Camp Floyd, Pony Express, Journalism (3)

The United States marched a third of its army out here to fight a war that never happened. Convinced the Mormons were rebelling, Buchanan sent Johnston's troops in 1858; they found no uprising, fired no shots, and built Camp Floyd — soon the largest military post in the country. The town beside it, Fairfield, swelled to seven thousand, third-largest in the territory. The soldiers who came to punish the Mormons enriched them instead, buying local goods and auctioning three years of supplies for pennies. In 1861 the Civil War called them east, and it all vanished.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Thanksgiving Point — 11 mi
  A massive complex with dinosaur bones, gardens, and a curiosity museum
• Lehi Roller Mills — 16 mi
  The flour mill from the movie Footloose
• Bingham Canyon Mine — 18 mi
  The largest man-made excavation on Earth
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument — 24 mi
  Three spectacularly decorated caves connected by hand-carved tunnels

More markers nearby

• Stage Coach Inn/Camp Floyd State Park (2) — steps away
• Free Masons — steps away
• Camp Floyd Cemetery Veterans Memorial — 0.6 mi
• American Merchant Marine Veterans of WWII and Navy Armed Guard — 15 mi