REBUILDING OF THE ROCK CAIRN

  Mountain Meadows Association
1.jpg (49736 bytes) 1. Saturday 7:30 am. Don Oborn, Bloomington Stake Service Director.

2.jpg (40029 bytes) 2. 15 volunteers from the Bloomington Stake before the start of 7 hours of tiring rock lifting.
 5.jpg (49255 bytes) 3.  Backhoe operator James Poet, retrieves the first of hundreds of rocks that will be needed to complete the
                                cairn. Rock was donated by MMA member Kent Bylund from the Platt Ranch
24.jpg (34839 bytes) 4.  Mr. Poet readies the first rock for placement by the crane

4.jpg (46917 bytes) 5.  Bill Cassity, crane operator, prepares the first rock for placement.

6.jpg (39759 bytes) 6. Jay Lane, LDS seminary teacher, with LDS project director Mark Shaffer and MMA member Lee
                               Bracken.
8.jpg (50389 bytes) 7. Bill Schultz, Bloomington Stake member, waits with University of Utah film professor Brian Patrick and
                               his wife for the placement of the first stone.

10.jpg (34609 bytes) 8. Placing of the first stone. The white chalk line is the outline of the future cairn to be built to Carleton's original
                              specifications of 15' in diameter, 50' in circumference, and 12' high.

12.jpg (40986 bytes) 9.  Final placement of the first stone.

14.jpg (43365 bytes) 10. Documenting the event.

16.jpg (37994 bytes) 11. Backhoe operator, James Poet. Use of the tractor was donated by Progressive Contractors of St. George. 17.jpg (48205 bytes) 12. Master stone mason, Ronnie Sims, makes final adjustments of first stone.

18.jpg (57158 bytes) 13. James and Bill coordinate strategies with Ronnie. The crane was donated by Bloomington Stake member Woody Ward and US West Communications

20.jpg (40168 bytes) 14. Starting up of the crane at 7:30 am in the cool mountain air of Mountain Meadows.

27.jpg (32280 bytes) 15. Crane and volunteers prepare a rock for placement. Note the larges boulders used as a solid foundation of the
                                future monument.

27.jpg (32280 bytes) 16. Everyone "stand clear" as Brian captures a close-up.

29.jpg (48816 bytes) 17. Ronnie expertly guides another rock placement.

30.jpg (60781 bytes) 18. Volunteer of the Day, Bill Cassity, has 35 years experience working behind the controls of a crane. Bill was
                                the first to arrive and the last to leave and refused to take a break for 7 hours.  

31.jpg (43807 bytes) 19. Gathering the last of the ravine rocks. 

33.jpg (47001 bytes) 20. Ronnie guides another rock in very carefully. Kent Bylund found out what careful means by blackening his
                                 middle finger nail between two rocks.

34.jpg (43425 bytes) 21. Thank goodness for the strong backs of the youth.

35.jpg (44849 bytes) 22. Another 3000 lbs. rock.

38.jpg (45372 bytes) 23. Tyler, our youngest volunteer.(7 years old)

39.jpg (43082 bytes) 24. Progress after 3 1/2 hours.

40.jpg (46213 bytes) 25.  5' high after 6 hours. Things are moving and taking form quickly.

 43.jpg (45799 bytes) 26. The last 5' feet of the cairn will be completed by the Bloomington Stake next Wednesday the 4th.