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
General Information
Emmigration to Utah, 1847-1868, Statistics
PIONEER EMIGRATION TO UTAH
Andrew Jenson's Tabulation of Mormon Emigration,1847-1869
(Numbers are not exact, but best estimate)
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| Year | Total | Wagon | Handcart | Freight | PEF | Last Arrival |
| 1847 | 2,000 | 9 | 2 Oct | |||
| 1848 | 4,000 | 3 | (divisions of single company) | 19 Oct | ||
| 1849 | 3,000 | 6 | 28 Oct | |||
| 1850 | 5,000 | 10 | 1 | 14 Oct | ||
| 1851 | 5,000 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 Oct | |
| 1852 | 10,000 | 23 | 1 | 16 Oct | ||
| 1853 | 2,603 | 12 | 1 | 17 Oct | ||
| 1854 | 3,167 | 8 | 24 Oct | |||
| 1855 | 4,684 | 8 | (1) | 2 | 29 Oct | |
| 1856(1) | 3,756 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 Dec |
| 1857(2) | 1,994 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 26 Sep |
| 1858 | 179 | 3 | 6 Oct | |||
| 1859 | 809 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 Sep |
| 1860(3) | 1,409 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 Oct |
| 1861(4) | 1,959 | 13 (5 Church) | many | 27 Sep | ||
| 1862(5) | 3,599 | 13 (7 Church) | many | 29 Oct | ||
| 1863 | 3,646 | 12(10 Church) | many | 15 Oct | ||
| 1864(6) | 2,697 | 9 (6 Church) | (1) | 2 Nov | ||
| 1865 | 1,301 | 3 | 29 Nov | |||
| 1866 | 3,333 | 10 | 22 Oct | |||
| 1867 | 660 | 1 | (Terminus: N. Platte, Neb.) | 5 Oct | ||
| 1868 | 3,232 | 10 | (Term: Laramie-5, Benton-5) | 25 Sep | ||
| Total: 68,028 | ||||||
- Dan Jones aptained the later-known Hunt Co. and wintered with the cached freight at Devil's Gate. Willie arrived 9 Nov, Martin, 30 Nov.
- Russel, Majors, and Waddell had 6,250 specially-built wagons that could haul 5-7,000 pounds of freight, 75,000 oxen, and 5,000 employees. They lost $5 million from US Gov't. supplying Johnston's army and later funded the Pony Express at a $500,000 loss.
- Pony Express (3 Apr 1860 - Oct 1861) used Mormon Trail over Big Mountain. 120 riders rode 650,000 miles. Only one was killed by Indians. Oct 24: Telegraph completed.
- Civil War (1961-4). Returning Army wagons used the Golden Pass (Parley's Canyon) route.
- A toll road was built down Silver Fork Canyon (Kimball Junction to Wanship), shortening the distance and became the main road (except for poor emigrants) until 1869. The Overland Stage (Ben "Doc" Holladay, made a fortune, but lost it in the panic of 1873) and most traffic now followed the Overland Route from Ft. Bridger to Laramie (closer to I-80).
- About 400 persons came in this late independent train. Terminus this year shifted from Florence to Wyoming, Neb., 40 miles south. All teams from now on are "Church."
Note: (1) in the freight column means that an emigrant and freight company were combined. Andrew tried to count those that came other directions or other means or with non-church organized groups. An exact count has never been made nor could it. It is estimated that about 70,000 pioneers emigrated to Utah before the railroad came.
A recent study by Mel Bashore, LDS Church history department, indicates that the above figures have been over estimated. He estimates that there about 60,000 persons coming to Utah prior to 1869. There were about 250 companies, total, of which we have records of about 200. Only about 15,000 persons have been positively identified. The other 45,000 are estimates.
