Marysvale

This valley was Paiute and Ute country, and the Latter-day Saint families who settled it in 1864 did not hold it long. They abandoned their farms during the Black Hawk War — the long conflict Ute and Paiute bands waged as Mormon livestock and fields destroyed the wild foods their survival depended on. What brought people back was not farming but ore: in 1868 prospectors struck precious metal in the canyons above, and a mining town rose where the failed settlement had stood. A ward followed in 1895. Marysvale is the last town left from that mining era.

What the plaque says

In 1864 several families of Latter-day Saints settled in this valley but were forced to evacuate because of Indian troubles. Here in 1868 miners discovered precious metal, and took possession of the area. April 15, 1883, a branch of the L.D.S. Church was organized, Hugh D. Lisonbee, presiding elder, succeeded by Jared Taylor. When the ward was organized in 1895, Charles C. Pinny was chosen the first bishop. A one-room school house was erected and used for all public meetings.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Big Rock Candy Mountain — 8.6 mi
  The real mountain that inspired the famous hobo folk song
• Fremont Indian State Park — 10 mi
  The largest known Fremont Indian village ever discovered
• Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home — 21 mi
  The restored Circleville cabin where the West's most famous outlaw spent his teens
• Cove Fort — 22 mi
  A beautifully restored 1867 pioneer fort at the crossroads of two interstates

More markers nearby

• Town of Joseph & Pioneer Log Cabin — 12 mi
• Monroe Pioneers/Old Fort — 14 mi
• Camp Alma Relic Hall — 14 mi
• Fort Alma — 14 mi