The St. George Temple Foundation — The Old Cannon Pile Driver

The site chosen by Brigham Young for the St. George Temple was a boggy, alkaline swamp. To create a stable foundation, workers needed to drive large volcanic rocks into the earth until they reached solid ground, but they lacked the heavy machinery for such a task. In a moment of remarkable providence, an old Mexican War-era cannon (a 32-pounder) was located in the city. The pioneers filled the cannon with lead to increase its weight to approximately 1,000 pounds, rigged it to a derrick, and used it as a makeshift pile driver. This 'hammer' successfully drove the rocks into the marsh, creating a foundation so solid that the temple has never settled or cracked in over a century, despite the unstable soil.