Cover for HARDY: Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage. Click for larger image

Solemn Covenant

The Mormon Polygamous Passage
Awards and Recognition:

Winner of the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, 1993.

In his famous Manifesto of 1890, Mormon church president Wilford Woodruff called for an end to the more than fifty-year practice of polygamy. Fifteen years later, two men were dramatically expelled from the Quorum of Twelve Apostles for having taken post-Manifesto plural wives and encouraged the step by others. Evidence reveals, however, that hundreds of Mormons (including several apostles) were given approval to enter such relationships after they supposedly were banded.

Why would Mormon leaders endanger agreements allowing Utah to become a state and risk their church's reputation by engaging in such activities---all the while denying the fact to the world? This book seeks to find the answer through a review of the Mormon polygamous experience from its beginnings.

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