The Mormon Pioneer Trail from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Rocky Mountains passed here on April 17, 1847. In this vicinity a military-type organization was formed with Brigham Young as Lieutenant General, Stephen Markham as Colonel, and John Pack and Shadrach Roundy as Majors, along with Captains of Hundreds, Fifties and Tens. The company included 143 men, 3 women, and 2 boys. The pioneers reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 24, 1847. Between that date and 1869, when the railroad reached Utah, approximately 80,000 persons followed the old trail to the mountains, and nearly 6,000 died and were buried along the way.