The first British immigrants in Utah trudged through a rugged ring of mountains to get here.
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher soared over them in Jon Huntsman's private jet.Her view was much better, she quipped.
Thatcher praised Utah's beauty and heritage during brief remarks at a newly completed International Arrival Terminal at the Salt Lake International Airport.
Thatcher's arrival Friday marked the beginning of the monthlong UK Utah Festival 1996. Thatcher and Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini each stressed the link between Utah and the United Kingdom.
"We feel very close ties to the United Kingdom," Corradini said in a welcoming ceremony. "I'd like to think that the international terminal was built for the UK. We're committed that our first international, nonstop flight will be to London."
Thatcher's plane arrived more than an hour late. Fire engines sprayed arches of water over the jet after it landed. Bagpipes and drummers preceded her into the terminal, and balloons fell from the ceiling when Corradini announced the beginning of the festival.
Gov. Mike Leavitt invited Thatcher to Utah in 1994. Merrick Baker-Bates, the British consul general in Los Angeles, encouraged Thatcher, said Richard Madsen, president of ZCMI and chairman of the UK Utah Festival.
"Since he's been assigned to Los Angeles, he's been in Utah 23 times. He has nothing but the highest praise for the state," Madsen told the Deseret News.
The event has taken 18 months to plan, Madsen said. The diminutive Iron Lady arrived under tight security with her husband, Sir Dennis Thatcher. Children from the Boys and Girls Club of Salt Lake City crowded to get a glimpse of her.
"I'm here to see the queen lady," explained Donald Mister, 10.
Serene Sliger, 13, knew that Thatcher was the former prime minister, but she, too, couldn't get away from the queen business. She described Thatcher as "the minister who does stuff for the queen."
Thatcher will remain in Utah for a week, one of the longest stays she's had in a U.S. city, Madsen said. "She usually goes in to make a speech and leaves, or she just stays overnight. I don't think she's ever spent an entire week in a city before."
Thatcher will attend the fund-raising dinner for the Utah Symphony, receive an honorary doctorate of public service from Brigham Young University, speak to University of Utah students and spend time with Leavitt and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will join a parade down Main Street and cut the ribbon for ZCMI's British promotion Monday.
The UK Utah Festival will feature 70 events, including lectures, exhibits, dances and theater. Ballet West will revive "Alice in Wonderland," directed by a native Briton, and The Pioneer Memorial Theatre will present "The Taming of the Shrew."
After brief remarks at the airport, Thatcher and Utah dignitaries were swept away in black Jaguars accompanied by police escorts.
Other British dignitaries will visit the state during the month. Actor Sir Ian McKellan will attend the Utah premier of his conception of Shakespeare's "Richard III" at the Tower Theatre.
"I think the British have discovered Utah," Madsen said.
Briton Michael Gallagher is a bit bemused by the fuss. Gallagher moved to Utah three weeks ago for a three-year stint with Interlake Software Solutions. It surprised him to arrive in a state caught up with UK mania. The taciturn Briton doesn't think Utah and the UK have quite as much in common as the festival suggests. Pressed for similarities, he came up with one: "They speak the same language, more or less."
Gallagher is amused at Utah's take on his home. "A lot of things that have been spoken of as great things about England I haven't necessarily thought were all that great. Food, for instance. I wouldn't have said our food was great compared to other countries' efforts in that direction."
But Gallagher's stay in Utah is an example of the growing business bond between Utah and England. Gallagher's company, Dexion, is wholly owned by Interlake. The two companies invented a system for moving products out of a warehouse with less manpower.
Dexion built the hardware in Lincoln, England. Interlake designed the software in Salt Lake City. The protype is being used by Franklin Quest.
The UK Utah Festival will work to strengthen such joint business ventures and the import/export trade, Madsen said.
NuSkin just opened offices in the UK. Huntsman Chemical has headquarters there, and Kennecott is owned by a British company, he pointed out.
"Margaret Thatcher is the keystone to all this. But it goes beyond Margaret Thatcher," he said.