ROBERT CHARLES LUND


The year of 1847 saw the persecuted Latter Day Saints begin their long trek across the plains to the land nobody wanted. In 1846 when the vanguard reached the frontier, the leaders realized that their plans must hastily be revised. The great body of Saints both in this company and in those hastily assembling to follow lacked cash. The leaders were practical men who knew well the fanaticism of their followers. They could not stop them until they were prepared, and the leaders knew the suffering and privations that were inevitable. As a compromise solution they proposed to ask the men of the group who had the most marketable talents to remain there -- to serve on a type of mission. They would secure employment and turn their wages to the Church Immigration Fund. Among those so chosen was a young man, Wilson Lund, from Wales. Wilson Lund and his wife, Eliza Brace Lund, accepted the order to work for the Church Immigration Fund, as they did any from their revered authorities. However, it was a great disappointment to them as they had wanted so to be counted among the first to reach Zion. It was a lifelong sorrow to them that they could not be honored as pioneers of 1847. Wilson Lund was a first class mechanic and he found much to do in that frontier locality. In the spring of 1847 they were settled in Wisconsin. When their former travel mates were still six weeks from their destination, Eliza bore their first child, a blond curly headed son, who they formally christened Robert Charles and lovingly called Rob. He was born May 26, 1847 at New Diggins, Wisconsin. In the year 1848 they were formally released from their work to help the Church Immigration. They joined a wagon train and crossed the continent to the Great Salt Lake Valley. They settled in Salt Lake City. Wilson Lund found his trade much in demand in the new city and for 12 years they remained in Salt Lake. Young Rob had much the same life as any other pioneer lad of any age. There was little formal schooling and much maturing responsibility. He was only twelve when the family was called to Southern Utah. He was old enough to realize the sacrifice it entailed, the giving up of their financial security they had worked so hard to secure, leaving their friends and civilization to start over again! He was only 12, but he was second man on that torturous journey His father had to have help and in the best frontier tradition he supplied it. He felt an immediate kinship with this new country. The vivid colors, the heat and drought, the elements that frightened others appealed to something deep within him. He never lost this feeling. Through the story of his life, we find the pattern of his devotion to Utah's Dixie repeating itself over and over again. His life did not distinguish itself from his fellows until he was in his mid teens. Brigham Young was an aged and ailing man now and decided he would like to escape the severe northern winters. With the decision to build a temple in St. George this seemed to be an ideal spot for his winter home. There was, however, one drawback. President Young must continue to carry on the Church business. Because of the slow and uncertain mails he must reply on the telegraph line which was in the process of construction. His business was private and not to be bandied about. He decided to have a young man trained for this telegraph work. He made discreet inquires among the St. George church and business leaders. The man had to be young enough to learn readily, old enough to keep his own council, and he must have the natural gift of leadership. Their unquestioned choice was young Rob Lund. President Young took him to Salt Lake where he attended school. Somewhere around his 18th birthday he passed his tests and became the official telegraph agent for Southern Utah for Brigham Young and the L.D.S. Church. During this period he became interested in the old Co-op store and thoroughly learned the mercantile business. He and his friends, Thomas Judd and E.W. Woolley, felt that their was a great opportunity for a general merchandise store. They managed to convey this idea to Z.C.M.I. and with the backing of this firm they opened Woolley, Lund and Judd. This business was an immediate success and played an outstanding part in the settlement of Washington County. It acted as a bank and credit agency for Southern Utah and Northern Nevada. When Silver Reef flourished, they opened a sister establishment there. They were official representatives for Wells Fargo. Success did not make Robert Lund forget his interest in the welfare of St. George. He was man of wisdom and vision whose philosophy was 50 years in advance of his contemporaries. He believed that successful business was a never ending cycle. Whatever they could do to provide a local payroll to improve local conditions would reflect in better business.

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