About Utah: Book of Mormon witness Martin Harris, 'The Man Who Knew,' died who knows where

"All I know is people say Martin Harris lived there with his son," says Gary Lee Godfrey, Gary's son whose house is next door, as he points toward a foundation that reputedly dates back at least to 1874 and now sits inside a frame of more recent vintage.

In the end, there's just enough mystery to keep the topic percolating, in a healthy sort of way.

"I guess we'll never know 100 percent," says Lloyd Bytheway as he surveys the spot in his yard that May Have Been. "It would be cool if it were here, but I'm not holding my breath."

Next door, Cory Orvin points to an old metal pipe that stands in the long grass in his back yard and says, "This could be all that's left."

Adds Clark, "I'm sorry they didn't save the old building. But people back then, I'm sure they didn't think one thing about it.

"But you know," continues Clark, a faithful, card-carrying, believing Mormon all his life, "it really doesn't matter where he lived. What matters is what he said, and that he said it here before he died."

Lee Benson's About Utah column runs Monday and Friday. Email: benson@desnews.com