"In the early part of the summer of 1852 I was solicited to discharge the duties of Secretary of the Territory of Utah ... The result has been a six months residence in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, embracing the severe winter of 1852-3 ... The aim has been to give a strictly impartial account of the Mormons as they have been and as they are, without abstaining, however, from a free expression of opinion, whenever the facts seemed to warrant a fair conclusion ..."--Preface