Here's some points of history about pioneer Utah that you should seek out when you get a chance.
In 1855 Utah endured a bad yield of crops because of grasshoppers and frost. The winter was also a cold one, and 2/3 of the livestock froze to death that winter. So the saints were on the brink of famine, and Young didn't feel any of that. His home was flush with provisions. The Beehive House had been completed in 1854, and he and his large family were in no danger at all of going hungry. From this vantage point of plenty, he gave talks that pointedly blamed the crisis happening in the rest of the region on the people.
On Sept 21st, 1856, Brigham Young gave two talks in the Bowery in Salt Lake City. In the first one he blamed the saints for the trials that almost everyone in Utah was suffering, and he accused the people of "preparing themselves for apostasy".
The second talk that day contained his prescriptions for resolving these problems that he blamed the people for. He insisted that there needed to be a "Reformation", and he insisted that the people were "losing the spirit". He then delivered an ultimatum for the people to "repent of their wickedness, or we will cut them off."
It must be remembered that the situation the people were in was close to a famine. Instead of encouraging the people, he accused them. Instead of taking responsibility, he projected blame. In the second talk, he then went on to describe sins that could not be paid for with normal repentance. He insisted that such required the blood of the individual. Every Mormon should read this talk for themselves. It is in the 4th volume of the Journal of Discourses, and it is available online. It is the very foundation that Brigham puts in place before giving an ultimatum to his wives and to all of the polygamous wives in Utah:
"I wish my own women to understand that what I am going to say is for them as well as others, and I want those who are here to tell their sisters, yes, all the women of this community, and then write it back to the States, and do as you please with it. I am going to give you from this time to the 6th day of October next, for reflection, that you may determine whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not, and then I am going to set every woman at liberty and say to them, Now go your way, my women with the rest, go your way. And my wives have got to do one of two things; either round up their shoulders to endure the afflictions of this world, and live their religion, or they may leave, for I will not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone, rather than have scratching and fighting around me. I will set all at liberty. "What, first wife too?" Yes, I will liberate you all."
His message can be summed up as 1. The famine is your fault, not mine, 2. We should spill the blood of those who have committed grievous sins to "save" them, and 3. Any plural wife who is complaining can either stop or leave Utah by October 6th, and thereby face the prospect of a trek in the winter back to the part of the US where people actually enjoy the freedom of choice that the US government typically provides. You will also note that in the face of the situation that these talks made worse, Brigham Young completed the Lion House in 1856 even though he was already living in the Beehive House.
Some important events took place after these talks, and were likely inspired by them. Included in these were the Parrish/Potter murders (1857), The castration of Thomas Lewis by bishop Warren Snow (1857), the Aiken Party executions (1857), and the Mountain Meadows Massacre (1857).
There is no doubt that 1857 was the bloodiest year of Mormonism, and it was fed by the monstrous fanaticism and abuses of Brigham Young. But even in the years after 1857, there were still plenty of violent reminders to the people that getting out of line with Brigham Young could bring retribution. An important instance of this is the murder of Dr. John King Robinson in 1866, a well-respected man who challenged Salt Lake City's charter because they didn't want an outsider building a hospital in Salt Lake City.
After reading about these things, ask yourself if the women living in Utah were "free" to speak and do as any other woman in the United States. Ask yourself if it is possible that this undercurrent of violence had anything to do with their signing of pre-written affidavits concerning the polygamy of Joseph Smith, or with their various meetings where they obeyed orders to extoll the "virtues" of plural marriage.
The transcontinental railroad was not connected to Utah until May of 1869. We should now revisit the famous quote from Phoebe Woodruff, and ask ourselves if it is a true quote:
In 1878 Phoebe Woodruff (Wilford's first wife) gave a talk at a Church-organized response to a local anti-polygamy women's group in SLC. Phoebe spoke in favor of the practice.
A few days later a friend asked why she had done a complete reversal on her well known views of polygamy. This was her reported response:
"I have not changed. I loathe the unclean thing with all the strength of my nature, but sister I have suffered all that a woman can endure. I am old and helpless and I would rather stand up anywhere and say anything commanded of me than be turned out of my home in my old age, which I should most assuredly be if I refused to obey counsel."
This was reported on p.101 of Richard Van Wagoner's 1986 book Mormon Polygamy.
