In Memoriam
In the valley below,
between September 7 and 11, 1857,
a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants
led by Captain John T. Baker and Captain Alexander Fancher
was attacked while en route to California.
This event is . . . — — Map (db m46776) HM
Massacre of Men and Boys
On September 11, 1857, a procession of Arkansas emigrants bound for California marched northward up this valley having been persuaded to leave their beseiged camp by Mormon militiamen, bearing a white flag, who . . . — — Map (db m60898) HM
Built and maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Out of respect for those who died and were buried here and in the surrounding area following the massacre of 1857. — — Map (db m152387) HM
The Baker-Fancher emigrants buried the bodies of ten men killed during the siege somewhere within the circled wagons of the encampment located west of the current monument in the valley. Most of the Baker-Fancher party died at various locations . . . — — Map (db m14694) HM
Led by Captains John T. Baker and Alexander Fancher, a California-bound wagon train from Arkansas camped in this valley in the late summer of 1857 during the time of the so-called Utah War. In the early morning hours of September 7th, a party of . . . — — Map (db m46765) HM
An arduous 1,200-mile route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles, the "Old Spanish Trail" passed through Mountain Meadows during its heyday, between 1830 and 1848. The trail served traders who loaded their pack mules with woolen goods from Santa Fe each . . . — — Map (db m114259) HM
After returning home from World War II, area veterans organized and requested membership to the National American Legion Program.
January 09, 946, national headquarters issued a charter for “Hiatt-Hunt Post 80”. The post was named . . . — — Map (db m14341) HM
Eliza Jane was born in Nauvoo, Adams County, Illinois, on 26 July 1840. Her parents were Zerah and Mary Brown Pulsipher. She was 7 years old when persecution drove the saints west. She walked across the plains with her family, picking up buffalo . . . — — Map (db m14344) HM
Hannah Louisa Leavitt was born on 16 Mar 1855 at Lake Point, Tooele County, Utah, to Dudley and Mary Ann Huntsman Leavitt, she was the oldest of her fathers 48 children. In the fall of that year the Leavitts moved south to Dixie and for the next 21 . . . — — Map (db m14345) HM
Mary Ann Pulsipher was a pioneer. She was born to Zerah and Mary Brown Pulsipher. Being born in the East (Scott, Courtland County, New York), she was old enough to realize the hardships incurred when the family became members of the Church of Jesus . . . — — Map (db m14343) HM
Thomas Sirls Terry was born in Bristol Township, Buicks County, Pennsylvania, on 3 Oct 1825 to Thomas Sirls and Mary Ann Murkins Terry. Thomas went to work at the age of 7 in a local cotton mill. At 17 he was apprenticed to learn the trade of . . . — — Map (db m14342) HM
1893–1904
This monument is near the spot where a celebration took place on August 6, 1904. After nearly eleven years of arduous work on the canal, water was ready for diversion onto the land.
“Five or six wagon loads of . . . — — Map (db m1329) HM
This house was built in 1906-08 by Ira E. and Marion Hinton Bradshaw, lifelong residents of southern Utah. It was the first permanent house built in the town of Hurricane, which was established soon after completion of the Hurricane Canal in 1904. . . . — — Map (db m74619) HM
In 1915 prisoners from the Utah State Prison camped here among these very rocks. They were detailed to build a wagon road up the fault, directly east from here. Remnants of the road can still bee seen with its lava rocks retaining walls. The work . . . — — Map (db m59429) HM
This plow was donated to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. Leslie E. Nelson, of Hurricane,
Utah.
History of the plow is from Mr. Nelson’s grandmother, Hulda Ellertson Kay, who was housekeeper for Apostle Hyde during the period of 1875.
