OCR Text |
Show u ( i WEEKLY REFLEX-DAV- NEWS JOURNAL, JULY 28. 1977 IS , George Thompson with an ore car that has been obtained in his exploration of Utah mining towns. A RELIC NOW By ROSELYN KIRK George Thompson, Davis Co. Residents: The Kissing Unit? 105 Whitesides, Layton, has worn out three or four dogs while looking for ghost towns and deserted treasure mines in Utah and Nevada. The Davis County Informa- HIS PRESENT dog Tuffy tion and Referral Service is not sure that Davis County residents know that they are the missing link that can accompanies him when he drive takes his four-whe'Vehicle and goes into the wilderness to look for the lost towns and treasures that he writes about for treasure, western and connect residents needing services to the agency providing the service. frontier magazines. Since George began to do research on lost mines and towns, he has sold an average pf one story a month to magazines which have n-wide circulation. IN AN effort to educate people to the function of the Information and Referral Service, a massive mailing campaign staffed natio- teers underway. Vicki Johnson, director of the Information and Referral Service, said that 34,000 letters will be mailed out early next week. The money to provide the mailing costs was provided through Title 20 of the Social Security Act, but the labor came from volunteers. DURING THE winter he does research, mostly from old diaries and through conversation with old settlers. the summer he travels and explores every During week. Employed as supervisor of security police at Hill Air Force Base, George is able to : get away two days during the 'week to investigate the towns 'and mines he has discovered I through his research. .wouldn't write about any place that I havent seen, he said. His first magazine article was accepted for publication MS. JOHNSON said Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, as well as volunteers from the Heritage Center, Clearfield, and the Golden Years Center, Bountiful, have helped in folding letters and pasting on stickers. About $1800 in funds will be required to print and mail out the information. The Information and Referral Service is funded under Title 20 and is in 1966. HE TRAVELS always with his camera since no publishers will accept the accounts of lost towns or mines without pictures to back up the story. George emphasized that the money isnt very good. After the expense of going, I just break even," he said. But then I dont do it ' - for money. . of ' GEORGE learned about the location of the old ghost town through research and went off I through the wilderness to discover it for himself. v He says the best places to look for abandoned towns in " Utah are in the southern and : xentral parts of the state, in Washington, Kane, Iron and Millard counties. "Its dry there and most of the winters arent hard. The weather dries out and preserves the towns. They last a long time, he said. IN A ghost town called Gold Strike, located in that part of the state, he found mattresses and rifles that were still preserved. Not many people in that part of the state are interested and few go to look lor the ghost towns, he said. The first story that George ' sold to a magazine was based on his exploration of Boston ; : Terrace in the west desert. He discovered the town in 1950 ' T and later wrote the story, which was published in Old M " - A LOT OF TREASURE discovery. ' excitement George talked about an old ghost town called Boston . Terrace which he discovered. A group of Swedish miners .. had settled that area and then left hurriedly, locking their cabins and leaving dishes on ,- .the table and clothes on the pegs. i 'V. The rewards of the treks into the wilderness are the " by volun- is Magazine. Other magazines such as Western Treasure," Lost Treasure, True Wes"Rockhound, tern, and Frontier Times," have also published his material. Are residents THE STORIES submitted by George are not fiction, but are historically correct. He acts as a consultant for Western Publishers in Austin, Texas. If the company gets inquiries about western ghost towns or treasure mines, they send the letter to George to answer. He spends a lot of time talking to old people about what they remember. First you have to get the old timers confidence and then theyll talk to you. I know a lot of people who are crowding 100. My own grandmother when she was 10L MUCH OF died the information for Georges only book, Treasure Mountain Home" came from old residents of Park City. George interviewed them to get information for the book, published in 1969. He was bom and raised in Park City and talked to the people he knew to get the I remembered stories I had been told as a little boy by my grandfather and my aunts. In order to write the book, George also checked the Park old issues of the Record, the oldest newspaper in Utah which has con- tinuous copies of the paper since it first began publication. IN addition to talking to old residents and reading diaries, George reads all the books that have been written about the west. I think I have more books than the Ogden Library, he said. Many of the old pioneer diaries are located in the Utah Historical Society. Others come from The Bureau of Archives at the Utah State Capitol Building. One story of a lost Indian gold mine came from one of the pioneer diaries. Brigham Young didnt want the early Mormon settlers to get involved in gold mines. Even though the mines at Eureka and Park City were found by the Mormons first, they werent developed until later by other interests. GEORGE SAID that