Orrin Hatch: “it is a unique privilege and distinct honor for me to recognize, today, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the 150th…”

“it is a unique privilege and distinct honor for me to recognize, today, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 24, 1847. It was spring, by the calendar, in late March of the year 1846, as some 3,000 people in 400 wagons struggled west across the rolling hills of Iowa, through snow and drizzling rain. The muddy track was nearly impassable as they lumbered on, far behind schedule and nearing exhaustion. Behind them lay the last few villages of organized territory; before them, the great unknown. Somewhere, over the horizon, beyond the sheltering forests and the waving grasslands, lay the Rocky Mountains. Previous maps showed the way into the wilderness, while scouting reports told of the romantic landscape ahead: Black clouds of buffalo sweeping across the prairie swells, great rivers and snow-capped peaks, the endless sky, and the lonely stars. Most of these wagons had never been this far West; perhaps a few had reached Missouri--Independence or Clay County. But that was no comfort. Few people in this wagon train cared to think much of Missouri--where the stench of massacre and betrayal had but recently overwhelmed the sweet scent of fresh gardens and new-mown hay. Now, as history repeated itself, their last refuge--their beautiful Nauvoo--was besieged by hateful mobs, and there seemed no other solution than to flee, yet again.…”