Daniel Buckley Funk was an industrious and innovative citizen of early Sanpete who owned a mill and a farm, made shoes and drums from animal hides, served in the military, and pursued several business ventures. His most successful and innovative endeavor was creating a man-made lake on a dry, bowl-shaped piece of land he homesteaded six miles south of Manti. He built a levy at the south end of the property and, despite doubts from townspeople and Native Americans because no springs rose there and the nearest creek lay far below the land, he engineered a way to capture water from a creek fed by a higher spring. By 1873 water was pouring into the property, and over two years the lake grew to cover 75 acres. Funk named it Eagle Park, planted 6,500 trees nearby, stocked the water with fish, and built a bowery, a private beach with dressing rooms, dance pavilions, and rowboats to create a pleasure resort. He then invited surrounding communities to enjoy the recreational area, now known as Palisades Park. In winter he also made the lake profitable by cutting ice to sell to households in Manti, storing unsold ice, and using it in summer for ice cream and ice-cold sodas at the concession stand.