DS signed by the mayor of Salt Lake City, "Daniel H. Wells," one page, 9.5 x 15, January 10, 1873. Deed of conveyance issued to Brigham Young, in part: "In consideration of the sum of Thirty two 50/100 ($32.50) Dollars, paid by Brigham Young, Sen., of Salt Lake City, County of Salt Lake, Territory of Utah, the receipt whereof is acknowledged, the said Brigham Young, Sen., having been adjudged by the Probate Court of Salt Lake County, Territory aforesaid, to be the rightful owner and possessor of the following described piece or parcel of land, viz: All of Block Forty eight (48), containing Ten (10) acres, as plotted in Plot A, Salt Lake City Survey." Signed at the conclusion in ink by Mayor Daniel Wells, and countersigned by Notary Public James Jack. The two embossed gold foil seals affixed at the lower left remain intact. In fine condition.
Led by Brigham Young, the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847 after a long and arduous journey westward seeking religious freedom. Young set forth a plan to map the city, requesting that it be surveyed and drawn according to Joseph Smith's vision established in the 'Plat of the City of Zion.' Young selected a 40-acre site for the temple, and the rest of the city was divided into 135 ten-acre blocks.
Young added his own touches to Smith’s plan, including four public squares featuring 'playgrounds and walks,' as well as 'promenades, with fountains of the purest water, and each square, ornamented with everything delightful.' The four public squares would ultimately become Pioneer Square (Block 48), Temple Square (Block 87), Washington Square (Block 38), and Union Square (Block 102).
They soon commenced the construction of a fort on Block 48, which became a focal point of early Mormon activity. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) writes: 'What Plymouth is to New England, the Old Fort is to the Great West.' Designed for self-protection, the fort had nine-foot adobe walls on three sides, with the fourth side composed of log cabins. It became a bastion for Mormon settlers as they sought respite after weeks of difficult travel. The fort was completed in November 1847, and but by the fall of 1848 had expanded to 450 log cabins, including two additional ten-acre blocks, all enclosed by a strong adobe wall.
The signer of this document, Daniel Wells, was baptized into the LDS Church on August 9, 1846, and emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Mormon pioneers in 1848; later serving as the city's mayor from 1866 to 1876. James Jack, a Scottish immigrant who initially traveled to the Salt Lake Valley in the Appleton M. Harmon Company in 1853, had participated as one of the rescuers sent out in the winter of 1856 to assist the members of the Mormon Church stranded in Wyoming.
A remarkable document concerning a Mormon landmark: dedicated as a public park on July 24, 1898, today the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the 'Old Pioneer Fort Site.' Several plaques and markers displayed in the park recognize the location's importance in Mormon history.
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