Sterling

Sterling grew up along Six-Mile Creek, where William and Daniel Funk settled in 1872 and dug the irrigation ditches that made farming possible; other families followed, and a Latter-day Saint branch was organized in 1874. The town's story reaches back harder, too — an early settler, Peter Ludvigson, was killed nearby in 1865, in the violence of the Black Hawk War. Much of what held the young community together was women's work: three midwives — Jane Snow, Catherine Edwards, and Fanny Kenner — delivered its children. The hamlet still sits quietly below the Wasatch Plateau.

What the plaque says

First Walker War casualty, Peter Ludvigson, was killed by Indians in 1865, three miles south of Sterling. Wm. D. and Daniel B. Funk located on Six-Mile Creek in 1872; dug irrigation ditches for farming. Families came later. A Manti branch of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1874. Wm. B. Petty, president. Dixon & Bunts operated first store. Samuel T. Kenner, M.D. was first school teacher. Jane Snow, Catherine Edwards, Fanny Kenner were midwives.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sterling — steps away
  A highway hamlet and the doorway to Palisade State Park
• Palisade State Park — 1.7 mi
  A pioneer-built lake turned central Utah's favorite state park
• Mayfield — 5.2 mi
  Gateway to Twelve Mile Canyon and the Skyline Drive high country
• Manti — 5.7 mi
  Sanpete's first settlement, crowned by an 1888 oolite temple

More markers nearby

• Funk's Lake — steps away
• First Presbyterian Church of Manti — 5.7 mi
• Manti Bell Tower — 5.7 mi
• Manti Carnegie Library — 5.8 mi