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Show - ffistoryofMoab History of Moab.lltab Moablltab Moab.lltabB Moab . , Utah UtahE3 E3 B } ) Faun McConkie 1\JcConkie 1 JcConkie \ Tanner TannerCopyright TannerCopyright TannerCopyright L 1937)L ( Copyright 1937)J 1937) 1937 ) J . . Chapter 7 7A 7A A GROWING GRO'VING GROVING ' SETTLEMENT the SETTLEMENTthe SETTLEMENTthefall thefall thefallof fall of f l I fI , / ref left C 1881 to.tip 811 the Taylor families came to : Moab tod toarr to . Little I .tip tip t e Salt Creek , Juab October 1 I d , arr arrI arrived county , , arrivedin lved lvedm m in the valley October 30 . The b7l b7l0rflan 1\0 1 0 10lved \ party was thI'lnan I'lnan Ilnan 0rflan , ' Taylor ( one of . the . first . . , of . Utah [ e t B thesecond th H- H Hv - v--- v vt - - - t * u i.iic iiic .in.oi in.oi inoi pioneers tjiuncao 'Jj Jj 'Jjj ' \j j \ K * " - ans theany thesecondwagon : cond condwagon 0"11 011 " wagon into Salt Lake valley with the any ny of the e Younge first 0 pIoneers , July 24 , 1847 , Brigham Young tJth 11th two11th tJthfirst wag-on wag on Wagon - . ) Norman Taylor ' lor brought his two tfuldr tfuldrhlm thllcfren folthllcfren hlm hlnl to Moab : , as follows : Laurana and the fol-I fol I folIRuin fol- fol - Ruin Rufus ; Lester , Loren Sylvster r ( Buddy ) , Arthur ' ROrman Nonn Nonnus us , also alsobrought Augusta , , . AdelaIde lelaide , Helen and Andrew A A.tenSA0 AtenSA0 . andg an also brought "eht eht " his second wife , Lydia , and AIon ! IO5ZO g wwven chIldren : : Ernest , , Edwin , Charles , Hyrum Hyrum.LvJi HyrumLvJi , ' ( . LYd Lydla 0 0axd axd and LydIa . Lester Taylor was accompanied accompamed by byh bytliiJ h hu BuddyV ) a af aAlln ann Ann nn Colvin Taylor and five children ; Buddy Buddyitot Taylorpanted wife \V V \ ? ) f e ? and twc two ) children , and Arthur A . Taylor4.rV Taylor 4.r\V 4.rV 4.r 4r V 4.rVed . panted bridewhen \ H TaylorH ed by his wife ' , Sena na Jensen Taylor , a bride brideShaf brideLaJ Shaf Shafen , when Whenand en the party P ty started sarted out from Juab county . COrn COrner ' leted pleted Forbuschpleted "er er " er and his bride of one day , Mary Forbusch Forbuschthe the party . The They Ther r had fourteen wagons and andmuch andrf rn much H tiouble houble trouble was experienced by the party ones on ones"S6 onThere es e3 esere ofe3 es"S6 esS6 There " ofTravel ere was a httle little littledela h dela delay caused by the loss of Travel lTavel was rather slow slowand slow and some days due to toetc toetc tok { { nii2'they nii2they etc ' , they would uld make only about five miles . At At.hJurteen Athad AtBshpSlteen .hJurteen hJurteen . had hadIn wagons would make a circle and tentsda tentsy tents InsIde In ldewagons side lde the inclosure . A da daInsIde ltrbefore y before efore the Party reached the Colo Colorado Colorado/Grand Colorado Grand ado / ( Gr Grand nd ) strangers . angers e had been drowned jn in , fording fordmg the lIver ive . ed\Vas ed Vas Was \ partythe rather dl 3heartening dlsheartening < to the Taylor party partythe the ihe waitihe thethe C the waitfoUowmg S riyer river in the afternoon . Most o of ! then thenwait them : wait- wait waitHowing - foUowmg following Howing morning , to cross the rIver river into theTaylor's the thefe10 t andt fe10 famllles ; Taylor's Taylors aYlor's aYlors ' ' family stopped with Judge Bartle Bartlett t andytnIhes and anda Gibsons'g 1 stopped temporarily at the Fort . Gibsonse GIbsonstt GIbsons a tt tt1ng ytnIhes 113 1ng 'g g ' the F Fort rt at this time . . . , . , s by citizens made possible the building bmldmg of aContinued a ar r ( Continued on last paie page ) I , I A History of ' ( Continued from first page ) southwest corner of the thf thecourt thfcourt house the meeting meeLll1g and school on . court house block , during durll1g 1881-82 1881 82 - . The bmldmg'a.s building bmldmg \\'a.s a.s 'a.s as \ ' was . of logs log ; ; , 24 by 30 feet , and was used for all public gatheiings gatherings gathel mgs unt untr untIl 