“Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way”: Josephite and Brighamite Interactions in the Pacific Northwest Region, 1905–1907

William F. Bromley, a native of American Fork, Utah, visited the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair in Portland, Oregon, during the summer and fall of 1905. He was one of two and a half million visitors who saw Americana unleashed.1 Exhibits from across the world celebrated the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The fair's deeper purpose, however, was to facilitate further American commercial expansion in the Pacific Rim.2 The fair honored the past and looked to the future with its grand colonnade emblazoned with the motto “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.”3For Bromley and other full-time missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the fair was an exciting event. They spent many hours visiting and proselyting.4 They, too, were part of a recent effort to expand their religion westward. The Northwestern States Mission was established in 1896 and served Oregon, Washington, Montana, northern Idaho, and British Columbia, Canada. The missionaries served under President Nephi Pratt, a son of early Latter-day Saint Apostle Parley P. Pratt. Before 1896, the church had not worked much in the Pacific Northwest. Leaders organized a stake in Baker City, Oregon, in 1901 after Latter-day Saints moved to the area to work for a church member.5 Except for that one anomaly in eastern Oregon, there were relatively few Latter-day Saints in the area.6Yet they were not the first Latter Day Saints in the Northwest.7 The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had dozens of congregations in the region and almost 1,000 members.8 For example, as William Bromley attended the exposition, he may have walked past “Brother Jones,” a RLDS member security guard.9 There was possible competition. Just as the Lewis and Clark Exposition sought to position the United States of America as a major trading partner in the Pacific, the two largest Restorationist branches prepared for conflict in the region as they sought to expand.Using the original and previously unstudied personal journals of William F. Bromley and other contemporary sources, this article charts the interactions and attitudes between the two churches and outlines the steps they took to counter one another from 1905 to 1907. Latter-day Saint missionary journals, letters, and reports are plentiful and provide insights into the Utah-based organization. Although there are few missionary journals, the RLDS experience is captured in the many letters and editorials published in the weekly The Saints’ Herald and Zion's Ensign. All these sources demonstrate that despite escalated tensions among senior leaders of both faiths, the exchanges between missionaries and members from both groups were largely peaceful and without incident. They evidently co-existed in the region without too much disruption.The Northwestern States Mission included regional cities such as Portland, Oregon, which had the largest population. The states and the province were comprised of many small rural communities.10 In 1905, this region contained approximately 2.2 million people.11 Despite a declining birth rate in the United States, significant and sustained immigration to the region contributed to a 91.9 percent increase in population over a ten-year period.12 Migrants included members belonging to both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.13At the same time, the two churches were well established in other areas. In 1905, there were 51,853 Reorganized Latter Day Saints on the records, with many living in the United States in places such as Iowa, Montana, Michigan, Illinois, and California.14 Reorganized Latter Day Saints also resided in Canada and the Society Islands.15 In contrast, there were 332,048 Latter-day Saints.16 While Utah was the hub for Latter-day Saints, pioneering efforts meant there were communities from Idaho down to northern Mexico. Combined, there may have been approximately 400,000 people globally who belonged to one of the two churches.17Were there interactions between these groups? There is a specialized gamut of literature on the subject. One of the more detailed investigations is Jessie L. Embry's work on Utah. She notes that the first decade of the twentieth century was a tumultuous period, with both churches publishing articles attacking the other.18 Using The Saints’ Herald and other archival materials, she demonstrates that in Utah the Reorganized Latter Day Saints struggled to establish a significant presence because of convert out-migration, internal power dynamics within congregations, and limited baptisms. Utah, with its strong Latter-day Saint presence, was a challenging environment for Reorganized Latter Day Saints. However, little is written on Restorationist interdenominational activities in other areas of the United States.More specifically, interactions between Latter-day Saints and Reorganized Latter Day Saints in the Pacific Northwest have almost no scholarly attention. In his study on Latter-day Saints in the region, Rick Jorgensen references that missionaries arriving in Washington in 1896 were treated hospitably by Reorganized Latter Day Saints.19 Robert McCue's work on the two denominations on the Canadian West Coast offers some valuable insights on the 1900s but takes a broader approach and stretches into the 1980s.20The missiological competition has largely been glossed over. Ross Geddes offers perhaps the most detailed investigation into Reorganized efforts to proselyte Latter-day Saints in his study of the Brisbane (Australia) branch during the early years of the twentieth century.21 Ross notes that in 1901, 22 percent of Latter-day Saints in the Brisbane branch were excommunicated for joining the Reorganized Latter Day Saints. However, the principal causes of the schism and the troubles the branch experienced resulted from a widespread issue facing international Latter-day Saints who were frustrated with a lack of local investiture and were generally