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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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

[Calpernia]

>>>>Uh huh. As I have said before, the walls of FR are often very thin. ;-)

Speaking of that (sorry for interrupting a post). Is libertyforum the DU site that I see people refer to?

Before I closed off this morning...An uncomfortable thread was started. I was reading it until the Mod pulled it. The Mod posted the offending poster's 'copy and paste' messages from libertyforum for the reason why it was pulled. Apparently this was a troller that was just here to 'stir things up'. I got angry and signed up to libertyforum...hmmm....to say my piece.

I got chills over there. I saw WAY too many people copying and pasting messages with posters names from here too there (not here meaning this specific thread)

Who are these people at libertyforum? Why are they watching people posting here? I find it concerning cause I got that sick stomach, hair standing up at the back of the neck feeling while I was logged in there. And many here are not...transparent(?)...unknown(?)...

Any info Mama_Bear?

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks for posting that Days of '47 picture. The flags are beautiful!

It would have been nice if I could have posted this yesterday, I knew we were a day late for the festivities, but that's okay, we're close enough.

You come from such a very interesting state. I enjoyed spotlighting Utah today.

[Calpernia]

Did you see the thread from LonePalm? His writings on Black Ice? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/946353/posts

Worth a read.

[SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch]

There are a few around with that name, but I'm not sure if they are part of the original franchise. Every time I hear the name KRISPY KREME I think of Spudnuts....the original "served hot".

I'm gonna go dream about days on Lake Powell...Ha! I remember when it was 60 feet straight down from the end of the boat ramps to the water! I'm soooooo old.

[Calpernia]

>>>>now that we don't have one, I just KNOW that we WOULD use one if we had one

LOL, you only appreciate what you have once it is gone! (how many times have you heard that line) :)

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

No problem, you got us over the holiday weekend! As a matter of fact, I'm going to start barbequeing steaks here pretty soon.

[Mama_Bear]

Any info Mama_Bear?

I will send you a FReepMail later this evening. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

I'm going to start barbequeing steaks here pretty soon

Now, that sounds really good!

[Mama_Bear]

LOL, you only appreciate what you have once it is gone!

Isn't that the truth!

[mrobison]

Utah: Come for the natural beauty, stay for the polygamy.

[Mama_Bear]

Utah: Come for the natural beauty, stay for the polygamy.

LOL!

[Aquamarine]

am so excited...just brought home a brand new car. (Impala)

I'm happy for ya, I used to have an Impala and loved it...rode so smooth like a Cadillac . :)

[Aquamarine]

Thanks for the link Cal. Black ice is a good description for what's in store for the dems.

Mama Bear, would you also send me a copy of that letter expalaining LP?

[Calpernia]

My hubby is in the driveway right now with the kids washing his '66 Impala.

He restored it.

He was looking at a 60's decade caddy last week.

He played with matchbox cars as a boy.....looks like they grew up with him.

[Mama_Bear]

Mama Bear, would you also send me a copy of that letter expalaining LP?

Sure will.

[Billie]

My eyes are just fine too.

Yes, and they're pretty and blue, too. And so is the background of Lori's post. :)

And I smiled when I made my post. :)

[Billie]

Sistahs...am so excited...just brought home a brand new car. (Impala) It looks great...smells great ...

Oh, Dutchess, that's wonderful! I love the smell of new car!

[ST.LOUIE1]

My eyes are just fine too.

Yes, and they're pretty and blue, too. And so is the background of Lori's post. :)

You comparing my eyes to a background? LOL

And I smiled when I made my post. :)

Smiles can be deceiving. : )

[Mama_Bear]

desert bighorn

Aren't those beautiful animals?

[Diver Dave]

Afternoon, MB. Thanks for the Utah presentation. Only been to SLC once as a delegate to a regional meeting. It took place the same weekend that SLC was named the Olympic site. Lots of excitement in the old town tonight as I recall.

My brief glimpse of Salt Lake City revealed a very clean, tidy inner-city area. The surrounding snow-capped mountains seemed to beg us to come up for some skiing or a snowball fight.

Another item of particular interest was how WIIIDDDEEE the streets were. Locals told us that according to lore, Mr. Young was not gifted at driving a team and wagon and thus directed that the streets be wide enough for even him to turn his team and wagon around.