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  • Places | Bingham's Fort

    Places Click the Google map below to view various places from the Bingham Fort area. ​ List of Homes

  • Bingham's Fort | Erastus Bingham | Ogden Utah

    The History of 2nd Street Chief Little Soldier Way The Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden "Second Street west of Five Points is often associated with the Business Depot Ogden. All the concrete and cars hardly reflect 2nd Street's pioneer history, but amidst the clamor of commerce, a corner of pioneer and Native American history is still intact."[1] There are twenty-one old house enthusiasts here, some with large properties that are still irrigated with the pioneer ditches of Bingham Fort. The largest property is a 40-acre farm established in 1850 in an area of Native American encampments. 1850 Bingham/Stone Farm on West 2nd Street.; Native American land acknowledgment; National Register of Historic Places. For thousands of years, Native Americans camped in the area of 2nd Street from Wall Avenue to 1200 West. Stone's Pond that never froze, many springs, and meandering branches of Mill Creek made the area an ideal wintering location. Native American families lived in the area in peace and in a delicate balance with their earth Mother; the very provider of their livelihood. Shoshone Chief Terikee and Chief Little Soldier set a tone of friendliness towards the first white settlers in Weber County but also demanded compensation for the intrusion on their land. In 1849 and 1850 a few Mormon families arrived on today's 2nd Street west of Five Points, settling in an area that was a popular Native American camping ground. The settlers were also attracted to the available water, but in time their farms and herds destroyed the grasses and plants that the Shoshone gathered. In 1850, there was an accidental shooting of peaceful Chief Terikee two miles north of 2nd Street. The Shoshone reacted by killing a mill worker, stealing five horses, and fleeing. It was a sad affair, and it took some time to restore good feelings on both sides. After that Mormon President Brigham Young sent more settlers from Salt Lake City to Weber County to secure the settlement. With a large wave of new settlers, surveyors laid out the land north of the Ogden River and called it "the Farming Lands"; the survey was six miles square. 2nd Street was officially laid out at this time and was first known as Bingham's Lane and later as Bingham Fort Lane; the number of settlers on 2nd Street west of Five Points increased year by year. The Shoshone camped in the same places every year and resented the white intrusion; the whites acknowledged that they were interlopers; both groups strove for mutual respect. In July 1853, due to Indian and settler fighting in central Utah, Brigham Young ordered the people in the Weber settlements to “fort up” for security. Erastus Bingham supervised the gathering of settlers from the areas of today's Harrisville, Slaterville and Marriott to West 2nd Street where they laid out a fort 80 rods square, an area of 40 acres. In a year the population of the fort was so large that another 20 acres were added to the east. The fort straddled W 2nd Street and extended approximately from today's Wall Avenue to Century Drive. Each family that came to the fort was assigned to build a certain portion of the walls; some completed their assignment and some didn’t, a sign that the natives and settlers were not in violent conflict here. In fact the Shoshone often camped in the open space in the center of the fort. It was called Bingham Fort. ​ In the winter of 1854-55, the Shoshone were destitute for food. Instead of begging, they gave up their guns and moved into the fort full time to work with the settlers and to earn their food (See Chief Little Soldier for details). All over the Utah Territory, new settlers and emigrant trails had destroyed the plants, grasses and animals that the Shoshone gathered for food, and everywhere the Shoshone were in danger of starving. In time Bingham Fort became more of a town than a fort with two schools and three mercantile stores. In December 1854, the population of the fort was 562 people, the largest fort among the twenty-one forts on the Wasatch Front. Wilford Woodruff came from Salt Lake City and spoke at the fort schoolhouse and reported the population of the area to be 750. Knowing that Brigham Young was coming to visit in June 1855, Isaac Newton Goodale and his crew worked for the first twenty days of June to complete the east gates of the fort, and on June 20th they "raised the gates" completing the fort structure. On June 24, 1855, Brigham Young held a conference and advised Bingham Fort residents to abandon this fort that was becoming a town and move to Ogden to help build a city at that location. He stated that if the Bingham settlement continued to grow as fast as it had done, it would soon be a large city, and it was his plan to build Ogden first. ​ Bingham Fort slowly disbanded in 1856; the mercantile stores left and a farming village remained with a school house and a molasses mill. In a few years a post office, a saw mill, an adobe mill, a brick mill and a photo gallery were established in the village. In 1864 the 2nd Street community boundaries were enlarged and organized as the Lynne Precinct, extending from the mountains westward to 1200 West, and north/south from North Street to 7th Street, with 2nd Street as the heart of the community. There were 20 to 25 cabins on 2nd Street from today's Wall Ave. to 1200 W., a distance of 1 ½ miles. Between the pioneer cabins were Native American encampments. The Native Americans spent the winter here always camping in the same locations. Of course there were huge cultural differences, but here in the 1850s and 1860s the relationship between the settlers and natives was mostly positive. It was a time when the white men acknowledged that the land first belonged the Native Americans. It was the Mormon way to foster brotherhood, encourage Native Americans to farm and to share their crops with them. The Shoshone shared meat, native berries and medicines for healing. Both settlers and Shoshone became sort of bilingual and there was a pleasant mixing of their distinctive cultures. ​ In the early 1860s, standing on 2nd Street, fascinated settlers could peer into Native American encampments, and on certain days, see the natives as they drilled their young men and warriors. The braves would paint their faces with different colored clays, put on their war attire, race their ponies in different maneuvers, ride bare back, shoot their bows and arrows at different targets, and yell their war cries. Also in the early 1860s, fascinated young braves liked to come to the school house and watch the white settlers at their weekly dances that lasted until 4 am. The Waltz, Turkey in the Straw, the Virginia Reel and even the Minuet were popular. Sometimes the braves tried to dance with each other or with a white boy but never with the white girls. However, there was one exception. A young fiddler, Art Stone, taught one of the braves how to dance, and he came with Art to the dances handsomely dressed in white doe-skin, heavily embroidered and fringed. The white girls liked to dance with him as he could dance as many fancy steps as any of the white boys. Art Stone's 1863 rubble-rock house still stands at 159 W. 2nd Street rear, the oldest house in Ogden. ​The Oldest House in Ogden, 159 West 2nd Street rear., built in 1863. Shoshone natives visited here. Ogden Register of Historic Places. In the Territory as the white settlement increased, it became harder to preserve Shoshone camping and hunting areas. In 1869 the transcontinental railroad arrived in Ogden and even crossed West 2nd Street and ran by Stone's Pond. The expansive railroad rapidly increased commerce, industry, and the white population, pushing the Native Americans off their land by the mid-1870s. On 2nd Street in the 1880s an influx of Italian immigrants began settling in the old fort. In 1889 Ogden City annexed Lynne Precinct and the area was now called Five Points. The Gentile Mayor Kiesel wanted to “Americanize” Ogden to prepare for statehood, and he renamed streets in 1889, changing the name of Bingham Fort Lane to 2nd Street. In the 1890s Five Points grew so rapidly that some thought it would become the largest business district of Ogden. On January 4, 1896, Utah became the 45th state in the United States of America. By the late 1890s there were many Italian families on 2nd Street, particularly in the confines of old Bingham Fort; the fort became a gathering place again for a group of poor immigrants, not unlike the immigrants that gathered in Bingham Fort forty years earlier. At this time 2nd Street west of Five Points was dubbed “Little Italy”. Most of the Italians were farmers, living side by side with the Mormon farmers that were already there, forming a vibrant community that shared horses, planting and harvest work. The Golden Age of the family farm extended from about 1906 to 1940. In the 1940s wartime demand gave way to surpluses and prices fell. Approximately 1,139 acres of land was taken from the 2nd Street farming community for the Defense Depot Ogden and many farmers on 2nd Street were forced to leave. ​ Journals, family histories, and the History of the Lynne Ward provide information on the Bingham Fort era, the Little Italy Era and the Golden Age of the Family Farm. In 2022, the forty-acre 1851 Bingham/Stone Farm where the Shoshone camped is still here in a conservation easement with the State of Utah. Houses that the Shoshone entered in friendship still stand on 2nd Street; some of these houses date to the 1860s. The farm and houses and the former Shoshone presence make 2nd Street "the Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden". ​ In 2021, the Bicentennial of Little Soldier's birth, Ogden City Council approved an honorary road name for West 2nd Street: Chief Little Soldier Way , to honor the last chief of the Weber Northwestern Shoshone and to acknowledge West 2nd Street and surrounding area as Native American camping grounds. Honorary road name Chief Little Soldier Way extends for four blocks on West 2nd Street where Bingham Fort once stood and where the Shoshone lived for the winter of 1853-54 with the white settlers. Meet the Shoshone: Katie Nelson of Weber County Heritage Foundation holds a microphone for Rios Pacheco giving a blessing in the Shoshone language on the celebration August 7, 2021 on the Bingham/Stone Farm on W. 2nd Street. Rios is an elder and a board member of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Signage at Meet the Shoshone. ​ [1] Tucker Garrett , Weber County's Oldest Farm, The Signpost, Feb. 29, 2012. ​ ​

