How did pioneers crossing the plains celebrate Christmas?
Answer
The east to west pioneer trekking season usually ended before December, so there are not many accounts of pioneer Christmas experiences on the plains. However, some pioneers chose to sail to California and travel to Utah from the Pacific coast; a few of these pioneers were en route along the southern (west to east) trails during Christmas and recorded their experiences. For instance, in 1857, while traveling from San Bernardino, California, to Utah, Henry G. Boyle recorded, “Today is Christmas. I don’t see anything going on in camp to mark it from any other day.”1 Christmas celebrations on the trail certainly lacked luster.
The 1847 pioneers were the first Saints to spend Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley. In an article for the September 1920 edition of the Improvement Era, Levi Edgar Young explained, “The first Christmas spent by Pioneers in Utah was one of Thanksgiving.”2 Most found shelter within what came to be known as the “Old Fort,” a wooden stronghold that the pioneers built upon their arrival. (The fort stood on the spot now occupied by Pioneer Park in downtown Salt Lake City.) Supplies were scarce. People continued to work but found ways to engage with the spirit of the holiday. In her autobiography, Mary Jane Mount Tanner explained that her father laid the floor in their cabin on Christmas Day. She exclaimed, “It was indeed a time for rejoicing; we had been so long without a home and suffered so much living in a wagon during the cold weather, for we had no stoves and the only chance we had to warm was by the fire out doors which was also used to cook by.”
Several surviving documents show that by the end of the next year (1848) living conditions had improved somewhat. One example is a letter written by Aurelia Spencer Rogers to Marion Kerr dated August 1916. In the letter, Aurelia recounted her memories of her first Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley, explaining, “My first Christmas dinner was partaken of in 1848 in the old Fort at my uncle Daniel Spencer’s table. It was customary for every family to cook the best they had on such occasions.” She went on describing the types of food that were eaten and the scarcity of sugar. Their evening was not without entertainment, however. Aurelia stated that “[o]ur amusements consisted mostly in dancing, and having concerts[.] These exercises were always opened and closed with prayer. We never lacked for music, or musicians, for we had both brass & martial bands.” Because money was scarce, presents were simple. There were some handmade gifts, such as crocheted or knitted gloves. For the children, Aurelia explained, “Rag dolls were made and dressed for the little girls, sleds & wagons, for the boys.”
- Henry G. Boyle reminiscences and diaries, 1846-1888. MS 1911. Church History Library.
- pp. 959.