[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 106 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1510-E1511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MORMON PIONEERS ENTERING THE SALT 
                              LAKE VALLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 1997

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, 150 years ago today, Brigham Young and the 
first Mormon pioneers descended into the Salt Lake Valley. They found a 
desolate, hostile land, covered by sagebrush and a vast lake of water 
with a salinity seven times greater than the ocean. Naysayer Jim 
Bridger offered $1,000 for the first bushel of corn raised in the Salt 
Lake Valley. But these stout-hearted souls were undaunted. Making ``the 
desert blossom as the rose'' was certainly not the first or greatest 
challenge these pioneers had faced.
  The Mormon pioneers were no strangers to adversity. Their trek had 
begun long before their handcarts and wagons were nailed together in 
Nebraska. From the time the Church was organized in 1830, they had 
faced persecution and were driven out of Kirtland, OH; they had fled 
Independence, MO, in the face of an exterminator order; and they had 
been driven by angry mobs from the fair city of Nauvoo, IL, which they 
had built up out of the swamps of the Mississippi River. At last, their 
only choice was to move west, to a land no one else wanted, where they 
could worship God after the manner they desired.
  Along the trail, they faced numerous hardships. While over 70,000 
people made the

[[Page E1511]]

journey to the Salt Lake Valley prior to the coming of the railroad, 
hundreds died on the journey west. Men, women, and children rode in 
covered wagons or walked pulling their scant belongings in handcarts 
along the thousand mile trail from Nebraska to Utah. Disease, 
starvation, fatigue, exposure to cold, took their toll on the lives of 
young and old alike. Many young children completed the journey 
orphaned.
  It took great courage, faith, and commitment to make the trek west. 
These faithful pioneers have left a great legacy for our Nation. Their 
legacy is one of hard work; making the desert blossom as the rose. It 
is a legacy of commitment to religious freedom; although the U.S. 
Constitution did not protect them, the Mormons were willing to send a 
battalion to the Mexican-American War to fight for the freedoms it 
affords. And it is a legacy of American settlement of the West; over 
500 communities were settled by early Mormons, from Canada to San 
Bernardino, CA, to Mexico.
  I salute my own pioneer ancestors today, and honor all those who 
created this legacy of faith in every footstep.

                          ____________________