  • Chief Little Soldier | Bingham's Fort

    Chief Little Soldier - (1841-1884) Shoshone Indian Village by W. P. Snyder Weber County was home for camping and wintering grounds to a band of Northwestern Shoshone that were sometimes referred to incorrectly as “Weber Utes”. In February 1850 Weber Shoshone Chief Terikee was camped by the Big Bend in the Weber River with eighty-five warriors and Chief Little Soldier was on the south side of the Weber River with sixty-five warriors. The new white Mormon settlers who bought trapper Miles Goodyear's cabin and fort on the Weber River were uneasy, but the natives left in the spring and then returned in August. In August Chief Terikee talked peace with Mormon Ogden leader, Lorin Farr, and visited with Farr’s family. But the bright prospect of mutual friendly intentions was struck with tragedy on September 17, 1850, when Harrisville settler, Urban Stewart, shot blindly into his corn patch and unintentionally killed Chief Terikee who was respectfully removing his straying horses from the patch. Chief Little Soldier demanded that the settlers turn Urban Stewart over to them, but Stewart fled for his life. Danger and chaos ensued for all the settlers who were a small group compared to the hundreds of Native Americans in the valley. Within a day the Shoshone killed a white man in revenge, stole five head of horses and fled north. [1] Chief Little Soldier, age 29, now became the pre-eminent chief of all the Weber Northwestern Shoshone. The name his parents gave him is lost to history as Little Soldier considered it a “bad name”. Beginning in the 1840s, the settlers only knew him as Little Soldier. In the 1860s a resident of 2nd Street observed that Little Soldier often wore a soldier hat. [2] Chief Little Soldier & wife Wango-bit-y In the 1850s the cattle and herds of the settlers in Weber County and all over Utah Territory were denuding the land of the magnificent grasses, plants and seeds that the Shoshone gathered for food. Seeds of the grass cover were stored by the natives for winter use and were essential for their existence. To survive, the hungry Indians killed cattle, stole garden produce and burned fences as they felt it was their right to do so since the white men had intruded on Indian land. [3] The Mormons urged the natives to join them and learn the art of husbandry, but the natives resisted the suggestion and demanded tributes for the destruction of their food and land. The Shoshone never acknowledged the right of the white man to usurp the land. [4] ​ Even more destructive to the Native American land ecology were the 70,000 gold seekers passing through Utah Territory in 1849-50 creating a devastating impact on the Shoshone and Paiute people. The white travelers indiscriminately killed the Indians and contributed the most to retaliatory attacks by natives. Travelers refused to give tributes or even respect to the worthless Indian creatures. Gold seekers, immigrants and miners continued to use these trails until 1869, denuding the watercourses, destroying grass seeds, roots and small game that the Shoshone depended upon. [5] ​ In July 1853, as the Indians were troublesome and there were still hard feelings about the death of Chief Terikee, Brigham Young commanded settlers in Weber County to “fort up” as a precaution against possible Indian attacks. Bingham Fort was organized by Bishop Erastus Bingham, straddling West 2nd Street for four blocks in the area where the Bingham family had settled. This site was two miles south of the corn patch where Chief Terikee was killed and in a heavy camping location for Native Americans. [6] ​ In August 1853 one-hundred-fifty Shoshone and Bannock warriors swept in Willard (then Willow Creek, 10 miles north of Bingham Fort) whooping, yelling and singing their war song. They turned their horses loose on grain, corn and potato fields and harvested some of the crop. David Moore reported that “the Shoshone are bitter against us and say this is their ground and they intend to have it”. In spite of threats, a battle against whites did not materialize. [7] At first the Bingham Fort residents were nervous and kept their guns close by, but the relations with the local Weber Shoshone remained friendly. Little Soldier's braves were admitted into the fort and sometimes camped there in the open space in the middle. Food was scarce for all, but the settlers shared what they had. The walls of the fort went up slowly; some white families failed to put up their assigned portion of the walls, and the east gate was not put in place until 1856. There did not appear to be an urgent need for the security of fort walls. No wars were ever fought here; it turned out to be a fort of peace with the Indians and a gathering of white persons into a small town. [8] In the winter of 1854-55 the Weber Shoshone were completely without food, and the settlers did not have much surplus. David Moore proposed to Chief Little Soldier that they give up their arms and live in the fort with the settlers, sharing the chores and labor instead of just getting handouts. It was a good idea, but the natives resisted giving up their guns. After they had reluctantly stored their guns in the tithing house, James S. Brown recorded the following: Chief Little Soldier’s brother said, “Here are my wife, my children, my horses and everything that I have. Take it all and keep it, only give me back my gun and let me go free. I will cast all the rest away. There is my child,” pointing to a three year old, “take it.”… This spirit was but a reflex of that which animated the whole band; “for,” said they, “we are only squaws now. We cannot hunt or defend our families. We are not anybody now.” But finally, though very sullenly, they went home with the whites and pitched their tents in the back yards. To us it did seem hard to have them feel so bad, but they had no means of support for the winter, and citizens could not afford to have their stock killed and their fences burned, and it was the better policy to feed the Indians and have them under control. They could husk corn, chop wood, help do the chores, and be more comfortable than if left to roam; but for all that, they were deprived of that liberty to which they and their fathers before them had been accustomed; therefore, they felt it most keenly. As I was the only white man who could talk much with them, I was kept pretty busy laboring with them. In the evening of December 3rd, the Indians had a letter from Governor Young. I read and interpreted it to them. Then for the first time they seemed reconciled to their situation. Their chief (Little Soldier) was filled with the spirit of approval of the course that had been taken with them, and he preached it long and strong. After that, the Indians and the citizens got along very well together.” [9] Brigham Young praised this experiment at Bingham Fort in his annual message to the territorial legislature on Dec 11, 1854. “He indicated that the settlers had been very helpful in ameliorating the difficult condition of the Shoshoni, furnishing them with provisions, clothing, guns, and ammunition, and even raising grain for them and building homes for some of the chiefs. But these helpful services were a server tax and burden on the people and he looked forward to [the US government] signing treaties with the Indians.” [10] Unfortunately, this experimental program of living and working together did not gain momentum after the first year, and the US government did not sign a treaty with the Shoshone until eight more years passed, in July 1863. However, the experiment was successful in increasing trust between the settlers and the Shoshone living on West 2nd Street and in Weber County. Among the twenty-one forts on the Wasatch Front, Bingham Fort was unique for its large population of 562 persons and for its common ground with the Shoshone. After the fort was abandoned, the Native Americans continued to camp part of every year on West 2nd Street next to the settlers until the 1870s. West 2nd Street made a good wintering