A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-25-03...Utah - "This is the place"

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997. Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Today we leave the comfort of our air-conditioned tour bus for the open-air, ox-drawn Conestoga wagon as we join the sons and daughters of the Utah Pioneers in celebrating their annual Pioneer Days. (With our apologies to our Finest Utah FRiends for arriving a day late.)

"Pioneer Day" - July 24

Pioneer Day in Utah, a state holiday, is recognized by the Mormons as the day they entered into Utah Valley (what is now called Salt Lake City) on July 24, 1847. It was on that day, the President of the Church, Brigham Young, pronounced from a nearby mountain top "This is the place". Along with Brigham Young were 143 men, 3 women, and 2 children that entered into the uninhabited Salt Lake Valley.



The Mormon Trail

From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled along an integral part of the road west, the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The trail started in Nauvoo, Illinois, traveled across Iowa, connected with the Great Platte River Road at the Missouri River, and ended near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Generally following pre-existing routes, the trail carried tens of thousands of Mormon emigrants to a new home and refuge in the Great Basin. From their labors arose the State of Deseret, later to become the Utah Territory, and finally the State of Utah.


PACKIN' THE WAGON

Many pioneers overestimated the amount of cargo they could haul. As the long journey weakened and wearied the oxen, loads were lightened. Such heirlooms as prized furniture, book collections, china, and pianos were often abandoned along the trail. Sometimes precious items were left along the trail with the hope of picking them up at a later date. Such was the case with the Kimball family in 1847. As they approached the mountains, they unloaded their piano...... (shown below)
......dug a large hole, wrapped the piano in buffalo skins, carefully placed it in the hole, and then covered it with dirt. The following spring an ox team transported it to Salt Lake City.


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The "Nauvoo Neighbor" suggested the
following list of provisions every
family wagon should have:

1 good strong wagon, well covered with a light box 2 or 3 good yoke of oxen between the age of 4 and 10 years 2 or more milk cows 1 or more good beeves 3 sheep if they can be obtained 1000 lbs. of flour or other bread or bread stuffs in good sacks 1 good musket or rifle to each male over the age of 12 years 1 lb. powder 4 lbs. lead 1 lb. tea 5 lbs. coffee 100 lbs. sugar 1 lb. cayenne pepper 2 lbs. black pepper 1/2 lb. mustard 10 lbs. rice for each family 1 lb. cinnamon 1/2 lb. cloves Cooking utensils to consist of a bake kettle, frying pan, coffee pot, and tea kettle Tin cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons, and pans as few as will do A good tent and furniture to each 2 families

.

.

.

1 doz. nutmegs 25 lbs. salt 5 lbs. saleratus 10 lbs. dried apples 1/2 bushel of beans A few lbs. of dried beef or bacon 5 lbs. dried peaches 20 lbs. dried pumpkin 25 lb. seed grain 1 gal. alcohol 20 lbs. of soap each family 4 or 5 fish hooks and line 15 lbs. iron and steel A few lbs. of wrought nails One or more sets of saw or grist mill irons to company of 100 families 2 sets of pully blocks and ropes to each company for crossing rivers 1 good seine and hook for each company From 25 to 100 lbs. of farming and mechanical tools Clothing and bedding to each family not to exceed 500 pounds Ten extra teams for each company of 100 families

The key to surviving the westward trek
was to take enough but not too much.

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They traveled by the tens of thousands in creaking wagons, by horseback, and on foot. Many made the 1,297-mile westward trek on foot, pulling 500 pounds of provisions and belongings in rickshaw-like handcarts. They built bridges. They braved unforgiving weather and fought disease. They buried their dead along the way. They were the Mormon people and in 1847 they began the greatest organized mass migration of a single group in America's history, to a place of refuge and religious freedom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

These are the men, women and children who built a community that grew into Salt Lake City, now a beautiful, bustling metropolis.


Salt Lake City is, among
many other things, the....

home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
and was the host city for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.



Today we give a Finest salute to the brave
pioneers who ventured west and settled
in the Utah Valley ~ and to their sons and
daughters who keep the pioneer spirit alive.

Utah's State Symbols

Utah has more state symbols than any state I have profiled to date. They are seriously into their symbols, LOL, and they have a few surprising ones. Who would have thought that the California Gull (Larus californicus), would be the state bird of Utah? Apparently even the seagulls are leaving California! ;-)

The reason for this choice for state bird is probably in commemoration of the fact that these gulls saved the people of the State by eating up the Rocky mountain crickets which were destroying the crops in 1848.

Orson F. Whitney says that in the midst of the devastation of the crickets, "when it seemed that nothing could stay the devastation, great flocks of gulls appeared, filling the air with their white wings and plaintive cries, and settled down upon the half-ruined fields. fields. All day long they gorged themselves, until the pests were vanquished and the people were saved. After devouring the crickets, the gulls returned to the lake islands whence they came."