The Nelson . . . — — Map (db m59403) HM
In 1859, after helping settle San Bernardino California, Moses Harris moved his family to Utah and settled on the Virgin River near Quail Creek. In 1862 a flood forced the settlers further up Quail Creek to the Cottonwood Creek Fork. Due to the many . . . — — Map (db m85128) HM
Harrisburg
The town of Harrisburg was founded by Moses Harris in 1859. By 1868, twenty-five families had made their homes in this little valley along Quail Creek, located three miles south of Leeds and twelve miles northeast of St. George. . . . — — Map (db m59644) HM
Original Home of Ira E. and Marion Hinton Bradshaw
Built 1906-08
(Placed on the National Register of Historic Places – 1991)
This plain carpenters’ Victorian eclectic style home, with a cross-wing and stone foundation and cellar was . . . — — Map (db m59406) HM
Kolob
by Owen Sanders
When lassitude tugs at your body
and robs you of zest to exist
come with me to Kolob
and walk through the mild morning mist
Huddle at dawn on a hillside
and scan the green valley below;
Listen to . . . — — Map (db m59367) HM
The construction of the Hurricane Canal is one of Utah's proudest stories of pioneer determination. This canal, built completely by hand, opened the Hurricane Bench to farming and the establishment of the town of Hurricane.
In 1893 two local men, . . . — — Map (db m59363) HM
We give love and honor to the memory of the men who built our Hurricane Canal; and the ditch riders who cared for it. These pioneers were men of integrity who had a dream, an improbable dream. They built the canal high on a hill, sometimes through . . . — — Map (db m59432) HM
Hurricane had its humble beginning in the year 1906 with the coming of eleven families to establish their homes. These first settlers were the families of T. Maurice Hinton, Ira E. Bradshaw, Anthony Jepson, Thomas Ison, Bernard Hinton, Erastus Lee, . . . — — Map (db m1461) HM
In 1863 settlers of the upper Virgin River whose lands were being washed away made preliminary surveys for irrigating and occupying these lands. Erastus Snow, David H.
Cannon and Nephi Johnson came down the hill over an old Indian trail, with a . . . — — Map (db m59405) HM
With the settlement of Toquerville in 1858 by the first six families and others soon to join them, they soon realized that the pressures on the available irrigated farmland could not support the increasing population. Survival would depend on . . . — — Map (db m59446) HM
Between June 9, 1856, and July 6, 1860, ten separate Handcart Companies left Iowa
City, Iowa, or Florence, Nebraska to their land of Zion in the Utah Territory. There were
653 handcarts and 50 wagons.
Nearly 3,000 souls, some with babes in arms, . . . — — Map (db m59369) HM
A bowery was built near here in August 1904 for the celebration of the long-awaited arrival of water to the Hurricane Bench and to name this new town. After twelve years of back-breaking work, the Virgin River water, carried seven miles from the . . . — — Map (db m59430) HM
When Claron Bradshaw was asked by the Heritage Park Foundation Committee if he would sponsor the expense of casting the “Pioneer Gratitude” statue in bronze and placing it on the monument in the park, he responded –
“I . . . — — Map (db m59366) HM
Historic Temple Trail
The Temple Trail which has two parts, was used during the years 1874-1876 to bring lumber by ox-team from two sawmills at Nixon Springs on the south face of Mount Trumbull to St. George, eighty miles away, for constructing . . . — — Map (db m59362) HM
Smith Mesa, northeast of Hurricane and nearly one-half mile higher in elevation, was named after Charles Nephi Smith, Bishop of Rockville from 1867 to 1891. He had a ranch house on Smith Creek and ran his cattle on this beautiful mesa.
Shortly . . . — — Map (db m59404) HM
The confluence of Ash and LaVerkin Creeks with the Virgin River is important in the history of this region. Footsteps long forgotten have passed through this region. Some have been remembered but most have faded with time. Roaming bands of Indians, . . . — — Map (db m59447) HM
The warm comfortable productive climate in the sheltered valleys along the meandering Rio Virgin and its lower tributaries in Washington County became known as "Utah's Dixie".
