Betty G. Spencer, New Utah, Thursday, August 14, 2003
Anyone who has lived in American Fork any length of time knows that in 1853 all settlers were instructed to "fort up." This meant they were to move their log cabins inside a specified area and each household would be responsible to built their share of the wall.
This was not an easy decision, but all settlers of the village followed counsel. Except three. Alas, my great great grandfather George Spratley was the ring leader in the rebellion. His name tops the list of three dissenters.
The original map of the Lake City (our first town name) Fort was made by educator Eugene A. Henroid about 1858. The map was redrawn by another early educator, Joseph B. Forbes, in the early 1900s.
The original map is still retained in the city map room, but had faded and discolored from age. The precious map was almost too fragile to touch, so City Recorder Stephen Paul Shelley decided it was time to have the Fort Wall map again redrawn. He assigned new City Engineer Carl Hansen to do the job.
This gave residents of the community the opportunity to once again view the historical treasure.
The project was completed in March, 1964. The large three by four feet copies made for the American Fork Library, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and to each of the cities five schools were presented by Shelley.
Smaller copies of the map were for a time available at the City Hall for a nominal fee.
In 1953 residents of Lake City (renamed American Fork in 1860) became a walled city as the residents followed the counsel of Nauvoo Legion General Daniel H. Wells, Parley P. Pratt and Lorenzo Snow, who urged them to take immediate steps for moving their log homes from their farms along the creek into a quadrangle fort.
The new fort area contained approximately 40 acres, with the eastern boundary located near the present 100 East Street. The northern wall erected a few rods north of the present 100 North Street.
The wall was located about eight yards back of the houses, constructed of clay or adobe bricks.
Originally intended to be 12 feet high, six feet wide at the base and two feet at the top, the wall was never to reach more than six to eight feet in height.
As the Indian threat abated, the necessity of completing the wall became less pressing and the work on the wall finally ceased.
The wall map showed 64 dwellings, one store, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a brew house, a tithing office and a meeting house.
The fort bounded American Fork Creek, which divided the settlement at what is now Center Street. The center of the fort was used as a cattle run, with individual corrals surrounding the run. The stray pound was also located in this area.
Many original families are represented by their progeny today, as the lands have been passed on from one generation to another. The original James Clarke, Stephen Chipman, Henry Boley, Thomas Shelley and Thomas Proctor home sites are still occupied with homes of their children or grandchildren or by businesses operated by their families. The map was of special interest to most townsfolk, but especially so to the children in local schools who studied about the community as third grade students. The studies are still part of their history curriculum.
Former resident Darrell Conder has spent considerable time and effort to produce an overlay map which enhances what we know about the fort. He has been able to locate the entrance from Salt Lake Valley, the exit toward Pleasant Grove and other historical facts which bring out new information relavent to the fort map.
He recently made a presentation to the American Fork City Council to introduce them to his findings.
The map gives us a welcome look back, helping us to understand the times in which our forefathers lived.
This story appeared in New Utah on page 1.
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