Many sources now have been collected and inventoried. Special collections divisions of university and college libraries have increased their holdings of printed and manuscript materials. State and national archives remain relatively untapped but are open. The Latter-day Saint Church archives remain a major repository of importance because of the role of the church in Utah history.

The conflicts between Mormons and non-Mormons in history colored many of the primary records now extant, and the prejudices, biases, and antipathies, on both sides, found their way into many studies, particularly in earlier days. There was a tendency to treat the conflicts as central, whereas in more recent times the movement has been toward bringing all groups into historic focus and attempting to understand each group's life and contributions from their point of view. While dispassionate objectivity has brought us closer to some truths, our works frequently fail to capture the depths of the human experience and the emotions of the time.

Edward W. Tullidge was Utah's first historian of stature. He wrote a History of Salt Lake City (1886) and many articles on the political and economic history of early Utah in his histories and Quarterly Magazine (1880-1885).