Show recollections personal reminiscences of an old sot tier of ashley valley an Interest interesting inin and reliable description of our valley in 1877 cut it oat and paste it in your scrapbook scrap book thinking a short history or a plain un varnished unvarnished tale of facts in reference to tho the settlement of ashley valley and adjacent country might bo be interesting to some of your readers rs I 1 will introduce the subject by say saying ing when I 1 in company with S P dillman and my brother first saw what is now this beautiful and fertile valley I 1 thought wo we had arrived at the jumping off place or in plainer language langu ago I 1 thought it the most desolate godforsaken god forsaken dofort land that tho eye of mortal man or eor saw it was such an evening in september 1877 as is seldom soon seen outside of the valleys of the garden territory of tho the groat croat west that coming from the west through what was waa then caled the gap in the northwestern part of ashley valley our eyes rested with disappointment on the mecca of our hopes and although wo we did not prostrate ourselves in prayer as the pilgrims pilgrim s to mecca do yet to a certain extent it was a relief to our foo feelings lings and full of hopes that we might bo be dig disappointed appointed after after a more thorough examination of tho the valley and surroundings wo we proceeded across what was then a desert of sage brush groa greasewood sewood and shad scalo scale to tho the stream called ashley where wo we encamped for tho the night the next morning wo we preceded pro ceded to explore the valley tho the first place wo we visited was tho the ranch of pardon dodds the first actual in the valley hero here we found mr dodds and george basir who gave us some information in regard to the co its advantages an and d resources and this was a strong factor in causing us to remain in the valley at least for the winter which wo we finally concluded to do hero here our struggles and hardships begun we took up some claims and common commenced cod preparations to improve them it soon camo came on winter and wo we worked on the mountain until spring getting out house logs and building 0 material for use as soon as the weather grow grew warm the winter was doiy severe intensely cold but very little snow in the valley wo we had no intercourse with the outside world no mail service and the only way we over ever heard from friends outside of the valley was by hunters trappers or stockmen stoc kmen who made occasional trips to green river city wyoming and brought our mail in with them I 1 remember among the old timers john fairchild Pair child T taylor robt snyder james ben doko dohe jno blankenship wm gibson P dodds goo geo basor charles bentley S P dillman charley jones fin aritt 1 ritt john nakor and several others this was tho the small nucleus around which the future settlers sett lors of the valley concentrated on loo looking amig back I 1 can still soo see the log cabins of the first settlers and recall tho the good and hard times wo we have had together some of the persons above named have gono gone acro across s the groat great divide to explore tho the unknown land the majority aro are still residents of the valley with no thought as far as I 1 know than laying down to their eternal sloop sleep in the now beautiful and place which on fu fust first st sight seemed so utterly do dos golato truly time works wonders when I 1 look around me I 1 see now a population ot of over throe three thousand people I 1 see thrifty orchards grocea and fields of waving golden grain land which then could bo be had for the taking is today worth from 20 to 59 50 per acre flouring floering Flou ring mills furnish ua u our breadstuffs bread stuffs threshing machinda ma chinoa and self binders add their busy lium hum and click to vary the monotony churches and schools have sprung up tip as if by magic railroads Kail roads and telegraph lines are talked of and vernal destined in the near future to bo be the county seat of uintah county is fast putting on metropolitan airs upon awakening from a retrospective dream one can imagine that tho the whole valley lias has been touched by the wand of f an enchanter and that he is indeed in fairyland fairy land it is hard to realize that so many changes could have taken place in so BO short a time now a few words in conclusion uintah county will soon take a fiant place in the ranks of counties it is undeniably rich in many minerals there are also immense beds of coal gyp gypsum gils gilsonite and othel valuable do deposits posits that will when capital is enlisted in their development add materially to its veigh 0 fc and an d general prosperity pio wo we have an abundance of timber for improvements good soil good climate and one of the most healthful counties in utah the country is gradually so settling etling up tip with good citizens and the growth is steady and perma nant the social status of uintah county will compare favorably with any place in the west the majority of the people are poor but honest and are laboring hard to make inaho themselves them solves homes there is still some vacant land that can bo be utilized for farming and water is abundant by building reservoirs and boring arto ian wells which has been much of of late an amplo ample supply for all the agri agricultural land in the valley can bo be had at a comparatively compart ively small cost in this paper I 1 have tiled to illustrato illustrate the difference 15 years has made 0 in the visual aspect of the valley in il e my next I 1 will try to 6 show a corresponding sp if not more radical change in the mental or educational condi condition tiou of the pioneers and their families |