July 26, 2024

Genealogists like to connect with their ancestors in all sorts of ways. Some make the recipes that their great great-grandmothers made. Others enjoy displaying family artifacts such as photos, furniture and quilts. Still others visit the homesteads and houses where their ancestors lived.

 

I’ve been known to do all the above, but I especially like to connect with my ancestors by remembering them on special days. Those special days might be birthdays or Christmas, but my favorite time to reminisce about my ancestors is on Pioneer Day.

 

Pioneer Day is July 24^th, and it’s the date that the first Mormon pioneers came to Utah. At least one of my ancestors arrived on that day. Most of the others celebrated the day over the next century. I knew my grandparents well, and I remember what an important day the 24^th of July was to them. Pioneer Day is still celebrated in Utah, but it’s not the major holiday it once was.

 

Although the holiday occurred during the busy summer farm season, during my childhood, the family always took time out to go the parade in Ogden. In the afternoon, my grandparents built a bonfire, and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks over the flames. Ice cold bottles of Barq’s root beer and Nehi orange were a rare treat.

 

The 24^th of July was a noisy celebration. Fireworks were illegal in Utah, but many of our neighbors drove to Wyoming to buy rockets and firecrackers. My folks were too law-abiding to do that, but we always had sparklers. Some years we also went into town to watch the fireworks.

 

Multiple rodeos were held around the 24^th too, and we often went to watch the cowboys. Sometimes, instead, we went to a drive-in movie that might have fireworks between the first and second features.

 

I loved the 24^th of July. It was the highlight of the summer when I was a child. It has been many years since I lived in Utah. July 24^th is just another hot, summer day now.

 

Whatever I’m doing on that day, I have a small private celebration by thinking about my pioneer ancestors and remembering their arrival in that hot, dusty valley. I wonder how they felt seeing all that sagebrush and not much else. I think about later generations who celebrated that day.  My life has diverged greatly from theirs, but the 24^th of July is a day to remember and honor my ancestors.

 

One of these years I hope to spend another 24^th in Utah and go to the parade, just we all did so long ago.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society