Caleb and Jacob:
This is the day that we celebrate our pioneer heritage. People from outside of Utah think it's quaint that the state has its own holiday. In fact, a lady I work with asked about whether we were getting the holiday this year. Ironic that non-members look forward to the holiday commemorating our heritage.
The Deseret News made a quiz that I'm sending for you to see how much you actually know about church history... My guess is that you'll get most of the answers correct... Have fun with it. Give it to members of your districts...
1) What day did the first wagons leave Nauvoo and cross the Mississippi?
A. April 6, 1846
B. February 4, 1846
C. January 31, 1846
D. March 1, 1846
The winter exodus from Nauvoo was not expected, and the Latter-day Saints could have remained in their homes "had it not been for the threats and hostile demonstrations of our enemies," Brigham Young wrote. "Our only means of avoiding a rupture was by starting in midwinter."
"Our homes, gardens, orchards, farms, streets, bridges, mills, public halls, magnificent temple, and other public improvements we leave as a monument of our patriotism, industry, economy, uprightness of purpose and integrity of heart; and as a living testimony of the falsehood and wickedness of those who charge us with disloyalty to the Constitution of our country, idleness and dishonesty," he continued.
B. February 4, 1846
2) How many men did the government ask to volunteer for what became the Mormon Battalion, which served in the war against Mexico?
A. 300
B. 900
C. 250
D. 500
The call for volunteers for the U.S. war against Mexico came at a difficult time for the Latter-day Saints, after they had fled from Nauvoo and as they were preparing to winter at the Missouri River.
In exchange for raising 500 volunteers for the war, Brigham Young extracted a promise that the government would allow the Saints to winter on Indian land without any trouble. Young asked for 500 volunteers and promised the men that he would do his best "to see all their families brought forward, as far as my influence extended, and feed them when I had anything to eat myself."
Some 543 men volunteered.
D. 500
3) Counting the state that is home to Nauvoo, what five states did the pioneers cross during their trip to the Salt Lake Valley?
A. Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah
B. Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Utah
C. Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah
D. Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah
The pioneers began their travels westward from Nauvoo, Illinois, and their trek took them through Iowa, where they set up settlements like Winter Quarters and Kanesville (Council Bluffs). From Iowa, the pioneers set off across the plains, crossing Nebraska, Wyoming, and part of Utah on their journey to Salt Lake City.
A. Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah
4) How many wagons made up the first wagon train to reach Utah?
A. 70
B. 96
C. 124
D. 100
In the spring of 1847, Brigham Young led a hand-picked company out of Winter Quarters to find their new home. According to Leonard J. Arrington, the original company consisted of 148 people, 70 wagons, 93 horses, 52 mules, 66 oxen, 19 cows, 17 dogs and some chickens. The train covered 1,031 miles of trail in 111 days.
A. 70
5) How many women began the cross-country voyage with the first wagon train to head to the Salt Lake Valley?
A. 3
B. 45
C. 19
D. 7
The three women who traveled with the first pioneer company to begin the exodus to Salt Lake were Ellen S. Kimball, Harriet Page Decker Young and Clara Decker Young. Two children, Isaac and Lorenzo Young, also accompanied the train.
According to Leonard J. Arrington, Harriet, who was married to Brigham's brother Lorenzo, accompanied the train because the Missouri lowlands were not good for her health. Harriet asked for female company and Brigham agreed that Clara — Harriet's daughter by her first husband — and Heber C. Kimball's wife Ellen could also come.
A. 3
6) What device is William Clayton — with the help of Orson Pratt and Appleton Milo Harmon — credited with building while journeying with the first Mormon wagon train to cross the plains?
A. The modern odometer
B. The safety pin
C. The sewing machine
D. A rotary washing machine
According to a 2006 article in the Deseret News, William Clayton became frustrated about uncertain estimates of daily pioneer progress and pushed for the creation of a machine that would take accurate measurements. Brigham Young acted as manager, Parley P. Pratt acted as engineer, William Clayton acted as customer and Appleton Harmon acted as craftsman in the creation of a pioneer odometer.
A. The modern odometer
7) What hymn was written during the first wagon train's journey to the Salt Lake Valley?
A. "Carry On"
B. "Brother Brigham Says"
C. "Come, Come Ye Saints"
D. "Praise to the Man"
According to William Clayton's journal, he penned the song, which he called, "All is Well," in thanks to his Heavenly Father for the birth of his son and as a prayer that the Lord would spare his son's life and the life of his mother so they could one day meet again.
