We hold in sacred memory those sturdy and brave pioneer women, who left their homes in the Eastern United States or sailed from the foreign lands; that trekked across hills, plains, and mountains, forded streams and rivers, birthed and buried loved ones along the trail. Others followed, with faith in every footstep, arriving in Price River Valley. Contributing their ethnic traditions and religious beliefs; each endured hardship to conquer this desert, make a home, provide for their posterity and contribute to the settlement.
The women hoed and helped husbands, fathers, sons and daughters to prepare the soil and plant. They prayed for sun and rain, in turn; fought off crickets, grasshoppers or prairie fires in order to save their crops. They harvested, gleaned, and ground wheat on gristmill stones, lovingly shaped loaves of bread and baked in earthen ovens. They blessed and broke break, together, as families and friends.
In honor of these pioneer women’s contributions, in June of 1928, Price’s Mayor, W.F. Olson, deeded DUP land for the Pioneer Evergreen Park. Price Company Daughters of Utah Pioneers, their families, and Boy Scouts of America cleared the area and prepared for the monument and statue to be erected. Local artist, Dean Fausett, created an original statue of a pioneer woman in a walking position, dressed in a long dress with a bonnet hanging down her back, and a sack of grain over her left arm, to adorn the top of a rock cairn built by Dan Morley. The dedicatory prayer for the original monument was offered by Bishop George Jorgensen, September 7, 1931. Years later, the cement statue and bronze makers disappeared.
In 2009, a search began to locate the monument’s history. DUP minutes revealed that the original statue was modeled after Florence Virginia Horsley Jorgensen. News articles and photographs were provided to Gary Prazen, a local sculptor, to recreate the replica in enduring bronze. Richard Morley, repaired the original rock monument.
Price City Centennial Year Celecration of 2011 marks the rededication of Price Company Daughters of Utah Pioneer’s efforts to restore “Pioneer Women” to honor all women residing in this multinational community, united in their preservation of the past and dedicated to prepare for Price’s future.
This monument is #564 of the D.U.P. Markers and is located in Pioneer Park in Price, Utah.