antipathetic towards Americans. There were also questions of authority and polygamy, but the setting and circumstances are distinct from the Pacific Northwest.At the time of Joseph Smith, Jr.’s death in 1844, several leaders claimed to be his successor. Those who followed Brigham Young to Salt Lake City retained the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Others who remained in the Midwest organized congregations and asked Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, to lead them. They adopted the name the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. With only a subtle difference in the name, those outside of the two faith traditions often conflated the two groups. For years, much of the Reorganized Church's efforts centered on correcting assumptions about their identity and their distinct beliefs and views.22 Within the tradition, the RLDS Saints referred to those in Utah as “Brighamites.” The Brighamites, in turn, termed the RLDS as “Josephites.”23In 1905, relatives of Joseph Smith, Jr., led both denominations. Joseph F. Smith, a nephew of Joseph Smith, Jr., was president of the Salt Lake City-based church, and Joseph Smith III, the oldest surviving son of Joseph Smith Jr., continued as head of the Reorganized Church. The two from one and a tumultuous and over the While the Lewis and Clark a future of possible and the two in the that the other was in his beliefs and of small of Pacific Latter-day Saints in the but most of moved to Utah from their faith after sustained the however, some Latter-day Saints moved of Utah to Latter-day Saints in the Northwest that resulted in a of and to circumstances outside of Utah and the Latter-day Saint moved to the region because of the and 1896, church leaders the area with for a a president of the of the and F. president of the visited Montana, Oregon, and Washington, Saints, attended the few and a While they a member who had the Reorganized Church. In an of the two Latter-day Saints and a and for to Saints in the missionaries In Latter-day Saints and in Portland, The had in Utah in after they had from to Oregon, and for several years without church While visiting in the summer of the saw a have in to proselyte but without on his to the the he them. two Joseph and in Portland, and in the missionaries and members a the first branch and he F. as his however, was that was and years was as a missionary to the he was to work in He to in 1905, and in church leaders as branch branch organized a Society in and was one of the original While was on his the first to the Society The branch in the few years, the to and expand members In the of the Society that have some study not Latter-day Saint Apostle visited the area and Latter-day Saint who had to the area with their of retained some of the faith of their of these Saints during a in the Salt Lake City from their were and their were about the into in early The of an was to a that in the of these be the for future communities of the The of with that included one Latter-day Saint was an for the the missionaries members who had moved and with the in the early 1900s resulted in church leaders congregations the the summer missionaries into rural and in they on For and his missionary the area meant of time was challenging to over and proselyte the area with on 1905, the of was from the Mission into the Northwestern States the of the Saints on its missionary and members to members and into Latter-day Saint efforts to its were in Portland, and several other cities the church several congregations in the early The Reorganized had an and that two weekly for its Latter-day Saints moved to the however, they were not in their For example, leaders organized a branch in Washington, in the early was down in the to the strong and members moved some to other places in and some to Utah and F. an the with President Pratt. only years first to the region, there were branches and the He that the of the was The continued population in the Pacific Northwest more Latter-day Saints into the region, the 1905 some of Idaho, well for further and Latter-day Saint to Idaho, the there and led to be as a and the of the Utah Latter-day Saints Idaho towards and The of Latter-day Saints areas for and the of 1905, President the of a for the Saints in The but a they their they the of church activities without The and a for and a of people attended as were and the years as a of Coast for Latter-day Saints. While may have during that time, the and for the were in the and early the had from the region, such expansion despite the population and of Latter-day Saints into the region, there were few convert baptisms. In 1905, the Latter-day Saints only people in the Northwestern the of 1905, was as president of Mission as the Northwest Mission the and Washington Mission of the Latter Day Saints, which Oregon, Washington, the Idaho and British was in in the son of Latter-day Saints. The and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after about In was an for the church and as the missionary for the was He across the region, organized and the Saints. the was a of full-time reports that there was a for missionaries in the Pratt, also had to with a over a congregations had their places of members were from an organized and on from In a Reorganized Latter Day Saint to Zion's to the of living from other had to with the Saints but with only a For many years, however, the Reorganized Saints published for its and such Zion's and The Saints’ were of to with in the church, and a of to Saints, the Saints a of and in a one in the there are Saints in Washington, who to there are Saints in Washington, the name of one who has been there one She is of and also the of the and served as a of Saints The leaders a of and The of the worked to as he sought to members and within the of most missionaries was and for the Reorganized Latter Day Saints, he worked as a missionary in the Pacific Northwest in 1905 in the the he to missionary has been he in an article for Zion's which are and the are such this time, there was one Reorganized Latter Day Saint missionary to Latter-day