Today,
we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrate our
pioneer heritage. Stories will be told and heroes will be remembered--the
bravery of the Saints at Winter Quarters, the sacrifice of the selfless young
men on the banks of the Sweetwater, and the deep relief of Brother Brigham's
famous declaration, "This is the right place. Drive on."
But
not every detail of the pioneers' trek west is widely known. So with some help
from The Mormon Book of Lists, we're providing you with this
collection of little-known facts about the early Saints in hopes that you'll
take some time to remember, celebrate, and thank God for the courageous men and
women who came before us.
1. During John Taylor's
mission to England, generous Saints in the area contributed over $2,000 in gold
to help the pioneers in their journey. Brother Taylor brought that money to the
Saints when he joined them in Winter Quarters.
2. The pioneers would measure
the miles of their journey by tying a rag to a wagon wheel and assigning
somebody to count the revolutions. But on April 19, 1847, William Clayton
suggested a form of odometer that the Saints would use for the duration of
their travels.
3. Pioneer companies
communicated with those following by writing on posts and placing them
prominently in the trail. Other methods included placing letters in improvised
boxes or writing on sun-bleached buffalo skulls.
4. At Fort Laramie the Saints
learned that an old nemesis was only slightly ahead of them on the trail:
Lilburn W. Boggs, the governor of Missouri who had issued the infamous
Extermination Order. Some 150 miles later the Saints caught up with Boggs and
his fellow Missourians. In exchange for much-needed flour, meal, and bacon, the
Saints ferried the Missourians across the Platte River.
5. The first two Latter-day
Saints to enter the Salt Lake Valley were Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow. Using
one horse between them, they rode down into the valley on July 21, 1847.
. Orson Pratt made the
initial survey of Salt Lake City. Beginning at the southeast corner of the
Temple Block, he marked the city out into blocks of ten acres each.
7. The new colony suffered
its first death on August 11, 1847, when 3-year-old Milton Therlkill drowned in
City Creek. Four days later his parents were comforted with the birth of a
daughter, the second child born in the valley. (The first was born August 9.)
8. To protect themselves from
Indians, in August 1847 the pioneers began to build a stockade three blocks
south and three west of the Temple Block. The fort’s east wall was built of
logs, with the other three walls being built of adobe. The Saints built their
first homes within the walls of the fort.
9. Brigham Young named the
new city “the Great Salt Lake City, of the Great Basin of North America.” Heber
C. Kimball named the river running to the west of the settlement “the Western
Jordan.”
10. President Brigham Young
and the Apostles stayed in the valley for only one month before beginning the
return trek to Winter Quarters on August 26.
No comments:
Post a Comment