EXPLORATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENT
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Site of loy. (Utah State Historical Society) could be used to irrigate their crops. The industrious people soon planted gardens, fruit trees, grain, hay, shade trees, and even kept a few beehives in the area. In the spring of 1854 Brigham Young instructed the settlers to build a fort to protect themselves from the Indians, as troubles had erupted between Mormons and followers of the Ute leader Walkara (Walker) the previous year. The fort was begun in May of that year. Its walls enclosed three square blocks and were twelve feet high, six feet wide at the bottom, over two feet wide at the top, and were made of mud and straw. Each man was given a portion of the wall to build. When the structure was completed it was about 420 rods long and cost approximately $8,400. Two heavy gates were erected, one on the north side and the other the south side.23 After the Walker War ended later that year the settlers began to build outside of the fort, where their homes could be larger and they could also have corrals, barns, and yards large enough to plant gardens. Mona. Soon after the first settlers came to Nephi some of them
