A beehive with bees that are making honey.
The area settled or founded by Mormons covered all of present day Utah with parts of Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and California. The Mormons proposed that this area be called Deseret Territory.
No city was originally called Deseret, the state of Utah was once called Deseret (before it became an official U.S. Territory). The area that 'Deseret' took up was much larger than the area that Utah takes up now.
The Mormons called the area Deseret. They proposed the State of Deseret, which actually covered much of Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and Arizona as well.
The state of Deseret is associated with Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1849, Mormons proposed the state of Deseret but, it was never officially recognized by the U.S. government.
The area called "Deseret" covered a very large portion of the American West - including all of Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and California. Mormons settled hundreds of cities and towns in "Deseret" including Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and many suburbs of Phoenix. Most of these towns are still in existence today.
Salt Lake City, Utah. The church actually wanted to call the state "Deseret" instead of Utah.
Many if not most of the cities and towns along the "Mormon curtain" - Utah, Idaho, Arizona - were founded by Mormon settlers in the mid 1800's. The Mormons are sometimes attributed as the founders of Utah, but this is a bit of a misconception. Yes Mormons created the first permanent white settlements in the area, but the state they wished to establish was called Deseret and much larger, covering much of Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. At one point, this "state" of Deseret was essentially it's own country, with it's own government system, money, and language. The people who lived there were mostly American citizens living as refugees on Mexican soil. After acquiring the land from Mexico after the Mexican-American war, the federal government denied the Mormon's proposal of Deseret, drew the current state boundaries, gave the states their names, and appointed governors for those states. So, the Mormons founded Deseret, but the US Government founded Utah.
Most of the unique words in the Book of Mormon are proper names. These words are not in common use in the English language, aside from a few cities and towns which were founded by Mormons and given these names. For example: Nephi, Lehi, Cumorah, Manti, or Moroni. The word "Mormon" comes from the Book of Mormon, and is probably the most used unique Book of Mormon word in the English language. Another unique word in the Book of Mormon is 'Deseret' which means honeybee. The word Deseret is often used in businesses or organizations owned by Mormons or the Mormon church - for example, Deseret Book, Deseret Industries, Deseret Ranch, and Deseret Transportation.
'Deseret' is what the original Mormon Pioneers named the area around what is now called "Utah". The federal government changed the name to Utah when they applied to become a state. It was not a city. The capital city of Deseret was Great Salt Lake City, which is now called Salt Lake City.
In the mid 1800's, Mormons travelling to the Salt Lake Valley usually called it "Zion" or "Deseret".
Mormons are the founders of Utah. They wanted it to be called the state of Deseret, but the government wouldn't have it.
The Mormon War of 1858 was not between the Mormons, but between the Mormons (living in the territory of Deseret), and the US Army, sent to bring the Mormons into subjugation over their refusal to recognize the authority of an abusive, unelected, federally-appointed governor.