Tonaquint

This is a historic marker located in Crosby Family Confluence Park in St. George, Utah.

This is S.U.P. Marker # 173, see the others in the series on this page.

Jacob Hamblin, pioneer, missionary and friend to the Indians, planted cottonseed in the fertile river bottoms near here in 1855. A settlement was established the next year called Tonaquint, after a local band of Indians that were located there. As part of the Cotton Mission, four families built a few log cabins and willow huts. Sometimes called Lower Clara, with nicknames of Seldom Sap, Never Sweat and Lick Skillet, it was abandoned in 1862 due to a series of floods. However, some farming was continued and it was later known as Seep Ditch.

Brigham Young’s Vision

This is a historic marker located in Crosby Family Confluence Park in St. George, Utah.

This is S.U.P. Marker # 174, see the others in the series on this page.

Near this spot, in the fall of 1859, Brigham Young, statesman and leader of the Mormon people, silently gazed at Pine Valley Mountain, and then the valley and hills of black lava and vermillion rock before him. He saw in vision a thriving community. With a sweep of his arm he spoke: “There will yet be built between those volcanic ridges, a city of spires, towers and steeples, with homes containing many inhabitants.”

Jedediah Strong Smith

This is a historic marker located in Crosby Family Confluence Park in St. George, Utah.

This is S.U.P. Marker # 176, see the others in the series on this page.

In 1826, Jedediah Smith, searching for a route to California, entered what is now Washington County by crossing the black ridge north of here then following Ash Creek to the Virgin River. He followed the Virgin River through the Virgin River Narrows (present route of I-15) overcoming many dangers associated with the steep, narrow, winding, rugged canyon. In 1827, he returned to California following the same route to the confluence of Santa Clara Creek and the Virgin River. Anxious to avoid a repetition of his experience in the Virgin River Narrows, he proceeded up Santa Clara Creek and turned southwest over the low mountain (present day Old Highway US 91) to a ravine which led him to the Beaver Dam Wash and its confluence with the Virgin River.

The Southern Exploring Company

This is a historic marker located in Crosby Family Confluence Park in St. George, Utah.

This is S.U.P. Marker # 175, see the others in the series on this page.

In the fall of 1849, Brigham Young formed the Southern Exploring Company led by Parley P. Pratt. Through that winter this company of 50 men explored potential town sites and resources from Nephi to present day St. George as part of Young’s plan for a corridor to the sea, also called the Mormon Corridor. Twenty of the company under Pratt reached their further point south at the confluence of the Santa Clara and Virgin Rivers on January 1, 1850, near this monument. Their reports resulted in the settlement of all the towns between Nephi and St. George.