CLARKSTON – One hundred years ago on July 10, 1925, on the 50th anniversary of Martin Harris’ death, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints placed a granite monument on his gravesite in the Clarkston cemetery.
On one of the inscriptions on the Martin Harris monument in the Clarkston Cemetery on Sunday Sept. 7, 2025
President Heber J. Grant, the president of the church at the time, dedicated the monument with an inscription telling of Harris’ role as a special witness and his testimony of the Book of Mormon.
Harris was a prominent figure in the early history of the Church and the monument on his gravesite marks the importance he had in the beginnings of the LDS Church.
He was one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon; he held the gold plates in his hands, from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
Anytime he had an opportunity he would share his witness of the events in his life with visitors in Clarkston. Martin wanted everyone that knew his story to share it with others.
Martin requested a copy of the Book of Mormon be placed in his right hand and a copy of the Doctrine & Covenants in his left hand in his casket before his burial.
A historical marker placed on the site of Martin Harris’ grave gives a brief history of the man on Sunday Sept. 7, 2025.
The Division of Utah State History placed a National Register of Historic Places marker on the site.
In part, the inscription reads, “A committed supporter of Jospeh Smith Jr. the Mormon Prophet, Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to secure $3,000 for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. He followed Joseph Smith and the saints to Kirkland, Ohio, but disaffected and remained there when Joseph and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved to Missouri, and later Illinois,” the plaque says. “During the intervening years he never denied his witness of the Book of Mormon and in later years bore his testimony to all that would listen.”
At age 87 Harris traveled alone in ill health to Clarkston to live with his son where he was rebaptized as a member of the LDS Church. He lived there until the time of his death.
An amphitheater was built near Martin’s grave and dedicated as the Martin Harris Memorial Amphitheater in August of 1983, by President Ezra Taft Benson.
Over the years, a historical musical titled “Martin Harris, the Man Who Knew” was performed before thousands of people every August to carry on Martin Harris’ charge to tell the world his story and witness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
In August of 1983, the first pageant was performed and organizers recorded 35,000 people attending the production.
Initially, the pageant was organized as a community project for Cache Valley members of the Church, and many were involved in its planning. It served as an education tool for its members. It was also used for missionary work for the Latter-day Saint church.
In 2018 church leadership decided to stop many of its pageants, including the one in Clarkston.
Elder D. Todd Christopherson told the Church News in July of 2021 the decision to discontinue the pageants was at a time in the church’s history when most of the members of the church would never see the places where the pageants were.
The First Presidency determined they could not justify the cost of current and future maintenance, security and safety upgrades running into several millions of dollars when only a handful of members and visitors would benefit from the experience, he said.
On a lazy afternoon it may be worth a drive to Clarkston to see the monument and amphitheater. If one never had the opportunity to see the pageant, it might be fun to imagine what it may have been like, and also what the man would have been like to know.