Heritage Gateways

Official Sesquicentennial K-12 Education Project
sponsored by the Utah State Board of Education, the BYU-Public School Partnership and the Utah Education Network

Historical Pioneer Journals

Armitstead, James
(1821 - 1905)
He and his family emigrated to Salt Lake in 1853.
Clayton, William
(1814 - 1879)
One of the original company, William Clayton served as historian and secretary for the pioneers, keeping a detailed journal of the wagon train's journey. He is most know for coming up with the idea of the odometer which helped the pioneers measure the distance traveled.
Snow, Eliza Roxcy
(1804 - 1887)
She crossed the plains in 1847 in the big company. She was a gifted writer and poet, as well as a strong advocate for women.
Stout, Hosea
(1810 - 1889)
Of the Mormon diaries available to scholars, perhaps there is none which so adequately mirrors the times and locale of the writer and his people over such an extended time as does the diary of Hosea Stout. Over various times, he was an officer in the militia, chief of police, attorney general, United States district attorney, and president of the house of the Utah Territorial Legislature. These associations with the highest ecclesiastical and civil authorities permitted Stout to inscribe in his diary conversations and transactions which were outside the knowledge of many diarists.
Young, Brigham
(1801 - 1877)
He organized and led the Mormon pioneers across the plains from Winter Quarters, Nebraska, into the Rocky Mountains to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.