Pioneer Day: The Backstory
The painting “Pushing, Pulling and Praying, Bound for Zion,” by E. Kimball Warren.
Why We Revere Them Still
For many members who have grown up in the church, pioneer lore is somewhat familiar. Perhaps the cousin you see regularly at family reunions easily fills in the blank when you are fuzzy about who exactly from your ancestors connects to the Willie Handcart Company.
If you are a convert to the church and have not yet discovered if your genealogy relates you to the pioneers who settled the American West, this little bit of history will inspire you to learn more.
The Pioneer Trek
Whether your family is surrounded by generations who can recite tales of these ancestral gems—or not, remembering early church history is important. Pioneer Day is widely celebrated within church culture in the United States, marking the anniversary of July 24, 1847, when Brigham Young and the first group of 148 members finished a 1,000 mile trek across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. In all, nearly 70,000 Mormon pioneers made the arduous migration to Utah, taking place in several waves over two decades.
They escaped religious persecution and settled in what would become known as “The Beehive State,” the official nickname of Utah, recognizing the hard work, cooperation, and industry of its early settlers.
Pushing Handcarts When Wagons Were Full
Both Willie and Martin Handcart Companies had harrowing experiences. To appreciate the gravity of this trek, here is a personal story, written by Brother Frank Johnson about his great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Crook Panting Cranney.
In 1856, Elizabeth Crook escaped an abusive husband in England, taking her baby daughter, Jane, by boat to America. Her new conversion to the church, and the blessing she received gave her the strength and the promise that she and her children would make this journey safely.
After disembarking in New York, then training to the last stop of Iowa City, Iowa, Elizabeth and Jane joined the other 500 pioneers who would push their belongings as part of the Willie Handcart Company. With hope against hope, this trek to the Salt Lake Valley was doomed from the start since they left in July—much too late to beat the winter weather. But they kept going.
Near the end, Elizabeth was collecting buffalo wood chips to start a fire, although there would be no food left to cook, when a man appeared, asking how she was doing.
When Elizabeth answered that she did not know if she would be alive in the morning, that they had run out of food weeks earlier and all were starving, the man told her to follow him. She trailed him to a nearby cave where he offered her all the meat hung there to dry that she could carry back to share.
The Miracle of the Cave Meat
Elated, she opened her apron wide and returned to the company. When she turned to thank him, he was nowhere to be found—and there was no trace of the cave. Lest this be a story lost to urban legend, a second witness was borne. A man from a ward in Pocatello, Idaho, who was only a child at this time, testified decades later on the miracle of the cave meat and how it provided sustenance to him and the others, keeping them alive just long enough to walk a little further.
Help Is On the Way
By the time late October snows engulfed the company, they were too weak to march onward. Brigham Young knew they had to be rescued and sent young men out to carry each individual across the river. Out of 500 members, 76 did not survive. Those who did, among them Elizabeth Crook who lived to be 80 years old, have passed on these stories as their legacy.
Read more about Elizabeth Crook Cranney.
Perspective Matters
The next time we struggle with the obstacle in front of us, derailing our progress, spiraling our mindset—let us remind ourselves that this is nothing like a Pioneer trek and “We can do hard things!”
History lesson over.
Invitation to Celebrate
Wherever the third weekend in July brings you this summer, if it is near a wide open space filled with covered wagons and the smell of barbecue wafting in the air, it is likely a Pioneer Day Celebration in your neck of the woods (this Saturday, July 25, 2026 from 4-8pm at the Grass Valley Ward building on 615 Hollow Way, Nevada City).
Wander in—you’ll be welcome to eat, play old-fashioned games, and chat up someone in period costume. When you ponder on the ride home about the experience of the pioneer, chances are you’ll be feeling grateful you were not the one asked to make that journey.