| Show THE development OF THE reservation IS A 1 the history of roosevelt stake is the story of the that the L D S church has played a significant role in the development of the state of utah and great areas in bordering states is well known to the student of western history its part in the set settlement clement and growth of the uintah basin particularly the reservation is a tribute to a great organization and one of its great servants wiliam H smart for a clear picture of this vast inland region re cion to understand the mighty ta task sk of colonization undertaken der taken by the church it is well to survey the country from the first invasion of white men in 1776 just one hundred and fifty two tavo years ago father fathe r escalante a spanish pi priest iest and eight others set out from sante fe new mexico then over a hundred years old to find fin d a route around the treacherous canyons of the colorado river nver to the missions of the pacific coast which had been established by the catholic church some six years before on september 13 1776 the party was three hundred miles north of their starting 1 point on the banks of the green river the first record of whites to enter the state of utah they crossed the green river riv near n ar jensen then traveled sonoh southwest est across the uintah basin and made their way along the uintah and duchesne l rivers aveis crossing crossin iusa ui g the inc di i l aveis iusa ui inc i vide at the head of wolf creek they traveled d down the provo river to utah lake trappers and traders A half century later the hudson bay and rocky mountain fur far companies were sending their meni men into the unconquered wilds of this region for the wealth that lay in in the fur bearing animals the trappers and traders were the first to explore this great unknown territory in 1824 william henry ashley a noted and successful fur trader of the rocky mountain company set out from st louis with a party of over a hundred men they crossed the plains of the platte river and made their way into the mountains until they came to a large river running southwest asak ashley y called this body of water the green river after one of his train bosses they descended the green river portaging numerous rapids and whirlpools until they finally reached the valley which bears ashleys Ash leys name before the rocky mountain fur company ceased operations in 1836 ashleys Ash leys men had completely and thoroughly explored the uin lah basin john C freemont and other noted explorers made their way through the uintah basin and in pl a few years after ashleys Ash leys expedition trading posts were established along the uintah river and the browns park region of western colorado permanent settlers but the first semblance of permanent settlers were the mormon pioneers who brought with them their wives and children established church and seh schools brought culture from the east to the west and tool took deep firm roots in the mountain valleys of utah three bears ears after the arrival of the mornion mormon pioneers in salt lake valley the territory of utah was created by an act of congress and brigham young was made the first governor 0 vernor he was also ex otticia ig 0 agent over all the indians within the boundaries of the territory ri tory on july 1 1851 governor young created three indian reservations upon which the indians of the territory were to be concentrated one of these was the uintah reservation er which according to the roosevelt stake presidency N 4 X mei g B 0 colton W R todd E dillman ray second counselor president first counselor church record was to be the home of the shoshone aint uintah ah and yampa the name applied to the white river utes indians thus early in the history of utah it was decided that the uintah basin was more fit for indians than whites too high and cold in the fall of 1861 governor young sent an exploring party into th the basin they followed closely the trail of freemont into the basin keeping close to the foothills and nd hig higher her elevations it was so late in the year it froze every night and the frost and general area dreariness of the country made a bad impression the preceding summer season had been dry and soil appeared nard and lifeless the climate cold and uninviting the party never reached the lower parts of the basin when they returned to salt lake city they told governor young that the country was too high and cold for farming fanning fit only for grazing so the governor made no further attempts at coloni colonization 1 on in 1896 reu oe oen n S collett brought into the basin one of the same asame men john who had been with the exploration party sent out by brigham young in 1861 they came in by way of price over the price vernal road and mr seeing kleing the lowlands for the first time was amazed I 1 at the vastness of agricultural lands the mild climate clemat e the accessibility lity of water he told mr collett the impressions of his first trip indian developments in the meantime the indians were making history in eastern utah in 1864 the federal government planned to locate western indians on reservations president lincoln confirmed the action of brigham young in the creation of the uintah indian reservation araj designated lands therein as the drainage of the duchesne river in 1865 congress ratified a treaty and the president took action for form formulating u lati ii a treaty with various bands of utes by the terms of which the utes ceded to the government all the lands in the territory of utah outside of the reservation for which they were to receive large annuities have houses built and money spent on the reservation annually in the development of industries the treaty seemed scorned to be approved by 4 the lie chiefs but the indians were slow to gather to their new reserves and skirmishes between indians and settlers in the northern part of the territory of utah frequent agency established in 1867 captain pardon dodds was sent to the uintah reservation as indian agent I 1 he ac located first on farm creek and began to bring into this area 4 the scattered tribes the next year permanent headquarters were established at whiterocks and sturdy buildings constructed thus white rocks is the oldest town in the uintah