Fort Willden preceded Cove Fort
Fort Willden was an early LDS settlement and way station that prepared the way for Cove Fort, later built at the site and now located about 190 miles south of Salt Lake City near the junction of I-15 and I-70 in central Utah. The Willden fort consisted of an adobe house and corral, enclosing both within a 150-square-foot stockade of cedar posts, and was built by Charles and Eleanor Willden in 1860. The Willdens were English converts who came to Utah with their six children in 1849. Brigham Young called Charles, an iron worker, to work in the Cedar City iron mission in the 1850s. After the iron works closed down, he acquired 160 acres at Cove Creek in southern Utah, between Fillmore and Beaver. After a few years the small fort began attracting travelers who found it a convenient place to stop, leading the way for a larger fort to be constructed.