Salt Lake Visitors Bureau recalls Brigham Young's 'tourism achievements'
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The Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau gave its 1995 Tourism Achievement Award to Brigham Young, who led the first group of Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley.
The early prophet's great-grandson, Kenneth Y. Knight, and two of his great-great-grandsons, William H. Gibbs and Truman Clawson, accepted the award March 13. All three are past chairmen of the Bureau's Executive Committee.James Arrington, a local actor known for his onstage portrayals of Brigham Young, performed an acceptance speech at the presentation.
"As we contemplated a worthy recipient for this honor, we wanted to tie into Utah's centennial celebration," said Kathleen H. Barnes, chairwoman of the Bureau's Executive Committee. "We were taken back to a time when this valley was nothing but a dry desert and you couldn't have paid a tourist to come here. Brigham Young, labeled the `Great Colonizer' by many historians, made the desert bloom and was the forerunner of an industry that would someday become a substantial part of our economy - tourism."
Past Tourism Achievement Award recipients include President Gordon B. Hinckley.
