Toquerville Mission—An
interesting bit of Church history involves the call of Brother John C. Naegle
on a mission to Toquerville, Utah in 1886. He was called by President
Brigham Young to set up a wine mission for the Church. Toquerville, located
about 30 miles south of Cedar City, had the ideal soil and climate for growing
fruit, especially had the ideal soil and climate for growing fruit, especially
grapes. Brother Naegle, a German immigrant and experienced vinter, moved to Toquerville
and commenced to plant grapes, build a large rock house with a wine cellar, and
make sacrament wine. At the height of the Toqueville wine mission, the winery
produced 3,000 gallons of sacrament wine a year, much of which was shipped by
wagon in 40-gallon casks to ZCMI in Salt Lake City, which then sold the wine to
wards in the area. (Lee H. Van Dam, The Sacrament: A Historical View [Cottonwoods,
Utah: LHVD Books, 2022], 68, emphasis in original)
