Fort Deseret (Millard County, Utah)
Millard County · Utah · Utah Black Hawk War
History & Significance
Due to U.S. Army obligations in the Civil War, local settlers were advised to take measures to defend themselves, resulting in the construction of the fort. The fort's opening celebration occurred on July 25, 1865; it measured 550 feet square with bastions at northeast and southwest corners, with adobe walls made of mud and straw mixed by oxen, standing 10 feet high, 3 feet wide at the base and 1.5 feet at the top on a stone foundation.
When Black Hawk appeared in 1866 at Deseret demanding cattle, the security provided by the fortification allowed a peaceful settlement to be negotiated. The fort was never used for its primary defensive purpose, but instead housed livestock each night.
Following a treaty with Black Hawk in 1868, its builders abandoned it; thereafter Native Americans often used the fort for keeping livestock. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Fort Deseret remains the only example of an adobe mud fort in Utah and was built entirely as a community project of materials at hand, typifying the cooperative nature of Mormon settlement.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- 10-foot adobe walls enclosing a 550-foot square perimeter
- Site of 1866 negotiations during the Black Hawk War
- National Register of Historic Places listing
- Well-preserved territorial-era defensive structure
- Remote western Utah high-desert setting
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Deseret
- https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/b/BLACK_HAWK_WAR.shtml
- https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/UT-01-027-0097
- https://visitmillardcounty.com/adventures/history-buff/fort-deseret/
- https://jacobbarlow.com/2014/05/21/fort-deseret/
- https://millardcounty.com/attractions/fortdeseret/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War_(1865%E2%80%931872)
- https://utahhistoricalmarkers.org/category/cat/bhw/