Utah's First Fort

On this ten acre square from 1847 to 1849 stood the first fort, a historic Mormon bastion sometimes called the "Plymouth Rock of the West." Homes of logs or adobe were built side by side, with their rear walls forming a protective barrier and a nine foot mud wall enclosing the settlement. By December 1847, more than two thousand people lived there, and the fort had been extended one block north and one block south. The first school convened there in October 1847, and a bowery at the center served as a meeting place. Within its walls Anglo Saxon civilization was first brought to the Great Basin, and the ensign of the Republic was raised over land that was then Mexican territory. There, on December 9, 1848, the first petition to establish self-government in the Rocky Mountain West was signed. The site became a public park on July 24, 1898. Three women came in the first company of pioneers: Harriet Page Wheeler, wife of Lorenzo D. Young; Clara Decker, wife of Brigham Young; and Ellen Saunders, wife of Heber C. Kimball. During the rugged journey, the services performed by these women were of incalculable value. The children who journeyed with the first company of pioneers included Lorenzo Sobieski Young, age six, son of Lorenzo D. and Persis Goodall Young, and Isaac Perry Decker, age seven, son of Harriet Page Wheeler Decker Young; both boys proved courageous and helpful during the trek across the plains.

Salt Lake City, Utah · United States