The granite used in the construction of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City was quarried from a large field of huge boulders covering this area broken by nature's forces from adjacent cliffs.
The quarrying of these boulders was begun about 1862 by James C. Livingston, under supervision of John Sharp. The names of the faithful quarrymen who continued the work until the temple was finished in 1893 are enclosed in the monument.
Rough stones were hauled to the temple block suspended under great two wheeled carts drawn by ox-teams, until the railroad was built in 1872.