History of Piute County

Small in area and population, but rich in!g history, Piute County is located in centralg.- Utah. It is a land of high mountains andz =mountain-ss valleys. Human occupation of thegi a -- area began at least 10,000 years ago and hask%; continued to the present day. The countywas Ei w =named- after an early spelling of the Paiute -_Indians,we who, along with bands of Utes and $@sz= other Native Americans, occupied the region@ D 4% =at the time of the beginning of white settle-~g ment. Early Mormon settlers soon found the":' *--= gland_== to be best suited to livestock raising,&& md= -= zE- although some farming was done, particu-$5 Fz ----=a -&%drbx --=---, larly of forage crops and potatoe~~~~!~~~ r=@A&= - t4ri ip 3-& gyAb&% -==F d sg-- The county was the scene of troubles dur-&g =-- -+ $@_=-i- ing the Black Hawk War of the 1860s; but,::$ =after settlement resumed, discoveries of gold~;g?$353 z&% #"Pi i -*--a and silver, particularly around Marysvale,p$&- $"* - Zs led to a rapid increase in population, includ-*$ke inga large percentage of non-Mormons. Pros-:E; perity generally continued into the twentiethg q: h* century, but the gradual decline of minings- meant a general return to the county's agri-Zd,-Dm F&= cultural economic base and consequent loss5 of population. In the late twentieth centurys q-q 7 Lli- =--*--- Piute County residents enjoy a quiet rural!& lifestyle. The county's beauty, with its rivers,@ --w- L--=__&-a --,-- lakes, and mountains, attracts nature lovers? ------A @g~;~-Es7=+*E~f~h!?% &is_--_ and,outdogr ~ecrx-t1onist~-kres-sz- . ---E~~-~ - -=- - - -- --. - - ----=-----i=*---~r -- - -- -Lff -jli_.. *#jli_jli_T--:-~--k-r e--v z2r-y-d&T-:;=& *~~z*zaz7~+iTgEg-F&g-g gcz: ~~~;F~~~~~~F~~~~~~~=----- ---~=->-~*G*Cu~; 0-913738-39-5 =EG*=+ :----;------4dr-Lr---==-- -- =-*-m:2-gG~ - -- ----+---- :A+==&&&&Z+?T$~~&Z~ -=- 4p-Mm~d=-:~&- g~:&z-*-=rr-$=- .,-=- r J*L& ; 4ia-=--Dwg?daz -E%e --__L-- --a ... '..=~a& A HISTORY OF Tiute County A HISTORY OF Linda King Newell 1999 Utah State Historical Society Piute County Commission Copyright O 1999 by Piute County Commission All rights reserved ISBN 0-913738-39-5 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-6 1324 Map by Automated Geographic Reference Center-State of Utah Printed in the United States of America Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City, Utah 8410 1- 1182 Contents vii INTRODUCTION...................................... CHAPTER1 The Natural History of Piute County . CHAPTER2 Prehistoric and Historic Native Americans in Piute County . Exploring the Land . The First White Settlement of Piute County Indian Troubles: The Black Hawk War . Old Towns, New Towns, Boom Towns . A New Order of Things . Defining the County . Bridging the Centuries . A New Century, New Developments . CHAPTER11 The Roaring Twenties through the Great Depression ........................... The Middle Years: 1940 through 1960 ..... Piute County on the Threshold of aNewCentury ........................ General Introduction WhenUtah was granted statehood on 4 January 1896, twenty- seven counties comprised the nation's new forty-fifth state. Subsequently two counties, Duchesne in 1914 and Daggett in 1917, were created. These twenty-nine counties have been the stage on which much of the history of Utah has been played. Recognizing the importance of Utah's counties, the Utah State Legislature established in 1991 a Centennial History Project to write and publish county histories as part of Utah's statehood centennial commemoration. The Division of State History was given the assign- ment to administer the project. The county commissioners, or their designees, were responsible for selecting the author or authors for their individual histories, and funds were provided by the state legislature to cover most research and writing costs as well as to provide each public school and library with a copy of each history. Writers worked under general guidelines provided by the Division of State History and in cooperation with county history committees. The counties also established a Utah Centennial County History Council vii ... vlll GENERALINTRODUCTION to help develop policies for distribution of state-appropriated funds and plans for publication. Each volume in the series reflects the scholarship and interpreta- tion of the individual author. The general guidelines provided by the Utah State Legislature included coverage of five broad themes encompassing the economic, religious, educational, social, and political history of the county. Authors were encouraged to cover a vast period of time stretching from geologic and prehistoric times to the present. Since Utah's statehood centennial celebration falls just four years before the arrival of the twenty-first century, authors were encouraged to give particular attention to the history of their respec- tive counties during the twentieth century. Still, each history is at best a brief