Uintah County Regional History Center

01/15/2025

Utah State Archives and Records Service is highlighting a Monthly Theme for Utah's landscapes called "Archives Outside" The Uinta Basin and its surrounding areas are home to many landscapes of natural beauty, from the snow-flocked forest pine trees. To the majestic sandstone hills, with vibrant fire red and golden rock walls, holding the history of the area through prehistoric fossils and dinosaurs in the desert hills to the early First Peoples writings on sandstone walls.
The surrounding rivers, streams, reservoirs, mining, gas, and oil resources hold the historic value of discovery from the early explorers, and settlers, and have become historic landmarks and resources on a National level.
Eastern Utah marks a historic part of Utah’s natural beauty. The Uintah County Regional History Center would like to share a few of its photo archives seen through the lens of our area's earliest photographers. As they captured historic images of this beautiful place, here are some of the Basin's own, “Archives Outside”.
To see more photos https://history.uintahlibrary.org/history look for the "open source" link to our photo collection on our website. Photo credit to early photographers: Leo Thorne, Lawrence Deved, and Erland Preece Collections.

What are your favorite landscapes of the surrounding area?

01/06/2025

Historic documentary (Video), commemorating the Centennial Year of Vernal's Doughboy Monument and 2024 Veteran's Day Remembrance.

Produced by V6 Media, organized by Uintah County Library Regional History Center and the Uintah County Heritage Museum. Documentary Funded by local businesses. A special thank you to; Ashley Regional Medical Center, Outback Rentals, State Farm, Shivers and Jitters, EP Contracting, and Production Logging Services.

November 11, 2024, marked the 100th Anniversary of Vernal's Spirit of the American Doughboy Statue. Community members, the American Legion, and the Uintah Co...

12/05/2024

11/15/2024

Our Latest Winter 2024 Outlaw Trail Journal is available now! located at the Uintah County Library Regional History Center, 152 E. 100 North Vernal. The Uintah County Heritage Museum will also have them for sale, located in the old library.

Subscriptions are also available for next year, only $20.00. Individual journals range from $3.50 to $10.00. These local history books are great for all your history lovers and make a great Christmas gift!

Or call 435-789-6275 if you would like to order by phone, a small shipping fee will be added if you want books shipped.

08/29/2024

We have had some people searching for the identification of the front three men in this photo. This is a Thorne photo donated by Mary Ashton, to the Uintah County Library Regional History Center. The information we have on the back of the original photo of the 3 men in the front reads. L to R: Frank Hollandsworth, B.H. Stringham, Mayor of Vernal, LeRoy Taylor Vernal City Manager, March 3, 1949. Frank Hollandsworth was Mary Ashton's father.

07/23/2024

Want to learn about local history and outlaws. We have it all including the Outlaw Trail Journal with lots of historical articles.
We are at 152 E. 100 N. Vernal, Utah. We also have a new website: https://history.uintahlibrary.org/history and QR code. Search topics in our photo and newspaper collection in the open-resource links.

06/19/2024

To commemorate Juneteenth Day. Learn about the early Buffalo Soldiers who were an all negro group of soldiers who served in the U.S. Army at Fort Duchesne. They helped protect the settlers and Ute people alike in 1886.

Learn more about the history of the Ninth Cavalry in our latest Outlaw Trail Journal published by the Uintah County Regional History Center. Get a copy at the history center at 152 E. 100 N. Vernal, Utah, or the Uintah County Heritage Museum 155 E. Main. 435-789-6275

06/19/2024

05/07/2024

The Outlaw Trail Journal is a fascinating publication dedicated to the preservation and research of the history of the greater Uinta Basin, the Intermountain West, and the Outlaw Trail. The publication's Managing Editor is Michelle Fuller it is published semi-annually by the Outlaw Trail History Center, which is part of the Uintah County Library Regional History Center in Vernal, Utah. The latest issue Summer 2024 Edition is available June 1. Here are some highlights from the issue:

Featuring History of the Buffalo Soldiers

* Buffalo Soldiers Protected the Settlers and the Ute Indians
* The Ninth Cavalry 1890 Valentine
* Ashley Valley- Historic Grazing on Ashley National Forest
* Seven Eleven Cafe
* Beginnings of the Ford Motor Company-Four Generations
* Carter Military Road
* Blood on the Saddle
* Norma Rich Dalton-In Memory of
* A Sorrel Horse Named "Chief".
* New Publication Feature-"First Draft".

