Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-02-15
DIRTY DEVIL REGION OF UTAH
Where Vegetation Grows LuSur-
iantIy and Echoes Multiply a
ThouSandfaId.

Where Vegetation Grows Luxur-
iantly n Echoes Multiply a
! ThousandfoId-
1t is safe to say that few people
have heard Of the Dirty Devil region.
An arch@ologist who had been ex-
ploring out of-the-way corners in
Utah in the interests OF the worlds
fair wandered upinto thecountry with
that shocking name and writing
about il he says that, II more gener-
ally known, tourists would seldom
fail to include it in their itinerary. In
fact, according to the New York
EEeaing Post he puts the matter
more strongly, saying that the eoun-
try contains sights surprising those
Tof the Yosemite. The principal set.
tlement-by courtesy known as the
county seats Lola situated in the
Rabbit River valley. <Ihe Buck.
horn mountains are divided at this
point" he says, by the narrow
valley down which the Dirty river
flows. As we leave Rabbit valley the
route goes down along the river into
"A narrow valley for twenty miles.
Lover and lower descends the broad,
warmer and warmer grows the eli
mate, higher and higher the mighty
walls OF sandstone, until We find
ourselves shut out from the
busy world and travelling down into
what seems a labyrinth, deep gorges,
narrow anons and little sunny val
leys that seem TO enjoy eternal sum-
mer. These valleys are usually but a
hundred feet wide and already extend
along the river more than a quarter
OF a mile, but the soil is rich and the
vegetation grows luxuriantly in this
semi-tropical climate"
Tue writer says he had never seen
before such awful walls of rock and
such vistas OF beauty as he found in
stone park. talk of Yosemite, talk of
the Grand canon of the Colorado"
be declares, ''this region IS NOR. in
majesty than all OF them. There are
leading out OF the Grand Wash. a
stream tributary TO the Dirty Devil,
narrow cauous whose p~assageways
are but ten to thirty feet, but whose
sides run up perpendicula ly 1000
feet, and two 81 these narrow canons
lead into mighty amphitheateEs
framed out of the sandstone. These
vast amphltheaterS are made larger
and larger through the years as the
storms wash down their si1as
and carry the sand thus
washed away down through the
narrow gorge into the Dirty Devil,
and thence down TO the Coiora-
do and into the sea-" He found
spanning one OF the canons a natural
bridge 20 feet wide ana 1000 feet
above the bed OF a torrent. Echoesin
the recesses we're multiplied a thous-
and times. the bark OF a dog seeming
to be taken up by a multitude of ours.
He came across q family settled upon
q tract of twelve acres on the banks
OF the Dirty Devil. that lay between
walls 1000 feet high. The climate in
that srquestered spot was mild as
June, although late in the fall of the
year, and the note of the whippoor-
will was often heard at night by the
writer. Turning to the practical side
of things I've discovered abundant
evidences of cool. sulphur and gyp-
sum, IL was Fremont who gave TO
this marvellous nook iss name, IN dis
gust because he was Obliged TO cross
the tortuous stream no less than ll3
times on one Of his expeditions.