On March 24, 1904, the Pioneer Stake was organized from a division of the Salt Lake Stake; William McLachlan, a pioneer of 1863 from Scotland, was stake's first president.
In 1930, Harold B. Lee, who would become the 11th president of the Church, was called as stake president.
The first Church welfare plan began in the Pioneer Stake when approximately half of the stake's members were unemployed and unable to find work. During President Lee's seven-year tenure, stake members provided one of the first bishop's storehouses of the new era. Stake members went into farming communities and assisted with harvest on a share basis; the produce obtained was processed, bottled and distributed on the basis of need. Out of this and other experiences in surrounding stakes came the present Church Welfare Program, and President Lee assumed Churchwide responsibilties as managing director of the Welfare Plan.
In June 1955, Bishop Thomas S. Monson, who had served as bishop of the 6th-7th Ward since 1950, was sustained as second counselor in the stake presidency.
Pioneer stake presidents: William McLachlan, 1904-1916; Sylvester Q. Cannon, 1917-1925; D.E. Hammond, 1925-1930; Harold B. Lee, 1930-1937; Paul C. Child, 1937-1946; Fred H. Peck Jr., 1946-1953; Henry A. Smith, 1953-1955; Grant M. Burbidge, 1955-1961; Gerhardt Drechsel, 1961-1971; F. David Stanley, 1971-1980; Donald W. Hemingway, 1980-1988; Rey M. Miles, 1988-1997; Tracy L. Branch, 1997-present.
