Box Elder Fort

When the first stockade at Box Elder proved too small, Brigham Young ordered a bigger one. In July 1853 the settlers laid out this second fort, fifteen rods by eight, and built it the frugal frontier way: its outer walls were the back walls of their log houses, joined end to end, with a gap left at the south for a schoolhouse. This rose on Northwestern Shoshone — Newe — ground. As the fear the settlers carried eased, Brigham Young had the townsite platted in 1855, and the families moved out of the fort and onto open lots.

What the plaque says

Site number 55 In July 1853 Brigham Young ordered the people settled in the Brigham City vicinity, construct another fort to provide protection from the Indians. This fort extended North and South about 15 rods and East and West about 8 rods. From a point located about 15 feet east of this marker. The Fort was later expanded to accomodate more settlers and a school house was then built adjacent to it. The exterior walls of the fort were actually the walls of the log houses which comprised the three walls of the fort. The south end the school near the location of the school was left open. The Indian danger soon abated and President Brigham Young ordered that a survey and a plat of the city be made in 1855 to allow the settlers to move from the fort. om the fort.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wellsville Mountains — 8.8 mi
  The steepest mountains in North America for their height
• Hyrum State Park — 12 mi
  A family-friendly reservoir at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon
• Powder Mountain — 16 mi
  The largest ski resort in the United States by acreage — a famously uncrowded "PowMow" now remaking itself under Netflix's Reed Hastings.
• Logan — 18 mi
  A vibrant college town tucked into a stunning mountain valley

More markers nearby

• A Pioneer Home — 0.4 mi
• Brigham City, a Co-op Town — 0.4 mi
• Brigham City Co-op Store — 0.4 mi
• Brigham City Fire Station — 0.4 mi