SALT LAKE CITY — Utah marked 130 years of statehood on Sunday, commemorating a hard-fought journey that took nearly five decades and seven attempts before the territory finally achieved statehood on Jan. 4, 1896.
Local historian Ron Fox said the path to statehood was a true battle worth celebrating more than a century later.
“We became a state back on Jan. 4, 1896, our state actually transferred power from the federal government on the 6th of January. And it was a long battle to become a state — we started 1849 and it took seven tries,” Fox said…