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Show .. .., ' - " . ,' i ' - f , i -. . i i r . ' ' t.' t ...... . t ' - . J " , ' . : f - - . ( ; " " t I. I t . ONE OF THE very first houses built was the Dodd's log cabin ccated in Ashley. This marker states. "First Log House. In 1861 5'esdent Abraham Lincoln established by proclamation the J.ntah Indian Agency. Brigharn Young held the office of Supt. -i,an Affairs. Lieut. Pardon Dodds. Civil War Veteran, came to Jtah Sept. 7, 1S66 and in 1867 was appointed first Indian isnt for the Uintah Basin by President Andrew Jackson. After xsting a S20.000 bond, he arrived at Whiterocks Christmas lay. served until 1873 when he came to Ashley Valley as a fekman with Evans and Huffaker. East of this monument they e'Kted the first log cabin built by white men in the Uintah Sas.n. It served as a home for the Dodds family until 1897." i - . i . ' : : - . i y ' I : - - J !- - 1 ' ;.. ' -; . r -' . f i , -:v . i - r i J , jSjONUMENT located in Maeser, "Reynolds Flour Mill. In - (BiM) Reynolds and Moroni Taylor cut and faced rugh stone burrs which were set up in the "old fort" for y ' PurPoses. They were turned by a horse attached to a In irS' Later these burrs were used to grind feed for livestock. nriu1 the ,irst mill in Ashlev Valley was built on this site. The ma h 8'Ven by Robert Bodly and the mi11' equiPPed wlt chinery, was run by water power fumed to the mill. Wm. P. year? i 3nd son Wm- G- (Bi") operated the mill for over forty 1 s- it was destroyed by fire in 1934." A fooUi BBitfo Verncil's pioneer peiGi? The 24th of July, Pioneer Day. is a . time of celebration. Along with the many activities, it is also a time of reflection for those who came before us to settle these lands. Doris Burton, Uintah County historian, tells the story of the settlement settle-ment of this valley through research, personal histories, records, and oral i histories. First White Settler , The area in the Basin was known as a very wild place. There were 'about 45O0 Indians,' Mrs. Burton said. Pardon Dodds, an Indian agent in Whiterocks, was the first white settler in this area. He came in February of 1872. He drove his cattle to settle here along with the help of Morris Evans after being released as the Indian agent. Pardon Dodds was the first w hite man to build a log cabin. A monument monu-ment put up by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers marks the place of the cabin site. The first settlement began in Ashley and was known as Ashlev Town. There was a school, a post office, a blacksmith's shop and a four mill built in the town. Mr. Dodds started a trading post for the fur trappers and the Indians to . : - f 7 m 4 4 1 I i i l , j ; 1 I -! THE POTTERY SHOP monument located in Naples states, "Pottery "Pot-tery Shop. In 1893 Ephriam H. Roberts, a war veteran, Duiit a pottery shop here. He and his sons made churns, jars, jugs, and flower pots, which were exchanged for produce. 500 samples of clay were tried before a suitable one was found. Lead for glazing was dug from a clay bank on the Rifle Range at Fort Duchesne. Later the building was used for an amusement center known by "Old Robert's Hall." In 1920 it was moved to Davis ward where it served as a church and recreation hall. It was razed in 1936." trade with. Other settlers began to move in after Mr. Dodds. A. C. Hatch brought his cattle cat-tle from Heber with him to settle. The first settlers of Jensen were on their way to Arizona, stated Mrs. Burton. Bur-ton. While stopped in Heber and talking to A C. Hatch, before he moved here, he told them about this place and that they should come here. Mr. Hatch was a lawyer at the time in Heber City. Because of the many Indian problems, pro-blems, soldiers were sent from Wyoming Wyom-ing headed by Thornburg. A fort was built in the center of the town. "This is one reason why Vernal got started," stated Mrs. Burton. It was a very flat piece of land without any trees. The fort offered protection. "You could see for miles around anything that was coming." stated Mrs. Burton. In Ashley Town they couldn't Settlers moved from Ashley Town into in-to the fort. The settlers would number the logs of their cabin and take them apart a log at a time. When they got to the fort they would put the cabins back up according to the numbers. Later they took the cabins apart a log at a time and moved back to Ashley Town w here they put their cabins back up. Many traumatic events took place such as the Meeker Massacre and the hard winter. Most of the people who came to this valley were homesteaders who started farming and had a lot of cattle. This place was also far away from everyone else which was another reason why so many people came here. Mrs. Burton said, "They didn't want to be where there was a lot of law and could get away with the things they were doing." A sheriff was appointed but, "No one would listen to him." Mrs. Burton added. add-ed. How Vernal Got Its Name According to Mrs. Burton the first name of what is now called Vernal was Jerico. The name was changed to Hatch Town because of the many Hatches that moved into the area. Later it was changed to Ashley Center with stores being built in the downtown area which kept expanding. As Vernal, then known as Ashley Center, began to grow they wanted to have their own post office. Application was made to the United States Postmaster. In reply to their request, re-quest, the postmaster said their desire would be granted if they would rename the town. He said it was 'too similar to Ashley Town' and there would be too much of a mix up. related Mrs. Burton. The postmaster suggested the name of Vernal. According to Webster's dictionary, dic-tionary, Vernal means: of, relating to, or occuring in the spring; fresh or new-like new-like the spring. The postmaster had never seen the valley, stated Mrs. Burton. Bur-ton. The people of Ashley Center wanted to be called Ashley Center and would not accept the new name of Vernal at first. But, Blithe and Michell, those in charge, accepted the new name and called the post office the Vernal Post Office and began receiving mail with Vernal on it. It took awhile, but eventually even-tually the people began to accept the new name. County Seat Moved The county seat for this area was originally in Heber. It was moved to Ashley Town as the town began to grow and expand. Because of the growth in Vernal, a petition was made to have the county seat changed once again. The new county coun-ty seat was to be in Vernal. The first time an attempt was made to change the county seat; it failed. Again in 1893 a petition was made to have it moved. This time the votes were 304 in favor of the petition with only 33 against. After the county seat was moved to Vernal, Ashley Town began to dwindle and became a 'ghost town,' said Mrs. Burton. Mormons Come to Valley The Church sent people to check out this place around the time of the first white settler. They returned with reports of, "It wasn't any good for anything but the Indians and to hold the world together." stated Mrs. Burton. After more people began to settle in this area, the Mormon Church sent a party headed by Thomas Bingham w ho settled in Jensen and later moved to Drv Fork. Around 1879 to 1880 a lot of Mormons started coming to this valley. The main reason was because they knew the polygamy law was going to be passed, and they knew that there wasn't very much law enforcement out here and wouldn't be persecuted as much as they had been." said Mrs. Burton. From that time on, the majority of the people who came to settle in this valley were Mormons. The regional room at the Uintah County Library contains the history of our area. Take a trip into the past and learn more of our history and heritage. X y X - " ' ' --i" . ; ' i i ' - L i " j . - : ! ? - - - : : : - - .. i , .. - ' v . . , - - - . i'C-v'" . - - - - j -: " .:'! --.-.. ft . . - ,..t.-. .x '::aI:m..V:. V.. .:' I A PLACE TO VISIT and see many things used in 'olden times' is the DUP Pioneer Museum located two blocks north on Fifth West. Part of the building used to be a tithing office. The building was erected in 1887 by the Uintah Stake of the LDS church on ground contributed by Jeremiah Hatch Sr. for $1.00. Throughout the museum there are many things that can be seen of what was used to make this valley what it is now. |