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Show o Seutft CettfoaC Ufolt Supplement To: Gunnison Valley News The Salina Sun Garfield County News The Richfield Reaper NUMBER 30 VOLUME 3 WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1982 Early Explorers Left Mark On South Utah Settlements By Bob Leonard, archeologist, The Old Spanish Trail Fishlake National Forest 1805 In the early history of the West, the Colorado Plateau region was the domain of wandering priests, mountain men, army explorers, and traveling traders. Their paths crossed and recrossed the central Utah landscape. Unlike their Indian predecessors or they left little evidence of their passing. They represent a colorful and dramatic period in our national history that appeals to the adventurer in each of us. later pioneer compatriqts, Dominquez Escalante 1776 During the 17th and 18th centuries, Spain sought to expand her sphere of influence and lines of communication from a stronghold in Old Mexico. To this purpose, two Franciscan Friars, Francisco Atanasio Dominquez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, left the outpost of Sante Fe in July of 1776. such as this one in Central, are becoming more and more common in southern Utah as residents feel Woodpiles the high cost of fuel and are turning more to wood-burnin- g stoves and fireplaces. Unaccompanied by military escort, the Franciscans logged nearly 2,000 miles in six months travel through rug- ged, precipitous mountains and deserts. During their expedition, to locate an overland route from New Mexico to the missions in California the Fathers trekked through western Colorado, central Utah, northern Arizona and northwestern New heat-scorch- Public Lands Provide Source of Fuel to Many Southern Utahns By Kirk Bowden. - it for do people . en- - Spring is here, yet some folks around Sevier County are worried about their heat source for the coming winter. Woodpiles fulfill many of these peoples heat needs and these people spend the entire summer in the mountains driving back and forth hauling wood for winter. Looking at some of the woodpiles in the nearby area, its easy to see that they have plenty of wood for the winter. Many people organize their into creative woodpiles piles that vary from being around trees and poles to being structured into circles. Many people who gather wood during the summer do it because they need the wood to be a supplementary heat source, however, many can be felt. Exercise can come from gathering joyment. The types of wood that people like to gather varies form person to person. Some enjoy the popping sound of pinion pine, or quaking aspen, while others enjoy the smell of cedar. Many people are learning that oak is a wood that puts a lot of heat out. One resident in Richfield uses large, older trees from around his home for his winter wood supply. The Fred Goold residence in Monroe has a large stack of Cottonwood, which appears to have come from nearby trees. One reason that people gather wood is so that the entire family can be together, and a feeling of togetherness go out and wood. Starting with cutting the wood in the mountain, putting it in the truck bed, hauling it down home and unloading it. Then the exercise really begins when you have to saw it into smaller pieces and stack it up. Gathering wood can be a good way to relieve tensions or boredom. Keith Nielson, Central, gathers wood for relaxation, and also for something to do during his retirement. How much of a persons total heat consumption can wood play a part? Willard Rogers, Central, uses 99 percent wood in his coal furnace. He has built a special device so that the wood can slide down into what was once a coal bin. Harold Barney uses his in a wood stove, wood which is the total heat source for his home. The Christensen residences in Elsinore have a large stack of wood, which could be used in any heating device. Before a person starts to wood he check with the Forest Service and the BLM as to where he can cut, and also to purchase a license to cut the wood. One should also be careful to notice if the land he is taking the wood from is private property. If people abuse the land and the wood supply, that right may be taken away gather should from us. While youre sitting around this summer remember that you could be up enjoying the mountains, while helping yourself in the coming winter. Tips Help Avoid Garden Damage Want to avoid damage from cutworms in your lettuce, maggots in your onions, earwigs in your corn, wireworms in your carrots, loopers in your cabbage, slugs in your beets, aphids in your beans, leafhoppers in your potatoes, grasshoppers in your peas or any of a score of other garden insects? Control measures for both insects and diseases are listed by vegetable, indicating the pest and time of application, in the newly revised extension circular, Vegetable Garden It is Insect and Disease Control. available at 35 cents per copy through county extension offices and the Bulletin Room, UMC 50, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322. The publication was revised and edited by Professor Reed S. Roberts, extension entomolgist and Dr. Sherman V. extension Thomson, plant pathologist, USU. They were assisted by an advisory committee with representation from county extension agents, master gardeners, and commercial chemical companies. The authors emphasize that many of the insects and other oganisms found in the garden are harmless and some are beneficial and should not be destroyed. They advise using pesticides only when 8. Destroy or spade under crop insects or other pests are threatening or damaging vegetables and cannot be residues shortly after crops are harcontrolled by other practical and vested. economical methods. 