State of Deseret
1848-1850 provisional state founded by Mormons
The State of Deseret ( DEZ-ə-RET, Deseret alphabet: 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻) was a proposed U.S. state promoted by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had founded settlements in what is today the state of Utah. A provisional state government operated for nearly two years in 1849 to 1850, but was never recognized by the United States government. The name Deseret is derived from the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon.
History
Proposed concept as territory, then state
When members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon pioneers) settled in the Salt Lake Valley near the Great Salt Lake in 1847 (then part of the Centralist Republic of Mexico), they wished to establish a government that would be recognized by the United States.
Initially, second LDS Church president Brigham Young intended to apply for status as a territory and sent John Milton Bernhisel to Washington, D.C. with a petition for territorial status. Realizing that California and New Mexico were applying for admission as states, Young changed his mind and decided to petition for statehood.
Realizing that they did not have time to follow the usual steps toward statehood, Young and a group of church elders formed a convention in the capital town of Salt Lake City, where they quickly drafted and adopted a state constitution on March 6, 1849. It was based on that of Iowa, a state through which the Mormons had passed, with some having temporarily settled there. The bicameral state legislature had 17 senators in its upper chamber and 35 representatives in its lower chamber, all free white male citizens. The state government also had an elected governor, a lieutenant governor and a supreme court.
“State of Deseret” enters the record as 1848-1850 provisional state founded by Mormons. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what State, Deseret and 1848-1850 can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“State of Deseret” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, State, Deseret and 1848-1850 provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1150921. VIAF identifies the subject as 133831357. The Library of Congress control number is n91103789. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1850 and 1847.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “State of Deseret”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow State of Deseret primary sources, State of Deseret archive and State research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “State of Deseret”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “State of Deseret” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.