Episode 141: The Utah War, part two

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:10)
Last episode, we talked about the powder keg. Today, we watch it explode.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:17)
And just to be clear, by explode, you mean like fireworks on Pioneer Day? Boom booms?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:22)
Why, yes I do. Exactly. Boom booms, Bryan. I'm so glad you brought up Pioneer Day, because when it comes to the second part of our Utah War series, there's a Pioneer Day story that's one of my favorite stories of this time period. So let's get into one of the most infamous Pioneer Days of all times, the 10th year anniversary of when Pioneers arrive in the valley. Bryan, what year did Pioneers enter the valley?

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:48)
Uh, 1847, teacher?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:50)
Yep. And if you add 10 years to the anniversary of that, what year do you get?

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:55)
The sign is the opposite over the hypotenuse. Rise over run, take the trip. 1857

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:03)
Bingo! Ding ding ding. So smart at the maths. So yes, let's bring it in. July 24th, 1857 Big Cottonwood Canyon, east of Salt Lake City. Nearly 2,600 Mormon settlers are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. And if you know Big Cottonwood, and I know you do, it's home to one of my favorite places in Utah, Silver Lake. If you drive up Big Cottonwood, the road will end at Silver Lake and you can get out and walk around this nice boardwalk that they have there. And it's beautiful. And there's a little plaque too that you can see. And I go often because I'm nostalgic about it. It's, I know it's a lot more crowded than, and touristy now than when it used to be when I was a kid, but I've spent a lot of time there, fish there, hike there. My first grade teacher took us hiking to Lake Solitude up there for field trips, cause we had cool field trips as kids. It's a special place to me. And every time I'm up there, I think of this story every single time.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:00)
And now you too can picture the scene. Lindsay often thinks about her happy place. Four hundred and sixty-four carriages and wagons have made their way up the narrow logging road to Silver Lake. More than thirteen hundred horses, mules and oxen are grazing in the mountain meadows. Not that mountain meadows. Three wooden dance floors have been laid out under boweries with brass bands from Salt Lake City, Springville and Ogden taking turns filling the mountain air with music.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:23)
The American flag is flying from the treetops and the rocky peaks. They literally sewed this giant American flag and unfurled it along the peak above Silver Lake. If you go there to the lake, look at that big giant mountain peak behind the lake and think about a bunch of Mormon men scaling that to hang this huge giant American flag that they sewed to put it on. It's an incredible scene. Children are playing on swings, hung from pine branches, the smell of hundreds of breakfast campfires mingles with the mountain air. It's a scene of absolute peace and celebration.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:55)
At nine o'clock, a small brass cannon fires in honor of the Mormon leaders. An hour later, it sounds again as a company of 50 boys, all between 10 and 12 years old, parade in their uniforms. They're called Roy's Boys. Wait, no, sorry, that's a different Mormon period. They're called the Hope of Israel.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:11)
I really did think of Roy's Boys. We like to have little Mormon militia boys marching around, don't we? It's worth pausing here though to consider the symbolism.
These people had been driven from Ohio and Missouri and Illinois. They'd cross the plains, buried their dead along the trail, and carved a civilization out of the desert. Now, exactly 10 years later, they're celebrating their success with their children parading in uniform. Also, there's this other weird component of them cosplaying themselves. They also wore their travel clothes. They literally dress up as pioneers to celebrate themselves in their own Pioneer Day. Wild and super meta.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:51)
Here's where it gets interesting because 10 years earlier, almost to the day, Brigham Young had said, if the devil will let us alone for 10 years, we will bid them defiance.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:00)
It was prophetic. But be careful what you wish for. Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:09)
This is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:10)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion, this isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.