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#    Entered Union   Year Settled

45th       Jam. 4, 1896         1847

 

Nickname

Beehive State

 

Rank      Population

34th       2,736,424

 

Rank      Square Miles

13th       84,899

 

State Bird

California Gull

 

State Flower

Sego lily

 

State Tree

Blue Spruce

 

State Motto

Industry 

 

The state known as Utah began when Brigham Young led a group of Mormon pilgrims seeking freedom from religious persecution into the Great Salt Lake Valley, where they established a settlement in 1847. The state gets its name from the Ute, an Indian tribe who lived there before the pioneers arrived.

 

The golden spike completing the first transcontinental railroad line was driven at Promontory, Utah, in 1869, leading to a further influx of settlers. Utah was admitted as the 45th state in 1896.

 

The capital, Salt Lake City, is also the world headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons make up 70 percent of the population. The sego lily is the state flower of the "Beehive State."

 

Brigham Young Settled in the Great Salt Lake Valley

They had embarked on a treacherous thousand-mile journey, looking for a new place to settle the "Promised Land." On July 24, 1847, an exhausted Brigham Young and his fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah's Great Salt Lake Valley and called it home.

 

The Mormons, as they were commonly known, had moved west to escape religious discrimination. After the murder of founder and prophet Joseph Smith, they knew they had to leave their old settlement in Illinois. Many Mormons died in the cold, harsh winter months as they made their way over the Rocky Mountains to Utah. When they reached the Salt Lake area, they saw it was remote and wild. So why did they settle there?

 

These pioneers wanted an isolated place after the violence they had experienced, so the Great Salt Lake Valley seemed ideal. They immediately planted potatoes and turnips, built a dam, and had a solemn ceremony to dedicate the area as their "Promised Land." Then they sent word back to their fellow members describing the two-square-mile city they had settled. By the end of 1847, nearly 2,000 Mormons had moved to the Great Salt Lake Valley. The day they arrived in Utah is still celebrated today.

 

Mormon Pioneers

It's been called the largest human migration in American history. Do you know what that refers to?

 

Every 24th of July, people in Utah and several other Western states celebrate Pioneer Day. People give speeches, ride in parades, participate in rodeos, and join with friends and family for a picnic. These activities honor the bravery, strength of character, and physical endurance of Brigham Young and other settlers like him.

 

Have you ever celebrated Pioneer Day? Have you ever been to Salt Lake City and seen the Mormon Temple there? Ask your friends and family if they have.

 

By 1869, perhaps 70,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, had walked or traveled in wagons across 1,300 miles of wilderness to Salt Lake City, Utah. Leaving 6,000 in graves along the way, the Mormons were searching for religious freedom. Their journey was equal to the distance from New York City to Miami, or Seattle to San Diego.

 

"This is the right place. Drive on." These were the words that Brigham Young, top Elder of the Mormons, said on July 24, 1847, as he lay sick in the back of a wagon. The place was the great valley of the Salt Lake, in what would become the state of Utah.

 

The Mormons wanted to leave the persecution they faced in the eastern part of the United States and start a community of their own out west. Once Brigham Young and his band of 148 Mormons had found "the place," more than 70,000 Mormons decided to follow.

 

Every year since 1849, Salt Lake City has remembered the Mormon pioneers on Pioneer Day. In 1997, a Mormon wagon train re-created the journey of these pioneers, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Brigham Young's arrival in Utah. The trip took three months!

 

Bryce Canyon National Park

What's a hoodoo? Would you ever guess it has something to do with rocks?

 

Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park owes much of its beauty and character to the process of erosion -- the wearing away of a surface by forces like water or wind. Hoodoos are strangely shaped pillars that often resemble goblins or other supernatural characters. In fact, the Paiute Indians, who lived in this region, called them "Legend People."

 

Although they may resemble people, these rocks were formed by nature. Water has physically and chemically broken down the ancient rock of the Paunsaugunt Plateau by dragging bits of gravel and debris across its surfaces and by entering small holes in the rock and dissolving it.

 

Various layers of rock differ in strength, so erosion does not wear away at them all at the same rate. Therefore, odd and irregular shapes have been formed. In addition to hoodoos, other shapes include fins, spires, and pinnacles.

 

Circle of Wellness

The circle is an important symbol for Native Americans. It represents the four seasons, the heavens and the earth, the universe, Native American Indian traditions and the cycle of life. The idea behind the Circle of Wellness organization is to keep alive, while helping Native Americans in Utah get a good education, start businesses, and become satisfied members of their community.

 

More than 32,000 Native Americans live in Utah. They want to remember their native history and traditions, which is why they created a special cultural center to preserve these traditions and unite the Utah Native American community. The circle was a good symbol to choose for this center because a circle also stands for mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health and the wholeness of a community.