1888-89 1888 89 when a better meeting house was el elected erected ected after theold the theold - , old one burned down . . Laurana Taylor was the first school schoo schoolteacher schooteacher scho < ) teacher in the valley . She was followed in this profession profes.stOn professtOn . by byher b3 b3her her daughter , Augusta , and then George W . McConkie McConkle . completion of the nist 1hst first public house mentionefabove mentionsr- mentionsr mentionedI mentioned mentionef mentionedc1bove I Upon above c1bove theie thele there was a big celebration in Moab , an eventhICh event \\hICh hICh whicl whiclended \ \ hIChended , I . . The TheI Th Thbuilding - ended lather rather noisily nOIQlly and sadly , according accordmg ' to accounts I ! building bUIldmg was made of whipsawed lumber . All hands wOlk- wOlk work wOlked worked - ed haid hmd hard to finish fimsh it in older order that they might have a dance danceNaturally ! Natuially Naturally Natl11 ally all aU the settleis 5ettIels settlers came to the dance and of COUlse tours COUlseI COUlsea toursa coin ; would not accommodate too mar man many manypartIcIpants ; I a 24 by 30 foot building bmldmg ' quadnlle quadlllle quadrille 01 or whatever the theI thedance th thdance tldance participants at one time in U1 a I dance might be called . HYI Hyium urn um Taylor was manager of th thdance the thedance tldance ( dance and it was aiiangcd ananged arranged to alternate dances by numbels number numberin numbelin , I Im m in or older der that everyone would have an equal chance and n none no nolone ione one be favoied favOled favored Bill Gibson had had his tuin tUln turn but decided to todance t tdance lone dance again agam . " When 'ben ben ' lold told he could not do do so , but must walt walthIS wai waihis his turn , he became angiy anglY angry . It seems theie thele there had hall ha l been some someIIl.feehng som somillfeeling sonill-feeling sonill feeling IIl.feehng IIlfeehng ill-feeling ill feeling - . between beeen be \\een een \ \ the Taylors and Gibsons GIbson , ; , thus the seen seenwas scene scenewas was npe rIpe for h tiouble trouble ouble . . Probably many of the patrons of the thedance th thdance tl : dance had imbibed in liquor rather freely and thus were wereeasIly wer wereasily easily aioused aloused aroused . . Gibson left the hall han and in his anger seized seizeda seize ( + a neck-yoke neck yoke - , , evidently intending 1l1tendmg ' to vent his wrath on the thefirst th thfirst - first Taylor who approached . However , the flist fhst fist person to tostep t tstep Stewart who was Wc1S strut stl uck uckwIth ] step up on the door step was Calvm Calvin , with a sevel seveie severe e blow on the head , which fortunately was not notfatal no nofatal n < fatalVIthin fatal " \ Within \VIthin VIthin a few minutes mmutes about ten men were fightmg fightln fightmgand and l knew , new not why or what it was all about . The first Bancheld dance Banc danceheld damheld held in 111 nl \ Moab l\Ioab l Ioab thus ended in a not 110t . 'V V ' Women on1en and chIldl childiel childielhurried en enhurued hurued hurried hun led fiom flom from the scene of the fighting and the celebiatic celeblatIOn celebratiol celeblatIOnended celebratiolended ended lather rather UbI abiuptly Abruptly uptly . Const Constluction Construction ! ucbon of the Denver and Rio Giande Glande Grande laihoad iaihoad to toSalt t tSalt 1 Salt Lake Lal.e Lale . City was begun shoitly sholtly shortly after the anival arllval arrrval of the theTaylor th thTaylor tl-Taylor tl Taylor - Taylor party . Duiing DUlIng During the ensuing ensumg winter wmter some somc of the people peopl peopleIn peoplin peopin In Moab l\Ioab l Ioab \ wolked wOlI.ec1 wOlIec1 worked . on the constiudion construction consh UCtlOl1 of the ioad load goad . The firs firspassenger first firstpassengel fir ; to Salt Lake Lahe r In : : passengel passenger hainent tiam hain train \ went \\ent ent \ thiough thlOUgh through Thompsons April of 1883The 1883The 1883 