Show I 1 T TL TT A rt TT T T T 7 A T T rt r T r IL JC UINTAH COUNTY COT AND ASHLEY VALLEY X I 1 1 V uintah county la Is wie hundred and five miles long and fifty five miles wide and Is located in the northeastern part ot of utah it la Is bounded on the coith by a part of wyoming on the east by a part of colorado on the south bi carbon county and on the west by wasatch it Is divided into mountainous and valley country 1 some of the most moat beautiful and richest in the world it Is well watered at ered the stream being the green river running last cast though th tb ough browns brown s park then from colorado it enters the count county again east of vernal running in a southwesterly direction through the southeastern south pastern pait of the county ashley creek rises in the uintah mountains and runs through tho the cen aral of the county brush creek also ilses in tho the uintah mountains and runs almost parallel with ashley creek about twelve miles to the coith noi th the altitude ranges biorn feet in the lower valleys to more than feet on the lofty peaks of the great uintah range which w aich runs through the county aiom east to west the climate Is moie delightful the mountains aie taller the valleys aro are A more expansive the skies are bluer the sun shines more regularly and moie the water clearer and colder than in most any country on the face of the earth the population at the present time Is about people most of whom I 1 residence of mrs W P coltharp photo ilie in ashley valley the garden spot of the west ii est it Is twenty tent miles in length and seven miles in width and conidas contil cont das ns some of the finest farms in the united states thirty live five thou siybl si are under irrigation and and there is yet a large area of land the entire uintah basin is an ideal farm ing and ranc liln country everything can be grow heie that grows in the same latitude elsewhere all kinds of grain does renai kabli well nell and all kinds of garden stuff can be produced with pi cioper oper irrigation this Is the home of alfalfa and as mani as three cuttings in a season have been recorded the annual bield beld of alfalfa fL is about to tons the fruit raised in the county con fists ot 0 pears peaches apricots plums nil all kinds of small fruits and the bes bear quality of apples the soil throughout the county var leq from heava clay in some localities to a sandy loam in others and is very fertile and deep there are thou sands of of bench land well adapted to the cultice of the sugar beet and with an adequate supply of water there is a splendid location for a beet sugar siar factory tests made on the beets here show them to be above the average in sa sachar charine lne many of the farmers have been very sti suese ress ful A alth ath their dry farming expert ments bome splendid crops of oe ft heat oats birle corn potatoes having been raised without a drop of ater save that which came out of the clouds county was organized in 1880 froni from a of wasatch county and the population at that time vaa m as not to elc exceed ed COO the he first land was settled sealed in the spring of 1873 the assessed valuation of the county tor for this year Is an increase of over last 5 3 ear car the live stock may be enumerated as follows sheep head bead horses and mules mul 2871 he had d cattle head bead swine COO head hean there are colo tiles of bees a alth ith an output of SOO pounds 0 of honey per 5 ear the wool clip forthe for 0 the 3 bear ear will be worth r four r thousand acres in buheit yielded bushels the arst cabin m vaa as built in 1873 by captain pardon dodds and that cabin still stands as a monument to one of the giand old men of this valley lie ile still lives on the land he hc located in that year but he has built another house pardon dodds is an interesting figure and he deserves moie than a passing notice as do many other pioneers of the valley but we shall have to content ourselves with the hopes that more can be written of the others in some future issue of the paper captain dodds has been in this coun try in fact right here in this valley since the year 1867 lie ile was born in pennsylvania in 1838 ile he was ft as the first indian agent at whiterocks it was he who moved the agency to rock creek lit in 1868 that same year he removed it to White whiterocks rocUs it Is now located after acting as agent for three years he gave up the position in 1871 and 1872 ho he explored the colorado river with col powell and party from gheen aher city wyoming to ft mojave ive ills his wife and three out of the six children are still living when general sherman made his famous march to the sea captain dodds was aa with him lie ile was mas a member of the tenth ohio cavalry under general for forty daa das s and nights lie he was never out of hearing of a gun lie ile was in some ot of the fa battles battle of the civil nar ar including those of missionary ridge and lookout mountain uintah county I 1 la on a splendid financial insets the total bonded indebtedness is ie 19 these bonds were issued in 1899 and 1901 in three series A D B nd IV C they are 5 ear bonds bond five per cent interest per annum r hese bonds were Is sued for the pur ose of erecting a count court hoi ho se which together with furni furniture tute an anc fixtures cost in the neighborhood of 17 the value of the property by the county including the abone aboe and also ings real estate law books records road implemental implements Implement sl Is about the tax levy including state and state schools county and county schools distinct schools maintenance of the poor interest on bonds and the special sheep tax Is about to and one half cents on the do dollar and for this 3 sear ear may be itemized as follows state and state schools 13 56 county and county schools 56 district schools 12 84 mai mainton nten av po L I 1 AV av AV X 41 A 4 41 L A AVENUE OF TREES ON COUNT COUNTRY RIt ROAD NEAR VERNAL I 1 ance of the poor 1693 26 interest on bonds 1 1693 36 special sheep tax 82 the last financial statement of the county treasurer showed more than 2000 in the treasury the county is subdivided subdivide into thirteen teen voting districts and nineteen school districts and it might be nell to mention in this connection that the public schools of the county are to bo be compared comp ired with mith those of rny county in any state under the sui 1 A X X 7 6 UINTAH COUNTY COU PT HOUSE VERNAL UTAH of N 0 Sov ards the public school system Is getting better all the while ahe county roads are being constantly improved and it is the aim of the county commissioners commissio neis to keep them in the best of condition A heavy and substantial road grader was recently purchased