Mormon corridor

The Mormon corridor describes a region of the Western United States that was settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who are commonly called Mormons, where a large Mormon population has created a culturally distinct region.

In academic literature, the area is also commonly called the Mormon culture region. It has also been referred to as the Book of Mormon belt, and the Jell-O belt.

Location

The Mormon culture region generally follows the path of the Rocky Mountains of North America, with most of the population clustered in the United States. Beginning in Utah, the corridor extends northward through western Wyoming and eastern Idaho to parts of Montana and the deep south regions of the Canadian province of Alberta. It reaches south to San Bernardino, California on the west and through Tucson, Arizona on the east, reaches west to the Jordan Valley, Oregon area extending southward to Eldorado, Texas, and finally the U.S.-Mexico border, with isolated settlements in Baja California, Chihuahua, and Sonora. Settlements in Utah, south of the Wasatch Front, stretched from St. George in the southwest to Nephi in the northeast, including the Sevier River valley. The corridor is roughly congruent with the area between present-day Interstate 15 and U.S. Route 89. Outside of the Wasatch Front, and Utah's Cache Valley, most of the population of the state resides in this corridor.