Saint in was to the United States as an his in was a of the in the of for the and was a in after the were Latter-day Saints. In on their to Utah, they about They their in and remained years after the his and were the Reorganized Church in and was an the 1905, he the of to one was one of the most missionaries for the Reorganized One contemporary to the the Northwest for a more in the Pacific worked on of his In he a in on and the of the Latter Day that the Reorganized Church's to and other he to have been by Brigham The same he another Day Saint with an to to be published in a local the years, with Latter-day Saint missionaries on such was a of for Reorganized Latter Day Saints across the Pacific Northwest The first members had in British for work and the with years on a was in and another followed in In Reorganized missionaries in British There was limited to their but congregations were and early as Reorganized Latter Day Saint L. was and congregations in Oregon, which he continued to for many the of and 1905, he the visiting with of other and with other was the for the Latter-day Saints, was a in the region, and congregations were and as and moved in of such those Latter Day Saints who were is a time strong and are in this for the in many places are to the of The Saints’ Herald the of members from one to and were Reorganized Latter Day Saints who had the church after in the The had in 1896, and a son, was the in In a the of the Society of the and the they had moved had to In one of the they Saints are of the are attended by the The and of Latter Day Saints an and which was there was a lack of Reorganized efforts on congregations and areas of with efforts members moved to a in to Zion's and a of the The a much branch of one and he of have been during the The years had been a for the from to a small of Saints and their by the in and The branch was a was and its the summer of 1905, Joseph Smith visited the Pacific Northwest. his Joseph also visited Salt Lake City and in the as he to his Joseph F. Joseph to in one about the by his he to Northwestern cities visiting the in While in the he in the branch only with the and the had a and was that the was with In recent years the branch In was that a branches were and the largest was had of in the served as the Reorganized Church's in the region, was not from there had been a in but many of the members moved to and to be to the In efforts were and a small of members was as in In a Reorganized Latter Day Saint the of about he had been by the had to his during a he was and asked to down by who that had no in the to people were in and some as he was to be by years was as one of the members of the branch the Reorganized Saints only members in the organized the church in to is of personal the first church a Reorganized Latter Day Saint missionary had his to have no that was on their that he The circumstances of the are but the Reorganized Saints were not to the internal was a who in and the was not to other to Latter-day Saint one he to Latter-day Saint missionaries to on the of Day Saint from a In in the of Idaho, and efforts to expand their church from members to one The first in the effort was a in a Mission they the work they during the more they in the however, the missionaries had to the with Salt Lake and are in the of the one of the in other the missionaries worked to the two churches in the Bromley was in American Fork, Utah, in to William and The were in a and had to the Latter-day Saint faith in their native with their William was the only son of and to one he was the and of the as with to be and was well Bromley was a Latter-day Saint he was to as a missionary in had a of was and a He was an and was He had an in the of two journals and one by Bromley during his have the 1905, to stretches from to 1907. is an for the Northwestern States the of and walked and of and other also some about for for are not early in his more a was not and this was to in the part of his 1905, Bromley in Portland, Oregon, and was to a he other missionaries The Bromley with a missionary to from to the in He was one of missionaries in the time, and he that the Saints were Saints the for Bromley in 1905. included and the other and were a with a that Bromley was In his Bromley that which were was he had but the was that be into the of the was the Bromley to his only to be as he the of the and Bromley was to The he was by a but he to in a she a had a little of several in Portland, Bromley was to Montana, with the to a and the Saints some in the Bromley had with President in and a strong work and an to his in In he was from other missionaries and his president and was to Bromley and his to expand the work in the of arriving in his area of Bromley records, a but that to from with the Saints and those not of his was during his time in that Bromley about the and the of the 1905, he notes his first with a member who attended a Latter-day Saint by to one more were Latter-day Saints. with some members the of 1905, Bromley had only had and interactions with 1905, Bromley was president of the that he was in his work as a the of the 1905 there are of detailed notes the of in the which a of to that have with Reorganized Latter Day Saint missionaries and study notes and are included few Bromley was these notes to for a the of Bromley a of missionary He had with several Reorganized Latter Day Saints in Montana, and he spent time the of authority and In he to a only to that had been of he visited a who with Bromley some he had with the president of a Reorganized branch many were British to The Church of Jesus Christ who had and in Utah. They had the church and a the they moved to and Reorganized Latter Day Saint had served as a branch and a of in Montana, some of more is of this but demonstrates that local not were in interdenominational Bromley with President Pratt. In his that Bromley to in the of position the be over the few Bromley the and to British While visiting Canada in he a who Bromley as the of and to The were Latter-day Saints who had to the church in and moved to with their While he also to with a Clark