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Show The Saga of Camp Floyd and Fairfield, Utah From an address by Harold P. Fabian, Chairman of the Utah Parks and Recreation Commission. It is rather difficult to imagine, as we stand beside this old STAGECOACH INN, that 100 years ago, Fairfield, Utah was the second largest community in the State, with a military and civilian population of over 7000. It was in 1855 that John Carson, a Pennsylvanian by birth, together with his four brothers and two other men, found good water and grass land and settled here to make their homes. ' ' . And then in 1858. occurred one of the most dramatic events in the history of Utah. The United States Army of the Dept. of Utah, under command of General Albert Sidney Johnson, was camped in the dell at the base of Little Mountain near the head of Emigration Canyon. This army consisted of 4000 officers, enlisted men and civilian employees .There were 586 horses, 500 wagons and 3000 mules. On the morning of June 26 at 3 A.M. this vast .military force marched into the Salt Lake Valley, through the almost deserted City of Salt Lake, and campep that night at about the present sight of 21st. S. and Redwood Road. Upon orders of President James Buchanan, the army was ordered away from the city and the site of Fairfield in Ceder Valley was selected. Almost overnight the population Old Stage Coach Inn, social center and stop for Pony Express and Overland Stages. I a ,i r - f IK! ; .1!" Ruins of the Walker brothers original building site. First war surplus store in ULS. jumped and Fairfield became another "hell roaring" western town with 29 saloons on the main street, gambling halls, dance halls and all the wildness of a frontier town. The army built barracks, mess halls, stables, a school and a church. And in a short time became be-came the largest military post in the United States. Camp Floyd was commanded by an able officer and it was a well disciplined post. The Walker brothers opened a general store at Fairfield in 1859 and later negotiated the first war surplus purchase when the obtained ob-tained 4 million dollars worth of army supplies for $100,000. The clouds of the Civil War came over the country and the army of Utah was needed in the East. So as quickly as they had come, the 4000 officers and men loaded their wagon train and 'abandoned this huge military post on July 27,1861. 58 soldiers and civilians were left sleeping in the Post Cemetary marked by a single headstone. Nearly 400 buildings were destroyed des-troyed and with the loss of the military payroll Fairfield lapsed back to it's1 original position of a small community, where today 17 families call it home. ,7 ,f ' us m. i -Hi m Li Old District School building erected in 1898 at Fairfield contains original bell. |
