LOGAN – Pioneer Day is approaching and Cache Valley Daily wanted to come up with a driving tour of area pioneer locations people can visit to rekindle the pioneer spirit.
Some 70,000 people traveled nearly 4,000 miles from Europe, then another 1,300 miles from Iowa City, Iowa to Salt Lake City over a span of 23 years, prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
Cache Valley has many early pioneer locations worth checking out.
Clarkson has the Martin Harris monument in their cemetery where he is buried.
Harris was a prominent figure in early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a successful farmer who financed the first printing of the Book of Mormon. Harris was one of the scribes that helped Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon from golden plates.
Harris was also one of three witnesses who saw the original plates as recorded in the front of the book.
When he died in 1875, he was buried with a Book of Mormon in one hand and a copy of the Doctrine and Covenants in the other.
The monument to Martin Harris is a prominent fixture in the Clarkston cemetery.
The James G. Willie rock house located at 97 N. 100 W. in Mendon stands as a reminder of the pioneer heritage that exists in Cache Valley.
The home, restored by his great-great grandson and Mendon resident Paul Willie, takes visitors back to the great undertaking of the pioneers.
Willie was appointed to guide a group of pioneers with handcarts from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. The group got caught in a snowstorm in Wyoming and many lost their lives. He was one of the early settlers of Mendon.
Willie is buried in the Mendon Cemetery.
The Wellsville cemetery also has the grave of Elijah Fordham, a man who was reported to be on his death bed and healed at the hand of Joseph Smith the founding leader and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A stone monument erected in the cemetery reads, “Erected in memory of Elijah Fordham. An important character in early church history. He was associated with the prophet Joseph Smith, was a carpenter by trade and carved the oxen for the baptismal font in the Nauvoo Temple.
“On July 22, 1839, he was miraculously healed of malaria by the prophet Joseph Smith and immediately rose from his bed and went with the prophet and others administering to the sick. He was active in the church all of his life.”
The Wellsville Tabernacle is the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) museum for Cache Valley’ first town. It is located at 75 S.100 E. in Wellsville. Contact Wellsville City for information and schedule information.
There are some houses built by early pioneers that people have remodeled and are living in them today.
Lewiston Daughters of the DUP museum is a cabin near the Trenton bridge. The cabin was built in 1876 and used as a family home until 1956. It is open by appointment. Phone: (435) 213-6561, (435) 994-0391 or (435) 799-9944.
The Cache County DUP Museum located at 160 North Main St. in Logan has relics from wall to wall showing what life was like in pioneer times..
Cache County DUP Museum, located at 160 North Main St. in Logan is open Memorial Day to Labor Day on Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call (801) 369-4437.
The Clarkston Heritage DUP Museum, located at 80 W. Center Clarkston, was built in 1871 as a Tithing Granary. It is open 2 pm to 4 pm July 24th and Labor Day, otherwise by appointment: (435) 563-5295, (801) 791-1267, (801) 719-1739 or (435) 563-5754.
The Mendon DUP Cabin is located at 97 North 100 West in Mendon. It is the Ole Peder and Rikki Anderson Sorenson cabin which was built in 1859. Restoration of the cabin began in May 2013. No other information was available.
Paradise DUP is located at 8980 S. 200 West Paradise. It is open by appointment by calling (435) 770-2641, (435) 245-4594 or (435) 760-2077.
The Richmond DUP Relic Hall is located at 26 South State Richmond. Originally built as an office and a tithing office. The building is now owned by Richmond City since 1959. It is open by appointment. Call (435) 258-5362 or (435) 258-2227.
The Logan Tabernacle also has relics from early life in Cache Valley. The Tabernacle has undergone renovations over the last few years but there are also several pioneer-era relics on the grounds surrounding the building at 50 North Main in Logan.