All during its seventy-five year history, the membership of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers has been active placing monuments to mark the historic sites in the Great Basin. It is important to remember, with appreciation, the pioneers whose colonizing efforts have made these places significant. On the pages which follow, information is provided about the most prominent of these monuments. If further information is desired about any of these monuments or markers, please contact the National Headquarters of the Sons of Utah Pioneers at our toll-free number (1-866-724-1847) or local number (801-484-4441).
Other organizations dedicated to preserving pioneer history have also erected monuments and placed markers to catch our attention. One such organization was the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, organized many years ago with the late George Albert Smith (then an apostle of the LDS Church) as its president. This organization no longer exists. The Sons of Utah Pioneers has been invited to list these monuments and locations on our web site, together with those of the SUP, with the sponsorship appropriately noted.
Four hundred monuments are listed on a Utah State Government Web site. These include many of those placed by the SUP, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers,the U.S. National Park Service and other agencies. To study these, CLICK HERE.
To view brief descriptions of Monuments and Markers placed by the Sons of Utah Pioneers and UPTLA, you may select and click on one of the states listed below, then scroll to the locations in which you are interested. We encourage you and your family to visit these monuments in person, and gain a broader appreciation of the inspirational events in early pioneer history.
Quick links - Select a place name below
Arizona - California - Idaho - Illinois - Nevada
Pennsylvania - Utah - Wyoming - Greece
FREDONIA, ARIZONA
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Pipe Springs National Monument - (directional plaque)
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association & Citizens of Kanab Stake, 1933
Location: Small roadside park in Fredonia Arizona.
Fifteen miles southwest is Historic "Pipe Springs" early pioneer outpost and first Telegraph Station in Arizona.
MESA, ARIZONA
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Early Arizona Pioneers
Sponsor: Mesa Chapter, 1988
Location: Pioneer Park, 526 E. Main Street
The first settlers that came to the Mesa, Arizona area in 1878 found the remains of an irrigation system built over a thousand years earlier by the Hohokam—“those who are gone.” After eight months of hard work, the new settlers restored one of the ancient canals and water once again flowed to the new settlement. The monument statues depict the first four pioneers who entered the mesa: Francis Martin Pomeroy, Charles Crismon, George M. Sirrine and Charles I. Robson.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
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First Latter-day Saint Chapel in Phoenix
Sponsor: Salt River Valley Chapter, 1982
SAFFORD, ARIZONA
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Spencer W. Kimball Home
Sponsor: Andrew Kimball, 1982
When Andrew Kimball was called to preside over the St. Joseph Stake in 1898, church members provided ten acres on which he built an adobe and brick home in 1902. His son, Spencer W. Kimball, 12th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, lived here from age 7 until his marriage at the age of 22 to Camilla Eyring of Pima.
ST. JOHNS, ARIZONA
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Early Settlers, Salem, Arizona
Sponsor: Little Colorado River Chapter, 1987
In August of 1880, the first Mormon settlement in St. Johns, Arizona was established with D. K. Udall as the first bishop. President John Taylor charged the settlers to keep proper accounts, organize the Priesthood, collect and account for tithing's, and teach diligently. This settlement was named after the ancient biblical city of Salem where Abraham paid tithes to the great High Priest, later known as Jerusalem.
STONEMAN LAKE, ARIZONA
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Palatkwapi Trail
Sponsor: Mesa Chapter, 1991
For many centuries Native Americans used this trail as a trade route to traverse the high country from the Hopi Mesas to the Verde Valley. During the mid-1800s, the United States Army, commercial companies, mail routes used portions of this trail, along with early Mormons migrating from Utah and Idaho.
CARSON PASS, CALIFORNIA
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Melissa Coray Peak
Sponsor: Sierra Chapter, 1993
The United States Board of Geographic Names, in October, 1993, named a 9,763-foot peak in the Sierra Nevada mountains in honor of Melissa Coray, the wife of Mormon Battalion Sergeant William Coray. Sergeant Coray was among the 45 Battalion men who blazed the “highway” through Carson pass, about 50 miles southwest of present-day Carson City, Nevada. Melissa had signed on as a laundress and was assigned with her husband to the Mormon Battalion Company B.
COLOMA, CALIFORNIA
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Mormon Worker’s Cabin: Gold Discovery Site
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1972 -
Nathanial (Nathan) Hawk
Sponsor: Sierra Chapter, 1977
Location: Coloma Pioneer Cemetery
Born in 1823, Nathan Hawk was a member of Co. B of the U.S. Mormon Battalion and was known as a “Rider of the California Star Express.” He carried the message of the“Gold strike” to the east where it eventually spread around the world. He died in 1910 in Coloma, California.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
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Mormon Lumber Road
Sponsor: Glendora Chapter, 1991
Location: 50 miles from Glendora off Highway 18 towards Crestline & Arrowhead Lake
In the spring of 1852, over one hundred Mormon men constructed a road up Waterman Canyon, past this marker spot, and into prime timber, where six sawmills were established by 1854. The lumber hauled over this road was used to build San Bernardino and were sometimes called “Mormon Banknotes.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
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Mormon Battalion
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1968
Location: Presidio Park, Old Town, San Diego.
This famous monument commemorates the arrival in Southern California of the 500 members of the Mormon Battalion, at the conclusion of their 2,000 mile trek from Council Bluffs Iowa, in support of the United States’ war with Mexico in 1847. This trek is reputed to be the longest sustained military march in history. Recruited from the ranks of struggling Mormon Pioneers as they made their way west, many of the men left their families to travel alone over the trackless prairies. Brigham Young’s prophetic promise of safety, if they would keep the Lord’s commandments, was completely fulfilled, as the Battalion was never involved in hostilities and none lost their lives in the war to which they had been enlisted.
SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
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Mormon Emigrant Trail
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1974
SYCAMORE VALLEY RANCH, CALIFORNIA
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1st Camp of Pioneers in California
Sponsor: Southern California, 1962
DOWNEY, IDAHO
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Captain Charles Jefferson Hunt
Sponsors: Descendants of Captain Hunt and the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1950
Location: Eight miles south of Downey, Idaho at Redrock Pass
Charles Jefferson Hunt was born in Kentucky 20 January 1804. During the exodus of members of the LDS Church from Illinois, he enlisted in the Mormon Battalion and served as Captain of Company “A” and as assistant executive officer, in the historic march of the Battalion from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California, 1846-47. Under appointment by President Brigham Young in 1851, Captain Hunt was guide for the Mormon pioneers who settled in San Bernardino, California.. His pioneer service included also helping to settle Provo, Parowan and Huntsville, (which bears his name) in Utah, and Oxford, Idaho. A convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was loyal, obedient and faithful to the end. He died in Idaho 11 May 1879.
EAGLE ROCK, IDAHO
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Steam Engine
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 2001
FORT HALL
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Fort Hall – An Indian Trading Post
Sponsors: Eastern Idaho Area Boy Scouts of America, and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1932
Location: Just south of the town of Fort Hall on Hwy. 91, on the Oregon Trail.
The first habitation in this region was a fort built by Nathaniel J. Wyeth on the Snake River, fourteen miles west of this monument, July 15 – August 4, 1834. It was named for Henry Hall, senior member of Wyeth’s firm. The original stockade was eighty feet square. It was purchased by Hudson’s Bay Company in 1837 and rebuilt with adobe walls and substantial roofs, becoming an important station on the California – Oregon Trail. The trappers abandoned the fort it about 1856.
IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO
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Idaho Falls LDS Hospital
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 1990
Location: Near the Snake River in downtown Idaho Falls, near the corner of Memorial Drive and Riverside Drive. GPS N 43 degrees 29 minutes 50.14 seconds, W 112 degrees 02 minutes, 29.79 seconds.
Construction of this hospital commenced in 1919, though completion was delayed because of a depressed economy. As an LDS Church facility, it was dedicated by Church President Heber J. Grant, on 22 October 1923. The school of nursing was essential in the operation of the hospital, the third floor being residence for the student nurses. The hospital is remembered for compassionate service to all people of the Upper Snake River Valley, regardless of race and religion. After the Church divested its ownership in April 1975, it continued serving the community under names of Idaho Falls Hospital and Riverview Hospital until December 1968. The monument is built of bricks from the original building.
LINCOLN, IDAHO FALLS
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Old Steam Engine
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 2001
Location: Evans Grain and Elevator Coop
A grand relic of Pioneer days.
PARIS, IDAHO
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Charles Coulson Rich, 1809 - 1883
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, The Citizens of Bear Lake Valley, and his Descendants, 1937; Refurbished by LDS Church, 2006
Location: Tabernacle Square, on the south side of the Historic Tabernacle.
Charles C. Rich was a Pioneer builder of the west. Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion. Alderman of the City of Nauvoo, in the time of Joseph Smith. Pioneer of Utah, 1847. Chairman of the first committee to organize civil government in the Rocky Mountains. Colonizer of San Bernardino Valley, California in 1851. First Mayor of San Bernardino City. Member of the Utah Territorial Legislature for many years. Colonizer of Bear Lake Valley, 1863, where he lived and died. Husband of six wives and father of fifty children. Friend of the Indians, humanitarian, Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for thirty-four years. One of God's Noblemen.
PRESTON, IDAHO
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Battle of Bear River – Bear River Massacre
Sponsor: Franklin County Chapter, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers; Cache Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America; and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1932
Location: Highway 91 NW of Preston about 3 miles, at the intersection with Hot Springs Road, and ¼ mile after crossing the Bear River.
GPS: N 42 degrees, 08 minutes, 26.88 seconds; W 111 degrees, 54 minutes, 40.38 seconds, elevation 4495 ft.
This monument is a rock structure, with plaques on each side, and a miniature Teepee on the top. One plaque is by the Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and others (above - 1932). Another plaque is by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (1953), and another by the National Park Service (1990). The fourth plaque is missing. There are other explanatory signs nearby by other organizations.
