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Summarized by Rosemary Pollock
Early lawman to be honored for his role in settling Utah
Deseret News 20Jun00 D6
By Lynn Arave: Deseret News staff writer
FARMINGTON, UTAH -- Lot Smith, a close friend of Orrin Porter
Rockwell who was a bodyguard to Brigham Young, will be honored by
Davis County Commissioner Gayle A. Stevenson on Friday, June 23 at 5
p.m. during the Lot Smith family biannual reunion to be held June
23-24. Smith, nicknamed "The Horseman" will receive long overdue
recognition for his lifetime of service and dedication to promoting
law and order in the early Utah territory. A "Horses of Antelope
Island" monument will be dedicated in his memory at the Legacy Center
on west State Street, west of I-l5 in Farmington.
The new monument will memorialize Smith for his part in rounding up and
branding wild horses on Antelope Island. "I don't think Smith is really
well-known," said Ramona Smith Hughes of Pleasant View. "He did the same
things as Porter Rockwell, and the two were best friends, but his name isn't
wel-known."
Lot Smith was the first Sheriff of Davis county. He was under assignment
by Brigham Young along with Judson Stoddard and Brigham Young Jr. to help
roundup the wild horses. The three expert horseman selected the fastest
horses on the island for themselves out of the lead horses from a 15 to 20
mile run.
Smith joined the Mormon Battalion at the age of l6 and was captain in the
Nauvoo Legion of the Utah Territory. He was noted for his leadership in
helping to defeat Johnston's Army in 1857. President Abraham Lincoln
recruited Lot Smith to protect the mail and telegraph routes in the western
frontier.
He was one of the first to settle in Farmington and helped to colonize
parts of Arizona. It was here that he was killed by a renegade Indian on
June 2l, 1892, at the age of 62. His body was returned to Utah and buried
in the Farmington City Cemetery.
Lot Smith was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and served missions to the British Isles and Scotland. He
was the president of the Little Colorado Stake in Sunset, Arizona. He had 8
wives and 52 children. His descendants number more than 10,000.
A short program by three Civil War organizations will be conducted
following the dedication of his monument to honor Smith and other pioneers
who served in the Civil War. An additional program will be held at 1 p.m.
Saturday, June 24, at the Garr Fielding Ranch on Antelope Island.
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