Utah's Pioneer Day
A Not Quite Religious Holiday Celebrated by Mormons in Many Places
On July 24, 1847, settlers first entered the Salt Lake Valley. The day has been commemorated by LDS people worldwide since.
If a person declares that July 24, 1847 is an important date in American history, most people will return blank stares or ask the person who made this declaration what he or she is talking about as this date does not mark the start of any war or famous gun battle. Pioneer Day, as it is called, is a state holiday in Utah.
July 24, 1847 marks the day when the wagon trains led by Brigham Young rolled into Utah's Salt Lake Valley. He is reported to have said, “This is the place” upon seeing the Great Salt Lake and its surrounding mountains. Today Pioneer Day is celebrated by the state of Utah and mostly by overzealous Primary presidents who throw parties on the day for young Mormon children.
Pioneer Day Celebrations
In Utah, Pioneer Day is often met with as much fanfare as the Fourth of July. Towns hold special events, and people dress up in period costume that reflects the fashions of the 1840s. Parades featuring covered wagons are not uncommon. Pioneer Day is, according to the Utah Encyclopedia, a birthday celebration, an Independence Day celebration and a Thanksgiving celebration all rolled into one.
Covered wagon parades may be seen pulling down the street, or at least that is the case in Utah itself and some Southern parts of Iowa. In other parts of the United States and the world, Mormons celebrate Pioneer Day with parties or special meetings.
The most common celebration outside of Utah are parties for Mormon children. Young Men/Young Women's programs occasionally schedule a Pioneer Trek, an event that allows teens to experience what the pioneers on the Mormon trail went through, to coincide with the holiday.
Pioneer Day Today
Mormons who choose to celebrate Pioneer Day elsewhere in the world either do so to give young Mormons a deeper appreciation of what the faith's early adherents went through or just to have some fun.
While celebrations of the anniversary of the state's colonization were suspended briefly for the mostly non-violent conflict called the Utah Wars, the celebrations returned to the Zion of the West after the conflict was resolved.
Pioneer Day is not a religious holiday, although a few misguided Utah Mormons may treat it as such. It is merely a day set aside to honor the trip and sacrifices made by early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were forced westward after the assassination of Joseph Smith.
If someone really wants to throw a party anywhere in the world, there is nothing stopping them from doing so. Curious readers can even check with their local Mormon churches to see what events they may be running.
Resources:
“Pioneer Day.” Utah Enclopedia, Steven L. Olsen
“This is the Place.” The American Scene. Noah Millman. December 5, 2007
