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Show w 1 i1 y,..1!!... BrK M. notHiiig, Ducheane ia of his Hip, hip, hooray! Oor front isme find dur bind name ,1b Duchesne. Postmaster Wm. H. Pitswater received Saturday poaitive information from the toric significance and is eu phoniouioua to the ear. Learn to write it like the lr. S. govern men t, with a capital C. Literally it ia two words. Ducheane i again to hare a a lapse of publication something overa year. 8. H. Wood and the Commercial club will jointly publish a monthly magacine entitled "Uintaland" Wr. Wood will edit It, while the club will assist in financing the' enterprise. Mr. Wood ia an able and experienced writer and sctaething very nice and choice may be expected from his pen abput every nook and cranny of the Uinta basin. The magazine will be a booster for mi poatofBce ington department at that the name Wash- of this in tfre town of , poatofBce Du-chesr- ie haa been ofBdally changed to Ducheane,. to with the town's name. Mr. Pitcwater waa furnished with a blank bond which lie baa filled out aa poatmaater of cor-reapo- the poatofBce, newly-name- d 3 SMITH. Until July 1 nil money orders will be dated Theodore, but the general buaineaa of the office will be conducted under the title "Ducheane, late Theodore." So the public ahould addreaa their mail in that way ' alao. Writera hare ' often aaked "Whdta in a name?" Otheta contend there la ndtfeing in a name. Often there ia lota, yea, milliona ip a .game. A good name la often the success of an enterprieei Theodore meant Continued from previous page ia took on . weeks. Then near the end of 1956, that due to financial reasons, he would be combining the Record and Standard into a new paper, the Uintah Basin Standard, which would begin publication with the first issue in 1957. The last issue of the Record waa dated Dec. 27, 1956, ending an era of small local papers in several communities. Looking back over the years spanned by the Uintah Basin Record, it is interesting to note the ups and downs, the optimism and discouragement, announcements of great things to come, but often no mention of why the dreams did not materialize. As the Record started, the railroad issue was still much alive. In 1931, there were a number of articles announcing, "The railroad will come. For weeks editorials in of the Record decried issues early possible ramifications of the. Uintah Basin Project, a pro-posed water project that was a forerunner to the eventual Central Utah Project. The editor pointed out possible loss of water rights to Basin residents, if diversions were built, and large quantities of water taken to the Wasatch Front. The paper mobilized forces to help defeat the proposal. trans-mounta- i : " Mr. Memmott announced per year. John Geo. Odekirk, Tom $l.S0-- Portie, Firth, Choa. Dickerson and Eugene Hamilton constitute the. committee to solicit subscriptions. a new look, more local pictures and news, personal column, editorials, and a new feature, "Backward Glances, which ' took items from prior issues of the Record. At the first of 1951, Memmott returned the Record to full size pages. During the early 50s the Record received advertising support from the community, but by the mid 50s this had dwindled until each issue contained very few advertisements. The paper contained only four pages moat . hut in . Population of Duchesne in 1931 was reported to be 1,000. This remained rather stable for more than a decade, then during the 1940s it was reported that county population dropped by about 25, due to the shift of population toward communities e industries. After with the war the displaced families never returned. Of important events covered in the pages of the Record, one would be the Moon Lake project. The project waa given tentative approval in December, 1931, then met opposition in Washington. Finally in 1934 final approval was announced, and bids wen called for in November. Work began on the $1.5 million prqject in April, 1935. The reservoir was filled to capacity in June, 1938. Roads was another issue reported and pushed by the Record. After much work, it was reported in September, 1933, that the road between Myton and Duchesne was finally being paved. Then in 1936 the Duchesne to Fruitland road was paved. At that time bids were called for routing and graveling a road across Strawberry, and the last section of U. S. Highway 40, through Daniels Canyon, connect-ing Duchesne and Heber, began construction in 1938. In 1939 the Strawberry section was paved. Other events covered by the Record included the coming of ; electricity to Tabiona, January, 1940; a new Duchesne airport constructed on Blue Bench in 1945; sidewalks built in Duchesne in May, 1946; sewer prqject started, December, 1947, and a new LDS stake center dedicated in March, 1949. October 19, 1945, the Record reported that Duchesne hired their first "speed cop, Dick Brooks, who was expected to control the speeding problem in town. In June, 1951, it was reported that a huge oil well blast war-tim- - stopped the drilling