Author: Jim Whiting

In 1935, Edwin Whiting’s descendants placed a large marker in Hobble Creek Canyon (east of Springville, Utah) which marks the approximate location of property that Edwin Whiting Homesteaded in the Left Hand Fork of the Canyon, beginning in 1871. The marker still stands and is visible on the west side of the canyon highway.

To visit the monument, begin at Main Street and 400 South Springville 1) Drive East on 400 South to 1300 East. 2) Bear Right and follow Canyon Road into Hobble Creek Canyon about 4.3 miles. Watch for Hobble Creek Golf Course and the entrance to Kelly’s Grove on your right. 3) Immediately after you pass Kelly’s Grove, the road forks. Bear left into the “Left Hand Fork” of Hobble Creek Canyon. 4)  Shortly you will pass the following landmarks: Rotary Park, Jeremiah Johnson Scout Camp. After approximately 5.9 miles, on the right-hand side of the road, you will see a LARGE yellow building (as of 2012). The monument is immediately across the road on the left.    

 

The Edwin Whiting Monument – Hobble Creek Canyon

Plaque on Monument

The plaque on the front of the monument reads: “In Memory of Edwin Whiting Pioneer Sept 9, 1809 – Dec 8, 1890 Homesteaded This Ranch 1871 Erected and Dedicated Aug 17, 1935”

Seen in this photo: The surviving children of Edwin Whiting at the monument dedication, August 17, 1935. From Left to right: Philetus Edgar Whiting- “Uncle Eck:,” Abby Ann Whiting Bird, and John Clarence Whiting.

Erecting and Dedicating the Monument

Olive C. Whiting, wife of Charles Whiting, Secretary of the Edwin Whiting Organization, provides an account of Saturday, August 10, 1935, which was when members of the Whiting family gathered to erect the monument. It was dedicated one week later on August 17, 1935.

Olive wrote: “On the morning appointed, family members met at the selected spot, bringing loads of gravel, cement, etc., loaded on a truck, along with the framework for a marker made by Wayne Johnson. Work was begun about 9 o’clock. Cement was mixed. The gravel and water used had to be carried up a very steep slope for about 16 feet. The monument was completed by early evening. Olive lists the following participants:

• President James W. Whiting with his truck
• Eddie Childs who was head mason
• Wayne Johnson, designer of monument and his wife Anne, who brought the apricots
• Charles L. Whiting and wife Olive and little girls Carma Lou and Ardith, great granddaughters of Edwin
• Abbie A. Bird, the only surviving daughter of Edwin Whiting
• John H. Whiting (who drove the truck) and his son Jack
• Lawrence Manwaring (a great grandson) and his wife Bee
• Earl Mendenhall, a great grandson
• James Whiting of Mapleton, a grandson
• Joseph Wiscombe with his wife Helen Whiting with their baby, Geraldine
• William T. Tew, Jr.

Olive continues:

“Each person present contributed a rock to the building of the marker. Abbie A. Bird brought part of one of the old sandstone steps from the old home [the Whiting Big House] in Springville. The step was placed in the left-hand corner when facing the monument. One stone was found on which Uncle Edgar had chiseled his initials sometime while living on the old homestead. This too was given a prominent place in the marker. Satisfied and thrilled with the beauty of the monument and the companionship of the day, we left the spot to return home until the morning of Saturday August 17th, when the marker was to be unveiled and dedicated in very impressive services. (Note: Corner rock at SW corner was a part of the window sill of the old home in Springville, and was laid in place in the marker by Aunt Abbie.)”

Signed: Olive C. Whiting

Olive indicates further:

Over 700 people attended the reunion from several states, and about 350 attended the dedication of the marker.    

Below: A Newspaper Account of the Event  

This is the Mary Elizabeth Cox Whiting home in Hobble Creek Canyon. She is seated in a chair front of the fence with three other adults standing behind her. The location of the home was just at the end of the pavement before crossing the bridge. The Sumsion Properties are here now. Philetus Edgar Whiting, a son, is kneeling near the front close to two small girls in the foreground of the photo. Other present are unknown. The home is no longer standing. 

Source: George Edward Anderson Collection, BYU

Above: Arthur Cox Whiting home. Arthur was the son of Mary and Edwin. The location is unknown, but the George Edward Anderson photo here shows Arthur and his family. Mary Cox Whiting is seated on the right side, again in a chair.

Source: George Edward Anderson Archives, BYU

Above: The home of Philetus Edgar Whiting. The home’s exact location is unknown, but it was bult near the monument. Location is Hobble Creek Canyon. Notice the mountains in the background when you visit the site.

This little community was known as Oakland, Utah. This picture above shows the Oakland School where Mary Cox taught school and where the canyon community probably met for church services and other social occasions.

Other families lived in the area as shown by the map that follows.

Early Map of Hobble Creek Canyon, Left Hand Fork, Showing Whiting Properties On the map look for the name Whiting in the upper right hand part of the map. You will see Arthur Whiting, P. Edgar Whiting, John C. Whiting, Mary E. Whiting, Fredrick  W.  Whiting, Joseph H. Curtis (husband of Harriet Lucinda Whiting). This property is all near the end of the paved road and bridge (in 2012) and just beyond the Edwin Whiting Monument. (Enlarge this image to see names better using Control + on your keyboard)