Cattle Drives

Since 1897

During Lehi’s infancy, the citizens realized the best grazing land for their cattle was the lands south and west of the city. As the town grew they had to extend the grazing lands into the foothills. After the railroad reached Lehi it became possible to ship their cattle to other communities. This made it profitable to raise cattle as a sole source of income so the cattlemen expanded their operation and moved their herds into West Canyon.

Each year it was necessary to round up the cattle in the canyon and drive them back to Lehi where they could be put on the trains. This was quite an undertaking so the cattlemen banded together to protect their interests. By 1897, the Lehi and American Fork Horse and Cattle Men Association were making an annual cattle drive bringing the cattle from West Canyon to Lehi. While the Sugar Factory was in operation, Lehi had the largest stockyards between Omaha and San Francisco.

An example of a typical cattle drive took place in 1911. During the first week of November nearly every cattleman in Lehi headed to West Canyon under the leadership of Israel Evans Jr. and Albert Henry Bone. For several days they searched every “hill and hallow” for their cattle. Some of the riders also searched Tooele and Ophir canyons in case some of the cattle had wandered over the mountain. Their efforts resulted in around 1300 head of cattle being brought back to Lehi.

Every fall for over 100 years Lehi Cattlemen have brought their cattle from the summer feeding grounds in West Canyon to Lehi. In 1992, they had to stop driving their cattle the full distance from the canyon into Lehi. Due to increased traffic, they had to truck the cattle from the base of the mountain to their corrals across from Willowcreek Park. There the cattle were cut out into holding pens for each owner to truck to their private ranch.

Each spring, the cattle are either driven with horses the old fashioned way or trucked from Lehi to Tickville where they are set loose to graze their way into West Canyon where the process starts all over again.

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Margaret Wines Park Historical Marker Unveiling

July 18, 2024

Fifty people gathered to honor Margaret Wines Park, Lehi’s oldest existing park and center of many Lehi celebrations. The park was created in 1908, when Ira D. Wines gifted the land to the city if it would maintain it as a park in honor of his late wife, Margaret. The park is Lehi’s oldest existing park and the center of many of Lehi’s celebrations.

City Councilwoman Michelle Stallings paid tribute to the many local groups and clubs that have funded trees, playground equipment, rose bushes, fireplaces, tables, concrete platforms and drinking fountains. “Even though this park began as a gift by one man,” she said, “it became a gift by many over the years.”

The marker is the second of the Lehi Historical Marker Program.

UNVEILING