A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley UTAH CENTENNIAL COUNTY HISTORY SERIES A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley The settlement of Beaver County began in February 1856 when fifteen families from Parowan moved by wagon thirty miles north to Beaver Valley. The county was created by the Utah legislature on 31 January 1856, a week before the Parowan group set out to make their new home. However, centuries before, prehistoric peoples lived in the area, obtaining obsidian for arrow and spear points from the Mineral Mountains. Later, the area became home to Paiute Indians. Franciscan Friars Dominguez and Escalante passed through the area in October 1776. The Mormon settlement of Beaver devel­ oped at the foot of the Tushar Mountains. In 1859 the community of Minersville was es­ tablished, and residents farmed, raised live­ stock, and mined the lead deposits there. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Mineral Mountains and other locations in the county saw extensive mining develop­ ment, particularly in the towns of Frisco and Newhouse. Mining activities were given a boost with the completion of the Utah South­ ern Railroad to Milford in 1880. The birth­ place of both famous western outlaw Butch Cassidy and inventor of television Philo T. Farnsworth, Beaver County is rich in history, historic buildings, and mineral treasures. ISBN: 0-913738-17-4 A HISTORY OF 'Beaver County A HISTORY OF Beaver County Martha Sonntag Bradley 1999 Utah State Historical Society Beaver County Commission Copyright © 1999 by Beaver County Commission All rights reserved ISBN 0-913738-17-4 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-61325 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 84101-1182 Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii GENERAL INTRODUCTION ix CHAPTER 1 Beaver County: The Places That Shape Us . 1 CHAPTER 2 The Land and Its People 7 CHAPTER 3 Exploration 1776-1856 36 CHAPTER 4 The Establishment of Beaver County and Its Communities 1856-1870 50 CHAPTER 5 The World Outside Comes to Beaver 1870-1900 101 CHAPTER 6 Entrance into the Twentieth Century 1900-1920 179 CHAPTER 7 Prosperity and Depression 1920-1950 221 CHAPTER 8 Post War Movement into Better Times 1950-1999 298 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 385 INDEX 387 V Acknowledgments M..y earliest memories of Beaver County were formed when my family made our annual trek to the beach at Southern California. Part of the ritual, from which we never deviated, was to stop at Beaver for dinner. It became our refuge, our rest stop at least, a time when we could finally pile out of the car and come up for air. Each year my mother patiently pulled into the covered parking lot of a restaurant on Main Street carefully parking between two poles that held up a metal covering, not unlike a carport. Each year after we were fed and were acting like human beings again, we got back in the car and she pulled out. As if it were part of the ritual, each year she scraped the side of our station wagon on the metal pole to one side or the other of the car, something bending it slightly. I have always con­ sidered that our family's unique contribution to Beaver. My parents, however, inadvertently instilled in me a great love of rural Utah on those trips for I would watch the miles and miles of changing terrain and skies so much bigger than at home and believe this was the backdrop of the story of the Mormon pioneers. To me that meant it was sacred turf. The land, the beautiful rock and adobe vn viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS buildings we explored, and the stretch of mountains and plateaus became a part of me as a youth and I still carry that great regard and respect for Utah that I learned from my parents as a child. Now, my experience of Utah is in a car filled with different chil­ dren, with a fresh vision of the land and its beauties. My children help me see Utah with new eyes, and have supported me in my endless search for greater understanding of it. Better than the finest cut sand­ stone foundations of Utah's beautiful pioneer buildings, my children are the rock I rest on and the backdrop of every story I write and live and I am always grateful for what they give me so generously. Jason, Elizabeth, Rachael, Emily, Katelyn, Patrick, and now Mark and Aspen make my life rich and beautiful. I am grateful for the enthusiastic support of Betty Miller, the Director of the Beaver County Travel Council and the chair of the Beaver County Centennial Committee who organized this project. Newcomer herself to this place (more than a decade ago) she saw its beauties and the value of its history with an enthusiasm and newness that was always inspiring. Her committee, which included Dell Hollingshead, Ann Messer, Gladys Whittaker, J. D. Osborne, Glenna Osborne, and Richard Albrecht, have been enormously helpful in providing ideas for improving the manuscript, identifying pho­ tographs, and have been incredibly patient with the pace of the work. This series, and certainly this book, would never have happened without the untiring efforts of Allan Kent Powell and Craig Fuller— being a part of this unique effort to chronicle the histories of counties of Utah has been a privilege. Allen D. Robert's work on the architecture and landscape of Beaver County is a part of this manuscript and as always Allen has mentored me through my efforts to better understand the built envi­ ronment and I recognize his important contribution. What a fitting conclusion to the project to have my friend Gary Bergera copy edit the manuscript. His careful eye and meticulous attention to detail has strengthened my efforts. General Introduction W,he n Utah 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 legis­ lature 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 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 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 polit­ ical 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. ALLAN KENT POWELL CRAIG FULLER GENERAL EDITORS o < CHAPTER 1 Introduction BEAVER COUNTY: THE PLACES THAT SHAPE US in part, my love of Beaver's countryside motivated me to write this book. It is easy to find many attractions in rural Utah, and in Beaver County these natural features abound—mountains to hike and explore, fertile farm fields and grazing land to the west, and small historic towns to investigate and learn from. For those of us who live outside the county, rural Utah has been home for significant periods of our lives, and it is where the stories of our ancestors play out. I feel privileged to have been able to help tell their stories. As have many of you, I have become increasingly concerned about the many threats to Beaver County's historically rural atmos­ phere.