page_title: Monroe, Utah
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Monroe, Utah / History
caption_attribution_description: English: My interpretation of Fort Alma, which was located in Monroe, Utah during the 1860s.
context_page_description: Monroe is a city in Sevier County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,256 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is home to both Mystic Hot Springs and South Sevier High School.
context_section_description: In late 1863, a few exploratory settlers came to Monroe. This small group included George Wilson, his son David, and two others who were seeking to settle in this valley. They made a dugout and spent the winter at what is now considered near the center of the town. They were followed by the first permanent group of settlers, who arrived in Monroe on 20 February 1864. Most, if not all, of the first Settlers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who had immigrated to Utah. Around 4 to 5 months before the first small group of men entered Monroe valley to begin settlement, an advanced team, also lead by George Wilson, began to lay some foundation work to help prepare the settlement.
  At first the town was called South Bend (due to the proximity to a bend in the Sevier River), but soon after its settlement it was renamed Alma, in honor of the Book of Mormon prophet.  It is estimated that by the end of 1864 around 20 families were living in Alma. They spent the first year building small homes and dugouts, along with clearing space for fields and pastures.
  Initially settling in the Salt Lake Valley did not provoke the Native Americans to war, but further settlement outside of Salt Lake provoked the Native Americans to more aggressive behavior. As settlement in these valleys increased, the Native Americans were pushed back into the mountains. In April 1865 the Black Hawk War broke out between local Native Americans and the Settlers of both the Sevier and Sanpete Counties. The war drastically ended the progress which was being made in creating farms and homes in and around Alma. On the night of the 21st of April, 1866, Walter Barney and Sidney Robinson were on guard watching the public corral when they spotted something lying on the fence when making their nightly rounds. When approached, they realized that it was two Native Americans. After chasing them away, they went back to the fence and realized that they had been digging around the poles to break the boundary around the corral.
  Alma had been settled in the middle of the Native American's hunting grounds and as a result they started to go hungry. During the  war Native Americans were constantly trying to steal the Settler's stock for food, and they were successful during several raids.
  Sometime during 1865 work began on a fort to provide protection for both the Setters and their stock. The fort was completed and contained several homes, a blacksmith shop, along with a corral and stockyard for the animals. This fort, named Fort Alma, provided protection for about two years, but things continued to get more dangerous and in April 1867 the Settlers of Alma were evacuated. Most of the evacuees made temporary homes in Sanpete County, until they could return home.
  An attempt to resettle Alma was made during 1868, but the Settlers ran into Native Americans near Cedar Ridge (now Vermillion, Utah) and a battle ensued. They were unsuccessful in resettling Alma, and it was not until March 1871 that Settlers were finally able to return to Alma.  The following year they applied for a Post Office under the city name of Monroe, in honor of U.S. President James Monroe. By the end of 1872 the telegraph had been extended through Monroe, which connected it with the rest of Utah.  In 1889 Monroe was incorporated as a town and remained that way until 1921 when it was incorporated as a city.
caption: An artist's interpretation of what Fort Alma may have looked like.
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