Map: Forced Migrations

An Economic Experiment
Kirtland, Ohio
1831-1838

"Kirtland is both the best of times and the worst of times for the Mormons."
-- Will Bagley, historian

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About this Place
Americans only begin settling the area in numbers at the end of the 1812 conflict between the U.S. and Britain. After 1830, Kirtland becomes a magnet for Mormon settlers.

"They came, men, women, and children, in every conceivable manner," according to one history of the area, "some with horses, oxen and vehicles rough and rude. while others had walked..."

By 1837 the town's population will swell to more than 3,000, with the majority Mormons.

Mormon Developments
The growing community plans a grand temple. The Mormons toil on the large stone building from 1833 until 1836, dedicating one day out of seven to its construction. During the temple's consecration, hundreds report seeing angels and other miraculous visions.

Many in the community are poor or have sold their assets to join. Joseph Smith announces a revelation setting up the United Order of Enoch. The economic order, like those of many communistic societies of the era, requires church members to give their property to the church for redistribution.

Why They Left
In November 1836, during a national speculative rush, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon establish the Kirtland Safety Society Bank. When a banking crisis sweeps the country the following year, the bank tries to stay afloat by printing more money.

Merchants consider the bank notes worthless. A warrant for Smith and Rigdon's arrest for bank fraud is issued on January 12, 1938. Smith and most of his followers -- including a new member named Brigham Young -- leave Kirtland for Independence, Missouri, where Smith has been sending missionaries and building another Mormon community.