Matt Warner Reservoir

Matt Warner Reservoir. . , This reservoir was named for Matt Warner (1864-1938), a complex figure of the American West., Matt Warner was born Willard Erastus Christianson in Ephraim, Utah on April 12, 1864. Early in his life, he was forced to flee east towards Vernal after a violent altercation with another boy who had tried to steal his date for a Mormon dance., In the area surrounding Diamond Mountain and Brown’s Park, Warner began his outlaw career - rustling livestock. Records show that in the fall of 1886 Matt Warner used 124 horses as collateral for a loan for $847.90. Records do not show how Matt Warner obtained those horses…, Warner would later gain notoriety as a bank robber, often associated with Butch Cassidy. In 1894, land office records show that Erastus W. Christiansen filed a homestead claim for 160 acres on a parcel that was within a half-day’s horseback ride of this modern-day reservoir that bears his name., In 1896, Warner was convicted of manslaughter for an incident in Dry Fork Canyon near Vernal. Warner maintained that he was protecting a claim when he was ambushed by three men. Warner killed two of his assailants and wounded the third. After being sentenced to five years in prison, he received a pardon from the Governor on the expectation he would abandon his life of crime. Warner went straight and was elected by the people of Price, Utah to serve as a justice of the peace and deputy sheriff. He died on December 21, 1938 in Price, Utah., “Matt succeeded in his dedication to life as a free and honest man, earning the respect from the same men who wished to see him behind bars for the remainder of his life, just years before.”, Dedicated June 15, 2024 (6029) , Matt Warner Chapter 1900 , E Clampus Vitus ,