arrival as a miracle, and the story was recounted from the pulpit by church leaders such as Orson Pratt and George A. Smith (; ). The traditional story is that the seagulls annihilated the insects, ensuring the survival of some 4,000 Mormon pioneers who had traveled to Utah. For this reason, Seagull Monument was erected and the California gull is the state bird of Utah. Historical review Seagulls did come and eat many of the crickets in 1848. However, several things should be noted regarding the event, specifically regarding how common the event was and how people perceived the event at the time. Records predating the arrival of the Mormon pioneers show that various types of gulls, including the California gull, inhabited the Great Salt Lake area. These gulls fed on various insects, including crickets. Gulls regurgitate the indigestible parts of insects, similar to how an owl regurgitates pellets. While this behavior seemed strange to the pioneers, it is normal for gulls. The crickets did major damage to the crops prior to the arrival of the gulls. Then after the arrival of the gulls, even after weeks of the gulls feasting on the crickets, the crickets were still a massive problem. The damage to the crops in 1848 were due to frost, crickets, and drought, and the gulls only had a minor impact on one of those factors. There are no known records contemporary with the event which describe the event as miraculous or as a miracle. The First Presidency of the church, while mentioning the crop damage, frost, and crickets, made no mention of the gulls at all in their official summary of the first few years of the Mormons living in the Salt Lake Valley. Gulls regularly returned to feast on the crickets for years afterwards (and presumably for years before), making 1848 unremarkable. See also List of individual birds Notes References Leonard Arrington & Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience at 104 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979). . . . . . . 1848 in the United States The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah Pre-statehood history of Utah History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Natural history of Utah Christian miracles Latter Day Saint terms 1848 in Christianity Gulls 19th-century Mormonism June 1848 events Insects in religion Birds in religion