Wednesday was the last day of the reunion but it was just cleaning up and packing up so Lisa and I didn’t bother going back up to the camp. Our original plan was to sleep in the building where we were all meeting but some how, not all of the information got communicated. They told us to bring bedding (which we did) but no one told us that we needed to bring an air mattress as well. We thought they would provided cots or bunks or something. No cots. There was no way were were sleeping on the floor with no padding so we came down to sleep at Alex’s everynight. That wasn’t much of an inconvenience though and James loved sleeping with us every night.
Wednesday morning Alex needed to work and we didn’t want to wake the kids too early so Lisa and I headed out looking for the sight of what remained of the mill built by Frederick Kesler in Brgham City. Before it was destroyed by an arsenist in 2008, it and the Chase mill in Salt Lake City were the only two remaining mills built by Frederick Kesler.
Lisa had found two possible addresses, so we went to this one first. It was just outside of Brigham City. While something was obviously built here at one time, it probably wasn’t Keslers mill.
This looks more like his mill. After reading up on it we learned that the mill was built as part of the city wall when Brigham City was first built. It was the north east corner of the city wall and the upper windows of the mill actually had gun turrets built into them to aid in defending the city from rogue Indians. One of the windows had tally marks carved into the window frame and they were labled “injuns”.
The mill was a critical part of the original city because it was impractical for the settlers to haul their wheat into Salt Lake City to be ground. After a few decades the mill was not used as much due to the availability of modern technology.
Wednesday morning Alex needed to work and we didn’t want to wake the kids too early so Lisa and I headed out looking for the sight of what remained of the mill built by Frederick Kesler in Brgham City. Before it was destroyed by an arsenist in 2008, it and the Chase mill in Salt Lake City were the only two remaining mills built by Frederick Kesler.
Lisa had found two possible addresses, so we went to this one first. It was just outside of Brigham City. While something was obviously built here at one time, it probably wasn’t Keslers mill.
Lorenzo Snow recommended that a man named John H Bott purchase the mill as a place to expand his stone carving business. The mill was located there until the fire in 2008. After that they moved into town. Lisa figured that if the family business had been at the mill that long that perhaps they had some old pictures they would share.
Boy was she right. We spent more than an hour at that place visiting with the fifth and sixth generation of Botts. They showed us several old pictures and told us many stories about the mill. They also told us that in the late 90’s a crew of people came and made detailed measurements of the mill so they could recreate it in the new construction they were making at “This is the Place” Heritage Park they were building. They told us that there is an exact replica built at the site. The only difference is that Kesler had a horizontal wheel on his mill and the one they built at Heritage Park is a more traditional vertical wheel.
The Botts promised to send us digital copies of all their pictures. When they do, I will write about them.
We had planned to do a session at the Brigham City Temple but we visited with the Botts too long, so we took a picture of it and checked out the tabernacle and then headed to Alex’s.
The Botts promised to send us digital copies of all their pictures. When they do, I will write about them.
We headed to the Hill Airforce Base Air and Space Museum. What an amazing museum and it was free.
The museum was divided into three sections.
Early flight
Vietnam era planes
Modern jets.
I asked someone why they didn’t have any of the new fighter jets and he told me that new fighter jets are way to expensive to let one sit in a museum unused. He then pointed to one jet, I forget which one, and said that the only reason they were able to get that one was because it was in a hanger during a hurricane and the roof caved in on top of the jet.
A replica of the Wright Flyer, the first plane ever flown.
James really wanted to see the guy who was hurt inside this ambulance.
After the museum we headed for dinner at this covered wagon restaurant. I could tell that it must be one of James’ favorite places to eat. He gave me a tour of all the taxidermy they have set up there between the wagons. It was pretty cool.
James and Adelaide were really getting into the bubbles.
On Thursday, July 31, 2025 we started south, but as seems to be our way these days, we try not to make every trip a dash to the next destination but rather a journey to enjoy.
Our first stop was temple square. We haven’t seen it since they started upgrading the temple several years ago. Well, I guess Lisa has seen it, but I haven’t, and she hasn’t gone in and checked everything out.
The first thing we noticed is that they have created several beautiful little meditation gardens throughout the temple grounds.
Early flight
Vietnam era planes
Modern jets.
Our first stop was temple square. We haven’t seen it since they started upgrading the temple several years ago. Well, I guess Lisa has seen it, but I haven’t, and she hasn’t gone in and checked everything out.
There really wasn’t much else to see, the temple was still covered with scaffolding. That was a bummer because Alex sent us an article pointing out that on the front of the temple the big dipper is carved into the stone, and the pointer stars of the big dipper actually point to the real north star. What a beautiful description of the purpose of the temple.
Based on the pictures we saw at Botts Monuments, it’s a pretty good replica. The obvious difference is the water wheel. The water wheel on the original mill was horizontal because that is more efficient. but on this one they chose to make it vertical because it is more traditional.
While we were at the, park we decided we had to check out the Orson Pratt Observatory. It was fascinating. Orson Pratt was the son of Jared and Charity Pratt, who was Lisa’s direct ancestor. I had no idea he was into all this stuff. He seems like my kind of guy.
After checking out Temple Square we headed to “This is the Place” Heritage Park. The people at Botts told us that a team of people came to check out Frederick Keslers mill in Brigham City because they wanted to make a replica of it in the Heritage village at “This is the Place” park.
While we were at the, park we decided we had to check out the Orson Pratt Observatory. It was fascinating. Orson Pratt was the son of Jared and Charity Pratt, who was Lisa’s direct ancestor. I had no idea he was into all this stuff. He seems like my kind of guy.
Some of the things Orson was skilled at are astronomy, surveying, writing, genealogy, math and he was a renowned speaker. He would also sympathize with Frederick Kesler because Orson apparently had some bad run ins with Brigham Young who subsequently greatly diminished his standing in church history, exactly what happened to Frederick Kesler.
We then continued south to St George with a brief stop at Beaver.
--------------------trivia--------------------
Before Governor Brown took over California we ranked
second in the nation for new jobs created. Today we are in last place.
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