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Show Centennial Flashbacks Early carriers and their carried by horses, diffi-culties-M- then carts, buckboards-Finall- ail y of mail places used as offices-Persi- s post Spencer built first official post office building and served as post mistress many years-Juliu- s Dailey follows with long and efficient servictrucks-Successio- n ny needed improve- e-many ments effected. The early horseback carriers of mail to Kanab faced the burning sands of the summers heat and rode through the cold of winter with the glare of snow in their faces. The carriers who followed them in carts and as well as those of recent who travel in motor years of these men who have carried or do carry the mail to the remote towns in Kane County, embody the spirit of courage expressed in the slogan on the United States Post Office Building in Washington, DC: N either snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Some of the early, couriers did not find it possible to complete their task too swiftly, but they did complete it. Unfortunately information about all the early carriers is not available, but many interesting facts have been preserved. It seems that the first men to carry mail to Kanab were the Johnson brothers and a few others. Nephi Johnson Jr. , his brothers Justin M., and Joel H., James buck-board- s, all Little, Joseph Hamblin, and to carry the mail to Fredonia, also served on the other route. For some time during this early period, the mail was taken on horseback over the Schunes-bur- g trail. This circuitous trail led from Kanab to Tenny Canyon, across north of Cottonwood Ranch, on to Harris Ranch, then from there to Rock Canyon and on to Schunesburg Mill. ' At this point the carrier dismounted and carried the mail on his back down a 1,000 foot cliff over a steep, rough and narrow trail. At the bottom of the cliff the mail carrier from Kanab met the other carrier and the two exchanged mail sacks. After a short talk the Kanab carrier started back up the steep incline. It was usually dark when he reached the top of the hill. Here he camped for the night, sleeping in a bunk made under a rocky ledge, which formed a sort of cave. The trail was so rough and it took so long to make the trip down and up the rocky footpath that, finally Joe Hamblin, who had the mail from Nephi Johnson, devised a way of making a connection without descending the trail. This was by means of a wire cable attached to a windless. By this cable the mail was raised and lowered over the 1000 foot cliff at Zion Canyon. Zadok K. Judd had a contract for carrying mail to Lees Ferry, and his sons Zadok K. Judd, Jr., Eli, and Samuel A. served as carriers. The Smithson brothers, Dick and Charles, served on the east end of the Paria route and would meet the carriers from sub-contract- ed Charley Hilton make up some of the list. The service they ren- Johnson at Telegraph Flat. dered was to carry the mail over Other carriers who served on the Paria route were Willis C. the Toquerville-Pip- e route to Paria. Little who recalls the good waOlson Hamblin who was the first termelons he carried back with Springs-Kanab-Johns- C.C. Auto MAPflD v on ' "7 Parts Largest Inventory in the Area! Nationwide Warranty! RV's. Boats 8c Motorcycles! 801-865-11- 801-644-25- 00 26 418 East 300 South Kanab, UT 84741 two-wheel- old-fashion- ed mail-carryin- 970 North Main Cedar City, UT 84720 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 1995 ed g, deep-nearl- were both attending the Bringham Young University. Their trip to Salt Lake City to be married began in a bouncing Quality NAPA Parts! Parts for Cars, Trucks, Semis. him on his return trip. Others were Edward C. and Frank Little. Frank also rode the route to the Ferry occasionally. When the route from Kanab to Panguitch became the main route, these are some of the contractors and carriers through the years: Nephi Johnson, Thomas Greenhalgh, Ezra Stevens, Andrew Lamoreaux, Ned Walker and John R. Findlay. John R. Findlay carried on horseback before vehicles came into use in this section. Mr. Findlays sons, John and Alex, were the riders wbo served over the north route for a term. Usually the distance was divided between Kanab and Panguitch at a convenient distance so that rides were broken and rendered more endurable to the ones who made the trips and less burdensome to the animals employed. Later a cart drawn one horse by conveyed the mail. No one who traveled in such a vehicle will forget Ned Walker and the sand. He took new routes every other day through the sagebrush so that the sand could be traversed more easily by his poor horses. This meant more bounce for his passenger if he happened to be riding and not walking to lighten the load. Such a day of travel was not soon forgotten. The buckboard which came next in the evolution of was concomfortable and siderably more commodious than the cart. Jim Lamoreaux was a person well remembered for his service during the buckboard era. Passengers traveling with the mail were expected to walk part of the way-i-n places the sand was so heavy y and up to the hubs of the vehicle-tha- t the horses could not pull the load. One man from northern Utah liked to tell of his experience traveling with the mail. He took this means of transportation to come to Kanab for his bride-to-b- e whom he had met while they SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS buckboard with an inquisitive driver. In the year 1921, an appropriation was made to cap the sand between Kanab and Long Valley. The story of that difficult task, finally accomplished by Henry E. Bowman, is told in another chapter. With that improvement, motor vehicles could be used to carry the mail. Gearge Hanks of Panguitch contracted the job and with few interruptions he carried the mail during the full term of his contract, which was remarkable in Postmistress Persis Spencer built this post office at 22 North Main in the early 1900's. It served until 1949 when it was moved next door. the light of previous difficulties. Many of the delays in the mail service were caused by deep snows. Prior to the truck service, sometimes the mail would be delayed as long as a week. Mr. Julius Dailey, a long-tim- e postmaster of Kanab, gives the following interesting history of Kanab Mail Service. In the early 20s a Mr. Hanks had the mail contract. Norman Sergeant and Theodore Chidester delivered the mail regularly by means of trucks for almost the entire time of his contract. Occasionally Walter Daniels was the carrier. In the year 1926, Harold I. Bowman of Kanab received the contract from the Postal Department and carried the mail for the next four years. Frank Gowans of Kanab began working at the beginning of the contract, July 1, 1926, and served continuously as a carrier until June 30, 1930, the end of the contract. A more faithful service could not have been rendered. Demar Bowman carried from Panguitch to Marysvale, and Mr. Gowans from Kanab to Panguitch. Charles Whipple and Moyle Sergeant also served during this period. Barton Brothers were the next contractors and continued to deliver from Marysvale with the usual good truck service with the mails increasing constantly. The completion of Zion-M- t. Carmel Tunnel in 1931 opened another truck mail route. Wilson Lunt of Cedar City gave us the first service during the fall and hard winter incident to 193 Coal Hill and the going out of the Coal Hill Bridge increased the troubles as the mail had to be put over the wash on a cable. The snow was deep and the weather cold, and slides were frequent on the hill. Mr. Burton Banks came into Kanab in 1932 as a contractor and took up residence. The following contractors besides Banks worked while he was in service: Lund, Petty, Riddle, Bringhurst. Frank Robertson served as a mail man under him also, as well as Robert Burch. Mr. Burch was a freighter, but occasionally he spelled the mail truck drivers off. The present good mail service and the advantages it gives the community, is a striking contrast to the picture of Charles d man who, Cooper, the with one horse tied to the others tail, and loaded with a few bags of mail, plodded along the sandy road and down Kanab Canyon, rain or shine. Today loaded trucks, bulging with parcels and sacks upon sacks of mail, come daily-frodistant offices. And now since the advent of air mail distance is almost eliminated and the extent of mail service almost unlimited. After the Colorado Bridge was completed in 1929, the passenger buses carried mail from Arizona cities beyond the river, adding still another link to the great modern institution-mai- l service. Mr. Daileys history not only gives information about mail carriers, but he tells about the successive postmasters and the various places used as post offices. one-arme- m 2; See POST OFFICE, Page 13 |