced a spiritual uplift across the Church.

Utah War Part 1: Beginnings

E13

Utah War Part 1: Beginnings

·23m

The Latter-day Saints had known persecution from the beginning, having been driven as a people from New York and then Ohio. The Saints thought they had found a home in Missouri in 1838, only to have hostilities erupt and escalate into a war of extermination against them. A few years later they left Nauvoo, Illinois, for a new home in the Rocky Mountains. Here they hoped to be safe from mobs ever after. So imagine their shock and trepidation when they learned in July 1857 that a federal army was coming against them. This event in history is seldom remembered but it was a dark time for the Latter-day Saints as a people. It was the Utah War!

Utah War Part 2: The March on Utah

E14

Utah War Part 2: The March on Utah

·23m

United States President James Buchanan considered the Latter-day Saints in Utah in a state of rebellion and dispatched an army to put them down. This episode follows that army on its march to Utah and shows the reactions of the Saints in Utah to that army.

Utah War Part 3: The Mountain Meadows Massacre

E15

Utah War Part 3: The Mountain Meadows Massacre

·23m

The stage was set for war. A federal force was poised on Utah's doorstep, and the Saints were unclear of that army's intentions. Governor Brigham Young declared martial law, and the people prepared for the worst. It was into this emotionally charged environment that the Baker-Fancher party, a large group of overland emigrants bound for California, entered the territory. The results would be catastrophic.

Utah War Part 4: Utah's Response

E16

Utah War Part 4: Utah's Response

·23m

The United States Army, under the command of Colonel Edmund Alexander, was marching on Utah, but when would they arrive and what was its intentions? No one knew for sure. But sometime on the morning of September 12, 1857, Governor Brigham Young received a messenger in Salt Lake City with alarming news. The army had marched on past Fort Laramie with the intention of entering Salt Lake City in the fall. With the safety of his people at stake, Governor Young declared martial law and sent out a Nauvoo Legion force called the Eastern Expedition.

Utah War Part 5: The Move South and Occupation

E17

Utah War Part 5: The Move South and Occupation

·23m

Johnston's Army had gone into Winter Quarters near Fort Bridger on the eastern edge of Utah Territory, and General Daniel H. Wells had dismissed most of his Nauvoo Legion forces for the winter, though a small contingent settled in to spy on the army. War would wait for spring. While the Saints prepared and the army simmered in rage, Colonel Thomas L. Kane arrived in Salt Lake City to avert a war. This episode will discuss his efforts to effect reconciliation and will describe the army's march into Salt Lake City. Though some people know about the Utah War, perhaps few understand just how much misery and suffering it brought upon the Saints.

Pioneer Architecture: Building Zion

E18

Pioneer Architecture: Building Zion

·23m

When the Latter-day Saints first came to the West, it was their intention to build up the kingdom of God in the Rocky Mountains. The key word is build. Throughout the pioneer period they built all kinds of buildings, from the most mundane to the most grand. Those buildings were and still are a unique blend of form and function that set the Latter-day Saints apart then and now. This episode of History of the Saints begins the story of building the kingdom.

The Great Builders and Buildings of Zion

E19

The Great Builders and Buildings of Zion

·23m

When the Latter-day Saints arrived in Utah it was a wilderness, and out of that wilderness they were determined to establish a Zion society - one that embodied permanence, order, beauty, and worship. And though there were no trained architects among the early Saints, there were men who gave their all to fulfill in materials what prophets saw in vision. This episode of History of the Saints is about those early architects and some of the buildings they designed. We begin with Truman 0. Angell - born June 5, 1810, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Preserving the Past

E20

Preserving the Past

·23m

One of the earliest revelations given to Joseph Smith was D&C 21:1, which admonishes, "Behold there shall be a record kept among you.... " Former LDS Church Historian, Elder Marlin K. Jensen, said, "A historic site is a record in a sense. There are many ways to keep that record, and one of the ways is to preserve a place, a building, an artifact that represents history." This episode of History of the Saints is about saving that history.

