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Fort Deseret (1866-18??) - A Mormon settler fort established during the Ute Black Hawk War in 1866 near present-day Deseret, Millard County, Utah. Abandoned as a fortification sometime after the war.
Fort Deseret Marker with Fort Wall in Background.
Fort Deseret East Wall Entrance.
Fort Deseret Northeast Bastion Ruins.
History of Fort Deseret
Established in 1866 at the direction of Brigham Young. The fort was built to protect the settlers and their livestock against hostile Indian attacks during the Ute Black Hawk War (1865-1872).
The Fort was built as a protective wall surrounding a 550-foot square area with bastions at the northeast and southeast corners. Gates were placed in the middle of each side and portholes along each wall. The wall itself was built ten feet high of adobe on a three-foot wide lava rock foundation. The wall base was three foot thick and narrowed to eighteen inches thick at the top.
The fort was built by 98 men divided into two competing teams in just ten days. In practice, it came to be used to protect the livestock at night.
Probably abandoned as a fortification after the end of the war.
Current Status
Fort Deseret Marker Text.
Fort Deseret State Park with a 1937 marker and remains of walls and bastions.
Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 786.
