Arza Adams (1804-1889), a pioneer millwright from Canada, came to Utah Valley with other pioneers to settle this area in 1850, soon after the first pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. He built a waterpowered grist mill on the adjacent creek to turn a pair of mill stones and grind wheat into flour, with his first mill located at 3rd South Center St. In 1853, when Brigham Young directed pioneer settlers to build forts to avoid conflict with Native Americans, Adams relocated his flour mill upstream just north of the Lake City Fort at American Fork. New machinery and other improvements were later added to that mill. In the 1880’s, Adams built another mill about a mile north of American Fork on the same creek. Grinding seeds with stones has a very ancient history, and the Timpanogos Utes in Utah Valley used grinding stones such as the metate and mano. They shared locally adapted seeds, including beans, corn, and squash, with pioneer settlers, and this exchange helped build peaceful relations.