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Show MEMORIES OF BRIAN HEAD There has never been much written about Brian Head, but much is remembered and passed on by word of mouth. There are two popular stories on how Brian Head got it's name. It was first called Monument Peak. In the first story, it is said that a wife of a United States Governmental Official came to visit the area and did not like the name Monument Peak. She went home, wrote some letters to officials and the name was changed to Brian Head. In the second story, it is said that while John Wesley Powell was on a topographical expedition, he saw the peak above all the other mountains and named it after William Jennings Bryan, who once ran for the Presidency. There were many sawmills in the Brian Head area. In 1912, Walter C. Mitchel owned a sawmill which was located about where the Market is now. After the lumber was cut, it was then hauled down by horse and wagons to Parowan, Cedar City or to the Iron Mines. History indicates that it rained quite a bit more in early 1900. Because of the rain, sometimes it took 6 to i 10 horses to pull the wagons out of the mud holes in the road. To alleviate this problem, pioneers built "cordoroy roads" which were round logs lined up next to each other. These were about twelve feet wide. In the early days, there was a hotel-dance hall in the Brian Head area. A lady by the name of Millie ran the place, so it was nicknamed "Millie's Mansion". On the 24th of July, Utah's Pioneer Day, there would be a large celebration at Millie's. Many people from Parowan, and all the sheep and cattle herders from miles around would meet at Millie's and dance for two or three days. It was said that since it was so muddy during that time, the dance floor would have up to four inches of mud on it, but that didn't dampen the participants' spirits. When people acquired homestead land in the area, they built their cabins in adjoining corners. Then when it came to making cheese, the families would alternate, so each family had to do it every four days. The best cheese made in Iron County came from an Irish family named Lyman, living in the area. Their farm became known as 'Ireland' LOTS OF SHEEP Cattle and sheep were grazed in the area, as they still are today. Back then there were more sheep than cattle because it was more profitable. The herdsmen lived in the area close to their livestock until bad weather, then they moved with the herds back down to the valley below. Dixie National Forest was started around 1906. In 1924, the State selected different parcels of land and brought them back from the people they had given them to. In the late 1930' s they put them back up for sale. P.A.Clark, Will Lymen, Thomas K. Holyoak and Joseph F. Holyoak purchased pieces of land. In 1927 a film was made near Brian Head called "Ship of the Hills". The road was finally paved in the early 1960's. It followed the old road quite closely most of the way. The fence that follows the edge of the meadow and the road was built by Vern Mortenson and his sons and Clad Bensen. NICHOLS AND VASELS Burt Nichols, an electrical engineer from Orange County, California, initiated development of a ski resort at Brian Head. At about the same time Homer Vasels, a California department store owner interested in mountain property, was independently considering the same idea. In April, 1962, Nichols quit Huges Fullerton to devote his energies to the development of a ski resort. His search for an ideal development site included four locations: Williams and Flagstaff, Arizona; Brian Head, Utah; Mt. Charleston, Nevada. Brian Head appeared to have the greatest long term potential. Nevertheless, Nichols developed Williams, Arizona first because it was easiest, but began a feasibility study on a Brian Head ski resort project. Shortly thereafter, Nichols met Vasels, and the two teamed up. Nichols spearheaded the general promotion of the area, while Vasels developed an investment in-vestment package and lined up investors for the Brian Head Corporation which was formed in May, 1964. In January, 1964, with the help of locals Milt Jolley, D.W. Correy, Pat Fenton and others, 640 acres was bought from the Holyoaks and the Mitchels. With a loan from the Small Business Administration Ad-ministration (SBA), secured with the help of the South West Development Corporation, Cor-poration, construction began in September, 1964 with the building of the first chairlift, a T-bar, and warming house. FIRST SKIING 1965 The ski resort made its debut in January, 1965, but the project suffered any financial problems during this period. Dr. McRay Cloward became President, Chairman Chair-man of the Board, and General Manager of the Brian Head Corporation in 1966. He was able to save the remainder of the SBA loan" and pay off all accounts payable. During his three years at Brian Head, the Brian Head Inn was improved, im-proved, telephone and power were brought to the mountain, subdivision land sales took place, a water system was developed, Terry Marten was contracted con-tracted with to build the first condominiums, and lift No. 2 was initiated. Other housing development was initiated by Don Van Sickle and Dan Kiernan, Evan Dobson, and Jeff Thayer. Nichols approached the Brian Head Corporation in 1970 and offered to buy the operational aspect of Brian Head: lifts, Bavarian Inn, related equipment, ski slope and Forest Service permit to operate the lifts. This left the corporation with all the developable land. The deal was approved and in September, Sep-tember, 1971, Nichols formed for-med Brian Head Limited with Dr. Charles Gunnoe. Legal problems arose shortly thereafter and a suit was filed against Brian Head Limited by the Brian Head Corporation. Not long after the suit was filed, Gunnoe left Brian Head Limited and was replaced by Phil Long. Finally, a complex settlement set-tlement agreement was reached in 1977. ATOWNIN1975 A petition was drawn up in 1975 to incorporate the town of Brian Head. The Iron County Commission voted two to one in favor of incorporation. in-corporation. It was later discovered that one-third of the town's business activity and land area, thought to be within the incorporated boundaries, had been inadvertently excluded. Three and one half months later officials of Brian Head requested the County Commission to nullify their status as an incorporated entity so that boundary and revenue problems could be resolved by reincorporation, but disincorporation did not take place. Since that time the town has begun to provide a full range of services. Grants were recieved to hire a Town Clerk and Manager-Planner. A garbage service was initiated. Federal monies have been obtained to make improvements in the water system that the town is now in the process of purchasing. The town has been placed high on the State's Sewer Priority list for Federal funding |