Private company

Deseret Telegraph Company

Logo: Deseret News Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

American telegraph company

The Deseret Telegraph Company was a telegraphy company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The company was organized in 1867 to direct operation of the recently completed Deseret Telegraph Line; its largest stakeholder was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Deseret line ran north and south through the Utah Territory, connecting the numerous settlements with Salt Lake City and the First Transcontinental Telegraph.² It was founded by Brigham Young.¹ Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1867Founded¹

Industrytelegraphy¹
Founded inSalt Lake City¹
Legal formpublic company¹

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The Deseret Telegraph Company was a telegraphy company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The company was organized in 1867 to direct operation of the recently completed Deseret Telegraph Line; its largest stakeholder was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Deseret line ran north and south through the Utah Territory, connecting the numerous settlements with Salt Lake City and the First Transcontinental Telegraph. The company was dissolved in 1900 when its assets, including the Deseret line, were sold to the Western Union Telegraph Company.²

The story

Founded by Brigham Young in 1867, in Salt Lake City.¹

Leadership

Who has led Deseret Telegraph Company, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

FounderBrigham Young¹

Products and brands

The Utah Territorial Assembly incorporated the Deseret Telegraph Company on January 18, 1867, to direct operation of the Deseret line. The company had issued 5,000 shares of stock, with the vast majority held by the LDS Church (the Church President would also serve as president of the telegraph company).

Because of the unique co-operative ownership of the company, rates were set much differently than other contemporary telegraph companies. Only for messages between Ogden and Salt Lake City was a per-word-per-mile rate charged (the common rate system for telegraphy). Most communities paid a monthly sum, and could receive so many words per month depending on the amount paid. Most territorial and Church communications were sent free of charge, as was local personal and community correspondence. As a result, very rarely was the company able to make a profit, running in the red numerous times (LDS Church tithes were often used to make up the difference).

Passage of the Edmunds–Tucker Act in 1887 led to the United States government confiscating the company in 1888. In 1894 ownership of the company was returned to the LDS Church.

From Wikipedia’s article on Deseret Telegraph Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

From Wikidata.¹

Acquisitions

On February 20, 1900, the Western Union Telegraph Company (who had built the first transcontinental telegraph line) purchased the assets of the Deseret Telegraph Company from the LDS Church for $10,000 ($387,000 in today's terms) with the remainder of the stockholders receiving $2.00 per share ($77 in today's terms). The line was turned over on April 4, 1900, and its operations absorbed into the Western Union company.