The Battle of Bear River, as it was called, and later designated as the Bear River Massacre, was fought in this vicinity January 29, 1863. Col. P. E. Connors, led 300 California Volunteers from Camp Douglas, Utah, against Bannock and Shoshone Indians, who had been blamed for hostile attacks on emigrants and settlers. Although exact numbers differ, more than 400 Indians were trapped and destroyed in battle as they occupied a winter camp that offered ideal protection in Battle Creek Canyon. They suffered a military disaster unmatched in western history, when Connor's Force struck at daybreak. 250 to 300 Indians were killed, including 90 women and children, and lodges were burned. Very few Indians survived, not only the battle but also the cold.
REXBURG, IDAHO
Early Rexburg
Sponsor: Upper Snake River Valley Chapter, 2001
Location: 51 N. Center
This marker shows a map of the original street plan for the Rexburg settlement, locating the homes of the first settlers and other historical buildings.-
Tabernacle
Sponsor: Upper Snake River Valley Chapter, 2001
Location: 51 N. Center
SHELLY, IDAHO
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Lorenzo S. Young Monument
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 2003
Location: North Bingham County Park
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Historic Covered Wagon Display
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 2005
Location: North Bingham County Historical Park, 587 E. 1250 N. Shelley, ID 83274
GPS: N 43º 22´ 18.44", W 112º 10´.96"
This is a restored covered wagon typical in historic times, placed among other historic artifacts and buildings. -
Historic Sheep Camp Display
Sponsor: Eagle Rock Chapter, 2006
Location: North Bingham County Historical Park, 587 East 1250 North, Shelley, Idaho.
GPS: N 43º 22.343´, W 112º 10.008´
During the early years of sheep ranching, the sheep camp was pulled by two horses and sometimes in the steep areas, four horses were needed. It had the cook box and originally a wood burning stove. The Thompson Sheep Company owned the wagon, and the Eagle Rock SUP Chapter, with much difficulty, restored it to its original condition and it was donated to the North Bingham County Historical Park. Sheep ranching was an important part of Idaho history, and it was a part of the Thompson family history for many years until 1985 when they turned to cattle ranching. Allen and Lorene Thompson wanted it to be an educational tool.
NAUVOO, ILLANOIS
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Nauvoo Flag Pole
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1978
Location: At the west end of Parley's Street, near the Mississippi River, adjacent to the memorial kiosk.
On August 19, 1978, the Sons of Utah Pioneers donated a flag pole at Nauvoo with the inscription at the base of the pole: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” (Alma 46:12).
NEW SALEM, ILLINOIS
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Abraham Lincoln, Frontiersman
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1951
Dr. Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was the sculptor for this larger-than-life bronze statue, which became known as “Abraham Lincoln, Frontiersman.” The outline of this statue of Lincoln was chosen to appear on the new Illinois state quarter.
GENOA, NEVADA
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Genoa Mormon Station
Sponsor: Sierra Chapter, 1991 -
Genoa First Cabin
Sponsor: Sierra Chapter, 1992
WALLACE, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
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Mormon Hollow
Sponsor: Ogden Pioneer Chapter, 2005
CLICK ON A COUNTY BELOW TO SKIP TO THAT SECTION.
Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Garfield, Iron, Juab, Kane, Morgan, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, Weber
BEAVER, UTAH
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Fort Cameron
Sponsor: Beaver Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association
Location: 200 South Main Street
Fort Cameron was located two miles east of the city of Beaver. Established as the Post of Beaver, May 25, 1872 by Eighth U.S. Infantry, Major John D. Wilkins commanding. The military reservation, declared May 12, 1873, comprised two and two-thirds square miles. The name was changed July 1, 1874 to Fort Cameron, in honor of Col. James Cameron, who fell July 21, 1861 at the Battle of Bull Run. The post was abandoned May 1, 1883 and the improvements sold to John R. Murdock and Phiilo T. Farnsworth. The Beaver Branch of the Brigham Young Academy (later Brigham Young University) was conducted there from 1898 to 1922. -
Lee's Ranch Indian Raid
Sponsor: Beaver Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1936
Location: 1300 South Main
Hostile Indians raided a small settlement in this vicinity October 27, 1866, centering their attack on the house where Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Lee, their two daughters and 8 year old son, a young Miss Hall and Joseph Lillywhite were barricaded. During the daylong battle, Lillywhite was seriously wounded. Lee killed three Indians, and the house was badly damaged, partly by firebrands. Miss Hall and the 8-year-old Lee son escaped and secretly journeyed by separate trails to Beaver to give the alarm. Militiamen were organized and sent to the rescue, but found the Indians had departed.
RURAL LOCATIONS
WASHAKIE, UTAH
Sagwitch Timbimboo, Shoshone Chief
Sponsor: Ogden Pioneer Chapter, 1963
Location: Old Washakie Townsite cemetery. North on I-15 to exit 392; left under freeway, then right (north) on frontage road to 24000 North. Then left (west) through settlement of Washakie to 8600 West 24000 North. Turn left only 50 feet, then right (west) about one-fourth mile to cemetery. Marker is in NW quadrant of cemetery, Indian section.
GPS: N 41° 56' 44.58", W 112° 14' 03.01".
Chief Sagwitch Timbimboo was born 1822 near the present site of Bear River City, Utah, and was baptized into the LDS Church August, 1875. He was one of the few survivors of the battle of the Bear River (also known as the Bear River Massacre) in January 1863. He was the grandfather of Moroni Timbimboo, who served as bishop of the LDS Washakie Ward 1939 to 1945. He died March 20, 1884.
BEAR RIVER CITY
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James Bridger 1804 – 1881
Sponsors: Bear River Chapter of Future Farmers of America and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1932
Early western fur trapper, frontiersman, scout and guide. To settle a wager among the trappers who were making their first winter rendezvous in Cache Valley, Bridger floated alone in a bull boat down Bear River to its outlet to determine the river’s course in the late autumn or early winter of 1824, thus making the original discovery of Great Salt Lake. But believing he had discovered a salty arm of the Pacific Ocean, he halted en route at such view points as the site of this monument, to reconnoiter.
BRIGHAM CITY, UTAH
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Box Elder Academy of Music and Dancing
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1903
Location: 62 North Main
Built in 1903, the elegant two-story building had an upper floor for dancing and an open air pavilion on the ground floor. Brothers Christian and Peter Christensen ran the Academy and offered dance instruction and ballroom dancing. Three of Christians’s sons—William, Harold, and Lew—studied at the Academy and later became national figures in the ballet world. -
Box Elder Fort
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1992
Location: 280 North 200 West (behind Lincoln Center), Brigham City.
In July 1853 Brigham Young ordered the people settled in the Brigham City vicinity to construct another fort to provide protection from the Indians. The Indian danger soon abated and a survey and a plat of the city was made in 1855 to allow settlers to move from the fort. -
Brigham City Archway Sign
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 50 South Main Street, Brigham City.
The Brigham City Archway was built in 1928 at a cost of $2,400, most of which came from citizen donations. The finished sign measured 9 by 33 feet and was embellished with more than 350 electrical lights. The sign was replicated with newer materials in 1984.
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Brigham City, a Co-op Town
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1995
Location: Brigham Young Park, West Forest Street, Brigham City.
Under the leadership of Elder Lorenzo Snow, Brigham City was the first important Mormon community to organize cooperative activity under the system of the United Order of 1874. Approximately 30–40 industry branches were established with the aim of producing and manufacturing what they consumed and used. The Co-op operated over 15 years from 1864–1880. -
Brigham City Co-op Store
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: The corner of Main & Forest Streets (Now Wells Fargo Bank), Brigham City.
Built in 1890, the mercantile store was the last building constructed from the Brigham City Co-op. Three years after the store opened, a fire destroyed the business a year before the cooperative organization closed. First Security Bank bought the building on July 29, 1942. -
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Brigham City Tabernacle (Box Elder Tabernacle)
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1988
Location: 200 South Main Street, Brigham City.
In 1865, Brigham Young directed Elder Lorenzo Snow to build a tabernacle for conferences in the Box Elder Stake on "Sagebrush Hill." The cornerstone was laid on May 9, 1865, and President Wilford Woodruff dedicated the finished building in 1890. Later a fire gutted the tabernacle, and the reconstruction included elegant woodwork, a distinctive gothic-revival tower, and sixteen graceful pinnacles. The tabernacle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. -
Bushnell Hospital/Intermountain Indian School
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: Entrance at 400 East 700 South Street, Brigham City.
In 1942, Bushnell General Hospital was built in Brigham City to treat World War II wounded. The hospital closed in 1946 after 13,000 army personnel were treated. In 1950, the Bureau of Indian Affairs converted the Bushnell facility to a boarding school for Navajo children until its closure in 1984. -
Davis Fort
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 700 North 400 West Street, Brigham City.
Soon after the first white families settled at Box Elder, a fort was built in 1851 to protect themselves from Shoshone Indian attacks. The fort, named after their leader, William Davis, consisted of a row of simple log cabins and was abandoned in the spring of 1852. -
First Ward Meeting House
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 311 South 100 East Street, Brigham City.
Built in 1884-1886, the First Ward Meeting House is the oldest church still standing in Brigham City. It was made of stone, and a wooden recreation hall was later added to form a T with the main building. -
Grist Mill
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 200 North 400 East, Brigham City.
Built in 1856, this flour mill was the first industrial building in Brigham City. John H. Bott purchased the mill in 1890 for his stone cutting and monument company, which has continued as a family business through four generations of Botts. -
Lorenzo Snow Burial Site
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1985
Location: Brigham City Cemetery
Lorenzo Snow joined the Church in June 1836. Captain of his wagon company, he crossed the plains and arrived in the Valley in 1848. He was called to preside over the colonization of Brigham City. He was ordained an apostle of the LDS Church in 1849, and later served as a councilor to Brigham Young. His service as President of the Church began in 1898 at age 84, and continued until his death on October 10, 1901.” -
Old City Hall/Fire Station
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: Main Street at City Center, Brigham City.
The first city hall was built in Brigham City in 1909. The building originally housed the fire department, city offices, a jail cell in the southeast corner and “hobo apartments” in the basement. It was remodeled in 1935 and served as city hall until 1974. -
Pioneer Care Center
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter, 1989
Location: 800 South 200 West, Brigham City.
