Alternate Mormon Settlements

Yes, it is cliche in AH to somehow, have the Mormons pop up. We could have a TL where Christianity never arose, but there would be Mormons.

Anyways, what areas do you believe are plausible areas of settlement for the Mormons?

There were attempts in Southern California from what I've read, so its a possibility. Mormons on the pacific Coast actually have a chance of foreign interests protecting them from the US (well, trying). Of course, a gold rush would squash them, if they take that part of California, unless they could control it right, which would be ASB.

Oklahoma is not far off from Missouri, and considering its settlement status up till the late 1890s, the Mormons could probably weasel into a bit of free reign here. Again, it would be an entirely different experience, with no need for irrigation system or communal enterprise, at least not to the extent of Salt Lake City.

One Mormon leader suggested fleeing to Mexico after Utah became US territory. I see Sonora and Baja California as possibilities here, before even Utah. Fishing, ranching and mining experience change the agrarian Mormon cultures. How will Spanish catholics deal with American heathens and polygamists?

How about South America? IIRC there are Moravians in Argentina. Tierra del Fuego would be great for them as it is, even now, a litlle out of the way and had only a few inconvenient indigenes.

It is a bit long by wagon, though. Didn't people in this position frequently purchase ships?

Or Central America, the presence of a bedrock American Protestant republic in the midst of so many lazy Catholic aristocracies, particularly when they're polygamists and not-quite-Christians as well, is sure to have some entertainment value.

Again, how would they get there? The Mexicans are not going to be all that welcoming of gringo Protestant polygamists with a penchant for dispute with their neighbors coming through so we must look to the sea again.

Canada? Again, there are Moravians in Manitoba, so its possible, but the Mounties were just now putting down a minor rebellion of French trappers and the North West Company IIRC, and might not be at all happy to see several thousand heavily armed religious weirdos show up.

Also, aren't Mormons all over the US? Couldn't they just be scattered, like the Lutherans or Episcopalians?

Mormons are not Protestants--neither in their own eyes nor in Protestant eyes. They do, however believe that Jesus is God (or a god), which, I suppose, makes them Christian--more Christian anyway than Unitarians.

Mexico actually invited and welcomed the Mormons into Utah because it wasn't well settled. Some Mormons actually cosnidered themselves to just be a local authority of the Mexican government. At that time, Sonora nor Baja California were either.

However, about overseas options, it just seems too expensive. They wanted you to pack your family into a wagon and drive west, which was way cheaper and way easier to create a communal spirit from.

Mormons are not Protestants--neither in their own eyes nor in Protestant eyes. They do, however believe that Jesus is God (or a god), which, I suppose, makes them Christian--more Christian anyway than Unitarians.

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We do count ourselves as Protestants, actually, and as Christians. We don't believe in a Protestan view of the Trinity, however. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost separate divine beings that work together. We believe in other gods, but in the fact that we must only know of and worship one, Heavenly Father.

How about New Zealand, or an island nation somewhere? Canada could be interesting. How about Alaska?