How the Park Came To Be

This park is a landscape in miniature, built to remember. It began in 1997 as a neighborhood ward's project for the pioneer sesquicentennial — a simple monument to the first Salt Lake campsite — then grew into something more ambitious, a designed re-creation of what the pioneers first saw. Mounded granite boulders stand for the Wasatch peaks; a path through the rocks traces Emigration Canyon; dry streambeds mark Emigration and Parley's creeks. Engraved throughout are the names of the hundred and twenty men, women, and children thought to have slept here that first night.

What the plaque says

This park grew from what began as a Federal Heights Ward sesquicentennial project-a simple monument to mark the first Mormon campsite in Great Salt Lake Valley. The vision expanded, and the park became a joint project of the Emigration and Wells Stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, bringing to reality a dream of the neighborhood and the historical community. Engraved on stones throughout the park are names of the 109 men, 3 women, and 8 children thought to have slept here that first night in the valley, July 22, 1847. The park design represents the landscape they encountered. Granite boulders mounded in the eastern part represent the Wasatch Mountains. The path through the mountain rocks represents Emigration Canyon, down which the Pioneers came. The dry streambeds represent Emigration and Parley's Creeks. Primary children of the two stakes embedded pebbles in the fresh concrete of the streambeds. In addition to thousands of hours of volunteer labor by both stakes, the park wàs made possible by American Oil Company's generosity in donating the land and by liberal financial support, primarily by members of Emigration Stake. Contributing firms and organizations included Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Kelby Electric Company, Okland Construction Company, Clean Cut Landscaping, United Fence Company, Lehi Block Company, Howe Rental, and others. Landscape Architect Stuart Loosli created the design and, with Mark Finlinson, managed construction: William B. Smart was general chairman. Dedicated by Elder M. Russell Ballard, July 22, 1997, exactly 150 years after the arrival of the pioneers here. Presented as a city park to the people of Salt Lake City and to all who honor our pioneer heritage.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 0.8 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 0.8 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• International Peace Gardens — 2.7 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature
• Salt Lake City — 2.7 mi
  Utah's capital and largest city — where the Wasatch Range meets the Great Salt Lake.

More markers nearby

• Others Who Came — steps away
• First Encampment Park — steps away
• Wilford Woodruff's Farm 1850 — steps away
• Herman L. Franks — 0.6 mi