The Pioneer Care Center plaque commemorates the sacrifice, commitment, and charity of all the generations who have lived in Brigham City. -
Planing Mill
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: Forest Street and 600 East, Brigham City.
James Pett built the planing mill in 1875 for the Brigham City Co-op and produced cabinetry, furniture and square nails. After the Co-op closed, John Finley Merrell bought the planing mill, and has been operated by four generations of the Merrell Family. -
Relief Society Granary
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 100 North 400 East, Brigham City.
The granary was built in 1877 by the Brigham City Co-op to store wheat for the needy, collected by the Relief Society. -
Tithing Office
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 64 South 100 West, Brigham City.
Early Church members brought goods instead of cash to contribute one-tenth of their earnings as tithing. The Brigham City Tithing Office, built in 1877, had storage rooms for perishable goods and a rock wall around the acre yard for animals received as tithing. -
Union Pacific Depot
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: West Forest Street, near RR tracks, Brigham City.
The depot, built in 1907, served thousands of train passengers, handled shipments of coal, locally grown produce, and mail. During World War II, a track was installed between the depot and Brigham City's Bushnell Military Hospital for transporting wounded servicemen and medical supplies. -
Woolen Mill
Sponsor: Box Elder Chapter
Location: 56 North 500 East Street, Brigham City.
The Brigham City Co-op woolen mill was built in 1869, and by 1877 produced $42,000 worth of wool in 44 weeks. After the co-op closed, James Baron bought the mill, renamed it Baron Woolen Mills, and operated the mill until it was sold outside the family in 1988.
COLLINSTON, UTAH
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Hampton Ford Crossing
Sponsor: Golden Spike & Box Elder Chapters, 1957
Location: Off highway 30 near junction of highway 38, 1.3 miles from Collinston, Utah.
GPS: 41° 47' 207" N by 112° 06' 340" W.
Approximately five miles downstream from the mouth of the canyon where the Bear River enters the Bear River Valley is located a ford where Indians, trappers, and early, explorers crossed the river. As routes became better established, more and more travelers crossed the Bear River ford and by 1853 Ben Hampton and William Godbe operated the ferry to aid in the crossings. Eventually traffic became too great for the ferry and in 1859 the first bridge over the Bear River was constructed. A hotel and other buildings were built near the crossing to accommodate travelers. In 1904 the rails reached Malad and traffic through the Hampton crossing declined. The station remains one of the best preserved of all stage stops in the Old West.
HONEYVILLE, UTAH
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Call’s Fort
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and members and friends of the Call family, 1933
Location: Highway 38 south of Honeyville, Utah
This monument marks the S. E. corner of a fort built by Anson Call and associates in 1855 under direction of President Brigham Young, as protection against Indians. The fort was the most northerly outpost in Utah. It was 120 feet square, with walls 8 feet high and 3 feet thick, built of rock, part of which is in this monument. The circular stones were taken from one of the first burr flour mills built in northern Utah in 1852, owned by Omer and Homer Call. The three Call brothers were early pioneers and builders of Northern Utah.
RURAL LOCATIONS
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Temple Fork Sawmill
Sponsor: Temple Fork Chapter, 1993
Location: Logan Canyon at Junction of Highway 89 and Temple Fork Road
The Temple Fork Sawmill began operation in 1876 and ran until 1884. It produced more than 2.5 million board feet of lumber, some of which was used to construct the Logan Temple. It also produced 21,000 railroad ties, 90,000 laths, 2 million shingles, 50,000 pickets, broom handles, and charcoal.
HYRUM, UTAH
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The Great Fur Cache
Sponsors: Boy Scouts and Explorer Scouts of Cache Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1938
Location: 30 West Center Street. Hyrum, Utah
This monument was erected to commemorate an important episode in the early history of the west, and to honor the scouts and explorers of early days. In this vicinity in the winter of 1825-26, a cache containing 75 bales of furs, mostly beaver, with a value estimated at $150,000 was made by James Bridger, Jedidiah Strong Smith, William L. Sublette and others, who had come west with General W. H. Ashley. Later most of the furs were taken by pack train and water to fur markets at St. Louis.
LOGAN, UTAH
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Birthplace of Pioneer Pilot Russell L. Maughan
Sponsor: Temple Fork Chapter, 1990
Location: 133 East Center St., Logan
Russell’s grandfather, Peter Maughan, crossed the plains with the Mormon exodus, and later founded the first settlement in Cache Valley, now Wellsville. Russell served as a fighter pilot in France in World War I and a colonel in the Eighth Air Force in Britain in World War II. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. On June 23, 1924 he became the first person to fly coast to coast in the United States in one day, from dawn to dark. This flight was from Miller Field in New York to Crissy Field in San Francisco. -
Cache Valley
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and Logan City Welfare Committee 1931
Location: 50 North Main, on the LDS Tabernacle Grounds.
James Bridger led the first trappers to a winter encampment near here in 1824. Known to the Indians as Willow Valley, Cache Valley was renamed by fur trappers and traders in the winter of 1825 - 1826. Towards December 1825, William Sublette, in charge of Gen. William H. Ashley's mountain men, ordered many of the season's furs cached in this vicinity. Those interested in the furs, awaited General Ashley's merchandise caravan of 1826. Similar caravans in subsequent years, involved William I. Sublette, James Bridger, Jedediah S. Smith, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Etienne Provost, Robert Campbell, James P. Beckworth, David E. Jackson, Louis Vasquez, Jean Baptiste Gervais, Moses Harris, and many others. -
First Community Center
Sponsors: Explorer Scouts of the Logan Fifth Ward and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1935
Location: 480 North 400 East, Logan, Utah
The first community center of the Logan Fifth Ward was built thirty feet east of this spot during the winter of 1865-66, under the leadership of Bengt P. Woolfenstein. Consisting of but one room 16 by 20 feet, it served nevertheless as Church building, amusement hall and school house, William G. Cole being the first teacher. At that early date, eager for religious, social and educational growth, the Ward united upon the project -- a humble symbol of the cooperative spirit of the Mormon Pioneer. Even boys of school age helped men with teams get the logs from Green Canyon. The original key has been made a part of this marker, affixed to a stone from the foundation of the old house. -
First Settlers of Logan
Sponsor: Citizens of Logan, May 6, 1909 - the tablet was provided by Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1932
Location: 50 North Main, on the LDS Tabernacle grounds.
The first settlers of Logan encamped near this spot on the bank of the Little Logan River early in May 1859. Heads of families are listed on the tablet, in memory of these pioneers and others who followed during that year. -
Logan Temple Marker
Sponsor: Temple Fork Chapter, 1984
SMITHFIELD, UTAH
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Ira Merrill Smithfield Park
Sponsor: Smithfield Chapter, 1958
Returning from the hills east of Smithfield with a load of brush, Ira Merrill was killed in 1860 by indians. Hostilities between the indians and the pioneers began near the site of this marker.
BOUNTIFUL, UTAH
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Original Gristmill Stones
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, 1990
Location: 905 South Orchard Drive. (Corner of Orchard Dr. and Mill St.)
Under the leadership of Heber C. Kimball, the North Canyon Ward erected a flourmill that began operation in the fall of 1853. For a number of years, all baptisms in Bountiful took place in the mill pond excavated on the south side of the mill. During the excavation of a Davis County debris catch basin, the two original gristmill stones were uncovered -- still in good condition. They are on display with this monument next to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers' replica of the old mill. -
Daniel Davis
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, Bountiful Centennial Committee and Lloyd Davis Family, 1992
Location: 905 South Orchard Drive, at the site of the original Gristmill.
Daniel Davis was born in Massachusetts, and as a young man traveled to Nauvoo, where he was converted to the LDS Church, and adopted into the Heber C. Kimball family. When the Saints left Nauvoo, Heber C. Kimball assigned Davis to assist in building Winter Quarters, at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He reached Salt Lake Valley in 1848. Heber C. Kimball desired to erect a flour mill. Davis cleared the land, laid a cornerstone, and upon completion assumed management of the mill. The three-story mill was then the largest in Utah Territory. -
George Quinn McNeil
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, Bountiful Centennial Committee and Roy McNeil family, 1992
Location: 905 South Orchard Drive, at the site of the original Gristmill
George Quinn McNeil was born in Bountiful, Utah, and lived on the family farm on the southeast side of Bountiful City. He assisted Daniel Davis at the grist mill located on this site. McNeil captured bears in the mountains above Bountiful City, which were trained to do work around the mill and also taught to pull McNeil's wagon. -
Heber C. Kimball
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, Bountiful Centennial Committee and the Heber C. Kimball family organization, 1992
Location: 905 South Orchard Drive , at the site of the original Gristmill
Heber C. Kimball was born in Vermont in 1801. He was converted to the LDS Church in 1832, and was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835. He led the first missionary thrust to England during the 1830's, which resulted in much Church growth. He arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with the first group of Mormon pioneers. In December 1847, he became Brigham Young's first counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS Church . By 1849 he had become the first chief justice of the provisional State of Deseret , and the State's lieutenant governor, and was involved in many important events in the Utah Territory and the Church. Kimball owned property and had family at this site. He felt a need for a flour mill in an area dominated by grain production, and decided to build here. Water to run the mill was stored in a pond that was excavated on its south side. Kimball died on June 22, 1868 in Salt Lake City . -
Jeremiah Willey Cabin
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, 2001
Location: Seventh South and Main (Bountiful City Park)
Jeremiah Willey migrated to Bountiful in 1851. He built this log cabin in 1854. Later it became home for his descendants and other families, and underwent several additions. A later owner built around the original cabin and expanded the size of the home. Later, the home was donated to the South Davis Hospital . As the structure was being torn down, the cabin walls were found behind lath and plaster. The only visible part of the cabin had been a painted log and mortar portion. In reality, the cabin had been encased in a time-capsule for the past half century. In 1992 Bountiful City moved the cabin to the city park, and the Bountiful area Daughters of Utah Pioneers provided the furnishings. In 1868 Jeremiah Willey was accidentally drowned while crossing Barton Creek by his home, and is buried next to his wife, Samantha Call, in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. -
Marriott Ward
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, 1989
CENTERVILLE, UTAH
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Centerville Pioneer Monument
Sponsor: Centerville Chapter, 1994
Location: 300 North Main (West side of Founder's Park).
