Elaine Hardman, Communications Assistant for the Granite Family History Center, recently published a blog article that reminds us of pioneer ancestors, around the July 24 Pioneer Day celebration. With her permission, part of the article is quoted below:

There are many resources available to research our pioneer ancestors. As we commemorate the entrance of the vanguard company of pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 (174 years ago) we may feel the desire to see who our pioneer ancestors were and what their lives were like.

In an article written by Kiersten Thompson, and posted to the FamilySearch Blog, titled: Who Were the Pioneers?- A Look at Pioneer LIfe, you will find a well researched blog post, which contains links to many great articles. There are lists of resources to help help you learn more about the early pioneers and find details about your own pioneer ancestors. This article has links to

• Latter-day Saint Pioneers
• Oregon Trail Pioneers
• California Gold Rush Pioneers
• Other groups of trailblazers, settlers, explorers, and homesteaders

These links will take you to records, databases and significant collections that may aid you in your research.

On a personal note, Pioneer Day is a special occasion for me, as I have pioneer ancestors on both sides of my family. On my father’s side, Norman Taylor was the youngest wagon driver (age 19) in the Brigham Young company that arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. On my mother’s side, Parley P. Pratt enabled the gathering process for Latter-day Saints and accompanied several groups into Salt Lake.

Pioneers Around the World

As Elaine pointed out in her article, there are many other United States pioneers besides the Latter-day Saints. Taking that thought farther, the number of “pioneers” in our family trees is actually quite amazing. For example, here are some types of pioneers we sometimes might not recognize:

Immigrants: Many of our ancestors moved from country to country, across land and sea, in search of a better life. Their history in turn becomes our history. In The Family History Guide, there are Goals for immigration and emigration in most of the country pages. Here’s the link to the page to get started with researching U.S. immigration records.

Movers and Shakers: In addition to moving about inside their countries of origin, many ancestors pioneered new discoveries, settled new towns, and advanced their societies. Reading personal histories and stories is a great way to get in touch with their lives, their struggles, and their contributions. For tips on finding and recording ancestor stories, see Project 2: Memories, Goal 8 and Goal 9.

Ethnic Pioneers: Over time, many ethnic populations have had to overcome significant challenges with persecutions, misunderstandings, lack of opportunity and more. The Family History Guide has pages to help you track ancestors with a variety of ethnicities, including African American, Asian, Basque, Hispanic, Jewish, and Native American.

On behalf of The Family History Guide Association, a happy expanded Pioneer Day to everyone!