This is a Mormon-coined word for what started as a religious colony. Mormonism began along the Erie Canal. Followers were beset by often-violent persecution from other Christians through OH and IL. Heading to this empty land was an effort to escape that.

Here's a carved "Deseret" on a 1919 building--a bank once headed by Mormon leader Brigham Young. As all good bank buildings should, it exudes prosperity and permanence. The tree completes the image, showing what has happened to this once-empty and desolate land.