The Empty Interior (Chapter 13)

Here is a picture of California's Mojave Desert because it is part of The Empty Interior.  Quite a romantic picture! (This picture is not mine, it is from http://www.atissun.com/blog/6256/navy-breaks-ground-on-solar-installation-in-mojave-desert/)

According to the map in the book, the Empty Interior touches our state of California, mostly the parts around or at these counties: Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono. One of the interesting things that I read from the chapter is The Mormon Presence portion. According to the book, the Mormons "dreamed of founding a country they would call Deseret, stretching north into what is now Oregon and Idaho and southwest to Los Angeles." The Mormons failed to establish this so called Deseret because of the discovery of gold here in Calfornia. Many non-Mormons came to California and disrupted the prior settlements, thus dividing Deseret into states.

Here is a youtube video about the history of Mormons here in California. Showing how many of the Mormons were persecuted and discriminated throughout history.