| Show 11 Dates events leading to Ashley IS settlement W t I. I Complied by Iva Gray Cray The following article Is the first of a five part series and Is comprised of chronological dates and events adding up to the settlement of Ashley shley Valley Halley which was compiled c by Iva Gray Cray According to MrS Gray this is the Golden holden Age Centers Center's c contribution to the Valley for forthe forthe the the bicentennial year ear J v In the e early Ilist history ry of our our country before the English began begani their theft the It colonization in North A America n tica there was was supposed d to 16 h haye ve been Spaniards Utah near in search of of gold and mid sliver silver This was was around round 1539 1539 Coron Coronado d led an expedition equipped at the Cost of of pf about and andt was comp composed sed of 30 Spanish nobility marching in coats of shining armor and supplied With the best horses available in Mexico Instead of finding the Seven Cities of Cibola all they found was Indian ian pu pueblos blos n to which lived a tribe of or North American Indians c called Zunis These Indians told Cor Coronado nado that hat hat perhaps the amazing wealth they were seek seeking ng could uld be 00 found across th the mystic river that had cut an immense chasm Into the earth that they had not nott t round und a way to cross 1 I CORONADO SENT Captain Cadenas and twelve men to investigate and they came to the Grand Canyon which they found impossible to cross cross While searching for a way to descend along the south bank of the river th they pr probably b bl went over overland overland over overland land now in the present sl state te of or Utah This expedition being unsuccessful the cOu country w was s le left let t unexplored until much la later er About bout years later in in September 1776 an expedition w was s planned by y F Father ther Escalante This was was at the time timeY Y when en Spanish S claims l lm t to the the wester part of bf North America w was s thre threatened ened by English explorers seamen and nd by R Russians coming down tt the e Pacific Coast from the northwest The They Kings Kingo of Spain took action to save California ft from m belonging to to another other nation Monterey had been fo founded sin since e 1770 and Sante Fefor Fe Fefor Fefor for years but no one had explored the country between t se two Q So Sot t the r much much- ri needed route was ih the p purpose of th the Escalante Escalant Expedition of 1776 1776 Jt FATHER ES ESCALATE ESCALANTE A lf E kept a journal of their theft travels which showed that in the same month th that t our Declaration i lion of Independence Independence In In- dC dependence from England was signed in the fat Fast his smalls small s Spanish band headed northwest through the territory ry of Mexico and arid into color Colorado add dif They had hads s saddle and nd pack horses and bides besides the ne necessary essary camp provisions carried knives gl glass ss beads a and d other articles to give to the Indians nS After I leaving ving Glenwood Springs area Colorado they kept on in a northwesterly direction to a point near the ut Utah Colorado line crossing White River and going on by byway way of what is now Rangely Colorado into Utah they came camet cameto cameto t to the well-known well Green River three miles above Jensen Utah Since it was too difficult at t this trus p point to cross the river their Indian guide led th them m to the Old Indian crossing just so south th of f the Ule Dinosaur National Monument At this delightful spot ot under the cottonwodd cottonwood trees on the bank of the majestic Green Riv River r on September 13 1317 17 1776 6 was staged the first rodeo ever held in this section of the country One One of or orEs Es Escalante's men mounted a abu bu bucking horse to stage his rus p performance was thrown and injured to the the extent that it delayed the party for two days One of thomen th the men Lain carved his name and the year 1776 in inthe inthe the bark of one of the big cottonwood cottonwood cot- cot trees rees This writing was lat later r discovered by one of the early carly settlers After their two days of c camping on the banks of Green River the Escalante P Party resumed their journey on the of ept y 1776 They crosse crossed the river at the Old Indian Grossing Crossing which the oM olI residents of Jen Jensen ensay say was was was' asan an Indian lord ford fo four miles above the present bridge They went on er area or ordry dry country for several 1 miles where here signs of buffalo were ere abundant and at this time time a buffalo wa was killed for their n meat t supply Traveling on they came to the top of a hill to the west and and Jo looked k d down into a valley very very much in the grip of the desert later known as llcy The soil here was was' dry and sandy and the vegetation mostly sagebrush with wit many other ether desert plants From rom up in th the northern section extending fr from n Ashely Canyon in the northwest to the thet t 1 Q southeast ran a winding