On July 24, 1847, 143 men, three women and two children founded Great Salt Lake City several miles to the east of the Great Salt Lake, nestled in the northernmost reaches of the Salt Lake Valley. The first two in this company to enter the Salt Lake valley were Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow. These members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church") sought to establish an autonomous religious community and were the first people of European descent to permanently settle in the area now known as Utah. Thousands of Mormon pioneers would arrive in Salt Lake in the coming months and years.