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Show INDEPENDENT SUGAR HOUSE.UTAH THURSDAY JULY 16 1959 PAGE SEVEN The Saga of Camp Floyd and Fairfield, Utah From an address by Harold P. Fabian, Chairman of the Utah Parks and Recreation Commission. It is rather difficult to imagine, as we stand beside this old STAGECOACH INN, that 100 years ago, Fairfield, Utah was the second largest community in the State, with a military and civilian population of over 7000. by birth, together with his four brothers and two It was in 1855 that John Carson, a Pennsylvanian other men, found good water and grass land and settled here to make their homes. And then in 1858. occurred one of the most dramatic events in the history of Utah. The United States Army of the Dept. of Utah, under command of General Albert Sidney Johnson, was camped in the dell at the base of Little Mountain near the head of Emigration Canyon. This army consisted of 4000 officers, enlisted men and civilian employees .There were 586 horses, 500 wagons and 3000 mules. On the morning of June 26 at 3 A.M. this vast .military force marched into the Salt Lake Valley, through the almost deserted City of Salt Lake, and campep that night at about the present sight of 21st. S. and Redwood Road. Upon orders of President James Buchanan, the army was ordered away from the city and the site of Fairfield in Ceder Valley was selected. Almost overnight the population Old Stage Coach Inn, social center and stop for Pony Express and Overland Stages. I a ,i r - fIK! ; .1!" Ruins of the Walker brothers original building site. First war surplus store in ULS. jumped and Fairfield became another "hell roaring" western town with 29 saloons on the main street, gambling halls, dance halls and all the wildness of a frontier town. The army built barracks, mess halls, stables, a school and a church. And in a short time be-came the largest military post in the United States. Camp Floyd was commanded by an able officer and it was a well disciplined post. The Walker brothers opened a general store at Fairfield in 1859 and later negotiated the first war surplus purchase when the ob-tained 4 million dollars worth of army supplies for $100,000. The clouds of the Civil War came over the country and the army of Utah was needed in the East. So as quickly as they had come, the 4000 officers and men loaded their wagon train and 'abandoned this huge military post on July 27,1861. 58 soldiers and civilians were left sleeping in the Post Cemetary marked by a single headstone. Nearly 400 buildings were des-troyed and with the loss of the military payroll Fairfield lapsed back to it's1 original position of a small community, where today 17 families call it home. ,7 ,f ' us m. i Hi m Li Old District School building erected in 1898 at Fairfield contains original bell. Sports Bill Notestine This week-en- d, in the Uintas, the fish weren't biting, but the mos-quitoes sure were. A friend, Mike Crosby, and I went up to the Uintas to do some fishing, but mostly to get away. We were told how to get to Ruth Lake from an easy place from the road, but after spending half the night looking for it, we finally gave it up and went down to Trial Lake. On. the way down to Trial Lake, we had a flat tire; on the way up from hot old Salt Lake City, we boiled 5 times. We had a '41 Ford for transportation. Except for 2 things, wverything was perfect up there. The two things were: 1-- No fish, and 2-T- oo many mosquitoes. We stupidly had for-gotten any insect repellent, and worms to fish with, as the only people who caught anything was a young couple who were using worms, and a fellow who caught a beautiful 2 12 pound Rainbow Trout by the tail. The scenery in the Uintas alone is reason enough to take a trip . there. Mike and I decided to climb Mt. Baldy, an from one point, we could see 26 lakes and ponds, a few of which are shown. ''All in all, we had a wonderful time, and I think that everyone should get away for the week-en- d to the "great outdoors". STOCK CARS. Dick Card, who was the Stock Car Champion four out of five years, but who had trouble last year, finally showed his old form when he won the trophy dash, the fast car heat, came in second in the first "A"--Main, but broke an axle in the second "A"--Main. Fred Sorensen kept up his fantastic pace by copping both "A"-Mai- ns, and setting a new record for 30 laps with a time of 8 minutes 2 12 seconds for the 7 12 mile race. He started in last position in the record-breaki- ng race. Freddie is now in second place, a mere 6 points behind Mel And-ru- s, and Card and Alma Facer are battling it out for third with 145 and 144 points respectively. Mirror Lake as seen from top or Mt. Baldy in high Uintas. As plainly seen, fishing in the high Uintas is a relaxing sport. Jerry Marks makes 1st run of game sliding in home for the Sugar House Rotary Team. 9 i ' " T.i ; Pappy Gates, one of oldest racing drivers in U S. receives Bardahl jacket at stock races Sat, night. All photos on this page by Independent staff photographers. SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT, ONLY $3.00 A YEAR. Your Safety Tire Headquarters Only Complete Tire Service Available in Southeast Section All Sizes 14' and 15' New & Recapped Tires Expert Whee Balancing Precision Front End Alignment Home of The Unconditionally Guaranteed rDual 90" WHEELER GENERAL TIRE CO. 2320 Highland Drive-Sug- ar House Phone HU 4-4- 321 Days of '47 THE GREATEST RODEO SHOW ; f OH EARTH! n yN Dale Evans LJ OTHER FAMOUS ACTS AT BRADY ROY ROGERS' CT7 TRIGGER AND PIONEERS f TRIGGER JR. RODEO'S FUNNIEST U THE LIBERTY NORSES CLOWNS BIG NIGHTS DON'T MISS THIS THRILL-JUL- Y 18, PACKED EVENT 20 21 22 23, 24, 2S TICKET BOOTHS AT 143 SO. MAIN STREET AND 2024 SO 11th EAST IN SUGAR HOUSE ' IT PAYS TO SHOP WHERE YOU UVTE |