Utah, the Right Place: The Official Centennial History

I have long been wary of any book that uses the term "official" and "history" in its title. It connotes a certain sense of self-adoration and celebration at best and exhibits rather blatant spin-doctoring and perhaps even untruth at worst. If any historian could write an outstanding official history, however, it is Thomas G. Alexander, one of the leading historian of the Great Basin. Because of his skill, he often succeeds here, but the blinders of centennial celebration and religious heritage limit what could have been a magnificent synthesis to what is merely a good one."Utah, The Right Place" was commissioned by the state government in commemoration of the centennial of statehood. In a fit of largesse, the state legislature appropriated funds for this overview, a four-volume chronological history each written by a different scholar, histories of each Utah county, and several other publications and events. In this new state history, Alexander presents Utah as a crossroads where cultures met, conflicted, assimilated, and ultimately changed forever. Although there is some discussion of aboriginal peoples, the vast majority of the book deals with the cultural interaction between European-Americans and Native Americans, as well as between various groups of European-Americans. Alexander heavily emphasizes the period since 1847, with well over three/fourths of the book dealing with this chronological period.A group that is both overrepresented and handled with a surprisingly positive alacrity is the Mormons. No doubt the members of the Mormon church have fundamentally influenced the development of Utah since 1847, but Alexander's too-easy acceptance of the church's conventional position is troubling. For instance, with the many other issues appropriate for this state history given incomplete treatment or omitted altogether, presumably because of space limitations, why does Alexander devote nearly a chapter to a narrative of Mormon origins and development prior to the 1846 exodus to Utah? And, having chosen to do so, why is the treatment so reflective of the Mormon leadership's beliefs about the church's origins?Alexander, as a believing, practicing Mormon, handles most Mormon issues in this Utah history in a "faithful" manner, in most instances reflecting the church's beliefs about itself. A notable example of Alexander stepping beyond his religious convictions, however, is his use of the lessons of the Mountain Meadows Massacre to chide present-day mid-level Mormon officials about overzealous execution of presumed policies from the church leadership. In 1857, a combined Mormon and Paiute party brutally murdered a wagon train of Arkansans stopped at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah who were on their way to California. At the time, middle-management Mormon John D. Lee misinterpreted comments from Brigham Young and his chief lieutenants about possible war with the United States as a license to carry out this heinous crime, and successfully covered up

Alexander's "official" centennial Utah history is a strong overview of the history of Utah. Their are many pictures to make the work interesting, and the narrative is flowing and enjoyable. It's only flaw its that it does focus on Mormons, but that is the majority religious group in the state so he can be forgiven. The book celebrates the people of Utah past and present and glosses over some not so pretty events. A must read for anyone interested in Utah history.