TAYLORSVILLE -- An estimated 26,000 gold rushers headed west in 1849-50 provided a significant economic stimulus at a critical time for the almost-starving Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley.
During a three-hour symposium Wednesday night at Salt Lake Community College on the impact of the gold rush on Utah and the West, four historians outlined their research to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 49ers.Dean May, University of Utah history professor, used a lot of research from the late Leonard Arrington to tell an audience of about 50 people how gold rushers benefited the pioneers.
"Utahns were miserably poor," May said of 1849. "The Mormons were the ones trading for food."
It is estimated that one-third of all 49ers came by way of Salt Lake City. That meant 8,300 gold rushers in 1849 and 17,600 in 1850. Since the Salt Lake Valley had only 8,000 to 9,000 residents then, that meant the total of 49ers outnumbered the Mormons.
May said modern Utahns may get a hint of how that migration felt when the 2002 Winter Olympic Games are held here.
Salt Lake was the only sizable city between Missouri and California in 1849, and many goods had to be shipped to Utah at a high cost. Also, crickets, frost and a harsh winter had all plagued the pioneers during their early years.
By operating ferries for the 49ers on the Platte, Green and Bear rivers, the pioneers likely earned $12,000 in 1849 and $20,000 in 1850, according to May.
The Mormons also traded animals and services with the 49ers for food, cloth and iron. Many 49ers also abandoned wagons and tools on the trail from Wyoming to speed up their trek, and the pioneers went as far east as Laramie to collect those goods.
Thanks to the benefits from the 49ers, food rationing in the Salt Lake Valley ended in 1850.
Arrington concluded that a social cohesiveness had inoculated the Mormons against gold fever. Brigham Young strongly advocated planting potatoes, not seeking gold.
Given Salt Lake's proximity to Sutter's Mill, any Mormon exodus there was minuscule compared with other groups like Oregon farmers.
Brigham Madsen, another speaker and author of 15 history books, examined the social interchange between the Mormons and 49ers.
He said the first thing many 49ers did here was bathe in the warm springs, located just north of Salt Lake City. They also attended church services and even Mormon dances.
In one 49er group, eight men of a 20-party company refused to leave Salt Lake City on time because they had been invited to a Mormon dance.
"There was much energetic dancing in Mormondom," May said.
He said most 49ers who stayed in Salt Lake City for any length of time were impressed with how happy the Mormons seemed to be.
"The Saints enjoyed their visitors," Madsen said.
A big curiosity for some 49ers was to observe polygamous families and count how many wives some men, like Brigham Young, had.
Young encouraged the Saints to be fair in their trading practices with the 49ers. May also said the church leader thought it ironic that many Easterners had accused Joseph Smith of being a "money digger," yet Young said many preachers were among the 49ers, seeking new fortunes in California gold.
Historian David Bigler addressed gold rush conflicts in the Great Basin, while the concluding speaker, Mike Landon -- an LDS archivist -- spoke on the knitting of a nation through the gold rush.