Saints or Sinners?

File — Box: 60, Folder: 16

Identifier: X

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Series: This section contains materials for Gold Rush Sojourners in Great Salt Lake City (University of Utah Press, 1983), Madsen's study of emigrants passing through the Salt Lake valley en route to the gold fields of California. The documents in this section reflect Madsen's focus on Mormon-gentile perceptions of one another. In Madsen's view, Mormon-gentile conflict had been exaggerated in historical writing. He suggested that the gentile view of Mormon culture in general, and of polygamy in particular, was more tolerant than histories based on nineteenth-century polemic literature had suggested. Madsen spent the Spring of 1981 researching collections at the National Archives as well as the Bancroft, Huntington, and Yale University libraries. Many of the documents in these boxes are from those sources. Madsen's research files for this book are arranged alphabetically by author. This section contains notes on and photocopies of documents relating to westward immigration. Primary and secondary sources are interspersed. Primary sources include published and unpublished diaries, journals, and letters, biographical sketches, family histories, newspaper articles, and military documents. There are three versions of this manuscript. Madsen's rough draft, located in box 60 beginning with folder 12, was originally titled "Mormon Halfway House in the Gold Rush," after John Unruh's characterization of the Salt Lake valley in The Plains Across. The name was apparently changed in response to one reader's complaint that the title suggested a roadside inn. Revisions to the manuscript are located in box 61, folders 1-8. Two of Madsen speeches related to this book, given eleven years apart, are included in box 61 following the reviews and correspondence.

Dates

1854-2000

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.