Early inhabitants of Wayne County and the Bicknell area were the Paleo-Indians, Anasazi, Fremont, Ute, and Paiute Native Americans. The Fremont River, which runs 2 miles south of Bicknell, was named after John C. Fremont, an early explorer who . . . — — Map (db m271861) HM
Bicknell settlers homesteaded by streams to access water for crops and consumption. Bicknell settlers dipped water from ditches and the Fremont River and put it in large barrels to settle before drinking. During freezing conditions, they chopped . . . — — Map (db m271923) HM
In several Wayne High School graduating classes, approximately one-half of the students have suffered or died from cancer. In total, a much higher percentage than normal of Wayne County and Bicknell residents and former residents have died from . . . — — Map (db m271925) HM
Most of the early settlers of this area were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church). Bicknell was first named Thurber after Albert King (A.K.) Thurber who, at age 23, stopped in Utah on his way from Rhode Island to . . . — — Map (db m271860) HM
Bicknell is located in a sparsely populated, remote area of Utah. When settled, this area was difficult to access. Early residents had to build their own roads. People could travel on foot, horseback, or in horse-drawn wagons. The height of the . . . — — Map (db m271858) HM
Orson W. Allen
Hyrum Jameson
Andrew J. Allred
Christian Johnson
Thomas Baker
Volney King
Christian T. Balley
Amasa H. Lyman
Elijah C. Behunin
Joseph E. Mangum
Elias H. Blackburn
Elijah Maxfield
Jehu Blackburn . . . — — Map (db m272178) WM
In the mid-1920s, spruce beetles infested most of the Boulder Mountain. Large stands of Engelmann Spruce died, but the trees remained standing and the wood seasoned and dried. Residents recognized its potential for use in making lumber and mine . . . — — Map (db m271855) HM
Raising livestock and feed for them is the oldest and most important industry of Bicknell. Finding grazing land was the reason this area was settled. Beef cattle have produced the most income, but dairy cows, sheep, fish, pork, turkeys and chickens . . . — — Map (db m271862) HM
Located in "Rabbit Valley" at 7,125 feet elevation. Bicknell is surrounded by four mountains and is 17 miles west of Capitol Reef National Park. Fish Lake Mountain on the north, Thousand Lake Mountain on the northeast and Boulder Mountain on the . . . — — Map (db m271926) HM
Many early settlers of Bicknell had small herds of cattle or sheep. Initially, because there was ample grazing in the valley, fencing was nonexistent and community herds and grounds were common. As numbers grew, it became necessary to construct . . . — — Map (db m271857) HM
Built by the women of Thurber under the leadership of Sarah Gardner Meeks, President; Mary H. Bullard, 1st Counsellor; Eliza Jane Brinkerhoff, Amanda Haws Durfey, 2nd Counsellors; Viola Cutler Brinkerhoff, Secretary; Mary A. Gardner, Asst. . . . — — Map (db m138408) HM
Women have filled prominent roles in Bicknell, especially in family. education, medicine, and community. Early women of the area delivered most of the newborn children and served the sick, either as nurses or mid-wives. They nursed cases of . . . — — Map (db m271924) HM
Samuel L. Adams
Harold Dean Allen
Lewis a. Allen
John F. Allred
Martin Baker
Loran S. Barger
Wallace Blackburn
Royal J. Brinkerhoft
Willard A. Brinkerhoff
Alburn Brown
Clarence Brown
Eugene L. Brown
Grant G. Brown . . . — — Map (db m272002) WM
An original marker was replaced prior to 2018.
This modest building played a significant role in the Fruita community. Built in 1896, this one-room schoolhouse was Fruita's only public structure. Besides being their only school, it . . . — — Map (db m39216) HM
The modest home before you stands as a reminder of the hardships of early settlers. The desire to exercise religious freedom and create new self-sufficient communities ultimately led many Mormon settlers to the remote part of Utah. This one-room . . . — — Map (db m147538) HM
Take in the incredible scenery and sweeping vistas. What you don't see is one of the park's most valuable resources - clean air. Take a deep breath. Within six minutes of being deprived of air we start to die. Air is essential to life.