C. "Come, Come Ye Saints"
8) What famous landmark in Wyoming is covered with the carved names of emigrants who traveled along the Oregon, Mormon and California trails?
A. Devil's Gate
B. Independence Rock
C. Devil's Tower
D. Chimney Rock
According to
wyoshpo.state.wy.us, although Independence Rock is sometimes thought to have received its name because July 4 was the date emigrants needed to reach it by in order to reach their destinations safely, its name actually comes from a party of fur trappers who camped there on July 4, 1824. Jesuit missionary Pierre Jean De Smet called the rock the "great register of the desert" due to the many names passersby carved on its surface.
B. Independence Rock
9) What famous mountain man did the pioneers meet in Wyoming during their journey West?
A. Etienne Provost
B. Peter Skene Ogden
C. Jim Bridger
D. John C. Fremont
According to
historytogo.utah.gov, Jim Bridger was thought to be the first documented discoverer of the Great Salt Lake, but recent evidence suggests credit for that should actually go to fur trader Etienne Provost, the namesake of Provo.
Bridger had his first encounter with Mormon pioneers in June 1847, where he drew a map on the ground to sketch out the region for Brigham Young.
C. Jim Bridger
10) According to the diary of Willard Richards, what did Jim Bridger promise to give Brigham Young for a bushel of corn raised in the Salt Lake basin?
A. 10 oxen
B. $1,000 dollars
C. Fort Bridger
D. $3,000 dollars
During the meeting with Jim Bridger, Wilford Woodruff wrote that Bridger was concerned it would "not be prudent to bring a great population into the basin until [they] ascertained whether grain would grow or not."
Willard Richards also wrote of the meeting, saying, "Met Capt. James Bridger . . . he said he would give $1,000 dollars for a bushel of corn raised in the basin."
B. $1,000 dollars
11) How many days did it take to travel the last 116 miles from Fort Bridger to the valley of the Great Salt Lake?
A. 7 days
B. 9 days
C. 10 days
D. 14 days
According to the National Park Service, the last 116 miles of the trip were the toughest of all for the first company of pioneers. The people and animals were tired from their long journey, and the canyons and passes of the Wasatch Range were difficult to traverse.
D. 14 days
12) What were Brigham Young's first words upon seeing the Salt Lake Valley?
A. "It is good. This is the right place. Drive on."
B. "It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on."
C. "It is enough. This is the place. Drive on."
D. "It is good enough. This is the right place. Drive on."
Wilford Woodruff described President Brigham Young's actions and words as he looked over the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, writing, "When we came out of the canyon into full view of the valley, I turned the side of my carriage around, open to the west, and President Young arose from his bed and took a survey of the country. While gazing on the scene before us, he was enwrapped in vision for several minutes. He had seen the valley before in vision, and upon this occasion he saw the future glory of Zion and of Israel, as they would be, planted in the valleys of these mountains. When the vision had passed, he said: 'It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on.'"
B. "It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on."
13) By the time Brigham Young entered the valley on July 24, what had the pioneers already done?
A. Laid out plans for the streets
B. Laid the foundation for the Tabernacle
C. Planted crops and started irrigation work
D. Started building the Lion House
According to Wilford Woodruff's journal, by the time Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, the brethren who had arrived two days before had already broken ground and started planting potatoes.
C. Planted crops and started irrigation work
14) On what day did a party of men including Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff and others climb Ensign Peak?
A. July 26, 1847
B. July 24, 1847
C. July 30, 1847
D. August 1, 1847
According to the article "Ensign Peak: A Historical Review," President Brigham Young had been shown the Salt Lake Valley and Ensign Peak in a dream, and recognized the hill when he saw it.
On July 26, 1847, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, Albert Carrington, William Clayton, Lorenzo Dow Young and perhaps Parley P. Pratt climbed to the top of the hill to look over the valley.
A. July 26, 1847
15) While historical records debate whether or not the men who climbed Ensign Peak flew an American flag from its heights, other reports say the men waved something from the hill. What did they wave?
A. A hat
B. A shawl
C. Their hands
D. A bandana
According to William C. A. Smoot, an early pioneer, while the men were on top of Ensign Peak, "they hoisted a sort of flag on Ensign Peak. Not a flag, but a handkerchief belonging to Heber C. Kimball, one of those yellow bandana kinds."
