They arrived tired, hungry and eager to begin a new life, and as their creaking wagons slowed to a stop and Brigham Young declared, "This is the place," the weary pioneers began to celebrate.

"They got in on the 24th of July in 1847 and there's always been a celebration since," said Zola Bair, former Pioneer Village museum director and treasurer for the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Ron Walker, BYU history professor, said the first official Pioneer Day was celebrated in 1849 after Brigham Young declared the 24th of July a holiday.

Since then, July 24th has been a time for church members to reflect on Brigham Young and the early pioneers.

Brigham Young's governing responsibilities for the church and territory did not lessen his love for fun, which was one of the reasons for his declaration of July 24th as a holiday.

"He wanted to have the saints remember the coming of the pioneers," Walker said. "He was always a believer in recreation and taking time out."

Pioneer Day was a welcome celebration for church members from the beginning, said Steve Olsen, manager of operations at the Museum of Church History and Art.

"The remarkable thing about Pioneer Day is that it began with great exuberance. It was a fully developed celebration the very first year," Olsen said.

Many other holidays, like Father's Day, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, were initiated by a small group of people, then caught on and spread rapidly, Olsen said.

In its early days, celebrating Pioneer Day required more sacrifice than it does today. Instead of fighting backed-up traffic and lines for picnic supplies at the grocery store, Utah's early settlers faced hunger.

Despite a meager 1849 harvest, the saints used what they had to celebrate, Olsen said.

"There wasn't much in the way of food or other resources to devote to a celebration, but they did so with great enthusiasm," Olsen said.

Just like many church members today, early pioneers viewed the holiday as a chance to contemplate their miraculous journey across the plains.

"The pioneers saw Pioneer Day as a watershed in church history, and therefore they needed to commemorate it. They knew they'd done something remarkable," Olsen said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 23 Jul 2002