Old Pioneer Cemetery

About twenty pioneers lie around this monument, on ground that was a burying place before Mona was quite a town. The first grave was Nancy Maria Bigelow Love's, dug in November 1852, when only three ranching families lived in the valley. The next year the Walker War drove them out to Nephi, and the little settlement emptied. Not until Mona was resettled in 1859 did people return for good, and this hillside served as their burial ground until 1869. The graves mark a place that started, stopped, and started again.

What the plaque says

This monument is erected in memory of the pioneers buried here. There are about 20, whose resting place surrounds this monument. The first grave was that of Nancy Maria Biglow Love, who died November 27, and was buried November 28, 1852. In 1852 there were only three pioneer ranchers and their families living here. In 1853 Indian trouble forced them to move to Nephi. After Mona was settled in 1859, it served for a burial ground until 1869.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mount Nebo — 5.0 mi
  At 11,928 feet, the highest and southernmost peak in the Wasatch Range
• Devil's Kitchen — 7.1 mi
  A pocket of red-rock hoodoos high in the green Wasatch — a "little Bryce Canyon"
• Nephi — 7.7 mi
  A quiet ranching town at the foot of Mount Nebo
• Nebo Loop Summit — 7.9 mi
  The byway's 9,300-foot high point, with Utah Valley spread out below

More markers nearby

• Mona Bicentennial Park — 0.4 mi
• Burraston Ponds — 1.9 mi
• Salt Creek Fort Wall — 7.4 mi
• First School — 7.4 mi