ground for the natives as Stone's Pond never froze over, and there were seven springs nearby. [10.5] Read more about the cultural blends and clashes of two nations at Brotherhood Stories, binghamsfort.org. Bingham Fort on 1855 map as a village and location for the Shoshone, or the “Weber Utes” as they were misnamed. In summary, from 1849 to 1863 there was a great turmoil in Utah Territory between Native Americans and white emigrants on western trails, Mormon settlers, U S Government soldiers and US legislators who were negligent in establishing treaties. All the white intruders destroyed the Native American sources of food, and the US government gave the Natives little or no compensation until 1863. The prominent western emigrant trails did not pass-through Weber County, so much of the conflict and violence that was experienced on these trails did not occur in Weber County. ​ During these turbulent years, Little Soldier always defended the land rights of his people and negotiated for compensation from the Mormon leaders and the US government. His demands for compensation were commanding, even desperate, but peaceful. ​ Elsewhere the turbulent years climaxed on January 29, 1863, when the angry and vain U. S. Army Colonel Patrick Edward Connor attacked a large village of Northwestern Shoshone near present-day Preston, Idaho. Colonel Connor was a “man of blood” who came with 300 soldiers “to kill them all”. The Bear River Massacre is classified as the worst Native American disaster in western American history. Men, women, children and babies were slaughtered like wild rabbits. The death toll was between 350 and 400 souls. [11] ​ Two months after The Bear River Massacre, General Connor continued his goal of extermination by assaulting Utes and incidentally Little Soldier’s peaceful band near Spanish Fork. After killing 30 Utes, General Connor tried to secure peace with Little Soldier by having Little Soldier come to Fort Douglass to talk. Little Soldier’s distrust of Connor was so strong he refused to budge from a secure mountain retreat west of Salt Lake City. Connor’s agent delivered some presents of blankets to convince them he was not talking “forked” and trying to entrap them. Even then, Little Soldier sent his trusted lieutenant, Weber Jim, to meet with Connor. On June 24, 1863, Connor and Weber Jim concluded a treaty of peace, or a satisfactory understanding. There was no formal, written document, only a verbal agreement. ​ With Little Soldier finally convinced of Connor’s sincerity, the chief surrendered all the government stock held by his band and came in to confer with the general and Governor Doty. Other presents were delivered to the band at a cost of $3,700 to the Utah superintendency. The Deseret News of July 1, 1863, expressed the hope that the troops would now no longer “fight inoffensive Indians” like Little Soldier’s band. [12] ​ General Connor continued to war on all Indians who were attacking the Overland Mail route and stations. Delayed approbations of $20,000 for treaties left Indians all along the mail line destitute and robbing for food and supplies. The Deseret News writer heard that Connor had given orders to “shoot all Indians… whether friends or enemies, without distinction” but could not believe that he was “thus void of humanity.” [13] Six months after the Bear River Massacre the treaty negotiations between the U. S. Government and the Northwestern Shoshone began. In two meetings with the new Utah Territory Governor, James Doty, and the Northern Indian chiefs held in July and November 1863, the Treaty of Box Elder was finally established between the U. S. government and the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni at Brigham City. There were four or five hundred Native Americans in attendance in November who joyfully received annuity goods. The Deseret News hoped that the peace terms of the Treaty of Box Elder would prevent any reoccurrence of robberies, plundering and tragic scenes that had occurred over northern Utah settlements for the past decade. At the time of the treaty the Northwestern Shoshone numbered 1,500 persons. The purpose of the treaty was to send all the Shoshone to Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. [14] ​ Little Soldier and his band did not follow the trend to move to Fort Hall but chose to pursue their traditional nomadic lifestyle as best they could. They wintered in Weber County for many more years, camping harmoniously with the white settlers on 2nd Street part of every year until the mid-1870s. Green highlights the areas of Native American camping on West 2nd Street, Ogden, Utah. The railroad arrived in 1869 expanding Ogden’s population. Despite two decades of peaceful coexistence in Weber County, the settlers steadily displaced the Native Americans from the land, and by the arrival of the railroad, the Native Americans were pushed onto the fringes of society. [15] In 1874 Little Soldier and his people joined a small Mormon-sponsored farm near Franklin Idaho, twenty-seven years after his first contact with Mormon settlers. He was now 53 years old. It is here that Little Soldier, his wife, and several members of his band joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Little Soldier had earlier been refused Mormon baptism by missionary George Washington Hill, who felt that the chief was addicted to hard drink. With his second application LIttle Soldier assured Hill that he had given up whiskey and said that he was "determined thenceforward never to touch the poisonous drug any more" -- a promise that he faithfully kept the rest of his life. After his baptism, Little Soldier was set apart as an elder. He had always been a leader and now he was set apart to preach to the other Indians. A year later, in June 1875, Little Soldier and his wife, Wango-bit-y, traveled to the Endowment house in Salt Lake City, and had their marriage sealed for time and all eternity. [16] ​ By 1875 nearly all the Northwestern Bands of Shoshone had moved to Fort Hall Reservation. The exception was Little Soldier and about two hundred Northwestern Shoshone from Weber County and Cache Valley who joined the Mormon Church. In 1875, Chief Little Soldier and his band joined other Indians at a farm set up by the Mormons near Corinne, in an area where the Shoshone had traditionally wintered. Corinne was mainly a Gentile (non-Mormon) city that formed around the railroad. Little Soldier and other Shoshone started learning how to farm there, under the guidance of interpreter George Washington Hill who was sent by Brigham Young to help them. There were more than two hundred Indians in camp, with more coming each day. This aroused much apprehension on the part of the non-Mormon people of Corinne who thought that if any difficulty arose that the Mormons and Shoshone would unite and outnumber the Gentiles. So, the Gentiles called in federal troops to drive the Indians away in mid-August 1875 before they could harvest their crops. [17] The Indians were confused - they were evicted off land they had never sold and believed to be their birthright. They were trying to join white society and be farmers, and now their only supply of food for the winter was destroyed by white people. Chief Little Soldier made a poignant statement: "We were making a good farm above Bear River City; and all we wanted was to be good Mormon and live in peace. But Corinne white man send talk all over the country, got soldiers come and drive Indian away; reason: Corinne man no like Mormon, heap like sell soldier whiskey, make money. Indian no money. Corinne man no like shake hands. Now maybe heap soldiers come, kill Indian man, woman and papoose. Indian no sleep now, no potato, no wheat, no beef; no like Fort Hall Reservation; not good." [18] After the "Corinne Scare", as the confrontation came to be known, the Shoshone homesteaded with George Washington Hill's help on land between the Bear and Malad Rivers - this time twenty miles from Corinne. It was known as The Malad Indian Farm. Little Soldier filed a homestead