A History of the Latter-Day Settlement of Star Valley, Wyoming

Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1962 A History of the Latter-Day Settlement of Star Valley, Wyoming Ray McCord Hall Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hall, Ray McCord, "A History of the Latter-Day Settlement of Star Valley, Wyoming" (1962). Theses and Dissertations. 4741. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4741 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]. 0 o h447 A HISTORY OPOFTHE laimerlatmerLAIVERDAYLATTERDAYLAIVERLATTER DAY SAINTSAIMT settlement OPOFSTAR VALIXYVALLEY WYOMING A thesis submitted to the college of religious instruction brigham young university proveprovo p utahubah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of science by ray SI hall july 1962 axxxowledgments there are many people who have contributed to this work and I1 gratefully knowledgeacknowledgeae their assistance rostroatmostmoat of them will of necessity go unmentioned but the help of all those who have contributed information loaned documents i or given encouragement Is sincerely appreciated of invaluable assistance has been the lectioncollectioneolcoi of data entitled star valley and itsita communities which was com- pliedpiled by the university of wyoming extension class education 603603i school and community relationsRelatlonsionslninaugust and september of igi1911951 the classelass was composed of a group of star valley residents and was taught by dr clarence D jayne special thanks go to dr russellrusseliR richrichsrichy committee chairman who has given freely of his time and counsel to dr merlin J shaw who has likewise been most helpful to jay Lir hepworth of redburgrexburgRexburg idaho who loaned the author much material and has displayed unusual interest in this project to maud burton who has written much to preserve the pioneer history of star valley and to my wife LalafondfondifondsPonds without whose editorial assistance this work might well have never been accomplished ililii111 TABLE OF CONTENTSGOHTEKTS page LIST OPOFillustrations vilvii11 chapter I1 introductioni14troduction 1 background purpose method of procedure II11 THE rahlyEARLYEAHLY VALLEY 6 theehe general area the valley proper the coming of the white man the valley is named III111 REASONSHEASOMS FORTORpor THE settlement 19 the church expands antiantipolygamypolygamy legislation other reasonsreafonsaeons IV SMLMNT OFQT TTHEteeHE UPPER VALLEY 26 selection of the valley afton townsltownsitete chosen A discouraging outlook fairview grover the call for colonistscolonials afton Is settled osmond smoot V THE colonization OFOT THE LOWERLOWEBVALLEY 1040 freedom etna thayne bedford nervilleturnervllleturnervilleturnermilletunTur iv chapter page other communitcommunitiescommunitycommunit is s followfollow suitsult9 uj4 v progress in education the unique problem of freedom the high school transportation difficultiesdifdir the church assumesficultiesfacultiesa supporting role XI agricultural GROWTH 125 A fertile land dobbin has his day irrigation XII moumowFROMprom MI-HERITAGETAGE TO DESTINY 132 SELECTED references 136 vi lllise11LISTST OPOFillustrations figure page 1 location of starsbar valley 9 2 western wyoming showing lander cutoffcut off 151 3 star valley 42 4 A typical pioneer cabin 544 5 an early mercantile establishment in the valley 10 0 63 6 the star valley stake tabernacle the day of the dedication 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 67 7 the first burton creamery 0 it 77 8 the11 half way house on the crow creekcreole road 103 9 first public meeting houseflouseeouse 112 10 public buildings in afton at the turn of the centycentury 119 11 the anson V call reslrealreaideresidenceResideBeaidencenoeaneep a temporary high school 122 vilvii CCHAPTERHA pterFTER I1 introduction backBachbackgroundground the church of jesus christ of latter day saints has from its inception been a church on the movesmove sometimes because it was forced to itits and at other times to expedite growth shortly after the organization of this church 1830 in new york state its prophetleaderprophet leader joseph smithsmithy moved with many of his followers to ohio the concept of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints that zion is and was in missouri impelled joseph smith to have his ever increasing flock go to missouri various factors caused a general persecution of the cormonsmormons there hhoweveroweverq keeping them on the move from one location to another eventually they were forced completely out of missouri and located at nauvoo illinoisTIlinolsnois here they built a thriving metropolis under the inspired