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Show OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Provo Canyon Guard Quarters Continuation sheet Utah County, Utah _______Item number 8____________Page 3 The Provo Canyon breastwork was the smallest of the Utah War fortifications and, because of its location, the least likely to be involved in a defense against the army. Ten men were assigned to duty there. The circular breastwork, located on a prominent hill on the north side of the canyon and opposite Bridal Veil Falls, offered a commanding view up the canyon. The facility was very rudimentary, consisting of dry masonry walls approximately two feet in height with no roof and no interior walls. Water for the men stationed there was obtained from a nearby spring, which in later years became known locally as Guard Quarters Spring.3 it is unknown how long the Provo Canyon Guard Quarters was manned, but considering its meager accommodations it was probably not occupied during the cold winter months of 1857-58 while the Utah War smoldered. The guard quarters was never involved in any of the actual events of the war, since Johnston's Army chose not to come down Provo Canyon and since the war never fully materialized. The Provo Canyon Guard Quarters, in addition to its role in the Utah War, has also been identified as a lookout station to observe the Indians as they moved up and down the canyon. 4 Indian hostilities in the area virtually ceased with the end of the Blackhawk Indian War in 1868, so it is likely that the guard quarters were used very little, if at all, after that time. The other Utah War breastworks, those at Mormon Flat and Echo Canyon, are also still remaining and in relatively good condition. The dry masonry construction of those breastworks is similar to that of the Provo Canyon Guard Quarters, and the location of the Echo Canyon breastworks, high above the canyon floor, is also much like the siting of the Provo Canyon structure, indicating their common purpose and construction dates. The Echo Canyon and Mormon Flat breastworks are potentially eligible for the National Register, possibly as part of a thematic resource nomination that mignt include other resources related to the Utah War. The documentation for such a thematic nomination is not scheduled for completion in the near future, therefore the Provo Canyon Guard Quarters is being submitted for individual consideration at this time at tne request of interested parties. 1 Quoted in Wain Sutton, ed., Utah - A Centennial History, Vol. II (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1949), pp. 593-594. 2 Ibid. 3J. Marinus Jensen, ---------- History of Provo (published by the author, 1924), pp. 139-141. ^Typescript of oral interviews with long-time Provo area residents. Available in National Register File, Utah State Historical Society. |
