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38-537: Before present-day Utah became a state, it was organized into a provisional state, called the State of Deseret . Its constitution established a three-member supreme court. In 1850, the United States Congress passed "An Act to Establish a Territorial Government for Utah", Section 9 of which provided that "the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, and Justices of

76-556: A federal Indian agent in California, as a delegation to the interim government of California , then situated in the temporary capital of the coastal ocean town of Monterey . The delegates sought to call a new statehood constitutional convention and include Deseret in the new state so as to settle the slavery question throughout the vast territory acquired from Mexico. However, the newly elected first Governor of California , Peter H. Burnett (1807–1895, served 1849–1851), rejected

114-520: A portion of the northern section of the earlier proposed state Deseret. The Representatives and Senators in the Congress decided that the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the newly erected territory would be decided by voting referendum of the territory's residents. On February 3, 1851, Brigham Young was inaugurated as the first governor of the Utah Territory. On April 4, 1851,

152-651: A second huge state (after the experience, controversy and debates about boundaries of five years earlier with the admission of the Republic of Texas as the 28th state of the American Union in 1846 ). Those delegates for California advocating retention of all of the Centralist Republic of Mexico 's former province along the Pacific Ocean coast of Alta California (Upper California), from

190-489: A state constitution on March 6, 1849. It was based on that of Iowa , where the Mormons had passed through and some had temporarily settled. The bicameral state legislature had 17 senators in its upper chamber and 35 representatives, in the lower chamber, all free white male citizens. The state government also had an elected governor, a lieutenant governor, and a supreme court with judges / justices. The state constitution

228-596: A state on January 4, 1896, its constitution took effect, and Utah's territorial supreme court was replaced by a new state supreme court. The constitution provided that the court would have three members, but that the Utah Legislature could expand its membership to five after 1905, an option it ultimately exercised. In 1998, the Utah Supreme Court moved into its current courthouse, named for Governor Scott M. Matheson . The multimillion-dollar building

266-517: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . State of Deseret The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation / ˌ d ɛ z ə ˈ r ɛ t / DEZ -ə- RET , contemporaneously / d ɛ s iː r ɛ t / dess-ee-ret , as recorded in the Deseret alphabet spelling 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻) was a proposed state of the United States, promoted by leaders of

304-600: The Mexican Cession of their northwestern territories in the negotiated peace treaty following the defeat in the Mexican–American War of 1846 - 1849 recently concluded. It resulted in extensive lands acquired in the current Southwestern United States . With congressional action regarding Upper California's boundaries and status soon approaching, the provisional government to the east of Deseret sent Mormon apostle Amasa Lyman (1813–1877), and John Wilson,

342-599: The Carthage Jail and spent some time with Smith and his brother Hyrum in the jail, but Bernhisel was not present at the time of Joseph Smith's death at the hands of a mob. After Smith's death, Bernhisel followed Brigham Young and moved west with the majority of the Latter-day Saints. He settled in Salt Lake City , Utah Territory , in 1848 and continued the practice of medicine. Bernhisel

380-761: The Central Pacific Railroad heading east from the Pacific Ocean coast and Sacramento, California to the Rocky Mountains to link up with the Union Pacific Railroad driving westward from Missouri and Nebraska . The legendary driving of the famous golden spike just 66 miles northeast from the Great Salt Lake, completed the first transcontinental railroad across North America at Promontory Summit in

418-766: The Latter Day Saint movement . He was a close friend and companion to both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young . Bernhisel was the original delegate of the Utah Territory in the United States House of Representatives (1851–59, 1861–63) and acted as a member of the Council of Fifty of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Bernhisel was born at Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township , near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . His name at birth

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456-616: The Salt Lake Valley near the Great Salt Lake in 1847 (then part of the Centralist Republic of Mexico ), they wished to set up a government that would be recognized by their home country back east of the United States. Initially, second L.D.S. church president Brigham Young (1801–1877, served 1847–1877), intended to apply for status as a territory, and sent John Milton Bernhisel (1799–1881), to

494-484: The United States Senate in 1848 ." This map was drawn by Preuss, based on survey data from famous military officer and Western explorer John C. Frémont (1813–1890), and published in 1848. Since the proposal encompassed lands largely considered inhospitable for cultivation, it was hoped that it might avoid conflict over the issue of the expansion of slavery . Its size would make it easier to preserve

