A Hallowed Place

A Hallowed Place. . From the arrival here of Brigham Young, Mormon pioneers regarded this peak as a symbol of the latter-day gathering of Israel. In August 1847 they raised an American flag upon it to demonstrate support for the mandate given through Isaiah to "lift ye up a banner upon the …mountain" as a sign of Israel's gathering (Isaiah 13:2). On Saturday, 21 July 1849, President Young and others climbed the hill and consecrated it as a place to raise a standard and as a place of prayer. , In pioneer times, Church and community leaders periodically hiked to its summit for prayer and ceremonial observances. In recent years it has served youth groups and others as a place of inspirational grandeur for spiritual harmony and meditation. , On many occasions flags have flown on this hill. In the early days it was sometimes a blue and white "Flag of Deseret" representing the gathering of Israel and of the Saints. Commonly it has been the Stars and Stripes, often with Utah's state flag. To Latter-day Saints, a flag flying here signifies the belief expressed in a poem written in 1853 by Joel H. Johnson and later set to music by Ebenezer Beesley: , High on the mountain top , A banner is unfurled , Ye nations, now look up , It waves to all the world , In Deseret's sweet, peaceful land , On Zion's mount behold it stand! , ("High on the Mountain Top," Hymn, No. 5)