Show LETS WARD GUARD WHAT IS LEFT A centennial stor of 0 southern utah by W earl rhinehart district conservationist soil conservation service VII toquerville hurricane La LaVerl Verkin in the extreme southern part of 0 the state during these early days of settlements we find toquerville to be one of the oldest this town was settled in I 1 6 8 by eight fa families milles from new harmony in 1860 1850 there were 19 families growing wheat cotton iorg sorghum hum planting grapevines and fruit trees and tending their dairy herd on the grass lands west of town in following years a grist mill was built a sawmill saw a cotton gin follower toll follo oweA weI by the construction of brick homes which now give character charac tei to the present town the favorable location of allowed its people to utilize the waters from two strong springs in the bed of ash creek canyon and the grazing lands in the nearby La Verkin valley these springs yield an abundant supply of water tor for the town and the nearby irrigated fields and orchards they are large enough to provide water for domestic use in and hurricane the two youngest towns in southwestern utah are hurricane and La laversin Verkin these places were settled some 60 50 years after the first settlements it was then realized by earlier settlers that both hurricane and LaVer klu benches benchea were capable of tion but water was not readily available the canyons that thai separated these tracts however ran plenty of water several idem ideas and plans were represented between 1870 and 1890 tor for the use of this water but costs lof ke dams and ditches bere iere were p prohibitive ibl floods in the upper river valleys washed away most of the fertile bottom lands thus making it necessary tor for the settlers there to consider the possibilities of developing these two benches the statement was made OUT our present lands cannot support more people we must have more water or move away then in july 1893 six men from boquer rockville virgin and Sp ringdale formed a committee to check the possibilities of a feasible ditch line it was then decided chat hat they could bring 2000 acres of land on the hurricane bench under cultivation no matter how difficult the work or what sacrifices must bo be made A fifteen toot foot dam was built a ditch nine feet wide and eight miles long was cut into solid rock crossing over draJna and through tunnels high on rock cliffs the farmers themselves constructed the hurricane ditch their pay was waa acreage tracts under the new ditch construction Construct loa was started in 1893 eleven years later they completed the job two more years were required to break up tho the laud land and build their distribution systems ten families moved there in 1906 today 1500 people cultivate every available acre of the watered land settled in 1900 was built by efforts of man much like its sister town of hurricane its ita irrigation water comes from the virgin river in a similar manner as t the h 0 hurricane ditch semitropical semi tropical crops such as peaches jacb os grapes figs almonds walnuts pecans and ates are grown on the lands la in and about the communities A popular resort is operated at tia la verkin hot springs vm virgin city mountain dell grafton duncans retreat rockville moving to the upper valley ot of the virgin river niver we find that nepal johnson Joh naon following an indian trail into zion canyon in 1858 1958 found a a strip of fertile alluvial lind land nearly 20 miles long and in some places about ono one halt hal tulle wide because there was plenty of 0 water to irrigate the bottom lands below upper valley building materials were available umber timber and pasture lands at hand johnson was asked to establish a settlement at the most suitable location in this area johnson first built a crude road called the johnson twist froni from toquerville across the La Verkin river over the hurricane cliffs and selected Us his site alto which he called virgin city the first families moved in during the early spring of 0 1858 and 1869 1859 during their first year at virgin city crops were harvested from ten acres A road was constructed up north creek where a few settlers founded mountain dell for a few years following tho the settlement of virgin city everyone prospered despite damages to croplands crop lands caused by floods and the production of cotton proving unfavorable in 1864 t the I 1 10 population was 1940 it was mountain dell has now been abandoned and only one ranch house remains in north creek during december of 1869 1859 four of five families established the town of grafton six miles above virgin city nathan 0 tenney led the group floods completely destroyed the town during the winter of 1861 61 and it was moved upstream two miles to its present location today most of grattone graftons Grat Graf tons once fertile fields and gardens are ara river flood damage today grattone graftons Grat Graf tons 16 people derive their livelihood chiefly from outside sources another town lost through the ravages of the virgin river floods was duncans retreat founded in 1861 this town was located between virgin city and gratton grafton before the flood these fertile lands supported a population of 60 tor for about 20 years the only marks of civilization left at duncans retreat are ara a few foundations and fruit trees philip K X smith established the town of rockville then called adventure at the mouth of huber wash in 1860 after the settlers had constructed their irrigation system they found that a lot of their good land lay above the ditches and that most of the land under the ditches was subject to disastrous flooding this was proven after the flood of 1860 61 the town was then moved a mile upstream and named rockville the increase in Rock villes lallon lloa shows that in 1864 1961 there were 70 in 1879 there were 98 95 and between there was an increase to the 1940 census shows rockville was noted as ono one of the most beautiful and prosperous towns I 1 in ll 11 utah stone houses flower gardens and orchards adorned the town and the streets were lined with mulberry and locust trees the fields nearly nearby were well tilled As a supple ment to their irrigated lands along the virgin river the farmers have cultivated the big plain an