Contact Us Podcasts Store Registration Home

Farr's Fort

Early in 1850, Lorin Farr, Ezra Chase, John Shaw, Ambrose Shaw, Charles Hubbard and other settlers who were located north of the Ogden River erected a fort to protect themselves against Indian attacks, as the red men in that district were beginning to molest the settlers. The structure was named Farr's Fort. It was located one and a half miles northwest of the mouth of Ogden Canyon, and about a block north of the Ogden River. A beautiful spring situated in the southwest corner of the enclosure supplied the inhabitants with good drinking water.

Five acres of land were enclosed in the fort by the houses, which were joined end to end, facing the inward square. The backs of the houses formed the outside wall. The spaces between the cabins were stockaded with pickets placed deep into the ground and extending upward some twelve feet. However, the north wall of the fort was never completed. A schoolhouse and a store occupied a central place in the enclosure. The store was owned by Mr. DeVorsen. The schoolhouse, a log building 20x30 feet, served both for school and meeting purposes. As was the practice in Mormon communities, it was the first building erected in the fort. Mr. Walton and Sanford Bingham conducted school there during the winter of 1850-1851. They were replaced the following year by Mrs. Judkins, who held classes in the same building.

During the Indian troubles of 1850-1852, especially right after the killing of Chief Terikee in the fall of 1850, practically all the settlers on the north side of the Ogden River lived in Farr's Fort. The following year, however, the majority of them moved out. Some of them built houses downtown on the site of Ogden; others returned to their log cabins on their farms. For example, Lorin Farr, the pioneer leader of Weber County, completed and moved into a new home on 21st Street and Washington Boulevard in 1853. About this time or shortly thereafter the fort was completely abandoned, and the people in that district did not fort themselves again. As the population increased and Ogden City expanded, it finally extended its bounds sufficiently to include the district of Farr's Fort.

Source: Beneath Ben Lomand's Peak, Pages 74-75

Copyright Statement Privacy Statement Acceptable Use Policy About Us Registration Home