OCR Text |
Show A13 Wednesday, March 21, 2007 5 . , r -r,. , -.l .-V-v- Vernal Express Great coat button. Section of the Carter Military Road near South Fork of Ashley Creek. Infantry hat insignia. What the 'Wad West' was a! about By Byron Loosle Ashley National Forest With little fanfare Ed held up the Colt .45 cartridge he had just discovered. If one item symbolized symbol-ized the Old West, this was it. The cartridge had never been 'fired and Ed had found it where a soldier had dropped it nearly 125 years ago. Ed was elated to find a portion of an insignia from an infantryman's hat a little later that day. Jerry was even more enthusiastic when he found a complete insignia a few minutes later. These rare artifacts arti-facts were proof we had located one of the soldiers' camps along the Carter. Road. These devoted volunteers, from California and Nevada, had finally found the Ashley Forks camp used by soldiers sol-diers in 1883. Three years ago volunteers from Passport in Time (PIT) began be-gan descending on the Ashley National Forest to help identify iden-tify missing parts of the route. These experienced metal detecting detect-ing volunteers came from many states throughout the country with their own expensive equip ment to help in the search. The volunteers, many of whom have worked along the Oregon Trail, were surprised by the amount of material found along the Carter Road. Horseshoes, nails, wire, wagon parts, and even a pocketknife were just a few of the items that helped to clearly mark the road. But nothing pre-! pared them for what they would find in the summer of 2006. Gary Weicks, a historian working on the project, found ; that the military established; several camps along the route i where soldiers lived while they worked on the road. In July 2006, the PIT volunteers began searching for Camp Burnt Cabin, Cab-in, but after a couple days only a few artifacts had been located. We shifted our attention to the summit where a gorgeous piece of the road still exists. Within just a few minutes we knew we had found a special area. The crew carefully documented hundreds hun-dreds of cut nails that may have been used for tent platforms. They also found dozens of .45-70 cartridges, which were the standard stan-dard military ammunition of the period. Then the crew began to find the clearest evidence of a military camp. They found over a dozen brass uniform buttons, two hat insignias, a canteen stopper, and other items. Per-' Per-' haps most surprising was the discovery of a Virgin Mary medallion me-dallion with German writing. Many of the soldiers were recent re-cent immigrants from Ireland, Scandinavia, and Germany. In the summer of 2007, PIT volunteers will attempt to find the north slope camps that were called Icy Brook and Lodgepole. Come watch the Carter Road come alive the week of March 12-16th. PIT volunteers will gather to clean and research artifacts, ar-tifacts, draw maps, and prepare displays of the artifacts discovered discov-ered during the 2006 season. The highlight of the week will be on Thursday, March 15th when the PIT volunteers will be attempting attempt-ing to locate Fort Thornburgh's rifle range. We will have an exhibit ex-hibit of artifacts at 2323 North 3500 West between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Come join in the fun and excitement of "detecting" our past. Tax delinquent Vernal business must answer to the city The Vernal City Council met on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Vernal City Council Chambers at 447 East Main in Vernal. Council members voted to amend the municipal code concerning the revocation or suspension of licenses relating businesses operating outside of tax compliance in Vernal City. In June of 2006, the state's Sales Tax Commission revoked the sales tax license of a Vernal business; however, the city was only recently informed of this action. Vernal has given notice to the local business that because be-cause of their non-compliance, they must arrange to make payment or the city will have to revoke their business license.. Right now, the Vernal business busi-ness has a tax delinquency in excess of $20,000, and before any action is taken, the council expects a public hearing with the business to respond to questions ques-tions regarding the complaint brought by the State Tax Commission. Com-mission. If they refuse, the city may have no other choice but to revoke the business' license and close its operation. In other business, the council approved city contracts with the Uintah Fire Service District and Uintah Animal Control Service District to provide financial and human resources support. Both interlocal agreements agree-ments with the city will be subject to 6 month review. ill is 'AM ' 1 Yvle v c I X v. 1" 'y ' Bluetooth ready Mobile video Internet access The Nokia 4103 only t f f Q9 ' E32888)926-CARE WM UniorWireless.com Authorized Agent SBTCeSutar 1525 West Wghvray 40 -Vemd "Requfrea a 2-year jgreemerr or any ptan of SS4 95 or higher "Nokia &Q3 valued prtoed at 96 cents. Offer ends March 3tet Some restrictions apply. 1 II v ' o Hill Gov. Huntsman at the Capital Campaign. at the launch of the 2007 Utah Tourism Utah national ad campaign launched . Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. and the Utah Office Of-fice of Tourism today unveiled Utah's Life Elevated spring and summer advertising campaign during a Capitol Hill news conference. con-ference. The nearly $3.4 million tourism marketing program was recently approved by the Utah Board of Tourism Development. De-velopment. The new print and television ads promoting Utah's outdoor recreation will run on cable stations around the country coun-try and local television stations in Denver and Los Angeles, in national travel "magazines, and on tourism-related websites. "We appreciate the efforts of the Legislature during the General Gen-eral Session to release the funding fund-ing earmarked for our warm weather campaign," said Jason Perry, executive director of the Governors Office of Economic Development, which oversees the Utah Office of Tourism. Lawmakers have generously appropriated $11 million for the next fiscal year that will be used to attract more out-of-state visitors visi-tors to. Utah. The Utah Life Elevated brand launched last April seems to be resonating with out-of-state travelers because revenue is up in virtually all of the 21 tourism-related tax codes that we track for our performance-based performance-based funding, said Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism. Our Cooperative Marketingprogram has been successful in promoting promot-ing destinations and events in a majority of Utah's 29 counties and requests for travel guides and other brochures have gone up in the past year. The new print ad will run through August in the New York Times and in the following magazines: Outside, National Geographic Adventure, , Food & Wine, Metro Home, Sunset, Delta Sky, and Western Living. Online ads will appear on travel-related websites, including Trip Advisor, Yahoo, and Con-cierge.com. Con-cierge.com. The new ads were created by Salt Lake City-based advertising agency Struck Communications, Com-munications, formerly W Communications. Com-munications. Some 2006 tourism highlights in Utah include: 19.3 million visitors, 5.2 million recreation visits were made to Utah's five national parks, 4.7 million recreation rec-reation visits to Utah's seven national monuments, two national na-tional recreation areas, and one national historic site, 4.5 million visitors to Utah's 42 state parks, 4.1 million skier-days at 13 Utah ski resorts, and 21.6 million passenger-arrivals at the Salt Lake International Airport last year. For vacation information contact con-tact the Utah Office of Tourism at 300 N. State Street , Council HallCapitol Hill, Salt Lake City , Utah , 84114 , (801) 538-1900 or (800) 200-1160, or on the Internet at www.utah.travel. Hatch fights for grants Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) (R-Utah) voiced opposition to funding cuts for Community Development . Block Grants (CDBG), which provide funds to state and local governments for low-income housing, public improvements, and economic development projects. Hatch sent a letter to Senate Budget Committee leaders Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), urging them to provide adequate funding for CDBGs. "Thousands of local governments, govern-ments, counties, cities, towns, and communities are served by the CDBG program each year," Hatch wrote in the letter. let-ter. "These funds help communities commu-nities find solutions to their housing needs and empower the less fortunate. Utah's communities communi-ties should be able to count on CDBG funds to help revitalize their neighborhoods." ' The CDBG program is one of the most effective Federal programs to revitalize neighborhoods, neigh-borhoods, and the program has made a real difference in the lives of thousands of low- to moderate-income individuals. individu-als. Last year,. Utah received more than $4 million in CDBG . money. In FY 2007, the government approved $3.8 billion for the program, pro-gram, but the FY 2007 continuing continu-ing resolution reduced funding for the program by $400 million. President Bush's FY 2008 budget bud-get proposes to cut funding even further to $3.04 billion. "While I support the President's efforts to rein in the budget deficit, I do not believe we should balance the budget on the backs of local communities," Hatch said. "Utah's communities communi-ties rely on CDBG funding to help revitalize, neighborhoods, and these cuts would severely impact the very communities with the greatest need." 'Good things for good people' The Uintah Health Care Special Services District (UASD) held their quarterly board meeting at the Uintah Care Center, Adult Day Care Center, on Thursday, March 8 at 2 p.m. Wayne Dunbar, board director, led the discussion of the UASD's draft mission statement. Board members agree that any statement of the district's health care operation opera-tion needs to be wde-ranging. With that, Joseph Shaffer, Tri-County Health director, quipped, "How about 'good things for good people,' it covers just about everything." Board members agreed to let the director continue working on the mission statement. The board took action on the selection of legal services for the UASD and to sustain benefit operations between the individual entities (the Uintah Care Center and the Golden Age Center) 'as is.' All other items on the agenda remain in process until the next meeting of the UASD on April 12. i ; t Lr crJ "v .ir'SBassiW-'t-"1 1 i ' ... .' .wtfe . ."rf ' - "''". ' -.. --' - "-- - The Past, 1948 Pictures of the past look familiar today Photo Express credits: Vernal The 1948 photo shows the newly constructed Glines Stake Center and the Uintah Stake Tabernacle, which was dedicated dedi-cated in 1907. Can you tell us about this truck the year or make or owner? The stake center cen-ter was completed in 1948. The 2007" photo is of the Glines Stake Center, and the Vernal Temple, which was constructed con-structed from the Tabernacle and completed in 1997. The Stake Center and Vernal Temple stretch- the length of the city block, from 100 South to 200 South on 500 West Please call Elizabeth at the Vernal Express, 789-3511, if you know about the truck, or any interesting details associated with the old photo. .... i . The Present |