532-496: The western Rocky Mountains ) argued that the Mormons were unrepresented at the constitutional convention, culturally different, and apparently planning themselves to be applying for their own territorial government to be formed further to the east They also argued that the Great Salt Lake was too far away for a single territorial or state government to be practical and that the American Congress would not agree to such

570-540: The 49th parallel of latitude by treaty with the British further north in western Canada ), as well as the coast of northern California south of the Santa Monica Mountains (including the existing settlements / missions and pueblos of Los Angeles and San Diego ). This included the entire watershed of the upper Colorado River (excluding the lands south of the 1854 new second border with Mexico), after

608-569: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who had founded settlements in what is today the state of Utah . A provisional state government operated for nearly two years in 1849–50, but was never recognized by the United States government. The name Deseret derives from the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon . When members of the LDS Church (the Mormon pioneers ) settled in

646-581: The Deseret flag was similar to the historic Utah state flag. However, it was not standardized, and multiple other secular and religious alternatives were also used. Variants similar to the US Flag were also reported. John Milton Bernhisel John Milton Bernhisel (born John Martin Bernheisel ; June 23, 1799 – September 28, 1881) was an American physician, politician, and early member of

684-556: The General Assembly of Deseret passed a resolution to dissolve the state. On October 4, 1851, the Utah territorial legislature voted to re-enact the laws and ordinances of the state of Deseret. After the establishment of the Utah Territory, the Latter-day Saints did not relinquish the idea of a "State of Deseret". From 1862 to 1870, a group of Mormon elders under Young's leadership met as a shadow government after each session of

722-531: The Mormons or Salt Lake a number of times along with the continuing and intensifying North–South political and social / economic conflict over the extension of slavery into the western territories of the United States .. Advocates of smaller boundaries to be laid out for the new 31st state to the east (such as the longitude meridian line of 116° west or the crest of the Sierra Nevada range of

760-552: The Peace". This act converted Deseret's supreme court into a territorial supreme court with expanded jurisdiction. In 1894, the United States Congress passed an Enabling Act, which called a convention to draft a constitution for Utah, another step towards statehood. The Enabling Act provided that Utah's territorial courts would be succeeded by new state courts with the same structure and jurisdiction. When Utah became

798-606: The Utah Territory in May 1869 , two decades after its establishment. Prior to the establishment of Utah Territory, in the absence of other authority, the provisional government of Deseret became the de facto government of the Great Basin. Three sessions of its General Assembly, a bicameral state legislature , were held. In 1850, the legislature appointed judges and established a criminal code. Taxes were established on property, and liquor and gambling were outlawed. The LDS Church

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836-627: The balance of power in the Senate , by decreasing the number of free states entered into the Union. However, the proposal for the state was seen as too ambitious to succeed in Congress , even setting aside controversy over the Mormons and the rumored but not yet publicly acknowledged practice of polygamy . The California Constitutional Convention debates of 1849 in Monterey, California , mentioned

874-478: The borderline Gadsden Purchase of 1854 , as well as the entire area of the central Great Basin . The proposal encompassed nearly all of present-day Utah and Nevada , large portions of eastern California along with Arizona , and parts of western Colorado and New Mexico , southern Wyoming and Idaho , along with southeastern Oregon . The proposal was crafted specifically to avoid disputes that might arise from existing settlements of White Americans. At

912-493: The existing disputes of the western and northwestern borders of Texas after the old expansive Republic of Texas was admitted as the 28th state in 1846 . Deseret state also avoided encroaching on the fertile Willamette Valley further north in western Oregon , which had been heavily traveled and settled by legions of wagon trains since the 1840s with the famous Oregon Trail . Planners utilized "a map drawn by cartographer Charles Preuss (1803-1854), and published by order of

950-405: The first general election held more than three years after appointment" and every ten years thereafter. 40°45′34″N 111°53′20″W  /  40.759497°N 111.888918°W  / 40.759497; -111.888918 This article relating to law in the United States or its constituent jurisdictions is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Utah -related article

988-461: The national capital at Washington, D.C. , with the petition for territorial status. Realizing that California and New Mexico were applying for admission as states, President Young changed his mind and decided to petition for statehood. Realizing that they did not have time to follow the usual steps towards 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

