Utah Emigration and Immigration

How to Find the Records
Utah, being entirely inland, has no seaports. Immigrants would have initially arrived at a port on the coast. To search those records, see United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records.

Online Resources

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * 1830-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1840-1932 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1846-1869 Trail of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
 * 1847-1850 Utah Pioneers, 1847-50 at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1847-1850 Sons of Utah Pioneers - Card Index, 1847-1850 at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1847-1868 Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868; images only
 * 1847-1868 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1847-1868 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1849-1886 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1850s American Westward Migration - Diaries, maps and trails of Mormon pioneers
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * Mormon Migration Website, BYU; index & images
 * Naturalization and Citizenship Records, Utah State Archives
 * Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * Sons of Utah Pioneers Membership Applications at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * Sons of the Utah Pioneers-Utah, Pioneer Companies at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Utah
 * The Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1869 by the Church History Library

Background

 * Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were the pioneer settlers of Utah and have always accounted for a high percentage of the population. The first wagon train of pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. By the time the railroad reached Utah in 1869, more than 69,000 Latter-day Saints had made the trek across the Great Plains.

Since most of the immigrants were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, check Tracing Latter-day Saint Ancestors and the section on Latter-day Saint Emigration and Immigration sources. Some will be repeated here.

Early pioneers came primarily from the New England, mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern states as well as Canada and Great Britain. The population of the early settlements grew because of missionary work overseas. British converts formed the largest foreign-born immigrant group followed by the Scandinavians. Significant numbers also came from France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Other Latter-day Saint pioneers came from such divers areas as Australia, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Near East. A few African-Americans were among the earliest arrivals in Salt Lake.

Members of other denominations migrated to Utah from all parts of the United States and from other countries. The California Gold Rush and the western movement brought new settlers. Jewish merchants established businesses. United States military personnel arrived in the 1850s and 1860s. Some chose to stay when their service ended.

Immigration Records
Immigration refers to people coming into a country. Emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Immigration records usually take the form of ship's passenger lists collected at the port of entry. See Online Resources.

Information in Passenger Lists

 * Before 1820 - Passenger lists before 1820 included name, departure information and arrival details. The names of wives and children were often not included.


 * 1820-1891 - Customs Passenger Lists between 1820 and 1891 asked for each immigrant’s name, their age, their sex, their occupation, and their country of origin, but not the city or town of origin.


 * 1891-1954 - Information given on passenger lists from 1891 to 1954 included:
 * name, age, sex,
 * nationality, occupation, marital status,
 * last residence, final destination in the U.S.,
 * whether they had been to the U.S. before (and if so, when, where and how long),
 * if joining a relative, who this person was, where they lived, and their relationship,
 * whether able to read and write,
 * whether in possession of a train ticket to their final destination, who paid for the passage,
 * amount of money the immigrant had in their possession,
 * whether the passenger had ever been in prison, a poorhouse, or in an institution for the insane,
 * whether the passenger was a polygamist,
 * and immigrant's state of health.


 * 1906-- - In 1906, the physical description and place of birth were included, and a year later, the name and address of the passenger’s closest living relative in the country of origin was included.

Information in Passports
Over the years, passports and passport applications contained different amounts of information about the passport applicant. The first passports that are available begin in 1795. These usually contained the individual's name, description of individual, and age. More information was required on later passport applications, such as:


 * Birthplace
 * Birth date
 * Naturalization information
 * Arrival information, if foreign born

Other Indexes and Records

 * 1847-1868 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1847–1868 Utah Immigration Card Index, Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1963. This is also known as the "Crossing the Plains Index." This is an incomplete but valuable list of the pioneers who crossed the plains before the railroad reached Utah in 1869. It is arranged alphabetically by head of the family. Most of the information has been taken from the Journal History of the Church.
 * 1849–1925 European Emigration Card Index. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951. . This index is also known as the Crossing the Ocean Index. It is an alphabetical card index to the Saints who crossed the ocean on their way to Zion. This index is incomplete because it focuses only on ships chartered by Church agents. The cards are filed by the head of the family or the leader of each group. The name of the ship and the date of departure from Liverpool is included.


 * 1847–ca1914 Early Church Information File. This index is cited fully in Latter-day Saint Biographies.

Histories
Histories of some of the groups who traveled together to Utah have been published. During the 1997 sesquicentennial celebration of the arrival of the pioneers, many new materials were published. Many list the names of those who immigrated. Check the FamilySearch Catalog for these newer histories.


 * A number of serial publications by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers include lists of the names of pre-1869 immigrants, names of those who died along the trail, accounts of the journey, and other pioneer information. Many of these were published for the centennial of a group's year of immigration. There is some duplication in these publications and they are listed in order of publication dates. The sources Heart Throbs of the West, Treasures of Pioneer History, Our Pioneer Heritage, Lessons, An Enduring Legacy, and Chronicles of Courage are cited in Utah Biography.


 * The Oregon-California Trails Association is an educational organization that promotes the story of the westward migration to Utah, among other places. Their site includes a personal name index to trail diaries, journals, reminiscences, autobiographies, newspaper articles, guidebooks and letters at Paper Trail, A Guide to Overland Names and Documents. They also publish Overland Journal. Independence, Missouri: Oregon-California Trails Association, C1983– ;.

Other Sources

 * Since most of the immigrants were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, check Tracing Latter-day Saint Ancestors and the section on Latter-day Saint Emigration and Immigration sources. Some will be repeated here.
 * Biographies often include when ancestors came and where they arrived.
 * Minorities section may have sources for various groups. These sources will give information on common routes and journeys they people may have traveled.

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