claim on an 80-acre tract of land. All worked diligently with other Native Americans and Mormon missionaries to build cabins, fences, farm and dig irrigation canals. [19] In 1880 instead of moving on to a new Indian farm at Washakie, Little Soldier chose to return home to Weber County. He was beginning his sixties and felt he should return to the place that he had always considered home. He and his braves built lodges on the bench of the Weber River close to today’s 24th Street and lived there with their families mixing their old culture with their new religion and their new adopted culture. On West 2nd Street and in Ogden Little Soldier became a welcome guest among many white residents. ​ Mary Elizabeth James Jones recalled that Little Soldier came many times to her parents' house for breakfast when she was a young girl. She said that “Little Soldier was terribly religious and wouldn't sit down to eat until he had asked the blessing. It seemed as if he would pray for hours, asking our Heavenly Father to bless the cattle on the hills and everything else he could think of. I really was ready to eat when he got through.” [20] ​ One day in about 1882, Little Soldier decided to visit his friend George Washington Hill. But George was in Salt Lake City working as an interpreter for the Indians. When Little Soldier entered Hill's daughter's house, he saw that her papoose, Louis, was all blue and cold as if her were dead. All the children had the whopping cough, but the baby had it the worst and had ruptured himself badly while coughing so that it looked as if he could not live. ​ Little Soldier asked them for the oil that had been blessed to be used in the administering to the sick. He laid his hands on the little one's head and blessed him as George had taught him, and by the power of the Priesthood that he held and in the name of Him who healed llittle ones when He was on earth, he commanded the evil power to leave the home and for the sickness to flee. He later told George that the Evil One heard and he left. ​ The baby began to breath, the baby's cheeks began to get red. He began to cry for his food. His mother fed him and he did not throw up. His mother cried, she was so happy. ​ Then Little Soldier left and went to Salt Lake City to get George Washington Hill. When they returned, they found the little one sleeping peacefully. He hadn't coughed all afternoon and never showed any sign of the rupture after that. His name was Louis Moench, born in Ogden in April 1880, son of the founder and first president of Weber Academy. [21] Early in the spring of 1884 two quarreling braves discharged their guns and several shots passed through the old chief’s lodge. Little Soldier was not harmed, but he considered the incident a fatal omen foretelling death to his house; he could never shake off the effects of this tradition of his fathers. The omen left him in shock. In the three weeks that followed, he became debilitated and was confined to his lodge. Death came on April 22, 1884. He was 63 years old. ​ Bishop George Washington Hill spoke at Little Soldier’s funeral in English and then in Shoshone to Wango-bit-y, the only surviving widow of his four wives, to part of his 12 surviving children and to his three great grandchildren. Hill spoke of the past life and character of the deceased as he had known him for thirty-five years. Little Soldier, he said, was an honest, upright man, always truthful and unswerving in his integrity. ​ A correspondent from the Deseret News eulogized Chief Little Soldier as “An exemplary Indian… He was valiant in battle, defending the rights or redressing the wrongs of his tribe. His influence among his people was always immense, and they looked to him as their leader… He was also a peaceful, honest, inoffensive man, a friend to the Mormon people, and was always a welcome guest at the houses of many people in this county. Peace to his ashes.” [22] ​ Little Soldier was buried in Ogden City Cemetery, the last chief of the Weber Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, serving for 44 years. ​ In 2021 Little Soldier would have been 200 years old. During the Bicentennial year of his birth, Ogden City Council approved a neighborhood petition in July to honor the Native Americans who once camped in the historic Bingham Fort area by giving West 2nd Street the honorary road name of “Chief Little Soldier Way”. Four signs were placed on from Wall Ave. to Century Dr. within the confines of the old Bingham Fort. Chief Little Soldier's Daughter ​ In 1860 tragedy struck Little Soldier's family while they were camping at Point of the Mountain. His daughter died after giving birth to her first child. According to the family history the baby survived the birth, but because there were no nursing mothers in the band at that time, there was no way of feeding the newborn infant. ​ The band of Indians brought the mother's body from Point of the Mountain to Farmington for burial along with the still alive baby. They were both buried, along with the horse that carried them, under rocks resulting from an earlier slide. The baby and the horse were buried alive. [23] ​ The site, long known to settlers in the area as "Indian Annie's Grave", was restored and rededicated in 1989 as a collaborative effort of the Utah Archeological Society, the U. S. Forest Service, the Shoshone Nation, and the Boy Scouts of America. [24] Rockslide burial site for Little Soldier’s daughter above Farmington, Utah. The red circle indicates the location of the plaque. Plaque on a large stone within the rockslide. Foot notes ​ 1] - Sketch by David Moore, Wrote from records and memory, manuscript; Richard C Roberts & Richard W Sadler, A History of Weber County, Utah State Historical Society, Weber County Commission, 1997, p. 96, 97; Madsen 36, 37 [2] - Scott R Christensen, Chief Little Soldier, Shoshone Chieftain, Mormon Elder, Pioneer Magazine, Winter 1995, p. 17, 18; Dorothy A. Sherner, Mary Elizabeth - Her Stories, manuscript, 1933, p. 84. NOTE: In the Nineteenth Century many Native Americans began taking English, French or Spanish names. [3] - Brigham D. Madsen, The Shoshone Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1985, p. 12-14 [4] - Ibid, p. 32. [5] - Ibid, p. xvii, 30-32, 39, 55. [6] - Roberts and Sadler, p. 59. [7] - Madsen, p. 54. [8] - Journal of Isaac Newton Goodale, 1850-1857, copied by Eldon J. and Anne S. Watson, manuscript, 1981, p. 52-64. [9] - James S Brown, Life of a Pioneer, George Q. Cannon & Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1900, chapter 45, p. 348; Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1966, p. 282, 283. [10] - Madsen, p. 61, 62. [10.5]- Journal of Isaac Newton Goodale, 1850-1857, p. 80; Sarah Stone Crowther, Biography of Mary Ellen Melling Stone, hand written manuscript, c. 1930, p. 80. [11] - Madsen, p. 21, 191; https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/258#:~:text=The%20Bear%20River%20Massacre%20was,present%2Dday%20Preston%2C%20Idaho. [12]- Madsen, p. 205- 207. [13] - Ibid, p. 209. [14] - Madsen, p. 213; Roberts & Sadler, p. 17. [15] - Roberts & Sadler, p. 95,99. [16] - Scott R Christensen, p. 18. [17] - Scott R Christensen, p. 18, 19. [18] - Deseret Evening News, 1 Sept. 1875. [19] - Scott R Christensen, p. 19; Richard C. Roberts and Sadler, p. 393. [20] - Standard Examiner, Dorothy Porter’s True Pioneer Stories, 1947. [21] Theresa Snow Hill, George Washington Hill Stories, p. 115-117. [22] - Christensen, p.19; Deseret News obituary, An Exemplary Indian, April 24, 1884. [23] - Bryon Saxton, Standard Examiner, Burial Site Along the Proposed Trail, 20 April 1999. [24] - https://www.lehi-ut.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Little-Soldier-by-Richard-Van-Wagoner-Google-Drive.pdf (7-16-2017) Footnote1 Footnote2 Footnote3 Footnote4 Footnote5 Footnote6 Footnote7 Footnote8 Footnote9 Footnote10 Footnote10.5 Footnote11 Footnote12 Footnote13 Footnote14 Footnote15 Footnote16 Footnote21 Footnote17 Footnote18 Footnote19 Footnote20 Footnote22 Footnote23 Footnote24

