BRIEF HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY BY MARY CHADWICK BRIEF HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY BY MARY CHADWICK Prior to 1855 Weber Valley, later Morgan County, was inhabited by wandering tribes of Indians. Long before permanent settlements were made, fur traders and trappers visited this region. History tells us that before 1826 three or four hundred trappers had a famous rendezvous on the Weber River, but in that year they split into various groups and left the valley. Before 1850 the valley belonged to Mexico, but soon after the close of the war with Mexico it was ceeded to the United States and became a part of the Territory of Utah. Ben Simons, a Frenchman, and his Indian wife were the first people to make their home here. He had obtained permission from the Mexican Government to use the valley in which to range his cattle. He was a trapper and settled first in South Round valley later moving to what is now known as Stoddard Spring. Morgan County is in the heart of the Wasatch Range. The high mountains covered with pines and quaking aspens tower on eithe side. The Weber River flows down through the valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Cottonwoods and mountain willows grow along its banks. Plenty of sunshine and pure fresh air are to be found here, and beautiful streams, fed by the winter snows and the summer rains of higher altitudes, flow down the canyons. Much of the land was purchased from the Indians. Treaties were made and very well kept by both parties. The early settlers experienced very little trouble with the Indians as compared with other localities. They would come in and camp where they could find wood and water. The chief of the Weber Utes was "Little Soldier." He was a friend of the white man and endeavored to keep his people from preying upon their property. Not being able to control their thieving he became discouraged and moved to Ogden, where he ended his days. At first many of the people lived in dug-outs, very much like the potato celars of today, with a window in the back and one door. Some lived in log houses with dirt roofs and dirt floors. The openings between the logs were chinked with pieces of wood and daubed with mud. Adobe houses were used very early. Most of them had the old fashioned fireplace in which sage or oak brush were burned. Dutch ovens and baking kettles were used for roasting meat and baking bread. Of the first company of pioneers who arrived in Salt Lake in July, 184, at least two of them were early residents of Morgan County Jesse C. Little and Roswell Stevens. Morgan County is situated in the northeastern part of the state. Its greatest length is about 45 miles, its greatest width is about 20 miles. The average summer temperature is 90 degrees and the average elevation is 4500 above sea level. The climate is healthful and delightful. The mountains ward off the keen winter winds, while the rarity of high atmosphere modifies the summer heat. It has an area of 302,632, acres, of which 15,000 acres are tillable. There are 284,181 acres of grazing land. The greater part of the farming is done through irrigation; however, there are about 3000 acres under dry-farm cultivation. According to an official report of April 1, 1930, Morgan County had a population of 2,531. Among the industries of the county are: dairying, poultry raising, livestock breeding, farming, canning, and the manufacturing of cement. 3 PETERSON In the early summer of 1855 while getting timber from the mountain tops in the vicinity of Davis County, Thomas Jefferson Thurston went over far enough to see the beautiful Weber Valley situated on the river by that name. The little well-watered and well-wooded valley was in strong contrast with the hot, dry and almost barren Salt Lake Valley. He felt that he must go over and explore it, and finally persuaded two of his friends to go with him. They camped in the valley three days. It looked like a paradise to them. The valley was surrounded by high and rugged mountains, and the narrow canyon through which flowed the Weber River seemed to be the only opening through which an entrance might be made. In the following winter they again went to the canyon and camped and with their primitive ways of road making worked their way through into the valley. In some of the narrow places they had to go up on the side of the mountain and. loosen large rocks and boulders and roll them down into the river to make a foundation upon which to build a road. They finally got through and two of the men, Charles Sreeve Peterson and his son-in-law, Roswell Stevens, with their families settled in the valley. Soon other families came. The little colony succeeded in establishing a town which was known as Weber City. The name was later changed to Peterson in honor of the pioneer settler. They were the first white people to settle in this part of the valley. A daughter of Mr. Stevens, the late Mrs. Daniel Heiner, was born there on December 12, 1855. She was the first white girl born in the valley and on September 23, 1857, the first white boy Charles Russell Stevens, was born. 4 The first postoffice was established at Weber City with Mr. Peterson as postmaster. At an early date Mountain Green and Enterprise were settled. These two small settlements have always been closely connected with Peterson and at present comprise a part of the Peterson ward. MILTON, LITTLETON, RICHVILLE, PORTERVILLE. Thomas Jefferson Thurston and his family were the first settlers in Milton. The first houses were built in fort form for protection against the Indians. The settlement was first knows as Thurston's Fort, later Thurstonville in honor of the pioneer settler of 1855. The interest of President Jedediah Morgan Grant in the early settlers of the valley was remembered with gratitude and