Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 - August 29, 1877) was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877. He founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. He led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. He was dubbed by his followers the "Lion of the Lord". He was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre. He died in 1877 at the age of 76. He was suffering from "cholera morbus and inflammation of the bowels". It is believed that he died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix. His last words were "Joseph! Joseph! Joseph!", invoking the name of the late Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon faith.