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So to what extent was this pioneer migration sort of just something that anyone could have

done versus one of the greatest, you know, epic feats of 19th century Americana? You know,

what was Brigham's role and how important and difficult of a task was it to migrate

to Utah. I think in terms of getting a company west as of 1847, certainly challenging, but

not unusual. There are thousands of Americans who were going to Oregon and California during

these years. That last section of the Mormon Trail into the Salt Lake Valley was both more

physically challenging in terms of terrain and much more unusual. So I think there were greater

challenges there. I think it is, you know, it's noteworthy that the Brigham Young is able to get

the pioneer camp to the Salt Lake Valley with nobody dying and with the people sticking together.

And it's even more remarkable that over the succeeding years, he's able to get

thousands and then tens of thousands of Latter-to-Saints to Utah to a large extent with a common

purpose and a great deal of cohesion. I think in terms of westward migration, you know, that ultimately

is very remarkable. Once Brigham Young sort of establishes his leadership and his rule in Utah,

what was his role, what was the separation of church and state and to what extent were they

kind of co-mingled? Well, they were very, very co-mingled. I don't think there was any sense that

there should be a clear separation between church and state. There was a civil government, of course,

but Brigham Young believed that the priesthood should dictate to his governorship, for instance,

and he certainly believed that the priesthood should control the politics of the territory.

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