of a well near Duchesne. Two men wen severely burned, and several others injured. Articles through the years told of high waters and low water years. In 1952 reports of hesvy snow through the winter, and flood condition in tha spring eaus- ing considerable damage, dominated several issues. Floods returned again in 1953, damaging bridges and washing out part of a dike constructed to protect parts of the city. The Record also faithfully reported the comings and goings and achievements of thousands of individuals over its 25 years. A few examples included Orval Thompson, who won $25 for tha hlg buck contest in 1938. Floyd Case, Mt. Emmons, was sworn in as a new county commissioner, Jan. 6,1939. Revs Killian, Mtn. Homs, was sleeted queen of Duchesne County Stampede in 1941. Rulon J. Larsen was elected mayor of Duchesne, Nov. 7, 1941. An article May 19, 1949, listed 21 graduates of Duchesne Ila Jeans Abplanalp, Kenna Anderson, Daniel J. 3 Basin Newspaper NE COURIER ' UM xjmber 6th, 1935 e Guy J. Hollenbeck mads a trip to Price on Wednesday. R. A Hurray of Bluebell was a Ducheane business visitor Tue- Holed Through busi-ne- i sday. Mrs. Cl C. Larsen of Roosevelt waa in Duchesne on business on Tuesday. Dave Nye of . Tabiona was Construction Progresses On Schedule Despite Loose Formation Drawback ' transacting business in n, Duchesne Wednesday, Hanna visitors in town Tuesday were Frank Defa, John Jones and Claude Wsgstaff. Mr. and Mrs. Any H. Mitchell returned Tuesday from a week's vacation in Yellowstone Park. M. B. Pope of Provo was in Duchesne Tuesday to attend court. B. W. Dalton, Arthur Horrtty and Henry Ruggerl of Price attended Law and MotiosT Day of tha District Court In Duchesne on T. Mickelson, Meta Marie Moeller, LaMarr Mofiitt, Joe Muir, Melvin Nielsen, Robert Vem Rife and 'Arthur L Taylor. In April, 1943, Thelda Halstead waa alerted president of the Ducheane PTA Four octogenarians were honored in April, 1942, including L. A Hollenbeck, AM. Murdock, I. O. Watters, and ' O. A Wilkins. The Record fulfilled its purpose as a historical record, a motivating force, and informative medium. It has been an important part of the history of tha Basin. Tuesday, Other attorneys attending court this wreck were Dallis Young and Ray E. DUbnan. Charles Neal of Farlatt was a Ducheane visitor Monday. Mrs. F. W. Bench of Booeta has been spending a few days at the home of Hr, and MnC Island ' Hair. ' Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Gentry of Ioka wen among those who at- - 10, 1944. A. M. Murdock Funeral Services Held In Heber City Sunday, November 5th Profusion of Floral Pieces Testify To High Esteem of Thousands For Pioneer And First Bishop Of Duchesne Large Crowds Attend Services In Heber and Also In Duchesne "Vruneral "teriicas for1 the It which spoke plainer than the esteem In which Mr. dock was held by friends. a words Mur- host of The large hall was well filled with his relatives and friends I DIRT SLIDES CAUSE Myton Youth Dies CHANGE IN DESIGN After Being Kicked A Horse OF MAIN SPILLWAY By Sunday In Julies, sustained while atConstruction of Moon take Dam tempting to break a colt Sunday, took a long stride forward at resulted in the death of Key Ad- noon 2, when Monday, ams, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. the two tunnelSeptember met on headings C. Adams, who live on their ranch alignment and grade, completing north of Myton. the pioneer bore for the full Young Adams was trying to length of the 1100 foot outlet tunbreak a colt belonging to Walt nel. Enlargement of the tunnel Hayes of Duchesne, when he was excavation to a 18 foot diameter kicked in the mouth, knocking and the contemporary installation out teeth and rendering him un- of steel liner plates will immediateconscious. ly follow. His parents rushed him immedThe structural condition of tha iately to Myton for medical aid, ground through which the tunnel where In spite of the best ears was driven la described by Dr. available he died Tuesday in the Chao. P. Berkey, consulting geoloFUbk Hotel without regaining gist, shales, quartzite and limeconsciousness. stone beds, all badly Jammed and Funeral services were held in deformed by the folding and faultthe ward hall Wednesday and in- ing that took place terment was In the Myton cemThe quartzite and formations were further etery. and badly broken In a 1a Ice Age by a tongue of glacial Ice MARRIED that moved down the valley and A marriage license wu issued plowed its way across the spun on August list to Wesley N. Rob- extending out from the main valertson, 26, of Price, and Mary ley wall. Tunneling through these etratu wu hazardous, the ground Dudly, 25, of Jensen. requiring careful timbering thru-ou- t. the work Vu accomWEATHER REPORT plishedThatwithout serious ' mishap For week beginning Aug. 29. reflects creditably on the efficiency of the contractor's superintendents and the drill of Me workmen. All labor wu requisitioned through the local u . Rum-ployme- Tails A.'