Just off of Highway 15 in Utah, if you turn onto Highway 70 and then onto State Highway 161, you'll find Cove Fort. (See it pictured below)

This old fort is constructed completely of lava rock. The walls and courtyard are all original, so you are looking at it as it was first constructed and still stands today. It is one of only three old forts listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. Mormon pioneers spent just 8 months constructing it, an ambitious project in so little time. It was a way station between Beaver and Fillmore where settlers, stage coaches, freighters and travelers moving between St. George and Salt Lake City stopped.

In this view, you are looking to the front gate where the large double doors acted as a deterrent for intruders. They were hollow and filled with sand when first hung, and the intent was to fend off bullets and arrows during an attack. However, this proved to be impractical, since the weight caused the doors to drag and made them nearly impossible to open. They were later filled with cotton. As it turned out the only shot ever fired at the fort was by one of the sons of Ira N. Hinckley who found a gun and accidentally shot his brother in the knee.

This view of the inner courtyard shows the lovely old trees which have stood here even before the fort was built in late 1865. It is humbling to stand in the presence of these 'Grandfathers' and imagine the history they have seen. A dugout existed before the fort was built and it was constructed in 1860-1861 when a family became stranded here during a particularly bad Winter. It was called Fort Wilden at that time after Wilden Johnson, the father of the family. Ann Jane, his wife, gave birth to her first child here on April 24, 1861 accompanied by her mother as midwife. It was a baby girl who they named Hannah Jane.

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