DUP Markers Along the Way: Discovering Utah History One Stop at a Time
Sometimes you go looking for history. Sometimes you find it unexpectedly along a dirt road.
Over the past few months, Sheryl Burnett, President of the Washington East Company of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, has traveled around Utah for several different reasons. Along the way, she began paying closer attention to the historical markers she encountered.
“I tried to pay attention to historical markers and take the time to stop and read about the history that is documented,” Sheryl shared. “I love the stories! I thought I would share some of my finds with all of you!”
Her photographs offer a wonderful reminder that history isn’t found only inside museums. Sometimes it is waiting beside a highway, along a mountain road, in a small Utah community—or somewhere you never expected to find it.
Looking for History—and Finding It
Some of Sheryl’s stops were intentional.
When she visited the DUP marker in Pinto, Utah, she had specifically gone looking for it. The search itself became part of the adventure.
“I didn’t realize that there is such a network of roads up in those mountains,” she said.
Then there were the discoveries she hadn’t planned at all. Traveling on a dirt road between Pinto and Old Iron Town, Sheryl came across another historical site.
“This was an unexpected surprise,” she recalled.
That is part of what makes historical markers so interesting. They connect the landscape we see today with the people and events that came before us.
Sheryl continued finding and photographing markers and historic places throughout her travels, including Fort Deseret near Deseret, a Gunnison Massacre Site DUP marker displayed inside the museum in Delta, and DUP markers in Orderville, Ephraim, and Spring City.
Each stop told a different story.
The United Order Woolen Factory monument in Orderville, Utah, preserves the story of an important pa The Pioneer Cabin in Delta was built by Henry J. McCullough in December 1907, when the young settlem A DUP marker in historic Spring City, Utah. A closer look at the DUP marker in Pinto, preserving the story of this historic Southern Utah commun A DUP marker commemorating the Gunnison Massacre Site, displayed inside the history museum in Delta, Fort Deseret near Deseret, Utah—one of the historic places Sheryl encountered during her travels. The Fort Ephraim Peace Treaty marker in Ephraim, Utah, commemorates an important moment in the area’
Historical markers are an important part of the preservation work of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Since the first DUP markers were established in the 1930s, hundreds have been placed to identify significant people, events, objects, and locations connected with the pioneer era.
These markers allow history to remain connected to place. A road becomes more than a road. A quiet field or street corner becomes part of a larger story. A town you may have driven through many times can suddenly look a little different after you stop and learn what happened there.
The stories aren't always easy ones.
Along Highway 89 north of Indianola, Sheryl stopped at the Given Family Massacre marker. Her caption for the photograph was only one word: “Heartbreaking.”
The Given Family Massacre marker along U.S. Highway 89 preserves the memory of a tragic event from 1 The inscription on the Given Family Massacre marker preserves the memory of the Given family and the
The DUP marker commemorates the Given family—John and Eliza Given and their four children—who were killed there in May 1865. The marker was erected by the Sunbonnet Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers in 1956.
Markers such as this one remind us that preserving history also means remembering difficult events. Utah's history includes stories of settlement and community building, but also conflict, loss, and tragedy. Remembering those stories is part of ensuring they are not forgotten.
DUP Markers All Along the Way
Sheryl’s travels are a good reminder to watch for history wherever the road takes you.
The next time you are traveling through Utah, keep an eye out for a DUP marker. If you have time, stop. Read the plaque. Look at the landscape around you and imagine the people who once stood in that same place.
Want to find a marker on your next trip? Explore the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Historical Marker database to search for markers by location, title, or marker number.
You might deliberately seek out a marker, as Sheryl did in Pinto.
Or you might turn down a dirt road and unexpectedly find a story waiting for you.
The Daughters of Utah Pioneers continue to preserve pioneer history through historical markers and monuments, museums, artifacts, photographs, written histories, research, and the work of DUP members throughout Utah and beyond.
The DUP Museum in Spring City is another example of how Daughters of Utah Pioneers preserve and shar A historical plaque at the John Patten Jr. House in Manti shares the history of the home and the fam The historic Patten House in Manti, photographed during Sheryl’s travels, is among the historic plac
Here in Southern Utah, that preservation work continues through the McQuarrie Memorial Museum and our local DUP Companies and Camps.
History is all around us. Sometimes we just have to stop long enough to notice it.
Photos courtesy of Sheryl Burnett, President of the Washington East Company, Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
