Cove Fort and my Mormon Cousin!

Visiting Cove fort in Utah was an accident. The only reason we wanted to visit was to stop somewhere between destinations. Luck had it, we visited on the last day of the Cove Fort Days celebration. Every year on August 3^rd and 4^th the LDS put on a two day festival with music and re-enactments, people get all dressed up and teach people about Cove Fort, Early settler life, and the book of Mormon.

Honestly I thought it was going to be a drive by and take some pictures sort of thing. We got there and there was a horse drawn mail buggy showing people around, music in the air, people EVERYWHERE and reenactors practicing or teaching their crafts. WHAT?!?!? NEATO!!!!!!

The first stop was the fort itself, built by hand it took seven months to complete. This was not a military base, it was built as a rest stop for travelers protecting them from Native American attacks and the weather. It cost 50 cents a day for a spot on a bed and 35 cents for a hot meal. People didn't usually have a lot of money so they traded goods and services instead.

While we were looking at the rooms some of the volunteers would tell us a little about life here.

The first thing I noticed was the bed, the mattress was made of grain hulls and fiber but it was hanging on a lattice of rope. The rope was used like modern box springs, but it would loosen up over time and you would need to tighten it back up to sleep comfortably. This is where the phrase “good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite” came from. When I heard that a smile shot across my face and the stop was instantly worth it.

In the next room we saw a “Weasel” which is used to sort and measure yarn. 30 revolutions is one measure and the weasel had a mechanism that would pop out telling you when you were at 30 revolutions. This is where “pop goes the weasel” came from. Do you want to know something cooler? The nursury rhyme that spawned from this phrase has 30 beats in it.

[REMIND ME TO PUT THE WORDS IN WHEN I GET INTERNET AGAIN]

the beat pattern is:

12=2

12=4

12345=9

12=11

12=13

123=16

12=18

12=20

12345=25

1=26

1234=30

The first numbers are the beat number in the line, the number after the = is the total number of beats so far.

I know my fair share of random facts but that completely blew my mind. So I am passing it on!

We saw a musket demonstration which was super nifty. Did you know that the flint used by American Soldiers in the American Revolution was imported from Engand? The ships would break through the blockades to get it here to us because English flint formed so well and could be split so evenly.

We also watched a man take a fire, some iron, and a few tools that he made out of old truck parts and make/mounted four shoes for his horse. This was quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen someone make from scratch. This stop was worth it's weight in gold.

If you are anywhere near Cove Fort, Utah August 3^rd or 4^th I would HIGHLY suggest you go check it out. Cove fort is owned and maintained by the Church of Latter Day Saints but there is NO PRESSURE whatsoever to become a member of the church. I wasn't asked once if I was a member, nor was I asked what my religion was, which gave me A LOT of respect for these folks.

After cove fort we headed up to Yellowstone WAY ahead of schedule [we were going to get there after they shut down for the night but before they opened back up for the morning.] We were driving through Salt Lake City and I remembered I had a cousin that lives here [who happens to be a member of the church], 20 minutes later we are at her front door! We had some spaghetti in our car that we got because we couldn't find pita bread to make pizzas on [we had spaghetti sauce already, but nothing to put it on, so we got spaghetti to go with it.] So we commandeered their range and shower, made dinner for everyone and got clean! Yay for family!

Speaking of family, I have some good friends who are stationed in England right now. We watched the Olympics while we were visiting and got to see Ennis take the gold in the women’s heptathlon by BEASTING the 800m. Huge day for Great Britain, congratulations!

“Friends are the family you make for yourself.”

On a side note...I want a musket now...and a horse...