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Show Early Area Settlers Gave Thanks in Their Own Special Way - - .kfc- ' -i - - - - town which was ysed as a school, meeting house and lodging house. The men had plowed 80 acres southwest of town in anticipation an-ticipation for the next year's planting and while they had little machinery and tools, they knew their efforts would soon yield not only a good harvest, but a place they could proudly call home. William Adams' journal tells that in spite of the considerable con-siderable snow, the settlers got along fine that first winter with plenty of food and a camaraderie camarade-rie that helped them "pass the winter pleasantly." Many of the early settlers of Pleasant Grove had suffered the hardships of being driven from their homes, losing loved ones on the journey to the Salt Lake Valley, and starting anew with few possessions in an unfamiliar un-familiar land. In spite of these privations, they not only en- Diaries of Pleasant Grove settlers are replete with tales of hardship and heartbreak, but the pages are also filled with thanksgiving. dured, but flourished, building a town that thousands are proud to call home. While the holiday we call Thanksgiving may not have been observed by the pioneers in 1850, it is certain they celebrated cele-brated their safe arrival and good fortunes by worshipping their Heavenly Father and continually thanking Him for their blessings. Our gratitude is evidenced by how we care for our fellow citizens, thus honoring the hard work and faithfulness of those who built our city from the sagebrush and "pleasant grove" found in 1850. by Geri Taylor While searching pioneer records for any mention of the Thanksgiving holiday, it was apparent that even though the early settlers of Pleasant Grove had little in terms of possessions, posses-sions, they had an abundance of gratitude and stamina. Diaries are replete with tales of hardship and heartbreak, but the pages are also filled with a reverence for all the blessings proffered by their God. Perhaps a glimpse into the harsh realities of their living liv-ing conditions can give us all a deeper appreciation for their resilience re-silience and pure grit in the face of deprivation. In July of 1850, three men who had arrived with the 1848 Willard Richards group, were sent into the next valley south to find suitable locations for settlements. settle-ments. After William Adams, Phi-lo Phi-lo Farnsworth and John Mercer had scouted out the Utah Valley, their first choice for a town lay at the base of the mountains between be-tween two streams coming from the hills. A beautiful grove of cottonwood trees, surrounded by canyons full of game and timber, was enough to convince the men that this would be an excellent place to live. They surveyed the town site, marking it with wood stakes with their names on them, then staked out some farms for themselves beyond the town. On their way back to Salt Lake, the trio met two men and two herd boys bringing cattle to winter near Battle Creek. The two young men remained re-mained the rest of the summer and built the first log cabin just north of the cottonwood grove. At a special conference held in Salt Lake City on September Sep-tember 8, 1850, Adams, Farnsworth Farn-sworth and Mercer gave a report re-port of their findings, resulting in Brigham Young calling for a few families to settle the area. Most of the pioneers answering an-swering the prophets invitation invita-tion had arrived in the Salt Lake Valley only three or four days before the conference and set out for their new home three days after. The journey took two days and George S. Clark drove the first wagon onto the site, a fitting bgacy for a family that has stayed the course. The men immediately began be-gan building a crude shelter of sagebrush while the women cooked supper and the following follow-ing day they cleared land and cut logs for homes. Tragedy was not long in coming when only weeks after their arrival, seven year-old Benjamin Price was killed by a log falling from the home his father was building. The grief-stricken colony, buried the lad just north of the settlement, settle-ment, not expecting the first to occupy the cemetery would be a child. The next day Lewis Harvey Har-vey was hit by the same log, breaking his leg and laying him up for the winter. Since their home was not finished, they lived in a wagon box until the following Spring. It wasn't long before other Saints were joining the small community, with cabins and other dwellings being built, mostly in close proximity to each other for safety. William Wil-liam Stevens decided to build a large two-room home about a mile-and-a-half west of the |
