A place apart, Utah began as an undefined land in the middle of the continent, a place that meant little to the few natives who lived there and even less to the fewer travelers who passed through.
Utah is a land whose geographical isolation would forever mark its history. To the Mormons who took refuge there in the 1840s, distance from the outside world was its greatest attraction, and there in the desert of the Great Basin, the Saints set out to build up Zion and wait for the Lord.
Today, believes author Charles S. Peterson, Utahans have proved to be followers rather than leaders on most public issues, seeking the sure precedent and the safe path—a legacy of the Saints' old quest for security and respect in a  hostile world.