Remembering Cache Valley settlement
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WELLSVILLE, Utah — Taking advantage of the Pioneer Day weekend and a youth conference, Wellsville — the oldest continuous settlement in Cache Valley — got a jump on its sesquicentennial Founder's Day celebration Saturday, July 22.
Kicking off the celebration was the arrival of the Wellsville Utah Stake young men and young women at the town square where the historic Wellsville Tabernacle is located. The youth were completing a three-day trek from Brigham City, over Sardine Canyon, re-enacting the arrival of the first settlers.
According to remarks by Jarvis S. Maughan, first counselor in the stake presidency, it was actually a scouting party led by his ancestor Peter Maughan that arrived in Cache Valley on July 21, 1856. The settlement was established at the base of the mountains in the southwest corner of Cache Valley the following Sept. 15. Peter Maughan, answering a call from President Brigham Young, led a party of 25 pioneers who arrived on that date and established Maughan's Fort at what is now Wellsville.
Greeting the youth, dressed in pioneer attire, as they marched their final paces to the square just before noon were singing Primary children from the stake, community residents and visitors. Several hundred people joined them on the lawn near the tabernacle where they provided entertainment demonstrating pioneer dances they had learned along the trail.
Rounding out the welcoming ceremonies were more songs from the Primary and President Maughan's brief recap of the town's history.
Everyone attending was then treated to a Dutch oven dinner, wagon rides and more musical entertainment.
E-mail to: ghill@desnews.com
