Which State Was Once Called Deseret?

The state of Utah was once called Deseret. It was a provisional state of the United States proposed by the settlers of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in 1849.

The population in the state of Deseret was 353 in the 2010 census, it is located about 10 miles Southwest of Delta and about 150 miles Southwest of Salt Lake City. The name Deseret comes from the “Book of Mormon”. 

What Does Deseret Mean?

According to the Book of Mormon, Deseret meaning is honeybee in the language of the Jaredites. It is a group believed by Mormons to have been led to the Americans following the construction of the Tower of Babel. Deseret was the name given to the region for which the Mormon pioneers sought territorial status.    

“Deseret is almost a lost word in Utah survives colorlessly, in the name of a few business firms and religious organizations’, historian Dale L. Morgan wrote in 1940, less than a century after Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

He also said, “In fact, we have lost many more namesakes over the years. Gone are Deseret Telegraph Co., Deseret National Bank, Deseret Gym, the Deseret Sunday School Union and, as listed in Polk’s business directory of 1920, the Deseret Scavenger and Waste Paper Co. The Deseret alphabet didn’t last, either.”

“The Utah’s oldest surviving business is the Deseret News which is nearly 162 years old. It first saw the light of day in 1850, during a period when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by church President Brigham Young, sought to establish the provisional “State of Deseret” as a functioning, if remote, part of the United States of America, he added.

State of Deseret was a name proposed for the United States of Utah. Brigham Young- governor of Utah Territory and the president of the LDS Church – favored the name as a symbol of industry. Brigham Young taught his followers that they should be productive and self-sufficient, a trait he had perceived in honeybee.