Subscriptions Available for $20 a Year!
Also, available to purchase issues individually.
UINTAH COUNTY LIBRARY REGIONAL HISTORY CENTER
152 E. 100 N.
Vernal, Utah, 84078
435-789-6275

Also, available at Uintah County Heritage Museum

05/02/2024

World War I Veteran Info Request! For an upcoming exhibit and to Commemorate the 100 Years of the Doughboy Veteran Monument,
we are searching for any information on our local World War I veterans who lost their lives in the war (see the list of names below). We are looking, for the following information:

1. Any photos of them (particularly photos that are closer to their age of military service, but if those are not available anything will do)
2. Photos of their military service, memories, and/or letters and/or journals (if families are willing to share) would be invaluable
3. Information about where they served, what branch of military service, awards or citations they received, and how they died (killed in action, died from Spanish Flu, etc.)
4. Full names, birth dates, and death dates
5. If any local veterans died in World War I that are not included on this list, please let us know!

PLEASE SEE LIST:
Clive Coupe
Fred Deming (Fred Pinkard Deming)
Amos Hoeft
Alfred Hall (George Alfred Hall)
Ralph Perry
George J. Peters (George Justice Peters)
Lynne Taylor
James Shaffer (James LeRoy Shaffer)
John Evan Witbeck (known as Evan Witbeck or "Kit" Witbeck)
James Anthony Hagan
Robert Emery Gray
Leland W. Toll
J Campbell (unknown what his first name is)
Keith Warby
Manford Hayes (Willis Manford Hayes)
George R. Nelson
Charles Lee Tucker
Gilbert Leslie Carroll
Eugene Allen Brown
William Edgar Colby
Orson P. Wilson
Peter Detomasi Jr.

Call: 435-789-6286 Marety Hill or
email: [email protected]
or respond through this post
Thanks, RHC staff

03/22/2024

To add to Uintah County Women's History Month.
We recognize "Mother Adams" from our Gutsy Women in the Outlaw Trail Journal Summer 2006 by Elaine Carr and Uintah County Regional History Center. history.utah.gov/women
Kate Forrest Adams, fondly known as Mother Adams, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. She fell in love and married George E. Adams; shortly after their marriage, they ventured out west. They settled in Vernal, Utah, in 1890. George took on several business ventures which included among others, a mercantile store, a sheep business, and an oil company. After he died in 1944, Kate kept interest in the businesses out of respect for her husband although she felt business and politics were not a woman’s place.
Mother Adams was very generous with her wealth. She helped boys and girls gain an education, she supported servicemen by sending letters and gifts, she aided War Veterans, and presented a building to the American Legion for their meetings. She was a friend to all, but especially loved her “picnic kids.” On warm days, children would pile into her car and, off they would go for a picnic adventure to the mountain.
Mother Adams was a world traveler, visiting many countries and almost every state in the US. But, always anxious to come home to the people and community she loved best.
She was recognized by the little sailor cap she always wore. Her brother-in-law sent a sailor's cap to her young son; he would not wear it, so she did and continued to wear one thereafter, even adorning her head at death. She was a small little lady but had a large generous heart that reached out and touched all those who came in contact with her. One experience that pictures the gutsy little woman happened on one of her town kids picnics and their
swimming outings. Mother Adams drove the children north on Highway 191 from Main Street in her big fancy Buick to 2500 North. There she turned east to where the road ended, following around a tree-lined lane. The canal ran around the lane on the other side of the road, which was built up on on a bank into the side of the hill.
This canal was used for the community’s drinking water. A ditch rider was hired to ride the canal, to make sure no children were swimming in the water also watching for any animal which, might be drinking from the canal. He heard the children laughing and playing in the water. He stepped down from his horse and trugged up to the canal. He hollored at them, in a loud voice, to get out of the water.
Mother Adams, adorned in an old-fashioned swimming suit, including her little sailor hat, jumped out of the water and stormed up the bank. She lit into him like a little mad banty hen. She informed the startled ditch rider that on a hot day like this, he shouldn’t be hollering at the children to get out of the water, and he shouldn’t be scaring them. As he started to back off, Mother Adams, with arms on her hips, marched him right off the hill and down the road with his tail between his legs. Then she climbed back up the hill, jumped into the water, and they all had a great swim.

