Emma Smith Archive

"When I was a kid I loved to read fiction and non-fiction books about the Old West. There was always a colorful blend of characters: cowboys and Indians, mountain men and pioneers, gunslingers and prospectors, Anglos, French, and Mexicans. One character type that occasionally appeared was "the Mormons." These were an angry mob of bandits led by their mustachioed outlaw leader, "Joe Smith," who went around robbing and harassing everyone else. I was and always have been LDS, but I didn't recognize anything of myself, my fellow ward members, or the teachings of the Church in these Mormons that I read about. In fact, I didn't even realize until years later that the authors were even attempting to depict members of the LDS faith in their books. I just assumed that there was another, unrelated group out there also known as the Mormons."

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