  • 150 West 2nd Street - Bertinotti

    < Back 150 West 2nd Street - Bertinotti Return to Homes Michael Bertinotti (1835-1911), arrived in Utah on the railroad in the 1870s. He left behind a daughter born 1872 in Italy named Maria. Michael’s nephew came to Ogden after Michael in about 1878. The Italian population grew rapidly in Ogden after the coming of the railroad. In the 1890s Michael bought the Pierce house, granary and 5 acres of farmland on Old Pioneer Road from his nephew’s estate. In a few years Michael provided the Pierce farmhouse for the home of his widowed sister-in-law, Maria Peraca Bertinotti, and he built a simple board house for himself about 100 feet to the south. So there were now two houses on Old Pioneer Road at the mailing address of 150 W 2nd Street rear, the larger house (the Pierce farmhouse) for Maria and a simple board house for Michael. YESTERDAY: Michael Bertinotti’s board house built in the 1890s, 100 feet south of the old Gillson farmhouse; photo c.1998. YESTERDAY: Gillson farmhouse became home to Maria Peraca Bertinotti in the 1890s; granary in rear; her house and Michael’s house had the same address, 150 W 2nd Street rear; photo 2001. Michael was a farmer and used the granary for storage of farm products. He owned more farm land at the end of 7th Street where the Bertinotti Ditch was named after this Italian family. In 1896 his grown-up daughter, Maria Bertinoti, and her husband, Baptista Maero, arrived from Italy, to join her father in America. In time the Maeros lived at 142 W 2nd Street. In 1897 Maria Peraca Bertinotti’s daughter Anna and her husband Joseph Genta arrived. In addition to the Bertinottis, the Maeros and the Gentas, many other Italian families settled on 2nd Street named Sully, Ionne, Clapier, Notas, and Malin. 2nd Street west of Five Points was known as “Little Italy” by 1900. In addition, the Mastenardis and the Cardons lived at Five Points. Michael Bertinoti died in October 1911; he had resided in Ogden for about forty years and left many relatives behind. His niece, Anna Bertinoti Genta, purchased his two houses, granary and five acres at 150 W. 2nd Street rear in Jan. 1912 for $850. Many families lived in this house simple board house for more than on hundred years. In 2001 Brent Baldwin restored and enlarged Michael Bertinotti’s house, adding wings on each side. Michael Bertinotti’s frame house with two wings added in 2001. TODAY: Michael Bertinotti’s house remodeled by Brent Baldwin; photo 2007. Return to Homes Previous Next

  • Homes

    Homes 105 West 2nd Street Carl and Ettnie Stone built this home with the help of Joe Anderson. 115 West 2nd Street He started building the brick house at 115 W 2nd Street in the 1880s, but it was not completed until about 1895. 122 2nd Street Peter & Mary E. Hutchens Sherner Home 128 2nd Street Carl & Harriett Turnquist Home 134 West 2nd Street Thomas & Julia Sherner Irvine Home 136 West 2nd Street Italian immigrants that settled at Five Points 140 West 2nd Street George and Jane Romrell Pierce built this house starting about 1877. 141 2nd Street Porter & Grietje Pierce Home 142 West 2nd Street In 1868 George Pierce was almost 40 years old when he built this board house. 150 West 2nd Street - Bertinotti Michael Bertinoti had resided in Ogden for about forty years and left many relatives behind. 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson William was 48 years old and his son Edward was 18. All had to work together to create a house, a farm and lateral ditches and provide food and clothes 152 West 2nd Street William Hutchens and Eliza Stone Home Load More

  • 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson

    < Back 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson Return to Homes The Gillson/Genta home left; granary right; abandoned property in 1986 at time of Ogden Reconnaissance Survey. Abandoned Gillson/Genta house, front as it looked in 2001. Restored/Gillson-Genta house/as it looked in 2010. Gillson Family Built the House c.1866 William Gillson & Charlotte King William Gillson Charlotte King. Photo from DUP Museum, Ogden, Utah. William (1811-1873) Gillson and his wife Charlotte King (1810-1899) left England and moved to South Africa in 1845. Nineteen years later they left South Africa and moved to America to gather with the Saints in Zion. That journey took seven months. They settled in the abandoned Bingham Fort in 1859 on the north side of 2nd Street on the Old Pioneer Road which continued on to Harrisville at that time. Upon arrival, the family was dirt poor; William was 48 years old and his son Edward was 18. All had to work together to create a house, a farm and lateral ditches and provide food and clothes. Martha Gillson was nine years old when they arrived. She recalled that her mother would walk to North Ogden and wash all day for a little white flour to mix with the brand they had to make bread for the children. While the mother was away the little children worked but were afraid of the Indians when they were alone. Martha worked helping her father strip sugarcane to grind for molasses, carrying sage brush to make fires and helping with the family cooking. Martha also gleaned in the fields gathering wheat; sometimes she could glean five bushels a day which she could sell for five dollars per bushel. This money would help to buy their clothes. She would start to town with a bushel of wheat on her back, sometimes she would get a ride; she would sell her wheat and buy calico that cost $.60 a yard. She felt very proud when she was able to get a new dress. She enjoyed the bread her mother baked in a large kettle over the fire in the fireplace of the cabin. Sometimes they had very little to eat and very often when Martha went out to glean in the fields, all she would have to eat was a piece of bread with a cucumber and salt. [1] As the years went by the family prospered, and in about 1866 they built the board farmhouse house pictured above. In the beginning, the house was handsome; the exterior walls of the main structure were board and the interior walls were adobe brick covered with lath and plaster. The exterior walls and interior walls of the kitchen lean-to were adobe; the square footage of the house was 24 x 29 feet. A cellar was dug under the lean-to with stone lined walls six feet high and a well in the SE corner. In time a lean-to was added to the lean-to. Square nails were found in all the old construction of the house. [2] These kinds of improvement over the log cabin were typical of farmhouses built the late 1860s. In the 1920s, the Genta family covered the exterior board and adobe walls with cement, as it appears in all the pictures. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. Picture of the east side of the Gillson house shows the prominent portion of the house with/double/lean-to. with a lean-to and a second lean-to; photo Dave Montgomery, 1960s. Walls of lean-to are adobe bricks interior and exterior, eventually the exterior was covered by cement. Granary Built By Edward Gillson The granary was built in the 1870s by Edward Gillson; in the 1920s the Genta family covered it with cement and added a room. Right: in 2000 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary. By 1870 William Gillson was so good at plastering that he chose to make that his vocation; he and his wife moved to another residence on Washington Ave., leaving the farm to his son Edward Gillson who built this granary with orange brick from the Gates Adobe-Brick Mill in the 1870s. The granary was two-level with a four-foot rock foundation. Wheat and grains were stored in the upper level; the lower level had a dirt floor and served as a root cellar. [3] In 2002 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary, added a porch, put a door on the extension, added a new roof, installed windows and made a barber shop and guest room filled with charm. Brent Baldwin restored the granary in 2002. Genta Family Mary Peraca Bertinotti and Anna Bertinotti Genta Anna Bertinotti Genta immigrated from Italy in 1889 with her husband, two sons and her widowed mother, age 55. Her uncle Michael Bertinotti owned the Gillson property at this time, and he allowed Anna’s mother, Maria Peraca Bertinotti, to live in the Gillson farmhouse and he moved into a simple board house about 100 feet the north. So, there were now two houses at the address 150 W 2nd Street rear, the larger and nicer house for his sister-in-law, Maria, and a simple board house for Michael. Maria never learned to speak English, and Michael looked after her until his death in 1911. In 1912, widowed Anna Genta bought all her uncle’s property on 2nd Street: the Gillson house, the granary, the simple board house and five acres of farmland. She moved into the larger house with her mother, and her son John and his family took the other house, and John farmed the land. They fit right in with the neighborhood; at this time there were so many Italians living on West 2nd Street that it was known as “Little Italy”. By the 1920s the Genta family covered the Gillson house with cement for preservation. They also covered the granary with cement, added a room and turned it into a house. So now there were three houses at the address of 150 W 2nd Street rear. After Anna Genta’s death in 1925, her son John Genta and family continued to live and farm here, renting some of the houses to family members. In 1937 when Wall Ave was constructed and the Utah General Depot was under construction, many farmers were forced to sell their land and the large farming community on 2nd Street dissolved at that time. John Genta quit the farm and left the houses to various relatives. [1] - Rueben L Hansen, A Sketch of the Life of Martha Gillson Hall, manuscript, 1938. [2] - Interview Brent Baldwin, 2011. [3] - On site visit in May 2000 by Gordon Q. Jones, author Pioneer Forts in Ogden Utah, 1996, Sons of Utah Pioneers. Return to Homes Previous Next

