Over Jordan
Near Salt Lake City, Utah
The river just west of here is the Jordan, a slow, deep stream the pioneers had to cross to reach the west side of the valley. For people steeped in the Bible, the name carried weight. To cross the Jordan was to enter the promised land.
Joseph and Susanna Harker crossed the river near here and became early settlers to live over Jordan. Later travelers on the Central Overland Trail, the great mail and emigrant road that ran from Salt Lake City across Nevada to California, kept a diary tradition alive.
One wrote of crossing the bridge here and then, for days afterward, singing the old hymn. Over Jordan into glory, we'll go on, we'll go on.
