The first parade into the Salt Lake Valley consisted of fewer than 200 individuals who were part of the Brigham Young Vanguard Company in 1847. Nearly two centuries later, thousands of individuals lined the streets of downtown Salt Lake City to commemorate that first entrance of the pioneers when President Young declared, “This is the right place.”
As the grand marshal of the parade on Thursday, July 24, President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said his thoughts have turned to what those first pioneers saw when they arrived and what they may think of the valley’s accomplishments.
Interviewed before the parade, President Holland said, “I am honored because of what that tribute means, what the parade means, and what the Days of ’47 means.”