Show Editor of the Vernal Express Dear Sir I In the Vernal Express of last week in the history ot of the I growth of the telephone tern tem especially In Ashley Val Val Val- Valley ley they said they did not know why the name Ashley Center was rejected and Ver nal taking its place So I thought maybe there were others that did not know why Ashley Center was reo re- re rejected and I have taken from my journal the story oZ o How Vernal got Its name If you would like to publish It in your paper I would be pleased to have you do so Very Kindly Mrs Sarah B Bingham HOW VERNAL GOT ITS NAME How this part of Northeastern Utah became known as Ashley Fork I I I In the year of 1825 General Wm N Ashby came through this valley a member of the Rocky Mountain Fur Traders Co Jim Bridger a western scout was with them and when they talked about this country they called it the Ashley Fork country The Forks Forkl of Ashley Creek When we go up around the Loop we cross over the South Fork then we h have ve Dry Fork and in the Dry Fork vicinity we have North Fork and East Fork often spoken of as Brownies Canyon And so the country where these forks that contribute to the water flow of Ashley Creek became known as the Ashley Fork country The first surveyors that came to the Ashley Fork coun- coun country country try reported that this country was fit only to hold the world together Capt Pardon Dodds who was the Indian Agent gent at for several years came often into the Ashley Valley hunting cattle and horses that had been stolen from the Agency He saw great possibilIties for cattle Creek and when he resigned from being the Indian Agent I he came into the Ashley Val Icy ley with his own cattle and a herd of Heath Hatches cattle from Reber Heber He took up a ranch on Ashley Creek built builta a house and was here to stay This was the first house in AshI Ashley y Valley and the year 4 1873 From that year on people heard of the Ashley Fork country and came took up ranches on the Ashley Creek and homesteads on the Bench Dench land A town was established on Ashley Creek Wm Britt was the first mer merchant chant and had the Ashley Post Office James Gibson had hada a store and had the saloon In February of 1880 the people here applied for a county and this was granted to them by Governor Ell H Murry During the summer of 1880 County Supt Joseph H Black organized the county into school districts Ashley all the territory north of Ash Ash- Icy ley Creek Dry Fork included the Ashley Creek Canyon Vernal Center aU all the terri tern tory Cory from the mouth of thee the canyon east to Ashley Creek Incline from Ashley Creek to Green River In the year 1882 Mill Ward now Masser Maeser was created In 1883 Merrell Ward now Nap lee les 1962 was created In 1884 Glines Ward was creat cr at ed cd AU All cut off fr from n Ashley Center In 1887 Incline was changed to Riverdale and in 1894 Riverdale b became c me the Jensen Ward In 1886 the Latter day Saints Church created a stake in Uintah County nam nam- naming ing it The Ashley Valley Stake of Zion Their head head- headquarters headquarters quarters were in Ashley Cen Cen- Center Iter ter In 1893 two young men from Salt Lake City John A Blythe and Thomas Mitchell erected a store on the corner where the Bank of Vernal now stands and Mitchell ap- ap applied applied plied to be the post master In his letter from Washington from the Fourth Assistant Post Master General they ac- ac accepted accepted his application but reo rejected the name of Ashley Center because ot of the confusion slon sion It would cause In a town of so many Ashleys The next move the one move that made the name known was a neat sign paint paint- painted ed over the front door of the Blythe and Mitchell l store It read Vernal Post Office And so without any Rny fanfare the name Ashley Center quiet quiet- quietly ly Iy faded away and that was how Vernal got its name Taken from the Journal of Sarah B Bingham Vernal Utah August 1062 |