Utah's Journey Stories an essay by Gregory E. Smoak; 2014

Journey Stories explores how migration and transportation built our nation, how it has changed us, and how our mobile world looked to travelers along the way. Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything - families and possessions - to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean. The reasons behind those decisions are myriad. Many chose to move, searching for something; better in a new land. Others had no choice or, like Native Americans already here, were; pushed aside by newcomers. American mobility has shaped our economy, our landscape and our culture. From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our background, everyone has a journey story to tell… what's yours?

The Smithsonian Institution's touring exhibition Journey Stories explores the ways that immigration and travel have shaped American identity and life. It is premised on the notion that we are a "most mobile nation." This is perhaps nowhere truer than in Utah, where the state's dominant origin story is a "Journey Story." The overland trek of the Mormon pioneers celebrated every July 24th with parades and fireworks may be the most familiar, but there are many other Journey Stories in Utah's past. Some are unique to Utah, while others reflect national and even global trends. There is no way to tell all of Utah's Journey Stories here, so to get at their richness and; diversity let us consider three broad questions: How did people make their journeys? What routes did they follow? And finally, by thinking about who the travelers were we can get at the question of why they made their journeys.