and it Is all the while in use in one portion of the county or other at the present time carter john C dates bates john S hacking 6 george merkley ed samuels joseph P hacking 3 louls louis kabell park live stock company walt wait mcco 3 there are many owners of smaller flocks whose names cannot row be recalled but this will give some idea as to the magnitude of the business done along this line J I 1 nei comb photo FIRST CABIN IN ASHLEY VALLEY dollt by bv captain parson dodds jn in 1873 captain dodds and wife NON are stand ing in the loor the commissioners have a force of men at work on a state road which Is to extend from this city to heber a distance of miles the county commissioners of wasatch county are to build that portion of the roid in that county it will not only be better but it will be shorter than any road now in use between the two cities the increase in business in the county lias has been by leaps and bounds for the past five 3 eat eais a in 1902 there were ere twenty eight mercantile lish ments with a retail business of less than for that sear ear in 1905 the number had increased to thir ty six with a retail business of this year we can name sixty with a retail business of nearly the state statistician in a recent re port on the industries and agricultural products of the county called atten tion to the fact that the crops here seldom tail fall and for that reason this is ia an ideal country in which to engage in agricultural pui suits political fights are seldom heard of there is no political boss and when nhen a man has an idea that he la Is big eno enough ugh to be a boss somebody comes along who inho Is big enough to knock the egotism out of him the present court coun ity ty officials vere ft ere elected last fall and their terms of office expire next fall 1908 county clerk james C hacking county commissioners john S hack ing chairman john C dates bates frank billing a courts treet treasurer surer edward J I 1 oung jr county recorder mincia johnson county attorney T W 0 donnell county sune or biron 0 colton jr county assessor charles A hardy county superintendent of schools nelson G ards sheriff thomas C mcneill sheep and wool the sheep and wool ool industries are two of the biggest sources of revenue in the uintah basin and the increase in the Im business siness for the last few sears has been astonishingly large sheep owners are gradually improving the breed and in a few bears 5 ears there will be ten dollars in the business to where is one dollar today the best breed of bucks that can be bought are im I 1 arted everl ever car there are numerous de balnes 1108 cots wolds bolds thit cost all the anay ay from 75 to each theio 0 are about 75 00 head of 0 sheep at the time in uintah county divi divided deI into flocks i of A aiom om to 10 some of the largest owners are as aa follows 8 rt R bennion Henn lon 6 reader whitbeck william 4 searles wells 2 2000 charles for the information ot of many read ers of this article who are not posted we m will III say that there are anyhow two distinct classes of sheep in this country a strictly mutton sheep and wool sheep the wool on the sheep raised for mutton Is not so eo heavy or thick but what the owner loses in the of wool he gains in the amount of mutton this cliss of sheep should be kept out of the tim her as much as possible or much of the wool will be left hanging to the tree branches and dundei growth as it Is longer than the other Theio the ft ool olof of the merino Is of a finer quality and much thicker though shorter there Is 19 not much loss of the wool when these sheep pasture in a heavily timbered country people have wondered why so much wool of such a fine quality Is shipped from heie there are various reasons but two will suffice the climate la Is very dry and in the winter time espee tally lally there Is but little wind to disturb the sands and dust which Is so damaging to the wool in other coun tries then too it seems that the sheep owners of county are more careful than those of er cr por eions alons of the country they give their herds frequent and do every other thing possible for cleanliness such sheep are in greater demand than others the principal markets for the uintah county sheep are den ver kansas city omaha and chicago the prices this 5 ear tor for lambs have been exceptionally good some ba having V sold for as high ns as 5 per head but the prevailing price has been from 3 25 to 3 F 50 ew eves es have been in big lemand at 5 50 60 and mutton sheep have been selling at 4 50 more afore than 13 head have been dis posed of by uintah owners the annual a shear amounts to about head with a yield of pounds of wool one flock of 3 head belong ing to ed samuels averaged ten pounds boston and st 91 louis are the markets for the wool which is usually contracted for during tho the winter months owing to the unsettled condition of the money market at th this time ime tha prices for this winter inter are un certain though the demand will remain about the samy samo as it aas ft as last 3 bear ear the price last ear was from twenty to twentythree twenty three cents provid ing tho price Is as ai good as an ear the wool output put of this 5 ear car will be v 01 th the ranges aie well divided all the own their spring and fall ranges which were purchased fron from the state during the summer months the timber lands which take in the vittali range on the north are used the grazing fees are eight cents por hend the w winter inter range Is this range Is south and west of venial and Is 19 fi fieo ee horses and cattle although the cattle industry was at one time avay amay ahead of the sheep or any other industry of 0 uintah coun 0 t with the decrease in the of Is fedea bedei 9 all of the large bunches hai hae e been disposed of 0 until there Is now only a of feinier vast herds that grayed on the hills instead of the larger herds herda of those days are now si smaller herds herda of better grades of cattle being raised and more attention I 1 la a paid to the pio production of milk and butter the horse horbe industry is more encouraging and instead of the hills being coveted with a class of small email horses the range has been weeded out of this class ot of stock the slogan seems seema to be raise fewer horses and better and with that end in view the farmers have formed stock companies and purchased stallions from the east at a cost of from 2000 to each are eight of these stal lions in ashley vally alone three Perc herons two shires one coach horse one clydesdale and ono one thor besides several other good forsea borsai and jacks in a i ery cry few years buyers buers be coining into this valley to purchase blooded horses at fancy prices 0 |