Explanation of Pioneer Search



What is Pioneer Search?

It is an index of thousands of references of those who were thought to have migrated to Utah in the 1847-1868 time period. Most references can be found at the main Salt Lake City Family History Library or through a local LDS Family History Center if the item was on film or fiche.

Jump to Pioneer Search now.

Each record in the index has the following fields separated by commas.
"NA" in a field indicates the information is not included in the index, but may be available on the original record.
  1. Surname
  2. First name (and possibly middle)
  3. Emigration year and/or the year they came to Utah
  4. Age
  5. Ship name or pioneer company
  6. Reference for pioneer, which may be a book or microfilm
    This reference is available at the LDS Family History Library or one of LDS Family History Centers.


Many DUP books are referenced as is the book, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah.



Can I find complete rosters on this site?

With the exception of some Scandinavian rosters the answer is no. The main goal of Mormon Pioneer Search is to allow one to search for a family or to search for individuals. To obtain a roster for a given company do the following 1) Find the resource in question e.g. Deseret News on microfilm at the Family History Library or Center 2) Transcribe the names found in the resource for that company.

Is the underlying database available for purchase, for loan or for some other use?

No, no, and no. All inquiries on this matter will be rejected.

Is every pioneer listed?

No. Rosters are sometimes incomplete or altogether missing.
For some years only heads of households are mentioned.

I Found A Name. What Do I Do?

Verify the information by visiting your nearest LDS Family History center and look up the reference. Some additional information such as a death, birth, family relationships etc. may appear on the original record.

Once I Find A Name Is My Work Done?

The short answer is no. You should ALWAYS verify the information by looking at the material from the reference. You should also gather as much information as possible to document your ancestor's arrival to Utah.

What If I Don't Find Anything Here?

Continue your research and follow the steps outlined on the main Tracing Mormon Pioneers page. This list is far from complete and does not include a reference to every pioneer. From time to time new references are added, so check back later to see if anything was added.

I found a reference that mentions Heart Throbs of the West.
Who is the author? Where can I find the book?

 There is not a single author listed. Kate B. Carter was the main editor for the Heart Throb series and other series as well.

Heart Throbs of the West had 12 in the series and was published by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers nearly 50 years ago and it is only available in book form at the headquarters of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in Salt Lake City, the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City and at some LDS Family History Centers or in some second hand book store that specializes in LDS books.

The Heart Throb series has not been microfilmed as far as I know.
Some electronic versions have been made over the years, but the series has not been reprinted.

Many Names Seem Duplicated. Is something wrong?

One of the main reasons for this is that a father/son or a mother/daughter with the same name came at the same time or another possibility is that there were others who happen to have the same name who traveled in the same company.



Special Note on Scandinavians
The ship rosters for Scandinavians are estimates based upon the information written in the margins of the emigration registers.

Using Pioneer Search



Enter a surname, first name and a year and press the "Submit Request" button.

It is that simple.

To search for an entire family leave the first name blank.



A sub-string search can done by entering the first part of a surname e.g. if you entered "Nel" it would match "Nelson", "Nelsien", "Nelly", etc.

For best results on the first name only enter just one word e.g. "Mary", which will match on "Mary", "Mary Jane", "Mary J.", etc.





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