Print
E-Mail
tool name
closePIONEER DAY
Congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in East Pierce County celebrate their ancestors’ escape from religious persecution
Joan Cronk / for The Herald
Picture this: In order to escape religious persecution, a group of 175 strong men, women and children, all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called Saints, set out with their leader, Brigham Young from Nauvoo, Ill., on the banks of the Mississippi River, headed toward Utah,
The day their journey began was bone chilling. One hundred and eleven days later, on July 24, 1847, they walked into Salt Lake City, Utah, where Young declared, “This is the right place.”
In Utah, Pioneer Day is a state holiday. A parade is held and most congregations around the U. S. celebrate in some fashion. Many areas set off fireworks and hold parades. Others have essay contests for children and do hands on projects about pioneers. July 24 is commonly referred to as “The greatest Mormon holiday.”
Though the day isn’t recognized by local government in Washington, it’s still celebrated by East Pierce County congregations.
“It is a celebration of our efforts to find religious freedom and find a place to practice our faith when we were not welcomed,” said Jannice Martin, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latte-day Saints in Puyallup.
She understands the struggles pioneers made in their quest to find a new home — her great-great grandmother, Ellen Orton Page, crossed the plains when she was 2 years old with a widowed mother, a baby sister and another child 1 month old.
Members took what they could as they abandoned their homes. They left the temple they had built and the fields they had cultivated. Knowing they would never return to their homeland, one thought dominated their minds and became their mantra – “West in the Spring.”
The July 24 celebration is a chance for Mormons to reflect on their heritage, said Bonney Lake’s Kent Young. When he was a boy in Moses Lake, there were camp outs and a rodeo.
In East Pierce County, Young was asked to develop a Pioneer Day celebration for local youths and their families a few years ago. He came up with a combination of pioneer games that children in 1847 would have played along with more modern activities. It’s been suspended for a year to make room for a South Sound dance but will resume again next year.
It’s also an opportunity to teach their younger members about the struggles their ancestors made to practice their religion, he said.
“It impressed me as a little boy and it has impressed me more as I got older,” Kent Young said.
Though the religion is growing rapidly and new members are joining every day, there are still a number of people in the Puget Sound who, like Martin, had ancestors make the trip. Kent Young’s great uncle was Brigham Young, the man who was leading the pioneers across the Mid-West.
The Saints had been despised, unwanted and hunted down. Orders had been issued to shoot them on sight and their prophet Joseph Smith had been murdered by an Illinois mob in June 1844. The Saints knew if they stayed in Illinois, their days were numbered.
As they left their homeland, the rag tag group looked over their shoulders at a place they would never see again. They were a brave lot.
Others would follow, but the first company to make the trip blazed the trail. The trip west was brutal. The men were skilled workers who were able to repair the wagons, care for animals and hunt for food.
Seventy wagons and carriages made the trip, along with 93 horses, 52 mules, 66 oxen, 19 cows, 17 dogs, chickens and a cannon on wheels.
In order to make the trip easier for those who would follow, the official camp historian kept accurate records.
In an effort to keep track of the miles traveled, the historian tied a piece of red flannel to one of the wagon’s wheel spokes and walked beside the wagon, counting the number of times the wheel turned. He soon devised a better method for a mile counter, but for some time he kept track in this challenging fashion.
They faced blizzard conditions, freezing temperatures, rain and mud up to their knees. Even so, that first group kept to a strict schedule, rising each day at 5 a.m. and settling down for the night by 8:30 p.m. The wagons traveled in double file in case of an Indian attack, although fortunately at this time the Pawnees were friendly to whites.
Kent Young has read the stories about the trek in his great-grandfather’s journal. His ancestor made the journey several times and it was usually peaceful. But, there was one time when negations with an American Indian chief went sour and he had to brandish his gun. Kent Young is awed by the courage it took his great-grandfather and other pioneers.
“It’s all an exciting story,” he said.
Notes were made about where the safe water was and where grass and wood could be found. They also left signs on the road for those that would follow.
On July 24, 1847 they walked into Salt Lake Valley where Brigham Young breathed a sigh of relief and announced they had arrived at their destination. Finally they were home.
“It was a terrible place to think about making a home,” Kent Young said. “(But) it was a beautiful thing.”