  • Lynne School Lane & History

    < Back Return to Roads Lynne School Lane & History This road was named Lynne School Lane in 2002 when the Aspen Acres subdivision began construction. Three historic schools have been located on the east corner of Lynne School Lane and West 2nd Street, and two of them were named Lynne School. Following is the history of all seven schools built in the Lynne Community from 1853 to 2009. 1 - 1852, Log, Bingham School The first school was called Bingham School was located in 1853 on the east corner of today’s Lynne School Lane and W 2nd Street. Isaac Newton Goodale built the log Bingham School on the east corner of a little lane and West 2nd Street with some help from Henry Gibson. From the end of October to the end of December 1853 Goodale recorded efforts to get logs for the schoolhouse, trips to the sawmill, and the making of a door, frames and trusses. He even worked on the schoolhouse Christmas day and all the rest of the week to complete the new log school on December 31, 1853, just in time for a New Year’s dance for the community. “Subscriptions” or tuition payments were expected for each pupil. A subscription school provided a way for the pioneers to educate their children, since there were no public monies available to provide for education in the 1850s. But collecting the payment was difficult for Newt Goodale since money was scarce. Subscriptions could be paid in farm goods or any item agreed upon for barter. [1] The school house did not face 2nd Street; it faced to the west on the little lane that exited 2nd Street exactly ½ mile from Washington Blvd.; the little lane led to a farm north of the school. 2 - 1863, Log, Mill Creek School The second school was called Mill Creek School was located in 1863 on the SE intersection of today’s railroad track and W 2nd Street. The site for the second schoolhouse was built on today’s SE intersection of the railroad tracks and W 2nd Street. At that time the railroad tracks did not exist, but there was a lane connecting W 2nd Street and W 12th Street called Mill Creek Lane. The schoolhouse faced on Mill Creek Lane as it exited 2nd Street and was called the Mill Creek School. Mill Creek meandered two blocks south of the school, and at lunch time the children sometimes liked to take a break, go down the lane and swim in Mill Creek. The girls swam in their petticoats and hung them on the bushes to dry. The Mill Creek School was larger than the Bingham School and had a large stone fireplace on one wall. When school was not in session, new immigrants were allowed to stay in the school house while they looked for a place to settle. [2] In the fall of 1865 the teacher, Mrs. Amanda Bingham, made the first fire of the season in the great fireplace of the schoolhouse. The fireplace and the hearth extended out into the room, and the hearth was composed of a number of large rocks with spaces between them. When the fire began burning brightly, one of the boys called out, “Look at that big snake!”. Startled, the children looked up and saw a huge bull snake crawling out of a hole between the rocks of the hearth. The teacher screamed, the little girls began to cry, and the boys seemed quite unconcerned. “That is just a bull snake; it won’t hurt anyone; it just eats frogs!” one of the boys called out. Mrs. Bingham called on a boy to open the door. The snake was about 6 feet long. It slowly emerged from the narrow space in the hearth and slowly crawled toward the open door. As soon as it left, the boy slammed the door shut. Long afterwards when the little girls would be playing outside, they would remember the terrible snake and be on the lookout for it. When they were about to sit in the grass, one of them would say, “Look out, the snake may be there!” But they never saw the snake again. [3] 3 - 1866, Adobe, Lynne School The third school was named Lynne School and was located in 1866 on the east corner of today’s Lynne School Lane and W 2nd Street. In about 1866, when it was known that the train tracks would soon replace Mill Creek Lane, the community built their third schoolhouse back on the site of the 1853 Bingham School. The third school was larger than the Mill Creek School; it was an adobe structure built by taxation and named Lynne School. The name “Lynne” came from Scotland. In 1863 assistant Ogden postmaster, Walter Thompson, named the 2nd Street postal route Lynne after the town in Scotland where he was born. He said the beauty of the 2nd Street area reminded him of his beautiful native home. This adobe schoolhouse was a step-up from the log structures; it had one big room that was plastered and whitewashed, and the roof was shingled. The school was heated with a tall iron stove. Nancy Jane Gates, Henry Tracy, and Peter Sherner taught at this school. Church meetings, irrigation meetings, dances, and spelling bees were held in the schoolhouse; it was the heart of the growing community. [4] 4 - 1877, Soft Brick, Lynne School The fourth school was named Lynne School and was located in 1877 on the east corner of today’s Lynne School Lane and W 2nd Street; photo c. 1910. In 1877 the fourth schoolhouse of the community was built on the east corner of today’s Lynne School Lane and W 2nd Street. Frederick A. Miller, William B. Hutchens and Rasmus Erastus Christofferson were in charge of the construction of this brick school which retained the name Lynne School. It was 24 x 40 feet and was erected at a cost of about $2,300, furniture $300, total $2,600. Apostle F. D. Richards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the school on December 9, 1877. The entrance was on the west side of the building. When this large brick school was completed, the adobe Lynne school was torn down. Laura Rogers served as a teacher at the brick Lynne School before her marriage to Stephen W. Perry in 1887. [5] Standard article January 1890 about the party at the Lynne School In 1889 free schools were established in Ogden. In 1890 Ogden City expanded its boundaries to annex the Lynne Precinct, and the Lynne School trustees had to turn their school over to the superintendent of Ogden City schools. Ogden’s free school law of 1889 increased the school enrollment dramatically. The old brick Lynne School was not adequate for the large flux of new students, so the Ogden school board abandoned it. Judge Thomas D. Dee sold the brick Lynne School to Victor Reno Senior for $500, and Mr. Reno remodeled it into a private residence in 1892; the residence was destroyed by fire in the 1970s. [6] Victor Reno Sr. residence at 198 W 2nd St; Lynne School is on the left; the house fronted on W 2nd Street; photo courtesy Vicky Frost, circa 1910. Today’s Lynne School Lane roadway was once a dirt lane that led to the Reno farm north of the school, as pictured below; the lane existed from the 1850s to 2002. [7] YESTERDAY: Reno Farm Lane TODAY: Lynne School Lane; Mary Maxham house on the left; photo 2010. 5 - Circa 1892, Brick, Five Points School The fifth school was the c. 1892 Five Points School on the NW corner of Adams and 3rd Street. The Ogden School board built the fifth school of the area named Five Points School on the NW corner of Adams and 3rd Street in the early 1890s. Class picture at the Five Points School 6 - Circa 1925, Brick, Lincoln School About forty years later the Five Points School was updated and enlarged and renamed the Lincoln School in honor of Abraham Lincoln. 1972 demolition photo shows the 1890s Five Points School on the right and the c. 1925 addition of the Lincoln School on the left; photo courtesy G. Sherner. 7 - 1950s, Lynne Elementary School In the 1950s the Lincoln School was replaced with a new school at about 635 Grant Ave. named Lynne Elementary School. This was the seventh school of the area and the third one named Lynne. The seventh school was named Lynne School was built in the 1950s at 635 Grant Ave. 8 - 2009, Heritage Elementary School In 2009 Lynne Elementary was replaced by Heritage Elementary School, the eighth school of the area located at 373 S. 150 W.; this location is just two blocks south of the first log Bingham School built 156 years earlier. It was named Heritage for the historic heritage of 2nd Street and the Five Points Community. The eighth school is named Heritage Elementary and is located at 373 S. 150 W. [1] - Andrew Jensen, History of the Lynne Ward , manuscript, 1893, Church Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, Microfilm #LR 6405 2; Journal of Isaac Newton Goodale. [2] - Andrew Jensen, History of the Lynne Ward; Autobiography of Mary Elizabeth Hutchens Sherner, transcribed by Dorothy Sherner, Mary Elizabeth-Her Stories, manuscript, 1933, p. 41, 58, 85. [3] - Ibid, p. 71-72. [4] - Andrew Jensen, History of the Lynne Ward. [5] - Ibid. Obituary of Laura Perry. [6] - Andrew Jensen, History of the Lynne Ward; Editor Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, The Weber County Chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, copyright 1944, p. 534. [7] - Aspen Acres subdivision is built on the former 1858 20-acre pioneer farm of William Stone that was valued at $200 in the 1860 census. In 1887 Ed Stone sold the farm to Victor Reno Senior, and the farm remained in the Reno family for 114 years until 2001 when it was sold for the Aspen Acres Subdivision. Previous Return to Roads Next

