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The Fort Harmony Story
Here in the New Harmony Valley lies the remains of one of the few protective
outposts built by our courageous pioneers. The concept and plans originated
with Brigham Young in 1854; the actual construction project was supervised
by John D. Lee. Fort Harmony took years of volunteer labor to complete
and played an historic role in the settlement of Southern Utah. Over
the course of eight years, this adobe-type structure provided shelter
and protection for over 300 frontier settlers.
Why was it abandoned so early, and what were the tragic events that
unfolded during this critical time in Utah history? We welcome you to
explore these pages and share the experiences faced by these real pioneers
as they endured the hardships of remote frontier life.
The Original Old Fort Harmony site has been Located
!
Located on the south end of Harmony Valley there
is a beautiful bluff that looks over Ash Creek Reservoir and fertile
farm land. This site closely matches the descriptions from recorded
history.
Read
more here
Fort Harmony and Mountain Meadows
Recently there has been some news about the Mountain Meadows and the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake Tribune, 3/29/08).
When news breaks about the Mountain Meadows, often people make an association
between the Mountain Meadows and Fort Harmony and the John D. Lee statue.
FHHS is asking people to not make that association because there lies
in the remains of Fort Harmony, fragile historical information for several
hundred people that lived or visited the Fort and it is the goal of
the FHHS to retrieve and document this history of ALL the people. We
do not want the pioneer's historical information to become mixed up
with Mountain Meadows controversial issues.
LECTURE SERIES
For those who are interested in learning more about Southern Utah's
past history, we invite you to attend our lecture series at the New
Harmony Library. These are open to the general public at no cost. Check
HERE for the latest schedule.
When the speaker permits, we do videotape the lectures and have these
available for the public at the New Harmony Library or you can purchase
your own copy at our Media Store.
About our Valley
The historically correct term for our valley is Harmony Valley. Harmony
Valley is about 12 miles long by 5 miles wide basically from mile marker
#36 to #48 at the Kannara overpass of I-15. The Native Americans named
the valley "Somato" or "the cove".
New Harmony is a town, about 2 miles square. It is very small compared
to the entire valley which is about 60 miles square. It is also the
mailing address of everyone in the valley. Kolob Ranches, The Ridges,
Harmony Farms, Harmony Heights 1 & 2 are located in Harmony Valley,
not New Harmony. As the valley develops these distinctions will become
more important.
The Fort Harmony Historical Society in Action.
A recent effort was undertaken by the Society members in locating
historical sites within the Harmony Valley. This group was led by Lyman
and Karen Platt and the purpose was to find and to document places that
indicated pioneer occupation. In all a total of
8 historic sites were identified.
 Utah
State Historical Society Gives Recognition
HFFS board member Roger Simister (on left), received a "Outstanding
Volunteer Award" from the State History Division during their
annual conference in Salt Lake City. Roger was recognized for his
valuable video work in capturing lectures and personal histories relating
to the history of Fort Harmony. These videos are available from the
HFFS media store
Our
Cedar City Tour/Lecture by Col. Al Matheson
On Saturday August 22, Al Matheson led a group of history enthusiast
in and around the historic points of Cedar City. Al is a virtual fountain
of fascinating historic facts and many of those who took the tour came
away with a wealth of valuable information. Things we learned: What
major retailer is located right over a sacred Indian burial ground and
many buried petroglyphics? Where is and what is the legend behind Squaw
Cave? When was the Cedar City Flood?, and what rock has the sculpture
of the "All American Man" ? These and many more historic facts
of Cedar City led to an informative day for whose who attended.. Order
your dvd of this interesting tour HERE.
You say you missed it ? Don't be concerned because the tour was captured
on video and will be available shortly. Look for the DVD "Cedar
City History part 2" on our web site order list.
Don't miss our next lecture programs scheduled for the
following months - Click Here
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