The Homesteaders of Highland, Utah
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1992 Aberrant Mormon Settlers: The Homesteaders of Highland, Utah David T. Durfey Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Sociology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Durfey, David T., "Aberrant Mormon Settlers: The Homesteaders of Highland, Utah" (1992). Theses and Dissertations. 4656. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4656 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. aberrant mormon settlers the homesteaders of highland utah A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts s david T durfey 1992 by david T durfey december 1992 this thesis by david T durfey is accepted in its present form by the department of history of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of master of arts G wesley Jjonnsonn committee chair A paul B pixton committeecammicommi e member ya datey7 paul B pixton department chair acknowledgments I1 wish to express my gratitude to several persons who have assisted and supported me on this project over the last few years acting as my advisor professor G wesley johnson has been a critical source of encouragement and significant assistance I1 have great respect for his training and scholarship mariel budd secretary of the history department always displayed a willingness to be of assistance I1 also want to thank karen beeston for her meaningful suggestions in the organization and structure of this thesis cindy soderquists expertise in word processing has been extremely invaluable this project would never have been possible had it not been for the sustained efforts of certain selfappointedself appointed highland historians such as ruby buhler her collection of early historical and family records provided me with a starting point I1 appreciate all the longtimelong timeresidents of highland who have offered their views and interest and especially those who invited me into their homes to discuss the past I1 particularly want to thank keith adamson and alta adamson nash a brother and sister who were born and ililii111 raised in highland their keen memories have helped me to fill in the blanks and put flesh on the bones of this history I1 acknowledge my indebtedness to my parents for their financial aid and support of this venture finally I1 express appreciation to my wife chris and my children rachel aubrey taylor devan and isaac who have made difficult sacrifices in order to allow me the time this work has demanded they have been the driving force behind this project and the continual source of my strength and endurance their confidence in me and their love for me has always inspired me I1 hope they know of my eternal love and gratitude for them IV TABLE OF CONTENTCONTENTSS acknowledgements ill list of tables vi list of maps vii list of illustrations viii introduction 1 chapter 1 A distinctive STYLE OF settlement THE MORMON VILLAGE 8 2 nonresidentNON RESIDENT HIGHLAND homesteaders 28 3 ORIGINAL HIGHLAND RESIDENTS 58 4 OUTSIDERS AND OUTLIVERS 114 5 conclusion AND AFTERMATH 123 appendix A occupations of male heads of households highland 1880 & 1900 129 B ages of highlands total population 1880 & 1900 130 C birthplaces of highland heads of households 1880 & 1900 131 D census history of highland homesteaders residents and nonresidentsnon residents 132 E average age when homestead was finalized nonresidentnon resident outliversOutlivers resident outliversOutlivers resident outsiders 135 bibliography 137 LIST OF TABLES 1 number of homestead patents received in five year periods 36 2 relationship between the residentsnonres id entsnon residents and the outsidersoutlivers of the thirtyseventhirty seven original homesteaders of highland 117 vi LIST OF MAPS 1 the state of utah and utah county 2 2 highland utah and the surrounding communities of lehi american fork and alpine 31 VII LIST OF illustrations 1 original homesteaders of highland 35 VIII introduction almost thirty years after the mormons arrived in the salt lake valley and nearly thirty miles away a few brave souls began to settle on virgin land outside the mormon villages of lehi alpine and american fork in north utah county many of these first homesteaders moved away before their new place of residence ever received a name since 1850 when the surrounding communities were settled this area was referred to as the bench which it did resemble because it was a long flat elevated plain located above the valley floor near the western foothills of the wasatch mountains see map 1 the scottish immigrants however who began to farm on the bench in the 1870s and 1880s decided that highland was a more appropriate and descriptive title since it reminded them of their highlands of home it took some time for this name to take hold but by 1890 the church and government began to acknowledge this designation in their records the history of highlands origin as a community is significant in the historiography of mormonism and early utah speaking of the importance that local community histories could have on the broader more general history of utah one historian made the following observation 1 MAPMAPI1 the state of utah and utah county saltsaitlake city source drawn by author from atlas of utahU wayne L wahlquist ed provo utah brigham young university press 1981 p 18 2 the town generally speaking not only stands at the center of the mormon experience but that indeed it long stood at the center of the churchs entire experience and studies which bypass life of everyday mormons at the town level to focus upon the church hierarchy and upon salt lake city leave untilledunfilled mormon historys most fertile seedbed 1 the mormon village has been popularly researched by sociologists and historians 2 but the breakdown of this highly structured colonization pattern has received little attention the pioneer migration of mormons to utah has been well documented but the sequestered outoutmigrationmigration within utah has been hardly recognized 3 the histories of original utah charles S peterson A mormon village one mans west journal of mormon history 3 1976 p 3123 12 2seeaseeee leonard J arrington great aminbminbasin kingdom cambridge mass harvard university press 1958 pgsggs889588 95 215223215 223 354355354 355 382384382 384milton R hunter brigham youniyoung the colonizer salt lake city deseret news press 1941 pgsggs596759 67 118133118 133 142163142 163 dean L maylmaymayy the making of saints the mormon town as a setting for the study of cultural 0 change utah historical quarterlyO uarterlydriy 45 winter 1977 p 759275 92 lowry nelson the mormon village A pattern pdand technique of land settlement salt lake city university of utah press 1952 charles S peterson A mormon village one mans west journal of mormon hishistory 3 1976 p 3123 12 joel E ricks forms and methods of early monmormon s0sasettlementlementloment logan utah utah state university press 1964 wayne L wahlquist settlement processes in the mormon core arealarea 184718901847 1890 phd diss university of nebraska 1974 donald W meinig the mormon culture region strategies and patterns in the geography on the american west 184719641847 1964 annals of the association of american geographers 55 june 1965 p 191220191220.191 220 richard H jackson the mormon village genesis and antecedents of the city ofzionof zion plan briiihbrigham young Univeruniversitysitysilystudies 17 winter 1977 p 223240223 240 there is a deficiency in the amount of historical research completed on the migrationoutmigrationout within utah see lowell ben bennion A geogeographersgrahgrvhers discoveryDiscovervvery of great basin kingdom great basin kingdom revisited thomas G alexander ed logan utah utah state university press 1991 most of utah colonization literature which refers to the out- migration of mormons does so in the sense that large companies of mormons left the state because they were responding to a church call of settling beyond the borders of utah in order to enlarge and strengthen the boundaries of mormonism for example richard sherlock mormon migration and settlement after 1875 journal of monmormon hishistory 2 1975 p 536853 68 charles S PepetersontersonI take up your mission mormon colonization alonealong the little colorado river 187019001870 19w1900 tucson university of arizona press 1973 john F palmer mormon settlements in the san juan basin of colorado and new mexico MA thesis brigham young 3 settlements have been written and rewritten but the later development of smaller freelancefree lance communities as outgrowths of larger organized settlements has been barely noticed some of these bedroom communities like an illegitimate child suffer from a historical identity crisis not knowing who conceived them one obvious reason why these settlements have largely been ignored is because they were so gradual in their development and slow in growth that no one noticed or was interested in their history until long after the original settlers had died or moved away leaving few records behind them another reason why histories of the freelancefree lance communities are not as prevalent is because they