COVE FORT, UTAH
Westbound motorists entering Interstate-70 near Baltimore, Md., may scratch their heads when they pass a highway mileage sign informing them that Cove Fort is just 2,200 miles away.
Just what is Cove Fort?
It's a fair question that's likely asked by countless other travelers motoring along Interstate-15 a few miles north of Beaver, Utah, where, again, traffic signs alert drivers that Cove Fort is just ahead. Curious folks who take the time to turn off the highway and tour the Church-owned Cove Fort Historic Site are rewarded with an experience that is both educational and, for many, inspiring and faith-promoting.
First a history lesson.
In 1867, President Brigham Young called Ira Hinckley — President Gordon B. Hinckley's paternal grandfather — to build and operate a fort that would serve as safe shelter for folks traveling between the communities of Beaver and Fillmore. Answering the prophet's call, Brother Hinckley directed the construction of the 100-by-100-foot walled-in structure made of lava rock. Later dubbed Cove Fort, the site proved a welcome sight for cold and hungry travelers looking for a hot meal and a dry place to spend the night as they sojourned across central Utah.
The fort also housed a telegraph and postal station, allowing communication services for all who passed through.
But Cove Fort was more than a physical refuge. It was also a place of prayer, scripture study and fellowship. It was maintained by devoted members eager to serve the Lord and sustain His prophet even as they endured the area's harsh lonesome winters and bone-dry summers. In his dedicatory prayer at Cove Fort Historic Site on May 9, 1992, President Hinckley said the quiet faith exercised by those who built and operated Cove Fort was stronger than the structure's immovable rock walls.
"We're grateful for the faith of those who came to Cove Creek in response to a call from a prophet of the Lord, who came without hesitation to do that which needed to be done, when it needed to be done," he said.
Conveniently located near the confluence of I-70 and I-15, Cove Fort Historic Site welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year. A team of full-time senior missionaries staff the site, offering friendly smiles and plenty of historical insight for people eager to learn the story of Cove Fort. But the missionaries are not mere tour guides — all have been set apart as Church representatives who, when appropriate, share testimonies of the inspired mission of the fort and the restored gospel.
"We try to learn a little bit about each visitor when they arrive," said the historic site's director, Elder LaDell Dye. "We try to build a friendship and a trust."
Inside the Hinckley log cabin outside the fort, visitors are invited to view a brief video about Cove Fort's history and purpose. The tour also includes a walk through the fort and its many restored rooms. Other highlights include visits to the barn, the cowboy bunkhouse, the ice house and the shop where Ira Hinckley once practiced the blacksmith trade.
At each stop, missionary guides share lessons from Cove Fort history, along with gospel principles such as obedience, service, charity and devotion. During a recent tour, Elder Dye and his wife, Sister Mary Ellen Dye, spliced tales of fort life with essential messages of salvation. While viewing one of the fort's furnished bedrooms, Elder Dye explained that Cove Fort guests utilized light produced from candles, the room's fireplace and from large windows that invited both sun and moonlight. But eternal light, he testified, could be found in the pages of the open scriptures placed at the center of the room.
At the conclusion of the tour, many visitors learn the story of the restoration of the Church and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
Cove Fort is a history buff's playground — but missionaries add that many visitors soon recognize the site as sacred ground, a place where the Lord's inviting presence can be felt.
"Sometimes people tell us that they simply felt a need to pull off the highway and visit Cove Fort," said Sister Dye.
The Cove Fort Historic Site is open seven days a week April to October from 8 a.m. until sunset, and from October to April from 9 a.m. until sunset. The site's festive annual Cove Fort Days is held the first Friday and Saturday in August. Admission for all events is free.
