| Show Lay Plans For Annual Fiesta Fiesta On Statehood DayLong Day DayLong Dayl Long l ong Battle of Pioneers for Elevation of Star to National Standard BeS Beset Beset Beset Be Be- set by Many Rebuffs S n By HENRY SUTHERLAND Thirty nine years have passed since the forty fifth star representing the he state of Utah first gleamed in the national standard Toda Today have almost forgotten the tremendous burst of enthusiasm en en- never never- since equaled here which greeted news of the admission of this state into the Union on Jan January ary 4 1896 To prevent loss of that precious precious' memory a group croup of public spirited citizens has launched plans for a celebration celebration cele cele- bration of ot the anniversary of Utah's coming o of age January muary 4 1935 They hope to make the day an annual tate state holiday y Governor Henry H. H Blood suggested the he celebration of statehood day to the he Sons of Utah Pioneers and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers last Jast fall faU They took up the cause eagerly Since they have been j joined ined by many civic social and patriotic organizations organization in information information formation of a general volunteer statehood state stale hood lood day committee Nineteen Survivors Nineteen survivors of the convention conven- conven tion Jon of men which forged Utah's constitution will be honored in the principal ceremony of a day to be marked by oy music pageantry and addresses addresses addresses ad ad- dresses as Utah attempts to recapture I the he thrill which swept the new state on its first day in the union To younger generations of an event 39 years old may seem of outmoded importance but to those who recall Utah's 47 years of struggle for statehood the gl glory r of that triumph trio tri can never be dimmed Almost from the hour o of her first settlement statehood was the goal of ol Utah Yet her citizens were to meet eight times in constitutional convention conven conven- S tion lion and to bear seven s separate parate rebuffs re- re buffs by the national congress before the forty fifth star should be elevated to the union First Fint Convention The first convention met in Salt SaIl Lake City in February 1849 barely I two years alter after the first dusty immigrant mimi mimi- grant trains rolled into the Salt Lake valley from the defile deCile of Emigration canyon ALl Ai citizens of that portion of ol CalIfornia California Cal Cal- l ornia lying east cast of the Sierra Nevada mountains were addressed in fn the convention calL The met and nd asked the federal government to create a territory as was as-was later done although Its ilS' bound boundaries r es were l less am adi bilious than the c convention had en en- The first territorial assembly met metin metin metin in Salt Lake City Cily in July consisting of a house and senate and the thc aspirations aspirations of the legislators far out those thase of the They petitioned petie peti- congress to admit a State o. o of Deseret Desere into the union The petition came at a troublous time for or America Issues that were to bring on the Civil war were emerge ing in our political life The Dred Dree Scott case was yas soon to stir the slavery lavery question to the point of violent con con- Isolated Settlement Utah was then an isolated settlement settlement settle settle- ment in what geographers called the Great American Desert Seven years later in 1856 the territory terri tern tory now hav having ng a population of called a new constitutional convention conven- conven tion ion which met in irs Salt Lake City Gily and petitioned congress for admission to the he union as the State of Deseret D It t was denied During Durin the winter of 62 1861 a new movement for or statehood began in the territory of which the population now numbered numbe-cd In the cold months of that dark winter armies of the north and south faced each other across the Potomac and along the Mississippi But because because be be- cause so many states had withdrawn from rom the union it seemed to man many an auspicious time for the addition addition ad ad- of a new one Con Congress ress Refuses In December 1861 the terrItorial legislature passed a bill providing for fora a constitutional conven convention ion to mcc mccin meet in Salt Lake City in January 1862 Governor John JohnV W. W Dawson promptly vetoed the measure but delegates were elected a constitution framed and a full staff starr of officers for th the proposed state conditionally elected Again the congress refused Utah It was in 1870 when America was wa still in the anguish of Civil war r reconstruction re construction that Utah next sought sough statehood albeit under the name nam Deseret As before the legislature passed a abill abill abill bill calling for a constitutional convention con eon to meet in Salt Lake City in February 1871 Governor George LWoods L L. Woods in his turn vetoed the bill but the but the legislature replied with a joint join I resolution resolution- calling for lor a convention A new proposed organic law wa was sent to Washington but again action actio was deferred For 10 years thereafter the movement move move- ment for lor statehood in Utah apparently apparent apparent- ly was Vas dormant but in April 1882 Salt Lake City was again the scene of a constitutional convention With Wit the regularity that was becoming monotonous to the congress again refused its petition Uses Name of Utah A nt feature of ot the 1882 convention tion hower was that it dropped the name Deseret AdmIssion Admission sion of the State of ot Utah waS was asked for tor th the first time Desire for statehood burned more mor strongly than ever in Utah and it was not long only until 1887 1837 before another convention met in the territorial terri tern tonal capital Th This s one convened o oJune on June 30 doomed like like- its predecessors predecessor to failure Better times were coming for or Utah however howe New tactics were soon roon t to bring success as a reward for the determination de de- termination of its citizens How the he convention which created created cre cre- sled Utah's constitution c was called Its Us labors and completion of the document will vIlI be related in the second article of the series to be published by The Telegram ram Tuesday |