Along with the standard state symbols; flower- the Sego Lily, symbol - Beehive, and animal - the Rocky Mountain Elk, are the state "cooking pot" - the Dutch oven, the state "fossil" - the Allasourus and the state "historic vegetable" - the sugar beet. Each of these symbols carry with them a story of Utah's rich history. Click HERE to learn more.

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As with every state I have profiled, Utah cannot be presented in full in just one post. There is so much more about this interesting state than I have been able to present here. I will leave it to you to discover the rest of Utah for yourself. Click on the pictures to learn more about these fascinating points of interest.

The Great Salt Lake occupies 2,500 square miles
northwest of Salt Lake City, but it was once part of
the much larger Lake Bonneville, which 18,000
years ago extended across 20,000 square miles
including parts of Idaho and Nevada.

10 Common Myths
about the Great Salt Lake


Ab Jenkin's "Mormon Meteor" rolling out to
begin another speed record attempt, 1931.



Attracting close to 5 million people
annually, Temple Square is Salt Lake's
biggest attraction and one of the major
tourist destinations of the West.


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And, last but not least, we offer...

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Thanks to the following websites for
providing history and images of Utah....

The Official Utah State Website


The Sons of Utah Pioneers

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-21-03...Military Monday 07-22-03...A Few More of our Military Finest 07-23-03...Christmas in July 07-24-03...JH2 - "New D.N.C. ad: will it work?...Wow What a Day!"

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[dansangel]

Love your sunshine graphic (((((((Aqua)))))))

And you're correct....although to listen to the whining dim-witted, dim-bulb dims, you'd never know it.

Happy FRiday!

[Mama_Bear]

Beautiful presentation - just perfect!

Thank you sistah dansy. Except, wolfie tells me that it is a bit hard to read. I was afraid of that, but when I tried light text, it just didn't look good at all. The black looked so much richer.

I usually run my posts by him before I post them, just to get another opinion. This time I didn't. Live and learn. :-(

[Billie]

Afternoon, Sistah d'Bear - maybe someone's monitor is going bad if they think your text is hard to read on your background. :) It's not at all! What does our resident monitor calibration expert think? (that would be JK, not you, wolfie!):)

Thanks for the beautiful virtual tours of our beautiful United States! You're making all these states very appealing to visit!

[dansangel]

I didn't have any problem reading it on my PC here at work. But, I know different monitors produce different results.

I think it looked very nice!

[Billie]

Good afternoon to my other lovely Sistahs. Hope you're having a great Friday on this tour bus through Utah. :)

[JustAmy]

"are you FReeping tonight? "

We will probably cancel tonight. Jim will be out of town (Dump Davis Rally) and I have heard from only one person. Unless we get a couple of more interested in braving the heat we've decided to wait until next week and hope for cooler weather.

[Mama_Bear]

Afternoon, Sistah d'Bear - maybe someone's monitor is going bad if they think your text is hard to read on your background. :) It's not at all! What does our resident monitor calibration expert think? (that would be JK, not you, wolfie!):)

Thank you both, it is reassuring to know that it doesn't look too dark to you two.

***Paging JK***.......how does it look on your monitor at the studio?

Happy FRiday hugs to (((((((Billie/dansy)))))))

And, honeybear hugs to (((((((((((jkphoto)))))))))))

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you for the roses, Amy.

Re: the LDS genealogy library, I should have included a mention of that in the post, also a mention about the great skiing in Utah. There was just too much to get into one post. :-(

[JustAmy]

Bryce Canyon National Park.

[Mama_Bear]

I had forgotten that Bryce Canyon is in Utah. I have been there, but I guess I was thinking it was in Arizona or Nevada.

Bryce Canyon is beautiful. The terrain of our west is like no other place on earth.

[JustAmy]

Zion National Park

[MeekOneGOP]

You have a lovely evening !!

I'm heading out for the day in just a few minutes.

[JustAmy]

I've been to Bryce and Zion but have not seen the Arches. There is so much beautiful terrain in the West that it is almost impossible to see it all.


Arches National Park

[Mama_Bear]

I haven't see the Arches either (in fact, I have never heard of them), but have been to Zion. Thanks for bringing the pictures. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

[JustAmy]

Another picture from Arches National Park.

[Mama_Bear]

That is very pretty. You know, I have actually seen the sky looking that blue, but only in that part of the country far away from the cities.

[JustAmy]

These pictures are from Google.
I don't know where my pictures are but they would not be as clear as these are. Now if Jeff had taken pictures, that would be a far different story!

[dutchess]

Back from work and catching up. I don't think the text is hard to read at all Lori. In fact the whole thing is BEAUTIFUL!

Sistahs...am so excited...just brought home a brand new car. (Impala) It looks great...smells great and I have made a promise to be anal in keeping it clean (my secretary laughed today saying ..."yeah right...for about a week" :o) Ah well...

[Libertina]

Afternoon all! Wonderful thread Mama_Bear! Lovely to look at and interesting to read, as well!