Utah: "Still the Right Place" II

From Deseret News archives:

UTAH'S STILL THE RIGHT PLACE

Published: Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1990 12:00 a.m. MST

By Dennis Lythgoe

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Finally, we have a centennial slogan to help Utah celebrate its 100th birthday. William Calvin Hughes, 29, a marketing representative for First Security Bank's insurance division, won the contest with the statement, "This is STILL the right place."

Hughes was heading back to Utah from Idaho in August when he decided Brigham Young's 1847 evaluation of Utah is still the best one. For those of you whose memories may be foggy about Utah history, Brigham Young was the foremost colonizer of the American West. Although a New Englander with little experience to suggest that he would be so expert, he superbly organized the Mormon migration to Utah.And when he first looked out over the Salt Lake Valley from Emigration Canyon, he was suffering from Mountain Fever. "I ascended and crossed over the Big Mountain," he recorded on July 23. "When on its summit I directed Elder Woodruff, who had kindly tendered me the use of his carriage, to turn the same half way round so that I could have a view of a portion of Salt Lake Valley (from my bed in the back). The spirit of light rested upon me and hovered over the valley, and I felt that there the Saints would find protection and safety. We descended and encamped at the foot of the Little Mountain."

While this "spirit of light" gave Brigham a comforting assurance, others in the pioneer party were less enthusiastic. Harriet Young, who had worried during the course of the journey about the lack of trees, thought the Salt Lake Valley looked like a barren wasteland. She told her husband she had traveled 1,500 miles and she was willing to go another thousand to get to a decent place.

Her husband Lorenzo, who was ill and exhausted like Brigham Young, wrote in his diary, "This day we arrived in the valley of the great Salt Lake. My feelings were such as I cannot describe. Everything looked gloomy and heartsick."

Actually, the famous statement attributed to Brigham was not described until 33 years later when Wilford Woodruff gave a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Woodruff said that Brigham Young had seen the valley in an earlier vision, and as he looked over the expanse below, he saw the future glory of the valley. Then he said, "It is enough. This is the right place, drive on."

Some of those who were unhappy with the choice must have hoped that he meant something else, like "drive on to California - anywhere but here!"

Historically, most people have shortened the statement to the simple and more commanding "This is the place." Even if not historically correct, it has more of the ring of legend, and removes all doubts about the value of the valley. Since Brigham Young did not record the statement, and Woodruff didn't mention it until many years later, it can't be considered the most valid of historical accounts anyway.

That is why I was interested in William Hughes' choice of a slogan. Most people growing up in Utah would be more likely to produce the more illustrious but less historical "This is the place," rather than the less impressive and more historical "This is the right place."

Hughes told me that the slogan "just popped" into his mind, meaning that he knew the Woodruff account. He said he wrote it down on a piece of paper, then put it in his briefcase, where it stayed for two months. In the meantime, he showed it to a few colleagues, most of whom "thought it was pretty stupid." Finally, he pulled it out and entered it - almost on deadline - and won the contest.

Considering the relevance of Brigham Young's statement, he thought, "How can that not win?"

Hughes is hesitant to call himself a historian, but his wife thinks he has a historical mind. He notices when people have been misquoted, and he has always been especially aware when Brigham Young has been misquoted.

So assuming that "right place" is the "right account" of Brigham Young's statement, the centennial slogan works. Never mind that most pioneers were not initially convinced that Brigham Young was right. Most people in Utah today think it is the right place.

So it is STILL the right place, or it is FINALLY the right place. Whatever it is, it is a lot better than that incredibly bad tourist slogan initiated two years ago, "Utah: A pretty, great state." Now maybe we can give it a proper burial.