The Return of Martin Harris

E21

The Return of Martin Harris

·23m

Martin Harris was there from the beginning. He helped Joseph Smith get to Harmony, assisted with the scribing of the Book of Mormon, helped finance its printing, and became one of the three witnesses of that sacred book. It was Martin who helped choose the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835. Martin did much for the work, but then he fell away from the faith for nearly forty years. This is the touching story of Martin's return to the Church.

The Rise of the Latter-day Saint Music Tradition

E22

The Rise of the Latter-day Saint Music Tradition

·23m

It was July 1830 when Emma Smith, the wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was commanded to "make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my Church. For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart." Just as Mormonism came out of obscurity and established its own religious tradition, so too did that happen with music. Over the decades the Latter-day Saints have developed their own unique music tradition. This is the story of how that tradition developed.

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 1

E23

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 1

·23m

One of the darkest times in American history was the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. It led to the death of approximately 600,000 soldiers and scarred the lives of millions. While the nation came apart in the East, the Latter-day Saints in the West watched with keen interest. This episode of History of the Saints is about the beginnings of the Civil War and the Latter-day Saints' perspective on that war.

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 2: Public Opinion

E24

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 2: Public Opinion

·23m

The Civil War swept up the United States and poured forth hate and destruction across the continent. It forever altered the United States, ideologically and politically. More than 1 million casualties resulted from the war, with soldier deaths estimated between 600,000 and 800,000. The war even reached into the American West and involved those states and territories around Utah. Yet Utah as a territory and as a people, for the most part, sat out the war - watched from the sidelines. The question is - why? It may be shocking for some to realize, but the Latter-day Saints of 1861 were suspected of being secessionists - just like Southerners. This episode describes the low opinion the nation had of the Latter-day Saints.

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 3: Involvement and Impact

E25

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 3: Involvement and Impact

·23m

The Civil War was the most devastating conflict in American history. And while the Latter-day Saints as a Church maintained neutrality in the conflict, there were those who did fight - on both sides. This would be the first national struggle that would see Latter-day Saints fight and die in battle. Yet for all of the war's pervasive reach into every corner of American society, only one unit of Latter-day Saints was ever called up.

Polygamy in Utah

E26

Polygamy in Utah

·23m

The Bible makes it plain that there were times when the Almighty commanded His people to live in polygamy. When Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord as to how that could be just, he was given a revelation now known as D&C 132. As a result, the Latter-day Saints began to practice plural marriage. The principle was introduced in Nauvoo and was lived more openly during the Exodus. In 1852 it was announced to the world. This episode of History of the Saints answers various questions about life in plural marriage in early Utah.

The War on Polygamy

E27

The War on Polygamy

·23m

"It is the duty of Congress to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery." Such was the key platform of the newly formed Republican Party, delivered June 17, 1856, at Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia. Within a short time, the nation was plunged deep into Civil War to decide the question of slavery, and the rest is history. In this episode of History of the Saints, we tell the story of the war that subsequently went forth against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members to eradicate the practice of plural marriage.

Railroad, Relief society, and Retrenchment

E28

Railroad, Relief society, and Retrenchment

·23m

"That the Church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world" was a revelation given to Joseph Smith in March 1832; it received a renewed emphasis among the Latter-day Saints in the decades of the 1860s and 1870s. Self-sufficiency became the call, and the Saints responded. However, there were challenges to that ideal. One of the greatest of those was posed by the coming of the railroad. With the railroad as a catalyst, a series of events followed that proved a great blessing to Latter-day Saints across the world.

The Last Days of President Brigham Young

E29

The Last Days of President Brigham Young

·23m

President Brigham Young left St. George in January 1877 with renewed life and determination. Over the next eight months, he traveled the length and breadth of the territory, setting the Church in order. As soon as that mission was complete, he returned to Salt Lake, took sick, and passed away. The course that President Young set for the Church in the summer of 1877 is still largely the Church's plotted course to this day.

The St. George Temple

E30

The St. George Temple

·23m

It is the oldest operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first one built in the Intermountain West. Though the Salt Lake Temple was under construction at the time, the St. George Utah Temple would be the first to be dedicated. And therein lies the great story. The St. George Temple is a temple of many firsts, built by many for a single purpose.