Joyous arrival
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A re-creation of the joyous arrival of a group of handcart pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley highlighted the observance June 1 of Brigham Young's 201st birthday anniversary at This Is The Place Heritage Park.
Situated at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, the park memorializes the location where President Young gazed at the valley on July 24, 1847, and pronounced it the "right place" for the exiled Latter-day Saints to make their home, the locale to which converts from Europe, the British Isles and elsewhere would gather over the next half century.
Such converts were depicted at the celebration in the park's Old Deseret Village, where President Young, portrayed by actor James Arrington, stood on the steps of the Pine Valley Chapel and led a cheering crowd in welcoming a group of handcart pioneers. As was the custom in pioneer times, the crowd members each waved a white handkerchief in welcome.
"Just so you folks know, we invented this means of coming by handcart because it was too expensive to use animals, too time consumptive, and there wasn't enough for them to eat," the Brigham Young character explained. "So they brought about 500 pounds of all they could carry, including their food. Instead of 110 days, it took them 70 days."
The "leader" of the handcart company, a man who spoke with a Scottish brogue, was publicly greeted by President Young and then dismissed to get some "vittles and a bath."
Paul Williams, president and chief executive officer of the park, then spoke. "The view that you see from this spot as you look out upon the valley is very different from the view that Brother Brigham saw when he looked out upon here 150-plus years ago," he said. "It was very dry. All the trees, foliage, buildings, everything that you and your children and grandchildren enjoy today are a result of the work and the dedication of Brigham Young and all of those great people that came before us. And it is our responsibility and our great honor to make sure that that story and that legacy and that history is preserved and told so all of us never forget."
He announced that the recipient of the park foundation's Brigham Young Heritage Award this year will be David Eccles, the son of a Mormon pioneer from Scotland who came to the valley in 1863 and who died in 1892. Brother Eccles was lauded as a man who spawned businesses in lumber, railroads and mining and whose posterity founded First Security Bank, among other enterprises. The award, to be presented posthumously later this month, was inaugurated last year during President Young's 200th birthday celebration and was presented to President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Inside the Pine Valley Chapel, Brother Arrington gave a performance of his popular "Here's Brother Brigham" one-man show. As Brigham Young, he spoke of the hard work required to tame the desert setting to which Latter-day Saints had gathered. "But that's what the Lord wanted. He didn't want an easy place to live. He wanted a place that would make saints. And a hard place to live causes people not to have enough time to get into trouble."
Park visitors availed themselves of the living-history attractions in the village, including a demonstration of sheep shearing and the carding and spinning of the wool into yarn.
At the Brigham Young Forest Farmhouse, visitors toured one of President Young's actual dwellings, a commodious structure that was located south of Salt Lake City in a country setting and that included a formal parlor and a ballroom where wintertime guests would assemble after enjoying a ride from town in President Young's personal sleigh.
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com@desnews.com
