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Show TOURING SOUTHEASTERN UTAH .. . Basin is Scenic, Historic Htehlieht J By Dick Wilson Awe the relatively fat Cv::;ido Plateau tower three rres of peaks like islands rove an ocean. These three n-;es. the Henrys, the S:.es ari the La Sals have tt?. pushed up from the inter.:: in-ter.:: of the ear:h like p:m-:':i. p:m-:':i. ar.d erosion has sharped sharp-ed their summits to points. The LaSal Mountain, the sccr-d-highest range in Utah is possessed of a wealth of :'::. e-timberlir.e peaks. The iivziis these mountains :;Kh provide a great diver-"" diver-"" c: vegetation and animal as well as climate, hterspersed between the rrrenslcped ar.d bare peaks vi depressions where sci-:.r.s:s sci-:.r.s:s believe glaciers once air.ed. Some of these basins are lush with vegetation and :::vic!e homes of numerous TH animals. Miners Basin I 2 cr.e of these. A Steep Climb ilr.ers Basin can be reach-ii reach-ii by automobile although i-'.H people would prefer not risk it. The rough switch-Peking switch-Peking trail climbs rapidly rapid-ly from aspens which, when d temperatures bewitch '-"- leaves, all shades cf fining colors decorate tht? pes. It's better to classify '-".e route as a jeep road, la addition to being oui- rar.dingly beautiful, and providing relief from summer's sum-mer's heat, Miners Basin has 2 history almost as old as . Moab. It was in the late Ws that men were lured ,;0 the basin in pursuit of 5r;'-d- A camp originated nich became quite a little settlement. Early editions of e Grand Valley Times re-'l:srs re-'l:srs to the Basin miners fre- . ': J ,' ' ' : ' ' . v;; ; ; . . ' , ' - . v i 3 ' . v i .... . . , Jfvv ... . ,v . . - ; ',1 ;:.:v( .tor- h: . A wisp of smoke leaves Gordon Fowler's cabin and is dispersed into the high altitude air of grassy Miners Basin. This area in the quentiy and it seemed that there was always something interesting going on in that high altitude camp. Today you can visit Miners Min-ers Basin, now a ghost town with only a few of the original orig-inal buildings remaining to remind one of the days past. But Miners Basin is mon; than a dilapidated ghost town. One of its original miners still abides there in the shadows of Horse Mountain Moun-tain to the north and Mr. Waas to the east. Gordon Fowler, old timer of the Moab area, relaxes in a 60 eld chair in his cabin at Miners Basin. Fowler first to )he historic gold camp high in the LaSals in 1907. J LaSal Mountains was an active gold camp in the latter part of last century and early part cf this century. (T-l Photo) Enthusiastic Resident With hair as white as the snow that piles high on his cabin in the winter, Gordon Fowler, is now 80 years old, and still as spry and alert as the mountain goats that roam the slopes above the basin. The cabin Fowler lives in in Miners Basin is an historical his-torical masterpiece. Fowlir stated that it wras built by bachelor brothers, Henry and Ed Wolf in 1898. Fowler went on to say that the first prospectors pros-pectors came into Miners Basin in 1894. Joseph Burk-holder Burk-holder built the first cabin there which was in the lower low-er meadow, and this was the only cabin there with a fireplace. fire-place. Burkholder later home steaded on Wilson Mesa and his name is still retained in the local geography, in the name Burkholder Draw which originates on Wilson Mesa. Looking For Gold The first prospectors came looking for gold 'in the mineralized min-eralized parts of the LaSal Mountains. They were looking look-ing for high grade gold but it turned out to be lower grade than they had hoped. Consequently . Miners Basin never grew to the proportions propor-tions of other notable gold mining areas. Gordon Fowler first came to Miners Basin in 1907 and spent two summers there. He still sits in a rocking chair that was in the cabin 60 years ago. Two girls that lived in Miners Basin during dur-ing Fowler's summer visits in the early part of this century cen-tury are all that survive. AU the others have passed on. . Fowler gave up a commercial commer-cial career in Chaiago and took up homesteading in eastern Colorado in 1913. He came back to Miners Basin in 1929 and has been a permanent per-manent resident ever since. Permanent most of the time, that is. He winters now in Moab but in his younger days has spent quite a few winters in the basin whicn has an elevation of 10,000 ft. Fowler said that is was necessary nec-essary in those days to pack in enough food and other supplies to last for six monthhs. He would go out about once a month on skis for mail. , Other parts of the town included in-cluded a boarding house with an attached store which was built by George Fay and his wife. The cabin Fowler lives in presently was the original post office at Miners Min-ers Basin. BLIND BARTENDER "A blind man by the name of Sam McGrew," said Fowler, Fow-ler, "who had had his eyes shot out in Cripple Creek, had a saloon in Miners Basin." Bas-in." Later a mill was put in by Robert J. Thompson and the population grew. "We had a voting precinct here with about 40 voters then," Fowler said. The cabin Fowler lives in is at the bottom of a green-carpeted green-carpeted meadow whose grassy slope reaches a crest another thousand feet higher to which it is possible to drive a jeep. The cabin itself seems to be of very durable quality, made of logs and is warm and cozy during cold spells. The cabin squats low at the base , of the hillside, easily accommodating Fowler's short frame. When Fowler is Continued on Page B2 Gem of the LaSals Continued from Page Bl at home a wisp of smoke spirals upward out pf the chimney and dissapates itself it-self into the crisp air. Intends to Stay "I intend to stay here till I kick the bucket," Fowler says, which may be a good many years off. He's still full of more energy than a . lot of younger people and this he probably has derived deriv-ed from an active life in the out-of-doors mixed in with plenty of work. He still chops his own wood for his kitchen stove, "or I get some tenderfoot lo do it for me," he says. He carries his water from the nearby spring and perform a number of other activities which keeps him young. The snow averages six ft. deep in the Basin. When he arrived for his summer's stay this past June he had to bust drifts with his jeep and had to dig out the cabin's cab-in's door. - The most modern conven ience in his rustic hand-hewn log cabin is his radio which provides him his link with ' the outside world and pare of his entertainment. Many Visitors He receives cordially about 700 visitors a year some coming from as far away as Australia and the Phillipines. One visitor he received the other day was not as cordial in return. " A large bear got into an outdoor refrigerator and cleaned it out," Fowler said. A week ago Saturday Fowler Fow-ler signed an agreement with a large company for his leased property. Th2 company will be doing some mineral exploration for a ' period of about three years to ascertain the value of-known of-known copper deposits. In the meantime Fowler will continue on as the chief host of Miners Basin. His cheery smile, glistening white hair and sturdy constitution con-stitution will be part of the reward of visiting Miners Basin. |