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Show historical highlights on 'Steinaker Drw i :,. . 5 - ' r -. . - :t ". .: ' :. . -V I v -' ; - : . , . ' ' , - . . , i- - . '",-' i f - . , m ' . F 4 v -"v. . ' ' - wU,-1 Jtf - " -v- :v v. .i " - " ' . " - W via e a. i ' -.-.. - ',-. '1 f.V' : -. " i- " """ "r v-i:"lSl . : - . . : -:''' ;.u ' LOOKING LIKE a huge boot in an upside down position, this ' large balancing rock can be seen for miles from both the Brush Creek and Vernal sides of Red Mountain. i "" v-v "i ...... .;. f ? i . i : ' A 4 'jv. . , - ' - ' , J ' ' . ; ' " . THIS PICTURE of an old windmill, taken well over a quarter of a century ago, portrays man's search and need for water in this dry area. Today very little remains to tell the story of the activities ac-tivities that once took place here. It Part 2 of three part Series by George E. Long Of all the ranches in the draw, probably the Newton place had the most land under cultivation. Also, this was the place on the tail end of the ditch, therefore compounding the ever present problem of water shortage which most of Steinaker Draw was well known for. The Newton place was originally owned by the same Newton brothers that were famous for their saddle and leather goods here in Vernal. One brother was totally blind and another became near so in his later years. They have a very good business in their leather goods and were known throughout the west for their fine quality of work. Several local residents found employment at their establishment. establish-ment. Several families down through the years have lived on the Newton Ranch. Today it and several others are covered with water, the one thing they had always needed the most. Another place of interest in this area was the Blotho place or as known by some, the Decker place. Located to the northwest nor-thwest of the Newton place, the scarceness scar-ceness of water was even more so here than that of other nearby ranches. There was a small spring which Decker and others who have lived there since, tried to develop into a more abundant source of water, but mostly to no avial. A tunnel was blasted through almost solid rock in their efforts to increase the water flow. Decker never received a clear title to the property and it was later purchased by William Gibson who later sold it to Mr. Blytho a retired railroad engineer. Mr. Gibson had planted some fruit trees in the area sort of for an experiment, ex-periment, so Mr. Blytho decided to try this venture also, along with a small garden. The story goes that none of it did too well, mostly for lack of water. He had to carry water to most of his trees with a bucket from the spring. Mr. Blytho became involved with another water project which eventually led him to bankruptcy and brought about the loss of his place. Along with a few other individuals who visioned getting water to the badlands in the buckskin hills to the east, and thereby opening up several hundred acres of otherwise barren ground, he helped undertake the building of a canal from the mouth of Steinaker Draw, then tunnel through the large hill to the east, and they by a series of fills and loops, extend the canal to the flat-like area beyond, that was suitable for farming. A man by the name of Alcorn was in charge of the operation and Mr. Arrowsmith, father of Sylvan and Jess Arrowsmith did all the demolition work. The project never reached completion although a lot of hard work went into it. Remains of the old canal can be seen to this day along the side of the hill as you travel on 5th East just prior to where it intersects with the Vernal-Manila highway. After Mr. Blytho left Steinaker Draw, his place became the property of a local early-day dentist, Charles Hirth. Today nothing remains, only the old tunnel where they tried so hard to further develop the badly needed water, the cabin and corral have long since disappeared. A short distance to the north from the Blytho place and along the base of Red Mountain lies what is known as the coyote farm. Located in sort of a box canyon with some very odd rock for- -1 x . . - . . 4 - v tf' - . . ' - . n. - : i , , " - . V , . -. ' . , --v t . . . , :-. . t i PINE LOG CABIN built on Red Mountain in late 1940' s. mations, this is beyond a doubt, the most interesting place in Steinaker Draw. Also it is called by some as whiskey springs, because of the fine spring located nearby. This is the best natural source of water in the draw. Coyotes were in fact raised here for a while with the sale of their pelts as income. With the high rock walls forming for-ming most of the distance around the area, the owners then enclosed the remaining open spots with woven wire and tin imbedded in the soil to prevent digging under and high enough to keep the coyotes from jumping out. The story has it that vandals one night cut the fence and let the animals out. Whiskey Spring is so named by some because there was located nearby for a number of years, a distillery for the making of whiskey. This was back in those years during and even before prohibition. In fact, there was for a time, two such distilling operations going on in the draw area. Whiskey Springs location was ideal for several reasons. There was both ample amounts of water and fuel, plus " it provided good seclusion, all of which were important in the making of this illegal beverage. From its lofty rock walls you could see for long distances and thereby detect anyone approaching that may be of a suspicious nature. In conjunction with the distilling of whiskey, there was also wine made from a grove of chokecherry trees that grew here. For years this was one of the finest groves of chokecherries anywhere, and the wine made from its luscious fruit was very much in demand. Between the operation of the .two stills in Steinaker Draw, they did much in supplying those individuals ' in the Vernal who had a thirst for this type of beverage, although as the old saying goes, in some cases it required a cast-iron cast-iron stomach. A story of interest concerns one of the participants of this illegal trade. It seems he would come into town both during winter and summer wearing an overcoat which he used in connection with the peddling of his wares. The coat had several specially made pockets sewed into its interior just the right size to accommodate a pint whiskey flask. Thus, he would make his deliveries in this manner. After the close of prohibition, these stills and most of the others throughout the area shut down. Illegal as they were, they nonetheless were an interesting in-teresting part of the history of our community. |