The early Utah Lake fishing industry supported the beginnings of pioneer communities by providing a source of food to sustain life and income. The buildings here in this pioneer village are examples of life in those times.

Fish available in Utah Lake lured settlers to Utah Valley and inhabitants of the early settlements surrounding the lake benefited from the fishing resources of the lake. Utah Lake supplies an important food supply for the native inhabitants. The Native Americans traded dried fish to early Spanish explorers and to the pioneers during the early years of settlement after 1847.

Those early years saw the devastation of crops by Rocky Mountain Locusts or crickets with the worst plague occurring in 1855-56. This resulted in serious food shortages. The fish of Utah Lake then became crucial to the survival of the new settlers and fishing activity increased until the hungry were fed. During the Utah War in 1858 the fish resources in Utah Lake helped to feed the pioneers moving into Utah Valley from the North. The Squaw Peak Chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers is pleased to provide this recognition for the importance of the Utah Lake Fishing industry to the early pioneers.

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This is Sons of Utah Pioneers historic marker #149, located at Pioneer Village at 600 North 500 West in Provo, Utah

Related:

• Fish in Utah Lake and the Provo River Saved Utah’s Early Settlers from Starvation
• S.U.P. Historic Markers
• Utah Lake – Western Sea of Galilee