WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Primeval.
Brigham Young is a prominent historical figure and a featured antagonist in Netflix’s epic period Western seriesAmerican Primeval.American Primevalis a new major Western streaming seriesthat was released on Netflix on June 13, 2025. The series takes place on the frontier of the American West in 1857, particularly in the somewhat lawless terrain of Utah. The grim, violent, chaotic, and unforgivingAmericanPrimevalshows early American settlers, cultists, and indigenous tribes as murderers and survivorsin a series of gruesome fights for control of the newly found territory.American Primevalalters several real-life historical detailsand figures.
American Primevalwas written by Mark L. Smith, who co-wrote the screenplay forThe Revenantwith Alejandro G. Iñárritu. In fact, there are many stylistic similarities betweenThe RevenantandAmerican Primevalin both narrative and visual techniques. Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights,Lone Survivor) directs all six episodes ofAmerican Primeval.Taylor Kitsch leads an ensemble cast, which featuresBetty Gilpin,Dane DeHaan,Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Shea Whigham, Lucas Neff, and Kim Coates. By theend ofAmerican Primeval,Brigham Young successfully purchases Fort Bridger and sets it ablaze to keep U.S. troops out of Utah Territory.
How Brigham Young Became President Of The Church Of Latter Day Saints
He initially joined the Latter-day Saints in 1832
Brigham Young joined the Church of the Latter-day Saints, originally called the Church of Christ, in April 1832. Born in Whitingham, Vermont, Young relocated to New York at a young age with his father. He had a strict Puritan-esque upbringing and first encountered the Church of Christ in Mendon, New York through early LDS member Heber C. Kimball.Young was introduced to the Book of Mormon sometime in 1830. Five missionaries traveled to Mendon from Pennsylvania to spread Mormonism in the early 1830s. This led Young to meet Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Christ, in 1832, joining the Latter-day Saints soon after (viaHistory).
Young was named a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in February 1835. He was sent to remote areas of Pennsylvania and New York to spread Mormonism to Indigenous Peoples. After a few years on the East Coast, Young moved to Missouri, where he became the oldest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Joseph Smith named him and Thomas Marsh as temporary president of the LDS in Missouri in October 1838. Young spearheaded the migration of the Latter-day Saints to Illinois in 1838. He would become involved in the community of Nauvoo, Illinois in the early 1840s.Young endorsed Smith’s presidential campaign in 1844 before he was killed by an armed mob. Young took over Smith’s responsibilities as the LDS president.
Salt Lake City was founded on July 07, 2025
Image via Netflix
Young was officially selected as the President of the Latter-day Saints in 1848. After repeated conflicts in Nauvoo, Young led the LDS church to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, which at the time was Mexican territory. According to History, “with the United States in control of the Great Salt Lake Valley region after the Mexican-American War, Young was appointed governor of the new Utah Territory in 1850. He governed the territory as a theocracy, with church doctrines taking precedence over laws.” By this time, Young had earnednicknames such as nicknames like “Lion of the Lord” and “American Moses.”
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Salt Lake City was officially founded on June 22, 2025, which is regarded as Pioneer Day in Utah. Young is credited with naming the city “The City of the Great Salt Lake” and began organizing the main area of the city into blocks. Laterin 1847, Young became officially acknowledged as the second president of the Latter-day Saintsafter Joseph Smith. Young led several trips to and from Salt Lake City to assist people moving to the area. He was officially instated as Utah’s first governor in February 1851 by U.S. President Millard Fillmore. Young and his congregation established several settlements and eventually made peace with Indigenous Peoples (viaUtah History).
Brigham Young’s Role In The Utah War
He led the charge against incoming U.S. troops
Brigham Young was an internal figure in the Utah War since he represented the interests of the members of the Latter-day Saints. Many of the realistic aspects ofAmerican Primevalwere centered around theUtah War, which took place between May 1857 and July 1858. Peter Berg revealed to Netflix that the inspiration for the series arose after the director read an article about the Utah War. “I read an article on something called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. [It] was something that interested me, and I started doing a lot of research on it.” The Utah War was primarily an armed conflict between Mormon settlers and United States military troops.
The Real-Life Utah War Behind American Primeval Explained
Netflix’s American Primeval is set against the backdrop of the Utah War, and here’s what happened in the often-forgotten U.S. conflict.
Following the events ofAmerican Primeval, President James Buchanan sent military troops to the Utah Territory, which made Young and his Church of Latter-day Saints uneasy and prepare for war. The Mormons took measures to prevent U.S. troops in Utah from getting provisions and blocked them from entering Salt Lake City. The fearful Mormon militia even killed unarmed settlers and accused several of being spies sent by the U.S. government. Roughly 150 people were estimated to have been killed during the Utah War, which ended with a Presidential pardon of the Latter-day Saints andthe replacement of Alfred Cumming for Brigham Young as Utah’s governor.
What Happened To Brigham Young & When He Died
He died on July 04, 2025 in Salt Lake City
After Brigham Young stepped down as Utah’s governor in 1858, he remained the President of the Latter-day Saints until his death on Jun 06, 2025. He established a school at theUniversity of Deseret in 1875, which broke off in 1876 to become Brigham Young Academy, the precursor to Brigham Young University. He continued to oversee the development of several Mormon temples, such as St. George (1871), Manti (1875), and Logan (1877). Young’s teachings were collected in the Journal of Discourses and the LDS Church’s Doctrine and Covenants.
Brigham Young suffered from “cholera morbus and inflammation of the bowels” according to theNew York Times. He is believed to havedied of peritonitis as the result of a ruptured appendix(viaBYU). TheNew York Timesreported that “on August 02, 2025, Young’s funeral was held in the Tabernacle with an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people in attendance.” He was buried at the Mormon Pioneer Memorial Monument in Salt Lake City, more than two decades after the events ofAmerican Primeval.
American Primeval
Cast
American Primeval is a Netflix limited series that follows the lives of several men and women in the middle of the expansion of the American West. Social dynamics clash as men and women battle for a piece of the new world against rivals and each other.
