History UsefulNotes / Utah

It has one major league sports team, soon to be two. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg If you count]] [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]], make that three. The first undisputed major-league team is the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Utah Jazz, which moved to SLC from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans in 1979.[[note]]NBA teams traditionally keep their names when they move, even if it becomes [[ArtifactTitle hilariously inappropriate]] in their new home.[[/note]] After the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL's]] UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Coyotes went through a deluge of troubles finding an arena in the Phoenix area, the league facilitated a sale of the team to Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who will move the team to SLC after the 2023–24 season (with a new name, as the Coyotes name will stay in Phoenix). As for soccer, Real Salt Lake[[note]]named for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid[[/note]] began playing in UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer in 2005, and shockingly won the MLS Cup in 2009, despite finishing the regular season under .500 and going up against UsefulNotes/DavidBeckham's LA Galaxy in the final. RSL also owns the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League, which started play in 2024 as the revival of a team of the same name that played in that league from 2018–2020. Utah is also home to the [[UsefulNotes/MinorLeagueBaseball minor-league]] Salt Lake Bees in AAA baseball, and an expansion bid has formed in recent years to bring a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team to the Salt Lake area. It has become enough of a possibility that Utah's state legislature passed a bill requiring any new MLB team in the city to be named after the state, much like how the Utah Jazz is named. The Salt Lake area has been home to the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL; that team's future is now up in the air with the ex-Coyotes coming to town. College sports are also popular, with the state's three [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball FBS]] schools being Provo's BYU Cougars in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12 Conference]], SLC's Utah Utes in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Pac-12]],[[note]]Though in 2024, they will join their Holy War rivals in the Big 12.[[/note]] and Logan's Utah State Aggies in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mountain West]]. The state also hosts four other UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} Division I athletic programs (Weber State[[labelnote:*]]Weber as a geographical name in Utah is pronounced WEE-ber rather than as a homophone of Webber. It derives from 19th century German-American fur trapper John Henry Weber, who apparently pronounced his own last name several different ways.[[/labelnote]] Wildcats, Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Utah Tech[[labelnote:*]]known as Dixie State prior to July 2022[[/labelnote]] Trailblazers and Utah Valley Wolverines).[[note]]UVU doesn't play football, nor do the Westminster College Griffins, an NCAA Division II program at a small private institution in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City[[/note]] There was also quite a party for [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames the 2002 Winter Olympics]], but local liquor laws made the celebrations a bit more restrained.[[note]]Utah used to have the most restrictive liquor laws in the country, but they've softened somewhat over the past decade in an effort to bring in more tourists.[[/note]]

Utah's Website/{{Facebook}} relationship status with [[UsefulNotes/TheSeveralStates the other 49 states]] would be "It's complicated." The state's history is heavily intertwined with that of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], popularly known as Mormons. It was founded as a CultColony (in the most literal sense of the word) in 1847 by Mormons fleeing religious persecution in UsefulNotes/{{New York|State}}, then UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}, then Missouri (after the governor issued an extermination order), then finally Illinois, where Church founder Joseph Smith Jr. was assassinated. After a SuccessionCrisis, his most popular successor, Brigham Young, acting on a notion Smith had entertained of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere emigrating from the United States altogether]], led the largest faction of Mormons [[SettlingTheFrontier out into the wilderness]] in a modern-day Exodus. Utah was Mexican territory [[UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar at the time]], and was known mostly for being an inhospitable desert where even the water could kill you by being four times saltier than the ocean -- a place most wagon trains avoided or passed through as quickly as possible on their way to richer, more fertile lands in UsefulNotes/{{California}} and UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}}. A place nobody wanted, and hundreds of miles from any place anyone would want.

