Women as a Force in the History of Utah BY LEONARD J . ARRINGTON GUEST EDITOR
T
HREE WOMEN CAME with the advance company of Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. An additional sixty women marched with the Mormon Battalion from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and spent the winter of 1846-47 at Pueblo, Colorado, before entering the Salt Lake Valley just a few days behind the advance company. They were accompanied by twenty women who had migrated from Mississippi and Illinois and wintered with the Battalion women at Pueblo. Before the end of July 1847, there were almost as many women in Utah as there were men — a fact which set Utah apart from most
Dr. Arrington, professor of economics at Utah State University, has contributed numerous articles to the Quarterly in the past. The editors of the Quarterly are grateful to Dr. Arrington, a Fellow of the Utah State Historical Society, for his help in arranging for this special issue.
