Jacob Hamblin

Jacob Hamblin spent his life as a go-between. A Mormon settler sent in the 1850s to live among the Southern Paiute at Santa Clara, he built a reputation — deserved, by most accounts — as a patient and honest negotiator who worked to keep peace between the settlers and the Native peoples of the southern frontier, among them the Paiute, Hopi, and Navajo. He built a fort on this Kanab ground in the 1860s and later guided and supplied John Wesley Powell's river expeditions. He is remembered, fairly, as a man who chose talk over the gun.

What the plaque says

The great Mormon frontiersman and Indian missionary settled in Tooele Valley, Utah in 1850 and began peaceful negotiations with the Red Men. He was so successful that the officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sent him to establish residence among the Indians at Santa Clara, Utah, in 1854. A fort was erected on this site in 1865 into which he moved in 1869. He assisted Maj. J. W. Powell and party 1869-72. He was transferred in 1878 to Arizona, and later to New Mexico. He is buried at Alpine, Arizona. His friendship with the Indians saved many lives. Erected Sept. 2, 1933

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kanab — 0.5 mi
  Little Hollywood — where hundreds of Western movies were filmed
• Best Friends Animal Sanctuary — 8.2 mi
  The largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the United States
• Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park — 11 mi
  Sweeping dunes of coral-colored sand framed by red cliffs
• Mount Carmel Junction — 15 mi
  The crossroads where the road to Zion meets the highway to Bryce

More markers nearby

• Fort Kanab — steps away
• Powell Survey — 0.3 mi
• Kane County Veterans Memorial — 0.4 mi
• Johnson Canyon Cemetery — 9.2 mi