The rugged pioneer colonizers and their descendants are known as . . . — — Map (db m59365) HM
Segments of the old Indian trails between St. George and Long Valley were used by Mormon pioneers to settle Long Valley in 1864 and for its resettlement in 1871 following Indian conflicts. This trail scaled the Hurricane Fault on the Johnson Twist. . . . — — Map (db m74618) HM
When first conceived, the Hurricane Canal seemed like an impossible dream. Beginning at a point seven miles up the Virgin River, water had to travel through flumes, tunnels, and over deep ravines. The canal had to hang on steep, unstable cliffs and . . . — — Map (db m1328) HM
When first conceived, the Hurricane Canal seemed like an impossible dream. Beginning at a point seven miles up the Virgin River, water had to travel through flumes, tunnels, and over deep ravines. The canal had to hang on steep, unstable cliffs and . . . — — Map (db m74617) HM
The Black Ridge .
The toughest, heartbreaking barrier to the colonization of “Utah’s Dixie” was the Black Ridge between New Harmony and Pintura, north of Toquerville, Utah.
A deep, rough, lava flow clogged the valley from the . . . — — Map (db m1427) HM
Buggies, such as the one before you, were an important part of early America. As the name implies, Doctors' Buggies were used by physicians but they were also a popular choice for many others as well. Buggies were dearly prized and generally kept in . . . — — Map (db m59373) HM
In 1908 the Midland Bridge Company was awarded a contract in the amount of $3,299 to fabricate and erect the Hurricane/LaVerkin Bridge. This structure incorporates distinctive characteristics in its method of construction, is one of the earliest and . . . — — Map (db m59453) HM
In 1881 Thomas Judd, promoter, with others completed an 840 foot tunnel and 1 1/4 mile canal to bring water from the Rio Virgin for the cultivation of this valley. Excavations opened a large crystal cave of stalactite and stalagmites.
In 1903, . . . — — Map (db m59448) HM
In December of 1888, Thomas P. Cottam and Thomas Judd made a preliminary survey to determine the probable cost of a canal. Early in 1889, Isaac C. MacFarlane made a working survey, and work was started as soon as his survey was completed.
In June . . . — — Map (db m59451) HM
The confluence of Ash and LaVerkin Creeks with the Virgin River is important in the history of this region. Footsteps long forgotten have passed through this region. Some have been remembered but most have faded with time. Roaming bands of Indians, . . . — — Map (db m59449) HM
The era of the "Great Depression" began with the crash of the stock market in 1929. The economy of the United States changed dramatically. Americans were in peril; unprecedented numbers were jobless. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in . . . — — Map (db m59941) HM
The history of three towns – Harrisburg, Silver Reef, and Leeds – is intricately connected. Harrisburg and Silver Reef are ghost towns today, while Leeds persists. Like many locations in the arid west, water and its availability and . . . — — Map (db m59662) HM
The Leeds CCC camp opened in October 1933 under the direction of the Dixie National Forest Service on the site of an existing ranger station. Leeds, a town of less than 200, more than doubled with the opening of the camp. Two hundred young men from . . . — — Map (db m59659) HM
The building to your left was originally built as a schoolhouse in 1880 in nearby Silver Reef. It also served in the mining boomtown as a place for community dances and other gatherings.
Soon after the schoolhouse was built, Silver Reef began . . . — — Map (db m59663) HM
Built in 1933, the Leeds Civilian Conservation Corps Camp is significant as perhaps the best remaining example of a CCC camp in Utah. These camps were typically built of relatively temporary frame construction, and the surviving buildings and . . . — — Map (db m55807) HM
In the depression year of 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated the Civilian Conservation Corps. This program provided much needed employment for the nation's youth 18-25 years old. The men had to complete the 8th grade, and have 3-4 . . . — — Map (db m57169) HM
Between 1875 and the end of 1876, Silver Reef boomed with development, going from a boulder-strewn flat to a town of 1,500 people, one of the largest in Washington county.
Silver Reef soon became the center of permanent development, and many . . . — — Map (db m59660) HM
St. John's Church
After his 1877 visit to Silver Reef, Father Scanlan appointed Father Dennis Kiely as the local pastor. The increasing Catholic population continued to ask for a church. Father Scanlan returned in November 1878 to . . . — — Map (db m59627) HM
The cliffs appear solid and motionless. But the visible scars tell a different story. In July 1983 a huge slab broke off the opposite cliff, leaving a buff-colored scar and tons of rubble at the base. The entire even was over in moments.
