SWAPP FAMILY
Places
If you want to know how these places figure in our
family's history, just go to the events
page and use CTL+F to search for the name of the
place you are interested in. To save any graphic on this site
(for better viewing or printing), right-click on the graphic.
Photos of some of our family members (right-click to
open in a new window):
Wandering Home
our family song
Artistic poster with the lyrics
Sheet music, arranged by Bruce Green
Where Nelda was living during the Great Alaskan Earthquake
in 1964 and where she was one of the first to be evacuated to be
near her dying mother
Asian countries where our family members have lived: Burma, China, and the Philippines
Map of Caliente. Etta and her three boys arrived at the
train station and looked for Jimmy and Frannie's company-built
house. They had come to see Alex, who was working between
Caliente and Delamar. They stayed in Caliente for 9 months.
Route from Caliente to Overton via the Meadow Valley Wash
Location of Delamar (now a ghost town) in relation to
Caliente
Council Bluffs (previously Kanesville), Iowa
Council Bluffs area, including Honey Creek and Omaha
Mormon Trail through Iowa
Mormon historical sites in Iowa, including Kanesville, and
Honey Creek, plus Winter Quarters, Nebraska and Nauvoo, Illinois
The Swapps and the Hills and others of our ancestors
walked the 1500 miles in about 5 months like this:
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Glasgow is on the River Clyde 44 miles west of Edinburgh and 397 miles north of London. It has existed since at least the 12th Century.
Map of Glasgow area
Map of scenic touring route through Scotland
Glendale (previously Berrysville), Utah
Map of Glendale showing the city cemetery
Swapp country around Glendale
Swapp lands between Glendale and
Alton
Swapp Ranch in Sink Valley
James settled a ranch near some springs in Sink Valley about 4
miles southeast of Alton. Around the beginning of the 20th
Century, his son Edd took the materials from that ranch house and
rebuilt the current Swapp Ranch House closer to the road in order
to avoid having to cross a swampy bog all the time. To find the
Swapp Ranch House, travel on the road from Alton towards Johnson
Canyon for 4 miles. The house is visible in a grove of trees off
to the east and is accessible via a half-mile red-shale driveway.
There is a gate over the drive on which "SWAPP RANCH"
can barely be read. If one looks up to the pink cliffs behind the
home, an area near Swapp Canyon (at the bottom of the Tropic
Reservoir Road) can be seen. It is possible to hike up there on a
4-mile trail. Permission to cross the property behind the home is
required from Darlyn Sorenson in Orderville. The Swapp Ranch
House was featured in the Gregory Peck movie "McKenna's
Gold."
The Swapp Ranch is now owned by Alisha Dame, the daughter of Clark Swapp. It is run by the family of Adeline Swapp Johnson of Moccasin, AZ.
The route that Alex and his grandson Ether often used
between Overton and the Grand Gulch Mine
Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Johnstone is a small town 3 miles west of Paisley. It had a population of only ten in 1782 and grew to 7000 people in 1841. It was onstructed on a grid plan with two open squares. The High Parish church was built in 1792-94. Johnstone Castle was mostly demolished in 1950, but the remains are still visible and are surrounded by housing.
Map of Johnstone area
Kanab, Utah (including Kanab Creek and Fredonia, Arizona)
Map of Kanab area
Location of Swapp Drive in Kanab
Swapp country in Southern Utah
Swapp sites in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona
1200-mile tour of Swapp sites in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona
Swapp Canyon off of Johnson Canyon
There is a beautiful white sandstone canyon just off of Johnson
Canyon Road to the west named George Swapp Canyon, named either
after this George Alonzo Swapp or possibly his cousin George
Franklin Swapp (not likely him, because he was known as Frank).
It is just inside the boundary of the Escalante-Grand Staircase
National Monument about one mile north of Eldon Swapp's Eagle
Nest Ranch (about 11 miles north of Highway 89 east of Kanab).
Eldon Swapp/SES
Swapp Reservoir south of Colorado City
Swapp Tank south of Fredonia
Laie, Hawaii (including the Wylie Swapp home, the Laie cemetery, the Hawaii Temple, and the BYU-Hawaii campus)
Lanark, Upper Canada (now Ontario)
1913 postcard of the main street in Lanark Village
Location of Lanark County, Ontario
Map of Lanark County, Ontario
Upper and Lower Canada
Modern Canadian provinces
Las Vegas, Nevada (Alex & Etta Swapp home, creamery, hospital where Alex and Ether were treated)
The Las Vegas Temple on the flanks of Sunrise Mountain
Downtown Las Vegas
Lee & Doris Earl home
Las Vegas Valley
Lee's Ferry and House Rock Valley, Arizona
The John Addison Swapp Family moved to Lee's Ferry for several years to help run the ferry, located at the only feasible crossing point in hundreds of miles.
John Addison Swapp inscribed his name and the date on a rock near Mile and a Half Springs not far from House Rock Springs north of the ferry. Eldon Swapp at Eagle Nest Ranch in Johnson Canyon has been there and can describe how to find the place. It is reachable via a 1.5-mile hike.
