On July 24, many in the United States will celebrate Pioneer Day, honoring the day when the first wagons of the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Amid great persecution, they left their homes and lands and made the Utah desert blossom as the rose. Their stories are well-documented, and you can find many of them on the internet (for example, https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2009-10-14/biographies-of-the-original-1847-pioneer-company-69028 and https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/pioneers).

I have a number of these pioneers on both sides of my family tree, so I thought I’d share a little-known but interesting tidbit about my great-great-grandfather, Norman Taylor. At 18 years of age, he was he youngest wagon driver in the initial company with Brigham Young. At one point he was sent back to the end of the train, presumably because of some youthful bickering with his co-driver, but he worked his way back to driving the second wagon into the valley.

Pioneer Twins

Fast-forward to modern times …

When I was teaching jazz studies at Pasadena City College in California (it was in the 1980s, so maybe that doesn’t qualify as “modern” after all), I met the twins Chuck (tenor sax) and Rob (trumpet) Manning. They both spent some time playing in the jazz bands I directed at the school. Of the two, Chuck was the more gifted improviser and was quickly making a name for himself in the L.A. jazz scene. Rob was more the “nerd” type, in the midst of his engineering studies at Cal Tech University, just down the road from Pasadena City College. You can see Chuck’s current bio here;  over the years, he has pioneered a successful career as a jazz performer. (I would often joke with others that I was making hundreds of dollars a year as a jazz musician!) He is continuing to let his musical light shine, even as the pandemic has proven to be a formidable challenge to all in the entertainment business.

But what of Rob? That turns out to be a very different but interesting tale. A few years ago, I was watching the first documentary on the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Shortly into the movie, my jaw dropped as I saw my old friend Rob Manning with his team at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, California. He was one of the lead engineers in the Mars rover expedition.

And just a few weeks ago, I saw an update to that documentary on Disney Plus. This version featured some retrospectives shared by Rob and his team, such as the sleepless nights before launch, and the dogged determination to solve mechanical problems that were occurring millions of miles away on the Red Planet. You could see the pain and joy etched into the faces of the JPL scientists, as they met with crisis after crisis and still found a way to push the two rovers far and away beyond their expected capabilities and lifetimes. Here is an interesting look at the path Rob took to join the ranks of space exploration pioneers, in his own words.

Redefining Pioneers

What if we are not the ones who blazed the trail to the Salt Lake Valley, or beat the odds to become a noted jazz musician, or sent robots to discover a new planet? No matter how mundane our lives may seem, we are preparing the way for future generations by the lives we live, the sacrifices we make, and the families we raise.

And speaking of sacrifices and determination, let’s turn our thoughts back to our immigrant ancestors, wherever they may have lived. In coming to America, many of them

• Left their family and friends behind
• Had to learn a new language or new customs
• Had to find employment with existing skills, or develop new skills
• Faced hardships (yes, even in America) because of their culture, ethnicity, or religion

But what strength they wove into the fabric of this country! Imagine the U.S. without the Polish, Danish, Jamaicans, Mexicans, Irish, Nigerians, and so many other peoples who are part of our society today. As we explore the lives of our immigrant ancestors, chances are that we’ll discover some pretty amazing stories, including the seemingly small choices that led them from place to place and event to event.

So this Pioneer Day, let’s celebrate all the pioneers in our lives, whatever their backgrounds. Search out their stories and get to know them a bit better. It truly would not be America without them.