FARMINGTON — Orrin Porter Rockwell, bodyguard to Brigham Young and the state's first deputy marshal, is one of those larger-than-life Utah legends who has received plenty of notoriety over the years. Now, one of Rockwell's best friends — Lot Smith — is about to receive some long overdue recognition.
Smith, nicknamed "The Horseman" and who, like Rockwell, did his share to promote law and order in the early Utah territory, will be honored June 23-24 by the Lot Smith family in their biannual reunion in Farmington and on Antelope Island.
Highlight of the reunion will be a Friday, June 23, 5 p.m. dedication of a new monument, memorializing Smith for his part in rounding up and branding wild horses on Antelope Island. The "Horses of Antelope Island" monument will be dedicated by Davis County Commissioner Gayle A. Stevenson at the Legacy Center on west State Street and west of I-15 in Farmington.
"I don't think Smith is really well-known," said Ramona Smith Hughes of Pleasant View, reunion organizer and descendant. "He did the same things as Porter Rockwell, and the two were best friends, but his name isn't well-known."
Lot Smith was the first sheriff of Davis County and he was sent by Brigham Young, along with Judson Stoddard and Brigham Young Jr., to help the wild horse roundup on Antelope Island.
These three expert horsemen selected their animals from among the fastest horses on the island — those that came out in the lead of a 15- to 20-mile run.
Smith had joined the Mormon Battalion at age 16 and was a captain in the Nauvoo Legion of the Utah Territory. He is also noted for his leadership that helped defeat Johnston's Army in 1857 and for being recruited by President Abraham Lincoln to protect mail routes and telegraph lines in the frontier of the West.
He was one of the first to settle in Farmington and also helped colonize parts of Arizona, but was killed by a renegade Indian there on June 21, 1892, at the age of 62. His body was returned to Utah and buried in the Farmington City Cemetery.
Unlike Rockwell, Smith was active in the LDS Church, Hughes said. He served missions to the British Isles and Scotland and was president of the Little Colorado Stake in Sunset, Ariz.
Hughes believes Smith's descendants number more than 10,000 persons, since he had eight wives and 52 children. She's expecting descendants from as far away as Canada to attend the reunion.
Prior to the June 23 dedication at the Legacy Center, Smith will also be honored as the first sheriff of Davis County at the Judicial Center, 800 W. State St., Farmington.
Following those events, three Civil War organizations will be dressed in costume at the Farmington City Cemetery, 200 S. 200 East. They will conduct a short program at 6 p.m. on June 23 to honor Smith and other pioneers who served in the Civil War.
Another program to honor Smith will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at the Garr Fielding Ranch on Antelope Island.
Family reunion activities will include horse riding, buggy rides, roping contests, candle dipping demonstrations, buffalo chip throwing contests and other events on Antelope Island.
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com