Letter from the Mayor

March 9, 2009

Dear Richard Harrison Decendants:

Several years ago, Cedar City announced a new project to use the City's downtown to help tell the history of the community through a series of statues of early settlers, each of whom would be selected to tell the story of one aspect of the City's history. The first of the statues was of Henry Lunt, who was president of the first group of 36 settlers to arrive on the banks of Coal Creek on November 11, 1851. The second person to be honored with a Main Street statue was Francis Webster, a leader in the development of the important sheep growing industry in Iron County and one of the stalwarts in the monumental effort to build the first building (Old Main) for what is now Southern Utah University.

The third statue will be of Cedar City pioneer (he arrived here on the City's first day) Richard Harrison, who was the superintendent of the original Iron Works, iron being the prime reason for the City=s settlement. Born in England in 1808 and an iron-molder by trade, he immigrated to America in 1843 where he helped build the Nauvoo LDS Temple in Illinois and later joined the exodus to Utah, arriving in 1849. He lived for a brief time in Salt Lake City and then was sent to Iron County to participate in the Iron Mission arriving in Parowan in January 1851. In November of that year he was called to help form a settlement on Coal Creek (now Cedar City) and help establish a company for the making of iron. He was president of the company formed for that purpose and on September 30, 1852, he presided over the first iron to be manufactured west of the Mississippi. That occasion, one of the most dramatic in the City's history, provoked a community gathering, an all-night vigil, and the shouting of hosanna when the metal poured out of the small blast furnace on Coal Creek that Harrison had spent a summer helping to build. Before nightfall, Harrison and three others were on their way to Salt Lake City to carry the good news to Brigham Young.

Richard Harrison represented Iron County in the State Legislature (1854-1855) and in 1860 moved to Pinto serving for many years as a superintendent at the Great Western Iron and Steel Company at Old Iron Town. He passed away March 4, 1882, at age 74, having lived a life of inner strength and resilience that reaches out over nearly a century and-a-half to inspire those of us who live in Cedar City today.

Cedar City desires to recognize the contributions of this truly significant man with a statue of him to be placed in the City's downtown Main Street where we can also tell the story of the origin of the iron industry in Iron County. We have arranged for noted Utah sculptor Kreg Harrison (a fifth generation grandson of Richard Harrison) to sculpt Mr. Harrison based on the excellent enclosed photograph. We are pleased he has accepted this assignment as he has the expertise, heart and heritage for the project. The cost of the statue and its bronzing will be $50,000 with the City paying for half of the cost through non-tax sources. The remaining $25,000 must be raised from private sources, with $4,300 having already been received. We are hopeful that the remaining $20,700 can be raised in sufficient time to have the statue unveiled this year, the 158th anniversary of Cedar City's founding.

The City is hoping you will want to contribute toward this important project that is designed to keep focus on those who came to our community when there was little here but sagebrush, and helped launch the beautiful City we enjoy today. Beyond helping to convey to residents the City's unique and inspiring history, the project will help make our downtown pedestrian-friendly and increase its commercial viability, thus helping avoid the demise of our city center as has happened to many other Western communities.

If you can contribute to this exciting project, please send your check to Cedar City Corporation and on the description line write in "Statue Fund". The names of all those who contribute to the statue will be listed in the planned Commemorative Program to be issued on the day of the statue's dedication. The check should be made out to Cedar City Corporation and on the description line write in "Statue Fund". The donation will be fully tax-deductible. If you know of anyone else whom we should invite to assist with this project, please let us know.

Grant Harrison has written and published a comprehensive history of Richard Harrison's life that includes in its appendix a copy of Richard Harrison's personal journal which he maintained for many years. Grant has offered to give a complimentary copy of the hard-bound, 100-page book to anyone who donates $250 or more for the statue.

The Harrison family has established a blog spot for the campaign -- http://richardharrisonproject.blogspot.com -- in the hope the drive can be expedited to allow for a projected August 1, 2009 unveiling. It is our hope that the dedication and unveiling of the statue will be an occasion for a historic reunion of the Harrison Family as Cedar City gathers to honor one of its great pioneers.

Sending you the greetings of Cedar City and wishing you well, I remain

Sincerely yours,


Gerald R. Sherratt
Mayor of Cedar City

Urgency of Funds

We wanted to update you all on our project. Currently the sculpture is in progress, however, Cedar City will not release their portion of the donation toward the monument until we get our $25,000 of the donation. This portion of the money is greatly needed toward the creation of this project.

We are hoping to have the funds raised in sufficient time for the 158th anniversary of Cedar City's founding. The names of those who contribute to the statue will be listed in the program to be issued on the day of the statue's dedication. The projected date of the unveiling is August 1, 2009.

To send a check for donation, please make check payable to Cedar City Corporation and on the description line write in "Statue Fund". Send the check to:

Cedar City Corporation

10 North Main

Cedar City, UT 84720.

We are really excited about this project and we appreciate all the support and donations we have received thus far. Recently a letter about the project was sent out by the mayor of Cedar City, Gerald R. Sherratt. If you did not receive this letter and would like it sent to you, please let us know and we can email or mail it to you. This letter has more information about Richard Harrison, the artist, and details of the project.