extensive area of sue successful dry farm land CHAPTER IX northup Sp Spring rIngdale dalo little zion the lands landec owned b by Sc hunes chief ot of the local plute indians was purchased by oliver demille in 1861 tor for a homesite thus thua was founded in 1862 tour four families moved into and in 1864 there were 46 people living there the site bovere covered d about aeres acres of land at the mouth of creek and could be readily irrigated the people of this town successfully grew crops of corx conr grapes fruit and grain for about 30 years the construction of wriggle trail allowed these people to use the high pastures paa tures above widening of the virgin IA aler er through bank cutting during high water sea sons caused the town to bo be abandoned except luring during seasons of planting and harvesting the old stone house which belonged to demille still stands as it i prominent land mark the small settlement of northup along the virgin river was first settled in 1861 by four families led by james lemen they cultivated about 60 50 acres along the river banks most of the farmlands were washed out by the virgin river A small amount of the land Is still in use but the last house was vacated in 1910 about tile the same time rockville northup and were settled the colonists moved into Sp ringdale the first group of families arrived in november 1862 and by july 1864 nine families had built homes and cultivated land after two years the group moved to rockville in an effort to more easily forestall indian raids they moved back to their farms in 1874 and relocated their farm houses away from the virgin river flood plains after a few years all of the available land in the virgin valley was irrigated and the available pasture lands utilized the town of Sp ringdale was once noted tor for its manufacture of rawhide bottom chairs for almost 50 years the town did not materially grow even though it was an outpost at the end of a long treacherous road the farmland irrigated in this vicinity comprised about acres and their range for livestock was far distant they had to travel over a roundabout trail through gli rockville Cane beds and mount blount parmel with their stock the shortcut trail built in 1896 1806 was jan dangerous berous it was a trail cut in the rocks of zion canyon it until after 1923 when the railroad which was miles distant came into cedar city that a useful market was made available in recent years Sp springdale ringdale the gateway city has become the lar largest gost town in the upper virgin valley tills this was brought about by the zion national park access road from the west in 1919 and the construction of the famous sandstone tunnel in 1930 showing allowing travel from the east another small village called little zion should be mentioned before we leave the settlements sette ments of the upper virgin this was shown on the army maps of 1873 76 A few families then cultivated small farms in clori canyon near the present zion canyon lodge the name zion was given to the canyon by isaac behunin Behun tn according to J H jennings CHAPTER CHAP X mount carmel cannel glendale john D lee and company exploring the country we now call long valley stated in 1862 1852 that there are some handsome places for settlement in the narrow but fertile bottom of the stream they reported that these areas area could be easily irrigated there was plenty of accessible rangeland for pastures timber for construction was plentiful and coal was available for fuel this area along a a 2 20 0 mile stretch of river flat was colonized in 1864 abandoned abondo ned in 1866 and re occupied in 1871 the population figure tor for 1880 1980 shows that there were 1019 people living ining tn in mt lit car camel m el all tho the people that the land could id support this cou figure has varied very little since A slight decrease between 1910 30 corresponds to the poor quality of rangeland resulting from overuse by livestock mount blount carml carmel which was originally igi nally called winsor was named after mt carmel ln n palestine and founded in 1864 priddy meeks led the group who made temporary homes in dugouts and began preparing the lands tor for irrigation la lands ads above were selected tor for stock ranges th they ey had trouble with the indiana indian and vacated the settlement in 1866 the bite was re occupied by immigrants from the muddy river settlements la in nevada additional dit ional families coming into the tha valley cultivated lauds lands along meadow creek muddy creek yellow jacket wash and clear creek severe hardships were noted in that grasshoppers destroyed 60 per cent of all livestock in 1876 more than halt of the inhabitants of mt carmel moved three thred miles up the river to the present site alto ot of Or derville colonists called from nevada founded glendale Clen dale in 1864 this original group included several families named berry so BO they called the town Berr berryville the fertility of the soil was demonstrated the first year by good crops and inexpensive irrigation isolation of tho the town at this time kinle Is noted in that those settlements tle ments along the upper virgin were 80 miles away ind and could tie be reached only by roundabout on last page lets guard what Is left continued from page paga 1 difficult roads it was about tilo the saino saine distance to towns north but tho the roads were blocked in the winter because of snow rock cliffs and canyon rocks barred transportation east and west beyond which no ono one lived A two acro acre stockade was built to protect the colonists from ma indians indiana it was built to accommodate 26 25 families both tho the inhabitants of berryville Berr and lit aft carmel lived in this stock ado ade during the white months of 1865 and 00 fearing molesting navajos cavajos Nava jos the entire group vacated tile the towns in 1860 to return again in 1871 when they returned they were accompanied by many others including bishop james leithead Lel thead who renamed the town glendale Olen dale after his birthplace in scotland 1 A flour mill was waa built in 1872 the the only one in kano kane county clouds of grasshoppers destroyed the crops in 1873 coal mines were wera opened in 1891 and the first modern roads constructed in 1930 1030 35 continued |