A Struggle for Water, west of the Jordan River

The Jordan River ran past the west side, and it may as well have been a mile down. The water sat below the bluffs; the farmland lay on the dry benches above, sagebrush over alkaline soil. Bringing the two together took decades of digging. By 1876 the joined South and North Jordan Canals lifted river water onto the benches from South Jordan to Granger; the Utah and Salt Lake Canal pushed it farther west in 1881. Past the last ditch, families gambled on dry-farming — planting in fall, praying for a spring wet enough to harvest.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• International Peace Gardens — 4.1 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature
• Saltair — 6.8 mi
  A haunting lakeside resort with a storied past
• Liberty Park — 7.1 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 7.4 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood

More markers nearby

• English Fort — 3.6 mi
• Carlisle Family Historical Marker — 4.1 mi
• 1900 Baptismal Site — 4.1 mi
• Taylorsville/ Bennion Pioneers — 4.3 mi