D. A bandana
16) On July 28, Brigham Young planted his walking stick in the ground and said the Saints would begin building what?
A. The Tabernacle
B. The Lion House
C. The Capitol building
D. The Salt Lake Temple
An 1866 interview with Brigham Young stated that when he came over the mountains into the valley, he "saw in a vision of the night, an angel standing on a conical hill, pointing to a spot of ground on which the new temple must be built."
Four days after entering the valley, Brigham Young planted his walking stick on the temple site and declared, "Here we will build the temple of our God."
D. The Salt Lake Temple
17) Who named City Creek?
A. Joseph F. Smith
B. Porter Rockwell
C. Brigham Young
D. Willard Richards
According to the book, "Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names" by John W. Van Cott, Brigham Young gave City Creek its name on August 22, 1847, during the first general conference of the church.
C. Brigham Young
18) Between 1846 and 1869, how many Mormons traveled West on the Mormon Trail?
A. Between 100,000 and 120,000
B. Between 80,000 and 93,000
C. Between 60,000 and 70,000
D. Between 28,000 and 30,000
The mass migration to Utah should be remembered for more than theological reasons, author Wallace Stegner wrote.
"These were the most systematic, organized, disciplined, and successful pioneers in our history," he said. "Where Oregon emigrants and argonauts bound for the gold fields lost practically all their social cohesion en route, the Mormons moved like the host of Israel they thought themselves. Far from loosening their social organization, the trail perfected it."
C. Between 60,000 and 70,000
19) How many miles, on average, could a wagon train travel per day in the 1840s?
A. 25 miles
B. 20 miles
C. 15 miles
D. 9 miles
According to William W. Slaughter and Michael Landon's book, "Trail of Hope," wagons crossed the plains moving at less than two miles per hour, and traveling 15 miles in a day was considered very good. The average mileage per day in the 1840s was nine, but by the 1860s wagon trains were averaging between 20 and 25 miles per day.
D. 9 miles
20) Roughly how many miles long was the Mormon Trail?
A. 1,500
B. 1,200
C. 1,300
D. 1,000
The Mormon Trail passed through five states, winding from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Between 60,000 and 70,000 emigrants used it to cross the plains between 1846 and 1869. Along the way, the National Parks Conservation Association website said, the pioneers built bridges, found ferry crossings and left behind markers for those who would follow.
C. 1,300
21) According to an 1859 pioneer guide, what was, "more to be dreaded upon the plains than almost any disaster that can happen"?
A. Stampede
B. Wildfire
C. Indian attack
D. Typhoid
According to William W. Slaughter and Michael Landon's book, "Trail of Hope," mules, oxen and horses were easily spooked and would stampede for myriad reasons ranging from snakes to lightening. Damages from stampedes could include injuries and deaths among animals and people, ruined provisions, broken wagons and time spent dealing with the aftermath.
A. Stampede
22) What was the name of the fund that helped immigrants migrate to Utah?
A. Perpetual Migration Fund
B. Perpetual Emigration Fund
C. The Personal Emigration Fund
D. The Mormon Migration Fund
According to
historytogo.utah.gov, the Perpetual Emigration Fund was initiated in 1849 to help move Mormon refugees to Utah, but it also became a major part of gathering Latter-day Saints from abroad. It reportedly assisted 26,000 immigrants who came from Europe to the U.S. between 1852 and 1887.
B. Perpetual Emigration Fund
23) The miracle of the gulls, where seagulls came in large flocks to eat the Mormon crickets that were devastating crops in the Salt Lake Valley, occurred in what year?
A. 1847
B. 1848
C. 1849
D. 1850
According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, in 1848, hordes of "Mormon crickets" the size of a man's thumb began to devour the crops, leaving fields devastated. However, in what became known as the miracle of the gulls, seagulls swooped down, ate the crickets, drank water, threw the crickets back up and then returned for more.
Wrote one pioneer, "It seems the hand of the Lord is in our favor."
B. 1848
24) What year was the first Pioneer Day celebration held?
A. 1848
B. 1912
C. 1897
D. 1849
On July 24, 1849, according to a history paper written by Steven L. Olsen, the first Pioneer Day was celebrated with cannon fire, the Nauvoo Brass Band, the ringing of the Nauvoo Bell, a flag ceremony, a ward march to Temple Square where people were seated, a processional march to Brigham Young's house to escort him to the celebration, presentations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to "Brother Brigham," a keynote address by the prophet, songs, poems, prayers, shouts of "Hosanna" and "Amen," and a meal for the pioneers, visiting forty-niners heading to California and numerous Native Americans.
