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Show Fillmore hosted 1 legislative session in Utah Territory "Fillmore was abandoned as the capital of the Territory' the following follow-ing December. An act of the governor gov-ernor and the legislative assembly, approved Dec. 15, 1856, declared "that the seat of government is removed from Fillmore City to Great Salt Lake City until otherwise provided by law." Situated in a valley of rich agricultural land, Fillmore has continued con-tinued to grow. The statehouse, built through the cooperation of all the people in the area, still stands and is one of the few pioneer public buildings remaining in Utah. (Source: Young, The Founding of Utah; Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the LDS Church. Quig Nielsen is an information officer for the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City.) By QUIG NIELSEN The first and only legislative session ses-sion ever held in Fillmore, the early capital of the Utah territory, met for 40 days in December 1855 and January 1856. That winter, Fillmore, 150 miles south of Salt Lake City, was the center of the officialdom of Utah. "Governor (Brigham) Young concluded that it would be better and more accommodating for the people from all parts of the territory to have the capital centrally located. ' Mormon leaders felt that President Presi-dent Millard Fillmore was a friend for he had withstood "all pressure to support the 'run-a-way officials (sent to the territory) and (had) manifest friendliness in the appointment ap-pointment of their successors." The county and the territorial capital were named in his honor. In his message to the legislators, "Governor Young.. .suggested that the laws enacted should be 'plain, easy to understand, and few in number.' " At the Fillmore session many important laws and memorials were passed. Among them were an act apportioning the representation of the Utah Territory, a memorial asking ask-ing Congress for an appropriation of $50,000 for the building of a statehouse and $200,000 to build a road from Bridger's Pass in the Rocky Mountains to California. |