Settlement of Eden
The town of Eden was named after the biblical Garden
of Eden. Before Eden was surveyed and laid out in 1855,
the valley was the summer hunting grounds for
Shoshone Indians. As early as 1825, trappers of the
Hudson Bay Fur Company, led by Peter Skene
Ogden, followed Indian trails throughout the
valley, the known as Ogden's Hole.
Brigham Young, presideent and leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, sent a group of cattlemen to the valley in 1854. They
found the valley excellent for their cattle, corralled naturally by the
mountains with plenty of feed and water. Erastus Bingham and Joseph
Hardy built cabins in 1857 on the slopes below what was later called
Geertsen Canon. Sidney Teeples built a cabin on the North Fork, and
Stephen K. Wilbur settled in the area that later became Eden. The first
permanent settlers came over North Ogden Pass in 1859. The
winters were long and harsh, with the snow reaching six feet
deep in places and the temperature as low as 46 degrees below zero.
The Utah Black Hawk War in 1865 caused the pioneers to
move closer together. They settled into the area between the
Middle Fork and the North Fork rivers and named their new town Eden.
The center block was the public square. The population soon grew to 250
people.
The one-room log school house was built across from the square in 1866.
It was used until 1884 when a larger frame building was built. A bell called
the children to school, announced the noon hour and the end of recess,
and also warned the people of fires or other emergencies. When a new
yellow brick school replaced the smaller structure, the bell was mounted on
the roof. The bell is now mounted on this monument.
International Daughers of Utah Pioneers
Eden Camp
No. 538
2005
