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Show Pages From The Paet BESIDES THE mining of gilsonite, The Strip had one other useful function: it provided a stage 'The Sirip' was rnosv lawless Sown in Uflah By Doris Karren Burton Uintuh County Historian In 1885 Sam H. Gilson, a prospector, discovered asphaltum and gilsonite, which was named after him, on the Uintah Uin-tah Indian Reservation near Fort Duchesne. Believing the minerals to be on public land, the miner staked out a claim. Claims were also staked out by A. C. Hatch and George W. Basor. The prospectors spent over $25,000 in opening open-ing a road to the sight. However, when the government surveyed the area in 1887, it was determined that the mineral lands were on the Indian reservation. reser-vation. Learning this, influencial groups of backers petitioned Congress to release the land for public domain. Instrumental in securing this release had been five officers at Fort Duchesne who swore out affidavits that the land was "utterly worthless for any purpose to the (Indian) tribes." Thereupon Congress Con-gress passed an act in 1888 releasing a triangular portion of Indian land to the public domain. The area later became known as 'The Strip.' Don Donaldson, who operated a saloon on the strip and later a store in Moffat told Reed Morrill, in a personal interview in 1936, that the base of the strip running east and west was three miles wide, the north-south boundary line extended six miles. The men who held claims jointly plac-' plac-' ed them in a corporation known as the Gilson Asphaltum Co. of St. Louis. Under this company several buildings sprang up on the company property. Off the mining claims, yet still within the boundaries of the Strip, several saloons, a telegraph office, a blacksmith shop, a barber shop and other establishments quickly appeared. It soon became obvious that the area was practically beyond all legal jurisdiction. The Indian agent had no , authority, nor did Utah Territory official, of-ficial, Uintah County officials or the military at Fort Duchesne. The only authority had to come from a federal marshall and since there was no federal status governing gambling, prostitution and liquor sales the area was wide open to every sort of illegal activity. There was little anyone could do about it. Liquor Li-quor flowed freely and gambling was the rule of the hour, day and night. The sky was the limit. The strip was a haven for the wildest men of the territory. Butch Cassidy, Harry Longbaugh, Dave Lant, Matt Warner and many other members of the Wild Bunch gathered at the strip. Here, the outlaws could visit, drink and play without worry because they were immune from arrest. Outlaw Elza Lay had a business counterfeiting silver dollars in his saloon there. The off-duty hours of the soldiers at Fort Duchesne were often spent at the strip drinking and gambling. Others sought the temporary companionship of prostitutes who were plentiful. Tempers often flared in the strip, and soldiers were sometimes involved in the ensuring disputes. Jack Thomas, a white rancher, was killed in the brothel adjoining the saloon owned by Henry (Hen) Lee. Thomas often gambled at the strip with members of the black troops. An article in the Vernal Express on May 4, 1889, tells the story: "THE STRIP TRAGEDY" Killing of Jack Thomas by Carter. The Tenth Violent Death at this Locality. "It appears that a controversy arose between two colored soldiers, Orrin Curry interfered and was attempting to take a gun from one of them when Jack Thomas came in, much under the influence in-fluence of liquor, he ordered the disturbance distur-bance to cease and drew his gun against the protest of Mr. Curry and at the same time remarked, "You black S of a B-I will kill you" and struck one of the colored combatants over the head, instantly in-stantly six guns were drawn by as many darky soldiers, most of the civilians present considerly withdrew so as not to interrupt the course of any bullets; just what occurred after that is a difficult matter to determine; but it is supposed that William Carter, the man who was struck by Thomas, fired the fatal shot." During the melee Abraham McKee, another black soldier, joined in the shooting spree. At the inquest the jurors ruled that the shooting was justifiable and Carter was exonerated. The less-fortunate less-fortunate McKee was taken to Fort i stop where a change of horses was always available. Logan, Colo., where he faced a military court for his participation in the affair. Liquor was not allowed in the Fort so the soldiers waited until the last opportunity oppor-tunity for a final drink, then tossed