Golden Spike

Statehood Comes, Utah Grows. For the next two decades Utah would continue to grow and define itself as a region. Latter-day Saints predominated in population and politics, but with time that mixture changed. The completion of the world’s first transcontinental railroad northwest of Ogden in 1869 marked the close of the pioneer era. Utah would be granted statehood 27 years later, in 1896, after the abolition of polygamy through revelation to the president of the Church removed what the federal government considered to be the primary obstacle. In the eyes of a nation watching the story unfold, Utah, that odd little step-child in the West, had gained a large measure of grudging respect. The next century would see Utah move into world focus.
     While religious freedom was the overriding factor in the early growth of Utah, farming and economic development would be responsible for much of the state’s growth over the next several decades. And as it grew, Utah’s population would also diversify.
     Construction of the railroad and the development of the iron and coal mining industries in the latter half of the 19th century would bring hundreds, and then thousands, of non–Latter-day Saints to the state.

Lorenzo Snow

    Tithing Brings Prosperity. Three and a half decades of legal and political challenge surrounding the issue of polygamy found the Church, following the granting of statehood, deeply in debt.
     While on a visit to the southern Utah settlement of St. George in 1899, where an extended drought was taking its toll on the land and the people, the fifth Church President, Lorenzo Snow, challenged the Saints to observe the biblical law of tithing, the donation of ten percent of one’s income (or equivalent in goods) to the Church.
     As promised in the Old Testament book of Malachi, the faithful would be rewarded by the opening of the windows of heaven upon them. Responding to his challenge, the St. George members recommitted themselves to this principle and were soon feeling rain upon their faces.
     Amplifying his statements a few months later in Salt Lake City, President Snow said, "The poorest of the poor can pay tithing; the Lord requires it at our hands . . . and we are going to do it. The temporal salvation of this Church . . . depends upon obedience to this law."
     Within three years the Church’s financial picture improved dramatically, and in eight years the Church was completely debt free.

    Self-Sufficiency Brings Independence. Decades of mistreatment at the hands of others helped focus the Church on the plight of others less fortunate.
     The Church had always taken care of its own and others, but its leaders recognized that free handouts could hurt the self-esteem and independence of the recipient. Mindful of this, the early Church put assistance-seekers to work in public works projects. On the long journey across the plains, hundreds were assigned to prepare and manage farms across Iowa to feed the pioneers who would follow. At large river crossings, others needing assistance were tapped to build and man ferries.
     When Utah gained statehood in 1896, an employment bureau was in place, gathering and publishing information on jobs and on those needing employment. A comparable system in the United States would not be created for another 40 years.
     Because of the diversity of trades represented by the early settlers of Utah, converts drawn from around the world helped Utah enter the 20th century with a broad economic base. While most of its neighboring Rocky Mountain states relied primarily on mining, Utah was developing a healthy agricultural economy as well.
     The primitive but effective irrigation system put in place by the earliest Mormon pioneers had grown and modernized to the point where Utah, using the resources of the Church, launched the development of hydroelectric power in the western United States.

As the nation slipped into the Great Depression, the Church’s stance on self-reliance paid off with the faithful relying on food they had stored for bad times. City-dwelling Utahns were not immune to the Depression. But soon outlying farmers were employing them to harvest the fields and paying them in produce. Following this lead, the Church began buying and developing farm properties adjacent to towns, where similar processes could continue.
     Storehouses were constructed where surplus goods were stockpiled for future need or to fill needs in other areas. Soon these facilities were serviced by a Church-sponsored transportation system. In some areas, usually near Church-owned farm properties, canneries and processing facilities were launched.
     Deseret Industries was introduced in 1938 to create jobs for the downtrodden and to refurbish used clothing, furniture, and household goods for resale at low cost.
     The entire program was formalized in 1936, when Church President Heber J. Grant announced the formation of the Church Security Program, later renamed the Church Welfare Program. A successful businessman before his call to the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve at the age of 25, Grant had since presided over the Church during the years following World War I and through the years of the Depression. As he launched the program in 1936, he donated to the Church his own 5,600-acre dry farm, in which he had invested more than $80,000.
     The underlying philosophy was later enunciated by President Grant when he said: "Our primary purpose was to set up . . . a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of the dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves."
     To fund the welfare program, Church members were asked to fast two consecutive meals per month and donate at least the value of those meals to the Welfare Fund.
     Over the next decade the Church would begin operating farms, canneries, and storehouses, where those receiving assistance could serve in return for the aid rendered. Eventually, employment services and professional counseling services were added to the Welfare Services program.
     This preemptive approach to economic self-sufficiency was so successful that by the end of World War II the Church was able to contribute more than 90 train-car loads of food, clothing, bedding, and medical supplies from Utah storehouses to the relief effort in Europe.

     Utah and the World. As the Church’s mark on the international community began to grow over the next decades, so did the state of Utah. Utah-born scientists were pivotal in the development of television, stereophonic sound, and advances in aerospace and medical technology. A 40-year study released in 1996 found that more scientists per capita hailed from Utah than from any other U.S. state.
     In the 1950s Utah-based companies began to make significant strides in leading-edge industries, particularly military sciences, aviation, and engineering.

The 1970s and 1980s saw Utah explode with a proliferation of hi-tech industries feeding the appetites spawned by the computer revolution. World-class companies sprang up in Provo, Ogden, and Salt Lake City, turning the Wasatch Front into a hotbed of international commerce and creativity. One of the attractions to industry has been an educated workforce, including an astonishing list of spoken languages, the result of Church missions served in more than 130 nations by former missionaries.