Post by Okwes on Feb 5, 2006 18:34:01 GMT -5
Living History: Land that immigrants now cross was theirs 158 years ago
How about 1848 as the year of Utah's founding?
Roger McDonough
So, history quiz time: What's the anniversary of the founding of the state of Utah?
Most Utahns would automatically say July 24, the day in 1847 that the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. More scrupulous historians might argue that the state's legitimate birthday is Jan. 4, 1896, the day Utah joined the Union.
But maybe a few would come up with Feb. 2, 1848, a date significant to a growing number of Utah residents because on that day the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican-American War. The treaty forced Mexico to cede more than half of its national territory to the United States. What would eventually become Utah was one of the spoils of conquest.
Before that war, residents of the territory of Utah were citizens of Mexico - at least on paper - although it's unlikely that the newly arrived pioneers would have accepted the honor. Nor is it probable that the Pueblo, Navajo, Shoshone, Goshute, Paiute and Ute who inhabited the area would have considered themselves Mexican citizens. After all, American Indian activity in the area goes back much further than any modern nation-state, well over 11,000 years.
For many centuries before the arrival of Europeans, hundreds of native tribes occupied this area. Archaeologists have found that these peoples had complex relations with each other; they built roads and carried on extensive trade. Some scholars have theorized that the Aztecs who arrived in the central valley of Mexico sometime around 1200 may have originated in the Great Basin of North America. Perhaps the greatest evidence for this connection is that the Ute and Aztec Indians have a strong linguistic connection; both belong to the Uto-Aztecan family of languages.
At the time of the conquistadors, Spanish maps list the Ute among the principal tribes of Nueva Espa a. In 1776, Ute Indians guided Spanish Explorers Dominguez and Escalante as far north as Utah Lake.
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They later cut a path that, in conjunction with ancient American Indian trading routes, would become known as the "Old Spanish Trail," which wended its way from Santa Fe through central Utah to California. During the Mexican Period, the trail was one of the principal trade routes of the West. So historically, the connection between Mexico and Utah was very strong.
Not every one in the United States had been in favor of the Mexican War. The debate in Congress had been long and bitter. President Lincoln was one of many who believed the war to be an immoral and unjustified invasion of a friendly neighbor. Henry David Thoreau was jailed for protest of the invasion and in an odd twist, many Irish immigrants joined the famous San Patricio Battalion to fight in defense of Old Mexico. On the other hand, the historic march of the Mormon Battalion was an important contribution to the American war effort and helped secure California for the United States. The money paid to the battalion assisted the continued Mormon migration to Utah and the settlement of the Salt Lake Valley.
Today, as a newer but perhaps more-used "Spanish trail" brings immigrants from Mexico and beyond to settle or to simply pass through Utah, and as a war of ideas wages on over their legal status, it is worth noting that a short 158 years ago the land they now cross was nothing more than their native soil.
Roger McDonough is a writer and amateur historian in Salt Lake City.
How about 1848 as the year of Utah's founding?
Roger McDonough
So, history quiz time: What's the anniversary of the founding of the state of Utah?
Most Utahns would automatically say July 24, the day in 1847 that the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. More scrupulous historians might argue that the state's legitimate birthday is Jan. 4, 1896, the day Utah joined the Union.
But maybe a few would come up with Feb. 2, 1848, a date significant to a growing number of Utah residents because on that day the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican-American War. The treaty forced Mexico to cede more than half of its national territory to the United States. What would eventually become Utah was one of the spoils of conquest.
Before that war, residents of the territory of Utah were citizens of Mexico - at least on paper - although it's unlikely that the newly arrived pioneers would have accepted the honor. Nor is it probable that the Pueblo, Navajo, Shoshone, Goshute, Paiute and Ute who inhabited the area would have considered themselves Mexican citizens. After all, American Indian activity in the area goes back much further than any modern nation-state, well over 11,000 years.
For many centuries before the arrival of Europeans, hundreds of native tribes occupied this area. Archaeologists have found that these peoples had complex relations with each other; they built roads and carried on extensive trade. Some scholars have theorized that the Aztecs who arrived in the central valley of Mexico sometime around 1200 may have originated in the Great Basin of North America. Perhaps the greatest evidence for this connection is that the Ute and Aztec Indians have a strong linguistic connection; both belong to the Uto-Aztecan family of languages.
At the time of the conquistadors, Spanish maps list the Ute among the principal tribes of Nueva Espa a. In 1776, Ute Indians guided Spanish Explorers Dominguez and Escalante as far north as Utah Lake.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They later cut a path that, in conjunction with ancient American Indian trading routes, would become known as the "Old Spanish Trail," which wended its way from Santa Fe through central Utah to California. During the Mexican Period, the trail was one of the principal trade routes of the West. So historically, the connection between Mexico and Utah was very strong.
Not every one in the United States had been in favor of the Mexican War. The debate in Congress had been long and bitter. President Lincoln was one of many who believed the war to be an immoral and unjustified invasion of a friendly neighbor. Henry David Thoreau was jailed for protest of the invasion and in an odd twist, many Irish immigrants joined the famous San Patricio Battalion to fight in defense of Old Mexico. On the other hand, the historic march of the Mormon Battalion was an important contribution to the American war effort and helped secure California for the United States. The money paid to the battalion assisted the continued Mormon migration to Utah and the settlement of the Salt Lake Valley.
Today, as a newer but perhaps more-used "Spanish trail" brings immigrants from Mexico and beyond to settle or to simply pass through Utah, and as a war of ideas wages on over their legal status, it is worth noting that a short 158 years ago the land they now cross was nothing more than their native soil.
Roger McDonough is a writer and amateur historian in Salt Lake City.