The Only Great American

According to a prominent Russian historian, who is the only great American?

 a.      Brigham Young

b.      Joseph Smith

c.       David O. McKay

d.      Parley P. Pratt

Yesterday’s answer:

 a.      Their faces were smeared in axle grease

For years the Rockies seemed to be a virtually impenetrable barrier to pioneer movement across the continent. Fur trapper Robert Stuarts’s 1812 journey through the low-lying pass now known as South Pass opened the way for subsequent westering people. It was not uncommon for many Saints camped at South Pass to wake up to a blanket of snow in the morning or to take time to have a snowball fight. Many pioneers found opportunities to divert their attention from the tedious journey through recreational activities, especially the “Utah Boys” who had been called on missions to help bring emigrants safely to Zion during the spring and summer. While they performed invaluable service for the Church on the trial and were appreciated by the emigrants for their handling of the oxen and other difficult duties, the teenage boys had their fun with each other and with the emigrants.

 Nineteen-year-old Zebulon Jacobs, a driver in one of the “down-and-back” wagon trains, records [one] of his experiences on the trail:

[17 August] As we woke up in the morning all hands began laughing at each other, as our faces were besmeared with tar and wagon grease. Some of the [Utah] boys from the other camp had paid us a visit and left their compliments upon our faces.

 Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel, Their Faces Toward Zion (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996), 144.