A Brief History of Mesa, Arizona
 

Lehi Settlement and Fort Utah

The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 in Utah increased pressure for expansion beyond Utah. Easier transportation had augmented Utah's population, thus reducing the amount of available arable land. Consequently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officials asked Daniel Webster Jones to lead a group to settle in Arizona.

Jones had explored parts of Arizona and Mexico in 1875-76, while he had been on a mission to the native people in the Valley.. Jones agreed to lead the colony, but requested families that had many children and were poor, so they would not be able to resettle elsewhere easily.

The Jones, Turley, Rogers, Steele, Biggs, McRae, Williams, and Merrill families gathered for their journey at St. George, Utah. They traveled in wagons for three months, and arrived in Lehi (just north of Mesa) in March of 1877. The route they took forced them to leave heavy equipment, such as stoves, sewing machines and plows, along the way.

The Lehi residents lived the United Order: that is, they shared the supplies and food raised. Their first building was a brush shed used as a school, church, and meeting place. In July 1877, they built Fort Utah with adobe bricks. A replica of this structure is in front of the Mesa Historical Museum, nearby its original location at Lehi and Horne Roads.

Jones' invitation to the natives to live with them became a contributing factor that caused half of the colony to leave. Those who left had brought more of the livestock, which they took with them to St. David, near Mexico. The Lehi group that was left was especially small and poor; it had a difficult time surviving.

A flood in Lehi in 1891 destroyed Fort Utah and carried away acres of valuable farmland in low-lying areas. Because Lehi was prone to flooding, had a more limited land area and fewer irrigation ditches, Mesa outgrew Lehi. When the railroad was placed in Mesa about 1895, the growth pattern accelerated. Lehi became part of Mesa in 1970, but it has maintained its independent, more rural character.