. M. Murdock were held Sunday, November 5th In the Wasatch Stake Tabernacle at Heber at 2:80 in the afternoon, with Rasband coBishop Heber nducting. There was a profusion of flowers from hie many friends' M. MURDOCK Number 6. Per Veer In AAnmm Moon Lake Dam Outlet Tunnel Dean Bench, Lewellyn E. Brown, Raymon G. Ellis, Leo B. Foy, Norma Louise Grant, Clive R. Hadden, Ross G. Killian, Yvonne Lawson, Donna Lang Don A. Mayhew, Emma Joan NOVEMBER 1 A Uintah High School: ' McDonald, James - 1 nnT.T.EfrroRS EDITION. November 9. 1988 - Page ? TTRS MayS, 1911 HAPPENINGS IN AND AROUND DUCHESlfe f ow ue .. EARL Co-o- p. S. WINSLOW Observer nt Agency. An unusual condition developed in tbe tunnel excavation through the limestone formation. Because of tbe ready access of sir through the seams and open joints into (Continued on Pegs 8) Taxpayer Wins Two Of Three Counts In School Board Move Court Calendar Includes Wide Variety Of Criminal Cases who gathered In Heber and at the there waa a Me- mortal Service held in the Du-- For the case of State of Utah The third term of the fourth district court convened Tuesday, vs. Ralph Woodard, defendant, 3rd, with the Hon. Abe W. charged with burglary, the Maris and F. M. Jury was chosen: fol-loyi- ng Father of Duchesne leased Basin in 1 875 A M. or A1 Murdock is often called the grandfather ofthe Uintah Basin and the father of Ducheane. Except far the early explorers and fur trappers, and those connected with the Indian service, he was the first white man to make the Baain his home and to make any sort of permanent and constructive use of its lands and resources. Murdock came to the Ba1875. Interest in sin as early livestock became the deciding factor in A M.s destiny, and was responsible for his entry into the Uintah Basin. He and a companion,' Jim Clyde, grazed a thousand head of cattle belonging to Heber ranches in the Strawberry Valley. In 1875 when the feed in Strawberry Valley waa inadequate, A M. and Jim Clyde decided to investigate the Baain where the season was a little longer. The entire Basin, much of which was held as an Indian reservation, waa leased by A M., Jim Clyde, and a third man, Charles Carter. The following year their herd increased to 3,000 head of csttls. A M. was still in his teens when he first set foot in the Basin. He worked with his father in Heber, their ventures including a livery business and a stags line to Park City. A M. and his wife were married in Salt Lake in u 1877. It was about 1890 that Murdock decided to establish a trading poat at Whitorocks, and took his wifs and three daughters there to live. During the three years Murdock operated the Whitarocks trading post, he built part of the building used by the Marini on trading poet. He later sold out, and moved his family back to Heber. By the time the Basin was thrown open to homesteaders in 1905, A M. was well known and established both in Heber and the . Basin, among Indians and whites alike. On the day before the opening; A M., by special permit, was allowed to come in to establish a time and other accommodations to provide far the expected settlers. He brought in two wagons and a circus tent, which he set up beside an old cabin which he bought from an Indian, Seguiaue Jack. In the cabin he kept the merchandise, while the tent became the store, boarding house and community center for the homesteaders. ' On the second night of the opening s hugs bonfire was built near the tent, around which were gathered 52 men, and Dora, Murdocks daughter, and the only woman on the townsito. In honor ofthe occasion, the crowd voted to call the settlement Dora. Murdock moved his family out the following spring to establish hie home. A M. never homesteaded a ranch himself. Ha later acquired 160 acres filed and known as No. 1, the homestead entry of Roy Daniels who was number 1 in the drawing, and situated just nortii of the townsito. A M. Murdock earned the title and honor of father of Duchesne. He was the first settler, his daughter was the first woman, he ran the first post office, and mail route, he was the first bishop of the IDS ward, the first mayor of the town, he owned and operated the first store, and ran the first stage line. (EDITORS NOTE: The following material was condensed from articles published in the Uintah Basin Standard Jan. 22, 1976, as part , of the celebr- ation. Although there am some apparent variations in facts from other written histories, they sue left ms published From Dora...to Theodore...to Duchesne b Baum, William Zoe, Carl John- law ston, LeGrand Mecham, Earl Caldwell, Joseph Birch, Alma matters. and ni' 'on and piobate The oi niatiur oT general inter- Smith and George Wilkins. Case Postponed est to to? county was the cue of Part of the States evidence wu George C. Kohl, taxpayer of Duchesne county vs. Board of Edu- offered when the esse wu postponed to Sept. 5th, and on that cation. The court, after hearing the day wu again postponed to Sept arguments of counsel, ordered 6th. that the demurrer to the first and In the cue of State of Utah vs. i . v; r . .:i 'ii up with defendant, second causes of action be over- Cleown