Mormons Celebrate Young’s 200th Birthday

Brigham Young, the man who took the Mormon church to Utah and made it thrive, was remembered by church members on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Born June 1, 1801, Young was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He led the first party of Mormons to settle Utah in 1847, and later directed the emigration of 70,000 who came to Utah along the Mormon Trail.

The Brigham Young Family Society, which tracks his descendants and holds annual gatherings in his honor, dedicated a statue near his downtown Salt Lake City grave site to commemorate Young’s birth.

Young directed church members to settle as many as 400 communities throughout the West, including Las Vegas and San Bernardino.