at the organization of a stake of Zion in that locality the name of Morgan was given to it in his honor. Later the name was changed to Milton in honor of Milton A. Musser, a prominent church official. This change was made in order that the county seat might be named Morgan City. Littleton was named in honor of Colonel Jesse C. Little, a pioneer of July 24, 1847. The hame has never been changed. Richville was named in honor of Thomas Rich, the first presiding elder in the settlement. The first grist mill of the valley was built there. Porterville received its name from a family of Porters who first settled there. They came from Centerville, Davis County. Two brother crossed over the mountains from Centerville and built a saw mill in Hardscrabble Canyon on a stream called Beaver Creek. The mill cost #3,000. The first 500 feet of lumber was taken over the mountains to Centerville on a cart with four yoke of oxen. 5 The first brick house in the valley was built there by Lyman W. Porter. The bricks were made by Thomas Brough. The house is still standing. The settlement was divided into two wards; East and west Porter-ville. EAST CANYON About 18 miles of the old pioneer trail is In East Canyon. The following description of the journey of the pioneers is taken from Whitney's History of Utah: "Passing down the Weber River in Echo Canyon for about four miles they struck the Donner trail of the year previous, and proceeded toward East Canyon. They traveled six miles up a revine to a dividing ridge, and descended slowly into another ravine where four hours were consumed in going two miles. At length they reached East Canyon. Up that difficult gorge they toiled for eight weary miles, crossing and recrossing its crooked torrent thirteen times." The Davis and Weber County reservoir is situated in East Canyon, The construction of the first dam began in 1894 and was completed in 1899. Its storing capacity was 14,000 acre feet. The present dam was built in 1915-16 and holds 28,000 acre feet. It is 140 feet high. During the open season much fishing is done at this dam. DEVIL SLIDE AND THE CEMENT PLANT The little valley on Lost Creek — so named because the water disappears under ground, coming to the surface again farther down— is divided from the main valley of the Weber River by a high mountain ridge. At the east end of the gorge which penetrates the Bear River mountains is a remarkable formation of rock called the "Devil's Slide". The formation is of two parallel upturned strata of limestone, twenty 6 feet apart, the edges projecting forty feet above the mountain tops. Just beyond this formation is the town of Devil's Slide and the cement plant, operated by the Union Portland Cement Company. The entire mountain range in which the factory is located is rich in material for cement making. The supply is practically inexhaustible. In 1905 Aman Moore located a large deposit of rock from which cement could be manufactured, and in 1906 the Union Portland Cement Company was incorporated. The officers of the company were C. W. Nibley, President; Joseph Scowcroft, M. S. Browning and Reed Smoot, vice-presidents; James Pingree, secretary and treasurer. The plant was put in operation in 1907, the capacity was 2400 barrels of cement per day. This amount has never been increased. CROYDON Croydon is located about a mile north of the Weber River on Lost Creek. It was settled in 1862 by a company of four families with seven wagons. They built their houses in fort form for protection against the Indians. In the following year a townsite was laid out and several small farms selected. CHINATOWN About twelve miles up Lost Creek, northeast of Devil's Slide, is Chinatown, said to be a fascinating curosity shop of Mother Nature, covering about 34 square miles. It has been called a minature Bryce with its shades of pink, red, yellow, purple, grey, brown, and white rock intermingled with the green of the pine trees and often decked with snow banks, even way into the summer. 7 MORGAN CITY Morgan City was incorporated in 1868, by an act of the Territorial Legislature. It is situated on both sides of the Weber River, a little southeast of the center of the valley. By an act of the Legislature, dated February 19, 1863, it became the county seat of Morgan County. The city is divided into two wards; North and South Morgan. Morgan City is approximately twenty-three miles from Ogden and forty-eight miles from Salt Lake City. It is connected with the Lincoln highway and the Union Pacific Railroad. (The following was taken from History of Morgan County, Utah, compiled by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Morgan County Company) Morgan City lies on both sides of the Weber River (Weber from an early trapper) a little southeast of the center of the valley. It Is divided into two wards, called respectively North and South Morgan. North Morgan, at first called Mt. Joy, was settled about 1861. Among the first people there were John Heath, Wyman Parker, Daniel Williams, and William George. It is said that Daniel Williams built the first house on the north side of the River. About the same time (1861) Abiah Wadsworth and Benjamin Smith moved to a site near the other settlers here mentioned. Smith brought the first telegraph wire into Utah. A meeting house was the first public building constructed, and in 1864 Anthony and George Heiner were appointed school trustees. They employed Lucinda Brown to teach a summer school in the summer of '64. That was the same year that the water ditch was dug from the .Weber River into the various properties of the settlers. Daniel Williams was employed by the people to build the ditch from the river to the town, where the Robison Springs cross the road. From there every man was to make a ditch to his own land. It was com- 8 pleted in time to irrigate the crops