These . . . — — Map (db m144142) HM
Established May 9, 1854, by John D. Lee, Richard Woolsey, William R. Davis and others who had founded Harmony in 1852. County seat of Washington County until 1859. Headquarters of Mormon Mission to Lamanites 1853-1854.
The fort was finally . . . — — Map (db m59470) HM
This overlook reveals the cooler, more thickly forested world above the finger canyons. From this elevated viewpoint you can see the pattern of canyon-carving streams along cracks in the Colorado Plateau. Each finger canyon is like a miniature Zion . . . — — Map (db m72549)
Fort Harmony was designated as the training site of the Iron County division of the Utah Militia. In 1857 the Militia was divided into 13 districts. The southern group consisted of all counties south of Beaver and was known as the Iron County . . . — — Map (db m75622) HM
In 1852 Elisha H. Groves, John D. Lee and others built a fort on Ash Creek, called Harmony. The fort was abandoned in 1854 and a new site located called Fort Harmony. Following disastrous floods in 1862 settlers again moved and established . . . — — Map (db m59471) HM
October 13, 1776:"We set out southward from the small river and campsite of Nuestra Senora del Pilar ("Our Lady of the Pillar" – Kolob Canyon of Zion Canyon National Park)…" and…"We traveled a league and a half to the south, . . . — — Map (db m59468) HM
Constructed in 1924, the Rockville Bridge incorporates distinctive characteristics in its method of construction and is the only surviving example of a rigid Parker through truss type bridge in the state of Utah. The Rockville Bridge is historically . . . — — Map (db m74628) HM
Fredrick and Anna Reber reached Santa Clara in November of 1861. Laboring with other members of their faith, they forged an existence out of the barren, sandy valley that had been their destination. In direct contrast to their native Switzerland, . . . — — Map (db m59194) HM
The Henry Hug family came to Santa Clara with the original Swiss Company in November of 1861. The Hugs and other members of this group lived in their wagon boxes and hillside dugouts until more adequate shelters could be built. The Hugs built this . . . — — Map (db m59188) HM
The Jacob Hamblin Home was built in 1862-1863. The home's construction materials were obtained locally-ponderosa pine from Pine Valley and rock from nearby hillsides. Pioneer craftsmen from Cedar City laid the stone in what is know as a coursed . . . — — Map (db m59201) HM
This 1 ½ story Victorian, eclectic crosswing home is believed to have been built in 1881. The adobe bricks that form the walls were made on the property from sand and clay from the backyard and the nearby hill to the north. Some of the other . . . — — Map (db m59199) HM
The term Period Revival refers to a wide range of historically based house styles favored by the American public for nearly half a century. A number of these styles, including Spanish Colonial, English Tudor, Mission, Pueblo, and French Norman were . . . — — Map (db m59196) HM
Right from the beginning, the Santa Clara Merc developed a presence on the main street of this small western town. Morphing from a one-room operation to a small, free-standing unit to a thriving mercantile that supplied needed essentials to . . . — — Map (db m59115) HM
The Santa Clara Relief Society House was built in 1907. It was spearheaded by the sisters of the community who belonged to the local ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a simple frontier dwelling that demonstrates . . . — — Map (db m59117) HM
The Santa Clara Tithing Granary was built in 1902-1903 by the Santa Clara First Ward of the St. George Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tithing granaries were used throughout Utah during pioneer times as a depository for . . . — — Map (db m59114) HM
November 28, 1861 about 93 pioneers under the leadership of Daniel Bonelli, were sent by President Brigham Young to settle southern Utah and raise cotton and grapes. They located at the fort built by Jacob Hamblin and others along Santa Clara Creek, . . . — — Map (db m59019) HM
[Side A:]The Settling of Santa ClaraThomas Carlyle said of the Switzers, "They are honest people... they are not philosophers or tribunes; but frank, honest landsmen."
