Harold Moroni "Hal" Schindler (December 6, 1929 – December 28, 1998) was an American journalist and historian, known for his articles and books on the

American west The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. Early in his career he also scripted episodes of the television series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'' and ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. He is best known for his 1966 biography of 19th-century

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

Orrin Porter Rockwell.

Biography

Schindler was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to Moroni Helaman Nephi Schindler and Carolina Margaretta Strickstrock, who were German immigrants. Shortly afterward they moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, until 1940 when they moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. He married Benita "Bonnie" Nixdorf Schindler in 1956 and they had three children. He was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church).See excerpt from the

University of Utah Press The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah. The mission of t ...

found in: Schindler had a fifty-year journalism career with ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

''. Starting as a copyboy in 1945, he rose through the ranks as a police reporter, humor writer, and spent 27 years as a television columnist. He was the editor of the Sunday Arts section and magazine. He also regularly covered Utah history and current events, producing articles in which he chronicled Utah's history leading to statehood. He used pioneer journals to create a series on the 150th anniversary of the

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

' arrival in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Schindler died of a heart attack in Salt Lake City on December 28, 1998.

History and publications

Schindler's biography, ''Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder'', is considered a definitive work on the Mormon stalwart and controversial lawman. Published in 1966 by the

, the biography has been reprinted in multiple editions to become its publisher's best-selling book ever. The book won an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History. Schindler produced an updated edition of ''West From Fort Bridger'', an account of Western trails predating the Mormon exodus, with Utah historian Will Bagley. This edition revised and updated the work of the late Western historians J. Roderic Korns and

Dale Morgan Lowell Dale Morgan (December 18, 1914 – March 30, 1971), generally cited as Dale Morgan or Dale L. Morgan, was an American historian, accomplished researcher, biographer, editor, and critic. He specialized in material on Utah history, Mormon h ...

. Schindler died while researching and writing a book on the

Utah War The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, the Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the ...

Publications

* ''In Another Time: Sketches of Utah History'',

Utah State University Press The University Press of Colorado is a nonprofit publisher that was established in 1965. It is currently a member of the Association of University Presses and has been since 1982. Initially associated with Colorado public universities, the Univ ...

, 1998, , . * ''Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder''.

, 1966: Paperback, 1993. * Roderic Korns and Dale L. Morgan, eds., ''West from Fort Bridger: The Pioneering of Immigrant Trails across Utah, 1846–1850'', revised and updated by Will Bagley and Harold Schindler, Logan:

, 1994.

References

External links

Hal Schindler, Tribute, Salt Lake Tribune

Tribute by Will Bagley
Reviews of ''Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder''
Autumn 1967 issue
of ''

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies'' is a multidisciplinary academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abs ...

'', by Thomas G. Alexander
Winter 1983 issue
of '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', by Eugene E. Campbell
Summer 1984 issue
of ''

'', by Richard H. Cracroft {{DEFAULTSORT:Schindler Harold 1929 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers American male journalists Journalists from New York City American Latter Day Saint writers American people of German descent Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Historians of Utah Writers from Chicago Writers from New York City Writers from Salt Lake City The Salt Lake Tribune people 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Utah Historians from New York (state) Historians from Illinois American male biographers