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MIDVALE — Fort Union has been known for some time now as a commercial area within the Salt Lake valley, but at one time it was exactly just that — a fort.
Union, which is mostly now a part of Midvale, was first settled by pioneers in 1849. Water, grass, wood and clay were abundant in this area.
In 1853 and 1854, a wall was created in a 10-acre plot of land donated by Jehu Cox — who had 40 acres of land. The fort was created to help protect the little town outside of Salt Lake City from potential outside threats, which eventually never happened.
The wall was 12 feet high and six feet thick at the base and two feet thick at the top. Inside, 23 homes and a school that also served as a church and as an amusement hall were inside this Fort Union that never actually was completed.
The Cox family were among the first to settle in the area, moving to the valley with the Heber C. Kimball Company.
“They came across the plains from Nebraska to Salt Lake — three months on the road,” said Marion Cox, great-grandson to Jehu and Sarah Cox. “They had two wagons and the wife was driving one and a 12-year-old boy the other one because the 16-year-old boy (Henderson) joined the Mormon Battalion and went to Mexico … They had 16 children and only 10 of them lived to maturity.”
Henderson died before rejoining the family in Salt Lake. In 1849, Jehu Cox built a home in the Union area. When the idea of the fort came around, Cox told Brigham Young he’d donate the land if it included his home in it, Marion Cox said.
Eventually, the need for the fort faded with time and the walls came down.
The final remnants of the fort remained until the 1990s, when it was demolished for the commercial district known now as Fort Union. The Jehu Cox home was torn from its original location during the construction process after a fight to keep it in its original place failed.
A replica was built a few blocks from the original location.
Marion Cox, who is now 95 years old, has spent the past few decades trying to preserve the legacy of Fort Union and his grandparents who donated land for the fort. He said he's even successfully defeated three bouts of pneumonia in recent years as he continues his fight.
Three years ago, he began a campaign to create a bronze statue of his grandparents to place in the area, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
He said he has raised $14,000 with the Community Foundation of Utah over the past few years, but that’s still short of the $80,000 Salt Lake County estimates as the cost of the project. If and when Cox reaches that goal, both Salt Lake County and Midvale has granted permission for the statue to be built east of where the house was relocated.
He said everything is lined up, minus funds. Donations can be made to the Jehu & Sarah Cox Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Utah on 2257 S. 1100 East, Suite 205 in Salt Lake City.
