Place · United States
The history of Provo
Assembled from 20 dug tiles · 250 sourced records · 1025–now · last reviewed 1 November 2026
Provo, Utah, grew up along the Provo River from a militia fort into a city of schools, mines, mills and a Latter-day Saint temple. Its ground carries the Timpanogos killings of 1850, a botched 1879 execution, mining fortunes turned to brick, and a burned tabernacle rebuilt as a temple.
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
A burned tabernacle rebuilt as a templeThis point sits beside the Provo City Center Temple, a Latter-day Saint temple built from the shell of a 19th-century tabernacle. Provo City Center Temple
1849–2016 A 25-acre historic district, built on mining money
This point sits inside the Provo Downtown Historic District, several blocks of Center Street and University Avenue lined with brick buildings from Provo's boom years. Provo Downtown Historic District
1849–2022 A Federal-style brick house in downtown Provo
This point marks a two-story brick home built in the 1860s, now boxed in by modern condos a block from the Provo City Library. Peter Wentz House
1849–now The siege that cleared this valley
Ninety militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos camp on the Provo River, half a mile from where you are standing.
1849–now Fire gutted the tabernacle and the church built a temple inside its bones
A tabernacle raised to hold three thousand people burned to its outer walls in 2010, thirty seconds from where you are standing. William D. Alexander House
1849–2016 The house that raised a mayor
Thirty paces from where you stand, a boy born in an 1854 farmhouse grew up to run the city. Charles E. Davies House
1849–2025 The shell they refused to knock down
A December fire gutted the old tabernacle, and the church rebuilt inside its blackened walls. Provo Downtown Historic District
1849–2016 BYU land near the Missionary Training Center
You're standing on a BYU-owned lot on the north edge of campus, close to where new missionaries begin their training. Provo Missionary Training Center
1025–2023 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.
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.
1849–now A fire that ended in a temple
A tabernacle burned down thirty steps from where you are standing, and the church built a temple inside what was left of it. Utah County Administration Building
1849–2016 A 1900 commercial block in downtown Provo
You're standing right outside the Knight Block, a brick office building that still anchors Center Street and University Avenue. Knight Block
1849–2018 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.
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.
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.
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 250 East for the man who grew up down the street.
1849–2002 A 2009 nursing home lot in Orem
You're standing on a parcel built up for an assisted-living facility, on ground platted only in 2010. 2000 South
1800–2017 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
Velour Live Music Gallery on University Avenue, owned by Corey Fox, is credited by the band Neon Trees as the venue that helped launch them. Wikipedia: Velour Live Music Gallery
Provo River Delta, west Provo near the airport
Over 120 earthen mounds, some up to 10 feet high, marked a Fremont Indian village on the Provo River Delta, first noted by Mormon settlers in 1849 and later excavated by BYU anthropologists. KSL.com; BYU Department of Anthropology excavations
1800s
Joshua Davis, who came to Utah Territory in 1850 and served in early Indian conflicts in Utah Valley, is commemorated by a house that still stands a short walk away. National Register of Historic Places
1800s
A historic house stands 548 meters north, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. National Register of Historic Places
1800s
A listed farmstead stands about a kilometer away on ground that was long agricultural. National Register of Historic Places
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
Questions about Provo
What is Provo known for historically?
Provo grew from Fort Utah, a Mormon settlement on the Provo River, into a city shaped by its school system, built from cabins and meetinghouses into a lasting institution, and by mining wealth from the Tintic Mining District, particularly Jesse Knight's Humbug mine, which paid for much of the Provo Downtown Historic District's 43 brick buildings between 1880 and 1930.
What happened at Provo in 1850?
In February 1850, ninety Mormon militiamen surrounded a Timpanogos encampment on the Provo River for two days, killing between 40 and 100 men and at least one woman, executing those who tried to flee, beheading as many as fifty of the dead, and taking survivors to be sold as slaves. The siege followed the killing of a Timpanogos man, Old Bishop, over a stolen shirt.
What happened at the Provo Tabernacle?
The Provo Tabernacle, a red sandstone building designed by William H. Folsom and dedicated in 1898, burned to its outer brick walls in a December 2010 fire. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rebuilt within those surviving walls, and the result, the Provo City Center Temple, was dedicated in 2016.
What happened to Wallace Wilkerson in Provo?
In 1879, Wallace Wilkerson was executed by firing squad in Provo 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, a case that later shaped U. S. Supreme Court rulings on cruel and unusual punishment.
What is the Provo City Library's building history?
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.
Who is the Provo post office named after?
Provo's post office at 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.