Historic Cove Fort

If you are ever traveling I-15 and find yourself between Fillmore and Beaver, UT you might want to stop and take a break at Historic Cove Fort. Built in 1867, the fort was built in response to a call from Brigham Young. The man called was Ira Hinckley, grandfather to Gordon B Hinckley who became president of the Mormon church.

The Fort is owned and run by the LDS church (no surprise there) so expect to hear about The Church. Our guide was very knowledgeable concerning the fort and not pushy concerning the church. She asked if I knew about the church and when I responded yes she didn't ask anymore questions. I would assume that if I had responded no I would have gotten a short presentation concerning "The Church."

One thing I did note. I asked specifically if Brigham Young had called Ira Hinckley out in the middle of Utah to help traveling Mormons. I was told that this was not the case. He was called to build a way station for weary travellers and many of the travellers were not Mormon at all.

Upon further research I discovered that Hinckley was not only asked to build a way station but was also asked to head the church there. It is my guess that he was called there to help the travellers of the "Mormon Corridor." Though we were told that it was a way station for anyone travelling, which I believe it was, I think it's primary purpose was for helping Mormons and possibly converting non-Mormons travelling through.

At one point Brigham Young was afraid that more Mormons would have to migrate to Utah as a result of pressure from the United States government. It seems that Brigham Young was a pretty brilliant man planning far into the future. He set up many such posts that would have aided a second migration of Mormons.

One of the things I was greatly impressed with was how well Ira got along with the Native Americans in the region. A previous fort had existed before Ira was called. There was fear that Indians would attack at any time. So when Ira came to Cove Creek one of his first objectives was to build a secure fort. The fort was never actually used for protection. In fact, the only shot ever fired injuring someone was from his own son who had found a gone and accidentally shot his brother in the knee.

Ira knew how to get along with the natives. Why does this stick out? I was born in Walla Walla, WA the site of the Whitman massacre. George Whitman was a missionary who didn't know how to treat the Native Americans. His cruelty led to the death of many men, women and children.

Part of the success of the Mormon church has been due to its methods used in spreading the Mormon version of the Gospel. It is sad that a religion built upon lies has become so successful. There are many Christians who do as good of a job turning people away from the true Gospel as Mormons due turning people towards a false gospel.

One other thing I want to mention. It is interesting that while we were at Cove Fort we were given the impression that Ira had only one wife and many, many children (21 to be exact but only 9 were mentioned at one time). In reality, Ira had a total of four wives but was never married to more then three of them at one time.

Overall it was a very interesting tour. There was a lot of information concerning the time period. I do believe there was a coloring of some of the history when it concerned members of "The Church." I would recommend the tour to anyone interested in history.