Restoration Of Brigham City Selected As Centennial Project

Today Brigham City consists of only remnants of

a settlement that housed as many as 277 men, women and children. These members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints served as missionaries of their faith while forging a life on the rugged Arizona terrain.

Brigham City was one of four settlements in the area and these people all worked together in a communal lifestyle, looking to God and church leaders for guidance as they struggled through floods, crop failure and doubts by some of the members who wanted to return to their homes in Utah.

Brigham City was settled in 1876 and was initially known as Ballenger’s Camp, named after the leader of the group, Jesse Ballenger. It was built approximately 1.5 miles northeast of what is now downtown Winslow today. Although many historians and area residents knew of the existence of the settlement, it wasn’t until 1977 that its location was confirmed through archeological research. In 1978 the site was listed on the Na-tional Register of Historic Places.

Today the structural remains of the settlement consist of a portion of the communal dining hall and a wall that surrounded the settlement to protect the inhabitants from hostile Indians, which they never encountered. Also at the site is a dairy barn that was built in 1903 as part of the La Prade farm that existed on the property from 1897 until the mid-1940s. That building also has historic significance to the city, as the La Prade family was a large contributor to the growth of Winslow.

When the settlers arrived they had already been warned of potential hostile Indians and built a rock wall to surround a large portion of their settlement with walls seven feet high and two feet thick. Inside the fort there was a pottery shop, a communal dining room that was also used for meetings and dances, a blacksmith shop, storehouse, a cellar, two wells and 36 homes that measured 13’x15’ each. Also located at the settlement were a schoolhouse, a cabinet shop and a tannery. Those living there also traveled to participate in the operation of a sawmill and dairy in the Mormon Lake area.

“The rooms were small, many neatly papered with newspaper, and a few homemade scatter rugs over the beautiful new white-pine lumber floors, curtains draped the window and usually a few pictures adorned the walls. Very comfy and homelike,” reported Ballenger in a journal he kept while living in Brigham City.

A small cemetery located about 1.5 miles to the northwest of the settlement has experienced vandalism in recent years that has left behind only a few sandstone markers with the inscriptions weathered away, but a list of interments shows 27 individuals were buried at the cemetery. Of those laid to rest in the small cemetery, the majority were children, who undoubtedly succumbed to the illnesses or rigors of life in a rugged land with meager medical care.

Life along the Little Colorado River was difficult and the settlers at Brigham City were at constant battle with the river. The colonists built and rebuilt dams to feed the wheat crops, but the shifting directions of the river seemed to impede their efforts, leaving crops to suffer.

“Our provisions are running short already and if we should fail in raising a crop this season it will come hard on us as we have not means that we can work with. But we are determined to trust in God and our breth-ren for the help and blessings that we need,” wrote Ballenger to the church’s president, Brigham Young.

After 1878 the population of the settlement began to decline as some families moved to surrounding areas and others returned to Utah. Then in 1880 it was reported that Brigham City had experienced almost complete crop failure. Church authorities visited the colonies in the Little Colorado, saw the struggle of the people there and disbanded the settlements to other areas in the state. Of the four camps only one, Allen’s Camp, prospered into a permanent settlement that continues today as the town of Joseph City.

Many families living in the area today can trace their roots back to these first settlements. To help bring this history back to life, the Brigham City Restoration Committee was formed to raise funds to help restore the settlement to some semblance of what it once was.

The process has been slow over the years and funds are low, but the committee continues in its efforts with the partial restoration of the fort wall, a paved parking lot and a gated entrance to the settlement. The goal is to restore the footprint of some of the buildings, as well as the dining hall, and in doing so, allowing us to recall the sacrifices of those who paved the way for future generations to grow and prosper in this region.

If you would like to contribute to the continued growth and expansion of the project, send your donation to the committee at 712 N. Warren Ave., Winslow, Ariz. 86047.