there are over 400 towns that have been abandoned in Utah. Such towns as Elephant City and Priesthood Camp were once inhabited, but are now deserted. After research, George printed and sold maps that pointed out the location of ghost towns in Utah. He also has considered writing a book about his finds, but has determined that theres not that big of a market for it." Maybe someday when he retires there will be time, he says. During his explorations, George has brought back objects from his searches. "My yard is full of relics." In his yard he has a mine car and tracks, a hoisted blacksmith shop bellows, mining drills and assortment of bottles. IN A search of an old Spanish mine near Fillmore, he picked up a melting pot where gold, silver and lead were melted down and made into bouillon. George has found mines that are many hundreds of years old -much older than the earliest settlers who were known to be in the area, he said. Although historians say that the Spanish were not in this area, George believes that some of the old mine shafts were developed by the Spaniards. The Lincoln Mine by Minersville was found by the pioneers and was discovered to have working shafts that were much older, George said. The remains of the Spanish civilization has been found by pioneers at the mouth of Parrish Canyon by Centerville. Spanish armour and a breast plate were discovered there. Two or three rock cabins were discovered in the early days by settlers in the Kaysville area which must have belonged to an early Spanish settler. GEORGE SAYS that he goes alone on most of his trips "since most people are not that interested. He says, through his research and trips, he has discovered enough stories to write forever. I just need the time. He assumes he will have more of that when he retires and moves back to Heber or Roosevelt from where his family originally came. Receives Practical Work Training In Army ROTC Cadet David L. Evans, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Smith S. Evans, 220 S. Edgehill Drive, Kaysville, is receiving practical work in military at the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps advanced camp at Ft. leadership Lewis, Wash. ROTC adTHE vanced camp provides an opportunity for cadets to develop and demonstrate five-wee- k leadership capabilities in a field training environment. Most cadets are fulfilling their advanced camp requirement during the summer between their junior and senior years in college. However, there will be a number of graduating seniors who will receive Army commissions at the completion of camp. CADET Evans is a student at Weber State College, Ogden. He is a 1970 graduate of Davis High School. by the Davis County United Way. INFORMATION and Referral Service is a way of helping residents to locate community resources that can assist them. Ms. Johnson said the service provides a direct line to counseling, legal services, financial counseling, alcohol and drug treatment, medical assis- tance and housing) ' y Other agencies that may be reached. through the service are: youth services, education, day care, employment, recreation and health care. THE letter, which is en- dorsed by Commissioner Wendell Zaugg, was approved by the Title 20 Coordinating Council. to The letters will be sent out all Davis households; said. In order J&s. County Johnson tose volunteer labor, the materials were taken to the aging centers and the scout troops. Some of the scouts earned merit badges for their services. If it hadn't been for the volunteers, we never would have made it," Ms. Johnson said, rk Government Grants In Davis County Reach $35,237,000 of Davis County paying a high or a low West administered price for the benefits their area receives from the Government grants-in-ai- d in the form of and revenue sharing? TO WHAT extent did the local area share in the $54.7 billion that was distributed by Washington in the past fiscal year, compared with the amounts that went to other areas? According to a analysis of Treasury state-bystat- e Department figures, made by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit organization that monitors Government spending, Davis Countys share was relatively large. AN estimated $35,237,000 in aid was allocated to cover a of local area. variety programs in the The total amount of grants in the State of Utah as a whole came to $353,000,000 in the year. THE FUNDS were awarded for such programs as urban renewal, child welfare, job training, hospitals, health, road construction, schools and the like. The figures take into ac- - count only grants-in-aiand revenue sharing and do not include Federal spending in local areas for goods and serd vices. AS TO the cost of the benefits, they are met by each community, in whole or in part, by the portion of their Federal taxes that are allocated to the aid programs. Davis Countys share of the costs, exclusive of matching funds, came to approximately $25,723,000 in the past year. State-widthe bill was $258,000,000. IN SOME parts of the country, the costs involved were greater than the value of the aid received. In others the reverse was true. All in all, the study shows, 21 states paid a premium for the aid they got, one broke even and 28 came out ahead. CONNECTICUT was the biggest loser. It paid $1.45 for every $1 of aid. The chief gainer was Mississippi, where the $1 in aid cost only 50 cents. In explanation of the seeming inequity, it is pointed out that some localities get bigger allotments than others because their need is greater. There is no attempt to return dollar for dollar. i I |