We share . . . — — Map (db m285151) HM
Capitol Reef's Scenic Drive follows the dramatic western escarpment of the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100-mile-long (161 km) wrinkle in the earth's crust. This road began as a wagon trail in the late 1800s, providing early travelers access to remote . . . — — Map (db m271782) HM
The Fremont River valley is a rich, well-watered farmland, sheltered from arid winter winds that sweep across the uplands. The first settlers, the Fremont Indians, maintained a hunter/gatherer lifestyle, supplemented by growing corn, squash, and . . . — — Map (db m271733) HM
Leo and Anna Laurina Holt were among the first farmers of this valley. "Rena" often served as a midwife; Leo was a stonemason, adobe craftsman, and carpenter.
The Holts' first home was a boarded-up tent. Their first child, Ivy May, was born in . . . — — Map (db m271765) HM
Why is this Chinese wisteria, Wisteria sinensis, in rehab? A long time resident of Fruita, this vine was planted by settlers as an ornamental in the early 1900s. It was used for decades as a living swing for both local residents and visitors. . . . — — Map (db m271777) HM
Could you survive in this isolated location? Do you know how to manage a farm or a ranch?
Mormon pioneers survived with self-reliance. Starting in the 1880s, they built gravity-fed irrigation systems to deliver water to orchards. They used . . . — — Map (db m271779) HM
Orval Mott owned this orchard for only three years. He sold it in 1943 to a "desert lover" retiree and rock art student - Dean Brimhall - who built the house now standing to the west.
Homesteaded originally by Mormon stalwart Elijah Cutler . . . — — Map (db m271766) HM
This massive geologic barrier, known as the Waterpocket Fold, shaped the lives of people through time. Capitol Gorge, carved out by sediment-filled water, is one of the main gaps in the rugged Fold. It was a primary travel route for American Indian . . . — — Map (db m271793) HM
Calvin D. Pendleton, who arrived in Junction (Fruita) in the twilight of the 19th century, built a barn here before World War I. He left other structures on the land, especially the meandering, black stone drift fences on the side of the mesa behind . . . — — Map (db m271780) HM
From about 300 to 1300 C.E., ancestors of the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Paiute Tribe made this red-rock oasis their home. Euro-American archeologists call these people the Fremont Culture; however, the tribes reject the use of "Fremont" . . . — — Map (db m271735) HM
As saplings, they were witness to the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the 1880s. As juveniles, with smooth bark, they stood by as orchards were planted in the early 1900s. As adults, they were present in 1937 for the transformation from homesteads to . . . — — Map (db m271778) HM
There are many meanings the markings applied to rock walls at various places in Capitol Reef and across the Southwest. Most occurrences of petroglyphs (carvings) and pictographs (paintings) in Capitol Reef are attributed to the Hisatsinom . . . — — Map (db m271737) HM
What did you eat today? Where did your food come from?
For most of us, the origin of our food is a mystery, For the pioneers of early Fruita, nearly all of their food was grown or raised locally. From the 1880s to the mid-1900s, these orchards . . . — — Map (db m271768) HM
The thin band of yellow-gray rock before you tempted the nation with promises. This is the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation, a layer of ancient, river-deposited sandstone containing trace amounts of uranium.
Lured by the promise of . . . — — Map (db m282921) HM
Mapping the Last Uncharted Lands
By 1870, the continental United States had been mapped and surveyed, except for one area the vast region that surrounds you. From the Colorado River to the Aquarius Plateau, and from the Virgin River to the . . . — — Map (db m285221) HM
This buff-colored rock building was constructed by Franz J. Weber, rock mason. It is believed that John G. Ekker, a church official in 1919, and others helped Mr. Weber with the rock work. The rocks were hauled in wagons by men of the community. The . . . — — Map (db m271575) HM
In honor and memory of the boys of our ward who served in World War II
Romie Ortego
Reo V. Hunt
Martin L. Robison
Charles W. Noyes
Kay L. Punt
Laurence A. Ekker
Ivel K. Sheffield
Hyrum W. Noyes
Thurzel Allen
Bruce . . . — — Map (db m271727) WM
Originally commenced in 1921, the Wolverton Mill was an attempt to realize dreams of an elusive Spanish gold mine hidden in the tops of the Henry Mountains. Edwin Thatcher Wolverton, the mill's architect, builder, and operator, believed he could . . . — — Map (db m271730) HM
