"Old Fort"

About

In the summer of 1859, the early settlers moved to a spring located southwest of todays Richmond. According to Francis Bair, "The first year we lived in a little group round [a] ... spring. The small houses were lined up from the spring to the city creek which was only about two hundred yards away to the south."1

The early settlers spent their first winter in this area with four small log homes, wagons, and dugouts. The winter of 1859-60 was not an easy experience, as it would test their belief whether or not this area was habitable. Due to some later arrivals, not everyone was able to harvest food during the fall, so rations were made.2 For food, the most common was boiled wheat and any animals they could find in the wild.  Though conditions were harsh, not a single soul was lost.

Cottonwood logs from the local canyons were used to fuel fires and keep the settlers alive.2 The wood was transported by streams. Though all homes from the original fort are no longer around, the Brower-Robinson Home is located where the spring and fort used to be.

"John Bair's log home..." 

Images of America: Richmond, pg. 118, Cheri Housley, Marie Lundgreen, Kathy Jones, Arcadia Publishing, 2011.

"This cabin, demolished in 1998, stood on the corner of 400 West 200 South; it is believed to have been one of the original buildings of the first settlement." 

Images of America: Richmond, pg. 119, Cheri Housley, Marie Lundgreen, Kathy Jones, Arcadia Publishing, 2011.

Sources