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Show 'Springville Cradle of Western Contracting Some History About Men Who Helped to . Build Up The West 7"1!'--'Tfr "TT. 1. ' '"--.-i.n.v ip.-r-! t y - , . - - . - T ' " " VCT 1 - . ; ' j !:.. ....;.-V 1 -v ':V.lji1 : . i" - r;'" "1 "" I " -1 . -5 ' - .. .. ' . 3 ' ri-- .; ' 1 By MKS. II. T. REYNOLDS Jli. (For the cuts and statistics convey our appreciation to the Western ('oust met ion News and to Mr. .Mark Tnttlr, m:tn-ujrer, m:tn-ujrer, Interniounlain Brunch, Associate General Contractors I who wrote the article- entitled "Springville, I'hih, Cradle of l Western Contracting," which appeared in the Dec, 1935, issue of the Western Construction News. Mr. Tuttle was assisted by George A. Storrs.) Devotion to contracting has been one of the Springville sagas. The question is frequently frequent-ly asked, why? It is because those sturdy pioneer contractors contract-ors must have been in harmony with the infinite, when you con-sider con-sider factors conditioning growth. ' Out of a maze of wagon ruts, Springville men have successfully developed highway units into a systematic, system-atic, modern network of roads throughout Utah and other ctitpti Knrinpville is the In 1906 Baxter, Strong and Storrs, general contractors for sections of the Western Pacific railroad main line through the Feather River canyon in California moved this 70-ton Bucyrus steam shovel between Bcckwith Pass and Spring Garden Tunnell with oxen and five team of horses. Milan Packard, an early contractor con-tractor of Springville, was responsible re-sponsible for the Narrow Guage railroad from Springville to Scho-field. ver and Rio Grande Western. The old Utah Central, now part of the Union Pacific connecting Salt Lake City with Los Angeles, Angel-es, was built as far as Juab. Springville contractors, Sum-sicn Sum-sicn and Mason, Martin Cran-dall Cran-dall and sons, and George Mc-Kcnzio Mc-Kcnzio built the extension of this line from Juab to the mines at Frisco, where the old Horn Silver poured millions in- to the laps of its owners. The era of activity in railroad rail-road construction in the mountain moun-tain and intermonutain region lasted from the coming of the Union Pacific until well into the present century, and Springville contractors were sixty or seventy years; the tons of steel that have been placed; the yardage of concrete poured. Undoubtedly, the totals would prove astounding. It has been said, "Never has a Springville contractor failed to complete his contract without with-out being taken over by his bonding company. Never has a Springville contractor defaulted." default-ed." An enviable record. Why should the construction industry pass by the other towns and cities, and select Springville? Mr. George A. Storrs, an old time contractor and resident of Springville, claims that a few bolts of calico cali-co did thetrick. The story is: Shortly after the golden spike had been driven on the line of the Union Pacific near Promontory, Prom-ontory, Utah, connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic by George A. Stors Contracted on , the Western Pacific railroad through the Feather River canyon can-yon in California. "Cradle of Western Contracting." Contract-ing." History so records that great things are accomplished only through suffering, sacrifice and devotion. Railroad construction construc-tion and highway building in the early days was a real task, a thrilling challenge, a tremendous tremen-dous adventure and opportunity. opportun-ity. In a great measure Springville Spring-ville men have responded to the ny" mounted on a oeauuiui black charger rode the grade i to superintend the work; George McKenzie, of Mackenzie & Sons is likewise well remem-. bered; Martin Crandall & Son, Sumsion & Mason, Boyer Brothers, Richard and Dennis Palfreyman, Abner and Richard Rich-ard Thorn, Joseph A. Thorn, G. S. Condie, W. A. McKenzie, Tom and Henry Roylance, Mell and Mose Roylance, John Maycock, Straw and Storrs, Thomas and Amasa ! Bird, H. T. Reynolds, founder of j the Reynolds-Ely Construction Company, and many others. ! Nor were the men alone in laying the foundation for Springville's prominence in contracting con-tracting and construction. The women helped. In many instances in-stances wives, daughters, or sisters of the contractors were the cooks at the construction camps. Sometimes one of these would be the only woman in the camp. Western " chivalry prevailed and every man on the . work was ready to visit dire vnngence on the person who would make any move to molest or annoy. The presence of the women and their help contributed much, it often happened, hap-pened, to the success of the .enterprise, .en-terprise, and their earnings provided educational advantages advan-tages to the citizenry. Present day contractors who are leaders in the public works and highway fields are: B. D. Palfreyman, now of Provo, but originally of Springville, is the son of Dennis Palfreyman; A. O. Thorn, son of Joseph A. Thorn; J. M. Sumsion, son of George Sumsion, of Sumsion & I ' i p 1 j L ;i '' -3 call, met the challenge with courage and determination and fully measured up to the opportunities. op-portunities. In handing to this generation the torch of experience, ex-perience, little did these empire builders realize they were laying lay-ing the foundation for a construction con-struction center. Springville boasts that it has more persons engaged in contracting con-tracting than any other city in the United States, in proportion propor-tion to population. Possibly more than any other city in the world. The last United States Census gives the population popula-tion of Springville 3.748 and there were sixteen cities in the state besides Springville with more than 3.000 population, popula-tion, including Salt Lake City with 144,000 (28 per cent of the state), and yet-more than one-half the highways built in Utah since the present road-construction road-construction era got under way about twenty years ago are the work of Springville contractors. con-tractors. In addition they have built hundreds of miles of highways high-ways throughout the western United States. It is impossible to determine the number of millions of cubic yards of rock and earth that have been moved by, Springville Spring-ville contractors in the last . :::&& . i Mason; H. T. Reynolds Jr., is head of the Reynolds-Ely Construction Co.; W. W. Clyde and Guy W. Mendenhall of W. W. Clyde and company; Ernest Strong and Joseph Grant of Strong & Grant and the late J. W. Whiting. What of the community which these builders have assisted as-sisted in building for their heme ?