Cannonville in Garfield County, Utah — The American Mountains (Southwest)

A Life in the Land

Photographed by Tom Bosse, June 12, 2025

1. A Life in the Land Marker

Marker is severely weathered.

Inscription.
"This was the country the Mormons settled. Its distances were terrifying, its cloudbursts catastrophic, its beauty flamboyant and bizarre and allied with death. Its droughts and its heat were withering. Nobody else wanted it, nobody but a determined and God-supported people could live in it." - Wallace Stegner, Mormon Courier

What is Home?
To the Mormon settlers, home was not just a shelter made of lumber, but a construction held together by faith. The land could be unkind to those attempting life here. Searing heat, bone-chilling cold, dusty drought, and devastating floods caused early pioneers to move hard-won settlements. Other towns sprang up early and failed, but the Mormons held on, abiding in faith.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Cannonville Utah Visitor Center (Settlers) series list.

Location. 37° 34.027′ N, 112° 3.272′ W. Marker is in Cannonville, Utah, in Garfield County. It can be reached from the intersection of West Center Street and Main Street / Kodachrome Road, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located at the Cannonville Visitor Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10 W Center St, Cannonville UT 84718, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Canyon Country

and specifically in Color Country. It is also in the American Mountain West,

in Colorado Plateau,

and at the Four Corners.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers.

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At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A Glass of Water Was a Load of Work (here, next to this marker); Tending the Wild (here, next to this marker); Who Were the Settlers? (here, next to this marker); Working for Water (here, next to this marker); A Tough Row to Hoe (here, next to this marker); One Land, Different Peoples (a few steps from this marker); Water Willow People (a few steps from this marker); The Water of Life (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cannonville.

Photographed by Tom Bosse, June 12, 2025

2. A Life in the Land Marker

Marker is on the right.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 15, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 12, 2025, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 56 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 12, 2025, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.