This monument was dedicated to the faith, sacrifice, and deeds of the early settlers of Centerville. Their memory is revered with profound gratitude. Sculptured by Dee Jay Bawden, the monument is placed atop a five-foot base made of cement and faced with stone. In loving detail the monument depicts a pioneer family typical of the early pioneers of Centerville, whose suffering, diligence, and faith in the cause that brought them here made this a choice land. On the front of the base is a plaque, "Memorial to Centerville Pioneers," giving some of the early history of Centerville. A second plaque on the back of the base entitled, "Our Heritage," continues the early history of Centerville. On the sides of the base are plaques listing names of pioneers and others honored through contributions used to build the monument. -
Grist Mill, Anson Call
Sponsor: Centerville Chapter, 2000
Location: 610 East 100 South (by flood control basin on Centerville Creek).
GPS: N 40°; 54' 58.4" W 111° 52' 8.5"
In 1854, Anson Call of Bountiful erected a Grist Mill on the south side of Deuel Creek just southeast of this marker. The mill was a three-story building made from Centerville Canyon rock, with the machinery on the top floor. The miller kept a portion of the grain as his pay. The power to turn the grinding wheels was generated by water flowing down Deuel Creek, which ran from two holding ponds on the hillside above the mill and then to a water wheel that turned the drive shaft. The larger pond also served as a baptismal font, for swimming and winter ice production. The mill was demolished in 1944. -
Founders Park
Sponsor: Centerville Chapter
Location: Centerville, Utah 300 North Main -
Our Heritage, Centerville
This monument is dedicated to their faith, sacrifice, and deeds of the early settlers of Centerville, and their memory is revered with profound gratitude. -
Memorial to Centerville Pioneers
FARMINGTON, UTAH
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Pioneer Village
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1961
Location: Pioneer Village at Lagoon
Original 1857 Pioneers, first location on Conner St.
RURAL LOCATIONS
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Civilian Conservation Corps Camp FS-18
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter, 2001
Location: Twelve miles NW from Escalante, Utah, near Posey Lake
During the Great Depression, Congress passed a bill for the U.S. government to hire unemployed men for public works on state and federal lands. Better known by the initials CCC, Camp FS-18 operated during1933–34 and built a road from Blue Spring Ridge to Hell's Backbone, down the mountain and through Salt Gulch into Boulder, linking the two towns. The remarkable Hell's Backbone bridge stands today as one of the major accomplishments of Camp FS-18 of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
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CCC Camp FS-42
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter, 2001
Location: One mile east from Escalante, at “The Spring.”
Camp FS-42 operated from 1935–41 and built the road via Calf Creek between Escalante and Boulder. Taking five years to complete and cutting through sandrock ledges 40 feet deep and 80 feet long, this road became known as the “million-dollar road to Boulder.”
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CCC Camp FS-44 – Posey Lake
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter, 2001
Location: From Escalante, fourteen miles north in Pine Canyon, one mile south of Posey Lake, at “Aspen Grove.”
Camp FS-44 operated from 1935–41 and built the road over the Boulder Mountain between Boulder and Bicknell. They also built the Blue Spruce and Posey Lake campgrounds including an amphitheater, fire pits, piped in water, picnic tables and latrine.
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CCC Camp 211 – Main Canyon
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter, 2001
Location: Twelve miles west of Escalante at Water Canyon in Main Canyon
This camp was also known as Widstoe Camp, due to its mailing address. It was in operation for only one year. It was staffed mostly by young men from the slums of New York City. The projects were mainly soil erosion prevention and flood control. A dam was begun, but finished by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
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Dance Hall Rock
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1959
Location: Approximately forty miles SE of Escalante, Utah, along the road to the “Hole in the Rock.”
The San Juan Expedition to settle the Bluff area took a route stopping at various springs, about a day's journey apart, from Escalante toward Hole-in-the-Rock. One of the most noted springs was Forty-mile Spring. About a mile and a half before reaching Forty-mile Spring and Camp, was a place called Dance Hall Rock. This huge sandstone formation is so constructed as to constitute a large amphitheater with a relatively smooth floor. Pioneers of the Forty-mile camp held dances at the “Hall” and thus gave it its name. With three fiddlers in the company to supply music, several pleasant evenings must have been spent in this way. (reproduced from the book “Hole In The Rock” by David E. Miller, U. of U. Press 1959, 1966.)
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Historical Event
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter, 2006
Location: About twelve miles NW of Escalante, beyond the Blue Spruce Campground.
Near this spot on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 1939, a young mother froze to death, sacrificing her life to save her four-month old infant daughter.
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Hole-in-the-Rock Crossing
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and SUP Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter.
Location: 60 miles southeast by unimproved road from Escalante, Utah, or 28 miles northeast by boat from Bullfrog Marina.
GPS: N. 37° 15', 23.32" W. 110° 54' 01.71" elevation 4332 ft.
This monument was originally located at the edge of the Colorado River, but was moved to the top of the gorge by the SUP Hole in the Rock chapter when Lake Powell was created in 1963. Mormon Pioneers, from settlements in southern Utah to San Juan Valley in southeastern Utah, crossed the Colorado River at “Hole-in-the-Rock on January 16, 1880. During the winter of 1879-80 six weeks had been required to blast and construct the ¾ mile “road” down the cleft from the top of the gorge to the river. During construction, men were lowered in barrels to hand-drill and place powder charges. During the descent, with wagon wheels “ruff-locked” the hubs scratched deep scars in the rock walls. Eighty wagons plunged and skidded down the “impossible” cleft and ferried the river here. The ascent up the other side, over steep, slick rocks was equally difficult and hazardous, and the long trek over trackless desert to their new home was equally exhausting. A total of 250 men, women and children were in the party, and hundreds of horses and cattle. No wagons were lost and no one was seriously injured. This route from the Four Corners area of Utah, through the Hole-in-the-Rock, was used by early settlers for several years thereafter.
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Sixty Mile Trail -- Escalante to Hole-in-the-Rock
Sponsor: Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter 2005
Location: Southeast from Escalante, Utah.
Mileage Markers – 4x4 posts with the back end of a covered wagon on each -- are placed along this famous road to the Colorado River. The route was followed by the Mormon “San Juan Expedition” as they journeyed toward Bluff, San Juan County, Utah in 1879-80. The rough graveled road traverses a portion of the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument.
RURAL LOCATIONS
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The Dominguez and Escalante Expedition
Sponsor: Refurbished by Cedar City SUP Chapter, 1988
Location: 4.5 miles west of Cedar City on Hwy 56, on north side of highway.
On July 29, 1776, Catholic Fathers Dominguez and Escalante led an exploration party of ten horsemen from Santa Fe, New Mexico to establish an overland route to Monterey, California. As the Padres traveled along the Beaver River in early October, they were unable to find a passage through the mountains. Their Indian guide had deserted them to return home. With supplies running low they realized that they were now at the mercy of winter storms. But some members of their party were reluctant to give up their hopes of reaching California. In order to restore unity they searched God’s will by casting lots, and the result was a decision to return to Santa Fe. Escalante was greatly impressed with the possibility of settlements in Cedar Valley. Although the explorers never reached California, they covered some 2,000 miles of challenging terrain, adding greatly to the knowledge of the geography of the American Southwest, the potential for settlement and the native inhabitants. -
Mountain Meadow Massacre
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and the people of Southern Utah, 1932. Monument Re-dedicated 1990, marker removed in 1999.
Location: 8.5 miles south of the city of Enterprise, Utah, on Hiway 18.
GPS: N 37° 28' 823" W 113° 37' 845" elevation 5847 ft.
This plaque is now in the LDS Museum of Church History and Arts. It was moved when the monument on which it was mounted, was replaced by a new one. The plaque reads: MOUNTAIN MEADOWS, a favorite recruiting [resting] place on the old Spanish Trail. In this vicinity, September 7 - 11, 1857, occurred one of the most lamentable tragedies in the annals of the west. A company of about 140 Arkansas and Missouri emigrants led by Captain Charles Fancher, enroute to California, was attacked by white men and Indians. All but 17, being small children, were killed. John D. Lee, who confessed participation as a leader, was legally executed here March 23, 1877. Most of the emigrants were buried in their own defense pits. -
Old Irontown
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and Members of Parowan Stake, 1936.
Location: Old Irontown State Park, twenty miles west of Cedar City on Highway 56.
Established in 1868 by Ebenezer Hanks and other organizers of the Great Western Iron Manufacturing Co., a cooperative enterprise. Officers were Ebenezer Hanks, President, Homer Duncan, Vice President, Seth M. Blair, Secretary. A railroad was moved here from Nevada to haul coal from Cedar Canyon to "Little Pinto" the name given to this townsite. Eight hundred pounds of iron of good quality was produced each 8 hours, the plant running day and night. The enterprise was taken over in 1883 by the Iron Manufacturing Co. of Utah with George Q. Cannon, President, Thomas Taylor, Vice President and manager, John C. Cutler, secretary.
CEDAR CITY, UTAH
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Cedar Fort
Sponsor: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Monument rebuilt by SUP Cedar City Chapter, 1992
Location: At the Old Iron Mission Fort, Cedar City, Utah.
GPS: N 37° 41' 17.02? W 113° 05' 05.30?
in November 1851, thirty-five men from Parowan settled Cedar City. A unique temporary encampment composed of their wagon boxes and sagebrush walls sheltered them through the first winter. In 1853, a fort 100 rods square was built on this site. Its walls were three feet wide at the base, nine feet high, and one foot wide on top. It covered sixty-three acres. A City Plat of 120 lots was laid out inside the walls. This monument stands on the southwest corner of the fort, beside the John D. Lee gate. A large block of iron ore from the iron mines west of the city is located next to the monument. -
Ellen Pucell Unthank
Sponsor: Cedar City Chapter, 1991
Location: 400 West 200 South.
