Far West Temple Site History

The Far West temple site (which I must say is my favorite) is absolutely beautiful. But more than that, the spirit there is so very strong. There is a gate surrounding the dedicated temple site. At each corner lies a cornerstone, each dedicated to the separate branches of the priesthood. In the center at the far end are three large stone tablets with inscriptions on them. It is absolutely beautiful! There is a nice restroom facility just outside the gate along with some picnic benches. All of this, except for the cornerstones, was absent until 1968. We had a treat because the project manager of the area had joined us on our tour. The site was slated for dedication at the same time as the Independence Visitor's Center in August 1968.

When Harvey Evans was asked to head up the project, he had only three months to complete all the work. It was a daunting task: the stone tablets take over a year to make; the copper signs next to each of the cornerstones were made by a company who had a single man making them -- and each sign took him a month; water had to be brought in; dirt had to be moved and so on. When asked if he thought the task could be done, Harvey said, "Hell no!" However, nothing is impossible for the Lord and that was proven in this project. The stone tablets were made, the copper signs made, the water came from wells, found by a local farmer who actually whitched them! There was a hill just to the south that was lowered so that people could see the site from the south as they are driving. The road just south of the site had to be lowered several feet. Harvey's friend built the bathrooms, not originally on the plan, because they realized that with the amount of people coming, they would be needed. Miracles happened to make everything completed for the dedication.

On the morning of the dedication, Harvey and crew were there at sunrise to lay down the sod. When they got half done inside the gates, they ran out of sod. So, they stole sod from outside the gate and put it inside. They finished just minutes before the ceremony at 10am. Harvey's son was on the crew that morning and was covered in mud from head to foot. A visitor for the ceremony chewed him out for attending the meeting in such attire!