and a fine crop was raised that year. For his efforts Williams was paid 200 bushels of wheat. In 1865 after Jesse W. Fox had come to survey a townsite, Martin Heiner, who planted the first fruit and shade trees in North Morgan, built a rock house one and one-half stories high. This was the first rock house in Morgan County, the object of great admiration and pride on the part of all the townsfolk. In the winter of 1868 the people quarried rock and hauled it down to town to construct a combination meeting and school house, which served the community for several years. The two springs east of North Morgan, known in early days as the Bennett Springs were very valuable to the people of Morgan City, about 1864 Martin Heiner and Daniel Robison each obtained a right from the County Court to a continuous stream of water from the North spring for domestic purposes. The rest of the water was diverted to the town for general consumption. Each lot of one acre had a right to the stream for an eight hour period. Then the next man took it. Eight days aid fourteen hours were required to water all of the lots. SOUTH MORGAN In September, 1860, three men, Richard Fry, Richard Norwood, and Daniel Bull left Salt Lake City for Weber Valley to make their homes. They were the first people to settle in what is now South Morgan. The South Morgan residents remained on their lands until the spring of 1862 when they were forced to remove themselves to higher ground in Monday Town Hollow to overcome the possibility of being washed away by the rising river. It was fortunate that they did make the move, for that spring the melting snows from the mountains towering above the Weber, swelled the Weber to a height it has seldom since attained. 9 As it was, all of the abandoned buildings were inundated by the torrent. The Monday Town Colony gave the name of Morgan (after Jedediah Morgan Grant) to their portion of the settlement also, and it was there that the Morgan General Post Office was located. MORGAN CITY Morgan City, embracing the towns here mentioned was incorporated in 1868 by an act of the Territorial Legislature. The first city election was held the first Monday in August 1868, William Eddington receiving the honor of being the first Mayor,. THE WEBER CANYON ORAD The Weber Canyon Road Co. was formed in 1866, for the purpose of building a good and permanent toll road through the canyon from Henefer to Salt Lake Valley, with a toll gate and bridge at the mouth of the lower canyon. An agreement was made with the Overland Stage and Mail Line that they would bring all of their traffic and business over this road, and pay toll when the road was completed. Great enthusiasm in every community in the valley was demonstrated when this agreement was reached, for it meant that the revenue that had been going to Parley's Canyon from the stage company would now be diverted to the businesses of Weber Canyon. This, however, was but the beginning of the good fortune of Weber Valley. The road was scarcely completed when the Union Pacific came through routing their rail lines down Weber Valley and building a wagon road (In exchange for the canyon rail rights) far superior to the first — and all on one side of the river; a fete believed almost impossible. The railroad brought immediate prosperity to Morgan City which was contracted by the Union Pacific to build two 1 10 miles of road into Morgan from Carlyle Cut. Many men in town were given employment by the R.R. in the construction of the rail line, and worked steadily until the road was completed on May 10, 1869. The coming of the Railroad changed the entire industrial status of Morgan. After its coming, the people were able to secure practically anything that they needed (and many comforts heretofore denied them) from the eastern markets; and were able in return to find markets for their own timber, and agricultural products. COMO SPRINGS Comeo Springs is another one of Nature's beauty spots in Morgan County. It was so named in honor of Mrs. Samuel Francis, the wife of one of the original owners, who was born in northern Italy near a beautiful lake by the same name. The springs are of volcanic origin, an have veen in existance for ages. During the early settlement of the valley the Weber River would overflow and wash around into the springs. In time a gutter was washed out, forming a pool or lake which was the beginning of the present lake. The warm water lake furnished a fishing resort for the early settlers in the winter time. No particular notice was taken of the lake until Dr. Kohler of Rush Medical College, Indiana, came to Morgan. He analyzed the water and found it to contain wonderful properties for curing skin diseases, as well as being valuable for bathing purposes. Later the water was analyzed by Dr. T.S. Wadsworth and Dr. C. F. Osgood with the same results. They urged the owners to convert the springs into a bathing resort. The land surrounding the lake was covered with cottonwood and boxelder trees and a dense growth of underbrush. $2,500 was spent in clearing the grounds, building a plunge bath, dressing rooms, 11 store rooms and a small pavillion. Finally The "Lake Como Resort" was opened to the public. The largest and most notable gathering at the resort was the visit of the Salt Lake tabernacle choir and their friends — 800 in all. All went fairly well until the panic of 1893-94, during the Harrison and Cleveland administrations. After this the business was closed and the resort turned over to vandalism. In a few years the buildings were all torn down and the pavilion burned by an incendiary. After the death of the original owners the resort was sold to the present company for $8,000. The new owners immediately took steps to rebuild it and in short time one of the finest and most healthful resorts to be found in the west was