As the Mormon Pioneers entered the area over decade later, John Marriott became the first permanent settler, and the river became the staple for his family as well, an account of which follows: Here the family lived at first in a wagon ... [later they] made a small dugout to be used during stormy weather. Shelves were placed in the dugout and on one of them the baby was put to sleep while her mother carried water for a half a mile [from the Weber River]. Upon her return, it was not uncommon to find snakes crawling over the bed in which the child asleep. Mr. Marriott was actively engaged in clearing his land of brush for farming and providing water with which to irrigate. Unassisted, he dug the first ditch in 1855, which carried water from the river to Marriott.5 In western Marriott in 1855, William Morris, homesteaded the section along a large portion of the Weber River. He labored diligently to haul innumerable loads of fertile topsoil from the river bottom to his farmland. The rich soil along the river bottom made Marriott-Slaterville farmland fertile and valuable. Much of this area still remains pristine woodlands and prime open space.6 Flooding from the Weber River has been common place in Marriott-Slaterville throughout the area's history. The main cause of flooding was rapid snowmelt and runoff, and the largest snowmelt floods of record occurred in 1896, 1907, 1909, 1920, 1922, 1952, [and 1983]7. Settlers in lower Slaterville, including many of Richard Slater's descendants, dealt with many hardships over the years from lost crops, lost livestock, and lost property because of river floods. Alta Pierce, a lifelong resident, describes a childhood experience of being carried from of her family's flooded home near 1700 South on the shoulders of her father. She said that during the spring runoff, it was not uncommon in the early days to see the Weber River a mile wide in some places and settlers simply sought higher ground until the water receded. Fortunately, much of the flood potential has been reduced through federal, state and county mitigation projects, but some flooding problems still occur today. The present-day newly incorporated City of Marriott-Slaterville comprises a 7.3 square mile geographical area, and follows along the course of the Weber River along the southern border. Marriott-Slaterville was awarded the status as Utah's only open space preservation city by the Utah House of Representatives in February 1999, and assigned to promote open space preservation concepts, especially along the Weber River area. Currently, the city seeks to 5 Beneath Ben Lomond's Peak, page 156. 6 Personal Interview with Morris Family, 1999. 7 Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1982a. 2