- Springville, nestling at . the foot of the Wasatch range, is known as one of the cultural cul-tural centers of the state. A love for the beautiful is characteristic. char-acteristic. It is nationally known as an art center. It has contributed to modern civilization civiliza-tion world famous artists, sculptors, musicians and authors. auth-ors. Let us pause to pay homage to the pioneer contractors of Springville. Their potent influence in-fluence we recognize, and revere re-vere their accomplishments as sacred monuments. I . .. x i . ': Mil atiTitrt-riiiMliMillnari nmfrrtf jumTtiHn J ijf iv ' v. v.-' r . ; ready spreading in the construction con-struction world that "the Mormons are good railroar builders." Contracts on th Union Pacific went to varioi - : Salt Lake and Ogdcn con(u-. panics, but neither Salt Lake ; City nor Ogden was so exclusively exclus-ively tied up with the contract construction industry as was i Springville. There were perhaps two main s-reasons s-reasons for this. One was the i: fact that it was early found that the supply of irrigation water for the Mormon colony of Springville was scant. The colonists had early to look to some other occupation beside , , tilling the soil to eke out a livelihood. The second condition G which may have made Spring- a-ville a-ville a fertile field for devel- " oping a new industry, results. William Sumsion Sumsion and Mason built sections of the old Utah Central, now part of the Union Pacific line between Salt Lake and Los Angeles. Gibson S. Condie A contractor a3 early as 1879. Henry T. Reynolds Founder of the Reynolds-Ely Construction Company, Springville. headed by H. T. Reynolds, Jr. l - 'I ' -''"'2 Romanzo A. Deal Known to his many friends as "Mammy," he was in active charge of the work 1 for Deal Brothers and Menden- hall. 1 rail, there came an ora of feverish activity in railroad construction. con-struction. A revolution in economic ec-onomic transportation was in progress. Mr. Milan Packard Sr. and associates had acquired acquir-ed coal properties at Scofield in the Carbon county fields, and they undertook to build a narrow gage line to connect their property with Springville and the coal consuming market. mar-ket. Money was scarce in Utah. Arrangements were made that the men who worked on the grade should receive part payment pay-ment (a major part, so the story goes) in goods at the Packard store. It was a common com-mon remark among the men that they might not be getting much money for their labors, but they could get their wives plenty of calico. Whatever the reason, the railroad when con- ever getting their share of the work. Several jobs for the Rio Grande railroad in Colorado and New Mexico were dotted for miles with Springville subcontractors sub-contractors using Springville men and outfits. The same was true of the Union Pacific work in Idaho and of the double-tracking double-tracking of that line in Wyoming. Wyo-ming. The last transcontinental railway to come through Utah was the Western Pacific and a long stretch in the Feather River Canyon in California was built by Baxter, Straw, and Storrs, a corporation, of which the physical equipment of 250 head of stock and five steam shovels came from hte Springville Spring-ville firm of Straw and Storrs ( Nephi Straw and George A. Storrs) which shortly before had completed the narrow gage Uinta Railway from Mack, Colorado to Watson, Utah. Railroad construction fell away and highway construction construc-tion took its place. Irrigation work also furnished some important im-portant dirt-moving contracts Springville men sub-contracted the first canal to take water from the Grand river (now the Colorado River) on the western Slope in Colorado. Among the empire builders were: Romanzo Deal, "Man- Thomas L. Mendenhall An early contractor. This name continues among the Springville contractors through Guy W Mendenhall associated as-sociated in W. W. Clyde and Company. perhaps in part, to the same scarcity of the water supply. Before the railroad came, Springville had attained success suc-cess as a freighting center. Residents purchased products of the f;irm or Inarlod nn with A' I , ' rf f ..:... i f ' fl .-'"'"I store goods and carried them on the long trek overland to Virginia City or Piochc, Nevada, Nev-ada, or to the mining camps of Montana. George McKenzie, Martin Crandall, the Birds, Deals, Palfreymans, Tucketta, Mason, Sumsion and others fitted fit-ted out freight trains in this class of trade. The freighting business in those days, when roads were mere trails, required horses and outfits, and the knowledge of how to do for oneself in the wilds. And for these reasons the transition from freighting to contracting for the construction construc-tion of railroads into the wilderness wilder-ness was an easy one. Men who had been freighting moved on to the grade of the Calico railroad. rail-road. Other roads were built. Springville furnished many of the contractors on the road which was extended into Sanpete San-pete Valley, and is now the Marysvnle branch of the Den- George McKenzie Pony express rider, early freighter and general contractor. structed became known as the "Calico Railroad." There were railroads constructed con-structed in Utah, and by Utahns, before the Calico rail-ro.nd. rail-ro.nd. Tn fact the word was al- Richard Palfreyman Partner with Dennis Palf reyman, the father of B. D. Palfreyman. Palfreyman Pal-freyman Construction Company, Provo, Utah. |
