OCR Text |
Show Jropic Relates To Bryce Canyon Park TROPIC Picture Tropic, the town closest to Bryce Canyon National Na-tional Park, as it was in 1887 when it was called West Valley. Bunch grass, white sage and white grease-wood grease-wood covered its floor and a solitary log cabin stood in its midst on the south side of a small knoll. Everyone says that is used to snow a lot more in those days, but you can never be sure since memory mem-ory docs strange things. It snows enough in this small valley, however, how-ever, that several times a year cross country skiers from Bryce Canyon National Park swish into town to warm up at local cafes and exchange stories with the local residents. That first cabin in Tropic belonged be-longed to William Pollock and not only his namesake, but descendants in the area of many other founders of the town still bear the family names today Ahlstrom, Mecham, Shakespcar, Willis, Henderson Hen-derson and others. A. J. Hansen was the founder of Tropic and its first LDS bishop. It was he, together with many other whose names are still heard in the community, who engineered and built the canal that brought water from the East fork of the Sevier River (which is part of the Great Basin system) over the precipice into Tropic Valley where it became and still is a part of the Colorado Col-orado River drainage system. It was no small feat then and the same water today provides irrigation for the crops and gardens grown where they have been growing since that day 90 years ago when water from the canal first flowed into some of the same ditches still in use today. It was cause for celebration then as residents partied until daylight. It is still cause for celebration and residents continue to remember that day with a special birthday party of their own each spring. Ebcnczcr Bryce's old cabin still stands at the south end of town alongside the highway. The early Tropic resident, for whom the jewel-like national park which dominates the western skyline was named, is remembered best in Tropic for his pragmatic description of the maze-like canyon "a hell of a place to lose a cow!" About 350 people live in Tropic which has two stores, a cafe and a sandwich shop, service station and garage, all with friendly owners ea ger to help the visitor find his way to the most interesting places to see and the most exciting things to do. |