Pioneer Day

By Tina~in_ut

When I moved to Utah in August of 1993, I was unaware that Utah had its very own holiday in July. I thought it odd when, after the 4th of July, all the firework stands remained, and re-opened around the 20th of July. I had heard the terms Days of ’47 and Pioneer Day, but had no idea what they meant. July 24th is Pioneer Day. It is a state holiday. For the first couple of years, I thought it was the day that Utah became a state. I went blissfully along on my merry way thinking how nice it was that this State celebrated its statehood. California sure didn’t do that.

One day, a group of us at work were discussing religion. Somehow the Days of ’47 came up. Someone was telling us about the parade and about the Mormon’s finally arriving in “Zion”. That’s when it dawned on me. California did not become a state until 1850 and Utah some time after that. There was no way Utah could have become a state in 1847! I said that out loud and everyone looked at me funny and started laughing. They realized I had no idea that Pioneer Day is a celebration of Brigham Young leading the Mormon followers into the Salt Lake Valley to their new “earthly Zion.” I was flabbergasted. I could not believe that our “State” holiday was actually a religious holiday. What happened to separation of church and state?

I went home that day and told my husband all about it. He looked at me like I had grown a third arm. He knew and just assumed that I knew too. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to celebrate it. I didn’t think it was right. As a Catholic, I “celebrate” All Saints Day, but the state doesn’t shut down for the day. Since then, I have tried my best to be out of state on July 24th. If we stayed home, we would have to at least have fireworks for the kids. It is too hard to explain to them the reason for the holiday and the reason I don’t want to celebrate it. They just wouldn’t understand the whole “separation of Church and State” thing. This year we will be in Hawaii. Last year, we were in California. The year before that, it was Greece……and so on. This is how neurotic I am. Once, we were driving home from the Tetons on the 24th and I asked my husband if we could drive the long way home…….thru Yellowstone National Park! We did and arrived home well after midnight on the 25th!

I never understood why the celebration on the 24th was so much bigger than the 4th! Now it all made sense. In a day and age when we are not allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance because the word God is in it, or we can’t put a Nativity Scene in front of City Hall, why are we shutting down a state for a day to celebrate Pioneer Day? To me it’s just crazy. Are there any unusual celebrations or holidays in your neck of the woods or am I the only lunatic in town?