Utah Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection is a database from the Church History Library containing a compilation of names obtained from rosters and other reliable sources of individuals who immigrated to Utah from 1847-1868. Most companies are listed with the name of its captain and a brief summary of the company's experience during their journey. Many company pages include a list of diaries, journals, letters, and reminiscences written by company members, as well as contemporary reports about the company. The content of several thousand of those narratives have been transcribed and are included in the database.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records: • 3

Collection Content
Sample of indexed information: †It must be noted that when the first settlers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley, it belonged to the province of Alta California, Mexico. Deseret was first proposed as the name in 1849 and was never recognized by the United States government.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the person
 * The date of arrival into Utah Territory

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

Found the Person who I was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the date of death to find a death record
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, records
 * Use the information found in the record to find land, probate and immigration records
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in censuses

Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Utah.
 * Tracing Latter-day Saint Ancestors
 * Beginning Research in United States Immigration and Emigration Records
 * Utah Guided Research
 * Utah Record Finder
 * Utah Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research: 1850-1905 | 1900-Present

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Robert E. Lester. ed. The American West : Overland journeys, 1841-1880 : research collections on the American West. Bethesda, Maryland : A microfiche project of University Publications of America, c1998 FS Library 973 W2Les
 * Oregon Pioneer Association. Pioneer registers, 1818-1859
 * Pioneer index file (California), 1906-1935


 * Stanley B. Kimball. Historic sites and markers along the Mormon and other great western trails Urbana, Illinois : University of Illinois Press, c1988 FS Library 973 E6ks
 * Stanley B. Kimball. The Mormon Pioneer Trail : MTA 1997 official guide.Salt Lake City, Utah : Mormon Trails Association, 1997. FS Library 289.373 H2k 1997
 * Melvin L. Bashore and Linda L. Haslam Mormon pioneer companies crossing the plains (1847-1868) narratives : guide to sources in Utah libraries and archives
 * W. Clayton ; edited by Stanley B. Kimball, with a biographical introduction by James B. Allen The Latter-day Saints' emigrants' guide : being a table of distances ... from Council Bluffs to the valley of the Great Salt Lake ...Gerald, Missouri : Patrice Press, 1983. FS Library 289.373 E6c
 * Utah immigration card index, 1847-1868 (Crossing the Plains Index, 1847-1868)
 * Utah Pioneer Biographies. 44 volumes. (1935-1964)
 * Emigration records, European Mission; 1849-1885, 1899-1923
 * Emigration records, Scandinavian Mission (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) 1852-1920
 * US Land Office, Salt Lake City, land records : homesteads, 1868-1946
 * Ship Brooklyn Association files, 1846 : MS 16442

Maps
 * research by S.B. Kimball ; cartography by Diane Clements. Mormon Grove trail, 1855-56, Kansas
 * research by S.B. Kimball ; cartography by Diane Clements. Mormon pioneer trail, 1846, Iowa
 * research by S.B. Kimball ; cartography by Diane Clements. Mormon pioneer trail, 1847, Nebraska
 * research by S.B. Kimball ; cartography by Diane Clements. Mormon pioneer trail, 1847, Wyoming
 * Dale L. Morgan, compiled The Mormons and the far west : transcripts from American newspapers

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * Mormon Migration Database, 1840-1932
 * Utah Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, 1847-1868
 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company Financial Accounts (Worldwide), 1849-1886
 * Utah, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1847-1868
 * Utah, FamilySearch, Early Church Information File, 1830-1900
 * Illinois, Hancock County, Nauvoo Community Project, 1839-1846 (BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy)

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Andrew Jensen. Pioneer Land Rosters: General Migration to the Great Salt Lake Valley
 * Andrew Jensen. Latter-day Emigration.
 * Andrew Jensen. Day by Day with the Utah Pioneers, 1847: a chronological record of the trek across the plains; a revision of the account published April 6, 1897 in the Salt Lake Tribune.
 * List of the pioneers of 1847 : with biographical notes, copied from the Journal History of the Church, 1847, and the Historical Records vol. 9
 * Utah. Semi-Centennial Commission. ''The book of the pioneers who arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847 : including the names, ages, autographs and location of all the survivors who could be found on July 24, 1847, "the year of the Jubilee!"
 * Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Living immigrant pioneers, July 24, 1953 : they crossed the plains before the railroad, May 10,1869.
 * Names of persons and sureties indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company from 1850 to 1877 inclusive. Salt Lake City, Utah : Star Book and Job, 1877.
 * Mormon Pioneers: Includes Mormon Pioneer Chartered ships; Pioneer Overland Companies; Mormon Battalions; Departure for the Missouri River (August 16th and 24th, 1847) with members of the Mormon Battalion and some of the Pioneer company; later emigration index of the 1847 Pioneers; index of the 1848 Pioneers; index of the 1849 Pioneers; index of the 1850 Pioneers; and index of the 1851 Pioneers.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.