Settlement landmark Early members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), commonly called
Mormons or Latter-day Saints, were often the victims of
anti-Mormon violence in the eastern and midwestern United States.
Joseph Smith, the faith's founder, was
killed in June 1844 and by 1846, the Latter-day Saints were
forced from their main settlement at
Nauvoo, Illinois. Those church members who chose to accept
Brigham Young as their new leader would end up traveling to the Western United States by
wagon train or
handcart, along what became known as the
Mormon Trail. When Young's wagon train entered Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 (presently celebrated as
Pioneer Day in Utah), he stated the area was the right spot as soon as he saw it. During an 1869 sermon, a fellow church leader,
George A. Smith, stated that after Smith's death, Young had been praying to know where to take the Latter-day Saints and had a vision of Joseph Smith. In the vision, Smith showed Young Ensign Peak and "there was an ensign fell upon that peak, and Joseph said, 'Build under the point where the colors fall and you will prosper and have peace.'" A number of later visitors to Salt Lake City would write that they were told a similar story. British author
William Hepworth Dixon wrote that Young told him as he was coming over the mountains, he had a dream of an angel standing on a conical hill, which pointed to an area where a new temple should be built. And when coming down into the valley, Young first looked for that cone-shaped hill. William Minturn also wrote that Young was shown by an angel, standing on a conical hill, where a temple should be built. He stated it was believed by some the angel was Joseph Smith.
Richard Francis Burton, another British author, wrote that Young had seen Joseph Smith appear on Ensign Peak and point out the location for a new temple.
First climb On July 26, two days after Young and the remainder of the first wagon train entered the valley, nine to 10 church leaders, including Young, climbed the peak.
Apostle Wilford Woodruff was the first to reach the summit of the hill and recorded in his diary for the day, "we all went onto the top of A high peak in the edge of the Mountain which we considered A good place to raise An ensign upon which we named ensign Peak or Hill." While at the top, they surveyed the region and Young decided to the build the city and its
temple at the very base of the mountain's slope. Tradition holds that the men planted an
American flag atop the peak to claim what was then Mexican territory for the United States. This legend has often been repeated in literature and celebratory speeches, and the supposed event is even memorialized as part of the painted cyclorama in the
Utah State Capitol rotunda. In 1993, historian
Ronald W. Walker wrote "there is not enough historical evidence to make either case."
Usage of an "ensign" in Mormon doctrine The religious significance of using an ensign (a flag or banner) began long before the
Mormon pioneers arrived in Salt Lake Valley. Early in the church's history, Joseph Smith had claimed that in 1823, the
angel Moroni appeared to him and quoted and , in which is found wording related to "Mount Zion" and setting up an "ensign" for gathering. While at Nauvoo, as church leadership grew disillusioned with the
United States government for not protecting their rights, and hoping to find somewhere the church could have religious liberty, the
Council of Fifty was given the responsibility of looking for a place to resettle, if necessary. The American West was one of those places considered by the council. In what appears to be a literal attempt to fulfill scripture, Smith asked his followers to create a flag "for the nations" that he could take to the
Rocky Mountains. After Smith's death, while the church was headquartered in a temporary settlement called
Winter Quarters, Brigham Young became ill and claimed to have a near-death experience, in which he "actually went into Eternity...[and] came back." Young stated he spoke to Smith during this event, which appears to revived interest in flying an "ensign" where the Latter-day Saints settled. Soon after Young's experience, Jedediah M. Grant was sent from Winter Quarters to the east, on a mission to obtain material for a large flag. Grant was successful in finding material, and a large flag, known as the "mammoth flag," was flown somewhere over Salt Lake City for many years. ,
Flag of the United States, and a variant of the
Flag of the Kingdom/Flag of Deseret fly at the Ensign Peak trailhead, 2024 Before and after arriving in Salt Lake City, as the Latter-day Saints discussed their flags they used a variety of names, including "Flag of Liberty," "Flag of the Kingdom," "
Deseret Flag," "mammoth flag," and "flag of all the nations." Often they were vague about their flag's appearance, instead focusing on the symbolism of gathering and the establishment of what they believed to be God's kingdom, rather than a standard shape, design or name of a banner. As part of the 2020s renovation of
Temple Square, the church installed flagpoles allowing 91 national flags to be flown at once, as a symbol of the global nature of their church.
Later usage of the peak by Latter-day Saints On July 21, 1849, several church leaders, including Brigham Young, climbed the hill and
consecrated it for "the erection of a standard thereon [and for] a place of prayer." That same day,
Addison Pratt received his
endowment atop the peak (in a ceremony usually reserved for the religion's
temples). Into the twentieth century, the hill remained a place of contemplation and prayer for some Latter-day Saints. After the LDS Church stopped its practice of
polygamy, some
fundamentalist Mormon groups may have used the peak for religious ceremonies and marriages, as they were unable to enter LDS temples. ==Flag flying==