Emigration Canyon Monument - Native People

Long before any wagon came down this canyon, the Salt Lake Valley was Native country — hunting and gathering ground at the meeting place of the Ute, the Shoshone, and the Goshute, peoples who had read this land for thousands of years. The Sons of Utah Pioneers placed this monument in 2012 as a companion to the one honoring the first Latter-day Saint companies, an acknowledgment too long in coming: that 1847 was not a beginning but an interruption, and that the valley the pioneers called empty was nothing of the kind.

What the plaque says

Native People In the beginning, nature appears to have made every effort to conceal this sacred place. Yet soaring above, the eagle has known of it since creation. Thousands of years before this land was called America, Native Americans saw many uses for this respected canyon. The Ute, known as, People of the Land of the Sun or People of the Mountains considered this canyon a place of a Great Power. To the west, the Salt Lake Valley was acknowledged as the Land of Peace between Nations. The Ute, Goshute, Navajo, Paiute & Shoshoni gathered food in the valley for the winter months. Where we now walk there are stones we step upon, paths we follow, hills and mountains we climb, perhaps with thought only of our own journey. How often we hear, or say, how far we've walked, run or ridden. Look back 300 years, 600, a thousand--and more. The native people who lived and labored up and down this canyon were following game and foraging for food. They were families living here. Each member was celebrated - from the elder sharing stories and wisdom, to a father's successful hunt and a mother who taught what plants could be eaten or used as medicine. There was the joy of a birth. Small ones, who survived, were treasured children among them. Those whose ancestors have arrived in the last few centuries, would do well to remember that we stand on land which was first respected, appreciated, loved and understood as beloved Mother Earth. If we too, are to have future generations who look back and honor us, and this place, we must assist and value each other, our families and our near and distant communities. May this place serve as a reminder that earlier visiting people passed where you now stand, with the acute awareness that they were treading on the sacred land of the Ute Nation. Now we walk here. Let us walk with respect This Monument is dedicated to the people of the Ute Nations

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• This Is The Place Heritage Park — 0.2 mi
  A living history village at the mouth of Emigration Canyon
• Natural History Museum of Utah — 1.1 mi
  A world-class museum built into the foothills above Salt Lake City
• Red Butte Garden — 1.4 mi
  A 100-acre botanical garden with panoramic valley views
• Emigration Canyon — 1.7 mi
  The final stretch of trail the Mormon pioneers took into the valley

More markers nearby

• Emigration Canyon Monument - Mormon Pioneers — steps away
• Emigration Canyon Railroad — steps away
• This is the Place Restored Monument — 0.3 mi
• Mary Fielding Smith House — 0.3 mi