This Is the Place

We enjoyed spending the morning with Shawn, Grace, Bella, and Lilly at This Is the Place Heritage Park. The park is situated on a hill overlooking the city of Salt Lake City and is a mixture of historical landmark and theme park. It commemorates the arrival of Brigham Young and the Mormon settlers who were searching for a place to settle. They had traveled from Laramie, Wyoming, and many of the settlers (including Brigham Young) were suffering through Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Jim Bridger (the legendary mountain man of the Rockies) told them about the Salt Lake Valley and recommended it as a possible place to settle. After sending an advance party to find and explore the area, the group reached this overlook on July 28, 1847. Tradition says that Brigham Young looked out over the valley and said, "This is the place; drive on," but this is now in doubt according to Mormon historians. As we looked down on the valley and the city of Salt Lake, I could certainly understand someone thinking this was a great place to settle. It is a beautiful location.


Salt Lake Valley from This Is the Place	End of the Journey

The main emphasis of This Is the Place Heritage Park is Heritage Village; a replica of a village from the late 1800's in Utah. The village is a combination of buildings that were moved from surrounding communities to the park and replicas of historic buildings. They were all very well done. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a great time.


Outside the Mary Smith Field Home	Atkin Home & Manti Fort Gristmill	Riding the Train

We completed our day with a barbecue dinner and watched Hidden Figures.