The advent of the laihoad 1aIhoad railroad made a gleat g"leat great " impioverneiin rmpiovemenin Implovement rmpiovemen 111 in condnons condlIons condilons in m the valley , , simplifying tlanspOl tianspoitation transportation tatIon gleat- gleat great gleath giea - h 13 1 . Hel Heietofole Heretofore etofOl e it had been necessaiv necessal necessai v to go to Sahra SallPa Salina and andRichfield an anRichfield ar Richfield for supplies supphes , , all fieightmg fleIghtmg freighting being bemg done with \ wagon \ agonsJ agonsJwhich ; which made tiavel havel travel very slow . Fieighteis FleIghtels Freighters would make a tllp tllpIn trr trrin tlin In the fall , bunging blmgmg bringing in 111 supplies supphes for the winter wmter . Oft-tim Oft tim Oft-time time Oft-tImes Oft tImes OfttImes15tol Ofttimestorm Ofttim&toim - 15tol &toim toim storm & m would delay them and make it impossible for a rE rEturn 1 ituin e- e etUln - tUln turn befoic befOle before spl spnng spllng nrg . Mi \ Mis l\l1s l l1s s . Gr Gumm Gl1nllll lnmi gives an interesting 111terestmg account accountof accour accourof accoirof of her filst fiISt fist winter wmter in m the valley . . Her blother brother bi other , Ficd FlCd Fred Powelhad PO\\ PO POell Powel Powehad \ \ ell : had gone back to the settlements for supplies The stOl storm stormcame stoincame ffi Lame came up and he could not get back so had to stay all w \ l11tel l11telaway nlte nlteaway pitaway away from \ Moab l\Ioab l Ioab . It was a haid hald hard winter wmte1 ' in the valley nn an anMis ai 1l\l1s 1l l1s | \ Mis . Gnmrn Gumm Girmm and her father fathel " did not have many supplies or orII o ohand ( jhand hand . . They had I laised alsed raised a ciop ClOp crop which kept them fiom flom from stal star staiing v . II IIhand mg ing . Since Smce they had only one sack of flour on 011 hand it wa wanecessary wm wmnecessary w ; necessary for or them to guild gund grind coin corn and wheat in a coffee mIl mIlfor mi mifor mfor for their theil " bl biead bread cad that wmtei w'Jntel wJntel winter ' . . . Duiing DUlIng Duimg the winter wmter the Indlam Indrar Indlamwere Indrarwere Indiawere ] were hungly-thele hungly thele hungry-there hungry there hunglytheleele hungly - theie \ weie \\ele ele were heavy stoims stolms storms and snow and of oftel oftelthey oft oftthey to tothey < they would offer to pay a dollar for a loaf of biead blead bread but ShE ShEhad sh shhad slhad had no bread to give them . The lailioad lalhoad iarhoad was only thil thhty-five thhty five thirty-five thirty ty-five ty five - miles fiom flom from : Moab i\Ioab i Ioab \ . 'Vher Vher Whe 'VherIt Wheit ' Whiit It Itas \ was \\as as completed the fieightmg freighting distance was consIdelabl considerabl considerablshor consideiahshoitened sh01 shor tened . . Other families began to come com.e comic . into the valley at thI the thetime thtime : tIme , and and quite a thuvmg thriving thl vmg settlement was soon establIshed estabhshe establIshedIn establisheIn + In 1883 a pm paity party ty consisting consIstmg of the Johnson , Newell , Sonler Some SonlerI Somevine Someville I vIlle vine and \ McConkie l\IcConkIe l IcConkIe families famIhel : ) passed thiough thlough through \ Moab l\Ioab l Ioab frog frogMona 1 fioMona on on111ona Mona \ on their way to the San Juan countly counhy country to settle . The Thewent Thiwent 11\1ona 11 1ona went down to the region reglOn on the Animus Ammus liver llver river , , \ where here the theintended th thintended < intended to locate but did not find veiy vely very favoiable favorable fa VOl able conditio condItIon conditlor conditlorexisting condItIone"Istmg : Imtended existing e-"Istmg e "Istmg Istmg : - " thel theie there e as the Stockton war was in pI piogiess OgI ess . Sinesome Sinc Sine Sinsome , some of the pal paity party ty had been veiy velY very favorably Imp1essec1Ht impiessed Imp1essec1 impressed \Ht Ht wit witthe \ withe ] the \ Moab 1\Ioab 1 Ioab valley , they all decided to le letuin return lnn theie