Kay's Cross
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| Kay's Cross | |
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Kay's Cross in 2010
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| Location | Kaysville, Utah, US |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Established | uncertain, probably 1850-1950 |
Kay's Cross was a large stone cross (roughly 20 feet (6.1 m) high by 13 feet (4.0 m) wide) located at the base of a hollow in northeastern Kaysville, Utah, US The monument is rumored to have been erected by polygamists in the 1940s,[citation needed] but the exact age is disputed; local rumors include variations of the story that the cross was built by one or more early settlers of the town to mark the grave of a man's wife(s) or his entire family.[citation needed] The hollow in which the cross stood was owned in the 1940s by Charles and Ethel Kingston, founders of the infamous polygamist Kingston clan. They may have been the ones who built the cross where the patriarch of the family received his "vision" to found the church, however the religious affiliations to early polygamists in the area is disputed because the FLDS church, and polygamist splinter groups from the mainstream LDS Church do not use the cross as a symbol of their faith or their religious activities, the Apostolic United Brethren being the sole exception.[citation needed] More recently, it has been asserted that the cross was built by followers of Krishna Venta, a religious leader in the 1940s and 50s, who claimed to be the Second Coming of Christ and led a small sect based out of Simi Valley, California. [1]
While the origins of the cross are unknown, its demise was well known and publicized. On February 25, 1992, at 10 pm, local residents heard a loud boom. This boom was the explosion of Kay's Cross, which had been packed with explosives and blown into several large pieces. The police have never made an arrest in connection with this case. Some people[who?] still believe that the explosion was not man made, others[who?] believe the police did it themselves because they were tired of responding to calls to the remote location.[citation needed]
During the 1980s, curious grade school children from nearby Samuel Morgan Elementary School would wander down into Kay's Hollow to see the cross and recount the legends surrounding its origin and current uses.[citation needed] Legends regarding Kay's Cross are abundant, ranging from "dog men" to spousal murder and satanic rituals.[citation needed]
In 2013, a "haunted" tour of Kay's Cross and the surrounding forest was started, stirring interest again in the decades-old legend.[1]
Today, even though access to the remains of the cross has been surrounded by subdivisions, it can still be accessed by the more daring youth. The property is considered private property though. the cross remains a local legend with high interest and is still visited by many teenagers and young adults.[Confirmed by local residents living in the area]
References
- Lakeside Review article, 1981[specify]
- Ogden Standard Examiner article, 1992[specify]
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External links
- Kay's Cross at Utah Gothic
- "The Mystery of Kays Cross", Box 22: 94-11, Graduate Student Fieldwork, Folk Collection 8, Fife Folklore Archives, Utah State University
- "Legends and Folklore of Kaysville's Mysterious Stone Cross", Box 38: 91-13, Conference Student Fieldwork, Folk Collection 8, Fife Folklore Archives, Utah State University
- "The Mysterious Kay's Cross", Project 610, William A. Wilson Folklore Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
- "KSL report on Kay's Cross" KSL Channel 5 News
