Salt Lake Tribune | 1904-07-02 | Page 10 | Tells of Wealth of Uintah Region

TELLS OF WEALTH OF UINTAH REGION County Attomoy O'Donnell Is Enthusiastic Over Futuro Prospects. m HE unfathomed wealth of the Uintah asphalt beds and the J rich treasures of her soil will soon be placed-at the disposal of the commercial world. The coming of the Mack spur from Colorado and of the Moffat road will be of inestimable value to the residents of Uintah county and I feel certain that within the next two years our population will increase nearly ten fold," said County Attorney O'Donnell of Uintah county last evening. even-ing. "The Mock spur which will be pushed through to Camp Gulch brings us within with-in sixty miles of a railroad, thus cutting cut-ting the present distance in two. The course of the Moffat road has not yet been decided but there is a rumor that It way be pushed through Vernal. The opening of the Unltah reservation, which will take place next March, will act as an Inducement to cause the directors di-rectors to adopt this course In addition to the rich asphalt mines." "If we can only get one of these railroads rail-roads we will furnish Utah and tho entire en-tire "West with the finest asphalt ever placed on the market. The supply is practically Inexhaustible, There' is a vein from three to eight feet wide of unfathomable depth, which runs straight through tho county. At the present time we can't work very fast for want of teams, you see the haying time is just coming on and that takes nearly all of them. Give us a railroad and let Congress change its lost year's act and we will do some business. "During 1003 Congress passed a law which gave all those who had located and recorded claims prior to 1S91 on the Uncompaghrc reservation full titles to their claims -while it wholly Ignored all claims which have been made since that date. The people look upon it as a bit of partiality and regard it as one of the unjustifiable acts of which a National Congress is sometimes guilty. They still hold nominal claims to the land, but are restrained from doing any work. They have a far-away hope that the matter will finally be adjusted favorably to them."