Brigham Young was born on June 1, 1801, in Whitingham, Vermont, to Abigail Howe (1765-1815) and John Hayden Young, Sr. (1763-1839). He worked as a carpenter, joiner, and owner/operator of a sawmill. Young was introduced to the Book of Mormon in 1830. He was baptized by Eleazer Miller into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In July 1833, Young moved with two of his daughters and the Kimball family to Kirtland, Ohio. On February 14, 1835, Young was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In May 1835, he went on a proselyting mission to the East Coast. Again, from 1836 to 1837, he served a mission to the Eastern States. As tensions increased for the Church in Kirtland, Young fled to Far West, Missouri, in 1838. Young organized the exodus of Latter-day Saints from Missouri to Illinois later that year and served a mission to the United Kingdom. After completing his mission, Young served in leadership and community organization roles in Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Latter-day Saints had settled.

After the death of Joseph Smith in June 1844, Young led the Church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve until December 5, 1847. He was officially sustained as president of the Church on December 27, 1847. Tensions in Nauvoo worsened after the death of Joseph Smith, so Young organized the journey of the Latter-day Saints to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846, and then to the Salt Lake Valley. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, but continued to make trips back and forth between Winter Quarters and Salt Lake Valley to assist in the migration. Congress created the Utah Territory by passing the Compromise Act of 1850. As the founder of Salt Lake City, Young was appointed as the first governor of the territory and the superintendent of American Indian affairs by President Millard Fillmore on February 3, 1851. As governor, Young established settlements throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, California, and parts of southern Colorado and northern Mexico. He led Latter-day Saints to build roads, bridges, forts, and irrigation projects across the territory. Young helped to establish public welfare, organize a militia, authorize construction of the Utah Central railroad line connecting Salt Lake City to the Union Pacific transcontinental railroad, organize the first Utah Territorial Legislature, and establish Fillmore as the territory’s first capital. In 1857, after the Utah War and the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Young stepped down as governor.

Young passed away on August 29, 1877, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Edmund Brooke Alexander was born October 2, 1802, in Haymarket, Virginia. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1823, Alexander's long military service included frontier duty, participation in the Mexican-American War, and leadership roles during the Civil War. He also commanded the Utah Expedition of 1857–1858. In 1863, he was appointed Acting Assistant Provost Marshal General for Missouri, serving under the Provost Marshal General's Bureau. Over the course of his career, records alternately refer to him as Edward or Edmund B. Alexander.

Alexander died January 3, 1888, in Washington, D.C.