again opened to the public. At the present time there are approximately fifty cottages, an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool, a dancing pavilion with one of the finest dance floors in the state, and a cafe where appetizing chicken dinners are served. There are play-grounds for the children, amusements for the grown-ups and the usual attractions that are found at other summer resorts. One of the finest and most modern fox farms in the state is located within the grounds of this famous resort. During the season they have accommodated as many as 5,000 people in one day and it is not unusual to find 800 or more automobiles parked in and around the grounds. Adjoining the resort is one of the finest ball parks and fair grounds to be found in the state. Como Springs is about one-fourth of a mile from the Lincoln highway, and about one-half mile from the Union Pacific Railroad station. 12 During the hot summer month the cool mountain breeze entices many people from the cities to this cool resort to sleep, driving back and forth each day to their work. CANNING INDUSTRY In the year 1904 the Morgan Canning Company was organized with a capitol of $10,000. A small building was erected which housed one viner and one line of pea machinery. By 1916 the company had outgrown the small plant and a larger and more modern paltn was built about a quarter of a mile from the old one. In this new plant the latest and best equipment was installed. The new plant had a capacity of 8,000 cases of peas per day, packing in two days what the old plant packed in an entire season. When this new plant was built Morgan peas had attained such a favorable reputation that even this factory was not large enough to take care of the demand for "Those Good Peas." The owners began to look elsewhere for a suitable location for another factory, finally selecting Smithfield in Cache Valley. In 1928 the plant was sold to the Utah Packing Corporation who have continued to distribut peas and sauerkraut under the well known Morgan brands and also the Del Monte brand. MORGAN SCHOOL DISTRICT The Morgan school district is as old as the county, since one of the first objectives of the first little settlements was to build a place where school might be held. At one time there were thirteen school districts, one for each precinct. In 1915 they were consolidated into a county unit under one Board of Education. At present the school population is housed in seven separate school buildings, including one centrall located high school at Morgan City. 13 All six grade school buildings are completely modern with automatic control furnace heat, running water, electric lights, etc. Four of these buildings are equipped with gymnasiums in addition to regular class rooms. The schools are all connected with modern, hard surfaced highways over which the Board of Education runs a fleet of six buses which carry about 70 percent of the total school population. Relatively speaking the district is well financed due to an exceedingly high valuation as compared with the school enrollment. The bonded debt is small and there is no floating debt. Teachers are well paid and contented in their work. When reference is made to the past in connection with the Morgan High School, the word "Progress" is met up with frequently because that is the principle factor entering into the development of the school to the place it holds today. Service to the public has been the outstanding feature of the institution since it came into being in 1911 with an enrollment of twenty-eight students and three faculty members. The building they were using at that time soon became too small for their needs, and in 1914 the patrons and citizens of the county financed the construction of the first building on the present campus. In the spring of 1915 the first commencement exercises honored the first thirteen graduates. In the spring of 1916 the site was chosen and the "M" was laid off on the hillside. The enrollment gradually increased until it became necessary to erect more and larger buildings to accomodate the students. In 1922 the shop building was erected and Is now well equipped, and in 1924 another large building was built, consisting of a large gymnasium 14 and domestic art and science department. The graduating classes have steadily increased from thirteen in 1915 to sixty-one in 1934. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM The Board of Education conducts,each year a series of adult, educational lectures which are attended by approximately 350 people. The series consists of ten or more lectures and demonstrations by well known educators throughout the state. Each year the agricultural department promotes a home beautification project. Thousands of flower plants are distributed to the students at a nominal cost, to be planted and cared for by the students and the flowers are placed on exhibit at the annual county fair and prizes are awarded for the best display. The music department conducts a year round music program consisting of piano, instrumental, and vocal instruction. These courses are given in groups during the summer vacation. The program consists of two courses, each covering a period of six weeks. In addition to this the band is given special instruction and band concerts are conducted each Sunday at Como Springs and on other special occasions. The health program is one of the best in the state. It is carried out on a fifty-fifty plan, the Board of Education cooperating with the parents in the correction of devedtive vision, defective teeth, and throat troubles. Through the visual education program the Board of Education, each year, furnishes money for about 150 of 16 millimeter projection films which are shown in the various schools on a prearranged schedule correlated with the subject. -Mary Chadwick.