Utah's black pioneers

Jill Fellow DAILY HERALD In 1838, a 10-year-old black boy was given as a wedding present to James and Agnes Flake in North Carolina. He went by the unusual name of Green and, according to custom, took the surname of his white slave owners. Later, after moving to Mississippi, Green Flake's life intersected with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the family converted to the faith. Green was a teenager when he migrated west with Brigham Young to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. Flake family folklore suggests that Green drove the very wagon from which Young is alleged to have uttered the famous words, "This is the right place. Drive on." After Green built a cabin in the valley, he walked back to Nebraska to guide the Flakes to their new home in the Utah territory. He was one of 100 black pioneers to make the historic journey west in the mid-1800s. Though he died in 1903, he will be among a group of five black pioneers who will be accepted as honorary members of the Brigham Young chapter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers on Thursday. Full Story: http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=47898&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0