Daniel Funk Builds a Lake in the Desert

Daniel Funk Builds a Lake in the Desert. . , Daniel Buckley Funk was an industrious and innovative citizen of early Sanpete. He owned a mill, a farm made shoes and drums from animal hides and served in the military. Daniel had an entrepreneurial spirit. Throughout his life, he ventured into several avenues of business, but his attempt to build a man-made lake in a bene-dry valley would prove to be Daniel's most successful and innovative endeavor. , Daniel homesteaded a piece of land six miles south of Manti. The bowl-shaped property was dry and barren, but Daniel saw an opportunity to create a piece of lakefront property. He built a levy at the south end of the property and surveyed the area for water. The townspeople and Native Americans thought Daniel was foolish because no springs bubbled from the parched earth, and the nearest creek was far below Daniel's property line, which meant Daniel would have to make water run uphill in order to fill the valley. , Unafraid of the challenge, Daniel knew that the creek that ran below his valley originated from a spring at a higher elevation, and he engineered a way to capture the water. By 1873 water poured into Daniel's property, and his lake began to take shape. The lake took two years to fill and grew to cover 75 acres., Daneil called the lake Eagle Park. He planted 6,500 trees near the lake and stocked the water with fish. He built a bowery, a private beach with dressing rooms, dance pavilions, and rowboats in order to create the pleasure resort he had envisioned. When the preparations were complete, he invited the surrounding communities to come and enjoy the recreationa area, now known as Palisades Park. , (caption) Daniels Funk's man-made lake is now Palisades State Park. Visitors can still experience this site and see the industrious work of Sanpete's early settlers. , (caption) Daniel found a way to make the lake profitable during the winter months, even after the visitors had gone away for the season. He cut ice from the lake and sold it to households in Manti. Ice that was not sold was stored and during the summer months it was used to make ice cream and was served in ice-cold sodas from the concession stand.