Housekeeper, ruled; that demurrer to the third charged with stealing a pig, the cause of action be taken under casa wu postponed to Sept. 6th. advisement The case of State of Utah vs. defendant. Attorneys for the plaintiff arc Newel Christensen, . Hie following is eon-- , denied firom "Early History of Duchesne County", preserved by the Duchesne Chapter of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, eopyrifht 1948. Although the article contains some apparent inaccuracies, which are lelt as published, it has great historic value. recognized the need for a town hall. Murdock aroused the interests of the community, and organized a stock holders group, with each man receiving stock for his labor. Tha building was known as school wu started. The elemethe town hall, and waa used by all ntary school was constructed in organizations in town, and occasionally as school. In 1921 the LDS Church purchased the building for tha sum of $2,750. In 1905 before the mail route could bs established, Arthur Marsh was hired by individuals to go to Myton twice a week on horseback for the mail. Charlie Pitt drove the first mail from Myton to Theodors ins buggy in December A few weeks after the opening of the reservation, government surveyors laid out the townsito at the present location of Duchesne. Tha surveyors gave the townsito the name of Ducheane. The name was not accepted at 1905. Mail came every day. Dora first, and the people called it TheoAfter Murdock wu the first postmidore for Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt was named, to avoid stress, and had her poet office in confiision with the mail, people the corner of her fathers store. Early in 1909 Murdock had to call it Duchesne. This was established e stage line from in September, 1911. Murdocks store served as Colton to Theodore. The stage left the social center the winter of Theodore cm Monday, Wednesday 1905. It was built in the late fall of and Friday, end returned on altethat year, and was the first busi- rnate days. The stage carried the ness there. By 1906 the town had mail from Colton. Under this Salt Lake mail was only one a saw mill, saloon, barbershop, eating place (a dugout with a tent day old when it reached Theodore. behind it), meat market and drug In the winter of 1905 store. Murdocks Pioneer Store Bemiece Peterson taught school was tha first building of any imin a tent to ten students. In the stoaummer of 1906 Mr. Murdock late portance. It was hugs, two side north on the located and the logs and the men of fizmiehed ried, of main street. the community erected the first Since Theodore still be- school building. In 1907 eome of longed to Wasatch. County, there the children went to school in the was a small court house built from town hall, u the log building wee lumber donated by Bud and Earl not big enough to house all the Winslow. In 1906 the town men children. In 1908 the first brick qys-te- m 1926, and the high school building in 1936. Bernice Peterson Mecham described life in Theodore, "Steele and Muni had one of the first saloons, all modem, bran rail, cuspidors, coal oil lamps and hitching rail in front A schooner of beer wu five cents, with a free lunch thrown in. The well dressed man wore German sox, inside overshoes, ear muffs, mufflers, mittens, turtle neck sweaters and sheepskin lined coats. Suits were cheap. One boy bragged that his wedding suit was good, and it ought to be, it cost $11. Tha well dressed laity wore a fascinator, high temped shoes, and her dress touched the floor. Calico wu five cento a yard, and a two cent stamp took your letter anywhere in the United Statu. Shoes for the baby cost $1.50, and moms did not cut much more. Mens overall! were 75 cents. Four large hotels burned in the early days of Duchesne. In 1907 James Grant and hia fiunily set up a tent hotel. The first hotel in Theodors was tha Arlington Hotel. It was built in 1908, and destroyed by fire four or five years later. The Odekirk Hotel wu built about 1914. This burned about 1919. Another hotel and store burned in 1921. In 1914 a group of people from Topeka, Kansu came into Duchesne. The Deans, Billings and Greys organised the Bank of Duchesne. This bank went into the hands of the receivers durin the panic following tha first worl war. George Kohl cams toTheo-dor-e in 1905. In 1916 ha opened a store in the Murdock building. After a few months he took Tom Firth in a partner, and they moved down to the present location of Kohls Market. March 13, 1914 the Wasatch County Commissioners advocated the creation of a new county. Inconvenience to the larger part of the county, lack of representation, over use of dispatches and apparent geographical conditions were given tha main reasons. An argument arose over where the county seat would be located. A spirited election named Ducheane county seat. County officers were elected and took office the new county became official January 1, 1915. Duchesne aspired to becomes city in 1917. A petition wu filed with the county, and a vote wu taken and the city approved. u u u u V.: |