The Mormon settlements in Arizona collection (1857-1986) is a collection of primary sources relating to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' colonization efforts along the Little Colorado River and the surrounding area. Included in the collection are diaries, journals, autobiographies, biographies, correspondence, and histories covering the earliest settlements of 1876 (Brigham City, Joseph City, Obed, and Sunset) to present-day communities. There are brief accounts of early Indian (1867-1873) and exploratory missions to Arizona. With the exception of four original account books from Joseph City, 1880-1907, the collection is made up of xerox copies of originals and typescripts. Several of the typescripts have been done by George Tanner painstakingly transcribed from faded copies and faint microfilms. A copy of "The Minutes of the Little Colorado River Stake, 1878-1887," gives a detailed account of the quarterly conferences of the Little Colorado River Mission where the problems of the United Order, dams, crops, etc., were aired. Also, there are the minutes of a special committee appointed in August of 1886 to review and disburse the property of the Sunset United Order after the Order was abandoned. This committee functioned for two years in an attempt to settle all accounts equitably. The materials have been organized by settlement with the categories (autobiography, biography, diary, etc.) arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each category.

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