basin and the duchesne stake of zion in 1873 dodds was re released eased as indian agent and went to ashley valley where he took up a homestead the first homestead entered in the basin about six years later there was quite a settlement established in ashley valley there was occasional trouble with the indians but nothing serious until the meeker massacre in 1879 following this disaster developments were rapid troops were brought into the basin located first near ouray petitions of colorado people were successful in removing the from that state and establishing on this reservation the fort near ouray was abandoned and a fort both of them called thornburg located for a short time in ashley valley A permanent military fort was established in 1887 on the uintah river which was called fort duchesne it was located midway between the indian agency at whiterocks and the at ouray and provided a good market for crops raised in ashley valley first agitation in 1902 and 1903 wore vere heard the first mutterings rings of agitation for opening the uintah reservation these followed on the heels of the opening of the uncompahgre reserva reservation tion in colorado in 1897 and in 1903 george sutherland then representative in congress introduced into the congress a bill providing for the opening to settlement of the uintah reservation and allotting the indians their lands in severalty severally the bill did not pass but was yas carried over to the next session as unfinished business it was in this same year that the L D S church believing that the reservation would be opened for settlement began to make investigations william H smart of heber city president of the wasatch stake of zion was asked by church authorities to organize a party and make a survey trip into the reservation becoming familiar with its possie possibilities il for settlers and home seekers when the interest of such an able leader as president smart was focused in this direction the future of the reservation was secured church investigations it was september 3 1903 that president smart with a party of five men and his small son left heber city for the reservation taken directly from president smarts notes are the following excerpts sept 3 we left camp at 7 i a m arri and reached the divide at tale he line of the reservation at a m we stopped and I 1 went into the timber and offered prayer I 1 was filled with lecul aar ar feelings as I 1 knelt down here on oil the divide between the known and the unknown country I 1 felt a strong sense of responsibility ahead of me and prayed for light and wisdom we then passed into strawberry valley rode horse back down the valley and passed down deep creek As we neared red creek country it t began to look desert like between red and currant creeks the cedars grow abundantly and the land is sandy some of it could be farmed if water could be taken from currant creek the hvide avide is about ft high we are gradually descending crossed currant creek and went on the red creek where we camped S sept ep nion 4 D desert r t co country u n t r y ai all I 1 pt esea day ay pinion pi pine n and n d c cedars e d a r s on n hills soil light drove down the strawberry river to its forks with the duchesne and then rode 1 horse borse back over the blue bench extending about ten miles north and south and twelve miles east and west back to bluffs LILU the lake fork and duchesne rivers from here we passed south and explored the country south of the Ducin duchesne esne r river which I 1 h IN is crossed by the road leading to price from here we e went to fort duchesne anu to the aney agency at whiterocks ahn on to vernal on our return trip we visited the dry gulch roosevelt section an and the lake fork country the object of the trip was to get a general idea of the country character of the soil distribution of water irrigable lands I 1 etc again in august and october of 1904 president smart an and groups group from heber city made further trips into the basin to look into soil water and colonization possibilities bili ties makes report on november 16 1901 president smart submitted e a deta detailed fled and lengthy report on the reservation area and plans for its colonization iza tion excerpts from this report I 1 which was addressed to the first I 1 presidency of the L D S church I 1 follow having now made three visits of investigation to the uintah reservation and given this subject considerable thought since you first commissioned me to interest myself in laying a foun foum lation for the settling of our people there 1 I 1 feel it my duty to lay before youl you impressions that have come with my investigations especially so as the present policies i es would necessarily I 1 essa rily need modification should you concur in any of the matter I 1 here outlined but at the outset I 1 desire to say that if I 1 know my heart I 1 do not wish to steady the ark I 1 feel like the son who is interested in the whole of his fathers vineyard who is united with lum him and who approaches him in humility and unreservedly concerning matters with which he is especially related and which more or less effect the NI whole iole and inasmuch as so much seems to be at stake in the matter at hand I 1 take the liberty to intrude upon your time with a somewhat ex end ended e d cx explanation p 1 an a t i 0 n plans 1 a ns f for 0 r c colonization 0 1 0 n i z aion were discussed at length reservation opened congress finally passed the bill opening the ie and on march 3 1905 president theodore roosevelt signed it the ne act provided for an allotment coin mission to be appointed aPpoint ei which t should allot agricula agri agricultural cult tu r al and ing lands to the ind indians a the e graz lands S a not allotted to the in indians I 1 were ere to bo be opened to the public on aug aue 27 1905 s J during the fall of 1901 the citizens of vernal had organized bureau of a information with R S collatt as chairman and 14 J 3 meagher Mca gher secretary this bureau with the wasatch development 1 company at hober heber organized un uny y ler jer the direction of the Was atchis stake presidency for publicity pur s poses and to assist the location of citizens advise in irrigation irr gation gatin matter etc became act active ve in |
