Location:
Great Salt Lake Valley—Emigration Square
Distance: 1297 miles from Nauvoo

Arrival in the Salt Lake Valley had a special meaning to each emigrant. For many it signified the end of their arduous journey. They had endured to the end of the Mormon Trail, and their participation in that memorable trek gave metaphor and meaning to life itself. Even for those who were not Latter-day Saints, the first glimpse of this broad, open valley after such hardship provided a deeply emotional moment.

But by 1900, pioneering members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had founded more than 600 communities in a broad swath extending from Canada into Mexico. In the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Wallace Stegner, the Latter-day Saints "were one of the principal forces in the settlement of the West."

Settling Mexican Territory

After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young mailed a letter to the governors of each of the states and territories under United States supervision seeking asylum for his people within their borders. Most were silent, some flatly refused. A few lobbied publicly for their expulsion or extermination. So the Latter-day Saints left the U.S., entering the remote Valley of the Great Salt Lake in July of 1847, then Mexican territory. Less than seven months later, on 2 February 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo would make the Great Salt Lake Valley U.S. territory.

Rocky Mountain Prophecies

An 1840 letter first iterates Joseph Smith's vision that there existed "a place of safety preparing for [the Saints] away towards the Rocky Mountains." Joseph's view was colored in no small measure by a pronouncement of the ancient prophet Isaiah that "in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah 2:2).

Throughout the Nauvoo period the Prophet collected information on that, and other, regions of the country, eventually going public with the news: "I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction . . . many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some [of them would] live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains."

When Brigham Young's wagon rolled out of Nauvoo on that bitter February morning of 1846, he knew exactly where his destination lay.

The Early Economy

"The Lord has done his share of the work," said Brigham Young to the newly assembled Saints. "He has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, meat, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and glorify the Zion of the last days. It is now our business to mold these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the heavens through our faithfulness." Thus, the Saints went to work. Within hours of their arrival in the valley, work committees had staked out and begun tilling a 35-acre tract for growing produce; another was laying out the temple site; another was surveying for the broad uniform street and housing blocks which characterize central Salt Lake City, Utah, today. Aqueducts and irrigation canals were being dug, homes built, kilns constructed, quarries opened. Inside of a decade, hundreds of families and individuals had been called on missions to develop some specific facet of territorial economy: an iron mission, a sugar mission, a lead mission, a cotton mission, silk missions, a flax mission, and a wool mission.

Colonization of the West

"With no friends anywhere upon the face of the earth, no credit . . . and hardly a dollar," wrote early Apostle Reed Smoot, the Latter-day Saints nevertheless occupied, settled and sustained a vibrant new community in the heart of the wilderness. Yet within weeks of the arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, some were being dispatched to colonize the far reaches of that country, a move calculated by Brigham Young to ensure self-rule and freedom from oppression by establishing the first or at least the most prevalent presence in a vast territory. Within ten years of Brigham Young's death in 1877, colonies ranged from Cardston, Alberta, Canada to northern Chihuahua Mexico; from Laie, Hawaii and San Bernardino, California to southern Colorado. Today monuments to such settlement—many of them the first non-native communities in the state—dot the western landscape throughout Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, California, Montana, Idaho, Texas, Wyoming, and Canada and Mexico.

State of Deseret: Utah

When they entered the Salt Lake Valley, as one historian points out, Church leaders were "smarting under the sense of injustice and wrong permitted if not inflicted under quasi-sanction of the United States." Yet they still considered the United States Constitution the finest document for political rule ever written. And within that same view, statehood was their best course toward political autonomy. Thus they first petitioned for statehood in July of 1849 and organized a provisional legislature for the State of Deseret, a term taken from the Book of Mormon and signifying industry. The proposed boundaries ranged from central Oregon to Mexico, and from San Diego to southern Colorado, including portions of nine present-day states. President Millard Fillmore went part way, granting the Saints territorial status (Utah) and their own choice of governor: Brigham Young. It was one of the few times in their short history an American political figure had endeared himself to the Latter-day Saints. The satisfied Saints granted him immortality by naming the territorial capital after him (Fillmore, now in Millard County). The heretofore "state" of Deseret was dissolved by the spring of 1851.

Sacred City in the Mountains

Salt Lake City, Utah, has been called one of the Seven Sacred Cities of the World, and indeed, its history is unique in the story of America. Its eventual placement at the foot of the snow-capped Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains was seen in vision by both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah 2:2).

Salt Lake City sprung from the Great Basin soil as a religious community, and that characterization would remain apt today. Now the heart of a metropolitan area nearing a population of one million, the city has come to be known as a clean, wholesome community in which to live and rear families. Approximately 70 percent of the people of Utah claim membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, yet many major religious traditions are represented. Faith remains a moving force in the character profile of modern Utah.

Cosmopolitan Salt Lake City

Owing primarily to the number of convert-pioneers coming from western Europe in its early history, Utah today has the highest proportion of residents claiming British ancestry (54 percent) of all 50 states. Sizable populations of residents from a variety of nations and ethnic backgrounds also call Utah and Salt Lake City home. Greek, Chinese, Swiss, and Polynesian immigrants pepper the demographic and economic history of the state. Today, the annual rate of growth among the state's Black, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Island populations reaches or exceeds 30 percent.

Temple Square

The top tourist attraction in the state of Utah— known worldwide for some of the finest natural scenery in the world—is historic Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. The prominent 10-acre block is home of the many-spired Salt Lake Temple; the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the egg-shaped auditorium that houses the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the architecturally elegant Assembly Hall, where free weekly concerts are offered locals as well as tourists; two fascinating visitors' centers; and lushly landscaped grounds providing a respite in the midst of a vibrant downtown.

