Focusing on history of Virgin Valley Settlement

By WESLIE STRATTON

Moapa Valley Progress

Mesquite area locals enjoyed the Virgin Valley History and Family Discovery Day held Saturday, March 9 at the Mesquite Stake Center complex of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those who attended had the opportunity to play pioneer games and learn about the early settlement of the Virgin Valley area. Family history classes were open to all throughout the event.

According to organizer Eugene Hughes this is the third annual family history event put on by various community members.

“Each year it’s a different person in charge,” Hughes said. “We selected probably six or eight couples in the valley that were familiar with different things.”

Hughes said that volunteers were in charge of categories including advertising, demonstrations, meals and family history.
“It’s a group of people who have done it,” Hughes explained. They came together and did a good job.”

Festivities kicked off with a pancake breakfast at 7 a.m. Events continued throughout the day with various classes, activities and exhibits. Children enjoyed wagon rides, butter churning and rug making as well as sampling homemade root beer and learning to rope a dummy steer. Activities also included dance instruction and cowboy poetry recitations.

Classes instructed by community members included beginning indexing, DNA test selection, FamilySearch Tree basics, indexing Spanish records and more. The classes and other activities were open to the entire community and not just members of The Church, Hughes said.

“It’s for anybody,” he said, adding that members of different faiths frequently utilize the Family History Center located in the Stake Center.

Exhibits set up inside the church included detailed Virgin Valley history. Hughes said that the area was mainly settled in the spring.
“They came down from the Dixie (southern Utah) Mission,” he said. “They sent them down here actually to raise cotton and grapes for raisins.”

Hughes said that the annual event has steadily grown over the years, especially with the inclusion of children’s activities.
“It’s a little more this year than last,” he said of the number of people attending. “It started at around 100 and it’s probably 150 now.”