Who were the first Latter-day Saint pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley?
Answer
In April 1847, the first group of Latter-day Saint pioneers to attempt the journey to the Salt Lake Valley left Winter Quarters, Nebraska, with Brigham Young as their leader. Later known as the vanguard company, their mission was to establish a trail to the Great Basin region and, once there, find a new home for the Saints. They beat a determined track across the North American plains, rising at 5:00 every morning, beginning the day’s travel at 7:00 a.m., stopping the wagons at 8:30 p.m., and retiring to bed at 9:00 p.m. They didn’t travel on Sundays.
Following this pace, they usually covered between 14 and 20 miles a day, and, by late June 1847, the vanguard company reached what is now Wyoming, where explorer Jim Bridger met with Brigham Young and gave him a general description of the Salt Lake Valley. Shortly thereafter, mountain fever seized many in the camp, including Brigham, who became so ill he could barely lift his head off his pillow. Willard Richards was assigned to lead a “working party” into the Salt Lake Valley while President Young, still unable to travel, remained behind.
On July 21, 1847, Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt of the working party, acting as scouts, were the first to enter the valley; they returned to the working party and led them into the Salt Lake Valley the following day. On July 23, the working party reached the area that would become Emigration Street, near the Temple Block. And on Saturday, the 24th of July, President Young arrived.1
Saints, Vol. 2: No Unhallowed Hand, 1846–1893, the new narrative history of the Church published by the Church History Department, is also an excellent resource for additional information about the first pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley.
1. Erastus Snow, “ The Utah Pioneers ,” Improvement Era, June 1913, 751–63.