Ellen (Nellie) Pucell was born November 6, 1846 in Tintwhistle, England. At 9 she, with her parents and sister Margaret (Maggie), 14, began the trek from Iowa to Salt Lake Valley in 1856 with the Edward Martin Handcart Company. Early snows overtook the company. Both Nellie’s parents died on the trail. Nellie’s feet were frozen. On arrival in Salt Lake Valley, she was strapped to a board. No anesthetics were available. Both her legs were amputated just below the knee with a butcher’s knife and carpenter’s saw. For the rest of her life she moved about on the painful stubs of her legs. At 24 in Cedar City she became the plural wife of William Unthank. She gave birth to 6 children. Her bishop and Relief Society occasionally brought food to her family. To even the score, once a year she and her children cleaned the meeting house throughout. Nellie died at 65 in Cedar City. -
The Founders and Old Sorrel Statue
Sponsor: Cedar City Chapter, 1986
Location: 351 W. Center St.
The first State Legislature following Utah’s statehood authorized a branch of the state’s teacher training school to be located in Cedar City. On January 5, 1898, a group left Cedar City for a saw mill 35 miles away to cut logs for the new building. The men worked in 40 degree-temperatures and their first attempt to return to Cedar City was engulfed by a record snow storm. An old Sorrel horse, placed out at the vanguard of the party, is credited with saving the expedition by walking into the drifts, pushing and straining against the snow, throwing himself into the drifts again and again until they gave way. He would pause for a rest, sitting down on his haunches the way a dog does, and then start again. It took two and a half days to get a load of logs down from the mountain tops to Cedar City. -
The Founders’ Rescue Wagon
Sponsor: Southern Utah University and Cedar City Chapter, 1986
Location: Near Sharwin Smith Student Center, SUU campus.
The group of men intent on hauling out the lumber from Heber Jenson’s Saw Mill, had to abandon the lumber due to the heavy snow. Five men remained on the mountain to dig out the wagons while others returned to town for help. Digging through the drifts, the men worked their way home and arrived in Cedar City on January 11, with the first load of lumber. The Branch Normal School had been rescued. This recently restored original wagon was one of several used to haul logs from the forest to the saw mill. -
The Old Iron Foundry
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and the Chamber of Commerce of Cedar City, 1933
Location: 250 North Main in Cedar City Park.
The iron foundry, erected by direction of Brigham Young in 1851-2 one block north of this monument, produced the first iron manufactured west of the Mississippi River. Thirty-five men, the founders of Cedar City, constructed and operated the blast furnace. They established the first mining camp in Utah a few miles west of here, from which they procured the iron ore. The foundry was operated for 8 years at a cost of $1,000,000. Ore used in this monument was hauled here from the mines by pioneer workers. The pig iron bars in this structure were made by them. -
The Old Mill
Sponsor: Cedar City Chapter, 1984
Location: Mouth of Cedar Canyon, East Highway 14
In 1876, the Cedar Co-op Mill was built as a large, three-story wooden building with grinding stones turned by water from Coal Creek. The mill ground flour, cereal, and livestock feed for much of Iron County. The mill changed to a plaster mill from 1934–1945.
PARAGONAH, UTAH
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Paragonah Fort
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and the People of Paragonah, 1936
Location: In front of LDS Chapel.
Paragonah City was founded in 1852. The site was selected and dedicated by President Brigham Young. Indian troubles caused its abandonment a year later until 1855, when the Pioneer Fort was built. The Fort was 105 feet square with walls 3 feet thick at the base. A second story was added in 1857. A large room served as Church, School and Amusement Hall. Homes were built around the inside of the wall. The Paragonah public square includes the site of the Fort, which was torn down in 1879.
PAROWAN, UTAH
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John C. Fremont
Sponsor: Little Salt Lake Chapter, 1972
Location: 100 South Main
Seeking a suitable railroad route through the central Rockies, John C. Fremont and Company reached Parowan on February 6, 1854 barely alive. The Mormons took in the company and fed and nursed them back to health. -
Parowan Cotton Factory
Sponsor: Little Salt Lake Chapter
On this site, in 1862 the first Cotton Factory was erected in the West; designed and operated by William Marsden and owned by Ebenizer Hanks. Here the first ball of Cotton Yarn was made west of the Mississippi River. The girls who worked in the Cotton Factory are listed. -
Pioneer Sundial
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and the People of Parowan, 1936
Location: 100 South Main Street.
Parowan City was founded January 13, 1851 by settlers from northern communities under the leadership of George A. Smith. Among the early structures were a large Liberty Pole and a sundial. This marker designates the site of the community sundial placed here in 1852. The base of this structure is a burr from the pioneer grist mill. This sundial is a reproduction of the original made by the pioneers of Parowan. The Liberty Pole was one block south.
RURAL LOCATIONS
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Willow Spring Pony Express Station
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association
Location: Western Juab County, at old townsite of Callao, seventeen miles east of Nevada border. GPS N 39 degrees 54 minutes 00 seconds, W 113 degrees 42 minutes 46.06 seconds, elevation 4336 ft.
Old Callao was on the early Pony Express and stage route.
RURAL LOCATIONS
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Johnson Canyon Cemetery
Sponsor: Red Rock Chapter, 1992
Location: Thirteen miles east of Kanab
The settlement of Johnson began in 1871 by four sons of Ezekiel and Julia Hills Johnson. From 1871–1918 the town grew with a school, post office and store. Eventually the last permanent residents moved to Kanab in the 1940s. This monument honors the earlier settlers buried at Johnson -
Pioneer Trail: Dixie-Long Valley, Utah
Location: On Hurricane Hill, Highway 59 at Hurricane trailhead
Segments of the old Indian trails between St. George and Long Valley were used by Mormon pioneers to settle Long Valley in 1864 and again in 1871 following Indian conflicts. The desert trail, about 85 miles long, traversed deep sand, sandstone ledges and lava faults and was the primary transportation route, including mail and heavy freight, for half a century. It took four days for loaded wagons drawn by horse or ox teams to travel the distance.
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Pioneer Trail: Dixie-Long Valley, Utah
Location: On the Arizona Strip at Cane Beds intersection of Highway 389 and Mohave County Road 237
The trail divided the area of this marker; the Elephant Trail took a northeasterly route while the alternate Cottonwood Canyon-Sand Ridge Trail went more easterly before joining the Elephant Trail after it descended into Parunuweap Canyon/Long Valley. -
Pioneer Trail: Dixie-Long Valley, Utah,
Location: Highway 89,.25 miles south of the Mt. Carmel, junction in Kane County, Utah
The trail divided east of present-day Colorado City, Arizona; the Elephant Trail took a northeasterly route while the alternate Cottonwood Canyon-Sand Ridge trail went more easterly before joining the Elephant Trail after descending into Parunuweap Canyon/Long Valley.
RICHVILLE, UTAH
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Richville Pioneer Cemetery
Sponsor: Morgan Chapter 2005
Location: From Morgan, Utah, go south on Morgan Valley Drive to highway 95 and left. It is about 5 miles from Morgan to Richville.
This monument was erected to remember those buried in unmarked graves.This is the final resting place for early residents who settled in Richville, Morgan County, Utah, and at least one Native American. Of seventeen unmarked graves, there are ten known names listed.
CLICK ON A LOCATION BELOW TO SKIP TO THAT SECTION - Rural Locations, Bluffdale, Draper, Herriman, Holladay, Magna, Murray, Parley's Hollow, Riverton, Salt Lake City, Sandy, SUP Headquarters, Taylorsville, Utah State Capitol, West Jordan, West Valley City
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Big Mountain
Sponsor: South Davis Chapter, 1984
On July 19, 1847, scouts Orson Pratt and John Brown climbed Big Mountain and became the first Latter-day Saints to see the Salt Lake Valley. Due to illness, the pioneer camp had divided into three small companies. On July 23, the last party led by Brigham Young reached Big Mountain, but by this time most of the first companies were already in the valley and planting crops. The ill-fated Donner Party blazed the original trail one year earlier. -
Birch Springs
Sponsor: Sugar House Chapter, 1984
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Camp Grant
Sponsor: Holladay & Potomac Chapters, 1985
Location: Utah Highway 65, beyond top end of Mountain Dell Reservoir
Dedicated to the Donner-Reed party—the first wagon train to cross the Wasatch Range from Henefer to the Salt Lake Valley in 1846—and to the Mormon Pioneers that followed. The “Gold Rush 49-ers,” the Overland Stage, Johnston’s Army, the Pony Express and thousands of emigrants traveled this route. -
Camp Kostopulous
Sponsor: Mills Chapter, 1996 -
East Canyon Campsites
Sponsor: Twin Peaks Chapter & Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1998
Jordan Narrows
Sponsor: Utah National Guard and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1934
Location: In Camp Williams, on Utah Avenue at the Officers' Club.
The "Jordan Narrows" is the "gateway" to Central Utah and on to California. The Narrows were formed by wave-action on the leeward arm of ancient Lake Bonneville. The route of the first settlers in central and southern Utah; of the government mail line to San Diego, 1854 to 1857; of the Overland Mail and Stage Line to San Francisco, 1858 to 1868; of the Pony Express Line, 1860 to 1861; and of the first transcontinental telegraph line, 1861 to 1868. Control and way stations on the overland stage and Pony Express route were about ten miles apart, many in view from this monument, were: Salt Lake City, Travelers Rest, Rockwell's, Joes Dugout and Fort Crittenden (originally named Camp Floyd). A celebrated Ute Indian Chief named Tintic led an attack on the early settlers of Lehi, between this monument and Utah Lake in February 1854, killing several men.
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Little Emigration Canyon
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1994 -
Little Mountain Summit
Sponsor: Twin Peaks Chapter & Pioneer Trails State Park, 1992
This is the last summit in the Wasatch Mountains along the Pioneer Trail where the Donner Party passed on August 21, 1846 and the Mormons on July 21, 1847. -
Memories at Mountain Dell
Sponsor: Mills Chapter, 2001
Location: Parley's Canyon
The natural gorge which rests south of Big Mountain and the northwest slopes of Little Mountain was named Mountain Dell by Ephraim Hanks.
