Fort Buenaventura, located in west Ogden, Utah, United States, was the first permanent Anglo settlement in the Great Basin. Built just east of the Weber River in 1846 by Miles Goodyear, the fort and its surrounding lands were purchased by Mormon settlers in 1847 and renamed Brownsville (then later Ogden). Following flooding along the river in 1850, the fort was abandoned.
In 1980, Fort Buenaventura State Park was opened, which included a replica of the fort at its original location. In 2002, ownership of the park was transferred to Weber County, which now operates the fort and surrounding recreational facilities.
Fort Buenaventura was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in the Great Basin. It was established by the trapper Miles Goodyear and his business partner Captain Wells in 1846. [1]
The fort was built near a bend on the east bank of the Weber River, and served as a trading post for trappers and travelers. The settlement's location is about a mile west-southwest from the present-day Ogden municipal building.
In November 1847, Fort Buenaventura and the surrounding land claim were purchased by recently arrived Mormon settlers for $1,950 (equivalent to about $56,710 in 2021). [2] The settlement was then renamed Brownsville but was later changed to Ogden after Peter Skene Ogden, who trapped beaver in the Weber Valley. The fort was abandoned following flooding in 1850, and settlers constructed a new fort (Brown's Fort) a short distance to the south and east. At least one cabin was saved from the original fort; this structure is preserved at the Weber County Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum as the "Miles Goodyear Cabin." [3]
The site of the original Fort Buenaventura is now a park occupying 84 acres (340,000 m2). The park, which includes a replica of the original fort, was dedicated as a Utah State Park in October 1980. [4] [5]
Prior to the replica's construction, during fall 1979, Dr. Evan DeBloois, a regional archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service and adjunct professor at nearby Weber State University, completed an archaeological excavation. The excavation uncovered parts of the old stockade, revealing the fort's original dimensions. [6] [7]
The replica was constructed using techniques from the original fort's construction, including mortise and tenon joints, and was made as accurate as possible based on existing evidence. One major exception being its construction out of quaking aspen and lodgepole pine, rather than cottonwood like the original. [4] [8] Following a damaging windstorm, portions of the fort had to be reconstructed in 2000. This reconstruction was made using higher quality materials. [8]
Following budget cuts, the state turned over ownership of the property to Weber County in 2002 (and ended its status as a "state park"). [9] Located at 2450 "A" Avenue in Ogden, the county-run park offers camping, canoeing and meeting facilities during the summer season. [10]
Utah is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its west by Nevada. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.
Weber County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,223, making it Utah's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Ogden, the home of Weber State University. The county was named for the Weber River.
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Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Great Salt Lake and 40 miles (64 km) north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth largest city. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a convenient location for manufacturing and commerce. Ogden is also known for its many historic buildings, proximity to the Wasatch Mountains, and as the location of Weber State University.
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The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
The Bear River Massacre, or the Engagement on the Bear River, or the Battle of Bear River, or Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Franklin County, Idaho, on January 29, 1863. After years of skirmishes and food raids on farms and ranches, the United States Army attacked a Shoshone encampment, gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Battle Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory, near the present-day city of Preston. Colonel Patrick Edward Connor led a detachment of California Volunteers as part of the Bear River Expedition against Shoshone tribal chief Bear Hunter. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children were killed near their lodges; the number of Shoshone victims reported by local settlers was higher than that reported by soldiers.
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This is the Place Heritage Park is a Utah State Park that is located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, at the foot of the Wasatch Range and near the mouth of Emigration Canyon. A non-profit foundation manages the park.
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The Ogden Utah Temple is the sixteenth constructed and fourteenth operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Ogden, Utah, it was originally built with a modern, single-spire design very similar to the Provo Utah Temple. During a renovation completed in 2014, the exterior and interior were extensively changed.
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The This is the Place Monument is a historical monument at the This is the Place Heritage Park, located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. It is named in honor of Brigham Young's famous statement in 1847 that the Latter-day Saint pioneers should settle in the Salt Lake Valley. Mahonri M. Young, a grandson of Brigham Young, sculpted the monument between 1939 and 1947 at Weir Farm in Connecticut. Young was awarded $50,000 to build the monument in 1939 and he was assisted by Spero Anargyros. It stands as a monument to the Mormon pioneers as well as the explorers and settlers of the American West. It was dedicated by LDS Church President George Albert Smith on 24 July 1947, the hundredth anniversary of the pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. It replaced a much smaller monument located nearby.
Fort Utah was the original white settlement at Provo, Utah, United States, and was established March 12, 1849. The original settlers were President John S. Higbee and about 30 families or 150 persons that were sent from Salt Lake City to Provo by President Brigham Young. Several log houses were erected, surrounded by a 14-foot (4.3 m) palisade 20 by 40 rods in size, with gates in the east and west ends, and a middle deck, for a cannon. The fort was first located west of town, but was moved to Sowiette Park in April 1850.
Miles Morris Goodyear was an American fur trader and mountain man who built and occupied Fort Buenaventura in what is now the city of Ogden, Utah. The fort was located approximately two miles south of the confluence of the Weber and Ogden rivers and about one-quarter mile west of the end of Ogden's modern 28th Street. Goodyear was the first recorded man of European descent to live in the Weber Valley of Utah.
Mountain Green is a census-designated place in northwestern Morgan County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,309 at the 2010 census. Located 16 miles (26 km) up the Weber River from Ogden, Mountain Green is the world headquarters of the Browning Arms Company.
Gilbert Belnap was a Mormon pioneer, 19th-century local level leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an early colonizer of Ogden, Utah, Fort Lemhi, Idaho and Hooper, Utah.
The Miles Goodyear Cabin is a historic building in Ogden, Utah, built by trapper and trader Miles Goodyear on the Weber River in 1845 and was the foundation of the first permanent European settlement in Utah. It is the oldest building in the state of Utah not built by Native Americans. The cabin is constructed of sawn cottonwood logs, measuring roughly 14.33 feet (4.37 m) by 17.75 feet (5.41 m).
Indigenous peoples have lived in the area now known as the state of Utah for thousands of years. Today they are divided into five main groups: Utes, Goshutes, Paiutes, Shoshone, and Navajo. Each occupies a different region within the state, many of which regions extend across borders into other states. In the 2010 census, there were a total of 32,927 American Indian and Alaska Natives living within the state, which totaled to 1.19% of the total population of Utah.
Fort Supply was a Mormon pioneer-era fort in Green River County, Utah Territory, United States. Established in 1853 and abandoned during the Utah War of 1857, the fort served to solidify Mormon influence and control in the area, as a base for local missionary efforts, and to supply food and other provisions for pioneers headed to Salt Lake City. The site of the former fort is located near the modern-day community of Robertson, Uinta County, Wyoming, and a monument commemorating the settlement is maintained as a satellite site of Wyoming's Fort Bridger State Historic Site.
Coordinates: 41°12′53″N111°59′24″W / 41.214802°N 111.989943°W