Fort Deseret

Erected as a defense against Pahvant Indians in the Black Hawk War, completed in 18 days by 98 men. Wm. S. Hawley and Isaac W. Pierce, foremen; John W. Radford, Supt. Opening celebration July 25, 1865. The fort was 550 feet square, bastions at Northeast and Southwest corners and gates in the middle of each wall. Made of adobe mud and straw mixed by the feet of oxen, when completed were 10 feet high, 3 feet wide at base and 1 1/2 feet at top, resting only on a stone foundation.

(the above text is from Daughters of Utah Pioneers historic marker #23)

Located just south of Deseret, Utah.

The below text is from the nomination form from when the fort was added to the National Historic Register (#70000624) on October 9, 1970.

The first white settlers reached the lower drainages of the Sevier River, Pahvant Valley, in 1860, and established the community of Deseret, By 1865 they were fairly well established. With the Indian unrest of the Blackhawk war, Brigham Young advised all outlying Mormon settlements to “fort up.” His mandate was reinforced by the early summer visit of Bishop Thomas Callister and Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Immediately the community set about building a fort, with John W. Radford in charge.

Men with teams were organized to haul lava rock from across the valley to the west and lay the four-foot wide footings. To build the walls themselves, the men divided into two groups, led by William S. Hawley and Isaac W. Pierce, Each team was to build half the wall, with the winning team to be given a party by the losers.

The walls were constructed of adobe mud made by running water into trenches into which dirt and straw were thrown and then mixed by having oxen tromp it. The mud mixture was then stacked up in ten-foot walls three feet wide at the base, tapering to one-and-one-half feet at its top. The center of the walls were high to cause the rain water to drain outward.

The race to construct the fort took the 98 men 18-1/2 days –9- 1/2 days for Pierce’s group and 9 days for Hawley’s; however, as a portion of Hawley’s wall fell, a tie was declared, A big celebration was held July 24, 1866, to commemorate the fort’s completion. It had cost about $3,706 in materials and labor.

Actually the fort was never used to defend against the Indians, although it did offer security to the small isolated colony during a crucial period of Indian unrest; and cattle from the settlement were frequently corralled in the fort to avoid their being stolen by the Indians. In fact in later years the Indians themselves often used the abandoned fort. The community of Deseret was abandoned in 1868 because of water difficulties and was not reoccupied until 1874. The old mud fort remained a landmark but has slowly eroded during its more than one-hundred-year existence. Today less than half its walls remain standing.

Not only does Fort Deseret remain as a landmark in Mormon pioneering history, but it is the only remaining example of an “adobe mud” fort in Utah. Further, it was built entirely as a community project of materials at hand, thus typifying the cooperative nature of Mormon settlement. Its preservation needs are acute.

Description:

Fort Deseret was laid out in a square 550* x_55.p l . The foundations for the walls were made with 3-foot wide lava rock footings. Adobe mud for the walls was made by turning water into a big trench, then adding clay and straw which was mixed by foot of both humans and oxen. The mud was stacked on the footings to form walls 10′ high, 3′ wide at the base, and 1-1/2′ wide at the top. The center of the wall was the highest, to allow drainage outward.

Taller bastions were constructed in the northeast and southwest corners extending beyond the walls. Rough hewn lumber was used to make the portals through which guns could be fired with a minimum of exposure to the defenders. Three portals were placed in each bastion, several on each side. The main gates were in the north and south walls, with small gates in the east and west walls.

Rain and wind erosion has reduced the walls severely. Only portions remain, mainly on the east wall, the bastions and corners. One can see in the fallen portions of the wall the kind of adobe construction a layer of mud, a layer of straw. The remaining walls are from 6 to 7 feet high and badly eroded.

Greasewood and other brush have grown up around the walls. A ditch runs near the north wall and a large lateral in front of the east wall.

The site is near the old Sevier River channel, long since changed by man’s needs. Now owned by Utah State Parks and Recreation, both its preservation and development are being planned.