In 1870, Francis Armstrong purchased the property at Mountain Dell, where it was used by the family as a summer farm. A farmhouse was built in 1882 that remained standing until July 1999. -
Mormon Flats
Sponsor: Beehive/East Mill Creek Chapters, 1984
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Sons of Utah Pioneers Members, on 10-ton granite block
Sponsor: Temple Quarry, Chapter, 1959
In 1959 the Temple Quarry Chapter symbolically transported a 10-ton granite block to the old Pioneer Village—the same size stones moved by the pioneers to construct the Salt Lake Temple. The plaque on the block lists the Temple Quarry chapter members.
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Rockwell Station
Sponsor: Adult Aaronic Priesthood Group of East Jordan Stake and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1934
Location: About 1800 feet due west of Bluffdale Park and Ride - 14600 South on I-15
The Rockwell Station was kept by Orrin Porter Rockwell. It was prominent on the Overland Stage and Pony Express route from1858 to 1868. This monument was constructed of stone from the old station.
BRIGHTON, UTAH
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First Statewide Pioneer Day Celebration
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and Cottonwood Stake, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932
Location: Brighton, Utah, at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
This celebration was held in this mountain basin July 23-24, 1857. Headed by Brigham Young, the Company reaching here July 23rd numbered 2,587 persons, with 464 carriages & wagons, 1028 horses & mules and 332 oxen and cows. A program of addresses, six brass bands, singing, athletic events, drills by six companies of Militia, and dancing, was punctuated by salutes from a brass Howitzer. U.S. flags were flown from two highest peaks and two highest trees, the flag-tree in front of Brigham Young’s campsite being 70 feet northwest of here. At noon July 24, Judson Stoddard and A. O. Smoot, just arrived in the Valley, with Elias Smith and O. P. Rockwell, arrived with news of the advance of Johnston’s Army against the “Mormons”. The Company returned to their homes on July 25th.
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Rockwell Station
Sponsor: Temple Quarry Chapter, 1934
Location: Off I-15, west of Point of the Mountain
The west-bound Pony Express riders proceeded south along today’s State Street to the next station south of the Utah State Prison. This was at Orrin Porter Rockwell’s Hot Springs Brewery Hotel—a popular stopping point for travelers. Rockwell kept the station on the Pony Express route from 1858–1868. A stone monument was constructed from stone from the old station and can be found at the south-east corner of the prison compound.
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Fort Herriman
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, West Jordan District B.S.A., Members of West Jordan Stake and former residents, 1933.
Location: 12550 South 6000 West in Herriman, Utah.
This monument marks the site of Fort Herriman built in 1855 by Thomas Butterfield, Henry Herriman, Samuel Egbert, Robert Petty and John Stocking, as protection against the Indians. The fort was abandoned in 1858, under instructions from Brigham Young, upon the approach of Johnston's Army. Some of the settlers returned a few years later and established the town of Herriman. The fort was named for Henry Herriman; Nearby Butterfield Canyon was named for Thomas Butterfield, pioneers of this area.
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1st Settlers in Holladay
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1994
Location: 4782 Holladay Blvd.
This monument and plaque shows the original survey in 1849 with the names of the first settlers, and the leader of the settlers, John D. Holladay, as branch president. -
Old Fort Site
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1975
Location: Olympus Jr. High, 2217 East 4800 South.
During the Walker Indian War in 1853, 161 settlers on Big Cottonwood Creek built a fort at this location. The fort enclosed four acres, but was not needed as the indians proved to be friendly.
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Early Magna Settlements
Sponsor: Oquirrh Mountain Chapter, 1993
Location: Northeast of 4100 S. and 8400 W.
Abraham Coon came to this area in 1853 and built a sawmill and tan-bark processing plant in the Oquirrh Mountains, later named Coon’s Canyon. At the mouth of the canyon his family started the farming community of Coonville—the first settlement on the west side of the valley. By 1860 more settlers arrived and established Pleasant Green. With the advent of the Utah Copper company in 1906, Coonville and Pleasant Green merged into the community of Magna.
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Mahonri Moriancumer Cahoon
Sponsor: Pioneer Heritage Chapter
Location: Murray City Cemetery, 5600 S. 900 E.
When Cahoon was born in 1834, his father, Reynolds Cahoon, asked Joseph Smith to give his newborn a name and a blessing. Smith gave him the name Mahonri Moriancumer Cahoon, explaining that although the name was not mentioned in the Book of Mormon’s book of Ether, it had just been revealed to him that Mahonri Moriancumer was the name of the brother of Jared. The Cahoon family came to Utah with the pioneers and eventually settled in the Murray area. The original wooden marker, which had deteriorated, was replaced with a permanent headstone. -
Mt. Olympus Senior Center Flag Pole
Sponsor: Mills Chapter, 1998 -
Murray Mill
Sponsor: Oquirrh Mountain Chapter, 1994 -
South Cottonwood Campground (Half-way Camp)
Sponsor: Murray Chapter, 1990
Location: 5600 S. & Vine Street
During the building of the Salt Lake Temple, when granite stones were being hauled by team and wagon the 20 miles from the Little Cottonwood Canyon quarry to the temple site, a stopover camp used by the drivers was established at South Cottonwood. This site was approximately halfway between the quarry and the temple grounds. In 1870 a rock granary was built and still remains standing today as a historical landmark.
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Early Riverton and the Magnificent Dome Church
Sponsor: Jordan River Temple Chapter, 1984
Location: Riverton Park
GPS: N 40 degrees 31 minutes 10.62 seconds, W 111 degrees 56 minutes, 072 seconds, elev. 4489 ft.
In 1855, Abraham Hunsaker, a member of the Mormon Battalion, moved his herds across the river and became the first man to own land and divert water in Riverton. Archibald Gardner, however, was the first to live here and became the largest land owner.
The first ward organized on August 8, 1886, began construction of a magnificent domed church in 1899, with Richard W. Kletting as the architect (also the architect for the Utah State Capitol and the old Saltair Pavilion). Because of its high ceilings, excessive maintenance and heating problems, it was razed in 1940, after 30 years of use. -
The Tithing Yard
Sponsor: Mills Chapter, 2003
Location: 1150 W. 12400 S.
GPS: N 40 degrees 31 minutes 32.58 seconds, W 111 degrees 55 minutes 30.90 seconds, elev. 4433 ft.
In 1886 a “tithing yard” was established in Riverton where faithful Mormon Church members brought their tithing increase in produce, livestock, poultry, grains, and other farm products. On the bench ground there was an office building, weigh scales, a small granary, a large root cellar, haystacks, feed mangers, and a barn. It discontinued operation in 1913.
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Anderson Tower
Sponsor: Canyon Rim Chapter, 1993
Location: 6th Avenue & A Street
Anderson Tower was built in 1884 by Robert R. Anderson, one of the original settlers on the north bench of Salt Lake City. The circular three-story structure had a winding stairway that led to an observation deck equipped with a telescope. People were charged a small fee to climb to the top for the view. Although the venture proved unsuccessful, the tower stood for forty-eight years until razed in November, 1932. -
Angels Are Near Us
Sponsor: Sugarhouse Chapter, 1998
Location: This Is the Place Heritage Park, 2601 East Sunnyside Avenue. Near the large “This is the Place” monument.
This marker commemorates the wagon train sesquicentennial re-enactment in 1997, of the original trek of the Mormon Pioneers in 1847, from Winter Quarters near Omaha, Nebraska to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The commemorative trek occurred from April 21 to July 22, 1997. -
Bee-Hive House
Sponsors: Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1935
Location: 67 East South Temple Street.
Erected about 1852 by President Brigham Young as the Official Residence of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and occupied by him from the time it was completed until his death in 1877. From 1852 to 1855 it also served as the Executive Mansion of Governor Brigham Young of the Territory of Utah. It was also the home of presidents Lorenzo Snow(1898 - 1901) and Joseph F. Smith (1901 - 1918), both of whom died here. The Beehive is the State Emblem signifying industry. -
Brigham Young Grave
Sponsors: The Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1938
Location: 150 East First Avenue
Prophet - Pioneer - Statesman. Born June 1, 1801, at Whitingham, Vermont. Died August 29, 1877, at Salt Lake City, Utah. Brigham Young, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, succeeded Joseph Smith, founder of the Church, who was martyred at Carthage, Illinois. He was chosen as leader of the people in 1844 and sustained as President of the Church December 27, 1847. Earlier in 1847 he led the Mormon Pioneers from Winter Quarters (Omaha, Nebraska) to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving here July 24. In 1849 he became Governor of the Provisional State of Deseret, and in 1850 Governor of the Territory of Utah. -
Brigham Young Grave Statue
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1974
Location: 1st Avenue between State & A Street
On June 1, 1974, an eight-foot bronze statue was unveiled at the small Brigham Young Cemetery on 1st Avenue. Sculpted by Edward J. Fraughton, the monument depicts a pioneer father, mother and daughter in an embrace. -
Brigham Young Industrial Center and Golden Pass Road
Sponsor: Pioneer Heritage Chapter, 1992
Location: 2000 E. Stratford Avenue (2585 S.)
The largest gristmill for grinding wheat in the Utah Territory operated from 1852–1857, when it was shut down because of the arrival of Johnston’s army. The mill reopened later as a cotton mill and then woolen mill.
Parley P. Pratt’s Golden Pass Road provided not only a safer alternative entrance to the Salt Lake Valley but provided a route for hauling fuel and timber down to the valley. Between 1850–1869 thousands of Mormon pioneers, California-bound gold seekers, Pony Express riders, Overland Stage coaches and thousands of soldiers traveled the dirt road. -
Brigham Young's Office
Sponsor: Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1935
Location: 67 East South Temple Street.
Erected about 1852 and, used as the executive office of the Territory of Utah until 1855. It also served as the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the time it was finished until 1917, when the new Church Office Building was completed. For a short time it was also the Church Tithing Office. Presidents of the Church who occupied this office were Brigham Young, 1852 - 1877; John Taylor, 1877 - 1887; Wilford Woodruff, 1887 - 1898; Lorenzo Snow, 1898 - 1901; Joseph F. Smith, 1901 - 1917. -
Carlisle Family Historical Marker
Sponsor: Beehive Chapter, 2002
Location: 3900 S. 1400 W.