Swapp Well south of Luna
Map of downtown Overton including locations of various
buildings of significance to the Swapp Family
The Swapp Block in Overton
Ether & Geneve Swapp home (now demolished, but Nelda Messer's home is on the same lot)
Carving of the O Bar A brand used by Ether Swapp on his cattle
Swapp Avenue in Overton (named in the 1990s to honor our
family)
General Overton area, including sand mine, Ether's
Capalapa home (now non-existent), and the Overton Pioneer
Cemetery near the airport
Location of St. Thomas
Lake Mead and its landings below Overton
The original Moapa Stake, which our family members widely
traveled in their Church callings, was huge.
Diagram of our family
members' graves in the Overton Pioneer Cemetery
Montréal, Lower Canada (now Québec)
Map of the areas within Montréal
Montrose, Angusshire, Scotland
Montrose is a coastal resort town and royal burgh with a natural harbor 38 miles northeast of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk Rivers. The town once had a strong castle, which was taken by Edward I of England in 1296 and destroyed a year later. Montrose is know for having the widest High Street in Scotland.
Map of Nauvoo showing the Swapp homestead near the pioneer
cemetery, the Joseph Smith home, and the Nauvoo Temple, now being
rebuilt
Model of Nauvoo Temple (now being rebuilt)
Location of Nauvoo and Carthage
Newburyport, Massachusetts and Thompson, Connecticut
Old Machar, Aberdeen, Scotland
Old Machar is a parish of Aberdeen City, situated to the north of the River Don opposite Old Aberdeen. It was renamed Woodside in 1880. There is also a mention of a St Machar's (Church?), Old Aberdeen.
Location of Panguitch in South-central Utah
Alex herded cattle there (possibly near the current site of Lake Mead somewhere?) for months at a time while his wife and two little boys were living in Tropic.
For hundreds of miles, all emigrants who left the Missouri traveled along the Platte River. The Latter-day Saints generally, but not always, traveled along the north side of the river, where they faced fewer chances for unpleasant encounters with westbound emigrants from the states of Missouri or Illinois, all potentially former enemies. All emigrants, Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint alike, traveled where feed for stock could be obtained. If it was found in short supply on the side they were traveling, they often would switch to the opposite side. In desperate years, such as 1849, 1850, and 1852, traffic became so heavy along the Platte that frequently all available feed was stripped from both sides of the river. Coupled with the constant threat of cholera, the overland trip along the Platte was at best a deadly gamble.
A general map of Nebraska is shown below. (The Mormon
Trail as well as modern-day I-80 both followed the Platte River.
Platte Bottoms, where Archibald was born, is undoubtedly
somewhere along the trail, but I haven't located it yet on any
map. There is reference to a Platte Bottoms in the general
vicinity of Grand Island, but it is not certain that is the right
place.)
Location of Rhyolite not far from Death Valley
Mill Creek area, where the Swapps first settled with many
other Scottish Saints
Location of Mill Creek, Orem, and Springville on the
Wasatch Front
Location of Wellsville, where Bro. Hill passed away
Location of the Salt Lake Cemetery
The Endowment House on Temple Square, where William & Nancy Agnes Hill Swap were sealed by proxy in 1870
A beautiful blue-tinted holiday view of he Salt Lake Temple
The Reiser home (now non-existent) in Salt Lake City, where Geneve Reiser Swapp grew up and where Ether and Geneve were first married
San Diego, California (San Diego Naval Cemetery, Ted & Thora Hamblin home)
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego (where Leo
Swapp was buried after he died at age 19 while serving in the
military?)
St. George Temple with its new visitors center at night
Map of the St. George Valley with the temple and the
cemetery circled
Toronto, Upper Canada (now Ontario)
Simcoe County, Ontario, including Tosorontio, where the
Hill Family was living when they joined the Church
Tropic, Utah area (John Henry Hatch home, John & Martha Swapp home, Alex & Etta Swapp home)
Loseeville
(originally Clinton), UT
Clifton (Loseeville) was situated in East Valley one mile east of
the Pahreah River and four miles north of Cannonville. The first
settlers were Ebenezer Bryce in 1876 and Daniel Goulding in 1878.
They built a ditch to bring water to the valley from Pine Creek
which rises on the west side of Escalante Mountain. Within five
years both men grew discouraged and moved.
The first permanent settlers came in 1886. Because there was another Clifton in the state, the name of the town was changed to Loseeville after early settler Isaac H. Losee. Church meetings and a school were started for the 20 or more families who made Loseeville their home. In 1891, the Clifton Irrigation Company was organized to regulate the use of Pine Creek and Henderson Canyon water.
Within ten years the unreliable water supply and drought forced the people to abandon the town. Today, only a few old buildings and a small cemetery remain. The picturesque spot north of the cemetery marker contains several unidentified and seven identified graves with the earliest dated in 1889. The seven are: Isadora Allen, Elizabeth Richards, Thomas Elwin Smith, Isaac Huff Losee, Sarah Gilbert Losee, Eliza Jane Losee Cox, and John G. Losee. Productive farms in the valley are now irrigated with water from East Fork and Henderson Canyon.
Map of Tropic area including Clifton
Map of area around Tropic and Cannonville
South-Central Utah
The (unpaved) road to Swap Canyon
Swap Canyon and Swap Mesa at the end of the Burr Trail
