| Show RAMBLES IN STAR VALLEY early in the morning of the of september I 1 left montpelier in bear lake valley for star valley elder christian hogen sen taking us ua in his comfortable two horse carriage after leaving montpelier the ro road d takes up the main canyon following inz the same in a northeasterly direction for about ten illee allee then it turns to the right up along a small tributary ary of montpelier creek thence to the left over a summit on to another tributary of the same creek and next it takes to the right again crossing a steep summit on to the head headwaters waters of thomas pork fork we ascend the main divide the rim of the basin which divides the waters falling into bear river from those emptying empty ang into snake river biver this lofty elevation is about half way between bear lake valley and star valley and must be nearly eight thousand feet above the level of the sea prom from this summit the descent to is quite steep for about a mile until a tributary of crow creek is crossed and down along said creek the grade is gradual and the road good until war star valley is reached at the mouth of crow creek canyon until the present summer this mountain road leading from montpelier to star valley was very rough and the crossings of the different streams both miry and dangerous but last spring an agreement was entered into between the citizens of star valley and bear lake valley to the effect that if the star valley vailey people would make a good road to the main summit from the east side bear lake county would build a good road from frodi montpelier to the summit chestar valley brethren finished their part of the work in june last and the bear lakers have just completed their portion or of the work including the brad balde ing of every creek crossing on the whole road thus making that once dreaded route of travel one of the best mountain roads in the consequently before the floods of another season shall have damaged this good road now would be a good time for such as desire to see star valley to tn make a visit thither in emerging from the mouth of crow creek canyon the sight which meets the traveler to is a very pleasing one stretched out before him surrounded by lofty mountains lies one of t the h 9 finest valleys a few years ago empty and desolate but now dotted with thrifty settlements of the saints the place chieh first attracts the attention is the town of alton afton which to is beautifully beautiful situated on a bench at the mouth 0 of clear creek canyons and near the base of the mountains on the east aide of the valley owing to the elevated situation this settlement can be seen from nearly every part of the valley which is nearly twenty miles long from north to south and from one to six miles wide its average breadth is nearly four miles salt river which rises in the mountains southeast of the valley passes through its entire length but sinks in the upper end to emerge again to the surface from a subterranean passage in the lower end of the valley and is at once a stream of considerable rise after receiving crow creek from the west and cottonwood and swift creek from the east as its principal tributaries tributa ries in the volley while the surface of the country in bear lake valley to is somewhat broken and undulating in many parts the land in star valley as a rule is level and consequently easily irrigated the natural vegetation to in grass and rabbit ruah brush sage brush is in feen only in a few e W plaes places the meadow lands along salt river in the lower end of the valley are among the finest in the mountains and the facilities for pasturage there and on the f got foot hills bills surrounding the valley but principally on the west aide are almost unbounded the farming land is in generally good and very productive and the timber in the mount mountains alne plentiful the fresh invigorating breezes and the beautiful clear streams in which the settlements are situated insures he health a ith an and d vigor to such an extent extent that I 1 can truthfully say that in a all I 1 my travels in our mount tain country I 1 have neverseen never seen a heals heal thier or more robust looking people than I 1 met in star valley and the people here are not at all selfish so as to have a disposition to monopolize all these advantages to themselves but they extend the hand of welcome to other good gott god fearing people to cowe conic and cast their lots with them and help them to develop the resources of the coun country try for which purpose a land committee having representatives in every settlement have been appointed who whose be special duty it I 1 ig to wait wai upon all newcomers new comers and give to them a all 11 the information neo necessary concerning the country and its advantages politically the valley is a part of uintah county wyoming the seat of which is at evanston and a very friendly feeling and mutual good understanding exists between the 0 county officials and the saints in star valley be it said to her credit that wyoming has always treated our people le fairly and justly while her neigh gor bor idaho has exhibited a hatred and vindictiveness towards some of her best citizens that would be morein more in keeping with the spirit odthe dark middle ages than that of the nineteenth century A few months ago some of the county officials from evanston visited star valley and courted the acquaintance of our people there and they were highly pleased with the thrift and industry visible on every band and the wonderful progress which had bad been made in so short a time star valley now contains five organized wards of the church all belonging to the bear lake stake of zion with a total membership of distributed among families afton ward the largest ward of the valley has 61 families of saints or m members it includes the town of afton and the settlers living on their farms and ranches for miles around the townsite site is one of the finest in the mountains and is being built up as ae fast as an the people secure the titles to their land this town was first settled in 1885 15 and has the only flouring floering flou ring mill in the valley also a saw mill and mill owned and operated ey by archibald gardner there are also two stores dealing in general merchandise and one furniture store charles D cazier presides as bishop of the ward with archibald gardner I 1 late of salt sa lake jake county utah as his counselor brother cazier was the first presiding elder in the valley and until two years ago when four new wards were organized he presided as bishop over a all 11 the saints in star valley the town of afton is about 45 miles northeast of ef montpelier grover ward embraces the north end of star valley on the east side of salt river it has thirty families or members a 8 6 part of whom reside in the village of grover thus named in honor of president grover cleveland which lies ne near ar the foot of the mountains four and a half miles north of afton ole jensen presides here as bishop with edmund epworth and edward thurman as his counselors auburn ward lies on the opposite side gide of the river from grover and consists of forty families or members members presided over by joseph H holbrook as am bishop this is the oldest settlement in the valley dating back to 1879 when the first settlers came in oo OD pack animals and male the first permanent location stock raising is the chief industry 0 of f the people here and no to grain has been produced until the present season when a mr kingston raised a crop of small grain on a town lot auburn can boast of having the only rock meetinghouse in the valley and in fact the only rock building of any kind here all the dwellings of the settlers so far being the primitive pioneer cabins and a few lumber and sawed log buildings ings the town of auburn is situated on a level tract of country on ion stump creek two and one half miles east of the boundary line between wyoming g and idaho blaho three and one half miles mile east of grover and eight and one half miles by road northwest of afton fairview ward with twenty nine families or members embraces a fine tract of country irrigated by the water of crow creek on the west side of the valley the iowa low c site of cd fair vilwon which only a few houses have been built so far is pleasantly situated on crow creek near the mouth of crow creek canyon five miles southwest of afton and forty miles northeast of montpelier john C dewey jr presides here as bishop cottonwood ward having fourteen families or eighty nine members embraces the south end of star Valle yand consists of the scattered settlers living on cottonwood creek and salt bait river principally on the east side of the latter at stream this end of the valley is considered warmer than the north end and good grain is raised the saints here have nearly completed their first meeting house a small log building standing near the centre of the ward at a point seven and a half miles south of afton and about three miles from the south end of the valley william parsons is the bishop of cottonwood ward and thomas walton is his only counselor and also acts as ward clerk in the night between the of september and let of october the valley was visited by a heavy snow storm the first of the season it was quite a curious sight eight in the morning of the lot to see the shocks of grain standing in the fields covered with six inches of snow but the farmers here dont seem to be alarmed over the prospects on this account as they have experienced similar things before throughout the entire valley a better crop has been raised this year than ever before and d during the last few years the climate has become milder and better every season and the prospects are that star valley in the near future will stand second to none of the valleys of similar altitude and latitude shade trees are already being set out in afton and other places which in due course of time will be followed by the hardier kinds of fruit trees and the valley thus changed from its present somewhat naked and bleak appearance the smaller fruits are doing well and brother arthur roberts me some of the finest potatoes turnips rutabagas and other vegetables that I 1 have ever seen grown in the mountains ANDREW JENSON STAR STAB VALLEY uintah county wyoming october 6 1891 |
