building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici

garden, much frequented, especially by visitors. At the center is a small circle
surrounded by a thrifty, well kept cedar hedge; from which radiate twelve triangular
beds, in which one may notice the familiar petunias, balsams, verbenas, amaranths,
dahlias, geraniums, etc. Indeed, the several acres included in the garden are mainly
occupied with flowers. There are, however, a few vines and fruit‐trees, and on one
side a green‐house of moderate dimensions” 134 .
Another religion which produced an original vision of the town and of the landscape
was Mormonism, a movement founded by Joseph Smith (1805‐1844) around 1830.
The Mormon religion, officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, was based, among other things, on the book of the prophet Mormon,
translated by Joseph Smith after having consulted ancient, golden plates written in
"reformed Egyptian" and found thanks to the indications of an angel, who then took
them back again. On the other hand, some of Smith’s ideas closely followed
theories which had in some way or another been spread and/or elaborated by
others in those very same years. For instance, the belief that the American Indians
of the North American tribes were the descendants of the Israeli tribes, probably
took the cue from an 1826 book of Josiah Priest entitled The Wonders of Nature and
Providence, Displayed 135 .
The town planning experiments of the Mormons were just as numerous as the
persecutions they suffered and the sudden flights they made. From Kirtland, Ohio,
Smith pushed west many times in the attempt to found a city called Zion [Figure
61]. In 1833 Smith even designed a layout with a series of instructions in the
margin, which sent some of his followers‐missionaries to Missouri, close to the
town of Independence, Jackson County. Smith’s specifications were a kind of town
planning and construction regulations, giving precise numeric indications and
measurements to comply with. Smith’s design shows that Zion was centred on a
system of barycentric squares reserved for public buildings, whereas the town area,
measuring a square mile, was surrounded by agricultural fields which had to
134 HINDS, William Alfred, American Communies: brief skecthes of Economy, Zoar, Bethel, Aurora,
Amana, Icaria, The Shakers, Oneida, Wallingford, and The Brotherhood of the New Life, Oneida, NY,
Office of the American Socialist, 1878, p. 25
135 PRIEST, Josiah, The Wonders of Nature and Providence, Displayed, Albany, 1826, (see pp. 372‐408
“Proofs that the Indians of North America are descended from the ancient Hebrews”)
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