By a large margin, which group made up the majority of California's population in 1840?
Brigham Young was the leader
It was Brigham Young.
The Mormons traveled west in wagons, with handcarts and later by train.
The Mormons were searching for a place where they could practice their religion in peace and found that place in Utah.
The Mormons were being persecuted in the Eastern United States, and they decided to move West to form their own settlement, where they would be free to live as they pleased and according to their own religious rules, free from persecution.
Many of what are now the Western United States were settled by "Mormons." You may be referring to Utah, however, which was the primary destination of the move west.
The Mormons moved to the west because they were trying to leave the United States. They had been kicked out of Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and thought they would try their luck in what was then Mexico. Also, Joseph Smith had prophesied a few years before his death that the Church would eventually move to the Rocky Mountains. Soon after the Mormons arrived there, the United States took over the area.
The signifigence of the Mormons moving west was for them to escape religious percsecution
They helped people to move west. This helped with the growth that was seen out west because people could get out there more quickly.
Utah was settled by Mormons.
They move because of lack of food hope I helped :)
Many didn't. Disease was rife, and many died from the cold. Those who survived, were the lucky ones.
Both the Indian Removal Act and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the 'Mormon' church) began in the spring of 1830. The Indian Removal act sent many Native American Tribes west of the Mississippi River. These relocated tribes were encountered by the Mormons about 15 years later when the Mormons were forced west of the Mississippi River as well. The Native Americans felt sorry for the Mormons and helped them survive in the harsh west.
They moved out west to both follow directions given to Brigham Young by Joseph Smith and to avoid persecution long enough to get established and settled in an area.