In April 1861 a company of Mormon converts from Switzerland, . . . — — Map (db m59190) HM
In 1858, Nephi Johnson, one of Brigham Young's scouts, with a party of Indian guides arrived at the mouth of the canyon. Due to superstition, the Indians refused to enter the canyon. Nephi Johnson, alone, followed up river to the Narrows, a place . . . — — Map (db m74630) HM
He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done. — — Map (db m149308) HM
This 5,613- foot-long tunnel, the longest vehicular tunnel in the National Park System, was blasted through the towering sandstone cliffs above Pine Creek Canyon. Construction required extraordinary access through cliff-face galleries for blasting . . . — — Map (db m74632) HM
Water—the lack of it and too much of it—was the greatest challenge to Dixie’s early Mormon settlers. When the original company of families entered the St. George valley late in 1861, they had little more than two small springs to reply . . . — — Map (db m1395) HM
Numerous petroglyphs are the only record of the original settlers of this area, the Anasazi and Paiute Indians. In January 1858 a small Mormon pioneer group was sent south from Salt Lake City to raise cotton. The pioneers settled the east side of . . . — — Map (db m59015) HM
Brigham Young was prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 30 years. During those three decades he directed the establishment of more than three hundred communities throughout the American West. It was "Brother . . . — — Map (db m59229) HM
The original portion of this home was begun in 1860 and completed in 1871. When Brigham Young purchased it he added the front addition which was completed in 1873. It served as his winter home from that time until his death in 1877. — — Map (db m59181) HM
Across the street west, and 2 blocks south of here, stands the building originally known as the St. George Academy. After the turn of the century Southern Utah citizens realized a great need for higher education in this isolated corner of the state. . . . — — Map (db m1392) HM
Dixie Academy was constructed to provide advanced courses of study. The St. George Stake Academy officially began in 1888 and moved into this building in 1911. A four year program was recognized as two years of senior high school and two years of . . . — — Map (db m1462) HM
Erastus Snow was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1818. He entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 21, 1847, in advance of the first company of Mormon Pioneers. He was ordained an Apostle, at the age of thirty. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus . . . — — Map (db m59168) HM
On this site in 1867, Erastus Snow began construction on a four-story, adobe home which later became known as the "Big House." Snow, an LDS apostle, was the presiding Mormon leader during the colonization of St. George. The "Big House" was an . . . — — Map (db m59233) HM
This structure, built by St. George's first horticulturist J.E. Johnson in 1863, for use as a meeting place for the club, was never used as a residence. — — Map (db m59238) HM
Built just five years after St. George was settled, the Gardeners’ Club Hall is considered to be the oldest public building standing in the city. This small, unassuming adobe building predates the courthouse, the Tabernacle and the Temple by several . . . — — Map (db m1385) HM
Orson Pratt was one of two Latter-day Saint Apostles called by Brigham Young to lead the St. George colony in 1864. When Orson was called on a mission to Europe, the home passed to Richard Bentley. It was partially converted to a mercantile business . . . — — Map (db m59309) HM
St. George was designated as the county seat on January 14, 1883. This building was begun in 1866 and completed in 1876. It served the county government as offices. The 18-inch thick walls housed the jail in the basement and school was held upstairs . . . — — Map (db m59226) HM
The seat of county government was originally established at Fort Harmony from 1856 until 1859. It was then moved to the city of Washington until 1863 when St. George became the County Seat. By 1866, work had begun on the Washington County . . . — — Map (db m1391) HM
This red brick building completed in 1938 was financed by Mrs. Hortense McQuarrie Odlum to house pioneer relics. The addition was financed by Ferol McQuarrie Kincade in 1985. Daughters of Utah Pioneers volunteer their services as docents for the . . . — — Map (db m59224) HM