As far as works are concerned, Utah has a highly active UsefulNotes/MormonCinema with culturally esoteric references and humor. Often parodied is the quirkiness and stiffness of its traditional culture, heavily tied to its [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian English]] history.[[note]]Utah has more English ancestry than any other state in the United States. Some of the ancestors were 19th century {{New England}}ers and UsefulNotes/{{New York|State}}ers like the families of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, but most were actually off-the-boat immigrants who had already become Mormons in UsefulNotes/{{England}}; for instance, Mitt Romney's patrilineal ancestor Miles Romney was a carpenter and Mormon leader from [[OopNorth Lancashire]] before emigrating to America in 1837. An additional influx of already-Mormon immigrants from Scandinavia and, to a lesser extent UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} (and even a contingent from UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}) largely assimilated into the culture.[[/note]]

It has one major league sports team, soon to be two. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg If you count]] [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]], make that three. The first undisputed major-league team is the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Utah Jazz, which moved to SLC from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans in 1979.[[note]]NBA teams traditionally keep their names when they move, even if it becomes [[ArtifactTitle hilariously inappropriate]] in their new home.[[/note]] After the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL's]] UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Coyotes went through a deluge of troubles finding an arena in the Phoenix area, the league facilitated a sale of the team to Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who will move the team to SLC after the 2023–24 season (with a new name, as the Coyotes name will stay in Phoenix). As for soccer, Real Salt Lake[[note]]named for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid[[/note]] began playing in UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer in 2005, and shockingly won the MLS Cup in 2009, despite finishing the regular season under .500 and going up against UsefulNotes/DavidBeckham's LA Galaxy in the final. RSL also owns the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League, which started play in 2024 as the revival of a team of the same name that played in that league from 2018–2020. Utah is also home to the [[UsefulNotes/MinorLeagueBaseball minor-league]] Salt Lake Bees in AAA baseball, and an expansion bid has formed in recent years to bring a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team to the Salt Lake area. The Salt Lake area has been home to the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL; that team's future is now up in the air with the ex-Coyotes coming to town. College sports are also popular, with the state's three [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball FBS]] schools being Provo's BYU Cougars in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12 Conference]], SLC's Utah Utes in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Pac-12]],[[note]]Though in 2024, they will join their Holy War rivals in the Big 12.[[/note]] and Logan's Utah State Aggies in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mountain West]]. The state also hosts four other UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} Division I athletic programs (Weber State[[labelnote:*]]Weber as a geographical name in Utah is pronounced WEE-ber rather than as a homophone of Webber. It derives from 19th century German-American fur trapper John Henry Weber, who apparently pronounced his own last name several different ways.[[/labelnote]] Wildcats, Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Utah Tech[[labelnote:*]]known as Dixie State prior to July 2022[[/labelnote]] Trailblazers and Utah Valley Wolverines).[[note]]UVU doesn't play football, nor do the Westminster College Griffins, an NCAA Division II program at a small private institution in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City[[/note]] There was also quite a party for [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames the 2002 Winter Olympics]], but local liquor laws made the celebrations a bit more restrained.[[note]]Utah used to have the most restrictive liquor laws in the country, but they've softened somewhat over the past decade in an effort to bring in more tourists.[[/note]]

It has one major league sports team--two [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg if you count]] [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]]. The undisputed major-league team is the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Utah Jazz, which moved to SLC from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans in 1979[[note]]NBA teams traditionally keep their names when they move, even if it becomes [[ArtifactTitle hilariously inappropriate]] in their new home.[[/note]]. As for soccer, Real Salt Lake[[note]]named for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid[[/note]] began playing in UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer in 2005, and shockingly won the MLS Cup in 2009, despite finishing the regular season under .500 and going up against David Beckham's LA Galaxy in the final. Utah is home to the [[UsefulNotes/MinorLeagueBaseball minor-league]] Salt Lake Bees in AAA baseball, and an expansion bid has formed in recent years to bring a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team to the Salt Lake area. Hockey wise, the Salt Lake area is home to the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL, but rumors have abounded in 2024 that the UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague's Arizona Coyotes might relocate to the area thanks to their deluge of troubles finding an arena. College sports are also popular, with the state's three [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball FBS]] schools being Provo's BYU Cougars in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12 Conference]], SLC's Utah Utes in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Pac-12]],[[note]]Though in 2024, they will join their Holy War rivals in the Big 12.[[/note]] and Logan's Utah State Aggies in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mountain West]]. The state also hosts four other UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} Division I athletic programs (Weber State[[labelnote:*]]Weber as a geographical name in Utah is pronounced WEE-ber rather than as a homophone of Webber. It derives from 19th century German-American fur trapper John Henry Weber, who apparently pronounced his own last name several different ways.[[/labelnote]] Wildcats, Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Utah Tech[[labelnote:*]]known as Dixie State prior to July 2022[[/labelnote]] Trailblazers and Utah Valley Wolverines).[[note]]UVU doesn't play football, nor do the Westminster College Griffins, an NCAA Division II program at a small private institution in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City[[/note]] There was also quite a party for [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames the 2002 Winter Olympics]], but local liquor laws made the celebrations a bit more restrained.[[note]]Utah used to have the most restrictive liquor laws in the country, but they've softened somewhat over the past decade in an effort to bring in more tourists.[[/note]]

