A N UNHALLOWED GATHERING: The Impact of Defense Spending on Utah's Population Growth, 1 9 4 0 - 1 9 6 4 by J a m e s L. Clayton
Not since the Mormon "pure in heart" fled out of Babylon and gathered to Zion has Utah seen such profound population changes as in recent years. From 1940 to 1964, the year Utah's population reached an estimated 1 million persons, the Beehive State added 450,000 new residents. This represents a rate of growth of 65 per cent, or more than double the per cent increase of the previous 23 years.1 It is widely assumed that there has been a direct connection between Utah's recent rapid population growth and federal defense spending in this state, but to date no one has attempted empirically to test this belief. It seems altogether fitting therefore to focus careful attention on this subject, not simply because defense spending has pushed Utah from a small state to a middle-sized state, but more because Utah's experience may be directly relevant to an understanding of significant aspects of the whole dynamic westward movement since 1940. Dr. Clayton is assistant professor of history, University of U t a h . I n the fall of 1966, he will assume a teaching position for a year at D a r t m o u t h College, New Hampshire. Research for this paper was assisted in part by funds from the U t a h State University Research Council under a project administered by Professor Leonard J. Arrington, D e p a r t m e n t of Economics, whose suggestions were of great help in preparation of this article. Equally helpful were Sherrill Neville, chairman of the U t a h Population Work Committee, and Professors George Jensen, U t a h State University, and Alfred Cave, University of U t a h , who, of course, share no responsibility for the results. This article, in slightly different form, was presented before the U t a h Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in the fall of 1964. 1 University of U t a h , Bureau of Economic and Business Research, A Statistical Abstract of Utah's Economy 1964 (Salt Lake City, 1964), 3.
