| Description |
Each July the citizens of the State of Utah celebrate the "Days of 47," recognizing the Mormon Pioneers who traveled to the State in `1847. The culmination of this celebration takes place each year on July 24th, the day Brigham Young and others entered the Salt Lake Valley. It is Appropriate that the citizenry recognize the contribution of the Pioneers with a "Pioneer Day, " but placed in proper historical perspective Pioneer Day should not be the culmination of festivities but the beginning. During these July festivities it is seldom mentioned that Brigham Young and a majority of the Pioneers left one month after entering and as a consequence it is not generally understood who settled the valley. Tradition and historians have for years, unknowingly, conspired to obscure a most important segment of the history of Utah. In 1847 three major emigrant companies entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake and along with a handful of Pioneers became the first settlers of a community in the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. It is the intent of this work to identify the largest of the three companies and relate their experiences in coming to the West. The company is referred to as the "Mormon Migration of 1847" and was organized in June of that year along the bank of the Elkhorn River, Nebraska Territory. Members of the Migration included apostles and a future Prophet of the Mormon Church, mayors of Utah's three largest cities, the first educators in Utah's school system, first lawyers, doctors, farmers, carpenters, mothers, fathers and families of Utah's rich heritage. Their numbers were many, they started their journey late in the year, lost many cattle and suffered numerous setbacks, all of which delayed their entry in to the valley and caused further hard-ships during the first winter. They reached the valley with expectations and a dream of what their community could be and went to work to fulfill them. There is no celebration recognizing these people, nor is there a formal monument in their honor, nevertheless the history of their journey is significant and worthy of attention. |
