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Pioneer Day is a day recognized by the "Mormons" as the day they entered into Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. It was on that day, the President of the Church, Brigham Young, pronounced from a nearby mountain vista "This is the place" or "This is the right place" as was seen by Brigham Young in a vision previously. Along with Brigham Young were 143 men, 3 women, and 2 children that entered into the uninhabited Salt Lake Valley.
Salt Lake valley was described to them by the famous early explorer, Jim Bridger. Brigham Young was told that nothing would grow there because of the sour water and poor soil. Yet, in a vision, Brigham Young had seen the desert grow into a bountiful land.
The Latter-Day Saints (as the members of the Church were called) sought religious freedom. The church was formed on April 6, 1830 near Fayette, New York. By 1831, the members of the church moved from New York to Kirtland, Ohio (near Cleveland) and settled there until 1838. Meanwhile, a separate settlement of Mormons moved to western Missouri. In both locations, they faced fierce opposition and persecution concluding with an "extermination order" in Missouri--a law passed by Governor Lilburn Boggs basically stating that it was legal to shoot a Mormon on site. Under fire, the Mormons quickly retreated to Quincy, Illinois where they were taken in and cared for by local citizens. As a congregation, they moved and aggregated 50 miles north to a Mississippi River swampland and named it Nauvoo, Illinois. From 1839 to 1846, the Mormons prospered even to the point where Nauvoo rivalled Chicago in size. The founder and Prophet of the Mormon movement was murdered on June 27, 1844 amidst fierce opposition once again. As the town prospered, local residents feared the political power of the quickly growing religion and under these threats, invoked mob order over the Latter-Day Saints. The Illinois governor, Tom Ford, did nothing to stop it.
On Feb. 4, 1846, they crossed the frozen Mississippi river from their beautiful city of Nauvoo never to return again leaving behind most of their worldly possessions. The Utah territory was outside of the United States, owned by Mexico. The Mormons felt that leaving the country was going to be the only way they would be able to practice their religion unfettered from persecution. They followed the Oregon Trail (on the opposite side of the Platte River) from Nauvoo to Council Bluffs and finally to Utah.
There in Utah, they began the pioneer settlement of more than 400 communities in the intermountain west, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, more than 80,000 Mormon refugees immigrated to Utah in search of religious and political freedom. Six thousand lost their lives during the 1,300 mile trek and were buried in shallow graves along the way in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah.
On July 24, this pioneer heritage is celebrated with huge parades and festivals in Salt Lake City, Provo, and other notable Mormon cities. Congregations of Latter-Day Saints all around the world also commemorate this day with pioneer reenactments and parties. |
