Mormon History group coming to Cache Valley in June

The Mormon History Association will visit the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston this Summer. The OSA construction began in 1880 and was completed in 1884.

LOGAN – The Mormon History Association is having its 57th annual conference on the campus of Utah State University from June 2-5 and they are inviting the public to join them, said the organization’s Executive Director CarrieAnne DeLoach. There is a $80 fee associated with the tour that includes meals.

The director of the the Hyrum City Museum, Jami Van Huss will take part in the Mormon History Association’s tour of Cache Valley in June.

Visitors will have an opportunity to experience many of the sites, music, art and the history of beautiful Cache Valley at its best. Some of the area’s most notable historians will make the places and people come alive as they show places some might not know existed.

The tour begins with MHA’s Sunday Devotional, where Susan Arrington Madsen and incoming MHA President Richard E. Turley, Jr., will speak.

Deloach said this year’s welcoming concert will be the American Festival Chorus conducted by Dr. Craig Jessop on Thursday, June 2nd. It is open to the public and will last from 6 to 7:30 pm.

This history tour provides an opportunity for participants to learn about the Native American people and their connection with early pioneer settlers of Cache Valley. Participants will be able to visit the James Willie home. Willie was the leader of the Willie Handcart Company. The residence was built in 1859 and his gravesite is in the historic Mendon cemetery.

“We hold this conference once a year in various locations significant to Mormonism,” she said. “Our membership is over 2,000 strong and we anticipate 425 people will attend this year’s event.”

Shoshone tribal leader Darren Parry will then lead participants to Washakie where the Northwestern Band of Shoshone farmed and resided for generations. Also on the tour is Honeyville, where more than a thousand Shoshone received Latter-day Saint baptism in 1873.

File photo-Darren Parry who will guide Mormon History Associations tour in June.

“Past conferences have been held in Salt Lake City, Park City, Boise, Idaho, and even Cardston, Canada,” DeLoach said. “Next year’s conference will be in Rochester, New York, from June 8-10.”

The group will link up with Hyrum Museum Director Jami Van Huss, who will share the history of Cache Valley, including Hyrum, which was founded in 1860. The tour will include the USU Big Band Swing Club at Elite Dance Hall erected in 1815 adjacent to the museum. The tour will move on to Franklin County to see the Bear River Massacre Site, the Ezra Taft Benson home, the Oneida Stake Academy and other notable historic locations.

The excursion will include the Montpelier Tabernacle built in 1918, including the Minerva Teichert murals.

On Monday, former USU History Professor Ross Petersen will guide the group through the Oregon Trail Center, the Butch Cassidy Museum, the Paris Tabernacle and other historic locations.

Those interested in registering for either of the tours should contact DeLoach directly at [email protected] as soon as possible.

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2 Comments

  • skeetr May 3, 2022 at 9:46 am Reply

    Is this real history or just more of the typical whitewashed history the church prefers?

    • Ha May 8, 2022 at 2:26 pm Reply

      Most definitely just the history the church deems “safe.” Can’t have people finding out how truly disturbing their religion and its history really is, after all.

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