Chadwick and Brimhall
Abraham Chadwick’s story in Echo Canyon:
Abraham was a tailor and one of the most important tools a tailor uses are his shears. Shears are like scissors, but larger. One time Abraham Chadwick was prepared to use his shears to protect himself and his family.
In 1857, it was announced that the U.S. Army was marching towards Salt Lake City. Abraham accepted the call to help resist the intrusion. With others, he walked from North Ogden up Echo Canyon to meet troops who might try to invade the valley. Abraham’s weapon was a pair of his tailor sheers, which he took apart. He kept one blade for himself and gave another to a partner. Thankfully, no fighting occurred. What a significant blessing that was to the Chadwick family and many members of the Church! Abraham returned home and put his pair of tailor sheers back together to use peacefully. His sheers are on display at a museum in Ogden.
Noah Brimhall in Echo Canyon:
(Written by Samantha Triphena Brimhall):
“I was born March 22, 1858, at Ogden City, Utah, the third daughter of Noah Brimhall and Samantha Lake. It being that same year that Johnston's Army came to Utah to set in order the affairs of that territory. My mother, with her two living children, were taken south to Spanish Fork for protection while my father went away to the frontier at Echo Canyon.”
The Echo Canyon Breastworks
As you head south on the road The Witches are located, you can either turn right headed towards the onramp for I-80 East or you can keep going and see the little town of Echo which has some cute, old buildings. Keep heading north on this road, and you will come to the Echo Canyon Breastworks with an information sign.
Abraham Chadwick and Noah Brimhall answered the call to go to Echo Canyon to help resist the arrival of Johnston’s Army in 1857.
“The dry masonry walls, constructed of uncut stones, stacked in random courses without mortar, were 1 to 2 feet above ground and 4 to 12 feet in length. These fortifications stretched some 1.2 miles along the narrowest section of Echo Canyon. These Breastworks were part of a larger defensive network that included plans to dam the creek to force the troops against the canyon wall where the breastworks are located, and large trenches across the canyon to impede the passage of horses and men. More than 1200 men worked together completing the Breastworks on the cliffs in the matter of a few weeks. However, the peaceful resolution of the Utah War in the early summer of 1858 rendered the fortifications unnecessary.” http://utah.untraveledroad.com/Summit/EchoCanyon/32NSign.htm