Excerpt from Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of the State of Utah: Containing Biographies of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present The high standing of the State of Utah among the youngest States in the Union, is due not alone to its ideal climate and rare beauty of scenerywother regions boasting a climate and em vironment as exceptional have nevertheless remained unknown to the great world of com merce and thought. When we consider the wonderful development and progress made in this new State, and especially during the last decade of the Nineteenth Century, we find that the pres ent gratifying condition is due to the enterprise of public-spirited citizens. Through their efforts and untiring energy they have developed the commercial interests and the horticultural resources of the State. They have also maintained a commendable interest in public affairs and have given to their commonwealth many of her best statesmen. It has been truly said that in the lives of the citizens of any section the history of the locality is best narrated, and those who read the following pages will become acquainted with men and movements inseparably associated with the history of the State. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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For years Robert Newton Baskin (1837–1918) may have been the most hated man in Utah. Yet his promotion of federal legislation against polygamy in the late 1800s and his work to bring the Mormon territory into a republican form of government were pivotal in Utah’s achievement of statehood. The results of his efforts also contributed to the acceptance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the American public. In this engaging biography—the first full-length analysis of the man—author John Gary Maxwell presents Baskin as the unsung father of modern Utah. As Maxwell shows, Baskin’s life was defined by conflict and paradox. Educated at Harvard Law School, Baskin lived as a member of a minority: a “gentile” in Mormon Utah. A loner, he was highly respected but not often included in the camaraderie of contemporary non-Mormon professionals. When it came to the Saints, Baskin’s role in the legal aftermath of the Mountain Meadows massacre did not endear him to the Mormon people or their leadership. He was convinced that Brigham Young made John D. Lee the scapegoat—the planner and perpetrator of the massacre—to obscure complicity of the LDS church. Baskin was successful in Utah politics despite using polygamy as a sledgehammer against Utah’s theocratic government and despite his role as a federal prosecutor. He was twice elected mayor of Salt Lake City, served in the Utah legislature, and became chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. He was also a visionary city planner—the force behind the construction of the Salt Lake City and County Building, which remains the architectural rival of the city’s Mormon temple. For more than a century historians have maligned Baskin or ignored him. Maxwell brings the man to life in this long-overdue exploration of a central figure in the history of Utah and of the LDS church.

This volume is the most comprehensive bibliography of purely biographical material written by Americans. It covers every possible field of life but, by design, excludes autobiographies, diaries, and journals.