Author: Carolyn Murset

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Hello, and welcome! You’re listening to Song Stories, Quiet Stories episode 19, Mary Lee Bland. I’m your host, Carolyn Murset.

Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers arrived into the Salt Lake Valley of the American West, on July 24, 1847, where the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled after being forced from Nauvoo, Illinois, and other locations in the eastern United States.

Before I continue with Mary Lee’s story, I will first explain: Following the Mexican War which ended in 1848, Utah became an official territory of the United States in 1850, and in 1896 became the 45th state to join the union.

Pioneer Day is an official holiday in Utah commemorating the arrival Brigham Young and that first group of Mormon Pioneers. Celebrations include parades, rodeos, fireworks, dressing in pioneer clothing, and re-enacting a trek.  If you’re a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and live outside of Utah, your local congregation probably observes the holiday, too.

My dad was raised in northern Utah, and his ancestors crossed the plains shortly after Brigham Young did with that first group of saints.

There is a monument at the mouth of Emigration Canyon named in honor of Brigham Young’s famous statement, “This is the Place”, honoring the Mormon Pioneers as well as the explorers and settlers of the American West. 

One of these explorers, Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco is my fifth great grandfather from my mom’s Hispanic family, and was the map maker for the Dominguez Escalante Expedition in 1776. This multi talented renaissance man drew the first map of Utah. My next podcast episode will be about him. 

Now, today you’ll learn about Mary Lee Bland my well loved Great, great, great grandma. She told her remarkable story  to an unnamed grand daughter who later transcribed and typed it, thus making it easier to read, copy and share. I first enjoyed reading it when I perused the stacks of family records and histories that I inherited a few decades ago. Listen to this story!

1817- I, Mary Lee Bland was born to Sarah Caldwell Lee and John Bland Jr.  in Kentucky

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:56 — 24.0MB)

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A granddaughter of mine recently celebrated her birthday. My husband and I emailed her an animated Amazon gift card. Our daughter sat her soon to be six year old in front of the computer and told her “Pick out some things you’d like with the gift card that Grandma and Grandpa sent you.”

Forty-three pink and purple items totaling $1800  later, our daughter luckily caught her little one’s excitement before that “Buy Now” button was clicked on, and trimmed the shopping cart down to three sparkly choices within our gift card amount. Phew!

If I have to buy something, I enjoy shopping for it online. I’m a homebody, and would buy groceries online, but my supermarket is only five blocks away from my house, so…….except for the six years I lived in a larger college city, I’ve lived in a small town for most of my life.

Before the advent of  computers and online shopping, I poured over catalog pages of merchandise, picked out my kid’s birthday or Christmas presents,  filled out the paper order form, folded and stuffed it and a check inside the included envelope, attached a postage stamp to the upper right hand corner, and mailed it in.  If I was in a hurry and feeling bold, I’d actually call the 1-800 phone number and place my order with a customer service rep. I’m bashful, and had to drum up a lot of courage to speak to a complete stranger. Calling people on the phone is still hard for me, whether I know the person or not.  What can I say.