Westwater Lost and Found
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2004 Westwater Lost and Found Mike Milligan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Milligan, Mike, "Westwater Lost and Found" (2004). All USU Press Publications. 145. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/145 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page i Westwater Lost and Found Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page ii Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page iii Westwater Lost and Found Mike Milligan Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 2004 Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page iv Copyright © 2004 Utah State University Press All rights reserved. Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7800 Cover design by Richard Howe. Cover photographs: Catching air rising out of the hole at Skull Rapid. Photo by Mike Milligan. Margaret and Dick Durrance, Ted Steinway, and a farmer (probably Emmett Elizondo) at Westwater in 1950. Margaret Durrance photo. Ulrich Martins watches Ted Young run Funnel Falls on the first kayak trip through Westwater Canyon on August 16, 1962. Joseph M. Lacy photo courtesy of Mayme Lacy. E. C. and Lula Malin at their Westwater ranch with their dog Fritz. Photo courtesy of Ila B. Reay. Manufactured in the United States of America. Printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Milligan, Mike, 1954- Westwater lost and found / Mike Milligan. p. cm. ISBN 0-87421-572-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Westwater (Utah)—History. 2. Westwater (Utah)—Description and travel. 3. Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)—History. 4. Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)—Description and travel. I. Title. F834.W477M55 2004 979.2—dc22 2003024239 Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page v To “Pete,” Pauline Peterson Milligan Lambert Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page vi Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page vii Contents Illustrations viii Preface x 1 First Touched by Man: Beginnings 1 2 Westwater Town: A Trip in Time 29 3 Gunslingers and Bad Guys 75 4 Cattle versus Sheep 105 5 Rocks, Dams, and Hideouts: Entering the Canyon 123 6 The River Runners: Entering the Gorge 148 7 Skull Rapid 199 8 The Memorial 216 9 Epilogue 228 Appendix A: Kolb and Loper, 1916 233 Appendix B: Colorado Sites within the Westwater Region 238 Notes 241 Bibliography 268 Name Index 274 Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page viii Illustrations Photos Sheep petroglyph at Little Hole 14 A Book Cliffs pictograph, possibly a boat 14 Antoine Robidoux inscription 18 Wild Horse (Miner’s) Cabin 31 Owen Madox Malin 32 E. C. and Lula Malin 33 The Bryson family 34 Duplex Miners’ Cabins 35 The foundation of the former Westwater school 36 D&RGW Railroad and Westwater Ranch 36 Westwater town site 37 Engine pulled out of the Colorado River 38 Mickey Thompson 40 Joe Rush inscription 45 Lorraine Thompson 46 Westwater water tank 47 Beryle and Gerry Thompson 49 A Westwater building—American Railway Exp 53 Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Lawrence with a giant pikeminnow 54 Jack and Ila Malin with a pikeminnow 55 Concrete forms on Westwater Ranch 57 Ed Herbert’s garage 59 One of the buildings on E. C. Malin’s ranch 63 E. C. Malin with son Jack (John L. Malin) 64 Unknown child and D&RGW section house 67 Beryle Thompson 68 Foundations of houses at Westwater 70 Former site of Westwater town 70 Captain Wilson Ellis Davis 78 Area where Charles Brock’s dugout was once located 79 George Walter Bryson 107 Unknown cowboys 108 Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page ix Wild horses at Malin Ranch 109 Large sheep facility, built in the 1930s 112 Harvey Edward Herbert’s home 113 Ed Herbert at Westwater 113 Westwater Ranch 116 Owen Malin and his stepbrother Jesse Hunt 128 Jesse Hunt riding the hills above Westwater 128 “Dam site on Grand River 6 miles below Westwater, Utah” 129 Barrel rings found at Big Hole 132 Outlaw Cave 140, 141 Dee Holladay at Outlaw Cave 142 Dee Holladay, Holiday River Expeditions 143 Bert Loper in Upper Westwater Canyon 154 Bert Loper in Black Canyon 155 Parley Galloway 166 Skull Rapid in low water 169 “Utaline: where Colorado River enters Utah” 171 Harold H. Leich with the Dirty Devil 172 Harold H. Leich with the Rob Roy 174 Placer mine outfit 174 Roy Christensen at Skull Rapid 178 Margaret and Dick Durrance, Ted Steinway, and a Westwater farmer 