1026-608: The proposal on the basis that the community in the Great Salt Lake area was too far away to the east beyond the Sierra Nevada mountains and Great Basin Desert (in future Nevada ) to combine under a single western government even temporarily. On September 9, 1850, as part of the negotiated Compromise of 1850 , in Congress in Washington, D.C. , that the new Utah Territory was created by Act of Congress , encompassing

1064-405: The territorial legislature to ratify the new laws under the name of the "state of Deseret". Attempts were made in 1856, 1862, and 1872 to write a new state constitution under that name, based on the new boundaries of the Utah Territory. The idea of creating a secular political state in the American Union based on the religious tenets of Mormonism began to fade away, especially after the coming of

1102-588: The territory that had been acquired from Mexico the previous year as the Mexican Cession . The Territory of Deseret would have comprised roughly all the lands between the mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada in the west and the Rockies to the east, and between the first laid out southern border with Mexico and then northward to include parts of the Oregon Territory , (recently split along

1140-479: The time of its proposal, the existing population of the Deseret area, including Southern California, was sparse, since most of the California settlement had been in the northern California gold rush areas of 1848 - 1849 around San Francisco Bay and Sacramento not included in the provisional state. Likewise, the border with New Mexico did not reach the Rio Grande , in order to avoid becoming entangled in

1178-532: The trans-continental railroad, which opened up the territory to many non-Mormon settlers of other religious faiths, particularly in the western areas of the territory. Church President and first governor of the Territory, Brigham Young and the LDS Church leaders / bishops supported the massive construction project of the east–west railroad, even taking members that were working on the landmark monumental Salt Lake Temple and even helping by reassigning them to work on

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1216-682: Was John Martin Bernheisel, which he changed as an adult. He earned a degree in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1827 and began practicing medicine in New York City . After becoming affiliated with the Latter Day Saint movement, he moved to Nauvoo, Illinois , in 1843. Bernhisel served as the personal physician to Joseph Smith , and lived in his home. He delivered some of Emma Smith 's children. In June 1844, Bernhisel accompanied Joseph Smith to

1254-555: Was a bachelor until he was 46 years old (March 1845), when he married Julia Ann Haight, the widow of William Van Orden and mother of five children. The couple had one child, also named John Milton Bernhisel (born in 1846). Like many early LDS Church members, Bernhisel went on to practice plural marriage . He was married to seven women, but by 1850, all of them but Elizabeth Barker had left the family for various reasons. He died at his home in Salt Lake City on September 28, 1881, and

1292-460: Was incorporated and a militia, based on the earlier Nauvoo Legion (from Nauvoo, Illinois where the Mormon pilgrims were formerly centered) was formed. The legislature initially formed six counties , which covered only inhabited valleys. These "valley counties" initially encompassed only a small portion of the area of Deseret and were expanded as settlement grew. According to most descriptions,

1330-548: Was nicknamed the " Taj Mahal " by some critics over its cost. Prior to that, the court met in the Utah State Capitol . The Governor of Utah nominates justices from a list created by a judicial nominating commission each time a vacancy arises. The nominee must then be confirmed by a majority of the Utah Senate to take office. If confirmed, the justice is subjected to a nonpartisan, "unopposed retention election at

1368-619: Was selected by Young to represent the interests of the Latter-day Saints before Congress when the Mormon settlers began to consider an application for statehood as the State of Deseret . He was selected to the Thirty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1859). Longtime Washington journalist Benjamin Perley Poore described Bernhisel during those years as "a small, dapper gentleman, who in deportment and tone of voice resembled Robert J. Walker ": It

1406-713: Was silent however on the burning political / social / economic issue ripping the nation apart in the 1850s on the matter of slavery . The state constitution went into effect on May 10. They sent the legislative records and constitution back east to Iowa for printing, because no printing press existed in the Great Basin at the time. They then sent a second messenger with a copy of the state's formal records and constitution to meet up with Bernhisel in Washington, D.C., and to petition for statehood rather than territorial status. The provisional state encompassed most of

1444-489: Was very rarely that he participated in debate, and his forte was evidently taciturnity. In private conversation he was fluent and agreeable, defending the peculiar domestic institutions of his people. After returning briefly to his medical practice, he also ran and served in the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863). Bernhisel also served as regent of the University of Utah . Bernhisel

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