In frontier-town Nauvoo, Illinois in 1844, the main body of the church are forced to leave Illinois, choosing to settle temporarily in Nebraska. They then to travel by wagon train to the Great Basin.
Parts of the film were shot in Lone Pine, California, in the plains west of Parowan Gap, and in Utah Lake for the seagull scenes.[2]: 287 The Salt Lake City sequences were filmed in California, while the trek across Nebraska and Wyoming was shot in southern Utah.[3]
Reception
Michael and Henry Medved included Brigham Young in their 1984 book describing film financial failures, The Hollywood Hall of Shame, stating "Twentieth Century-Fox tried to emphasize its star power and to downplay the religious elements (eventually re-titling it Brigham Young, Frontiersman), but the picture still failed, even in Utah."[4]
Brigham Young Souvenir Program Reprint. MSS SC 388; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.