New monument aims to ensure Utah's Black pioneers 'will never be forgotten'

SALT LAKE CITY — Ellis Ivory was sitting in his office in May 2021 when Mauli Junior Bonner and Tamu Smith approached him with an idea to honor some of the earliest Black settlers in modern-day Utah at This Is the Place Heritage Park.

Smith is a descendant of Green Flake, one of the three Black men who participated on a scout team that trekked through Emigration Canyon to a spot that oversees the Salt Lake Valley, days before Brigham Young arrived on July 24, 1847. Ivory, the chairman of the This Is the Place Foundation, pointed to a picture on his wall of his great-grandfather, who was a member of the same advanced company as Flake.

"I said 'So your ancestor and my great-grandpa, they were together,'" Ivory said Friday, reflecting on that meeting. "Tamu came up and gave me a big hug, which she's prone to do, and it started this wonderful adventure."

The adventure he spoke of was the creation of three new life-size statuses of Flake, Hark Wales, Oscar Smith and Jane Manning James, all of whom either arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847 or in the months afterward.

The several hundred people who crowded together just outside the park's entrance applauded as some of Flake's descendants helped unveil the statues Friday on the 175th anniversary of the day that Flake, Wales and Smith first arrived in the valley.

"It's more beautiful than I could have ever imagined," Bonner said, as he collected his thoughts moments later, during an emotional ceremony to dedicate the monument.

As Utah prepares to celebrate the major anniversary of modern Utah's settlement this weekend, Bonner admits that it's "never easy" to tell the stories of those who came first because it wasn't an easy journey. It's even more difficult to reflect on the pain caused by slavery.

But he insists that it's also important to honor the great accomplishments that emerged from the era.

"We tell it because pioneers endured something incredible for what they believed, for religious freedom. We tell the stories to celebrate those who endured something that we will never fully understand — and it's no different with our African American pioneers," he said. "We don't tell the stories of enslavement to cause shame, guilt or pain; we tell the stories because they are true, because they endured it and because we all have the opportunity to draw strength from them."

Who were Flake, Wales, Smith and James?

The story of these statues starts with the pioneers who arrived in Utah 175 years ago.

Flake, Wales and Smith were among the first group of Mormon pioneer wagon companies to make it to the Salt Lake Valley. But their stories weren't documented well because they were slaves to families originally from Mississippi, who made the initial trek out toward the Salt Lake Valley.

Enslavement existed at the start of the community, and it was legalized in 1852. The practice ended in 1862, which is when Congress barred slavery from any U.S. territory.

The names of the three may vary on records only because Wales went by Hark Lay and Smith went by Oscar Crosby at the time they came to Utah. Both of them changed their surnames after they were eventually freed. Jacob Bankhead and Henry Brown were other Black pioneers sent westward; though, both died during the difficult journey.

Journal entries from other pioneers described the men as "hard-working and faithful members of the company," according to Amy Thiriot, an independent historian and author, who spoke about Utah's Black pioneers during a presentation at the Family History Library in 2018.

The trio arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 22, 1847, two days before Brigham Young. Flake was among the first pioneers to plow lands and plant crops in the first few months after groups settled in the valley.

"Their stories didn't end with enslavement," Bonner points out. "They were respected people in their community."

Wales and Smith eventually moved on to California, while Flake remained in Utah.

In fact, Flake spoke at many Pioneer Day celebrations up until his death in the early 20th century. He's buried at Union Fort Pioneer Cemetery in Cottonwood Heights, not far from a farm he owned near Union Fort after he was freed.

Wales was also buried at the cemetery after he returned to Utah before death. Smith went on to help form the first Los Angeles African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation, and is buried in California.

Meanwhile, James arrived a few months after Flake, Wales and Smith. Her family arrived in September 1847. She remained a beloved member of the community the rest of her life before she died in 1908.

"(She) was a mother to many," Bonner said. "She was not just a mother and a wife to (Isaac James), a mother to her children, Sylvester and Silas, she was a mother to so many."

Paying tribute to Utah's Black pioneers

Not long after his meeting with Mauli Bonner and Tamu Smith last year, Ivory made a few phone calls, and with the help of some big donations, quickly gathered the money needed to commission the statues.

Stefanie and Roger Hunt designed the sculptures, while Delta Stone, RJ Masonry and Hadco helped piece everything else together, such as the large rock slabs — mined from Browns Canyon — behind the statues that tell the stories of all four people depicted. The new statues join the many other pioneer statues found throughout the park.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox believes the sculptures are "very important," especially since Flake, Wales, Smith and James's stories of perseverance had "long been forgotten" with time. He hopes the monument helps inspire future generations, much as the well-known stories of the first pioneers helped inspire him.

More than anything though, he hopes that it motivates inclusion that didn't always exist in Utah and American history. The governor said that he thinks it's vital to acknowledge the past, not just learn from it but see "how far we've come, while also striving to make improvements in the future.

"I hope this inspires my kids, and it should. We can learn from each other and we must learn from each other," he said. "There's strength in these faces. There is pride in these faces and yet there is humility and kindness in these faces. ... This is the 'Beloved Community' that Martin Luther King spoke about. This is it. This is what we're trying to achieve in our state and this is going to take all of us."

President M. Russell Ballard, the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, concluded Friday's ceremony by dedicating the new monument. Ballard said that the monument helps to declare "how preciously important every child of God is."

Bonner said the monument will help ensure that story of Utah's Black pioneers is told on a public scale. While he knows it's a "hard part of our history," he believes it can help those who visit the park learn from it as society works to become more united.

"In this moment and in this place, we are what we hope to be," he said. "This first group of Black pioneers in 1847 will never be forgotten. Their memory will live on for generations here at This Is the Place Heritage Park."

Related topics