NORTH OGDEN, Utah -- Peter Skene Ogden was a famous explorer and fur trader, and a Utah city and river are named for him.
A group of seventh grade students at a local school discovered a monument to Peter Skene Ogden has some mistakes, and they are working to fix them.
Justin Urry teaches at North Ogden Junior High School, and he said he tries to help his students get hands on learning experiences.
"last year I got the idea of having them find out for themselves where he traveled and coming to their own conclusions,” Urry said.
The students began their study at the monument to Ogden in the city’s Oaklawn Park, but they were surprised to find some mistakes. The man’s name was spelled incorrectly, and the mention of his time in the area was also incorrect. Student’s also found that the man had never made it down to the site of the monument.
"I was kind of amazed that there were so many things wrong with it and that there could even be other things wrong with other monuments that we could find,” said Gracie Ballard, who is one of the seventh graders involved.
Seventh-grader Kaitlin Marietti said it was a learning moment.
"I was kind of excited and I was surprised, because it makes you think about how many other monuments in the world could be incorrect,” she said.
The students took their findings to the city council. Ron Chandler, City Manager for North Ogden City, said they were happy to hear the children’s findings.
"We thought it was great that the kids were taking interest in this and really great that they were coming to the city council,” he said.
The city council and the Daughters of the American Revolution, who donated the monument, are discussing the issue and what to do with the monument now.
