Echoes from the dust The Burton resort I I i a I I f m m lU ly from 17 The Burton was located just south and a little east of Old Ashley presently the Boyd Workman and Johnson The Burton family first came to Jensen from They were among the first settlers Issac Burton and his sons operated a ferry near Jensen on Green A Ira who was the father of Mrs Joseth moved from Jensen to Old Ashley In 1897 and purchased a large tract of ground near Being a man who enjoyed social get and sporting he ed to build a as Vernal and Old Ashley Town had no amusement parks and dances had to be held in the homes Although by this time most of the businesses of Old Ashley had moved to Vernal it didn't affect the success of between the All the materials had to be freighted in by teams and With the help of hired hand scrapers and he dug a large constructed a dance hall and built a huge race The pond was stock- ed with fish and had row boats for The dance hall was by quite a building for those He had Ice soft drinks and beer for Moving pictures were unheard of in those but Bur- ton was able to obtain what was known as He even had some shows with colored slides which was the latest and most modern even in such places as Denver and Salt Lake He always had good crowds at these fishing and horse there was no place like Burtons for miles He even i had tickets made which stated on them Nothing Lacking His place gained in popularity and was known throughout eastern Utah and western as the best you could find in entertain- Burton often hired the soldiers from Fort Duchesne to come to the resort and giving drills and so Horse racing was very popular and many such events were All sorts of rodeo activities on Nothing was left out along this There were two large barbecue pits lined with heavy sheets of iron and Burton always had a nice fat beef on hand to barbecue for the special get The valley people would come in groups to these There were several large bowery or sheds provided with long tables for peo- Die to out their picnic food There were actually two lakes and many times they would have a firework They would be sent into the air from rafts launched on one of the There were times when they would have tight rope fancy diving and different stunts performed from Often the evening air was filled with Ule beautiful music from the George Adams band George Adams was well known throughout the valley for his fine There was none better between Denver and Salt Lake All of band instruments were At times over 20 people in his and he had a specially con- wagon made for this pulled by four head of horses and ly driven by The band would start playing as they left Vernal and play all the way to Burtons Lake and around the mile square ding the Many people would toto the band on these Vernal also had another fine or- chestra which furnished most of the music for the resort Two of the people that Dodds recalls well were and the parents of Warren Belcher of the Cafe here in There was a variety of entertainment at this dance hall such as prize winning dances and Yes about could think J just anything you Burton set out a grove of shade trees in the preparation of his picnic park Several baseball teams visited the reSort and a number of lively games played The local boys matched the Fort Duchesne soldiers on many oc- and had some real close Swimming was a daily pass time through the summer Ice skating was enjoyed by many during those winter months when the ice was solid enough to hold you Many fine skaters spent long enjoyable hours especially on Burton sold the resort in 1905 and it soon afterward reverted to pasture and farm partly due to the ex- pensive freight charges on supplies and the slow process of getting them Also it took a special type of person to successfully operate such an establish- Not everyone had the ability along this line like Burton with its closing went the top tion of this kind anywhere in the Uintah Basin and there has never been an equal H to it since