Stories of Promise Rock

Stories of Promise Rock. Community Landmark. , Sheep by the Thousands , ”I'd imagine there'd be 100,000 sheep sheared down there... I think they had about twenty sheep shearers , good, fast sheep shearers , and they was going all the time there..." , Jim Smith of Henrieville, recalling the sheep shearing operations near Promise Rock in the 1920s., When sheep shearing time arrived each spring during the 1920s and '30s, this quiet valley erupted with activity. Near Promise Rock, the mounded sandstone formation rising out of the open range before you , a network of corrals held sheep bound for shearing pens where men hand-sheared tens of thousands of sheep. Caught up in the excitement, Henrieville children walked two miles from town to watch the shearers at their work. Even after shearing season, Promise Rock remained a magnet for local children, who walked there during school holidays to play and picnic., Changes to the Land , ”They had overgrazed the country at that time, and it was done before people realized what had happened…” , , Charlie Francisco of Henrieville, recalling Bryce Valley during the 1930s., Before Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, there were no limits on livestock grazing on public lands. Tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, and angora goats depleted local rangelands. The Taylor Grazing Act improved rangelands by authorizing grazing management. , The Promise of Promise Rock , According to local lore, a young couple were once picnicking on the rounded sandstone knob rock in the valley before you. The man asked his companion to marry him and threatened, if she refused, to push her over the edge (in jest, one hopes!). She promptly agreed, and the formation has since been called “Promise Rock.”