Editor's note: With the election season winding down and a new president about to be elected, the Deseret News will feature past presidents who visited Utah.
The presidential election is nearing its end, which means that in a few weeks we’re going to know who our next commander-in-chief will be — likely either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Utah hasn’t been a fan of either candidate through the election cycle. Recent poll numbers show Trump and Clinton in a dead heat, tied at 26 percent. Independent candidate Evan McMullin sits right behind at 22 percent, according to the Deseret News. Meanwhile, a new Monmouth poll released Thursday showed Trump with a more comfortable six-point lead over Clinton.
Regardless of who Utah chooses, the new president will likely visit the state, as most presidents have.
President Ulysses S. Grant was the first U.S. president to come to the Utah Territory, visiting in 1875. Utah did not become a state until 1896.
According to Ronald Fox, Grant decided to visit Salt Lake City after he spent some time in Colorado. His train came into Ogden, where LDS Church President Brigham Young, George Q. Cannon and the territorial governor George Emergy, along with some other officials, boarded the President Special train to meet Grant.
So what happened when Young met Grant? Well, Young said, "President Grant this (is) the first time I have ever seen a president of my country." Young then spoke with Grant’s wife, Julia Grant.
Young went on to meet Gen. James A. Garfield, who became the next president and the second president to visit Utah, Fox reported.
“Since Grant's visit of 1875, almost every president has visited the Beehive State. Only three presidents have not visited the state since Grant, Presidents Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge,” Fox reported. “It's something to note that Cleveland, who gave birth to the state of Utah, never came to visit.”
Next: Rutherford B. Hayes
READ MORE:
Herb Scribner is a writer for Deseret Digital Media.