by Marilyn Richardson

If you’re looking for a peaceful summer getaway, a visit to the quiet town of Manti, Utah may be the perfect answer. Manti is 287 miles from Las Vegas, and it is a great place for a family vacation. Especially if you include a stop at the Freemont Indian Museum on Highway 70 as you head toward Manti via Richfield, Utah.

Manti was settled in October of 1849 when 224 men, women and children were sent from Salt Lake City to establish the first town south of Provo, 66 miles to the north. Four years later, a large number of Danish converts joined the community. Today Manti’s population is just over 3,000.

In mid June Manti hosts the Mormon Miracle Pageant; in August they host a Manti Mountain ATV Ride.

Of course, the beautiful Manti Temple is one of the best reasons to visit the area. The two 179 foot towers of the Temple can be seen for miles. There is no missing them. And Highway 89 takes you directly to the center of Manti and right past the Temple, the third to be built by the church. Made from native cream-colored oolite limestone dug from the hill where the Temple sits, it gleams a soft white and at night is beautifully lit.

This temple is the oldest to retain the original mural paintings done by artist Minerva Teichert in its progressive-style ordinance rooms.

After spending time enjoying the architecture of the temple (remember your temple recommend) a drive around town is in order. Manti, like many small towns in Utah offers both old pioneer homes and new modern mansions, the latter built by people who have earned their wealth elsewhere but want a quiet, safe place to live. The library is welcoming and a visitor may check their e-mail simply by signing in.

One place you might miss if you don’t know about it is the replica of a pioneer dugout built into a hillside behind the temple. When settlers first came to Manti there were eight to 12 of these dug outs in a row. Located on the south side, the dugout is surround by a chain link fence, but you can get a key from the Temple View motel across the street. The key unlocks both the gate and the door to the small log cabin.

Inside the single room is a bed to the left covered with a quilt and an animal skin. To the right is a table with two benches, and facing the door is the fireplace. Overhead, roots from the weeds growing on the roof dangle in the air.

Word is that if it rained two hours outside, it rained two days inside. An animal (cow or sheep) grazing on the roof might have a leg disappear into the soft earth and reappear above the dining table!

There is something energizing about connecting with pioneer life in a small town. A visit to the cemetery just below the Temple might interest some. But just being able to walk around town, picnic in the park below the temple and enjoy one another can be the best vacation.

Minerva Teichert, known for her paintings of pioneer and scriptural subjects— her paintings were often reproduced on the covers of the old Relief Society magazine—was the first woman invited to paint a temple mural. Her depiction of the world room in the Manti Temple is different than the barren landscape rendered in other temples. According to Peter B. Gardner in an article on Teichert in the Winter 2008 BYU Magazine, “…(she created) a grand procession of people from every culture marching with high heads, hardly noticing the poor at their feet” (p. 31).