State of Deseret

“” God has shown me that this is the spot to locate this people, and here is where they will prosper.

— Brigham Young

State of Deseret was a Mormon territory proposed to be a US state. He is the predecessor of Utah. Promoted by Mormon leaders and led by official church prophet Brigham Young, Utah became the paradise for the exiled Mormons to settle. The Deseret State operated for nearly two years but was never recognized by the USA government.

The name "Deseret" comes from the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon. He was a proposed state, with his area covering today's Utah with chunks of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming.

𐐐𐐮𐑅𐐻𐐲𐑉𐐨 (History)

When members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormon pioneers, settled in what is now the Salt Lake City in 1847 (then part of the Centralist Republic of Mexico), they wished to establish a government that would be recognized by the United States. A downgrade from Joseph Smith's wish to be President, but at least the Mormons would have some clay for themselves.

Initially, Smith's successor Brigham Young intended to apply Deseret 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.

Deseret realized that he did not have time to follow the usual steps toward statehood. Thus, 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 6 March 1849. It was based on that of Iowa, a state through which the Mormons had passed, with some having temporarily settled there. Deseret stayed silent on the issue of slavery, which was tearing America apart in the 1850s.

USA rejected the borders for a state named "Deseret". However, it was compromised that Brigham Young would become the governor of the new Utah Territory in 1850—so much for the separation of church and state!

𐐡𐐮𐑊𐐩𐑇𐐲𐑌𐑇𐐮𐐹𐑅 (Relationships)

𐐤𐐭𐐻𐑉𐐲𐑊 (Neutral)

• 𐐏𐐭𐑌𐐴𐐻𐐮𐐼 𐐝𐐻𐐩𐐻𐑆 - Prophet Smith wanted to be your President, but he was brutally martyred in your prison! And you are straying away from the New Zion ever since the Mountain Meadows Massacre… However, you honored us Mormons with our own state, and thus we will honor you back! Thank you, Millard Fillmore! We shall continue to live vicariously through Utah.

𐐇𐑌𐐲𐑋𐐨𐑆 (Enemies)

• 𐐣𐐮𐑆𐐳𐐨 - YOU JAILED OUR FOUNDER AND LEADER! YOU ALSO KICKED OUT OUR MORMONS!! You are the worst territory to ever exist! I also don't recognize that blasphemous Independence church!
• 𐐆𐑊𐐲𐑌𐐬𐐩 - You let Joseph Smith die!! YOU ARE BANNED FROM ZION!
• 𐐝𐐲𐑄𐐲𐑉𐑌 𐐤𐐩𐐻𐐮𐑂𐑆 - You… you WHAT? YOU MASSACRED MY SETTLERS! May God and glorious leader Joseph Smith have mercy on you…

𐐐𐐵 𐐻𐐭 𐐔𐑉𐐫 (How to draw)

One of the flag variants of Deseret

State of Deseret has a drawing rating of intermediate.

1. Draw a ball.
2. Divide the ball into 12 horizontal stripes: 6 blue, and 6 white.
3. Add a white canton to the top left.
4. In the canton, draw 12 small blue 5-pointed stars positioned in a circle.
5. In the circle of the stars, draw a bigger blue star.
6. Add eyes and done!

Color Name		HEX
	Blue	#0065A3
	White	#FFFFFF