The Opera House served as the cultural center of the community from 1875 until the 1930s. The original "T" shaped building seated 300 persons. A mechanically adjustable sloping floor afforded an excellent view of the stage. — — Map (db m59093) HM
At a time of colonization, colonizors of the Dixie Cotton Mission were struggling to survive, their leaders planned a higher priority on culture. The Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, taught that “man is that he might have joy.” His . . . — — Map (db m1393) HM
In 1863, Orson Pratt, Amasa M. Lyman, erastus Snow, Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, laid the corner stones 18 months after pioneers arrived in St. George. Truman O. Angell, Sr. Architect. Miles Romney, Supt. of . . . — — Map (db m1388) HM
Less than a year after St. George was settled, residents were directed by Brigham Young to “build a building as soon as possible which would be commodious, substantial and well furnished with a seating capacity of 2,000.” The building, . . . — — Map (db m1387) HM
When the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah, they had left behind 2 temples—one in Kirkland, Ohio, and one in Nauvoo, Illinois. Work began on a temple in Salt Lake City in 1853, but was delayed for various reasons. Desirous of having a temple . . . — — Map (db m1386) HM
Brigham Young's purpose in building this tabernacle was to provide an ornament to the city. Its 3-foot thick basement walls of hand-cut limestone bear individual stone cutter marks. Roof trusses were hand-hewn and the twin spiral staircases with . . . — — Map (db m59271) HM
Pioneer workmen transported basalt stone
blocks for construction of the Saint George
LDS Temple foundation by wagon over this
"Temple Quarry Trail".
Completion of the trailhead, archway, and
access to the trail has long . . . — — Map (db m59017) HM
The house behind the store was built in 1876 by William Oscar Bentley. It was sold in the early 1900's to Thomas Judd, who attached a mercantile to the dining room. The Judd family owned and operated the store from 1911 until it was purchased and . . . — — Map (db m59310) HM
The house was built in 1916 by Joe Burgess. He hauled lava rock from the nearby black hill for the foundation stones and constructed the home out of formed cement blocks made by lime canfield. These formed cement blocks became popular in the early . . . — — Map (db m59202) HM
In Memory of the Dixie Pioneers who were sent by President Brigham Young to colonize this section of territory. Fort Harmony was built in 1852. Treaties were made with the Indians and other settlements started where conditions were favorable. When . . . — — Map (db m1396) HM
Built by Augustus Poore Hardy in 1871, this house, with classical Dixie dormers, has quite a history. Hardy was sheriff of St. George and was holding a man accused of murder. An armed group of vigilantes broke into the house and forced the keys from . . . — — Map (db m59235) HM
The jail is a small one room building constructed from black lava rock gathered in the nearby foothills. The exact date of construction is not known, however, it is assumed to be built by Sheriff Hardy around 1880. Though used as a granary after the . . . — — Map (db m59270) HM
Dedicated to memory of
Clarence Amos Jones & Madaline Empey Jones.
Donated by their children Boyd Grant Jones and Sylvia Jones Chamberlain,
Wayne Hyrum Jones
to the Washington County Historical Society
This one room home, . . . — — Map (db m59222) HM
Joseph Judd, son of Thomas Judd, who built the store east of here, built this home in 1917. His family lived in the house until 1974. Joseph and his son Thomas operated the Judd Store while they lived here, and Thomas Judd still manages it for the . . . — — Map (db m59308) HM
It is difficult to establish an exact date of construction of this building. It is one of a half-dozen structures built in St. George from leftover rock from the tabernacle during the 1860's. George Brooks is thought to have built the building, as . . . — — Map (db m59268) HM
Mormon Pioneers came to St. George in 1861 where they found rocks of many kinds for building purposes. After Brigham Young, President of the L.D.S. Church, advised them to erect a large meeting house, long layers of red sandstone ten inches thick . . . — — Map (db m59148) HM
The Temple Trail
The temple trail is the route used from 1871 to 1877 to haul timber from Mt. Trumbull, Arizona, to St. George, Utah, for the building of the St. George LDS Temple. Pioneers traveled 80 miles along the rough, dirt road, hauling . . . — — Map (db m59311) HM
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