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Show flourished after the wasteful mass slaughtering of the buffalo on the plains. With the completion of the trans-continental railroad in 1869, national markets became readily available. The barons of England bankrolled the large cattle operations, and the companies drove many thousands of head of cattle into Utah from Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Vast herds were driven to the sensitive lands of the canyon country to feed on the grass and to pulverize the soils. In'this same year, Tom Ray and his wife and eight children settled at Old La Sal. They drove with them some sixty head of Durham shorthorn beef cattle. Coming: also was Cornelius Maxwell and his wife, the parents of the wife of Tom Ray. Philander and Tom Maxwell and Neals Olson settled on Coyote Creek. Billy McCarty and his family settled there too. Philander Maxwell and McCarty had about 2,000 head of cattle, the largest operation in the San Juan country at the time. Others would follow. The settlement of the Moab valley wasn't far behind. There came Lester Taylor, "Buddy" Taylor, A.A. Taylor and Crispen Taylor in that same year. Leonard Leonidas Crapo and his family moved to Moab after having lived in Green River for about a year. Previously they had settled in Paradise in Cache County, Utah. He came to Utah with his parents in 1853. His first wife died while crossing the plains. He then married Alice Matilda Holbrook, an English girl, at Paradise up in Cache County and they had 15 children. He got a job riding horseback with the mail between Moab and Paradox. About August 1879, a Mormon exploration group traveled through Spanish and Moab Valleys from the south. They were returning to Cedar City on a northern route after setting up a settlement site at Montezuma Creek. They had traveled there through the Navajo Country. They certainly added to the knowledge of the entire region. The infamous “Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition" over much uncharted territory followed this exploratory trip. Members of the party were ““called on missions” to settle the Bluff area. My own cousins, Amasa Lyman and David, Roswell and Walter Stevens were "called" _ for that trip. But what was to be a short journey of six weeks turned out to be six months of hard labor. R.D. Smith, A. F. Barber, J. W. Smith and Mary A. Stocks settled on 160 acres of land each in the upper Pack Creek area. As the limited waters of Pack Creek had to be divided between the upper Pack Creek and the Poverty Flat areas, the two groups divided the creek. Except for the months of May and June when there were normally plenty of water for all, the upper Pack Creek group settled for three-tenths of the flow, and the Spanish Valley group for seven-tenths. Some were not fully satisfied with the water arrangement and wanted a dam built so that water could be stored and be available to all. Frank E. Baxter surveyed Pack Creek Ranch. The historic survey shows a power line running through the property. A small rectangular plot as shown on the Baxter survey map is the probable original homestead. The name of R. D. Smith is written on the map. * In August 1880, Indian troubles blew up again. As the old and repeated story goes, Ervin and Joe Wilson, the young sons of N. E. Wilson, took their cattle to pasture in the mountains at the head of Pack Creek. While riding double on an old workhorse, some Indians surrounded them from ambush and killed their horse. They then killed Ervin. Joe was injured in the fall from his horse. The lad lay as dead. An Indian crept up to him and shot him in the nose. A bit later, two friendly Indian women found him laying on the trail. They caught the horse and pushed Joe atop it and started the horse toward home, the women following at a distance behind. j On the horse’s arrival at home, Mrs. Wilson prepared an ointment from roasted prickly pear mixed with tallow and pine gum and applied this to the injured nose to hold the tissues in place. Joe survived and still had a nose of sorts. Many of the Indian people were still not content with the settlers moving in. The depredations continued. Over in Colorado in 1881 a band of Indians left the reservation and killed an Indian agent, Mr. Meeker. They then plundered cattle in southeastern Utah. A posse was formed that followed the Indians across the upper Pack Creek drainage and to the north end of the La Sal Mountains. An encounter saw several Indians and whites killed at what has become known as the Pinhook Massacre. In 1884, Angus Murry Stocks and his wife Mary Elizabeth Forbush Stocks moved to the Moab area. To them were born 11 children He was a mason and blacksmith and would have an involved influence on the history of Pack Creek. Born in Lancashire, England his folks converted to the Mormon faith and in 1855 the family sailed to America and settled in Manti. When the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad was completed between Denver and Salt Lake City in 1883, Angus moved his family to Grand Junction where he found a job with the company. The next year he was transferred to Westwater. While there, his wife Mary died leaving his-11 children motherless. The youngest child was only two weeks old. Mary Alice Crapo came to help. Angus and Mary’s relationship subsequently became close, and in October 1885, Angus married the young girl. From this union would come 14 children of their own. Mary now had: two huge families to mother. It’s incredible that she had the time and endurance, as she herself was pregnant much of the time. In 1884, the families of J. H. Johnson, George W. McConkie, Orris Newell, and Andrew Somerville settled in upper Spanish Valley at a place called Poverty Flat. They joined other families already living there. J. H. Johnson, generally known as “Uncle Horace" often acted as doctor to the settlement. He set a number of broken bones and often pulled infected teeth. He was a veteran of the Blackhawk Indian War and spent time among the Indians, at which one time, it is said, he had become a “voluntary” hostage. Doctor “Johnson suffered a broken wrist himself once. At that same time, Amasa Larsen had his foot crushed after his horse had fallen on him. Johnson directed others to set Amasa’s bone, but the procedure proved Joe was injured in the fall from his horse. The lad lay as dead. An Indian crept up and shot him in the nose. unsuccessful. From that time on, Amasa walked on the sides of his boots. It is said that his hunching over and awkward walk accentuated his looks as he was lanky and thin and had a long back. His name is memorialized: "Amasa’s Back" is a long and narrow plateau-type feature bordering Pack Creek. Angus and Mary then took up a ranch to the "west of Pack Creek Ranch" at a place called Stocks Chimney. Angus and his son William built a ditch to the foot of Blue Hill where he had a brick lime kiln to make bricks and dobies. This provided jobs for the family. : _Angus provided the music at the local dances. He enjoyed playing his fiddle and calling the square dances. Often there weren’t girls enough to go around and stags cluttered the dance floor. Pleasures were few and simple. After the dance, all would mount their horses and head for home — some located fifteen miles distance or more. Congress considered giving San Juan County, including Pack Creek Ranch, back to the Indians and turning it into a Ute Indian Reservation. A Commission came to the county from Washington, D.C. and made an assessment of the matter. Following this, the land was withdrawn from further entry and one branch of Congress had already approved the bill. Political fights flamed anew, and Congress pulled the provisions. ‘ In the summer of 1896, Angus and Mary Crapo Stocks’ oldest son, Albert, was dragged to death by a horse while returning to Pack Creek from Moab. That same summer, baby daughter Agnes died of whooping cough. In 1897, Angus and his family sold their Pack Creek interests and moved back to Moab and Angus started up a blacksmith shop. ; He sold the ranch to Hiram Haws Turner and his wife, Mattie in 1902. They had moved to the Moab area with their family from Hooper, Colorado. Turner operated the ferry and boated the Colorado River. He mined at Miner's Basin and Gold Basin. Hiram and Mattie were about to make their own mark. CANYON VOYAGES ADVENTURE C2 IMP HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? Upcoming Shows: Fremont Indian State Park Museum 1-70 near Sevier, UT...September 1-30 Sweet & Petite: a show of watercolor miniatures Moonflower Market, Moab, UT Sept. 6 - Oct. 7 (reception 9/14, 6-9 pm) www.serenasupplee.com CHILL ON THE RIVER! Raft Kayak Hike Explore 211 N. Main St. (across from Wendy's) 259.6007 800.733.6007 5 |