03/18/2024

Did you know that Vernal was previously known as Ashley Center?

When the post office was to be designated for the town, the first Postmaster, Thomas H. Mitchell, determined the name was too similar to that of the neighboring town of Ashley (2.5 miles to the north) and might cause confusion with mail delivery.

Mitchell renamed the town Vernal some time prior to 1898 to reflect its new beginning. (It’s also noteworthy that this was the first town registered with this name in the history of the U.S!)

This photo of Main Street was taken in 1904.
Special thanks to Uintah County Regional History Center for the info and photo.

03/08/2024

To Celebrate Women's History Month we want to recognize an early woman that helped shape and contribute to the early history of Vernal or Ashley Valley.

Edith Lawrence Cooper

Edith Lawrence Cooper was born and grew up in Butte, Montana. She graduated from high school and attended Business College, where she studied and planned to become a court recorder. At sixteen, she graduated and was offered a position as a court recorder, but before she began her new job she became ill with a severe case of measles. This left her deaf for several months, and although her hearing returned, it never came back completely. This disability kept her from becoming a court recorder as she had dreamed of doing.
She was lost and unhappy. On top of this disappointment, her boyfriend Ashley was going away to college. Around this time Edith was gazing at a map when her eyes fell on the name Ashley, a small valley in Utah. On impulse, she wrote to the postmaster in Vernal inquiring of any local positions for a stenographer. It just so happened, that Thomas O’Donnell, an attorney at law, lost his secretary and needed someone to replace her.
This gutsy young lady took the challenge to travel to an unknown place by herself. She traveled the long distance by train from Butte, Montana, to Mack, Colorado. The conductor let her off one-fourth mile from the station at three a.m. in the morning. He told her she’d better run for it because the station master would be shutting the lights off soon. She wasn’t even halfway when the lights went off. She stood there and screamed and screamed. The station master heard her and came to her aide, and helped her find a hotel for the night. The next step of her journey was a long bumpy ride from Mack to Dragon, Utah and the final leg of her journey to Vernal was in a three-seated Buick. The road was so bumpy that each mile seemed like ten. The Buick got stuck in the mud in the badlands and it seemed like forever before they pulled into Vernal late that night. Edith was afraid and alone but found a place to rest at the Cottage Hotel.
The next day she started her new job and made Vernal her home from then on. She worked for Mr. O’Donnell as a stenographer for fifteen years. In this position, she learned a great deal about the law. Through correspondence courses in law from LaSalle University, (Chicago), Edith completed and passed the state bar exam with high marks. She also managed the Vogue Theater and served on the library board.
When Thomas O’Donnell retired, Edith bought the business from him. At the time she was the only independent woman lawyer practicing in Utah and one of only a few practicing in the United States. She did not expect any special considerations or advantages because she was a woman. She said, “Personally I expect only the ordinary consideration and courtesy extended by judges on the bench and by other attorneys which is the merited right of all honorable members of the profession.” She specialized in Title and Abstract Litigation and represented many national firms with interests in the Vernal Area.
She married Rice Cooper, a widower and father of five children, ages two to seventeen. She took on the role of a mother, became co-owner of the Vogue Theater with her husband, and continued practicing law. She stood by her husband’s side when he served as mayor of Vernal for many years.
She was a member of the Uintah County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Women Lawyers, president of P.E.O., a charter member of Utah Business and Professional Women’s Club, a member of the Ladies Aide Society and served on the Board of Directors for Kingsbury Community Church.
She was a fun kind-hearted person. She worked hard, was a good lawyer, and was a respected member of the community. Written by staff member Elaine Carr UCRHC.
Article published in the Summer 2007 Issue of the Outlaw Trail Journal. To subscribe to the OTJ contact: Michelle Fuller, managing editor, at 435-789-6275 or go to the Uintah County Regional History Center152 E. 100 N. Vernal, Utah, or the Uintah County Heritage Museum 155 E. Main. history.utah.gov/women.

