Visiting Cove Fort

As I remember it, when I was a child, we use to visit my Aunt Georgia a lot.  She lived in Vegas, and as we would pass by, we would always stop and visit Cove Fort.  It was just part of our routine until one trip we discovered, we didn't actually need to stop there.  I haven't been there for at least 15 years, yet when we found ourselves in Southern Utah, and I was driving, we happened to end up at Cove Fort.

I do have to say, it is a lot smaller than I remember.  However, I did really enjoy seeing it and having a missionary tell us all sorts of fun stories.  It was a lot of fun. 

You shall now get the chance to see a couple of picture and my brief version of the stories.  This isn't ment to be a complete history by any means, or ever a very good recap of it.  Just some photos with pictures.  I highly recommend you check it out.  Cove Fort Historic Site.

The doorway to the fort, large enough to get a way in.

Flag pole on top of the fort.

These large trees had been there, many years.  They were dead however, the insides completely hallow.  We were visiting on a Friday, and they were slated to come out that Monday.  So, I am pretty sure they are gone.  I was very disappointed, because these massive trees are what gave the interior of the fort so much character.  I just hope the new replacements grow fast so more people can enjoy the atmosphere it creates.

There was a time when the fort was abandoned, and most of the windows were knocked out.  A few survived and all panes are now in this window.  They have had new panes made that look just like these, but these are the originals.

The loom.  They would wear their clothes until they wore out to death, patching and fixing as they went along.  Then when they couldn't fix it anymore, they would make rugs out of scraps.  How amazing is that, reusing for as long as possible.  I love it.

The walls were built out of lava rock, from the nearby volcano, and concrete mortar, super strong, and super thick, like a three foot thick wall.  Very cool.

I don't normally post pictures of people, but gosh, we had my Dad go stand by the gun port, and he posed like this, so funny.  The gun holes are amazing, these great holes in a fortress incase anyone attacked, they were ready for battle.  They never did have a battle, always peaceful with the Indians, but they were prepared.  My favorite hole is the one right next to the door that points to the door, there is no mistake it was made to take out the enemy at the door.

Here is a shot of the door.  They were made out of wood, like eight inches thick, and filled with sand.  They were ready to be protected from whatever anyone tried to get through.  They were also massively heavy to move.  The sand has been removed now because it is just too much work to move them to open and close.

The inside of the courtyard is so beautiful.  In the middle of the harsh landscape, is this lush place.

Brigham Young even had his own room at the fort, even though he didn't live there.  But the family build him a room and he stayed there whenever he visited.  He even had some clothes and his hat there waiting for him.

They would sew their own clothes at the fort, fixing up those that were broken as well.  They had this great machine that helped a lot.  It was that popular to have a sewing machine in those days, but it made the work a lot easier.  I loved it because look at that old machine!  I love sewing.

Some dolls from the girls there.  I collect dolls, and would love to have these in my collection. But it is probably better they are here on display for other people to enjoy as well.

As we came up the little missionary man kept trying to get us to pose in front of the fort and he'd take our picture.  I guess a lot of people like that, and I'm not saying this is bad, just different from how I do things.  I have this theory that architects don't take pictures of people, we take pictures of buildings.  An architect can go on vacation and come back with all these shots of buildings and landscapes, and hardly any people.  As where most people come back with shots of people and very little of their surroundings.  So, I kept pushing him away nicely and as I was leaving finally was able to get this great shot of the building.

Pretty flowers.

More pretty flowers.

I had a blast while there, so much fun looking around visiting a place from my childhood.  I think everyone should visit it.  It is an amazing place with an amazing history.  The people who lived there - the Hinckley's - were even the ancestors of the great prophet Gordon B Hinckley.

We also picked up some pamphlets on the way out.  Enjoy reading them.

A little 'bookmark.'  The missionary says he uses his as he reads his scriptures.  I'm pretty sure mine just going to sit.

A brochure.

The fort had a place to make and send Morse Code messages.  They have it set up now to repeat the same message over and over, but they also had these sheets that were pretty cool telling you the alphabet.

This is just a small portion of the wonders there.  A video is coming soon, so check back for that.