Farr's Fort

The fort went up out of fear, and the fear had a cause the settlers had made themselves. In September 1850 a Weber Valley farmer, Urban Stewart, shot and killed Terikee — a Northwestern Shoshone leader known for his friendship toward the newcomers — as the chief drove his horses from an unfenced cornfield. Bracing for retaliation, the settlers gathered behind Lorin Farr's stockade. Farr also built Ogden's first sawmill and gristmill nearby, sparing farmers the haul to Salt Lake. The fort was gone by 1853; some old millstones and gears remain at the site.

What the plaque says

Farr's Fort Near the mouth of Ogden Canyon, just north of the Ogden River (in this place) is where Farr's Fort previously stood. The fort was erected in 1850 by Lorin Farr, Ezra Chase, Ambrose & John Shaw, Charles Hubbard, and others. The 5-acre fort was enclosed on the east, west, and south sides by inward-facing houses, set close together, and the spaces between picketed with 12-foot high stockade poles. At one time, nearly all the pioneer settlers in the area gathered at Farr's Fort, concerned for their safety after a fellow settler shot and killed the Shoshone Chief Terikee. Eventually, there proved to be no need for such defenses. As the settlers moved into more permanent homes in the surrounding area the fort was abandoned by 1853. In addition to Farr's Fort, Lorin Farr's pioneering contributions include constructing the first sawmill, gristmill, and woolen mill in Ogden. Other notable projects accomplished under his direction were the first road through Ogden Canyon, a significant land survey of Weber County, and the construction of various highways, byways, and irrigation canals. The Mills In 1850, just to the east of Farr's Fort, a sawmill was built and powered by water diverted from the Ogden River. Settlers cut trees from Ogden Canyon and floated them downriver to the mill, turning them into lumber to develop the Ogden valley. That same year a gristmill was also built on the site. Having a gristmill in Ogden saved farmers from having to transport grain to Salt Lake City to make flour. The gristmill moved to another location in 1867, and in 1868 Lorin Farr and other business associates imported 60,000 dollars worth of machinery that weighed 55,000 pounds from Kansas to build a woolen mill. The factory employed 150 people who spun and dyed wool, cotton, silk, and flax and made clothing and blankets. Some of the millstones, a water wheel, and remnants of the gears are still on display at the site. Lorin Farr Lorin Farr was born July 27, 1820, in Waterford, Vermont. The Farr family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Charleston, Vermont, in 1832 after hearing the teaching of church missionaries Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnston. The Farrs left Charleston in 1837 to be with the main body of the church in Kirtland, Ohio. From Kirtland, the Farrs experienced all the joys, blessings, and sorrows accompanying the early Saints in their journey westward. In May of 1838, Lorin (age 17) and his older brother Aaron Farr followed the Prophet Joseph Smith to Far West, Missouri. They lived with and became well acquainted with Joseph and Emma Smith. Lorin served as a teacher for the Smith family children. He was a bodyguard, scribe, and good friend to the Prophet. Emma and Joseph referred to Lorin as their boy, and Lorin said of Joseph, "I know him to have been a great, good, and true man, and one who never betrayed his trust." Lorin was with Joseph at the time of the Haun's Mill Massacre and assisted at Adam-ondi-Ahman. In 1840 the Farr family moved to Nauvoo and helped with the construction of the Temple. Lorin followed the Prophet Brigham Young from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving in 1847. In 1850 President Young called Lorin to settle Ogden, Weber County, Utah. In 1851, President Young extended a call to Lorin to serve as President of the newly formed Weber Stake. Lorin also served as the first mayor of Ogden City (for 20 years), a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature (for 30 years), and a member of the convention that framed the constitution of the State of Utah. Image Courtesy: Special Collections Department, Stewart Library, Weber State University

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ogden Union Station — 1.7 mi
  A grand 1924 train depot turned museum complex
• Snowbasin — 5.2 mi
  One of the country's oldest ski areas and a 2002 Olympic downhill venue — world-class terrain that somehow still skis uncrowded.
• Hill Aerospace Museum — 8.5 mi
  Over 90 military aircraft displayed indoors and on the tarmac
• Powder Mountain — 13 mi
  The largest ski resort in the United States by acreage — a famously uncrowded "PowMow" now remaking itself under Netflix's Reed Hastings.

More markers nearby

• Site of Mound Fort — 1.2 mi
• First Toll Gate in Ogden Canyon — 1.2 mi
• Sacred Heart Academy — 1.4 mi
• Pierre-Jean De Smet — 1.5 mi