Pioneer Day Countdown: July 23, 1847 (Friday)

Yesterday, most of the Saints made it into the Valley. The only people left in the mountains were the members of Brigham's Party. Brigham Young and others were sick, and were left behind a few days ago to recover.

The morning:

John Pack

Joseph Mathews

Two riders (John Pack and Joseph Mathews) were dispatched into the mountains to tell Brigham Young's party that the other pioneers had made it safely into the Salt Lake Valley. Their information motivated the rear guard to move swiftly, and cover that rest of the 15-miles through the canyon.

At 9:30 a.m. the pioneers in the Valley assembled and offered a "prayer of thanks to the Almighty for the preservation of the camp, their prosperity in the journey and their safe arrival in this place," Thomas Bullock said.

Then, Orson Pratt and Willard Richards "dedicated and consecrated the land to the Lord." Immediately after the meeting, they began to plow the earth near what later became Main Street in Salt Lake City.

William Carter
First to turn the plow in the Valley

Shadrach and Betsy (Quimby) Roundy

The first to turn the soil were William Carter, George W. Brown, and Shadrach Roundy. The soil was fertile, but baked by the sun. Several plows were broken as the work progressed due to the dryness of the soil.

The pioneers were urged to plant the seeds they had brought with them "without question as to who would eat the fruit of them," Bullock wrote. First priority was just to get the seeds planted.

Assignments were made to create the community and allow it to prosper.

Charles A. Harper

Charles and Louisa Harper

Charles A. Harper, Charles Shumway, and Elijah Newman were named as a committee to see that plows were made available to those turning the ground.

Stephen Markham was given the responsibility for having fresh teams available to plow every few hours.

Others were put to work building a dam across City Creek for irrigation, as well as digging  waterways to the planting ground.

Anyone with specialties was called to put their talents to use for equipment and labor as needed.

The Afternoon:

Around 2 p.m., water from City Creek had been successfully diverted to the farm land. The pioneer's irrigation system would become more extensive, and they would one day be renowned for their efficient use of it.

City Creek Waterway

At 4 p.m. a turnip patch was prepared. Others worked on making a coal patch for Almon Williams.

Brigham's Party:

They continued to make their way through Emigration Canyon.

The company had started at 6:45 a.m. where they left East Canyon. They climbed Big Mountain, which caused them to tire because of the stress and difficulty. They halted for a few hours at the foot of Big Mountain after conquering it.

In the afternoon, the party resumed their march, and struggled up Little Mountain. Pack and Matthews, the two information carriers, left the group at this time to communicate to the Saints in the Valley.

By 5 p.m., Brigham's Party had made it to Last Creek, and the whole group was exhausted.


It looks like Pioneer Day was always meant for July 24th.




Source: Kimball and Knight. 111 Days to Zion. Deseret News. Salt Lake City, 1978.