On Wednesday, July 14, 1943, an Army-Air Force Lockheed AT-18A with a crew of six was in flight from Mather Field, Sacramento, California, to Peterson Field Colorado Springs, Colorado, when it came apart mid air killing all crewmembers aboard and . . . — — Map (db m139933) HM WM
Early in 1876 Andrew Jackson Allred was called by Brigham Young to lead a group of settlers into Rabbit Valley, including ten members of the Allred family, W.W. Morrel and son Silas, William and Henry Maxfield. They built their homes east of Fremont . . . — — Map (db m138059) HM
Built in 1897, at a cost of $1,000, by Peter Christensen who fired the brick in a kiln between Lyman and Horsevalley Ranch. Benjamin F. Brown carved the wood decorations. Used only as a tithing office as long as offerings were paid in produce. It . . . — — Map (db m138403) HM
This black rock building was purchased from I. E. Wax in 1931 for the sum of $350 to house the offices of the Fremont Irrigation Company. The minutes of a meeting, held February 7, 1931, recorded this transaction. Until the building was sold to the . . . — — Map (db m272180) HM
Built in 1897, the Loa Tithing Office is historically significant as one of 32 well preserved tithing buildings in Utah that were part of the successful "in kind" tithing system of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Mormons) between . . . — — Map (db m138404) HM
1st Panel
All Gave Some
Some Gave All
The Unforgotten Soldier
KIA
Hapold L. Brown 11-29-1919 WWI
William R. Richardson 19-25-1918 WWI
Elmo G. Taylor 4-6-1941 WWII
Carl Em Taylor 3-8-1944 WWII
Ralph J. Baker . . . — — Map (db m272183) WM
1st Panel
World War I
Adams, John G.
Adams, Samuel L.
Allen, Harold Dean
Allen, Lewis A.
Allred, John F.
Bain, Charles
Baker, Martin
Barger, Loran S.
Barrett, Don E.
Behunin, Leonard E.
Blackburn, . . . — — Map (db m272578) HM
Loa townsite was named in 1876, after Mauna Loa, the beautiful 13,000 foot high volcanic mountain on the Island of Hawaii, by Franklin Wheeler Young, a missionary to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in 1856, and was dedicated by Patriarch Elias Hicks . . . — — Map (db m138402) HM
In the year 1878 William Wilson Morrell and William Taylor erected this structure, the first public building in Wayne County. It was 20x30 feet, built of logs, and used by the people of Fremont community as a church, school house, and public meeting . . . — — Map (db m138401) HM
In 1853, Lt. Colonel John C. Fremont mapped a new trail and made daily astronomical observations from Green River to Parowan, Utah. In his party of 22 were: S.N. Carvalho, artist and daguerreotypist, Mr. Von Egloffstein, topographer with assistants . . . — — Map (db m138061) HM
In 1877 William Wilson Morrell brought a water powered sawmill into Rabbit Valley (Fremont) from Kamas, Utah. The mill was located near Mill Meadows, three miles northeast of Fremont, and was operated successfully for several years by William, his . . . — — Map (db m138399) HM
In 1882 the first settlers came to Teasdale, formerly called Bullberry. In 1885 land was purchased by the L.D.S. Church for $9.99 upon which they built the first public building in the settlement. George Coleman was the first presiding Elder and . . . — — Map (db m147483) HM
The Nielsen Grist Mill is located at the foot of Thousand Lake Mountain on the edge of scenic country referred to by ancient Indians as "The Land of Sleeping Rainbow." Constructed around 1893 for Hans Peter Nielsen by his son-in-law, Niels Hansen, . . . — — Map (db m142655) HM
LDS convert of 1836 – Wounded in massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri, 1838 – Moved to Illinois – Set apart as Bishop of Nauvoo 4th Ward and helped to build Nauvoo Temple – Captain of fifty in first Pioneer Company to enter Salt . . . — — Map (db m147481) HM
From Water to Electricity Fremont River water also powered Torrey's first electricity, which arrived in 1929. Recalling those days, Torrey resident Clay Robinson wrote, "When January rolled around the night temperatures often dropped below . . . — — Map (db m142665) HM
The Torrey Log Church/Schoolhouse, completed in 1898, is locally significant as the first church building and the first school building in the pioneer community of Torrey, settled in the 1890s. After a new multi-use building with classrooms was . . . — — Map (db m142664) HM
On September 18, 1898, construction began on the Torrey log church, later used also as a school. Local settlers furnished labor, cash, and materials for this unique log structure with its steep hip roof, flared eaves, square bell tower on the entry . . . — — Map (db m142663) HM
