Joshua E. Sawyer JESawyer

Not fascinating, but interesting. Southern Utah has really spectacular scenery and is the most beautiful part of the U.S. that I have seen. It's pretty telling that in my trips around that area, I encounter as many foreigners as Americans. Zion, Bryce, Grand Staircase, Monument Valley, and Valley of the Gods are all fantastic.

I think Mormons are interesting because they occupy such a unique position in American society. Since their early days, they've had a lot of conflicts with the people around them and rapidly pushed west, out of the Midwest, and eventually into what would become Utah. Events like Missouri Executive Order 44, Haun's Mill, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre show how violent that conflict could be at times. The society that they built in the Utah region was done with local tribes like the Paiute but apart from outside, mostly-European influences.

As a result of these conflicts and their eventual concentrated build-up of Utah, Mormons have been, and often still are, considered "other" by many Americans. Unsurprisingly, Mormon communities can be extremely organized and powerful. Unlike many other powerful religious groups, the geographic concentration of Mormons is quite dense, so I think it produces an interesting dynamic in American politics and culture. The military history of the Mormons (fighting against and for the federal government) and the central role of J.M. Browning in the development of many of the U.S. military's most notable weapons (the BAR, M1911 Pistol, and M2) throws another element into the mix.

Finally, the interplay between the beautiful natural setting of Utah and Mormon beliefs is fun to examine, especially when the Mormon names for these locations are taken into account.