Cove Fort Millard County, Utah, United States of America Cove Fort is the only remaining 19th cen- tury fort built during the settling of the Utah Territory that still remains standing. Ira Nathan- iel Hinckley, grandfather of President Gordon B. Hinckley, was called by Brigham Young to oversee the construction of the fort in 1867. The fort is built of black volcanic rock with lime mortar; the walls are 100 feet square and 18 feet high.1 The fort provided protection and sup- plies to travelers along the sparsely populated area along the Mormon Corridor between Salt Lake City and California. As the area developed, the need for the fort waned. On August 21, 1919, President Heber J. View of Historic Cove Fort Grant signed over the fort title to William Henry Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Kesler who had leased the land since 1903. It was Prints & Photographs Division subsequently purchased in 1988 by the Cove Fort walls is one hundred feet long on the outside, eigh- Acquisition and Restoration Foundation, com- teen feet high from the foundation. On the east prised of descendants of Ira Nathaniel Hinckley. side is a gate way fourteen feet wide with a sub- The fort was restored in 1988-89 after be- stantial arch six feet deep and three inches thick, ing deeded to The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- set inside. ter-day Saints from the Cove Fort Acquisition and Above this, preparations are being made for Restoration Foundation. a look-out and telegraph office. On the west side It was dedicated on May 9, 1992 by Presi- is a gate way eight by four feet, with projections dent Gordon B. Hinckley and is currently main- inside ten and one-half feet wide, ten feet high. tained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- The front contains twelve rooms, six on the north day Saints. and six on the south side, ten of which are six- teen by fourteen feet, and two are sixteen by sev- SOURCES enteen feet, and nine feet four inches high. There 1 is a chimney to each room, three feet wide and two Frank Beckwith, “Historic Old Cove Fort,” Improvement Era, feet thick. The chimneys rise six feet above the top Vol. 30, No. 6, (April 1927). of the wall. The rooms are well lighted and have five Descriptions of Cove Fort panel doors. The roof is covered with good shaved pine shingles. The entire building contains two thousand two hundred and fifty perch of rock, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five bushels Wilford Woodruff of lime, and has cost to the present $22,690.00.”1 “This Fort is a very substantial building. I think it is the best in the Territory. It is built of Alonzo A. Hinckley volcanic rock laid in with mortar. Each of the four “My father, Ira Nathaniel Hinckley, su- 2 Cove Fort, Millard County, Utah, United States of America pervised the building of the fort, acting under are attached.”2 appointment from Brigham Young. It was con- sidered a place of complete safety from any mo- SOURCES lestation from the Indians. The huge gates, eight 1 inches thick, and studded with steel nails to hold Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff, His Life and Labors, comp. Matthias F. Cowley (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1916), 459. 2 the wood in place, were closed each night. What Frank Beckwith, “Historic Old Cove Fort,” Improvement Era, a feeling of protection my father and his family Vol. 30, No. 6, April 1927. felt behind those massive walls and those strongly barred portals! We lived there for years. It was our ‘home.’ Visitor Information With special pride my father used to make it pleas- ant for any chance traveler. Those were the days of genuine hospitality. Historic Old Cove Fort lives in my memory, not as a fort, but as a home. Address: No... it was not attacked by Indians. Its HC 74 Box #6500 grim walls, those threatening port holes, the sense Cove Fort, Utah 84173 of absolute security which those solid rock walls and those heavy gates gave, no doubt, deterred Phone Number: the Indians from ever attempting an attack. But (435) 438-5547 that is not all. Acting under the wise instruction of Brigham Young, my father faithfully carried out Hours of Operation : in rigorous exactitude that policy early laid down. October through March ‘Feed the Indian rather than fight him.’ That was • 9 AM to sunset the greater reason why there was no attack. For always we maintained the most friendly relations April through September with our red brother. • 8 AM to sunset Sweet memories of my childhood cling to that spot. ‘Twas there I was reared under the watch- Admission: ful care of a noble mother, and the influence of • Free the example of a wonderful father. Every morning and evening, no matter how many strangers were Further Reading Resources within those gates, my father took the entire fam- ily across the open space to one of those well-kept rooms, and there they all knelt in humble family prayer. Frank Beckwith, “Historic Old Cove Fort,” Im- One time I was thrilled. Many preparations provement Era, (April 1927). were being busily worked upon. All was bustle W. Clegg-Butt, “Cove Fort, Southern Utah,” New and activity within the fort and home. President West Magazine, 1920. Brigham Young and his party were to be received Donald L. Enders, “Cove Fort: An Oasis in Cen- by my father in Old Cove Fort! How well do I re- tral Utah,” Utah Preservation, 1997. member that wonderful, inspired leader of men! Larry C. Porter, A Historical Analysis of Cove Fort, And he a guest at my father’s house—in the which Utah, 1966. won the name, historic Old Cove Fort!—the edi- “Cove Fort Today,” Ensign, (June 1995), 36. fice to which my earliest and fondest recollections “President Hinckley Dedicates Cove Fort,” En- Cove Fort, Millard County, Utah, United States of America 3 sign, (July 1992), 77..