The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-07
UINTAH cOUN7Y'S PROGRESS
SOMETHING LIKE A BOOM IN
NORTHEASTERN UTAH.
Old Conditions Contrasted With the
New-Mails, Telegraph and Courts
Many Buildings Springing Up.
(snecial Corresnondence.l

Vernal, Utah, Oct. 3.-EVery country,
beginning with it's first settlement,
passes through different stages of de-
velorment, and Uintah county has been
no exception in this respect There is
nothing that reflects the material adj
vancement of a community with great
er accuracy than its dwelling houses.
First came the old log house. that land
mark in the history of early settlement,
with its low, WhiteWashed walls, adobe
chimney and dirt roof, through which
the rain driDped dismally enough at
times, old and unsightly now, but
around which fondly cling the memo
ries of the past.
The transition from that old relic of
by-gone days to the modern dwelling,
with all its up-to-oate ideas annexed.
marks the extreme limits between the
old and the new.
In riding throughout Ufntah county
one cannot but be impressed with the
fact thta the era of the old log house
is passing away. Here and there may
be found some old settler clinging to his
first love- but they grow fewer as the
years so by and the tide of civilization
sweeps on, and over the ruins of the
musty past rises the elegant structures
which denote the reaching of another
stage in the onward march of pro-
gresS.
In riding through the county one
might think that an incipient boom was
upon US, as new houses are springing
up on every hand, neat. comfortable,
and commodious houses, that would be
a credit to any community
Dame nature, assisted by the hand of
man. will in the future make here a
modern Garden Of Eden. Trees are
being planted by thousands, both for
fruit and shade, and every new home
is surrounded With its grove, which
viii make in the future a natural pic
ture that viii be "a thing of beauty
and G Joy forever"
Another evidence Of progress is our
mail facilities of today, as compared
with those Of the early days.
IN those days the mail came in over
the old Bridger road, when it could get
here. for there were times when the icy
bralsts of winter piled up huge drifts
of snow in the mountain passes, that
formed an impenetrabie barrier, that
shut the Ashley basin in for sometimes
weeks and months.
with the advent of the Rio Grande
Western through Utah, road was con-
structed to Price, which had the adyan-
tage, at least, of being open all win
ter.
Today the mail comes every day in
the week. Sunday included. The ioca-
ton of Fort Duchesne on the Uintah
brought the telegraph to point 30
miles distant With conmendable en-
terprise a local company was formed,
and a teleuhone connection was made
across the intervening distance, so that
now we are. in a measure, connected
with the outer world, tbs but a slender
thread. to be sure, hut through it we
feel the puIsations of the great throb-
bing world outside.
Uintah county has had no mushroom
growth; every step along the pathway
Of progress has been slowly and delib-
erately taken, but owing to the natural
resources and in spite of every obstacle,
she has steadily and surely. pushed
ahead.
Statehood conferred a great boon up
on us. as it gave the district court.
which brought justice to our very doors
and, in a measure, abolished the great
expense attendant upon taking a case
to the district court. as in former days.
In those days many criminal went
UNPUBLISHED owing to the expense Incl
dent to his conviction. That is nos
changed and the effect of the change
is already noticeable, and in fact con-
stitutes a turning point in the history
of affairs in this section, which is very
gratifying to all good citizens.
The dawn of a better day is breaking
for us and with cut face to the COM
Ing light, we viii push on, casting aside
the follies of the past, until we occupy
our ultimate position as one of the or
dar-Ioving communities of the state of
Utah.