Nineteenth-century Mormonism, located in the heart of the Intermountain West directly in the path of “manifest destiny,” was a problem. The issue with Mormonism was at least two-fold: polygamy and theocracy. Both stood in opposition to American notions of progress and modernity, and Mormonism also seemed to physically stand in the way of the progression of westward expansion. But the solution to the Mormon problem was contested, as David Walker shows in Railroading Religion: Mormons, Tourists, and the Corporate Spirit of the West.
Railroading Religion is theoretically rich with an engaging and often ironic storyline. Walker demonstrates how the study of religion can shed light on a vast array of themes, such as capitalism, tourism, and modernity. Walker takes two nineteenth-century topics—railroads and Mormonism—which have both been written about extensively, and uses them to tell a new story in a new way. Focusing on the town of Corrine, Utah,...
