Description: On Zion's Mount shows how, paradoxically, the Mormons created their homeland at the expense of the local Indians--and how they expressed their sense of belonging by investing Mt. Timpanogos with "Indian" meaning.
Brief description: Jared Farmer is Associate Professor of History at Stony Brook University and author of Glen Canyon Dammed: Inventing Lake Powell and the Canyon Country.
Review Quotes: This is not a conventional history of Mormon-Indian relations during the second half of the 19th century. Rather, Farmer offers an intellectual interpretation of the Utah Valley and its most identifiable landmark--Mount Timpanogos, which towers above Provo and Orem. He also explains how white people (mostly Mormons) created pseudo-Indian legends that strengthened white claims while reducing the indigenous Ute attachment to the landscape...[Farmer] compares similar legends throughout the nation and explains how they were created to reflect the prevailing ideologies of the day. As an intellectual and cultural investigation, this book ably weaves diverse fabrics of history and folklore into an understandable whole.--M. L. Tate "Choice" (3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM)