1.
History
Santaquin lies
southeast of Utah Lake in southern Utah County. It
was originally settled in late 1851. It was also originally named Summit
City because of its location near the summit of the divide
between Utah Valley and Juab Valley.
Now, Summit City was being
settled by Mormon pioneers who were attempting to settle nearby Payson to the north. Then in 1856 it was renamed
"Santaquin" for the son of Guffich, who was a local native chieftain that
was friendly to the Mormon settlers.
Tensions started
growing between the Mormon settlers and the Ute Indians which eventually resulted
in the Walker War.
This war was named
after Chief Walkara. A lot of the
settlers had a hard time pronouncing the names of the local Shoshone
Indians. It was either that or they
tried giving more English names to them.
Any way.
The war was sparked on
July 17, 1853 by a confrontation between a local Indian and James Anderson
Ivie. The Indian was upset with a trade
gone bad between the settlers. This resulted in cold blooded murder of a band
member, Shower-O-Cats, who was a relative of Walkara.
A Mormon militia unit
went to Walkara's camp in Payson to try to work out a peaceful resolution and
make a deal; however, no arrangement was agreed upon.
The Utes demanded
retribution, and wanted the death of a Euro-American, life for life. The
Mormons refused this notion and a Ute Indian wanting justice, shot and
killed settler Alexander Keele on July 18, 1853.
Walkara and his
warriors began conducting raids against Mormon outposts in central and southern
Utah; while in turn pioneer militias retaliated.
The Walker War ended
with many casualties about one year later with a somewhat friendly neutral
understanding, this was personally negotiated between Brigham Young and Chieftain
Walkara that was finalized in May 1854.
Recent History
Leslie’s Family Tree
was built in 1974 and served as a floral shop on one side and the local bar on
the other. Downstairs however was were
the real fun was, with boxing matches, gambling and a for better terms a
brothel. In 1986 Leslie’s Family Tree
became a restaurant.
GHOSTS
There was a young boy
who lived in the area, who had drowned in a canal close to the diner that is
said to been seen and heard.
A woman in blue dress
has been seen walking through the restaurant.
Also, things like chairs and kitchen ware are said to move on their
own.
Kids can be heard and
seen in the main dining area of the restaurant as well as in the meeting room.
A couple not so
friendly spirits are also known to be haunting this diner. One by the bathrooms to the East of the
building who particularly likes to scratch and make his presence known that
way.
Another interesting, we
will say entity is in the cold dark basement.
Some say it is a golem like creature but others think it might be a
darker presence all together that isn’t too fond of visitors coming into its
space.
When it’s all said and
done, I think there is more spirits than can be counted in this location.
Lazer grid