The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1914-01-06
UTAH'S FRONTIER
BY Joseph Hickman, 9. s., Prir cipaI
OF the Woodruff
School


! many OF us as we sit comfortably
roasting our shins before the fire
/ w'th a well bound volume of Park
mans Oregon Trail, or possibly the
first volume of Whitney's history of
! our own state, dream Of the wonder
full deeds that would have been
wrought had Wa lived In those days
when the whole west IVES land OF
opportunity Those of us who are
| content to thus live and thus do, Of
ten do not stop to think that there
could be other frontiers besides Amer
ican frontiers. As a matter Of fact,
every state at some time In its his
tory, must have had a frontier as the
United States at one time had its
frontier. And what Is of most sat
isfacticn to us is that these state
frontiers offer the same opportuni-
ties, nevertheless. as were offered for
ty or even sixty years by our then
frontiers state. The same blood stir
ring adventures may be encountered
and. best Of all the same desert
waste remains to be subdued. / re-
fer to the region lying west of the
Colorado river and east of the Great
Fashion map Of Utah 1t appears
as the county Of Wayne and parts
OF the counties of Emery and Gar
field.
What Shall Be Done With Dixie?
Within this region we may find
conditions much as in the days of the
Pioneers. Selecting the town Of Tor
rey as about the central settlement,
we find 1t to be something over six
ty miles from its western railroad
station, more than one hundred miles
from the nearest station to the east;
to the north and south lie almost i'm
passable mountains. But the whole
region is not impossible.
At the present time not more than
three thousand people are living in
the region described. That the bulk
Of these obtain their living from the
produce Of their fiocks or herds Is
shown by the fact that each year
flour and grain is imported from the
surrounding region. This is in face
of the fact that the region is we'll
adapted to the raising Of grain. Up
to the present they find greatest re-
suits from the raising Of cattle, hors.
es and sheep. This is on account Of
the abundance of range, much OF
which must in time give way to the
farmer as the range of the early days
have given way to the farmer in the
farming districts of our state. Cache
county. for instance. was. recommend.
ed to the pioneers as being. good
place for wintering cattle. and in
fact was used for that purpose for
great number Of years. Today
Cache valley Is known as the grain
ry OF Utah. So in time, not far dis
tant, when some of us who are now
content to conquer our deserts In a
comfortable chair move into this last
frontier of our state We shall find 1t
farming instead Of stock raising
section.
Opportunities There
The region today offers many on
portunities to the youth in search or
the actual experience which he knows
now only through the fire side tales
of his pioneer grandfather. There he
may ride the broncho, trail the bear
or lion, trade with the Navajo, get
gored by wild steer, or, II he be-
longs to the more reliable type Of the
frontiersman, he will find ample room
to try to make the desert bloom as a
rose. To believe that such oppcrtun-
tiles exist, one need but to be told
that good land Is still there which
may be got by demonstrating thing
that can be sad of but few places In
the United States today. DR.. John
A. Widtsoe, who made long trip
through this unsubdued region during
the past summer said thar resources
existed in that section that could pc
found no where, else in the state; re-
ferring as I understand him. 10 the
virgin state in which he found the
whole locality.
We are all of the opinion that this
is one OF the last frontiers thst VIII
be subdued. 1t offers the same oppor'
tunities that other frontiers have
offered and we venture to say thai
II will pass through the same stages
and leave the names of the men who
are now effecting 1t subjugation writ
ten along with the other pioneers OF
the star OF the west.
WOOL GROWERS EXCURSION
II