Utah Pioneer Jubilee

Liz Kennington

Have you ever seen this medal among the artifacts passed down in your family? You might if your ancestor was part of the 1847 pioneer migration to the Salt Lake Valley. In 1897 a commission was established to organize the 50-year celebration of the arrival of pioneers in 1847. The medal itself was created by Tiffany and Co. of New York, made of solid gold, and cost $10. Each person’s name was engraved on the back.

Although Brigham Young’s company arrived first in the valley, it was determined that any of the arrivals in 1847 should be considered one of the original pioneers. In total, 1949 pioneers arrived in Utah in 1847. Fifty years later, 727 of those original pioneers were still living. In 1897, 28 of the 148 pioneers in Brigham Young’s original party were still living. Twenty-six of those survivors attended the celebration.

The commission worked to identify all individuals who were part of the “pioneer colony” in order to include their names in the Book of Pioneers. After identifying the surviving pioneers, those who were able to attend were issued an invitation and asked to complete a preprinted questionnaire. These questionnaires asked for basic information, such as the individual’s date and location of birth, current address, the company with which the individual had travelled in 1847, and whether they retained any artifacts from the trip. They were also asked if they would be willing to donate those items to the State for preservation.

The celebration was an event to remember. There were concerts, dances, games, parades, and even a museum built, “The Hall of Relics.” The Pioneer Monument, “In Honor of Brigham Young and the Pioneers,” was unveiled and presented to the state on the first morning of the festivities. It’s interesting to note that this statue was first displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. It stood briefly on Temple Square and then was erected in the intersection of Main and South Temple in 1897. In 1993, it was moved a few yards north to its current location.

“Salt Lake City has perhaps never before been so packed with enthusiastic sightseers. The streets cease to be streets about the time when parade begins – they are rivers of humanity in which the people surge to and fro, here moving rapidly for a stretch in ripples of anticipation toward some happening a block or two away, there forming a whirlpool which moves round and round some striking object of interest … “it is not a time to call up the sagebrush waste, the slinking coyote, the ox team, the dug out and log cabin filled with weather- beaten, sun-burned immigrants dressed in nameless costumes. The eye and the car are full of the present. It is a pageant that people have come to witness, a pageant that bridges the past and the present and is a prophecy of the future.” – – Deseret Evening News (July 21, 1897)

Over $60,000 was raised in private and public funds in preparations for the Jubilee. Over ten other states contributed funds. While Utah had received statehood in 1896, this celebration was focused more heavily on Brigham Young’s arrival into the valley in 1847. Choosing to highlight the 1847 over statehood created significant tensions between the federal government and the LDS Church.

The official photographer for the event was George Edward Anderson (1860-1928).  Anderson is best known for his traveling tent studio which he set up in small towns throughout Utah, 1884- 1907. His main purpose was to document the lives of the residents in those small towns. The photo he took of those who were honored has 250 of the 727 attending surviving pioneers.

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To read more about how the celebration was organized and to learn about the creation of the Utah Historical Society, go to this link and explore all the options.

https://archives.utah.gov/research/exhib its/jubilee/7-historical-society.html

This link will take you to the “Book of Pioneers” where you can search for your ancestors’ names. The asterisk before names indicates that they responded by signature. https://archives.utah.gov/research/index es/14107.htm