the empty bottles into a small ravine, or hollow, along the side of the road. Over the years the pile grew rather large. Local residents called it bottle hollow and that's where Bottle Hollow Resort got its name. To prevent troops from going to the strip, a guard was placed on the Duchesne bridge. Soldiers evaded the guard by walking beyond the bridge and swimming across the river. When the soldiers returned to the bridge, they were arrested, taken to the guard house, and fined a month's pay. The men were angered at Captain John Guilfoyle's attempts to keep them from the strip. There were rumors that a fire at the post has been set deliberately in retaliation. The Vernal Express on Dec. 22, 1892 stated that a black employee of the post trader, Dennis Ford, quarreled with the Chinese restaurant owner and stabbed him in the breast. Ford was arrested and placed in the guard house. Violence was by no means limited to soldiers. The strip was a gathering place for outlaws, Indians, cowboys, sheepherders, freighters, miners and travelers. There were sixteen deaths by lead poisoning (shootings) recorded on the strip. Most of the shootings never came to the notice of any kind of authority unless they involved soldiers or Indians. One day a fellow named Dunbar came to Vernal and joined up with George Hughes, a gunslinger, that Sheriff Searle and Deputy Pete Dillman had been having trouble with. Mr. Dillman relates in his history that one day the two gunslingers were over to the strip to gamble and drink. They lost all their money but still wanted to drink. Dunbar went to the counter and picked up the whiskey bottle. He poured out a couple of drinks while the frightened bartender stood silent. When the two had drank their fill, Dunbar reached over and pulled out the cash drawer in the til. He turned it upside down on the counter and proceeded to divide up the spoils, pushing a dollar to Hughes and then one to himself. Later George Hughes was not so lucky. The gunslinger attempting to even an old score, caught a tin horn gambler cheating at a poker game. He called the card shark out and beat him to the draw, but his gun only clicked and Hughes was killed. The card shark had earlier, with the help of a friendly dance hall girl swiped George's gun long enough to file the firing pin down so short it wouldn't shoot. The strip was never the official name of the area. By common usage, it simply simp-ly became known as 'The Strip'. However, it was sometimes called 'Sobertown' in the old issues of the ' Vernal Express. In 1905 the Uintah-Ouray Indian reservation was opened to white settlers. set-tlers. A white settlement and regular law enforcement took over the strip. A town was surveyed out and named Moffat Mof-fat in honor of David H. Moffat, a railroad magnate. Violence still occurred during the next few years, even with law enforcement. enforce-ment. In 1910, Tabby Weep, a Ute Indian In-dian gun hawk, who had frequented the strip and had the reputation of being the fastest, deadliest man with a pistol in the territory, made headlines. Even the Wild Bunch respected him and knew they couldn't match his accuracy with the Colt 44. One day in Moffat, Tabby Weep pulled pull-ed his gun on J. A. Wilson, who had just stepped out of Nichols and Donaldson's store. He demanded money and told Wilson to put it down on a rock. Just as he was doing so, Bob Reynolds came out and said, "That's right, treat the Indian In-dian right." Tabby then told Wilson to turn his back. Wilson took two steps when shooting began. Wilson thought it was aimed at him and he took off like lightning. However, Reynolds and Weep were shooting it out. Reynolds was killed and the Indian, who was shot twice in the pistol fight, was off on his horse. He was later captured and claimed that he shot in self defense. However, witnesses had seen the gun- fight and the evidence was too strong for Tabby's plea of self defense. Tabby Weep was sentenced to life in prison. Moffat has now changed its name to Gusher, named for an anticipated oil gusher. Little remains of the wild, free days of the Strip. Information for this article was taken from the following: Vernal Express microfilm ; Land of Diversity, the Uintah, Uin-tah, Basin printed by the Uintah Basin Standard; A history of the Ute Indians by Floyd O'Neil; Life and Times of Peter Dillman; an oration by Major B. H. Roberts on July 24, 1919; BYU thesis of Reed Morrill in 1937; Utah Historical Quartlies, volumes 47, 1979 and 32, 1964. i R wrB eorn ; THE STRIP , s.MJ y j 3 Mill! s APPROXIMATE SHAPE and form of "The Strip" as drawn and explained by Don Donaldson. Copies by A. R. Morrill in 1936. |