o eee ‘ 7 ie - a . Riches ele fas “24 " 4 a, ary se ie x= ‘i a) x ae a _ COMMENT A aban Weber State College Alumni Association, March 1976 Art Project Grows From Historical ) Interest The phrases ‘‘battle of Bear River, trappers rendezvous and hunting buffalo in Weber valley’’ bring colorful, action pictures to mind. Translating those words of rich, active history into ‘‘life’’ on canvas is the challenge of ap_ proximately 45 Utah artists. The paintings will eventually become part of a Bicentennial Art Collection for Weber State College on events in and near the Weber Valley. The project had its beginning with the historical interest of William J. Critchlow III, an Ogden attorney and alumnus of Weber State College, class of ’4950. e re gs amo 7 arm Opn © — FAaoan st oO an ® ao “eS “ a ‘“‘A couple of years ago at a Sons of Utah Pioneers luncheon I asked how many forts there had been in this area. No one knew. It struck me how little we do know about the area’s history,’’ said Mr. Critchlow. Mr. Critchlow discovered that there had been nine forts in a 200 square mile area with a 10-15 mile radius between them during the period 1845 to 1860. One of these forts was in Davis County on the south side of Weber River called Kingston Fort. Across the river was the mud wall Uintah Fort. The first fort was built in 1845-46 near 28th street by Miles Goodyear and called Fort Buenaventura. This was purchased by a Mormon, Capt. James Brown, in 1849 and later moved to 29th street during a flood in 1850. It was then called Brown’s Fort. When considered as two forts the number is ten. Farr Fort wasa picket stockade southwest of the Old Mill. Mound Fort utilized a large mound for one side of the fort. Northwest of the present Bank of Ben Lomond was Bingham’s Fort, a mud wall fort. North Richard J. Van Wagoner and Charles A. Groberg, standing, left to right, admire Farrell R. Collett’s latest painting of northern Utah forts, Mound Fort. Ogden Fort was a stone wall fort. The picket Huntsville Fort was the last one, built in 1860. Most of the forts were built during the Walker War Indian scare. Mr. Critchlow prepared a trek and brief itinerary of the forts and took the Sons of Utah Pioneers around to visit the sites. “That fall I also took my Explorer Scout Post. They wanted to make a film strip of the forts. While we could take pictures of the locations there course, no forts.”’ were, of No early pictorial representations were ever made of the forts in the area as they were in All three Weber State College artists have paintings in the Bicentennial Art Collection, as well as Dale Bryner, absent when picture was taken. other parts of the state. Only sketchy descriptions exist. The thought occurred to Mr. Critchlow that historical paintings of the forts needed to be _ developed and could well bea part of the Bicentennial celebration. As one of the directors of the WSC Development Fund, Mr. Critchlow saw this as a means of preserving history of the area through research and art and also a method of increasing the artistic acquisitions of the college, which is considered to be lacking. Consequently a presentation was made to various groups around the community including the Sons of Utah Pioneers, city and county school boards and the college administration. They also appealed to the regional Bicentennial Commission for financial support of the program. The presentation met with resistance from a member of the Bicentennial Commission who failed to see the merit of the program and the program came dangerously near being dropped. “The support of a donor who became excited about the prospect of historical paintings of the area and offered to match a bicentennial grant saved the project,’ said Mr. Critchlow. (continued on page 2)