Sea Gull Monument

In the spring of 1848 the pioneers' first crops were being devoured by swarms of flightless crickets when flocks of gulls swept in from the Great Salt Lake and ate the insects instead — a deliverance the settlers long remembered as an act of God. Sixty-five years later, in 1913, the sculptor Mahonri Young, Brigham Young's grandson, set this granite column and its two gilded gulls on Temple Square in gratitude. Said to be among the first American monuments raised to a bird, it honors the creature Utah later made its state bird.

What the plaque says

Erected in grateful remembrance of the mercy of God to the Mormon pioneers Mahonri Young Sculptor 1913

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Temple Square — steps away
  The spiritual and architectural heart of Salt Lake City
• Salt Lake City — steps away
  Utah's capital and largest city — where the Wasatch Range meets the Great Salt Lake.
• Ensign Peak — 1.4 mi
  A short hike to the spot where Brigham Young surveyed the valley
• Liberty Park — 1.9 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882

More markers nearby

• Handcart Pioneer Monument — steps away
• Assembly Hall — steps away
• Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood Mon. — steps away
• The Testimony of Three Witnesses — steps away