SALT LAKE CITY — Paul Revere died nearly three decades before Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and settled in what would eventually become America’s 45th state.
However, Douglas McGregor believes Revere’s legendary ride through the Boston area the night before the battles of Lexington and Concord ignited the American Revolution — historic moments that turn 250 over the next few days — and played a significant role in setting off a chain reaction, leading to what Utah is today.
“Utah is made up of American citizens, and as Americans we all share the same heritage — whether it took place in the 13 colonies or took place in Texas,” said McGregor, state secretary and treasurer of the Utah Sons of the American Revolution. “Wherever it happened … we are all Americans, and that is our heritage; that is our history.”
Utah is now commemorating those moments with a series of events at the Utah Capitol Friday night and Saturday morning, the exact anniversaries of the pivotal moments leading up to the founding of the United States. The events are led by Utah chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution in coordination with America250 Utah, with the first taking place on the Capitol lawn from 8-10 p.m.
A pair of Capitol searchlights will shine into the night sky Friday as one of the more than 200 sites across the nation participating in an event called “Two Lights for Tomorrow.” The lights will represent the two lanterns used atop the Old North Church in Boston to signal the arrival of British troops. Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott used those lanterns to warn revolutionary soldiers and Massachusetts residents of the British movements.
Two replicas of the lanterns used on the night of April 18, 1775, will also be on display, McGregor said, and experts will be on hand to answer all the burning questions history buffs may have.
A second event is planned at the Capitol from 10-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard ’round the world” and the first war battles in the Colonial fight for independence. Military arms that the Revolutionary War soldiers would have used at the time and some of the nation’s founding documents will be displayed, as will a “rare” 4-foot replica of the Minute Man statue designed by the same artist behind the iconic statue in Concord, Massachusetts.
Federal judge and author Ted Stewart will deliver a keynote address, and there will be a performance by the Hope for American Children’s Choir.
It’s the first time Utah will celebrate Patriots’ Day after state leaders passed a resolution recognizing the holiday that honors the start of the American Revolution. “Utah has never made this big of a celebration of April 19,” McGregor told KSL.com.
More to come
Many more anniversary events are still to come. The 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines will happen at different points later this year.
July is the beginning of a one-year countdown to the nation’s 250th birthday, said Ronald Fox, co-chairman of America250 Utah. That’s when the commission will start to hold activities and educational opportunities all across the state, ensuring that every county can participate in some way.
The celebrations will honor all kinds of state history, including the Indigenous peoples who have lived on the land for thousands of years, as well as the DomÃnguez-Escalante Expedition, the first European exploration of the area, which also turns 250 in 2026.
The semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, will be the crown jewel of everything. Its history matters to Utah, even if it came well before the state’s pioneer establishment.
“We have an opportunity to remember why we have freedom (and) why we have liberty,” McGregor said. “There’s a reason that we do, and it’s because of what has happened before us.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
