Place · United States
The history of Provo, one place at a time
Assembled from 10 dug tiles · 114 sourced records · last reviewed 18 September 2026
Provo, Utah, grew up along the Provo River on ground taken from Timpanogos families in an 1850 siege, then built over with schools, churches and homes across a century of settlement. Its Brigham Young Academy became a library; its post office took a lawyer's name; its streets remember a botched execution.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Provo — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Provo
The siege that cleared this valleyNinety militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos camp on the Provo River, half a mile from where you are standing. Provo
1849–now How Provo built a school system out of nothing
A civic history called it a century of public education, written by a Provo schoolteacher named J.C. Moffitt. Provo
1849–2018 The man who refused to be tied down
A firing squad's aim went wrong on this ground, and it took him minutes to die. 100 East
1866–2025 A siege that ended in beheadings on the Provo River
A land dispute over a stolen shirt grew into a two-day siege and mass killing three-quarters of a mile from this point. Provo
1849–now The siege that made room for this street
Ninety armed men surrounded a Timpanogos camp two miles from here, and the ground has been building over that morning ever since. Provo
1849–1986 The two-day fight that ended in beheadings
Ninety Mormon militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos camp on the Provo River in 1850, a half mile from this point, and what followed was not a battle. Provo
1849–now The lawyer Congress gave a post office to
Act of Congress renamed a plain postal building in Provo after a man who argued for the country in front of the Supreme Court. Provo
1849–now The condemned man who chose the bullet over the rope
Wallace Wilkerson died slowly on this ground in 1879, in a firing squad shooting that failed to kill him outright. 2230 North
1849–now A Provo lawyer argued 59 cases before he lost his life
Congress renamed the post office at 936 South 250 East for the man who grew up down the street. Provo
1849–2002 A school for a thousand students stood empty for twenty years
Under your feet is the old Brigham Young Academy, gutted, condemned, and finally reborn as the Provo City Library. Provo City Library
1850–2001
Provo in layers
The Peter Mastin Wentz House, seventy-seven meters from here, is a historic Provo home on the National Register of Historic Places. Peter Wentz House (Wikipedia)
About 550 meters east, Brigham Young University's Museum of Peoples and Cultures holds over a million archaeological and ethnological objects, most from South America, Mesoamerica, the Southwest, the Great Basin, and Polynesia. Wikipedia: Brigham Young University Museum of Peoples and Cultures
The Stewart-Hills House, less than a mile away, carries National Register of Historic Places status as a rare surviving bungalow built for a doctor's sanatorium scheme. Wikidata
late 1849, Fort Utah, near present-day I-15 crossing of the Provo River
In late 1849 a settler accused a Ute man known as Old Bishop of stealing his shirt, killed him, and hid his body in the Provo River with two accomplices, setting off tensions that led to the Provo River Massacre. Fort Utah - Wikipedia
1849, Fort Utah
William Dayton died and George W. Bean lost his left arm when a spark ignited gunpowder during a reloading demonstration of Fort Utah's cannon in 1849. Historic Provo Cemeteries - Provo Library
1849, Fort Field cemetery, Lake View, roughly 2.5 miles south of downtown Provo
George and Matilda Haws, Harriet Turner, William Dayton and five others died in Fort Utah's brutal first year of 1849 and were buried at the Fort Field graveyard on the Williams farm, later marked by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Historical Provo Cemeteries - JacobBarlow.com
1849
In 1849 Mormon settlers raised Fort Utah on ground the Timpanogos Ute had used for generations as a major campsite along their hunting trails, a decision that helped trigger the following year's violence. A History of Utah's American Indians, Chapter 5 (Utah Division of State History)
winter 1849-1850
In the winter before the attack, measles spread from Fort Utah's settlers into Ute camps in Utah Valley, killing many Timpanogos people and deepening the tensions that exploded into violence. Wikipedia (Fort Utah)
late 1849
In late 1849 three settlers killed a Timpanogos Ute man called Old Bishop over a dispute about a shirt, weighted his body with rocks, and threw him in the Provo River, close to where you now stand. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Topics Essays
1849 or 1850
William Dayton died at Fort Utah when a spark ignited powder while reloading a cannon for a demonstration, an accident that also cost George W. Bean his left arm. Provo Library - Historic Provo Cemeteries
from 1849
Eight pioneer deaths from 1849, including Matilda Haws and William Dayton, were buried at the Fort Field Cemetery on the Williams farm at Lake View, marked today by a Daughters of Utah Pioneers monument. Provo Library - Historic Provo Cemeteries
1849
Matilda Haws died in 1849 at age 23 and was first buried at Fort Field Cemetery before her remains were moved to the Provo City Cemetery. Deseret News 1991; JacobBarlow.com; Provo Library