narrow creek later called Ashley Creek There are also records of numerous Spanish and Mexican traders who came up the Green River to exchange horses mules and supplies with the Indians for furs and Indian slaves At this time they called Green River the Spanish River Inver r. r In 1848 1648 Father Ortiz who lived at Sante Fe told the officers of the American Army that the Spaniards had built several forts up as far tar as miles from Sante Fe along the Green River The Indians did not approve of or orthis this Intrusion and in 1650 they massacred the inhabitants which put at end to the forts along the so-called so Spanish River About fifty years after the Escalante Expedition William Ashley a fur trader of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company came to Utah His Ills trip was of or great importance as he made a anew anew anew new pathway from the Missouri River westward which the Overland Trail and Mormon emigrants later followed He came westward by byway way of the North Platte River the Sweetwater South Pass and then southwest to the Green River region He brought the first wheeled vehicle to cross South Pass a small cannon Ashley reached Henrys Henry's Fork on the the Wyoming Utah-Wyoming boundary boundary boundary boun boun- dary Ap April 30 O 1825 where he decided to 10 hold the rendezvous of ot July 1st Leaving his supplies here In a cache he embarked with his principle trappers on the harmless looking Green River in boats made from buffalo hides Beginning near Manila he went down the treacherous river from Flaming Gorge to the plain below Split Mountain just above Jensen Utah lie He had adventures adventures ad ad- ventures which made ordinary Indian fighting seem like a n He lie painted his name and the date Ashley 1825 in large characters on the rock rockwall rockwall rockwall wall at the entrance of or Red Canyon Nearly 45 years later this Inscription was discovered by Major Powell when exploring exploring exploring ex ex- the Colorado River At Jensen William Ashley camped on the creek which bears his rus name Ashley Creek Ashley took look back hack East worth of furs and left his name to our Valley Forest and Creek At this time the streams of the Uintah Basin w were re haunts of or the beaver trappers during the the reign of the Old Mountaineers One of these Baptiste Brown a French Canadian fur trapper with his squaw companion located in a small valley known as Browns Brown's Hole This was an isolated valley to which the trapper Brown gave his name The valley proved to be an ideal camp for other trappers Here Herein in 1837 a trading post was established and named Fort Davy Crockett It was always a trading post never nver a fort but was often spoke of as Fort Misery the meanest fort in the west Fort Hall located near where Pocatello Idaho is now now was miles from Browns Brown's Hole and nearest trading post with the exception of Fort Bridger which operated in 1843 1853 IN THOSE days when the mountaineers mountaineers- and trappers reigned they often orten went deep into the vast rugged Rocky M Mountains and al along ng the streams They came to a valley that was completely surrounded ded by mountains and they called it a hole Browns Brown's Hole Dole later called Browns Brown's Park surrounds the point where the eastern boundary of Utah and western boundary of Colorado join the southern boundary of Wyoming In the early days of Ashley Valley this part of the country had Im lin- Important important im- im connections with our area After the Fur Brigade began to abandon their former haunts Fort Davy Crockett fell rell Into decay and Browns Brown's Hole was was was' no longer a winter gathering place of the trappers and mountain men However a few mountaineers mountaineers mountaineers moun moun- lived there when the first settlers came in the early AFTER THE TilE Civil War Congress issued land grant script giving veterans land in lri inthe inthe the public domain for homes where they could settle down Later the Homestead Act was enacted which gave any man manICO ICO acres if he lived on the 1 homestead for a few rew years years' making improvements To the open ranges where grazing was easy casy to obtain came men with cattle from Texas Most of or these wealthy men men meri called Cattle Kings had little respect for forthe forthe the small rancher trying to work out his claim on a homestead The Nester was made to feel reel like an intruder and warned to leave his land If he refused he was was Dry that is his rus dead body was apt to be found in ma ina madry a adry dry gulch t I This Government land belonged to all citizens each to choose and operate his land in his own way Each thought his rus was or rules were the best and so there were were many conflicts One unwritten law was was Possession is 9 of the Law The large cattle owners wanted all all' the land and an immense cattle empire extended extended extended ex ex- ex- ex tended from Bear River in west western rn Wyoming to t to Red Desert east of Rock Springs Continued next week |
