Pioneer Day recalls Mormon migration

Of all the stories of Westward migration in early America, the trek of the Mormons to Utah remains one of the most incredible tales of struggle for freedom from religious persecution.
The Mormon migration began in 1847 and lasted nearly 10 years. It is now commemorated on July 24 as Pioneer Day in Utah.

The migration came after decades of persecution, during which the believers were constantly forced to move their settlements. In 1844, the religion’s founder, Joseph Smith, was jailed and murdered. Three years later, a group of Mormon pioneers set out to find a homeland for their communities. In the summer of 1847, having no real destination, a small group of scouts decided to settle in what is now Utah.

And so the migration began.

During the next decade, about 70,000 men, women and children made the 1,300-mile trek to Utah.

Some groups of Mormon pioneers famously used handcarts to pull their belongings across the Great Plains, in a grueling system that added a back-breaking element to the usual challenges of starvation, bitter blizzards and bison stampedes.

The trail took the lives of thousands of people, but the effort is to this day ingrained in the memories of Mormon descendants.