The three Carlisle brothers settled in this area between 700 West and the Jordan River. Their endeavors included farming, dairying, and planting mulberry trees to raise silk worms. They developed a gravel pit on the west side of the river. The Carlisle School was built on their property and served students in the area from 1905 to 1923. -
Donner Trail 1846
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1931
Location: Utah State Fairgrounds 900 West North Temple Street.
The Donner Party, led by George and Jacob Donner and James F. Reed, passed here and crossed the nearby Jordan River about September 2, 1846. This party, consisting of 81 persons --35 of them children -- was delayed 2 weeks building a road via Emigration Canyon. While crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert, they lost some wagons and many animals. As a result of this misfortune and the delays en route, the party became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where many of them perished that winter. -
Emigration Canyon Railroad
Sponsor: Canyon Rim Chapter, 1990
Location: Hogle Zoo Entrance
One of the major sources of stone building materials needed by the people of Salt Lake City was in Emigration Canyon, east of the city. An electric railway to the canyon was built in 1909 to provide a ready source of limestone, gravel, red sandstone and white sandstone. Soon passenger trips were in demand and weekend trips into the canyon became popular. By 1916 the service was terminated and the rails, ties, spikes, and rolling equipment were turned into materials to aid in the World War I effort. -
Ensign Peak
Sponsor: Ensign Stake Mutual Improvement Associations and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1934
Location: 100 East 1000 North Street - Ensign Vista Dr. -- Salt Lake City.
July 26, 1847, two days after the Mormon Pioneers entered this valley, Brigham Young and party climbed to this point and with the aid of field glasses made a careful survey of the mountains, canyons and streams. In the group were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Willard Richards, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. Wilford Woodruff, first to ascend the Peak, suggested it as a fitting place to "set up an Ensign" (Isaiah 11:12). It was then named Ensign Peak. Subsequently the Stars and Stripes were raised here. -
First Company of Mormon Pioneers
Sponsor: Twin Peaks Chapter, 1987
Location: Pioneer State Park, 2601 Sunnyside Avenue
This monument lists the names of the members of the first company of pioneers to enter the valley. -
Gardener's Sawmill
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, The Gardner Family and the Priesthood of Wilford Ward, 1935
Location: 3550 South Highland Drive.
Gardner's Saw Mill was erected by Robert Gardner and his sons Archibald, Robert and William on Warm Springs Stream, in Salt Lake City October 1847. The Mill was moved to this new site in 1848, producing the first commercial lumber in Utah, using the first formal grant of water for industrial use. Later a flour mill was erected a few rods upstream. These plants gave the name Mill Creek to the stream and canyon. Gardner's Fort, domicile of the Gardner families, was located a short distance northeast. The Gardners had received the first permit to leave the pioneer fort. -
Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian
Sponsors: Mutual Improvement Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1932
Location: Northwest corner of Main and South Temple Streets, at the northeast corner of Temple Square.
GPS: 40° 46' 04" - Longitude 111° 54' 00" Elivation 4327.27 feet.
This geographic location was fixed by Orson Pratt assisted by Henry G. Sherwood on August 3, 1847, when beginning the original survey of "Great Salt Lake City." The Temple Site near here had been designated by Brigham Young July 28, 1847. The City streets were named and numbered from this point. David H. Burr, first U.S. Surveyor-General for Utah, in August 1855, located here the initial point of public land surveys in Utah, and set the stone monument, still preserved in position. An astronomical station, its stone base still standing 100 ft. N. and 50 ft. W. of this corner was established by George W. Dean, U. S. C. & G. Survey, on September 30, 1869. This was used to determine the true latitude and longitude, and was used to obtain correct time at this point until December 30, 1897. -
Heber C. Kimball Grist Mill
Sponsor: East Mill Creek Chapter, 1957 -
Jordan/Salt Lake Canal
Sponsor: Canyon Rim Chapter, 1991
Location: Sugarhouse Plaza -
“Leaning into the Light,” Joseph Smith, the Boy
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1997
Location: Joseph Smith Memorial Building -
Legacy of Black Pioneers
Sponsor: Beehive Chapter, 1987
Location: Evergreen Park, 2230 East Evergreen Avenue (3435 S.) -
M. M. Cahoon
Sponsor: Pioneer Heritage Chapter, 1998 -
Neff Grist Mill
Sponsor: East Mill Creek Chapter, 1957 Restored by Mills Chapter, 2007
Location: 2700 E. Millcreek Road -
Old Brickyard Chimney
Sponsor: Beehive Chapter, 1994
Location: 3300 S. 1300 E. -
Old Folk's Day
Sponsors: Old Folks Committees, Cambrian Society of Salt Lake City, Inc., Covered Wagon Days, Inc., and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association
Location: Northwest corner of Main and South Temple streets.
"Honor thy Father and Thy Mother." Old Folks Day was inaugurated in Salt Lake City in 1875, by Charles R. Savage, assisted by Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and George Goddard. All persons seventy or more years of age have been honored at annual celebrations in many communities in Utah. -
Pioneer Flour Mill
Sponsors: Descendants of John Neff Sr., East Mill Creek Betterment League and the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1936
Location: 2702 South, 3435 East.
445 feet west of this monument is the site of the Pioneer Flour Mill erected in the spring of 1848 by John Neff, 1847 Pioneer. The burrs were bought by him at Winter Quarters from Brigham Young at whose request they were brought to Utah. The granite block in the monument is part of one of the mill stones. The mill began operations in March,1848, and was the first in the valley to produce refined flour. The builder, noted for his humanitarianism, refused $1.00 a pound for flour, from emigrants to California, selling it to the needy poor at 6 cents a pound and frequently giving it to those unable to buy. -
Pioneer Flour Mill Site
Sponsor: East Mill Creek Chapter, 1936
The Pioneer Flour-Mill was the site of the first flour mill in the Great Salt Lake Valley. The flour mill was erected in the spring of 1848 by John Neff. The burrs were bought by him at Winter Quarters from Brigham Young, at whose request they were brought to Utah. The Granite block in the monument is part of one of the mill stones. -
Pioneer Telegraph Office
Sponsor: Sons of Utah Pioneers, 1955
Location: Main Street & 1st South
The famed sculptor Ortho Fairbanks in 1955 created this marker located at the spot where the transcontinental telegraph lines were connected October 18, 1861. During the Downtown Salt Lake City renovations in 2007, this marker was placed in temporary storage. -
Private School House
Sponsor: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1934
Location: Northeast corner of South Temple and State Streets.
Built by Brigham Young for his own children, the school house stood on this corner lot from 1860 to1903. This early school was directed by Eli B. Kelsey, who in soliciting additional students, announced in the Deseret News December 12, 1860, as follows: "President Young not only intends it to be used for the education of own family during the day, but purposes it to be thoroughly devoted to further educational purposes in the evenings, including the teaching of vocal music. Mr. David O. Calder will open therein two classes for young persons of both sexes, in order that a competent number may be thoroughly taught this simple and beautiful science, so that a uniform system of teaching may be adopted throughout all the schools of the territory. The produce of the valley will be taken in payment for tuition." -
Sisters of the Holy Cross
Sponsors: Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association and the Catholic People of Utah, 1932
Location: 1075 East 100 South Street.
In June 1875, in answer to the appeal of the Rev. Lawrence Scanlan, two Sisters of the Holy Cross, Mother M. Augusta and Sister M. Raymond, came to Salt Lake City. In August they were joined by Sisters M. Pauline, Anna, Josepha, Holy Innocents, and Petronella, and in September they opened St. Mary's Academy at 152 South First West Street. In October of the same year Sisters M. Holy Cross, Bartholomew, and Bernard opened Holy Cross Hospital at 50 South Fifth East Street. The Hospital was established on the present site in 1882. The College and Academy of St. Mary-of-the-Wasatch and Holy Cross Hospital stand today as monuments to mark the trail of these pioneer sisters. -
Social Hall
Sponsor: The Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1933
Location: 51 South State Street - Social Hall Ave.
Dedicated January 1, 1853, this monument marks the site of the Social Hall, the first recreation center in the intermountain west. It was built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction of Brigham Young. Made of plastered adobe walls with native wood floors and roof. Auditorium 40 by 60 feet, seating 350 persons. Stage 20 by 40 feet. Dressing rooms and banquet hall were in the basement. Here the Deseret Dramatic Association conducted many home talent theatricals, musicals and other festivities. Sessions of the Legislature, official meetings, receptions, banquets, and other social functions were held here. It was used as theatre, library and gymnasium by the Mutual Improvement Associations. In 1922 the building was razed. -
Sugarhouse Industrial Center
Sponsor: Sugar House Chapter, 1992
Location: Sugarhouse -
Suicide Rock & Reservoir
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1996
Location: Mouth of Parley’s Canyon
For hundreds of years this huge formation of red sandstone rock loomed up in the middle of the mouth of the canyon and served as a watch tower for the Indians. Legend tells of an Indian maid watching for the return of her warrior husband from battle, saw his body draped over his pony, and in her grief threw herself off the top of the rock to her death. Hence the name of Suicide Rock has been attached to this rock formation for over 150 years. -
This is the Right Place
Sponsor: Refurbished by Mills Chapter, 2007. Original; monument sponsored by Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1921
Location: This is the Place Heritage Park, 2601 Sunnyside Avenue.
This historic monument was re-dedicated on July 21, 2007 by Elder Boyd K. Packer of the LDS Church. The ten foot high obelisk marks the spot where, on July 24, 1847, Brigham Young uttered his famous words, "This is the right place; drive on." Thus, the heroic advance company of the Mormon Pioneers concluded their epic 1,300 mile trek across the American prairie to their Zion in the mountains. At the dedication ceremony for the original monument, on July 25, 1921, Elder B. H. Roberts of the LDS First Council of Seventy, quoting from the journal of Church President Wilford Woodruff, stated that Brigham Young spoke those memorable words "on or near the spot where we now stand." -
Union Fort
Sponsors: Union Lions Club, American Legion, Daughter of the Utah Pioneers, and Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, 1947
Location: 1250 East 7200 South.
