Monthly Archives: July 2020

Col. Philip St. George Cooke

29 Wednesday Jul 2020

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Col. Philip St. George Cooke
June 13, 1809 – March 20, 1895

Impartial friend, humanitarian, soldier, dedicated to the west unequivocally loyal to the Union, Col. Cooke commanded the Mormon Battalion on the greater part of its historic march which contributed to bringing Western America under the Stars & Stripes.

Cooke helped establish Camp Floyd in 1858 and was from August 1860 to July 1861 the commanding officer of the Military Department of Utah, earning the respect and gratitude of the Mormon people. When many persons defected to the south including Sec. of War John B. Floyd and General Albert Sidney Johnston, he changed the name of the post to Fort Crittenden February 6, 1861.

Cooke received orders via Pony Express in May 1861, to abandon the fort and return the remnants of Johnston’s Army to Fort Leavenworth. Assigned to the defense of the Nation’s Capitol, he was given the rank of Brigadier General.

This historic marker was placed by the Sons of Utah Pioneers (see their other markers here) in Fairfield, Utah.

Camp Floyd Pony Express Stop

29 Wednesday Jul 2020

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Camp Floyd

Original Station
April 3, 1860 – November 20, 1861.

In 1856 and 1857 John Carson built a square 363 foot fort that would become Fairfield, Utah. Within the walls were housing, food storage and a cistern to store water.

The American Army arrived here in July of 1858 and on November 9, 1858 Camp Floyd was opened. At the time the largest troop concentration in the United States was at this place and sometimes it exceeded 2,700 soldiers.

The name listed on the Pony Express company schedule for this station was Camp Floyd. The actual station site used by the Pony Express was at the “Stagecoach Inn.” This was built by John Carson on the site of his original fort in 1858. This two story adobe and framed Hotel and Inn served the needs of the Pony Express and Overland Stage. The stables were one block east and one-half block north from the Inn.

Monument dedicated June 2, 2007 by:

  • Howard Ault family
  • Norman A. Butts family
  • Tony and Janice Peck family
  • Valdean and Luana Hadfield family
  • Grandpa Carl, Gabe and Jade Mellor
  • Pony Express Trail Association

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The Old Spanish Trail

29 Wednesday Jul 2020

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The Old Spanish Trail

1829-1850

Stretching for 130 miles across Clark County, this historic horse trail became Nevada’s first route of commerce in 1829 when trade was initiated between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The trail was later used by the wagons of the “49ers” and Mormon pioneers. Concrete posts marking the trail were erected in 1965.

Nevada Historical Marker No. 33

Located in Blue Diamond in front of the Village Market Mercantile at:
N 36.04684 W 115.40651

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Joseph & Marie McRae House

28 Tuesday Jul 2020

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The Joseph & Marie McRae House, built between 1911 and 1913, is a two-story foursquare-type house with Neoclassical details. It is significant for its association with the development of the Central City neighborhoods and is a rare surviving example of a large foursquare in one of Salt lake City’s oldest residential areas. The nearly pristine historic integrity of the McRae house is particularly remarkable, considering the encroaching commercial development that has occurred here.

Joseph McRae was a sheep rancher and wool grower who saved his money and upon retiring, built this large foursquare around the corner from his growing family’s modest Victorian cottage. Joseph’s daughters Alice and Marie inherited the property and continued to live here until their deaths in the late 1990s. Brent and Shauna Sloan purchased the property from the McRae estate and completed a sensitive rehabilitation of the house for use as office space in 2002.

452 East 500 South in Salt Lake City, Utah