OGDEN -- A historical marker commemorating one of the oldest sections of Ogden is about to get its official public unveiling.

According to a post on the Weber County Heritage Foundation's Facebook page, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday for the monument commemorating Bingham Fort and its interactions with Native Americans.

The monument, which was put in place last fall by Shawn Strong, the developer of a nearby cluster of townhomes that originally rankled residents hoping to preserve the area's historic atmosphere, is located on the northwest corner of the Wall Avenue-Second Street intersection. Parking for the event is available along Second Street.

According to past Standard-Examiner reporting, the monument notes the long history of settlement in the area around Second and Wall going back to the time of the Fremont tribe more than 1,000 years ago. "Around the year 800, Fremont Indians began building towns of pit houses, and Weber County was densely populated. Large burial mounds still stand here, but the eventual disappearance of the Fremont remains a mystery," reads the monument, which features three plaques.

It notes that members of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation later lived and traveled through the area and that Chief Little Soldier claimed what is now Weber County in the mid-1800s. Part of Second Street west of Wall Avenue received the honorary designation Chief Little Soldier Way in 2021.

The monument further notes the arrival of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the mid-1800s and other immigrants. Bingham Fort ultimately took shape in the area as a means of protecting the religious newcomers, but they and the local Indigenous population coexisted in relative harmony.

For more information about Saturday's festivities, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1158548748666871.

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