Early in 1849 the pioneers settled Union 1½ miles southeast of here. The name "Union" was suggested by William McGuire, schoolteacher, to emphasize the unity existing among the Saints. Water, grass, wood and clay were abundant. Silas Richards, the first Bishop and school teacher, arrived November 4, 1849. In 1853-54 Union Fort was built on ten acres donated by Jehl Cox. The wall made of rocks and adobes with clay mortar was 6 feet thick at the base, 2 feet at the top and 12 feet high. It enclosed 23 homes and a school used also as a church and amusement hall. The wall ran north and south 25 feet west of this marker. -
Utah Penitentiary
Sponsors: Sugar House Chapter, Sons of Utah Pioneers, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Sugar House Community Council, Utah Peace Officers Associations, & The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1988
Location: Sugarhouse Park
The first buildings of the Utah Penitentiary, surrounded by a 12-foot wall, were occupied in January 1855—6 safe miles from the center of the city. The first warden, Albert Perry Rockwood, reported that escapes were frequent because of poor facilities and lack of guards. By 1882, the prison included 244 steel cells, a 250 capacity chapel and a new 19- foot wall enclosing two acres. After World War II the growth of the city to the south and east made it imperative to construct the prison facility in a more isolated area, at the Point of the Mountain (1951).
(From Tanner Park, 2700 East 2700 South, Salt Lake City).
This historic area on Parleys Creek, at the mouth of Parleys Canyon was very significant to the earliest pioneer immigrants and settlers of the Valley.
Dudlers Inn
Sponsor: Canyon Rim Chapter, 1996
Location: 2700 E. 2700 S., south of Interstate 80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
In 1864 Joseph Dudler settled in Parley’s Hollow. He built a two and half story Inn and home with a narrow front facing south with the rest of the ground floor dug into the side of the hill on the north of the hollow.-
Dudlers Inn Wine Cellar
Sponsor: Jordan River Temple Chapter, 1996
Location: 2700 E. 2700 S., south of Interstate 80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
In 1870 Dudler added a brewery to the rear and west of his Inn and expanded the lower floor north four feet into the hill for the wine cellar. This rock-walled underground room has a ten-foot high domed rock ceiling and kept things cool even in the hottest weather. Dudler’s brewery and Inn at Parley’s Hollow was known for a time as Dudler’s Summer Resort and Dudler’s Saloon. -
Golden Pass Road & Tollhouse
Sponsor: Sugar House Chapter, 1996
Location: 2700 E. 2700 S., south of Interstate 80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
Built by Parley P. Pratt, the “Golden Pass” opened to travelers on July 4, 1849, providing a much easier route down Emigration Canyon. To help pay for the road, a toll gate was erected just west of the mouth of the canyon on the north side of the creek. The toll was listed as:“75 cts for each conveyance drawn by two animals, and 10 cts for each additional draught, pack or saddle animal, etc. and 1 ct for each sheep.” This route eventually became part of the Lincoln Highway and much later, the I-80 freeway. -
Railroad, Park City to Sugarhouse
Sponsor: Pioneer Heritage Chapter, 1996
Location: 2700 E. 2700 S., south of Interstate 80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
On June 11, 1874, the Eastern Utah Railroad built a narrow gauge rail line from Coalville south to the Park City mines. By 1890, the Salt Lake Eastern Railroad company completed the line from Salt Lake City to the Park City mines. In 1900, the Rio Grand Railroad Company took over the lines through Parley’s Canyon to Park City. The line through Parley’s Canyon serviced freight trains as well as passengers from Sugar House until the 1940s. -
Sandstone Wall & Aqueduct
Sponsor: Olympus Hills Chapter, 1996
Location: 2700 E. 2700 S., south of Interstate 80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
Parley’s Creek was the largest of five streams which flowed from the Wasatch Mountains into Parley’s Canyon. Ditches were dug, but it was determined that if walls were built with a conduit running along it’s top—similar to those built by the ancient Romans on a smaller scale—water could be lifted up to the plateaus on the north and south sides of the hollow. In 1891, the walls of the aqueduct were built of sandstone blocks cut from the mountain’s cliffs. Only a small section remains of the forty-foot high masonry where it cut across a ravine with an arch laid up to allow for the water to drain.
SONS OF THE UTAH PIONEERS NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
3301 East 2920 South, Salt Lake City.
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B&K Tannery (Plaque)
Sponsor: Beehive Chapter, 1986
Location: Sons of Utah Pioneers Building Balcony
The B&K Tannery, was established in 1852 by Brigham Young, Feramorz Little and John Winder. By 1862, the Tannery was producing quality leather. A small settlement was built nearby to accommodate the tannery workers, including a school for the children. Eventually the railroad brought in cheaper produced leather. -
Brighton Hotel (Plaque)
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1988
In 1871, William S. Brighton claimed over 100 acres at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. William and Catherine built the first hotel there in 1874. Later they added cottages, the original Brighton store, a post office, a telephone service, a dairy service, freight haulage, a bakery and a sawmill. The hotel was razed in 1945. -
Charles Stillman Bridge (Plaque)
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1987
The Stillman Bridge erected in 1938, spanned Parley’s Gully, tying Wasatch Boulevard to Parley’s Canyon Road. Named after Charles Stillman, Salt Lake County Commissioner of Roads and Bridges from 1918 to 1922, the bridge stood in operation until the new four lane highway was built through Parley’s Canyon. -
Early Pioneer Mills (Plaque)
Sponsor: East Mill Creek Mills Chapter, 1984
Gardner, Neff, and Osguthorpe were the names of three of the twenty-two mills along Millstream. -
Ensign Peak (Plaque)
Sponsor: East Mill Creek Chapter, 1986
After arriving in the Valley on Saturday, July 24, 1847, the weary Saints observed the Sabbath the following day. Then on Monday morning, almost too late in the season, they resumed the critical work of planting crops and irrigating them from the mountain streams. Although their leader, Brigham Young, was still suffering from mountain fever, he directed that construction of homes and public buildings, and exploration work and be started immediately. He himself headed a party which left about 10 o'clock a.m. with Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. They climbed the prominent hill to the north of the new city, which commanded an expansive view of the valley and the Great Salt Lake below. As they planted their feet on the top of the peak, President Young remarked "This is a good place to raise an ensign." Thus, that day Ensign Peak received the name it still bears, which signifies the coming of the Savior to reign over the whole earth -- an ensign raised to all nations and all people. For some time, before suitable buildings were provided, Brigham and other leaders often repaired to the top of Ensign Peak for council meetings and special prayers for the welfare of their people, as they struggled against great odds to establish themselves in their Zion. -
Golden Pass Road (Plaque)
Sponsor: Salt Lake City Chapter, 1984
Location: Parley's Hollow
Parley P. Pratt cut the road through Parley's Canyon in 1849-50 as an alternative route to the Emigration Canyon pioneer trail into the valley. The beginning (or end) of this road was about Twenty-First South and Eleventh East; it continued eastward to what was called Dell Fork. The new road opened up the Parley's Hollow area and the canyon above to industry, farming and recreation, and soon became the preferred route into the Valley. To defray the cost of construction a toll for passage was charged, as described on the plaque. -
Handcart Companies (Plaque)
Sponsor: Olympus Hills Chapter, 1987
On June 9, 1856, the first Mormon Handcart Company left Iowa City with 52 handcarts and 275 people. During the spring and summer four other companies started the perilous journey. Several others followed, nearly 3,000 souls in ten companies until 1860, when this unprecedented experiment in low cost emigration was discontinued. All these companies suffered hardships, scarce food, bad roads over hills and mountains, adverse weather conditions and other problems. But for the most part, these heroic journeys were very successful, with no greater incidence of illness or loss of life than other pioneering companies experienced. Two tragic exceptions were the very large Martin and Willie companies totaling nearly 1100 souls, which left Iowa City too late in the summer of 1856, with marginal equipment, then encountered severe winter weather which arrived with a vengeance earlier than usual. Many emigrants of all ages and sexes died of hunger, fatigue and exposure before valiant rescuers sent by Brigham Young found them. The emaciated survivors were brought safely into the Valley late in November and early December. -
Horace Sorensen
Sponsor: Sugar House Chapter, 1988
This bust of Mr. and Mrs. Sorensen pays tribute to the many contributions of Horace Sorensen, national president of the sons of Utah Pioneers from 1954-56. He was an active collector of Pioneer artifacts and organized a replica Pioneer Village, which he presented to the SUP in 1953. First located in Salt Lake City, the village was later relocated to the Lagoon amusement park in Farmington, Utah. Horace Sorensen received Brigham Young University's "Many Feathers" award. The University of Utah named him "Man of the Year," in 1969. -
Kanyon Kreek Mill (Plaque)
Sponsor: Holladay Chapter, 1988
Built by Brigham Young and Feramorz Little, Kanyon Creek Mill occupied a site where the Country Club Golf Course now is located. The mill was used as a flour mill, cotton mill and woolen mill. During the smallpox epidemic of 1900, the mill was used as a pest house. Because the creek—a major source of culinary water for the city—ran past the pest house, protests eventually resulted in the old mill mysteriously burned to ruins. -
Lambs Canyon (Plaque)
Sponsor: Canyon Rim Chapter, 1994
Lambs Canyon was explored shortly after the Utah Pioneers entered Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A cooper, Abel Lamb, built the first road in the draw in 1850, over which he and his sons hauled wood from the canyon forests to make barrels, tubs, washboards, churns, and water buckets which were sorely needed by the settlers in valley. The Lamb family built a home in the canyon. When food was scarce, they lived on sego roots, pigweed and beet-top greens. -
Overland Stage (Plaque)
Sponsor: Canyon Rim/Heritage Chapter, 1986
In 1860, W. H. Russell of Pony Express fame joined Hockaday & Liggett as a business partner, bringing modern innovations to the Stage Coach Company. He placed relay stations every 10–12 miles, with fresh horses or mules at each station. He assigned new drivers every 80 miles, and cut the travel time to 10 days. He also had stage coaches leaving daily, traveling in either direction, carrying mail in addition to pa