synopsis of what has transpired within the political boundaries of each county. No history can do jus- tice to every theme or event or individual that is part of an area's past. Readers are asked to consider these volumes as an introduction to the history of the county, for it is expected that other researchers and writers will extend beyond the limits of time, space, and detail imposed on this volume to add to the wealth of knowledge about the county and its people. In understanding the history of our counties, we come to understand better the history of our state, our nation, our world, and ourselves. In addition to the authors, local history committee members, and county commissioners, who deserve praise for their outstanding efforts and important contributions, special recognition is given to Joseph Francis, chairman of the Morgan County Historical Society, for his role in conceiving the idea of the centennial county history project and for his energetic efforts in working with the Utah State Legislature and State of Utah officials to make the project a reality. Mr. Francis is proof that one person does make a difference. Introduction Piute County, named with the pioneer spelling for the Paiute Indians, sits in the geographic center of Utah and is the second small- est county in the state-both in size (763 square miles) and in population (1,508). Piute's eastern boundary once stretched to the Colorado border, but today it is cut much shorter, most directly by Wayne County. Sevier County to the north, Wayne to the east, Garfield to the south, and Beaver County to the west define the mod- ern boundaries of Piute County. But what this diminutive county lacks in size and population, it makes up in community spirit and colorful history. Prehistoric Fremont peoples fished in the streams that gush from the Tushar Mountains. Later, the Old Spanish Trail wound its way across the Sevier River and then south to California, where Spanish and later Mexican traders sold Paiute Indian children as slaves. Early mountain men came to the area in search of beaver; Mormon explor- ers and pioneers came in search of places to settle. The Black Hawk Indian War brought tragedy to both settlers and Native Americans. Brigham Young castigated the inhabitants of Circleville for the massacre of a band of friendly Paiute Indians and called for the evacuation of all the settlements in a four-county area (Kane, Garfield, Piute, and Sevier). After the Black Hawk hostilities ended, the discovery of gold brought hundreds of miners into the mountains surrounding Marysvale. New towns sprung up overnight, only to be abandoned within a few short years when most of the gold, silver, lead, and other metals had been mined out. Kingston began as a communal settlement where the United Order, a program of the nineteenth century Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was practiced. In the 1880s and 1890s, federal deputies swept through the county to arrest Mormons living in plural marriages. A number of them, including one woman, served prison terms in the territorial penitentiary. Otter Creek and Piute Reservoirs, built around the turn of the century, are a haven today for fishing enthusiasts, boaters, and campers. The famous outlaw Butch Cassidy grew up near Circleville and, some say, is buried there. Marie Bertelson danced from the floors of the outdoor dance hall at Purple Haze to Hollywood, where, as Marie Windsor, she played in over 150 movies. Journalists from all over the state crowded into the Junction Courthouse to watch Calvin Rampton, later a popular governor of the state, try his first big case- a murder over water rights. The discovery of uranium gave new life to the struggling Piute communities following World War I1 but left a legacy of cancer to its miners. The old mining and logging roads that crisscross the region's mountains have become a labyrinth of some the state's most scenic ATV trails, linking Piute, Beaver, Sevier, and Millard Counties with over 300 miles of trails. The routes are frequented in summer by sightseers, in the fall by deer hunters, and in winter by snowmobil- ers. My own roots go deep into Piute history. On my father's side, my great-grandparents-the Kings and the Foisys-were among the first settlers of Marysvale. My grandfather, George Davies, had the first U.S. mail contract between Junction and Escalante. He married my grandmother, Emma Carson Morrill, who's first husband, John (Jack) Morrill, froze to death near the Blue Springs fish hatchery early in the twentieth century. My mother, Pearl Davies, was born in Junction and attended school in Circleville. My father, Foisy King, grew up in Marysvale. I grew up with fond memories of Piute County and frequent visits to my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. One of my most difficult tasks in writing this book was deciding what to include and what not to include.

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