Lehi unveils historical marker honoring 'Salvation Wheat' story

Lehi's 24th historical marker stands at Dry Creek Park after an Oct. 10 unveiling that honored an 1855 wheat harvest credited with feeding a community through a grasshopper plague.

City leaders and descendants of Sarah and Canute Peterson gathered Saturday, Oct. 10, at the park at 1550 N. and 100 W. for the ceremony, as first reported by Lehi Free Press. Vintage tractors lined the walking path as families from several cities arrived to celebrate the couple's legacy.

The marker tells a specific story.

In 1855, Sarah Peterson planted her wheat later and deeper than other farmers. When grasshoppers destroyed Lehi's crops, her field had not yet sprouted.

Her late harvest fed family and neighbors. When her husband Canute returned from a mission to Norway for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sarah gave him a jar of the grain. He called it his "Salvation Wheat" and was buried with it.

Nicole Kunze of the Lehi Historical Society opened the ceremony. She said the marker's inspiration came from reading the book Eliza's Field of Faith, which tells the Petersons' story.

"Their stories have been seldom told. … Those women were too busy to keep diaries," said Jenny Lund, an author and wife of Tony Lund, a great-great-grandson of the Petersons. She noted that while Canute's life was well documented, Sarah's story had been somewhat forgotten.

Mark Peterson, another great-great-grandson, described learning his family history while preparing to host two couples from Norway interested in the Petersons' story.

Lehi City Council member Heather Newall closed the ceremony by sharing her own connection: her great-great-grandfather lived three doors from the Petersons in Ephraim. Attendees ate wheat bread and homemade jam in honor of Sarah's harvest. Bradley and Shawna Anderson brought a replica of Canute's jar of Salvation Wheat, displayed alongside pioneer-era farm tools.

The Lehi Historical Society's Historical Marker Program launched in 2022 with funding from the John David and Danaca Hadfield family of HADCO Construction and a Lehi City PARC (Parks, Arts, Recreation and Culture) grant. STRATA Networks and SIRQ Construction are 2026 sponsors. Holbrook Farms sponsored the Oct. 10 unveiling.

The society chose Dry Creek Park because its name reflects where the Petersons once lived, though the exact location of their farm has not been determined.

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