Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pioneers are Coming

It's soon Pioneer day in Utah. July 24th, 1847 is when they came into the Salt Lake area led by Brigham Young. Many of my Mormon Pioneers were driven out of Nauvoo Illinois by mobs then to Winter Quarters, Nebraska and then across the plains 1000 miles to the Great Basin of Utah because of religious persecution. Some of them came in covered wagons drawn by oxen, a few pushed handcarts. They were searching for freedom of religious expression. Compiling their histories has brought me closer to them as I’ve developed a love for them because of their many sacrifices to come to Utah. (Check out the link above-it has a pioneer trail map, histories and diaries.)

Pioneers, what constitutes a pioneer, some-one who does something first? The dictionary says "as a noun-a person or group that is the first to do something or that is a forerunner in creating or developing something new; somebody who goes into previously uncharted or unclaimed territory with the purpose of exploring it and possible colonizing or settling it/as a verb-to experiment with or develop something new."

Are you a pioneer in your family? Tell us what you've done in a comment or tell us about a pioneer in your family. I was the first in my immediate family to graduate from college, now all my sons have graduated or are in college.

6 comments:

  1. I have to say Lin that I don't know anything about the Mormon religion except for the negative stories that hit the news. This is a nice opportunity for me to learn. Thank you...a pioneer in my family..Hmm..I will have to think about that..

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  2. I was the first one to move away from the Theobald epicenter. Does that count? All of my siblings, and all of their children and grandchildren, are still in the metropolitan areas of California.

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  3. What the heck??? You posted this before the rooster crowed! Trouble sleeping? Or just can't get that creative mind or yours to shut down for the night.

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  4. well michelle don't believe everything negative that you hear about the mormons. we are growing in membership and have missionaries all over the world.

    i believe everyone has been a pioneer in some aspect of their life and yes caryn moving away from calif and making a new life style in utah is being a pioneer. by the way, i went back to bed an hour later and slept till 7 am-what time does your rooster crow?

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  5. Whatever one may think of the Morman religion, there is no question that those early Mormon pioneers were sturdy, determined, dedicated folks who survived extreme conditions to settle in their "new land".
    Through my husband's geneolgy work, I know much about the pioneers in my family, immigrants who came by ship and survived hardships to gain a foothold in their new land, too.
    And Lin, I, too, am the first in my Father's side of the family to get a college degree. All of my surviving siblings have degrees, and we are the only ones out of our generation to do so. And my father had seven siblings! I think it might have been my mother's genes that made the difference!

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  6. Lin..I am happy that you and Caryn did not judge me for not being of your religion. I am happy to get to know good people what every their belief system is..

    Pioneer..let me say that I am very different as a parent than my parents or their parents were..that is a good thing...

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