What if you could talk to Brigham Young? What questions would you ask him? Would you want to know about the wives? Or would you ask about his trek west? Maybe you'd want to know about his time with Joseph Smith or his plans for the Salt Lake Valley or the many people who have visited him since he got here.
"Oh, those wives and daughters," he might tell you, because that's the first question most people would ask. "I have so many sweet women in my life." Fifty-six wives and 57 children in all. Or maybe he would look at the few houses scattered around and then look out over the valley. "One day," he might say, with a faraway look in his eye, "there will be so many homes and businesses in this valley, you won't be able to tell where one city stops and the next one starts. We will make this valley blossom as a rose."
What if you could talk to Martin Harris? Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon who spent years separated from the church and who finally came back. "My name is in here," he might tell you, showing off the copy of the Book of Mormon he always carries. "My name is in every one of these." He might tell you how he really didn't leave the church but the church left him. He might talk about the folly of being a stubborn man.
What would you ask Eliza R. Snow if you chanced to meet her on the street? Would you ask about her work in Relief Society? Would you want to know about her brother, Lorenzo? Or maybe you would ask about her writing. "I have a passion for poetry," she might tell you. "I'm always writing. I kept a journal as we walked across the plains." Those were hard times, she might explain, "but we had our faith to get us through. Faith gets you through anything."
Young, Harris and Snow are just a few of the early Utah characters you can meet this summer at This Is the Place Heritage Park through a new program of historical interpretation that will be presented at Old Deseret Village.
"We thought it would be nice to have some of the people who were here in pioneer days come back for a visit and tell about themselves," says Michael J. Bennett, resident thespian at the park. It's not quite like being there, but it's the next best thing.
It helps to personalize history, he says. "It helps us focus on people, appreciate what their lives were like."
The presence of specific characters will add to the real feeling of the village, adds Paul Smith, historian at the park. "It's groundbreaking for us, something we've never done before." People can come to the village, he says, and see how the pioneers lived. "But now visitors can hear the stories of why those pioneers came, why they made the sacrifices they did, how creating things here was an act of devotion to their God."
Fourteen characters will rotate throughout the village, appearing on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer. So if you come at different times, you will have a good chance of meeting different people, says Bennett.
In addition to Young, Harris and Snow, other characters will include Samuel Clemens, Jacob Hamblin, Heber C. Kimball, Karl G. Maeser, Porter Rockwell, Fannie Brooks, Jane Manning James, Mary Gobel Pay, Patty Sessions, Mary Fielding Smith and Caleb Stockton.
It will be fun and exciting, says Renee Thornton, who portrays Eliza at the park as she did for a time at Nauvoo. "Re-enactments bring experiences to life. It makes you feel like you are in those times. And Eliza has an important story to tell. Church history is not complete without her."
Gus Hall also played Martin Harris at Nauvoo and has been volunteering at This Is the Place for six years. Douglas Ashby, who is a distinguished Brigham Young, has appeared at special programs at the park and is looking forward to regular visits. "Everyone has heard of Brigham Young," he says. But he carries a list of all the wives and children because "so many people are also related to him."
Connie Knight has been portraying midwife Patty Sessions for 15 years at the Museum of Church History and Art. "I'm kind of on loan from them," she says. But she is looking forward to a "delightful experience. Patty was a generous soul."
If you meet her on the street, she might tell you about all the babies that she has birthed, beginning at age 17 — about 3,000 so far — including the first baby born in the Salt Lake Valley. You might also ask her about her garden, she's quite a horticulturist. Or she might tell you about the house she lived in when she first arrived in the valley. In the spring it rained as hard inside as it did out, and "the mice and snakes would come in. You had to shake your clothes out in the morning to make sure you didn't have critters in them."
Jane Manning James, portrayed by Jerri Harwell, might tell you how she and her family joined the church in Connecticut and wanted to go to Nauvoo. "They refused us passage at Buffalo because we were Negro, so we walked 800 miles on foot. Our shoes wore out. Our feet were bloody, but we prayed for healing and we were healed."
After she arrived in Utah, Jane had a farm and became nearly blind. "My eyesight might leave, but my testimony never will," she will tell you.
Feisty Mary Fielding Smith, played by Terrell Dougan, has similar experiences to share. "If you'll help me snap beans," she may say, "I'll tell you about the captain that tried to send me back to Nauvoo until I could get a man to help me cross the plains. I'll tell you how I told him I would not ask for any help — and would beat him into the valley." Did she? You'll have to meet with her to find out. "I will tell you this, though; my friend, the Lord, guided me every step of the way. And when my oxen were lost or hidden, he led me to them every time."
Bennett plays the only fictional character in the group, a mountain man named Caleb Stockton. The stories that he tells are true, "but no one man experienced them all, so we thought this was a better way to represent the period." If you're lucky, he might let you hold his musket — you might be surprised at how heavy it is.
Some people think there's a lot of fiction in the life of Porter Rockwell too, says Ranleigh Johnson, who will take on that man's persona. But, he might tell you, it was just his job to maintain law and order. "We have a certain tolerance," Porter might say, "but the limits are clear. And when a law is broken, there's a price to pay. People say that if you see a man going out of town with Porter, that man won't be back. Well, I'll leave what happens up to your imagination."
Some might think he's a hard man. But, says Porter, you have to remember, "I've seen the most tragic moments in all of Mormon history, from Haun's Mill to Missouri to Carthage and the Utah War. These are all my friends. I'll protect them."
Friends. Believers. Pioneers. But above all, real people who laid the groundwork for everything that followed. Bringing them to life can help us understand that, says Smith. "It's part of the great story we have to tell."
If you go
What: This Is the Place Heritage Park
Where: 2601 E. Sunnyside Ave.
When: Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (9 p.m. on special event days)
How much: $7 for adults, $5 for children and senior citizens
Phone: 582-2483
E-MAIL: carma@desnews.com