leadership of their prophet nauvoo flourished for a time but persecution followed the saints there toostootoop and on june 27 1844 mobsters took the life of joseph smith political sympathy was not with this abused church and mob violence continued even after the death of their lwilliamawilliamlWilliamwilliam E berrett the restoredrestorestome d church loth10th ed rev salt lake city 2 deseret news press lebll9bl19bll PP 116118116 118 1 2 prophet brigham young and the others of the twelve apostles took over the reins of leadership and determined to lead the saints to a land M so remote that there will not need be any difficulty with the people and ourselves nw unrea- sonable pressure forced the cormonsmormons to begin their exodus in the dead of winterwinterswinterp and extreme hardship and privation attended the move of these outcasts across the plains the vanguard company of the Morcormonsmormonsmons pioneers in a real sense arrived in salt lake valley july 2421 1847184.7 it was here that they began anew to establish their culture brigham young was eager to expand the mountain domaindormaindornainmainmaln periodically he sent colonizing parties into the numerous neighboring and distant valleys 2 he assured the people that the saints could live any place that the indian could live and thus the intermountain west began to become a virtual mormon empire even the presence of an opposingb army failed to thwart the growth of this zealous people their zion21 on blossomed as a rose the public announcement of plural raarriagemarriage as a religious tenet in august of 1821852 naswaswms the cause of more troublous times for the Morcormonsmormonsmons federal legislation and political pressure caused a great deal of trouble for this church that taught polygamy the passage of the edmunds act of 1882 m god E 1 kingdom I grants 1 and2nd 10artercarter grant the kieadokinado0 of restoredI ed salt larelakela1mam city deseret news presetpresesprespros a 19719571957. P 333 abennettberrett op citcito p 28528 3 brought severe pressure upon the church to abandon the prac- tice 1 but the Morcormonsmormonsmons firmly believing that they were doing the will of god refused to bow to the will of men and sought havens of refuge mexico and canada supplied the needed pro- tection for those polyganistspolygamists who were willing to go so far from their leaders and loved ones others retreated to hishhighhighs isolated mountain valleys purpurposeoseoae one of the most remote of these retreats was star valley wyoming and the purpose of this study is to give a general description of its settlementsettlements of the difficulties of the early pioneers and of the courage and resourcefulness with which they met their problems it is to record perm- anently the significant events in the history of the valley to give a general account accurateeurateaccurate insofar as possible of the settlement of star valley by the latter day saints jus- tification for the writerwriters choice of subject is relatively simple to Mormormonstmormonsmormonemonstmons the history of their ancestors their moves and motivesmotivess their homhoneshomeses and familifamiliesfamiliessess their weaknesses and strengths their failures and successes is important the history of star valley has hitherto been a relatively un- explored field and it is the writers hope that this paper will be the mansmeans of preserving some of the riehnrichnessess of its heritage ab1bB H roberts oomprehencomprehensivesito histohistajstayry of0 tthehe churchurchc h salt lake city utah deseretde sereacresepet liewsdiewswe pressre ss 190igo1930 visvipVI 43 4 method of procedure the author hasilias endeavored to discover and consult every available source of accurate information pertaining to his subject he has interviewed many re siaidantsdent s presentpre sent and fornerformer of star valley and has attempted to substantiate their contribu- tions by the written record wherever possible he has consulted wyoming utahutahs and idaho history books church history books biographies of church leaders ji journals official stake and ward records county records newspaper files personal diaries and historical documents he has written many letters to persons who he had reason to believe trightndghtaright have pertinent information and some few of thoseborethosoborethosebore fruit having accumulated numerous file cards filled with notes and quotations the process of organization and elimina- tion was begun and despite great care on the part of the auttauthorlorkorkon to avoid such repetition of effort he still found it necessary to recheckre checkcheeksome

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