"Such a feast of the body coupled with a feast of the soul has not been experienced on this continent for a length of time," one person in attendance said.
D. 1849
25) At the October 1856 general conference, Brigham Young asked for volunteers to go rescue almost 1,000 people on the plains. Who were these people?
A. The Donner party
B. The Willie & Martin handcart companies
C. The Ellsworth handcart company
D. The Stoddard handcart company
During the move to Utah, 10 handcart companies walked between Iowa City and Salt Lake. About 250 handcart pioneers died along the way, with 220 of those who died belonging to the Willie and Martin companies, which began their journey to Utah late in the 1856 travel season.
After receiving word that the two companies were stranded in Wyoming, Brigham Young spoke at general conference, saying, "On the fifth day of October, 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with handcarts, and probably many are now 700 miles from this place, and they must be brought here, we must send assistance to them . . . That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I possess, it is to save the people . . . This is the salvation I am now seeking for, to save our brethren that would be apt to perish, or suffer extremely, if we do not send them assistance."
Rescuers were sent, and the Willie company arrived in Salt Lake on November 9, with the Martin company following on November 30.
B. The Willie & Martin handcart companies
26) The men running down-and-back wagon trains, which carried goods from Salt Lake to the Midwest and then carried migrants back across the plains to the Valley, were called what?
A. Boys
B. Utah boys
C. American boys
D. All of the above
In 1860, Brigham Young expressed a desire to have church-sponsored wagon trains that could travel back East, drop off salable supplies when they reached their destination, pick up Mormon travelers and then return to Utah. The plan moved forward in 1861.
According to William W. Slaughter and Michael Landon's book, "Trail of Hope," each train captain had a crew consisting of at least one teamster per wagon, an assistant captain, a chaplain, a quartermaster, a hospital steward, a camp guard and a night guard for the stock. These men were called "boys," "Utah boys," "Mormon boys," or "American boys."
D. All of the above
27) The Latter-day Saint pioneers worked to make the desert blossom like a what?
A. A flower
B. A sego lily
C. A daisy
D. A rose
After having endured mob violence and multiple moves over the course of many years, for the pioneers, the Salt Lake Valley became a fulfillment of the scripture verse Isaiah 35:1, which says:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."
D. A rose
28) Counting Brigham Young, how many prophets or future prophets crossed the plains?
A. 7
B. 6
C. 5
D. 4
Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith all crossed the plains. Heber J. Grant, the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born in Salt Lake City in 1856.
C. 5
29) What nickname did Brigham Young receive for his work leading the exodus of the Latter-day Saints?
A. The American Moses
B. Brother Brigham
C. The Lion of the Lord
D. The Great Western Colonizer
According to LDS.org, in his lifetime, "Brigham Young supervised the trek of between 60,000 to 70,000 pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley; founded 400 settlements; established a system of land distribution later ratified by Congress; served two terms as the first territorial governor of Utah, as first superintendent of Indian Affairs of Utah Territory, and as church president for 30 years."
Glen Leonard's 1980 article "Westward the Saints: The Nineteenth-Century Mormon Migration," said historians have called the migration "one of history's best-organized mass movements, a model of discipline, organization, orderliness and cooperation."
A. The American Moses
30) Mormons were cast as the villains in a number of early Hollywood films, but what 1940s Hollywood film earned the praise of President Heber J. Grant and later saw its one of its stars baptized into the LDS Church?
A. "Pioneers of the West"
B. "Prairie Pioneers"
C. "The Utah Kid"
D. "Brigham Young"
In the late 1930s, filmmaker Darryl F. Zanuck began looking into making a film about Brigham Young. Wary of previous film portrayals of Mormons, President Heber J. Grant offered church resources to aid with research and attended a private showing with J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay. The film premiered on August 23, 1940 — dubbed "Brigham Young Day" — in Salt Lake City.
The film starred Tyrone Power as a young Mormon, Linda Darnell as "The Outsider," Mary Astor as Mary Ann Young, Vincent Price as Joseph Smith and Dean Jagger as Brigham Young. Mormon Moroni Olsen, who voiced the magic mirror in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," was also in the movie.
Dean Jagger, who married a member of the LDS Church in 1968, was baptized in 1972.
D. "Brigham Young"
