Although William Davis was the founder and early leader of the Box Elder settlement, Lorenzo Snow became its colonizer. Under his leadership, the town plat was surveyed; the community was renamed Brigham City; and homes, public buildings, and industries were built. He was the founder of the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association which became the prototype for other pioneer settlements implementing similar economic systems. He encouraged recreational and educational activities along with the spiritual development of his people. He was the political and religious leader of the community for more than 40 years.

In 1899, Lorenzo Snow was ordained President of the LDS Church and moved to Salt Lake City. After his death on October 10, 1901, and funeral in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, his body was returned to Brigham City for burial.

His remains, lying in a white coffin, were transported by special train to Brigham City. A second funeral was held in the Box Elder Tabernacle. A glassed-in hearse pulled by white horses took the body from the depot to the tabernacle and then to the cemetery. Children strewed flower petals in the path of the funeral procession as a cortege of Brigham City people followed to pay their last respects to their beloved leader.