First Encampment

Log as many miles as possible. If I'm near any pioneer trails, a picture would be most welcome.

Sep 2011 - This one was lost very early in its travels.  We started a proxy in its place. Hopefully this one will travel farther this time!

This button was "earned" by doing the 4.5-mile trek from near the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City to the location of the first official camp in the Salt Lake Valley for the Mormon pioneers. The hike is one of the lesser-known parts of the "Days of '47" celebration to commemorate the pioneers' official arrival on July 24, 1847. On July 19, the pioneers left what is now Henefer. Ahead of them were 36 miles of rugged mountain terrain that taxed the strength of the pioneers and their teams. An advance guard worked at improving the trail, which had been cleared by the ill-fated Donner party the year before.

On the afternoon of July 22,1847, the first party of Mormon pioneers left the mouth of Emigration Canyon and made their way into the Salt Lake Valley, camping that night near the First Encampment Park at 1700 South 500 East. The party arrived with 40 wagons, 43 men, 3 women, and 4 children. Brigham Young, who had stayed behind due to illness, entered the valley 2 days later. Thus July 24th became the day celebrated as Pioneer Day in Utah.

Those first pioneers did not breathe a sigh of relief and rest. They scouted the valley, made roads into the mountains for timber, plowed and planted 53 acres of vegetables and other crops, and started building a boat. They surveyed the city, assigned farming plots to families, made bricks, cut timber, and started work on a fort. About a month later, almost half of them turned around and returned to Nebraska for the winter, leading more pioneers and wagons west the next summer. [From "111 Days to Zion," by Hal Knight and Dr. Stanley B. Kimball, 2nd Ed. 1984, Deseret Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.]

That first group included Mrs. lv2wj's ancestor, George A. Smith. Mr. and Mrs. lv2wj have 78 direct ancestors (not including siblings or other children) who crossed the plains to come to Utah. We are proud of the faith and perseverance of those pioneers; and for their hard work and vision in making our desert valley "blossom as a rose."

Please keep our Encampment button moving, making it a pioneer in its own right!