Mormon corridor
Mormon corridor
Mormon culture region, Book of Mormon belt | |
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Cultural region of the United States | |
Nickname: The Jell-O belt | |
Country | United States |
States |
The Mormon corridor are the areas of western
In academic literature, the area is also commonly called the
Location
The Mormon culture region generally follows the path of the
History
The larger chain of Mormon settlements, ranging from Canada to Mexico, were initially established as agricultural centers or to gain access to metals and other materials needed by the expanding Mormon population. The communities also served as waystations for migration and trade centered on Salt Lake City during the mid- to late 19th century.
Communities in the generally fertile but relatively dry valleys of the Great Basin, Southeastern Idaho, Nevada and Arizona were dependent on water supplies. Irrigation systems, including wells, dams, canals, headgates, and ditches, were among the first projects for a new community. Road access to timber in the mountains and pasturage for stock were important, as were carefully tended crops, gardens and orchards.
Initial settlements
At times, Young or his agents met incoming wagon trains of Mormon pioneers, assigning the groups a secondary destination to establish a new community. After a relatively brief rest in the growing communities of the Salt Lake Valley, the groups would restock needed supplies and materials, gather livestock, and travel on. In addition, new colonizers could be called from the pulpit. Young read the names of men and their families who were "called" to move to outlying regions. These "missions" for church members often lasted for years, as the families were to remain in their assigned area until released from the calling or given a new assignment. Colonizers traveled at their own expense, and success depended on appropriate supplies and personal resourcefulness, as well as uncontrolled variables such as water supplies and weather.[citation needed]
Several of these colonies could also have provided support for a second migration of the
After Young's death in 1877, successive leaders of the LDS Church continued to establish new settlements in outlying areas of the west. The Salt River Valley in western Wyoming, now known as Star Valley, was designated for settlement in August 1878, while Bunkerville and Mesquite, Nevada were settled in 1879 and 1880 respectively.[7] Communities were also established in eastern and southeastern Utah and western Colorado, primarily populated by LDS Church converts from the southern United States. Historians James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard estimate that at least 120 new LDS-based settlements were founded between 1876 and 1879.[7]
Settlements due to opposition to polygamy
Mounting legislation and prosecution of polygamists within the Latter-day Saint population in the United States led to additional expansion. In 1884, church president
Taylor instructed
"Jell-O Belt"
The Mormon corridor has been nicknamed[9] the "Jell-O belt" due to the popularity of Jell-O in the region. One of the official pins for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was a green Jell-O jiggler in the shape of the state.[10]
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Salt Lake City is America's Jell-O-eating capital. Every man, woman and child in Salt Lake City buys two boxes of the stuff annually, or twice the national average, says Mary Jane Kinkade of Jell-O brand gelatin-maker Kraft Foods. Utah residents also eat twice as much lime Jell-O as anyone else on the planet."[11]
In 2012, Slate criticized the phrase "Jell-O belt" as being rooted in misogyny and infantilizing stereotypes of LDS culture, and summarizing the dynamic overall stated, "In adopting and making Jell-O 'their' food, Mormons (or Lutherans or Methodists) are making a statement about their identity, accepting all of the food's positive connotations of family-friendliness, child-centeredness, and domesticity. Outsiders, in contrast, often look in and see Jell-O as a mark of a lack of taste that renders this group strange, immature, and ultimately mockable."[12]
See also
- Belt regions of the United States
- Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Latter-day Saint settlements in Canada
- Mormon colonies in Mexico
- Mormon communities in Arizona
- Mormon communities in California
- Mormon communities in Canada
- Mormon communities in Colorado
- Mormon communities in Idaho
- Mormon communities in Nevada
- Mormon communities in New Mexico
- Mormon communities in Texas
- Mormon communities in Utah
- Mormon communities in Wyoming
- Mormon Trail
- Mormon Trail (Canada)
- State of Deseret
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oregon
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington
References
- ^ "The Old Mormon Fort – Reading 1". Nps.gov. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ^ The Current State of the Mormon Culture Region This reference also includes a map, by county of Leading Church Bodies from 2000
- ISBN 978-0-252-02853-3. (Selected text)
- ^ Brooks, Joanna (July 26, 2010). "Immigration and Anti-Immigration in the Book of Mormon-Belt". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ "Why Mormons Love JELL-O". thrillist.com. November 4, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "Brigham Young". Lightplanet.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 0-87747-594-6.
- ^ Hicken, John R (1968). Events Leading to the Settlement of the Communities of Cardston, Magrath, Stirling and Raymond, Alberta. Logon, Utah: Utah State University. p. 70. Retrieved July 21, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The Jello Belt: Mormon Culture and Burnout". LDS Magazine. August 13, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- ^ "Olympic pins valuable mostly for creating memories". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Wyman, Carolyn (February 13, 2002), "In Utah, It's Good to Be Green (Jell-O)", Los Angeles Times
- ^ Spaceman, Christy, "Mormonism's Jell-O Mold," Slate.com, 2012-08-17, visited 2022-07-06.
External links
- Map Gallery of Religion in the United States from American Ethnic Geography