Cottonwood Settlement

The Cottonwood Settlement developed in one of the most naturally inviting areas of the eastern Salt Lake Valley. Between Big Cottonwood Creek and Little Cottonwood Creek, mountain water flowed west from the Wasatch Range across a landscape marked by springs, meadows, and stands of cottonwood trees. The availability of water and fertile land made this region attractive to settlers soon after the arrival of Latter-day Saint pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. The larger Cottonwood region became one of the earliest areas of settlement outside the original Salt Lake City fort. Some of the earliest families in the area were associated with the Mississippi Saints, a group of Latter-day Saints from the American South. Members of this group had participated in the pioneer migration to the Great Basin beginning in 1847, and additional Mississippi families arrived in October 1848. Under the informal direction of Amasa M. Lyman, many of these southern settlers established farms southeast of Salt Lake City in an area sometimes called Amasa's Survey. A row of cabins developed there, creating what the National Park Service describes as the first town in Utah outside Salt Lake City. The community was known at various times as Cottonwood, the Mississippi Ward, and Holladay's settlement. The Cottonwood Settlement commemorated by DUP Marker #562 eventually encompassed a broad farming district between Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks, extending from approximately 1300 East to the Wasatch foothills. The area's name reflected its natural landscape. Large cottonwood trees served as landmarks near the mouths of the two canyons. According to the marker history, a particularly large cottonwood identified Big Cottonwood Canyon while a smaller tree helped identify Little Cottonwood Canyon. Water was Cottonwood's greatest resource, but it could also be one of its greatest challenges. Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks did not always remain neatly within fixed channels. They meandered across the valley floor, and seasonal runoff could transform normally manageable streams into powerful waterways. That danger became especially apparent in 1862. Heavy rain and mountain snow produced enormous spring runoff that cut new channels through the Cottonwood area. Pioneer residents responded by widening and dredging waterways in an effort to control the flow. Settlers also constructed numerous irrigation ditches and two canals. These waterworks allowed mountain runoff to be directed onto farms, making agriculture possible across a much larger area. Like many Utah settlements, Cottonwood depended on cooperative irrigation systems that required continual maintenance by the people who relied upon them. Agriculture became the foundation of the settlement. Families established farms and homes throughout the district, gradually spreading farther south and east. As the population dispersed, however, geography created new problems. Creeks that provided irrigation water could become barriers between neighbors. Long distances and swollen streambeds made it difficult for residents to travel to church meetings, schools, and community gatherings elsewhere in the Cottonwood region. The community was also crossed by one of the most remarkable transportation operations in pioneer Utah. Beginning in the 1850s, granite quarried near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon was transported toward Salt Lake City for construction of the Salt Lake Temple. Before railroad transportation became available, enormous granite blocks were moved by teams and wagons. In the Cottonwood area, the granite traffic followed Vine Street. The marker describes the stone as essentially parading through the settlement on its long journey toward Temple Square. For residents, these granite wagons would have been a familiar reminder of a construction project that continued for decades. As Cottonwood's population increased, residents sought institutions closer to home. On October 11, 1885, a branch of the Big Cottonwood Ward was organized specifically for people in the Cottonwood area. At first, residents held religious meetings in private homes and later in school buildings. Education developed in much the same way. In 1890, an existing log cabin on Spring Lane became the community's first school identified by the marker history. Martha Moses taught there. The school moved several times during the following years. In 1893, classes were held in Spillett's Hall, a multipurpose building that also contained the local post office and store. The following year, students attended a one-room log cabin behind the location of the later Oakwood School. In 1896, School District 37 constructed a more permanent two-room red brick school. The growth of the community eventually required something larger, and a four-room Oakwood School was completed in 1913. Businesses also appeared along Highland Drive, helping turn the agricultural district into a more recognizable community. Religious organization continued changing as population increased. On February 12, 1911, the Big Cottonwood Ward was divided, creating the Holladay and Brinton wards. Albert Quist became bishop of the Brinton Ward, with Edward C. Bagley and Ensign Woodruff serving as counselors. The new congregation initially continued meeting in the school while members constructed a chapel of their own. Ensign Woodruff, a son of Church President Wilford Woodruff, served as contractor for the project. His brother John donated the land, and local residents supplied labor and contributions. The chapel was ready for use by December 10, 1914. The building became especially significant because local history identifies it as an early chapel constructed entirely through donated labor and contributions from the congregation. On February 12, 1928, Church President Heber J. Grant dedicated the building as the Cottonwood Ward chapel. By then, the old pioneer farming settlement was becoming increasingly integrated into the growing Salt Lake metropolitan area. The names and boundaries of local communities changed, roads replaced older travel patterns, irrigation channels were altered, and farms gradually gave way to suburban development. Yet the Cottonwood identity survived. DUP Historical Marker #562 was erected in 2011 by the Salt Lake Olympus Company of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers to preserve the story of the people who farmed this landscape, controlled its unpredictable waterways, educated their children, built community institutions, and watched wagonloads of granite travel through their neighborhood toward one of Utah's most famous buildings.

Latter-day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847 and initially concentrated their settlement around a fort in what became Salt Lake City. Almost immediately, however, families began looking beyond the fort for farmland and reliable water. The streams descending from the Wasatch Mountains created natural corridors for settlement. Big Cottonwood Creek, Little Cottonwood Creek, Mill Creek, and other waterways provided the irrigation water necessary for agriculture in Utah's arid climate. The Cottonwood-Holladay area became one of the earliest centers of this expansion. Mississippi Latter-day Saints played a particularly important role in the area's early history. A National Park Service history records that thirteen Mississippi families—56 white people and 34 enslaved Black people—arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October 1848. Together with earlier southern arrivals, many settled in the Cottonwood area. This is an important part of the settlement's history. Early Utah was not populated solely by free white pioneer families. Enslaved African Americans were also brought into the territory by some southern Latter-day Saint settlers, and people including Hark Lay and his brother Thompson lived in the Cottonwood community while enslaved. By 1849, the early Cottonwood community contained approximately seventy families according to contemporary historical accounts. Many of the Mississippi settlers later left Utah. In 1851, a substantial number joined Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich in establishing the Latter-day Saint colony at San Bernardino, California. Other families remained, and settlement continued spreading throughout the Cottonwood region. The next several decades brought increasingly intensive agriculture and major infrastructure projects. Construction of the Salt Lake Temple began in 1853. Granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon became the principal exterior building stone, creating an extraordinary transportation challenge. Heavy blocks had to be moved from the canyon toward Salt Lake City, first principally by animal-drawn wagons and later with railroad assistance. Cottonwood therefore existed at the intersection of agriculture, irrigation, transportation, and religious development. Its schools demonstrate another common pattern in Utah settlement. Education began informally in whatever buildings were available and gradually progressed toward purpose-built schools as population and tax-supported educational systems developed. The same progression occurred with religious buildings. Residents initially met in homes and schools before constructing a dedicated chapel through local labor and donations. During the twentieth century, the eastern Salt Lake Valley changed from an agricultural landscape into an increasingly suburban one. The historic Cottonwood district was eventually divided among communities and municipalities whose modern boundaries do not perfectly correspond with the original settlement. DUP Marker #562 preserves the name and story of that larger pioneer landscape.