  • Erastus Bingham | Bingham's Fort

    Erastus Bingham (1798-1882) Erastus Bingham’s last cabin was located at 317 W 2nd Street, Ogden Utah in the 1850s. He was born in Vermont in 1798, and after joining the Mormon Church at age 34 he moved to Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and finally to Great Salt Lake Valley. In the Holladay district he and his sons had a farm and a grazing permit in what is now known as Bingham Canyon where his sons, Sanford and Thomas, discovered copper ore while watching over the cattle. This canyon now contains the largest open pit copper mine in the world. In 1850 the Bingham family moved to Weber Valley and they settled on West 2nd Street in the spring of 1851. Bishop Erastus Bingham and Erastus Bingham Jr. filed claim for 120 acres on the south side of 2nd Street, and Sanford Bingham filed a 20-acre claim on the north side. Erastus was 53 years old. His other sons, Thomas, Willard, Edwin, and Brigham, and a son-in-law, Isaac Newton Goodale, all farmed here for different lengths of time. Site of Erastus Bingham cabin at 317 W 2nd Street. Forty acres still remain of the Bingham Farm. Erastus began plans to extend the Barker Ditch to 2nd Street. This ditch was completed in 1851 by the work of many people under the direction of Isaac Newton Goodale. Today it is called the Lynne Ditch. Part of the year West 2nd Street was filled with Native Americans. Hundreds of Native Americans lived here compared to a small number of white pioneers. The corn patch where Chief Terrikee was killed in 1850 was located two miles north. In the 1850s the cattle and herds of the settlers in Weber Valley and all over Utah Territory were denuding the land of the magnificent grasses, plants, and seeds that the Shoshone gathered for food. Seeds of the grass cover were stored for winter use and were essential for their existence. To survive, the hungry Indians killed cattle, stole garden produce, and burned fences as they felt it was their right to do so since they were here first and the white man was on their land. The Mormons urged the Natives to become farmers, but the Natives resisted the suggestion and demanded tributes for the destruction of their food and land. In July 1853, as the Indians were troublesome and there were still hard feelings about the death of Chief Terrikee, Brigham Young commanded settlers in Weber Valley to “fort up” as a precaution against possible Indian attacks. Bishop Erastus Bingham organized Bingham Fort, straddling West 2nd Street for four blocks in the area where the Bingham family had settled. Today the stretch of the fort extends roughly from Wall Avenue to Century Drive. The west wall of the fort crossed 2nd Street on today’s cobblestone crosswalk just west of Century Drive. The west wall of Bingham Fort crossed 2nd Street on the cobblestone cross-walk. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers dedicated this monument to Bingham Fort in 2005. Bingham Fort boundaries and Lynne Ditch on today’s roadways. In August 1853 one-hundred-fifty Shoshone and Bannock warriors swept into Willard (Willow Creek) whooping, yelling and singing their war song. They turned their horses loose on grain, corn and potato fields and harvested some of the crop. David Moore reported that “the Shoshone are bitter against us and say this is their ground and they intend to have it”. In spite of threats, a battle against whites did not materialize. ​ At first, the Bingham Fort residents were nervous and kept their guns close by, but the relations with the local Shoshone remained friendly and tensions relaxed; Little Soldier's bands were admitted into the fort and sometimes camped there in the open space in the middle. Food was scarce for all, but the settlers shared what they had. After considerable debate and concerns on both sides, the Shoshone moved into Bingham Fort in the winter of 1854-55 and shared the work and food of the settlers. The walls of the fort went up slowly; some white families failed to put up their assigned portion of the walls, and the east gate was not put in place until 1856. There did not appear to be an urgent need for the security of fort walls. No wars were ever fought here; it turned out to be a fort of peace with the Indians and a gathering of white persons into a small town. Brigham Young visited Bingham Fort in 1856 and didn’t like the size of the town that was developing there. He urged the people to move to Ogden and build up a city in that location. Erastus and his wife Lucinda Gates took up a house in Ogden but retained partial ownership of a ninety-acre farm on W 2nd Street. Erastus took two more wives in polygamy and served in civic and religious positions until 1868 when he was released at age 70 on account of his health. Erastus Bingham granary as pictured in 2005 at 317 W 2nd Street. Erastus and Lucinda retired back to their farm on West 2nd Street and built a granary near their cabin with burnt bricks from the Sam Gates brickyard. The size of the granary is 20×16 feet. The cabin Erastus lived in was 24×16 feet. Since the granary has two levels it actually had more floor space than his cabin which indicates that Erastus supervised an affluent and busy farm. The community was now called Lynne, and there were about twenty farmhouses on W 2nd Street from Wall Ave to 1200 West. The Lynne Ward history recorded that the 1870s was a prosperous decade for farms and orchards. It was also a decade of political, religious, and social conflict between the gentile newcomers and the Mormons, and the key issue of conflict was polygamy. Erastus’ third wife Emma Nye Wilson lived on the farm for a short time. Lucinda died in 1874, and Erastus’ second wife, Mehitable Sawyer Hall, lived on the farm and served as the neighborhood midwife. Erastus died in the log cabin in May 1882 at age 84. NOTE: The year Erastus died is the same year that the Edmunds Act was passed in the congress of the United States. Also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, it is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories. Erastus Bingham cabin now stands in Lagoon, Pioneer Village, Farmington, Utah. ​ ​

