| Show ALONG THE WEBER RIVER on the ath of august I 1 left salt lake LY fot for summit county for the pur toi hse 1 I of gathering there seeh each historical rma tion as aa may enable me to write aalt history of the summit stake of zion iffie its respective wards up to date inave ve visited parleys parley park wanship manship Wan ship ck port peoa geoa oakley kamas oatsville ti ville coalville Co alville and upton and friy I 1 finish up with echo and hen efer r I 1 have held meetings with the is in all these settlements with e exception of parleys park and jve I 1 ve had a good and enjoyable time the summit stake of zion includes sarly aly all ail the saints residing in sumit t county utah and also two wards uintah county wyo and one anca ch at arck springs sweet water ty wyo the whole stake stas of fourteen organized wards id one branch with a total mem irahim of souls distributed aoda families the largest ward athe the stake is almy wyo which bains members the other rids 1 graded according to size range follo follows peon members member jutnas coalville Co alville north lOo alvil vil e 0 south hennefer ville east hoytsville 0 10 1 parleys park wan ivan evanston t springs a branch and echo 32 f coalville Co alville the headquarters of the aske lidke and also alan the county seat of sumit tt county is pleasantly situated on boha creek near the confluence of it stream with the weber and upwards of one thousand ibl tants including those up in spring hollow near cal mines and those who live on along chalk creek and on the libber isber both below and above the vm A large proportion of the ution are coal miners millers in the employ the home coal company about ro years ago coalville Co alville was divided nto www three wards since which wm son has presided over the north forge r eard beard over the south and josh wright right over the east ward as bops 0 0 near ear the center of the town antia do the stake ke house a fine which already has cost a large t alman of money and is not finished yet ugh in use for stake conferences other large meetings Co alville is lies by nearest practical road east beast of salt lake city its tilde la is about feet above sea level Royt roysville ville ward embraces the seat MW ed settlers living between coalville Co alville wd hm Wane Wano bip the center of eft ward where a new brick house bouse is beautifully situ wd on a prominence overlooking the fliey ley for a long distance up and down heing big three miles south of coalville Co alville ahn in sargent is the bishop of this rd I 1 where also one of the few reining ling pioneers of 1847 R jackson bajackson BJ ackson din resides Wil warship iship ward consists of the hillge kiil ge 1 ft wanship manship and a few scattered settlers aiding ding at different points on the f ye leber berand and up Silver Creek the village ff manship wanship Is beautifully situated in he Is of silver creek canyon on OW ban of the weber river it uto tae largest ward house of any of settlements and pos a number of natural facilities the great draw back to the settle settlement nent however of late years h baa been the fouling of the batez of silver creek once ao clear and pure au as could be found in the mountains by the mills and concentrating works at park city cily which are situated on the headwaters of the stream about fifteen miles southwest wanship manship is thirty five miles by nearest beares t road from salt lake city and eight miles southwest of Co alville elder andrew peterson president of the high priests priest quo quorum runk in the summit stake resides in the wanship manship ward rockfort rockport Bock Rock port containing twenty one families Is a thrifty village situated at the mouth of three mile canyon near the west bank of the weber river three and a half miles south of wao wan ship the salt lake alake meridian line passes panes right through this place to which belongs some of the best meadow and farming land on the weber john M malin to is the bishop peon ward consists chiefly of a string town situated on the east bast side of the weber river three and a half miles southeast of rockport rockfort Rock port or fifteen miles from coalville alville Co and thirty eight miles by nearer road from salt lade city most of the farming land belonging to this settlement lies on the bench east of the town while the narrow strip of low lands lying along the river is mostly used for pasturage and mea dows stephen walker presides here as bishop leaving peoa geoa to go to kamas along the left band road the traveler follows fort creek on which peoa geoa is situated until the top of the bench is reached where he at once finds himself in a broad open valley extending southward for about ten mi leswith average an width of nearly three miles about due east of the point where the top of the bench is reached is the mouth of the upper weber canyon nearly two miles distant and following the course of the weber from the point where it enters the valley westward it