| Show rise and fall of livestock industry in escalante Escal anfe dy by nethella king griffin looking backward through tho long lano lluu of years to the early days of escalante and trying to piece together the scrap of available information that tell the mie story of tho the growth and decline of the ice livestock industry in this SeC one la Is conscious cons cloua mainly of alu an ail entrancing story there Is to tell indeed one Is tempted to forsake mere history for the more ous oua field of romance since tho thi fie 00 meats of early escalante life would provide a rich background lack ground for the writer of fiction there were tho the sturdy plo pioneers seeking cornea with religious fervor and planting a colony with full falth faith in its ita future then alien camo came the adventurous liard punchers cowpunchers cow and the prosperous sheep owners and their ubiquitous ber her deri derl all these invite the pen of the novelist but since the purpose of this athla account Is more maddt mad ct it would wem mein better to 0 o stick to the facts and to ilo interpret thorn them as fairly as aa possible the story of the first settlement is well known discovered about 1860 by a group of mormon caval nry ary in perault of indians during the black hawk war Esca anto Unta waa not settled until 1875 in the autumn of that year a group of men from panguitch Pan gultch came over to investigate potato valley as it was called with a alow to establishing a settlement they laid out the most available farm land near the creek in plots of 0 22 acres each being interest interested ed not lu in individual dIvid lial acquirement of largo holdings but in securing a small farm for each of themselves them solves and for other prospective settlers bottlers they atso also ata ala laid out it a town townside sIdo de in five a acro m blocks each divided into lots of aix oix ono and ae one fourth fi acres this cooperatives planning was waa evident in all the economic affairs of the early pioneers they also established a cooperative store and cooperative irrigation company in the light of subsequent quent happenings it seems a pity that the early eel tiers in parcelling out the arable land lana and water did not likewise org organ anite lio control of their most moat valuable natural rc re surce the open range tho the next stage ot of development came after rumors of the rich ex panso of rang country had roach ed cd outside ears ear hyrum fowler la Is ralo bald to have brought in tho the first herd hera of cattle lit in about 1878 joseph lay followed soon after with avith fl a larger herd and the Lis listens tons martin martill rufus and joseph came in from pine valley with small herds herda sheep began arriving about 1880 when napoleon roundy lind and his bis brother wallace brought from tho northern part of the state a flock of about 2000 collies wo wol lUea lies obeso stockmen stoc kmen prospered their herds and flocks rapidly role polo roundy as ag ho he was called became a picturesque figure tn in the town father of a largo large family owner of several herds of sheep ho he bought outtie out the cooperative store built a dance ball and a three stor atory home borao yet he be preferred to dress in faded overalls shabby mat coat or none and aid broken shoes with vath wire laces lacea joseph barney married a widow and brought her large herd of sheep to the escalante 6 desert range charles griffin and his sonja eons joseph and ernest and nd a son bon ln law riley porter borter came from or derville with some sheep all of these stockmen stoc kmen came as settlers to the th comment community ty bought or wilt homes home at acquired arnall farms faring and established as integral parts of the cominus ity unfortunately they were follow fonow ed cd by others who had bud lledo intention of milking making permanent residence real denoo lu ill tho the town or in helping to build up the their role interest being in the free and dellvon range both transients and permanent residents shared dared a shortsighted short sighted polley policy of seizing the profits of this natural resource without thought of the future these were the good old dayd day when a man could turn his bis cattle on the range and scarcely go back to look at them until time tor lor the roundup round up and sale bale thay did not even bother to wean its calves for centuries nature had well been buil building din a country that was waa almoas an ideal range for cattle and sheep the ellin tite lit la mild mildrith with an overage average mean lempera temperature ture of 48 dw gross gress the highest 08 the lowest 17 degrom below zero the average rainfall over a twenty year period was 1131 inches which ahia means that ollow mow seldom falls oil the desert to a depth that Is prohibitive to stock grazing TOW tho eoll ool lIft 1 a sandy aandy loam that produces abundant her lage bilge and grass glass two mountain pla beaus tho aquarius arlous arlus mid the kill kal commonly known aa the Es escalate calaMe mountain and the fifty mile mountain respectively are clow close enough to provide excellent summer range at intervals how ever dry seti seasons sons occue which reduce the productivity prod ty of tb Ws range ranee both mountain and desert in the light of moderia methods of range protection it an c V be seau how this wealth of foag bov country could have been controlled to ito allow for a gradual development which op on last baffo abc rise and fall of livestock situation continued from pogo pago 1 would hayo havo become a kource of wealth for tile community instead thero there was waa exploitation wid conquest at oio aio alino wo we aw are told on good au tho alio range supported por ted head of cattle and slice sliced as lato late tie as 1025 1925 eherd nearly head of cattle over slice p nearly 1000 borms mii dalry cows cheso figured tire aro given by dr towery net N nelson ion in lila his survey published lit in 1025 today according to figures from the forest service office permits iro fire I 1 cited for only 2080 2980 bead of and shap there tit i still bonto stock of co course inot listed on oil tiro the foreen office Derin permits its but not biot very much as aa anyone acquainted with lil heavy avy and for forced idilea of demart years can testify tim the tive rago number of cattle owned by each individual has decreased from 1082 in 1925 to tn lit 1037 1937 1 the average number oi of sliced per individual owner from ill ili 1925 to 38 15 in 1037 tho the maximum of cattle owned by one individual has bag dec decreased reasa fr from om 1000 in 1020 to in 1 1037 of sheep from aiom to 1591 1691 figures for years previous to 1025 ore are not avail ibie ill ie but they limy are thought to be considerably larger than those quoted since the Ilves livestock tock industry nor mally brings to the ille community ai a 11 kivist VO 00 per jkr cent ce nt of its ita cash re cel cellins lits the result of this great de dei creaso in wealth can bo be seen it la Is reflected in a loas loaa in population this loss loas not being however vs groat na its might bo expected it id 18 aeu lit in itlie for government tellef relief uld aid lu ill tile tho fow few years icare of courve course has not been it hua shared misfortune common to A majority of in ili this fair land of amoreen during the these je depres depression slon ye yeara it lias has too the fato fate of many has dople depleted ted the range and ilmo iati ruined the watersheds of many utah districts now canies conies nt at latt last a tay ray of ilove hope a happy ending it Is trust aitio ed to this sad atory things mut managed by human beings have 60 bo set get just so bad it before they can get aget recently and officials liae have realized thit that the range must iv protected is As u cattle und sheep lit in the elext few years will be even 01 en further limited 1 rhey will have to lo bo be fed during certain monalia of the yr tar fees will havo have to bo paid not only for far miliner grazing on the mountains but for winter whiter grazing gracing on the desert tho the taylor act passed on juno june 28 Is 1034 provides provided tor for this details of the a administration of this law are stall wing being worked outs out most brockmen having observed the iben ben effect upon the guil summer liner range lit in tile mountains mount olna since it clime canio under government ion in 1900 32 years ago age through creation of the forest service welcome si millar super of the winter range they feel that this supervision will result lit in an improved range and olao in safer Illeth methods of liand handling ling their stock since each stoc kutan uia will be allotted a deflit Ite portion of territory which cannot bo be invaded by others chec conditions will allow for higher quality of stock from the of both breeding and cars cara which will moro than offset the decreased of stock till alim tile the cattle industry of esca lanto may be gradually rebuilt until til it will wifely safely the pram population of tile tho community with ille help of uncle san sam and it and enlightened people old mother nature will rally hor forces to rebuild ild the range so t that future generations may wv ew it with waving was graw and abundant forage nt at it was waa when the birin came |
