Utah Troubles (Harry Turtledove)

Utah Troubles refers to a series of rebellions, reprisals, and occupations of the state of Utah by the US Army in the Timeline-191 alternate universe of Harry Turtledove's fiction novel. Starting with the Second Mexican War, detailed in How Few Remain, Mormon nationalist-theocrats attempt several times to secede Utah from the Union and form the Nation of Deseret.

The Second Mexican War

During the Second Mexican War of 1881-82, Mormon saboteurs cut telegraph wires and severed the Transcontinental Railroad. US soldiers under the command of Brigadier General John Pope and Colonel George Custer restore the authority of the federal government in the state, hanging Mormon leaders in a public execution in Salt Lake City. Enforcing federal laws, Pope and Custer also crack down on several polygamists, arresting them and burning down their expansive homes. It is during this occupation that the roots of Mormon hatred and distrust of the government out East started taking shape. In time, the occupiers restore territorial sovereignty to elected local officials, and Utah is admitted to the Union in 1896, having declared the tenet of polygamy illegal as a precondition.

The Great Revolt of 1915

Peace between the Mormons and the United States government ensues through the first decades of the twentieth century, but beneath the surface of relative tranquility there existed a tremoring tension of boiling hate between the two groups that could only be resolved through further violence. When the United States and the Confederate States went to war in 1914, Mormons once again began to dream of an independent Utah.

While the USA and CSA are locked in mortal combat back in the East, Mormon radicals buy weapons from both the Confederacy and the British Empire in Canada, which is also at war with the USA. The uprising begins around Easter time in 1915, and upsets plans for a large US spring offensive in Kentucky by forcing President Theodore Roosevelt and Army Chief of Staff Leonard Wood to take two divisions away from General Custer (who, at 75, is now in command of an entire army, with thoughts on warfare that haven't changed since 1881) and enforce federal hegemony in Utah. The US Army battles its way through Utah, battling a foe far more fierce and tenacious than any Canadian or Confederate soldier. At one point during the campaign, the Mormons detonate a large mine under the US forces' trench near Ogden, destroying an entire division and forcing the other to hold tight until reinforcements arrive--further disrupting US plans for other theaters.

Nevertheless, the US Army captures the last stronghold of Ogden, taking the rebel leaders into custody and enforcing martial law in Utah for an indefinite period.

The Long Occupation: 1916-1937

First under the command of Major General Alonzo Kent, then Lt. General John Pershing, and then Colonel Abner Dowling, US Army governor-generals rule the Occupied State of Utah from a bunker complex in Salt Lake City. Parts of the occupation include banning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an illegal organization, enforcing curfews and bans on public ceremonies, occupying Temple Square and leaving the rubble of the Salt Lake Temple in ruins as a reminder of the cost of rebellion (with the picking up of any stone or pebble from the rubble a crime on pain of execution). Mormons chafe under this tight occupation, but are forced to endure it or face extermination by an all-too-willing US government.

When Wall Street crashes in 1929 and the economic conditions in the state deteriorate even further, a Mormon radical guns down Governor-General Pershing in front of Colonel Dowling, the commandant of Salt Lake City. Throughout that summer and well into 1930, Mormon separatists set off several bombs on trains and public squares across the United States, while assassinating famous American politicians and lawmakers and robbing several banks to finance their operations. The US government, which had been on the verge of restoring popular sovereignty in the state, changes its mind and Utah lapses into another several years of occupation. President Herbert Hoover forbids any public-works programs to take place in Utah, seeing the notion as Socialist-minded and not worthy of the people it would help out.

Intelligence reports from sources planted in Mormon society also point to an increase in militancy amongst the radical elements. Colonel Dowling (now the head of Occupied Utah) reports these disturbing findings to the War Department, which buries it in a file of other reports and forgets about it. Random acts of sabotage take place, and local authorities think that Jake Featherston and the Confederate States might be behind it.

Heber Young, grandson of Mormon founding father Brigham Young, negotiates the end of occupation with President Al Smith through Colonel Dowling, and Utah returns to normalcy in February 1937. Almost immediately, the Mormons take over all branches of the state government, with Young himself as a moderate governor in a sea of radicalism.

World War II

The beginning of World War II between the Confederacy and the Union provides further opportunity for a Mormon revolt, which they take up. This leads the US to send troops into Utah again and, after unsuccessful negotiations with the Mormons, they begin committing attacks against US civilians as well as military. They start off with car bombs in various places (including the Capitol building in Philadelphia) then move on to suicide bombings against various US targets.

By 1943, the Mormons had began discussions about surrender. The Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War has a long debate on the issue, with one possible idea being the transportation of all the Mormons from Utah to one of the Sandwich Islands (other than Oahu, which is an important military area), the logic being that if they aren't in Utah anymore, they'll be less likely to cause trouble.