181 Dick Durrance and Ted Steinway portaging 182 Westwater Canyon upriver from Skull Rapid 189 Aerial photo of Funnel Falls 191 Walter Kirschbaum, Joe M. Lacy, Ted Young, and Ulrich Martins 192 Ulrich Martins watches Ted Young run Funnel Falls 193 Walter Kirschbaum entering Skull Rapid 194 Joe M. Lacy’s slide register 195 Kim Crumbo, Dee Holladay, Frank Moss, and Bates Wilson 196 1916 photo of Whirlpool (Skull) Rapid 198 Skull Rapid 200, 201, 202, 203, 204 Memorial to C. R. Sherrill 221 Old stove door is inscribed with DAVIS 231 Maps Frank Baxter’s 1894 survey map showing “Road to Salt Lake” 24 Map of Westwater area by Hayden survey, 1875–1876 26 Westwater town map 30 Henrylyn Orchards Colony map 52 Survey map, 1894, showing the location of “Chas Brock” cabin 76 Locations of prominent ranches and homesteads in the Westwater area 106 Westwater Canyon map 122 Les Jones’s scroll map of Westwater 208, 209 Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page x Preface n September 10, 1998, I pulled into Westwater during the Onight and, after setting up camp, approached the launch near the ranger station. The reflection of the moon allowed me a limited view of the Colorado River. The night was still with what seemed like billions of stars set against a dark sky, and the only sound was that of the river’s current slowly flowing past me. It was a time for me to reflect and realize it had been fifteen years since I last ran the canyon below. It had not, however, been fif- teen years that I had forgotten Westwater. In fact a good portion of my time away had been spent researching whatever informa- tion existed about the canyon and surrounding area. I had come back a few times to hike nearby as part of my research, but each time I bypassed the river. Being there that September night was not the same as it was in 1983 when I last ran as a river guide for Western River Expeditions. From 1978 through 1983, I worked primarily Cataract, Desolation, and Westwater Canyons, as well as a few Grand Canyon trips. In this time I developed an interest in the history of each of these areas. As I became more knowl- edgeable about the history of the Colorado and Green Rivers I found it was a great asset for me as a professional river guide to be able to share the information with customers as we traveled the waterways together. Unfortunately there was little that had been published about Westwater Canyon other than what was in Belknap’s Canyonlands River Guide. Before putting on to the river the following morning, I visit- ed with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger Alvin Halliday to ask about any new historical information that may have sur- faced during my absence. A few pieces of updated history had fil- tered up through the years, but not much that would change the story as it existed fifteen years earlier. Westwater was still x Westwater 1/7/04 2:47 PM Page xi Preface xi considered one of the little-known regions along the Green and Colorado Rivers with little more to say about it than to advertise a wild and scenic river trip. I was a bit disturbed when I later learned others were just discovering pieces of history that I had known for at least ten to fifteen years. It reminded me of my first attempts to gather Westwater data by contacting a known river historian. A seem- ingly good contact and extremely interesting, he shared bits and pieces of river history along both the Green and Colorado Rivers. During our few conversations he indicated that he knew a lot about Westwater. However, he had gone through the canyon only once and was not overly impressed by it. He had no interest in the area, much less a desire to write about it. Moreover, though he claimed to have historical information that could be useful to another historian such as me, he was only willing to share it for a price. I was dismayed that he could possibly let the history die or put a price on its survival. At that point I resolved that I would share the information I found. Inexperienced as a historian, I began by researching those who had boated the canyon of Westwater. Later I expanded my research to other aspects of the human history of the area. With some excitement, I corresponded with individuals whose works I had read or who to me were historical figures, including Don Harris, Pearl Baker, C. Gregory Crampton, Les Jones, P. T. Reilly, John Hoffman, Jackson Thode, Charlie Hunt, and Frank Wright. What originally prompted this research may best be explained by my journal entry dated August 22, 1981.