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AMERICAN FORK -- On this Pioneer Day, some Utahns are finishing a project nearly four years in the making to preserve some pioneer history.
One of the first original cabins used by settlers in American Fork has been restored and is now on display in Robinson Park in American Fork. It was built in 1867 by Alexander Adamson and was his family's home for several years as they first settled in Utah.
Dan Adams, with the American Fork Preservation Commission, said, "These log cabins were really the quickest and easiest way to get a secure place for them if they had access to lumber."
In January of 2006, the land the cabin was on was about to be developed, so the cabin was moved to a place it could be preserved. Ever since, volunteers have been hard at work to preserve it.
Robert Hall, also with the American Fork Preservation Commission, said, "My grandfather was born in this little log home, grandfather David Adamson."
Volunteers like Hall and Adams have a personal interest in seeing the cabin restored, as they marvel at the workmanship of the pioneers who used timber from the mountains to build a small and simple home.
"I think it is a love for the people who have come and established and colonized this area and some of the challenges they had in order to build appropriate living space for their families," Adams said.
It's been three and a half years since the cabin was moved to its new location, and most of the restoration work has been done the old fashioned way.
Workers used the same primitive tools for much of the restoration work to make the cabin as authentic as possible. Dry ice blasting was used to remove the effects of when the cabin was burned inside. Now the cabin will offer those in the future, a glimpse of what life was like in the past.
"We have a lot of history here, and it needs to be preserved for generations to come, and once it's gone, there's no bringing it back," Hall said.
The Alexander Adamson cabin will now stand long into the future, a visible and lasting reminder of the pioneer forefathers who built the community. The restored cabins are next to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers museum in American Fork.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
