Seagull Monument - Temple Square - Salt Lake City, Utah
N 40° 46.192 W 111° 53.556
12T E 424670 N 4513593
The Seagull Monument is situated in the southwest area of Temple Square, just east of the Assembly Hall, in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
Waymark Code: WMGG0H
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 03/01/2013
Views: 23
The Seagull Monument is an impressive piece of artwork that symbolizes a significant event in the lives of the early Mormon Pioneers after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. It is composed of a pair of bronze seagulls, with gold leaf, on Mt. Airy granite ball, with a column and square base. The column is measured at 15 feet in height. The Art Inventory Catalog describes this monument as follows:
"Two bronze seagulls atop a ball-capped Doric column on a square granite pedestal with bronze tablets on all four sides depicting the arrival of pioneers, the saving of first crop from crickets by seagulls, pioneers first harvest and a text panel." (
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"In 1848 the Mormon pioneers planted crops for their first spring season in Utah. As the crops ripened, Mormon crickets descended upon the farms from the foothills east of the valley. The insects consumed entire fields. According to traditional account, the harvest was saved by flocks of native seagulls which devoured the crickets. This event, popularly called the "Miracle of the Gulls", is remembered by Latter-day Saints as a miracle.
To celebrate the role seagulls played in the pioneer's first year in Utah, the LDS Church erected Seagull Monument on their Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. The top of the monument is a bronze statue of two insect-devouring seagulls cast by sculptor Mahonri M. Young, who designed the monument. Young studied in France, and was grandson of LDS leader Brigham Young. The monument was dedicated October 1, 1913 by LDS Church president Joseph F. Smith. Seagull Monument is believed to be the first monument dedicated to birds.
The California gull is now the Utah State bird." (
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