Kerry Bate (John Steele bio), 2/19/26
We are pleased to announce that Kerry Bate will be here to speak about The Life and Times of John Steele: Mormon Kingdom Builder (published by University of Utah Press) on Thursday, February 19. He will be here from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will speak at 6:00, and answer questions and sign books before and after that time. To RSVP on Facebook, click here.
Among the founders of Salt Lake City, Parowan, and Las Vegas, and an explorer of Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, John Steele's legacy is etched across the American West. The Life and Times of John Steele follows the remarkable journey of this Irish-born convert to Mormonism from his birth into scarcity through his final days in Kanarraville, Utah.
A fervent believer in utopian ideals, Steele sought to build an egalitarian Kingdom of Christ in the last days, becoming a key figure in early Utah history. His multifaceted roles—missionary, city founder, militia major, justice of the peace, and self-taught doctor using folk medicine, charms, and the occult—make his story unique. This meticulously researched biography offers new insights into pivotal events such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the communal economics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, drawing from Steele’s extensive personal diaries and papers to bring his complex, colorful life and times to light.
Kerry William Bate’s work has appeared in Utah Historical Quarterly, Oral History Review, American Genealogist, Utah Holiday, Sunstone, and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. He has authored or co-authored four books, including The Women: A Family Story.
The Life and Times of John Steele: Mormon Kingdom Builder. University of Utah Press. Paperback. $29.95. To purchase a copy online, click here.
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