who may have been the of Joseph Smith he was not but the asked to on he In his Bromley to be are to to a few during which he with the few Latter-day Saints in the He took his and worked to the Reorganized Church and to counter their One he attended a he in his not down the to were The he and two other Latter-day Saints attended another Reorganized Latter Day Saint but they only for a few as not to to have been an of for both denominations visited the In Bromley was president of the his to the He that he on such as the and the of the of Latter-day Saint is to efforts Latter-day Saints, and from the of Reorganized Latter Day Saint The from President was but a about members to the in this relatively of the Reorganized Church into the Pacific Northwest region the Latter-day Saints, often the in many communities with to about Joseph Smith Jr.’s and the of the of often meant Reorganized Latter Day Saint missionaries had limited to to Latter-day Saint congregations and convert those with the Utah to other Latter-day Saint missionary from this interactions with the In 1905, in British Columbia, with one of the local Reorganized Latter Day Saint the visited two In the and to one of the same and spent about two hours with and his is one of the and had to and with The for interdenominational activities are but an of a member of the other faith have in the of such an between missionaries from the two denominations but they were often was a Latter-day Saint missionary in the Pacific Northwest region during this He several interactions with Reorganized Latter Day Saint in One he was for a he a Reorganized missionary about the Utah and of the church, the and the of his to the missionary and asked for on they with the of most of time about the Utah he to the and as he his for about the of however, there is no of by in the There was a of and but not much as to members of to be between the two was by the of the Pacific Northwest churches were to in the of the much denominations. In 1905, a was between of the Reorganized Latter Day Saints and a of the Church of the and that spent time attacking that were to both his and such as Joseph Smith's as The Latter-day Saints and Reorganized Latter Day Saints some but the of meant they were from in the of efforts were by Latter-day Saint missionaries in for possible with Reorganized Latter Day Saint members and In a after arriving in the a of the and from a “Brother and his the few and his were to the of the who had a there who was that spent time to the and few in the in letters, and most Latter-day Saint missionaries to have had few with Reorganized Latter Day Saint members and journals interactions between the two but most to have been The of the interactions from to several hours of denominations to have had a of with the and some missionaries and members attended one There were no on members of with to with those from the other In Washington, two Latter-day Saint missionaries visited the a of Reorganized Latter Day Saints, in the with and spent about hours with an of their of between the two however, is was as a Latter-day Saint missionary in he and some missionaries had a with two The was and but he they not is no in of Joseph Smith to in 1905, but he have about 1905, missionary that the Latter-day Saint which have included Bromley, attended a to to Joseph Smith the he his and to his was a to of in to the of Church. the with and as of the In this was despite the internal the missionaries had about their his 1905 of the Pacific President Joseph Smith several While visiting in he a after which a was for the Saints to the that and little have a both and outside the same a was in that two attended the which was between a Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ and a Church of Christ The missionaries were the to Joseph Smith a of such between the Latter-day Saints and other denominations is but that there was a competition and that the missionaries were to a the Reorganized Latter Day Saints, as in this of both convert to the other church branch they with their In to the a who had been after years with the into one and from that to be with a to into the Church. He that he was for years with the but that he and and that in the years of his with he and The same for continued and sought to in several cities to to be he that several members from the had been in Reorganized members had been as Latter-day Saints the and there may well have been a of that took with and members their to of however, both The Reorganized Latter Day Saints had members who included early of Joseph Smith, but they also over Latter-day Saints who moved to the area For example, on 1905, a Latter-day Saint member of the branch was excommunicated for joining the Reorganized Latter Day members of both denominations a of with but they also served as of denominations experienced and in the Pacific Northwest during the years of the twentieth Although missionaries and members of both groups the other to be in interactions between members and missionaries were peaceful for and were The Reorganized Latter Day Saints and the Latter-day Saints their presence from 1905 to despite some and competition between the of Bromley and other Latter-day Saint missionaries interactions with Reorganized Latter Day Saints in and not with a of Reorganized Latter Day Saint a approach and members and missionaries from the denominations and of widespread from one to the other were largely a some early Latter-day Saint leaders that members of their church were and by Reorganized Latter Day Saints. However, the that these interactions were in and generally There was however, to a Latter-day Saint missionary from on to that of and members of their escalated tensions between senior leaders of both faiths, the two denominations a to and efforts without too much to the The in both denominations generally but they not have on the For example, both more they had a and the principal they from more of the two distinct branches of the Latter Day experienced in the Pacific there was of for the two of to

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