What Independence Day looked like at a small Utah town

The city of Morgan, nestled in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah, celebrated Independence Day with just about everything you’d expect at a small town party:

A flag-raising ceremony, a community breakfast, a parade, a street fair and fireworks. Locals also engaged in a cardboard boat regatta along the Weber River.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bruce and Nancy Goodhue, from Washington Terrace, watch the parade in Morgan on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Rick Egan/)

The city’s festivities Thursday included a special visitor: Big Boy No. 4014, which Union Pacific says is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Morgan High cheerleaders perform in the Morgan parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Rick Egan/)

Built in 1941, the giant steamer was made to undertake the rail journey between Ogden and Cheyenne, Wyoming. The engine, recently restored and now used for promotion, is making a whistle-stop tour across the West in July and leaves Salt Lake City on Saturday.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Morgan parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Rick Egan/)

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