Walking tour

While Temple Square is the heart of the city, there are other nearby attractions associated with the Church. They include the handsome Joseph Smith Memorial Building, a former grand hotel converted into a community center with restaurants, banquet and reception rooms, a big-screen theater showing the free movie, Legacy, which tells of the trials of the pioneers who settled the area; and a FamilySearch® Center offering visitors an opportunity to make a computer search of their "roots."

Also nearby are the Family History Library™, housing the largest collection of genealogical records in the world; the Museum of Church History and Art; the Beehive House, Brigham Young's primary residence; the Lion House, a Brigham Young family residence now serving as a social center; the Church Office Building with its 26th-floor observation deck overlooking the city; the Church Administration Building; Brigham Young Historic Park and Brigham Young's grave site; and Promised Valley Playhouse, a popular venue for family-oriented theatricals.

Brigham Young

April 6, 1853

"I scarcely ever say much about revelations, or visions, but suffice it to say, five years ago last July [1847] I was here, and saw in the Spirit of the Temple not ten feet from where we have laid the Chief Corner Stone. I have not inquired what kind of a Temple we should build. Why? Because it was represented before me. I have never looked upon that ground but the vision of it was there. I see it as plainly as if it was in reality before me. Wait until it is done. I will say, however, that it will have six towers." (Sermon of Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, 6 April 1853; in Journal of Discourses 1:133.)

William I. Appleby

October 27, 1849

"Continued our journey over the mountains and deep ravines through a canyon. Dangerous and bad roads, upsetting one wagon belonging to the Welsh, breaking one axle. We arrived at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, having traveled about eight miles. From here we had a sight of the Salt Lake and Great Salt Lake City, the latter being within about three miles of us. Some of the camps stopped at the mouth of the canyon over Sabbath; others, who had friends or relatives residing in the city came in the same evening, while others tarried until Monday or Tuesday following. In viewing the city in all its external bearings and also the surrounding mountains, valleys, etc., I was agreeably disappointed in the pleasantness of the place, the number and quality of the houses, of the productions of the earth, wheat, corn, vegetables, etc. Industry had extended her hand, and Providence had rewarded the laborers toil. Great demand for labor and good pay; plenty of gold and withal the true religion of Heaven, in which the Saints are rejoicing in faith and works. I feel thankful for my safe arrival at this place of my destination and the protection of Heaven's King over me and my family through all the dangers, difficulties, privations, snares, and deaths I have been delivered through this toilsome and tedious journey. I acknowledge the hand of my God in it and humbly ask forgiveness for all my follies, sins and imperfections and thank His holy name through Jesus my Redeemer, Amen. Our journey from Winter Quarters has been some 1,030 miles or thereabouts."

(William I. Appleby, Journal, 27 October 1849, as printed in the Journal History, 29 October 1849, HDC.)

Mary Ann Weston Maughan

July 18, 1850

"We rose at day break and all are happy because our long journey is so near done. When we came near the city we met Bro. Blackhurst, a friend of Mr. Maughan's. On arriving in the city we soon found many kind friends. We camped in the street in front of Bro. Peart's house. I think this is destined to be a great place. There are stores and houses going up in all directions. We stayed in Salt Lake City one week and enjoyed the Society of our friends. Then we were counseled to settle in Tooele, 35 miles west of Salt Lake City. This Valley was then being settled. Here I found 2 old friends from England, Bro. and Sister Rowberry, and some of our friends from Nauvoo. Here we camped in tent and wagon on our city lot until we built a nice large double log house. We moved into our house in the middle of November, 1850. I had not eaten or slept in a house since we left our own home in New Diggings, Wisconsin Territory."

(Mary Ann Weston Maughan, Journal, 18 July 1850, HDC.)

Forty-niner John Benson

July 24, 1849

Crossed Big Mountain, descended Emigration Canyon and arrived in time for the Twenty-fourth of July celebration:

Monday, July 23rd [1849]

"One of Flack's oxen was left to die. The road this morning led over a low mountain. We had to double teams in crossing the summit. It is one mile of heavy hauling. After passing over the summit the descent is very steep and we had to lock both wheels. It is a rough road, crossing a creek several times. At about noon we came into the valley of the Great Salt lake in sight of the City of Great Salt Lake. We passed through the city, crossed over the River Jordan and camped one mile west of the city."

Tuesday, July 24th [1849]

"This was a great day for the people in this vicinity. They were celebrating the second anniversary of their entrance into the valley. An immense amount of work and energy had been expended in preparing for the celebration. . . . It was estimated that 6000 to 8000 took dinner. I think 200 emigrants took dinner with them. All were urged to sit in. I hesitated but did so after two urgent invitations. The tables were spread with the greatest plenty and in taste and quantity not to be excelled. . . .

"As I walked away from the bower, I turned and looked back. There were more people (except emigrants and Indians) 200 to 1 than I had seen since I left the Missouri River. Where did they come from? How did they get here? I pinched myself to make sure that I was not dreaming. I have seen tables set for probably 100 or more, but here were tables for thousands. But the greatest marvel is how they could, in so short a time, produce in a desert, the variety of food stuffs with which the tables were spread. Men do not gather vegetables from sage brushes or cereals from cactus. The seeds, the tubers, the roots, the fouls, the pigs, the sheep, the cows, everything from which this abundance was produced had to all be transported a thousand miles or more over such roads as we have traveled. Even then, how could they in so short a time with so small a beginning, have produced so much. It seems incredible. I take off my hat to those who planned and executed it."

(John H. Benson, Diary, May-Sept. 1849, typescript, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska; photocopy of typescript, HDC.)

Journal photographs courtesy of Infobases, Inc. [an error occurred while processing this directive]