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Pioneer Day
July 24, 2009
The Twenty-fourth of July is celebrated by Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) for the date in 1847 when the first Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. In Utah, as you might imagine, this is a big deal and is even the occasion for a state holiday. There are parades and commemorations, speeches and reenactments. Elsewhere, the day often marks a fun event for LDS children; they'll dress up in their frontier finest, decorate a wagon, make a short trek, have lunch, and listen to stories of their Pioneer ancestors.
On the 24th of July, the New Mexico Company participated with the children of Albuquerque's Taylor Ranch Ward in commemorating Pioneer Day at Mariposa Park.
(Click a photo for a larger view - All photographs by Patty Eilar, Albuquerque)
Captain Bachman outfitted in a manner similar to members of the Mormon Battalion. He's dressed in civilan clothes and wearing an Army-issued sword belt and forage cap.
The "Trek" departs (once around the soccer field).
Capt. Bachman hands out samples of hardtack while recounting the story of Battalion members first exposure to dry land irrigation in the Rio Grande valley.
At 1 teaspoon salt for every cup of flour, hardtack is a salty food. Plenty of water makes it go down easier.
Pioneers, football players, and moms all enjoy the shade.
'Nuff said!