is seen making a great bend changing its course from a westerly to a northerly direction EL a short distance south of peoa geoa looking southward the town of kamas is in plain view but before getting there we reach a little village called oakley ejust clustered ered around a flouring floering flou ring mill situated on the north bank of the weber and surrounded by some excellent farming farm ingland land here herb Is a branch of the alie chur church ch with alth C jensen as presiding elder who acts under the direction of the peon bishopric this place is two and a half miles southeast of the village of peon five miles south of oakley or seven miles by nearest road southeast of peon lies the town of kamas on a high bench about midway between the weber river on the north and the provo prove river on the south this is the famous rhoades valley thus named after father thomas abr ades who became the first settler here by locating a ranch a short distance northeast of where kamas now stands as early as 1856 kamas is feet above the level of the sea which acco accounts untA tor its cool and invigorating summer nights and its uninterrupted sleighing facilities in the winter the absence of trees in this open valley gives the substantial residences with which it abounds an op port unity to show off to addan advantage tage and the band of thrift an and d industry I 1 la is visible all around samuel F atwoil the bishop of the ward can congratulate Jong ratu late himself upon occupying about as exalted a position as most any other bishop in the church at the present time his authority head in his hie ward extends to the tops of the mountains all around parleys park ward embraces all the saints residing in parleys park including the valley of snyderville derville and park city snyderville derville is situated on the headwaters of east canyon creek about four miles north of park city is the head headquarters quarters of the ward this thia place nestles pleasantly at the foot of r the wasatch mountains near the utah central railway twenty six miles from salt lake city george M pace who lives on silver creek about six miles northeast of snyderville derville is the bishop of parleys park ward and william archibald of snyderville derville erville ts is his counselor upton ward consists of the scattered ed settlers residing on chalk creek east of coalville Co alville after passing through a candon can on in going up the creek the country opens up a little leaving narrow strips of meadow and farming land along the main creek and tribu baries which has been claimed and settled upon by our brethren the centre of the upton or the point where the school huse house stands is about ten mils miles east of coalville Co alville but there are ranches and farms occupied by members of the church extending ten miles farther out john dark clark presides over the upton ward as bishop echo is the smallest ward in the summit stake the statistical report gives the number of families at 12 but ellas elias asper the bishop of the ward could only count six families who actually belonged to the church and who meet regularly for worship in a room of the bishops residence echo of today is but a small village compared with the echo city that created such an excitement for a short time when the union pacific railway was being built through here in 1868 9 it was one of those temporary cities peculiar to its day which sprang into existence in the course of a few days and disappeared again as the terminus of the road was moved further westward hennefer is the lowest town on the weber within the limits of summit county it lies four miles northwest of echo on the west bank of that river and on the old overlaid over laud road first trav aled by the utah pioneers of 1847 about two miles below this place the weber valley narrows into a real canyon known here as aa the narrows Narrow slY where such local curiosities as the thousand mile tree the devils devil Is slide the devils L looking glass 11 etc are pointed out to the overland traveler as he now in lieu of mule and ox teams or even hand carts swiftly through at his bis ease seated in a stately pullman ra railway alway car the upper weber valley commencing at the head of the narrows arid extending in a southerly direction for a distance of about twenty two miles until it opens out into rhodes valley has perhaps an average width of nearly three q barters of a mile the adjacent mountains on either side are generally low and afford pasturage for large flocks of sheep and also some cattle small grain is raised very successfully in the valley but the altitude is a little too high for profitable fruit culture at some future day however when the lord shall have further tempered the elements and blessed the country uch such fruits and vegetables which now are considered an impossibility will undoubtedly grow and do well in this altitude from go to morgan coun OP ar lake valley 7 JENSON CO summit county utah august 16 1891 |
