Pioneer Remains Moved to New Burial Site

One year ago, a cemetery containing the remains of thirty-three pioneer adults and children was discovered in downtown Salt Lake City.

The pioneer cemetery’s exact location had been unknown for many years until excavation for a new building uncovered two of the graves. With the help of volunteers, Brigham Young University archaeologists found and removed the balance of the remains.

Some of the remains, which included nine adults and adolescents and twenty-four infants, were identified. Among the bodies of those thought to be buried in the cemetery was that of Carolyn Van Dyke Grant, wife of Jedediah M. Grant, Second Counselor in the First Presidency under Brigham Young.

The remains were later reinterred in a replica cemetery near “This Is the Place” monument at the mouth of Emigration Canyon.

President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the new cemetery 30 May 1987. He paid tribute to the sacrifice of the pioneers.