thele there and dId didin didin Sl Slm m in August of 1884 . . The pal paity party ty included l11cluded the families of Gee Gee"V Ge GeW GeW "V V W " . \ McConkie l\IcConkIe l IcConkIe , J . H . Johnson , Oms 011S Orris ] Ne\\ Ne Newell Neell \ \ ell and GeoV Geo GeoJohnson . \V V V VJohnson \ " \Johnson Johnson \ VJohnson Johnson Jr . . , as well as ' Mrs l'I1's lI1s llrs ' . . Geol1 Geoige George ; e , W Yo YoJohnson . . Johnson Sr . , , D 1) 1 ) .A A . .AJohnson E EJohnson .Johnson Johnson . Johnson , ' Minnie l'Imme lImme Johnson and Andrew Some Somer Someiville ! vllle ville ' The 'The l'Ic lIc l'IcConIne Mi MiConkfe ' MConkie ConIne Conkfe , , New Ne Newell " eH ell , Somerville and J . H Johnson families set settIed se setied sctied tIed in 1n the upper valley , known as Bueno , now Povel Poveity Poverty ty Flat Fla FlatQUite FlaQuite FlaQuite QUite a number of families fanuhes weie wele were living hvmg theie thele there and in thl thlspllng tll tllspring tlspiing spllng spring of 1885 an ecclesiastical blanch branch of the L . D . S . chuLcl chuic chuicwas chuiwas ( was \ \ as Ol oiganized organized ganlled with G . W.11IcConkie W11IcConkie ' W 'V V . \ McConkie l\IcConhIe l IcConhIe as pI piesident president eSIdent . . A Sunda SundaSchool SunckSchool Schoo School ] , Primary and Belief Rehef Relief Society wel weie were e organized orgamzed at quar quareily quart quartelly quareily elly eily confeience confelence conference , September , 1886 . Eight Elghi families weie wele were Ie IepOl rE rEported ipoited ported pOl ted as living lIvmg thel theie there e . . \ Meetings l\Ieetings l Ieetings ceased thel theie there e about 1890ShoItly 1890Shortly 1890 1890Shoitly Shoitly Shortly after the anival aillval arrival of the Taylois Taylols Taylors "in in 1n " the valle vane vanea vallea a feny fellY ferry boat was built bmlt , flist filSt fist built and operated by NOlffia1 Norma NOlffia1Taylor NormaTaylor N01 maTaylor Taylor . There seems to be some disagieement disagleement disagreement as to the e\a e a e.ac eac e.acdate e\.ac e.ac e .ac ac eadate \ ' . < ' date at which this feny feuy ferry was built , but it was in opeiation opelatlOn operation ileast a aleast ' least befole before 1885 for in m the journal of F . A . Hammond , plesi plesident pies ; | dent of the San Juan stake , under date of \ Monday l\Ionday l Ionday , , July 20 2 ( < 1885 , , the following foHowmg notation is made ( Piesident President PI esident Hammom Hammon Hammompaid Hammonpaid Hammonpaid paid a visit to the ' Moab l'Ioab lIoab waid wald ward on his way to attend con cor confelence corference coifeience felence ference at Salt Lake City ) : " 7 a . tn m ni ; . Hitched up and dlOV diov diovfour diovfour four miles to the ferry on Grand liver llver river . . Kept by NOlmar Norma NOlmarTaylor N01 maTaylor ; Taylor . Paid four dollal dollais dollars s for dossing clossing crossing five horses and onwagon on onwagon ( wagon \ agon . The liver river is some seven bundled hunched hundred fifty feet wid wide wide wideStream wideStream widStream < Stream not veiy very lapid rapid . High bluffs each side . The valle vallehere ; here at the mouth is some four miles wide . . Good deal oj ojmeadow o omeadow cmeadow meadow land . Directly opposite is a dry \ wash ash we follow UI UIon u uon : on our way to Greennver Greenrrver . . . . : . " ' The flist filst fist boat built was a very small one-buIlt one buIlt one - built a yeal yea yealor yeaor yeaor or two after the Taylors came . . It was only twentyerghfeet twel1ty-elghj twel1ty elghj twenty-ergh twenty ergh twel1tyelghjfeet twenty-eighfeet twenty eighfeet - feet long . In order to cioss ClOSS cross the " nver l"lver llver river , wagons had to be tal tak tak- tak taken taken talen - < en apart . A man nlan by the name of John GOl Goi Goidon dO)1 dO1 don ) came to Moal Moaland Moaland Moaand and showed NaIman Norman N01 man Taylor how to build a big feiry felry ferry boat boatThey boatThey boa1They They built |