9. If practical, rotate crops from year to year within the garden space. Also, they stress, remember that most pesticides are poisonous. Avoid mis-uscarefully read the instructions and limitation on a current label before using any pesticide. Beale, a close friend of Kit Carson, recorded a strange sight as they ap- The wilds of central Utah, opened to proached Ferron Creek (Castle At this point, the road braninterests with the trek Valley). ched into 20 fresh trails marked with of Fathers Dominquez and Escalante, the tracks of a large herd of cattle and were well traversed by trappers, exhorses. plorers, scouts and trappers at the turn of the 19th century. Unknown to Beale, his party had missed encountering Chief narrowly The route of these early travelers and Walker and his Ute braves as they wayfarers soon became known as the drove stolen stock south toward New Old Spanish Trail. The trail, which Mexico. originated in Santa Fe and lead to the San Gabriel Mission (Los Angeles), In their raid upon the Spring City crossed the sage flats and meadows of settlement (near Ephraim), the Utes Sevier River Valley and the neigh- had abscounded with 200 head of stock boring highlands later to become and also initiated the hostilities now Fishlake National Forest. referred to as the Walker War. Euro-Americ- According to some historians, the Spanish Trail entered Sevier Valley from Salina Canyon (Interstate 70), turned south past the future townsites of Salina, Richfield, Monroe and Sevier (U.S. Highway 89), then proceeded west into Clear Creek Canyon (Interstate 70). Dusty archives record the use of the trail by the Spaniards as early as 1805. The attack on Spring City was in retaliation for the killing of a Ute brave by a white settler. While on the Spanish Trail in Sevier River Valley country, Beale and his surveyors were unmolested by the Utes principally because of the Indians absence. One of the more famous excursions, however, occurred in July of 1853 with the arrival of Major E. F. Beale and the Jedediah Strong Smith, an early American explorer and fur trapping mountain man, ventured west to the Federal survey team. Jedediah Strong Smith 1826, 1827 (Continued on Page 8) Mexico. While in central Utah, Dominquez and Escalante crossed land now by the Fishlake National Forest. On September 30, the party forded the Rio de Sante Isabel (Sevier River) while in the Scipio Valley. Making their way south, the expedition camped at the edge of present-da- y Fishlake National Forest. The camp was at a spring, some 2V2 miles west of where Scipio is now situated. The Fathers impression of the valley and the area in general is recorded as a plain thick with sagebrush which harassed the horses. After breaking camp October 1, Dominquez and Escalante crossed Scipio Pass and followed Eight Mile Creek. In their dairy, the Fathers state, Having descended the ravine or pass (Scipio Pass, Interstate 15), we took to the over low hills with a great deal of rock (Church Mountain foothills) and, having gone two leagues west by north, turned toward the plain (Sevier Desert). We thought we saw marshland or lake water nearby, hurried our pace, and discovered that what we had judged to be water was salt in some places, saltpeter in others, and in others dried alkaline sediment. west-northwe- st The Sevier Desert, lacking pasture or water for the horse, necessitated an early camp at the base of Pahvant Butte near Holden. Arising October the path of the Dominquez-Escalant- e Expedition turned toward the south. 2, Thwarted in their attempt to reach California, Fathers Dominquez and Escalante returned to Sante Fe a day after New Years in 1777. One of many expiditions by religious groups is shown in this painting of western explorations. Early history abounds in accounts of many groups who traversed the area before pioneers came to stay in Utah in e; Keys to successful disease control, the authors say are avoidance and protection, often, damage from' insects and disease in your vegetable garden can be minimized by the following listed practices: Select planting. ' 1. a suitable location for 2. Fertilize and irrigate properly to stimulate plant growth. 3. Plant crops resistant to major pest insects and disease whenever desireable varieties are available. 4. Use only tranpslants. disease-fre- e seeds or Control weeds, especially those serve as host plants for pest insects, mites, and diseases. 5. which 6. Control insects which transmitt disease. 7. Destroy diseased plants to prevent spread. of farming days depicts the hard life encountered as most of the work was done by hand. This Early drawing photograph shows both men and women working in the fields at harvest time to get the summer's crops in. Brigham Young |