  • Adobe Mill Way & Brickyard Road

    < Back Return to Roads Adobe Mill Way & Brickyard Road Adobe Mill Ct. and Adobe Mill Ln named after Sam Gates’ adobe mill. With the arrival of the railroad in 1869, Ogden became the greatest railroad center of the Rocky Mountain region. With an eye on the expanding economy, Sam Gates established an Adobe Mill in 1870 on the north side of 2nd Street about three-fourths of a mile from Five Points [1] . Excellent clay for adobes was available in the sloughs by Stone’s Pond. [2] His son, George Gates, and his son-in-law, James Gardner , assisted him. The adobe mixer or mill was located by Sam’s cabin at today’s intersection of 2nd Street and Century Drive. Site of Sam Gates 1870 Adobe Mill is the intersection of 2nd Street and Century Drive; photo 2009. The adobe bricks (“dobies”) were made from marsh mud and were sun-dried. Usually, the mud and water were mixed by feet, hoe or shovel. Feet were ideal as one could sense when the mud was properly mixed with as little water as possible. After mixing the mud was placed into molds and sundried until firm enough to be stacked. ​ Joseph Romrell, son of George and Patience Romrell , was born in 1870. His first job as a young boy was at the Gates adobe brickyard where he carried the bricks from the molds to the drying yard. The next day they were topped and turned over to dry on the other side. [3] There are two houses on 2nd Street built with adobe bricks from the Gates Mill that are still standing in 2022. Today’s walls of the James Stone house at 386 West 2nd Street are thirty inches thick, built with adobes from the Gates Mill but now covered with siding. The Peter Sherner house at 122 2nd Street is adobe, now covered with cement. The Moroni Stone house at 226 2nd Street was built with adobe brick in 1880, and Moroni made the bricks himself. This the only house on 2nd Street with visible exterior adobe bricks, now sealed with a protective sealant and painted. The Moroni Stone house provides a rare view of well-preserved adobe walls under the porch that spans two sides of the house. People who live in adobe houses with thick walls find that these walls form some of the best insulation available. [4] James Stone house, 386 W 2nd St, log cabin portion 1866, adobe portion circa 1875.. Moroni Stone house, 226 2nd St, adobe, built 1880. Peter Sherner house, rear view, 122 2nd St, adobe, built 1870s. Brickyard Road named for Sam Gates’ brickyard. Some people wanted a more durable brick, so James Gardner built a kiln in the 1870s to fire the sun dried adobe bricks into a burnt brick. A brunt brick was harder than an adobe but soft compared the bricks that would be made after the turn of the century. ​ Sand and gravel were not suitable for bricks that would be fired in the kiln; small particles of limestone even smaller than a pea could cause the brick to explode when it was fired. The marsh mud around Stone’s Pond was pure mud and was ideal for making burnt bricks. The burning in the kiln usually took from three to four weeks. The bricks nearest the fire and farthest into the stack became the hardest and were used on the outside walls as they were more weather resistant. Softer bricks were better for insulation and were used on the inside walls. [5] ​ Gardner located the kiln and brickyard about three blocks north of Sam’s cabin and the adobe mixer. The site of the kiln is on the south side of North Street across from the house located at 371 W. North Street. This site was close to the marsh and to Stone’s Pond. The adobe mill and the brickyard were connected by a lane, the old Sam Gates Lane. Site of kiln at approximately 370 W North Street. Today, there remain three houses and two granaries that were constructed over 100 years ago with burnt bricks. James Gardner house, 156 2nd Street. Mary Maxham house at 214 W 2nd Street. Gillson granary at 150 W 2nd Street. George Pierce house at 140 W 2nd Street. Detail of burnt bricks on the Bingham granary. at 317 W 2nd St. [1] - Editor Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, 1944, Quality Press Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 362, 425. [2] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 120. [3] - Ibid, p. 120, 122; Nina Bowman, Joseph Romrell, p. 274. [4] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 122. [5] - Ibid. Previous Return to Roads Next

  • Same Gates Road

    < Back Return to Roads Same Gates Road Sam Gates was an energetic person with many skills. He was 48 years old when he arrived on 2nd St. in 1852, and claimed 40 acres across the road from the Bingham Farm. The location of the Gates’ cabin is today’s intersection of Century Dr and 2nd Street. Sam Gates, Erastus Bingham and Isaac Newton Goodale were previously acquainted in Nauvoo, Illinois, where Sam Gates had established an iron foundry. Now these three men gathered together with their families in this new territory to build another community. Sam was also a farmer and a stone cutter. At age 48 Sam was old to be starting a new farm and helping with a new community, but he was capable and willing. He and his wife Lydia Downer, had 11 children, 7 of them living. His first business in the 1850s was to establish a molasses mill located on today’s Wall Ave 150 feet north of the 2nd Street intersection. He and his neighbors were growing sugar cane in the 1850s and a mill was needed to grind the cane into molasses. [1] In 1854 Brigham young made Sam Gates a captain of a company sent back east to assist the oncoming pioneers and help them through the mountains. In 1857 Sam and Lydia consecrated all the temporal possessions to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The church immediately gave him stewardship of his consecrated property. This consecration demonstrated faith in God and a willingness to share assets like the early Christians in the book of Mormon and the New Testament. In this consecration Sam’s 40-acre farm was valued at $300. 147 years later, these 40 acres would become the Fort Bingham subdivision. [2] In 1858 Sam was married in polygamy to Martha Waite, an 18-year-old lady who had been briefly married and divorced. She lived in another cabin on second Street, and over time they had six children. [3] In the 1860s Sam ran the toll gate at the mouth of Ogden Canyon; persons were expected to pay a toll for the use of the road to Huntsville. One day while working at the tollgate he hired a homeless Danish boy named Peter Sherner and eventually took Peter home and joined him to the large Gates family. Peter would grow up to be a permanent part of the community. [4] In the 1860s, the spirit of home builders in Weber County changed to a desire for adobe houses instead of log cabins and for plastered walls instead of log ones. In 1871 at age 67 Sam built an adobe mill next to his house and in a few years expanded the adobe mill into a brick yard located five blocks north of his house. He partnered in this business with his son George and his son-in-law James Gardner. The adobe mill and brick yard were connected by a lane that ran from Sam’s house on 2nd Street northward to the brick kiln on today’s North Street. Although he sold adobes and bricks and his son George constructed many adobe houses on 2nd Street, Sam chose to remain living in his log home until his death in 1877 at age 73. [5] A fingerprint of Sam Gates is still left on 2nd Street in six old structures that remain standing that are built with adobes or soft bricks from his mill and brickyard. The houses are 386 W. 2nd St , 150 W 2nd rear, 140 W. 2nd St , 122 2nd St , 156 2nd St , and the granary at 317 W. 2nd St . In 1892, Lydia Gates was still living on 2nd Street in the 1850s log cabin and was photographed in front of her home by photographer Jason Crockwell. The photo was displayed at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 in the Utah Building as a fitting tribute to Utah Pioneers and an honor to Lydia Gates, age 83, who was still living on 2nd Street in her unique pioneer home. Lydia Downer Gates in 1892 in front of the Gates cabin on 2nd Street; photographed by Jason Crockwell. displayed in 1893 at the World’s Fair in Chicago in the Utah building as a tribute to Utah Pioneers. Sam Gates Jr. & Lydia Downer; photo courtesy Pam Olschewski. On April 6, 1840 in Nauvoo, Illinois, Sam Gates was given an Elder’s License signed by Joseph Smith. – As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints expanded, some dishonest men began to take advantage of the situation by going into an area claiming to be “an Elder sent by the Prophet to collect tithes and temple donations”. Then the money would disappear. It became necessary to issue a license to elders in good standing to prevent this. [1] - Autobiography of Mary Elizabeth Hutchens Sherner, transcribed by Dorothy Sherner, Mary Elizabeth-Her Stories, manuscript, 1933, p. 53. [2] - Lisa J. South and Pam S. Olschewski, Samuel Gates, Jr. and Lydia Downe r, manuscript, 2001, p. 9-14. [3] - Ibid, p. 14. [4] - Autobiography of Mary Elizabeth Hutchens Sherner, p. 79. [5] - Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, Quality Press, SLC Utah, copyright 1944, p. 362. Previous Return to Roads Next

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