OSince the early 1980s, bus tours have been a part of the Scandinavian Festival, putting festival attendees as close to the magnificent history of the Sanpete Valley as can be without a time machine.

Martha Olsen, a teacher at Ephraim Middle School worked with Virginia Nielsen, 2004’s grand marshal, to create the itinerary and write the script for the tour.

This year, Roger Baker will be guiding the tours, which will run hourly from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 24. Busses leave from the northeast corner or College Ave. and 100 East. The cost for the tour, which covers approximately 25 sites, is $1 per person.

Tour participants will receive a history of the settlers of Ephraim, beginning at the site of the dugout of Isaac Behuin, Ephraim’s first resident, and including important and infamous events like the Ephraim Massacre, when in October 1863, Indians raided fields outside town, killing seven people and stealing over 300 head of horses and cattle.


To whet your appetite, here’s a preview of a few of the stops:

				Bus Tour Highlights
				Martha Olsen & Cabin Martha Olsen, guide for Scandinavian Heritage Festival bus tour, outside what she describes as her "ancestral home," a log cabin constructed around the turn of the century on Ephraim's Main Street.
				Ephraim Pioneer Cemetery  In the olden days, Ephraim pioneers carted their dead more than 10 miles north to Spring City for burial. That changed one day when a group was en route to bury a Mr. Manwaring. They heard Indians were on the warpath, so they quickly buried the body in their tracks and returned home. Many other graves soon joined Mr. Manwaring’s. There are more than 2,000 known graves at the old cemetery.
				Madsen Home  Built in 1900, this Victorian home features a tin roof, a spiral staircase, and parquet flooring. The home remained in the Madsen family until 1990. Painstaking care was taken to restore it to its original condition.
				Rich Hansen Home Located in Pioneer Park, this cabin was built in 1862. The house was the only one in town with a painted door. Mr. Hansen had brought a small can of green paint from Denmark. In those days, in these parts, anyone using paint was considered rich, and so Mr. Hansen became “Rich” Hansen. Purchased by the city of Ephraim, the house is open to visitors during Scandinavian Days and other times of the year by appointment. The upstairs has been converted to a museum.
				Blackhawk Monument Monument marks tree where settlers and Ute Indian representatives met to sign peace treaty ending of the Blackhawk War.
				Pioneer Cabins Cabins built by earliest Ephraim settlers are preserved in Pioneer Park. They are open for tours during the Scandinavian Heritage Festival .

Site of Isaac Behunin Dugout—Ephraim's founding family set up house in 1852. Isaac Behunin, his wife, and nine children lived in a dugout beside Pine Creek. When other families happened by, seeking a place to call home, Isaac told them to move on. He believed there wasn't enough water in the creek to support more than his family. A year later, when the Behunins relocated to Manti, it wasn't because the creek ran dry. Drought, grasshoppers, and Indians drove them out.

Virginia Nielson Home—In 1895 Soren Johnson used the best materials available to build this mansion for his family. The home holds many surprises, including pull-out “pocket” doors with stained glass. High ceilings were, in later years, lowered. Upstairs is a secret room in the shape of a horseshoe. Some speculate that the room was used to hide polygamists, but Nielson doesn’t think so.

Parry Quarry—Both words rhyme with Harry, if you speak localese. One of many in the region, this oolite quarry is visible from the highway. A whitish, crumbly limestone, oolite was used for the foundation and walls of many homes in the area. The stone was also used in the construction of many notable buildings including the Ephraim Cooperative Mercantile Institution (the Co-op), the Relief Society Granary and the Manti Temple.

Canute Peterson Home—Canute had three wives. The red house belonged to Charlotte, wife number three, and the white house belonged to Gertrude, wife number two. Canute lived in the big house with Sarah Ann, wife number one. Built in 1869, Sarah Ann’s was the first house in Ephraim made out of fired brick. A polygamy pit inside was used to hide Mormon elders. A Norwegian, Canute is credited with negotiating a peace treaty that ended the Black Hawk War. He was also the first president of the Ephraim Stake.

Old Jail—You can still see the bars on the windows, although the old jail, built in the 1870s, is now a private home. The front door has no porch. The first well in Ephraim was dug here. Before that, people had to draw their water from the creek.

Railroad—Early on, topsoil 12-18 inches deep was sold to the railroad to build up ground to lay tracks, which explains why many of the old homes in town sit in holes. In 1890 the Sanpete Valley Railroad rolled from Wales through Moroni, through Ephraim, and on to Manti. In 1890, the Rio Grande Railroad completed the first line to Ephraim. The depot burned down in the 1970s. During floods that struck throughout Utah in 1983, a mudslide near the Utah County-Sanpete County border cut the rail line, marking the end of railroad access into the county.

Madsen Home—Built in 1900, this Victorian home features a tin roof, a spiral staircase, and parquet flooring. The home remained in the Madsen family until 1990. Painstaking care was taken to restore it to its original condition.

Charles Whitlock—Charles was the local harness maker and also pulled teeth. It is unknown if he used the same tools for both professions. The history of Whitlock will be explored during the tour.

Ephraim Pioneer Cemetery—In the olden days, Ephraim pioneers carted their dead more than 10 miles north to Spring City for burial. That changed one day when a group was en route to bury a Mr. Manwaring. They heard Indians were on the warpath, so they quickly buried the body in their tracks and returned home. Mr. Manwaring's grave was soon joined by others—many others. There are more than 2,000 known graves at the old cemetery.

The cemetery records were destroyed in a fire in 1877. In 1901, someone decided the cemetery was too far from town to properly maintain. Joseph E. Anderson was given the assignment of purchasing 10 acres closer to town and laying it out. After that, many families exhumed their dead and reburied them at the new Park Cemetery.

In recent years, Olsen, the tour guide and others, have restored the cemetery, identified graves, and mapped grave locations.