海鸥纪念碑

The Seagull Monument is a historic monument situated immediately east of the Salt Lake Assembly Hall on Temple Square, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Created by artist Mahonri Young, the monument commemorates an 1848 event in which seagulls were observed to devour crop-destroying Mormon crickets, following prayers for divine intervention against the insects. This event is referred to as the miracle of the gulls in the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

The work was placed on Temple Square in 1913 and is believed to be the first monument dedicated to birds in the United States.

Miracle of the gulls

In 1848, the Mormon pioneers planted crops during their first spring season living in the Salt Lake Valley. As the crops matured, Mormon crickets descended upon the farms and consumed entire fields. The harvest was saved when the pioneer settlers offered prayers to God for assistance, which prayers were believed to be answered when flocks of native seagulls devoured the crickets. This event, popularly called the "miracle of the gulls," is remembered by Latter-day Saints as a miracle.

History

Creation

The idea for a monument commemorating the miracle came from George E. Carpenter, an editor at the Deseret News, and was inspired by a request he made for Young to create seagull drawings for the 1907 Christmas Edition of the newspaper. After the monument had been conceived of in July 1907, Young had its basic design completed within ten days. During that fall's Utah State Fair, a model of the monument was exhibited.

Initially, Young tried to get the church to finance the project, but funds were not available. While the monument was being pitched, there were a number of locations proposed for its placement, including both Temple Square and Liberty Park. The local Manufacturers and Merchants' Association was very interested in getting the monument erected, and started, in 1908, a subscription list to support its creation. Young made another request to church leadership after he had completed the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith for Temple Square in 1909, but the church was constructing the Hotel Utah and again could not support the monument's creation. A few years later, and desperate for work, Young approached church leadership once more and pleaded with them to fund the project. This time his request was approved, and in July 1912, the church, represented by Presiding Bishop Charles W. Nibley, signed the contract providing for the creation of the monument, with its placement to be on Temple Square.

The site initially proposed for the monument, just south of the Salt Lake Temple, was not satisfactory to Young, who felt the monument would be dwarfed by the large building. Instead he selected a spot near the Assembly Hall, where the open sky could provide a better background for the monument, and church leaders approved. Excavation for the monument's foundation began in April 1913, with the original plan being to dedicate the completed work on July 24 (Pioneer Day in Utah). Eight pieces of granite stone, which made up the base, shaft, and capital of the monument were put in place in June. The granite pieces came from a quarry in Mount Airy, North Carolina and weighed 67,000 pounds (30,000 kg). Towards the end of September, Young arrived with the bronze pieces which were then placed on the monument.

Dedication

On October 1, 1913, the monument was dedicated in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Nibley and attended by an estimated 5,000 persons. Prior to the unveiling, three American flags concealed the gulls atop the monument and bronze panels on the pedestal. At 10:50 am, Emmeline B. Wells, president of the church's Relief Society, pulled the cords to release the flags, revealing the works of art to the gathered crowd. Wells had witnessed the 1848 miracle as a 21-year-old woman, and she spoke briefly following the unveiling. William W. Riter then gave a history of the miracle, after which the band played The Star-Spangled Banner. The artist was then introduced to the crowd, and thereafter church President Joseph F. Smith addressed the crowd and gave the dedicatory prayer. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir then sang Utah, We Love Thee and Francis M. Lyman closed the ceremony with a benediction.

节选，摘自英文维基百科「Seagull Monument」，按 CC BY-SA 4.0 使用。