Behind me you see Salt Lake City Utah. A big grand growing city. One of the fastest
growing cities in the United States. But over 200 years ago there was no city here,
there wasn't a lot of water, and there also weren't any European settlers.
Why did the Saints choose to settle here? A place that almost no European would ever decide
to settle in. And what was it exactly that led them to this particular spot? It was a prophecy.
Joseph Smith had just been murdered and his followers were fleeing Nauvoo from mobs and
persecutions. Now it was up to Brigham Young to lead the saints to safety. Across the Great
Plains into the Rocky Mountains,. To a place he had only seen in vision. A vision in which Joseph
Smith appeared to him, showing him a peak with an ensign or a flag on it, and Joseph said if they
built under that peak they would prosper and find peace. Brigham Young had to find this location.
My name is Casey Griffiths. I'm a professor of Latter-day Saint history with a passion of sharing
the miracles and stories of the early Latter-day Saints. Join me and the Book of Mormon Central
video team as we retrace Brigham Young's entrance into the Salt Lake valley, first to Big Mountain,
then to This is The Place state park ,and finally up Ensign Peak, where we learn more about the
vision that led the Saints to the deserts of Utah. Let's load up. Everybody grab something and throw
it in and let's get going. It's such a family car there's actually a stroller in the back next to
our camera equipment gear. You planted this here right? That's for you actually Benji. I didn't
know if you were going to make it up the hill or no. And let's get some good shots of Brendan right
now at the first of the day because by the end of the day he's going to be like a cherry tomato.
All right does everybody have their seat belts? Yea. Don't make me come back there. After getting
the kids in their seat belts we drive through Salt Lake valley and then up Emigration Canyon
to our first destination. So we're here at the summit of Big Mountain. This is where Brigham
Young would have gotten his first glimpse of the Salt Lake valley after traveling several hundred
miles on his way. If you can look around you can see the thick quaky and pine growth. The road that
Brigham Young and the vanguard party are traveling on is literally cut the year before by the Donner
Reed party, so we actually owe a ton because they create the road that we use to take into the Salt
Lake valley itself. But at this time Brigham Young is still really sick. He's been bitten by a tick.
He's come down with rocky mountain fever, which gives a person chills and for several days.
He was kind of out of it to the point to where the Quorum of the Twelve, the other apostles that are
there, are worried that he's not going to make it. They pulled up on this summit and President
Woodruff pulled his wagon around so that Brigham Young could get his first view of the valley.
And Brigham Young set up and said, "it is enough, this is the right place, drive on."
After enjoying the mountain breeze on this hot day we drive down the canyon to This is
The Place state park. We cool off for a bit and then head into the main plaza. It's been
a couple years since I've been here and I noticed the new remodeling with a fountain. At the center
here stands a giant memorial statue representing the first people to come into the valley:
the American Indians, European travelers, and leaders of the church are all represented.
There's also a nice statue here of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Before his death,
Joseph had told Brigham that the saints would go to the Rocky Mountains. Later,
Joseph would appear to Brigham in a vision and show him a new home where the Saints would live.
Brigham never knew for certain where the peak was but he and the Saints believed in the vision.
We then drive through Salt Lake City, passing by Temple Square,
the Conference Center, Church headquarters, the Utah State Capitol building, and more.
But before we head to Ensign Peak, I take the guys to one of my most favorite places to eat: Bruges
Waffles and Frights. Popular for its Belgian style waffles and big selection of fry sauce. We shoot
the breeze in 90 degree weather before heading to our final destination. The place where they would
not only fulfill Brigham's vision of a peak with a banner or a flag on it, but Isaiah's prophecy
that God would lift up an ensign to the nations. Brigham Young interpreted this ensign as a flag
or a banner on the peak. So when you get here the first thing you'll notice is the three flags.
Two of these flags will be familiar to almost everybody that's from Utah. There's the Utah
State flag which is really just the crest of Utah on a blue field. There's the flag of the
United States. But the one that's really kind of strange and that people won't be familiar
with is this blue and white flag. That blue and white flag is the ensign of the kingdom of God.
It's the flag that Brigham Young spoke about and that he talked about as kind of what they
were trying to do here. See we sometimes don't appreciate the fact that they're not coming here
to colonize utah on behalf of the united states they're trying to get away from the United States.
They're mad at the United States because they feel like they've undergone all this persecution and
nobody has ever really helped them. And finally they didn't achieve any redress for what happened
when Joseph Smith was killed. Now this isn't to say that they hate America. They love a lot
about it. But they're just kind of mad at the way the country's run, in the government, the way it
was run there. Though they uphold things like the American constitution and the free rights that it
guarantees, and things like that. And so we begin our hike up Ensign Peak in the heat of the day.
I can't help but think of Brigham's hike up this peak. At the time he was still suffering
from his fever. So fellow apostles helped him up this short but steep hill. He wanted to fulfill
the vision that he had seen. So the hike isn't long but it is steep and strenuous. Take as many
rests as you want to along the way. Depending on what time of year you go it's pretty hot.
It can also be cold. But the good news is is that your end goal is in sight. When you made
it just a little ways up the mountain you can see the monolith on the crest of the hill and that's
where we're going. So again it's not a long hike but it is pretty steep so be aware when you come.
And it's okay to sit down and take a break if you need to. Also
don't kill yourself on this one it's not worth it. I mean it's worth it but it's not worth it to die.
Ha, the camera guy sits down. After catching our breath we come to a scenic outlook of the
Great Salt Lake. Imagine first coming here and seeing vast salt marshes and deserts.
It wasn't an ideal place to live but they were seeking safety and fulfilling prophecy. We now
make it to the top of the hill with a beautiful overlook of the Salt Lake Valley: the desert the
Saints would blossom into a rose. This is the place where Brigham said in Nauvoo, "I have
seen this peak and the ensign upon it." That day he made it to the top of this peak. They hoisted
a banner, actively fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy of an ensign to the nations and Brigham's vision
of a hill and a banner. And now began the hard work of making the desert blossom as the rose.
One amazing thing about the early Saints is that they always saw the places they were building and
the places they were going with an eye of faith. So instead of just a frontier village on the edge
of Indian territory, they saw Independence Missouri as the City of Zion. And instead
of a swampy marshland that no one else wanted, they named it Nauvoo,
which is a Hebrew word for beautiful. Brigham Young didn't have quite the same flair
to name something Nauvoo, he just called this place Great Salt Lake City,
but it must have taken a tremendous amount of faith to have seen a spot like this and instead of
just seeing a desolate desert, seeing a place that could fulfill prophecy and blossom as the rose.
One of the things that we have to keep in mind in our own lives is that the Lord sometimes
gives us the vision, but not the know-how to get there. And prophecy, and its fulfillment,
is often something that we can't just sit around and wait for the Lord to bring to pass.
It's something that we have to do on our own. That He gives us the picture of what we can do and
where we can be and then we go out. And we make it happen and two centuries later, who knows what the
results will be or what will have risen in that place that was once seen as good for nothing.