Bryce Amphitheater from Sunrise Point Highres 2013

Ebenezer Bryce (November 17, 1830 – September 26, 1913) was a

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the ...

, best known as the person for whom

Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park () is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern ...

was named.

Early life

Bryce was born in the town of

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...

in the then

unitary council area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland an ...

, which is today located in the

Stirling council area The Stirling council area ( sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about ( estimate). It was created under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Sti ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. He became a ship's carpenter, converted his faith to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

, and left Scotland for

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

at the age of seventeen. Ebenezer was the only member of his family to convert to

, and was disowned by his father.

Pine Valley

Bryce married Mary Park in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

in 1854. They moved to southern Utah by 1862, and settled in Pine Valley where Bryce was responsible for designing and overseeing the building of the Pine Valley Chapel in 1868, the oldest chapel still in continuous use by

. The chapel is unique in that the roof was built like an upside down ship hull using a technique that Bryce acquired as a shipbuilder in Scotland. The walls of the chapel were assembled on the ground and hoisted up to the rhythm of a Scottish shipbuilding song sung by Ebenezer. The chapel is well maintained and is listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. While in Pine Valley, Ebenezer also ran a sawmill for lumber for the construction of the St. George Temple.

Bryce Canyon

Soon after, the family moved a short distance to the Paria Valley, south of Bryce Canyon, which became a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

in 1923 and a full-fledged

National Park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

in 1928.

Arizona

In 1880, Bryce moved his large family to an area of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, about two miles north of

Pima Pima or PIMA may refer to: People * Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico) Places * Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County * Pima County, Arizona * Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains ...

, where the settlement of

Bryce, Arizona Bryce is a census-designated place in Graham County, Arizona, United States. Its population was 173 as of the 2020 census. Bryce is located in the upper Gila River valley, approximately two miles north of Pima and north of the Gila River. The fi ...

is named in his honor. It was there that he died and is buried in a local cemetery. Ebenezer built two homes in Arizona, both currently under restoration by the Ebenezer Bryce Foundation.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, Ebenezer 1830 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries Bryce Canyon National Park Converts to Mormonism Mormon pioneers People from Dunblane Scottish Latter Day Saints Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Scottish emigrants to the United States People from Washington County, Utah People from Graham County, Arizona