RUGGED LIFE OF PIONEERS RELIVED IN OLD TOWN — FOR A DAY
Mormon Battalion’s arrival in San Diego in 1847 celebrated
ROXANA POPESCU •U-T
OLD TOWN
“We shortly came in sight of the Pacific Ocean. … Most of us were barefoot, and our clothes were very ragged.”
These words came from the journal of David Pettigrew, neither a hippie, nor a hobo, but a leading Mormon who arrived in San Diego 168 years ago, in 1847. He and hundreds of men and several women were deployed from points east toward San Diego to form the Mormon Battalion, a unit of the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. They marched westward thousands of miles to get here, only to find they weren’t needed in combat anymore. Instead, they built wells and roads. Some settled, and some moved on from San Diego, and they allleft the tiny community completely changed.
Saturday at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, hundreds of people from around the region — perhaps even more people than used to live in San Diego back in 1847 — got together to learn about this history in the best way possible: by living it. Some were actual descendants of those early settlers, others were part of the greater Mormon community, and the rest were curious San Diegans and visitors who wanted to learn about making bricks and rope, hand washing clothes, cooking fragrant desserts in Dutch ovens and other ways of the pioneers.
At tents around the historic park’s grassy plaza, people got a glimpse of the resourcefulness that marked life in the pioneer era. Kids played with marbles, dolls and Jacob’s ladders, the mesmerizing classic wooden toy. The latter were so popular at the fair that at one point, they disappearedfrom the tent, and the ladies in charge, all wearing period costumes, had to track them down.
At the rope-making exhibit, kids twisted strings together to form thicker cords, using a contraption made of a spinning wheel and some hooks. Grant Preece, from Vista, was helping a boy make a rope souvenir. Between encouraging thekid that his rope was coming along great, he added: “There’s a rule. You cannot tie up your siblings.”
Preece, who confessed he learned how to make rope about half an hour earlier, thought out loud about how convenient things are today. “They didn’t have the Internet to create stuff, to buy stuff. They didn’t have Home Depot or anything. So theyneeded to make whatever they had.” Rope makers use fibers from agave plants.
The day started with a parade of people in pioneer fashion and remarks from dignitaries. One was a high-ranking leader of the Mormon church, Jeffrey Holland. They also talked about contributions from the Mormons to early San Diego. These included clean water wells and roads. As a result, the outpost’s population swelled. They also built the courthouse, which still stands in the historic park.
Over at the laundry washing station, kids got to scrub socks and hang them up to dry. That stand recognized the contributions of women, who were employed members of the battalion, worked laundering clothes and were paid wages just like the men.
San Diego resident Rachael Morris, 9, said it was “kind of” fun to scrub the socks. At least it wasn’t hard, she added. Her mother, MaryEllen Morris, said the lesson was valuable, because it helped Rachael and her younger sister better understand the lives of people who traveled west. “I think that it’s nice for them to see how things were, a long time ago,” Morris said.
Linda Handy, a descendant of a member of the Mormon Battalion named Samuel Campbell, is a champion of living history — which is an approach to studying history that includes wearing period costumes, spending time at historic sites and otherwise attempting to understand subjectively how people used to live.
She said that in light of funding cuts that have curtailed school field trips, this event is away for children to get exposed to important lessons about California history. A museum on nearby Juan Street offers a permanent exhibit about the battalion and San Diego’s early days.
The Mormon Battalion Commemoration begins with a re-enactment of the Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army of the West's arrival in Pueblo San Diego.
Scott Bennion
The smell of Dutch oven cooking and hot biscuits cooked over an outdoor fire brought to life what dinnertime might have been like for the members of the Mormon Battalion. On Saturday, Jan. 31, those outdoor smells helped to celebrate the march of the battalion and its arrival into San Diego, California.
The commemoration event was a day full of pioneer memories and activities at the California State Historic Park at Old Town San Diego, near the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. The Battalion was part of the U.S. Army of the West in 1846, and the members marched for almost 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, (near Winter Quarters) to San Diego, arriving on Jan. 29, 1847.
More than a thousand people enjoyed the festivities that began with a re-enactment march. Participants dressed in pioneer-style military garb and marched around the grounds of the historic park. The mayor of San Diego, Kevin Faulconer, sent an official proclamation to be read at the commemoration event. Noting the contributions made by the battalion to defend the nation in 1846-47 and in the development of the state of California, Mayor Faulconer, proclaimed Jan. 31, 2015, as “United States Mormon Battalion Day in San Diego.”
One of the highlights of the day was the surprise visit of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Holland was in attendance to celebrate a unique honor given to his older brother, S. Dennis Holland. Brother Holland received a special award, called the “Diggin’ Spade” Lifetime Achievement Award, for his efforts in preserving California’s LDS pioneer history. The award was presented by the California Pioneer Heritage Foundation, originally founded by Brother Holland. “I was thrilled to get the award, although a little embarrassed,” said Brother Holland. “But I have dedicated myself to change the public’s ideas about the contributions that the Mormons made to early California history.”
Dennis Holland, a retired pharmacist, has lived in northern California since 1961. He is currently the president of the California Living History Church Service Mission, a newly organized mission of the Church.