03/08/2024

To celebrate Utah Women's History Month, we would like to recognize some of the early women in history who helped shape the Uinta Basin.

Dr. Maude Garrett O’Donnell

“Call for the doctor.” That’s just what many folks did, and Dr. Maude Garrett O’Donnell would be there. She became a person that people depended on for comfort and care. She labored night and day and traveled all areas of the valley bringing sympathy and exercising skill to those, in need often receiving no pay for her services.
Dr. Maude Garrett arrived in Vernal in 1903 to practice medicine with Dr. F. C. Buchtel. She was the first woman doctor to practice in the area. She married T. W. O’Donnell, a local attorney. She practiced here for nearly twenty-five years.
On one occasion, on a hot summer day, Dr. O’Donnell was summoned by a young boy. He had traveled from Brush Creek to pass a message from a very ill woman on Diamond Mountain, twenty-five miles from Vernal. She sent the boy back to Brush Creek asking him to have a fresh team ready when she reached that point. She ordered a team and driver from the livery, but to her disappointment, there was no driver available. She drove the buggy herself and asked her mother to accompany her. She was on her way by one o’clock in the afternoon, leaving word she would be home by midnight.
The trail was an abandoned road used only by cattlemen and sheepmen to drive their herds to the mountain. She made the long hot trip up the mountain, rendered her doctor skills, made the woman comfortable, and with a fresh team started her journey home.
The night was dark. The buggy had no brakes and the team was unfamiliar with the route. The road was narrow and steep with dug-ways and large boulders. It was considered to be an unsafe road to travel by day, let alone by night. She made it home shortly after midnight but not before first stopping in on a sick patient.
Dr. O’Donnell had adept surgical skills. She was called upon many times to perform complicated and risky surgeries. She performed a five-hour surgery on young six-year-old Hugh Colton, who had injured his hand in an accident, and as it healed the muscles in his fingers grew in such a way that his fingers were drawn close toward the palm. Dr. O’Donnell scraped and removed all the flesh from three fingers and grafted in sufficient replacement from his young little guy’s leg.
On one occasion she sewed fingers back on a fellow’s hand that had been severed completely. The man regained full function of his fingers.
She was the City Physician and then the County Physician. With this position, it was her responsibility to place quarantines on those with contagious illnesses. Once she ordered schools and churches closed and prohibited public gatherings when an outbreak of measles arose. Later she placed a quarantine on the entire town of Jensen. Authorities were ordered to enforce the quarantine by making sure folks stayed in their homes. During the influenza epidemic of 1918, she labored day and night caring for others until she became very ill.
Dr. O’Donnell had offices in various buildings. She had an office in the Calder building and another above the Uintah State Bank. Dr. O’Donnell was very passionate and involved in helping Vernal obtain a hospital, then later a county hospital. She was the first doctor to own an X-ray machine in the area.
Dr. O’Donnell had bad luck with automobiles from the time she purchased one in 1908. She barely had the car for a month when the noise of the automobile frightened a c**t pulling a single buggy. The buggy ended up over the rear of the car flipping the buggy on its side.
One month later the car took a plunge down a steep embankment. Another time, while with her mother she hit a boulder and rolled the car. She and her mother were trapped inside until someone came along and found them. Within a few hours, she was back in the car visiting patients.
A Vernal schoolgirl was asked to write a 250-page report on automobiles. This is what she wrote: “Dr. Garrett O’Donnell bought an automobile. She was riding towards Brush Creek when it busted. I guess this is about 50 words. The other 200 are what Dr. Garrett said while she was walking back to town.” Written by Elaine Carr UCRHC. Published in the Outlaw Trail Journal Summer 2007 Uintah County Regional History Center. To subscribe to the Outlaw Trail Journal contact: Michelle Fuller, Managing Editor 435-789-6275 at Uintah County Regional History Center, 152 E. 100 N. Vernal, Utah 84078. or Uintah County Heritage Museum.

03/01/2024

Dough Boy War Memorial 1925-1934