First Plow, Salt Lake Valley

“Among the first settlers of the Salt Lake valley was Minerva Teichert’s family. The Hickmans and Kohlhepp families came into the valley with the handcarts from Nauvoo, Illinois. They were witnesses to many of the ‘firsts’ of the early Latter-day Saint life in Utah. Teichert’s Grandmother, Minerva Wade Hickman, would tell these stories to young Minerva about the many miracles and special moments of those early years. Minerva Hickman was there in July 1847 the morning the first plow broke ground in an almost entire valley of salty sand and dirt. “I could almost hear music, a song of triumph” she later wrote in her journal regarding that morning. Hickman was not only present at the “First Plow” but she was also there when the crops were planted - and then as the harvest drew close and the crickets began to feast on the first fruits of their labors. Minerva Teichert spoke often about her grandmother’s story of kneeling with all the other pioneers in prayer - begging heaven to intercede. She was there to witness with her own eyes the seagulls swooping in to eat the crickets and save the crops.” Reference: minervateichertgallery.com Reproduced from the artist''s original artwork of Oil on Masonite. Painted 1938.

1888-1976

The works of western American artist, Minerva Teichert, have received increasingly popular and critical acclaim in recent years. Today, Teichert is beloved among the LDS community as a woman who successfully combined faith and family and left an extraordinary legacy of artistic production.

Minerva Kohlhepp was born in North Ogden, but grew up homestead farming in the vicinity of American Falls, Idaho. Her father encouraged her childhood sketching and she soon developed an “indomitable will to succeed and excel in the field of art.” She taught school to raise enough money to go to Chicago for her art studies.

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