wife Ann Eliza Hunter that "only men with plenty of hair on 'em are tough enough to stand the climate of Bear Lake." Climate and geography played no small part in the lives of the men and women who settled that region of Utah. Divided into two distinct areas, the county's geography has produced somewhat of an identity problem. The Bear River Valley communities of Randolph and Woodruff have traditionally shared more commonality with towns in southwestern Wyoming, while Laketown and Garden City have had more in common with the older settlements in the Idaho portion of Bear Lake Valley. This dis- parity is still evident today. Rich County is probably the only county in the state whose newspapers are published in two different states, neither of which is Utah.~xl'-P xr'b L " This volume follows the course of human interaction with the land and resources of Rich County, Utah, as it describes the county's history from the time of its earliest Native American inhabitants through the eras of fur trappers, Mormon settlement, and mining to recent developments in ;he oil and gas indus- try and in recreation and tourism A HISTORY OF Kith County A HISTORY OF Robert E. Parson 1996 Utah State Historical Society Rich County Commission Copyright O 1996 by the Rich County Commission All rights reserved ISBN 0-913738-02-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-60061 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 84 10 1- 1182 Dedicated to A. J. Simmonds Without whose encouragement and knowledge of Utah history sources this work would not have been possible. And to thepeople of Rich County. Contents CHAPTER1 "The Very Land Itself. ." Prehistory and Presettlement in Rich County ........................... 1 CHAPTER2 "The Snow Lies Too Low on the Mountains Here for Utah" The Mormon Settlements in Northern Bear Lake Valley ............... 38 CHAPTER3 "Nine Months Winter and the Balance ... Pretty Cold Weather" Life and Settlement in Rich County, 1864-1896 ............................. 67 CHAPTER4 "Like an Emerald Among the Mountains" Recreational Activities at Bear Lake and Rich County ....................... 120 ... vlll CONTENTS CHAPTER5 "Like A Slow-Moving but Unstoppable GlacierJJ Natural Resources in the Bear River and Bear Lake Valleys .................... 157 CHAPTER6 "New Country and Untried Climate" The Agricultural History of Rich County ... 177 CHAPTER7 "Still Look to the Future in Faith" Religion and Life In Rich County .......... 2 18 CHAPTER8 "To Gain the Attention of Children" Education in Rich County. ............... 245 CHAPTER9 "In An Ever Broadening Role" Local Government In Rich County ........ 273 APPENDIXA County Statistics, Prominent Educators, Religious Leaders, Civic Leaders, and Early Rich County Settlers .................... 30 1 APPENDIXB Rich County Public Health Nursing by Helen Kennedy Cornia ................ 3 19 APPENDIXC School Through the Years by Annie S. Wamsley .................... 323 APPENDIXD The Bear Lake Monster .................. 327 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 19 14 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 199 1 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 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 of Morgan County 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 Early Bear Lake settler Joseph C. Rich remarked to his future wife Ann Eliza Hunter in 1863 that "only men with plenty of hair on 'em are tough enough to stand the climate of Bear Lake." To those who endured, raised families, and whose names became linked with the area, the rigorous climate of Rich County became something to be celebrated. Not just anyone could make a go of it in Rich County. And not just anyone did. The early history of Rich County is pep- pered with examples of settlers who came, spent one winter in the area, and then left the next spring. The paths of outgoing settlers crossed the paths of other incoming settlers as the population of Rich County has either declined or remained static during much of its history. Although its climate is extreme, the area is a land of extreme beauty. Hardly anyone who ever traversed the area has failed to note that fact. "What a country!" Rich exclaimed to Ann Eliza. The coun- try Rich described was one full of wild game, fish, water, timber, and grass. It had been an important point of operations for early fur trap- ping activities in the late 1820s. Prior to the fur trade era, Rich xii INTRODUCTION County was claimed by both Shoshoni and Blackfoot Indians, who fought one another for preeminence in the area. Diarists who trav- eled the Oregon Trail during the 1840s, following the meanderings of the Bear River northwest to present-day Montpelier, Idaho, and on to Oregon, often commented on the region's abundant resources. Bear Lake Valley and the upper Bear River Valley were among the areas of consideration for Mormon settlement in 1847. But the prospects of establishing successful agricultural communities that far north were problematic. Therefore, during their first decade in the Great Basin, Mormons concentrated their colonizing efforts in the Salt Lake Valley, the lower Bear River Valley, and points south. Not until 1863 did Mormon colonists under Charles C. Rich found set- tlements at Paris and St. Charles. Rich County lies in the northeast notched corner of Utah and borders on Cache, Morgan, Summit, and Weber counties and the states of Idaho and Wyoming. The county contains approximately 1,023 square miles and ranges in elevation from 5,924 feet at the shore of Bear Lake to 9,148 feet at Monte Cristo Peak. Its elevation and location made the settlement of Rich County difficult, as it was isolated from other areas of settlement. Brigham Young remarked to Charles C. Rich in 1866 that he would be happy to visit the Bear Lake communities as soon as a passable road was constructed. There was no easy route into the valley, and the county's geographic isolation has continued to play an important part in its development. Today, connections to areas outside the county are possible only by two-lane highways, and until the 1950s some of these connections were gravel roads. The communities of Rich County are isolated geographically from the rest of the state, and they are isolated from each other. The Bear Lake and Bear River valleys comprise the two main geographic regions of the county. The communities of Laketown and Garden City in Bear Lake Valley have more in common with the communi- ties of Paris, Fish Haven, and St. Charles, Bear Lake County, Idaho, than with Woodruff and Randolph in the Bear River Valley. Similarly, Woodruff and Randolph have more in common with communities in southwestern Wyoming than they have with Laketown and Garden City. When Mormon settlers first established themselves at Paris and ... INTRODUCTION Xlll St. Charles, they assumed that the entire Bear Lake Valley was part of Utah Territory. The Utah Territorial Assembly agreed and created Rich County (then called Richland County) in 1866, placing the county seat at St.