Broken limb converted to ‘history pole,’ now has been restored

EPHRAIM—Thirty years ago, a broken willow tree limb lay on the grass in front of the historic Hansen House in Ephraim. That tree limb was transformed into a historical monument later that year, and today it still stands as a carved wooden history pole serving as a reminder of Ephraim’s past and those who came before.

The idea for the history pole began with Mark and Susannah (Susie) Nilsson, then residents of Ephraim, during Utah’s 1996 centennial celebration.

In an interview with the Messenger, Susie said her parents were heavily involved in the state centennial celebration.

“They lived up in Heber, but they were doing all kinds of things that inspired me. I lived in Ephraim, and I thought, well, I should do something, I should try to do something to mark the centennial.”

Living across the street from the Hansen House, Mark and Susie found inspiration for the project during a drive home.

“We were driving home on Route 6 out of Spanish Fork, and we saw an itinerant wood carver on the side of the road,” Susie said. “He had all of his carvings set up. They were mostly chainsawed bears, and things like that. We pulled over, talked to him, and I said, I have an idea for a kind of history pole, about telling the story of Ephraim.”

The wood carver, Marc Critzer, agreed to travel to Ephraim to complete the commission.

“He was an excellent artist, he carved [the pole] beautifully,” Susie said.

Critzer spent about a month carving the monument. He used a chainsaw to shape the outline before finishing the work with fine carving techniques, creating three figures on the pole: a bald eagle, a Native American woman and a Scandinavian woman.

The three symbols represent Ephraim’s history, depicting the bald eagles commonly seen in Sanpete during the winter months, along with the Native Americans and Scandinavian settlers who both called the Sanpete Valley home.

Just a few steps from the history pole stands the Peace Tree, the site where an 1868 peace agreement between Canute Peterson, a pioneer settler, and Chief Antonga Black Hawk, a local Native American leader, took place.

Over time, the pole was weathered by the elements. Although it remained standing, the carved figures became worn and the paint faded.

In 2010, Adam Larsen of Snow College completed a full restoration of the pole. In 2026, the Ephraim chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers contacted Mark and Susie to learn more about the history and details of the monument.

With encouragement from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and Sons of Utah Pioneers, another restoration began in June 2026.

Mark, Susie and Julie Ash, an Ephraim resident, painter and mural artist, worked together to restore the pole. The colors are once again vibrant, and the wood has been repaired. Ash also painted the pole’s pedestal—a concrete block donated by the city of Ephraim in 1996—to resemble the oolite limestone found on many historic buildings throughout Sanpete.

The completed restoration preserves a visual story of Ephraim’s heritage, ensuring future generations can pause, reflect and remember the people, cultures and events that shaped the community.

“History binds people together,” Susie said. “Time, place and peoples are all connected by history,” and when people visit the pole, “I’m hoping they feel connected to the history of the place, and how important the history was to what we’ve got today.”

The history pole tells Ephraim’s story through carved figures, but the monument’s message extends beyond its carvings. Inscribed on its base is a poem Susie wrote when the pole was first dedicated in 1996:

“Majestic wildlife, ancient natives, ancestral Scandinavians,

Together bound, on this common ground,

Called Ephraim “