It has one major league sports team--two [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg if you count]] [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]]. The undisputed major-league team is the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Utah Jazz, which moved to SLC from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans in 1979[[note]]NBA teams traditionally keep their names when they move, even if it becomes [[ArtifactTitle hilariously inappropriate]] in their new home.[[/note]]. As for soccer, Real Salt Lake[[note]]named for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid[[/note]] began playing in UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer in 2005, and shockingly won the MLS Cup in 2009, despite finishing the regular season under .500 and going up against David Beckham's LA Galaxy in the final. Utah is home to the [[UsefulNotes/MinorLeagueBaseball minor-league]] Salt Lake Bees in AAA baseball, and an expansion bid has formed in recent years to bring a UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball team to the Salt Lake area. College sports are also popular, with the state's three [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball FBS]] schools being Provo's BYU Cougars in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Big 12 Conference]], SLC's Utah Utes in the [[UsefulNotes/PowerFiveConferences Pac-12]],[[note]]Though in 2024, they will join their Holy War rivals in the Big 12.[[/note]] and Logan's Utah State Aggies in the [[UsefulNotes/GroupOfFiveConferences Mountain West]]. The state also hosts four other UsefulNotes/{{NCAA}} Division I athletic programs (Weber State[[labelnote:*]]Weber as a geographical name in Utah is pronounced WEE-ber rather than as a homophone of Webber. It derives from 19th century German-American fur trapper John Henry Weber, who apparently pronounced his own last name several different ways.[[/labelnote]] Wildcats, Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Utah Tech[[labelnote:*]]known as Dixie State prior to July 2022[[/labelnote]] Trailblazers and Utah Valley Wolverines).[[note]]UVU doesn't play football, nor do the Westminster College Griffins, an NCAA Division II program at a small private institution in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City[[/note]] There was also quite a party for [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames the 2002 Winter Olympics]], but local liquor laws made the celebrations a bit more restrained.[[note]]Utah used to have the most restrictive liquor laws in the country, but they've softened somewhat over the past decade in an effort to bring in more tourists.[[/note]]

As it turns out, Utah, dubbed "Deseret" (a term found in Literature/TheBookOfMormon that means "honeybee") by its new inhabitants, was more hospitable than anyone expected, but not by much. The main settlement, called Great Salt Lake City at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, was made viable with the irrigation and diversion of mountain streams and became the central command center for hundreds of settlements stretching from [[SouthOfTheBorder Sonora]] to [[CanadaEh Alberta]]. Mormon settlers from all over the United States, Canada, the British Isles and continental Europe, converted by zealous missionaries and told to come build an American Zion, would settle in places as diverse as cool green mountain valleys and redrock desert country and eke out a modest existence. A tug-of-war for power between the Mormons, the federal government, and non-Mormons would dominate the territory for the next 40 years, including the Utah War which was the result of a series of misunderstandings, aggravated federal employees annoyed at the unresponsive Mormon settlers, and the dispatch of a fifth of the US Army to put down a "rebellion". Unfortunately, this toxic atmosphere allowed the murder of 120 men and women by some rebellious Church members in [[OldShame the Mountain Meadows Massacre]].