1849 or 1850
During a cannon demonstration at Fort Utah, a spark set off the powder while reloading, killing William Dayton and tearing off George W. Bean's left arm. Provo Library: Historic Provo Cemeteries
1849 onward
Before Provo City Cemetery opened, settlers buried their dead at Fort Utah, on Temple Hill, at the mouth of Slate Canyon and downtown, some later moved and marked today by a Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker. Provo Library: Historic Provo Cemeteries
1849-1853
Pioneer settlers, including William Dayton, died in accidents during the founding of Fort Utah in 1849 and were first buried at the Fort Field graveyard before their remains were moved to Provo City Cemetery in 1853. Provo Library local history
1849
Provo was established as a settlement and city starting in 1849, the same year Fort Utah's founders began burying their own dead nearby. FamilySearch: Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
winter 1849-1850
During the winter of 1849-1850, a measles epidemic spread from the new Mormon settlement into nearby Ute camps, killing many and deepening the tension that led to the massacre. Wikipedia: Fort Utah
1849-1850
William Dayton was killed when a cannon demonstration misfired during the fighting, George W. Bean lost his arm in the same blast, and Joseph Higbee died on February 9, 1850, shot through the neck, all buried at the Fort Field cemetery near Lake View. Provo Library: Historic Provo Cemeteries
1849-1850
In 1850 Mormon militia surrounded a Timpanogos encampment near Fort Utah and shot between 40 and 100 men and one woman over a two-day siege, after a settler had killed a Timpanogos man called Old Bishop the year before. Wikipedia: Battle at Fort Utah
circa 1849-1850
William Dayton was killed and George W. Bean lost his left arm when a spark ignited the powder while Fort Utah's cannon was being reloaded. Provo Library Historic Provo Cemeteries
January 1850
In January 1850, three settlers at Fort Utah killed a Timpanogos Ute man accused of stealing a shirt and dumped his body in the Provo River, an act that triggered wider Ute retaliation. Fort Utah (Wikipedia)
February 8-17, 1850
In February 1850, ninety Mormon militiamen under orders from Brigham Young besieged a Timpanogos encampment on the Provo River, killing 40 to 100 people with guns and cannon fire, then hunted down and executed those who fled. Battle at Fort Utah (Wikipedia)
February 8-17, 1850, Provo River near Fort Utah
Ninety Mormon militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos encampment on the Provo River in February 1850, shooting 40 to 100 men and one woman over two days on orders from Brigham Young, then hunting down and executing those who fled. Battle at Fort Utah - Wikipedia
February 9, 1850, Fort Utah area
An eyewitness account describes Joseph Higbee being shot through the neck while peering over a log during the fighting between settlers and Native Americans at Fort Utah in 1850. Historic Provo Cemeteries - Provo Library
Questions about Provo
What is Provo known for historically?
Provo is known for the 1892 Brigham Young Academy building, later restored as the Provo City Library, and for a century-long public school system built up from cabins and meetinghouses by a town once nicknamed the 'Garden City of Utah.' It is also the site of the 1850 siege at Fort Utah, one of the deadliest episodes of conflict between Mormon settlers and the Timpanogos people.
What happened at Fort Utah in Provo in 1850?
In February 1850, ninety Mormon militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos camp on the Provo River for two days, killing between 40 and 100 men and at least one woman. Survivors were marched away as prisoners, and as many as fifty of the dead were beheaded, with heads displayed at the fort. The siege followed the killing of a Timpanogos man, Old Bishop, over a stolen shirt.
What happened at 2230 North in Provo?
In 1879, Wallace Wilkerson was executed by firing squad at 2230 North after choosing shooting over hanging and refusing restraints or a blindfold. The marksmen's aim went astray, and he took several minutes to die of wounds to his chest and arm; the case later shaped U. S. Supreme Court rulings on cruel and unusual punishment.
Who is the Provo post office named after?
Provo's post office at 936 South 250 East was named the Rex E. Lee Post Office Building by an act of Congress in 2010, honouring the Provo-raised lawyer who argued 59 cases as U. S. Solicitor General before returning home to lead Brigham Young University until his death in 1996.
What building now houses the Provo City Library?
The Provo City Library occupies the 1892 Brigham Young Academy building, once one of the largest school buildings in the Rocky Mountain West. It stood empty and derelict from the late 1960s until a 1997 bond funded its restoration, and it reopened as a library in 2001.
How did Provo's public school system begin?
Provo's public schools began without a schoolhouse, trained teachers or tax base, as newly arrived families decided their children needed to read. They met first in cabins and meetinghouses before the town built a lasting institution over the following century, as recorded in a civic history by Provo schoolteacher J. C. Moffitt.