‘We need more community’: Why Cox says this Pioneer Day can be unifying for Utahns

SALT LAKE CITY — It seemed that everyone in downtown Salt Lake City Thursday morning wanted to take a picture or grab a video of the moment as Gov. Spencer Cox and first lady Abby Cox rode through city streets, leading a Texas longhorn cattle herd behind them.

Office and construction workers, families and street taco workers all stopped what they were doing and whipped out their phones to record.

“This is a wild day,” one of them said.

It’s also the day the governor says he looks forward to most, as it’s become a pre-Pioneer Day tradition he’s led since taking office.

This year he, the first lady and a group of Days of ’47 Rodeo organizers led cattle through North Temple, passing an officer directing traffic while blasting Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” on a speaker as the group rode by. They passed underneath high-rises and skyscrapers as they continued along West Temple, 100 South and State Street before returning to Block 85, the parking lot between Temple Square and the Triad Center.

There, the cattle were loaded onto a trailer to be taken to Days of ’47 Stadium within the Utah State Fairpark for the rodeo events that begin on Friday.

“Abby and I both grew up on farms in rural Utah pushing cows. To do it here in downtown Salt Lake City is incredible,” Cox said of the experience. “I think the founders of our great state would have loved this with the skyscrapers in the background.”

This annual horseback ride was created to celebrate the start of Days of ’47 events, which have already started ahead of the state holiday honoring the pioneer founding of Utah in 1847. This year’s events began with the annual Pops Concert held at Abravanel Hall last week. However, most of the events are picking up this weekend leading up to Pioneer Day on Wednesday:

• Thursday: Pioneers of Progress, a gala celebrating “modern-day Utahns exhibiting pioneer spirit through industry and integrity,” starting at 7 p.m. at the Grand America.
• Friday, Saturday and Monday-Wednesday: Days of ’47 Rodeo, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Utah State Fairpark.
• Saturday and Monday: Float Preview Party, a free preview of this year’s Pioneer Day parade floats, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy.
• Monday: Super Duper Day Devotional featuring Emily Bell Freeman, young women general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, starting at 10 a.m. at This is the Place Heritage Park.
• Wednesday: Sunrise Service with music from the Salt Lake Valley Combined Institute Choir, starting at 6:50 a.m. at 95 S. State, followed by the Days of ’47 Pioneer Day parade through Salt Lake City, which begins at 9 a.m.

“The parade has served as a gathering for families and friends who have claimed the same sidewalk space for years and years,” said Days of ’47 President Lane Summerhays, in a statement. “Many spend the night before and ‘tailgate’ if you will, all evening and morning. We see children and adults who have had so much fun waiting for the parade that they sleep through the entire event.”

This year’s Pioneer Day will be different in a few ways. Cox and other key members of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games will be in Paris making one last pitch to the International Olympic Committee for Utah to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. The IOC is expected to vote whether to award the event to the Beehive State in the early hours of the state holiday.

Salt Lake City is hosting an early-morning viewing party at the Salt Lake City-County Building, 451 S. State, which is along the parade route. The party is now slated to start at 2:30 a.m. and will feature a drone show at 5 a.m.

The state holiday also comes during a stressful time in the country, following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, who is also the Republican candidate for this year’s presidential election. The incident has sparked a review of partisanship in Utah and across the country.

With the Days of ’47 events and the Olympic party on the calendar, Cox said he believes this year’s Pioneer Day festivities could be unifying for Utahns.

“We need more community. We need excuses to come together and — of course — celebrate our state’s pioneer heritage,” he said. “This July 24 is a great opportunity to bring people together. … This is the kind of stuff that heals us as a country and I think it’s really important.”