Perhaps a thousand years ago, someone climbed to the cliff face above, a stone tool in hand. Selecting an area of the sandstone darkened by minerals, that person began to chip away at the rock. After hours of chipping and carving, the image of a . . . — — Map (db m114460) HM
Old homesteads are scattered throughout Dinosaur National Monument, each a memorial to hope and hard work. This cabin and the nearby structures are part of the homestead established by Josie Bassett Morris in the early 1900s.
Nearing 40 . . . — — Map (db m114454) HM
The first boat (framed together with wooden pegs) used for passengers and baggage was built and operated by Lars Jensen 2 ½ miles downstream from 1881 to 1909.
It was replaced by a cable ferry for wagons in 1885, and a larger boat in . . . — — Map (db m114450) HM
Josie Bassett Morris made her home here until 1964. Today you're welcome to explore her homestead. Sit under the trees near Josie's cabin. She planted and nurtured them to provide fruit and shade. Walk the short trails to the canyons where Josie . . . — — Map (db m114453) HM
What is now a vacant lot, located diagonally from you, was in 1930 the premium in elegance and service to the traveler.
The Cobble Rock Gas Station offered friendly service to your road-beaten auto and was touted to be the only women's restroom . . . — — Map (db m114424) HM
Diagonally across the street is the First Security Bank building. When it first opened on August 10, 1910, it was called the Uintah State Bank.
The local Mormon population did not like the loan policies of the Catholic-managed Bank of Vernal, . . . — — Map (db m114433) HM
"They didn't have a lot of money, but they
didn't know that they were poor."
-Rebecca Kunz's (1892-1985) impressions of the Great Depression
Built of concrete because it was considered fire proof, the building across from . . . — — Map (db m114423) HM
Jeremiah Hatch came to Ashley Valley in 1878 as an Indian agent. Following the Meeker, Colorado massacre of 1879 he was instructed to build a fort as protection for white settlers. Their cabins, with cedar post buttresses between, formed part of . . . — — Map (db m114422) HM
September 1886 Samuel R. Bennion was sent here to establish a banking institution called the 'Ashley Co-op.' In 1903 the first pioneer bank was opened for business. In 1916 W.H. Coltharp erected this building with Salt Lake City brick. A full car . . . — — Map (db m114421) HM
The first business to occupy the corner across from you was Acorn Mercantile, a leading grocery and dry goods store.
In 1915 Acorn boasted a shipment to Salt Lake City of 12,000 fresh eggs, which provided a solid market for the Ashley Valley . . . — — Map (db m114440) HM
"If the gable end of old Hell would blow out, it wouldn't melt the snow in six months!"
…exclaimed a frustrated and tired U.S. mail contractor who was late with his deliveries during the hard winter of 1879.
His was the disagreeable job . . . — — Map (db m114428) HM
Former Pony Express rider and ferryboat operator William Ashton brought his family to Vernal in 1879.
William's sons and grandsons, all of whom engaged in retail trade, consolidated their businesses in 1922, opening Ashton Brothers Mercantile . . . — — Map (db m114441) HM