Sam's Town

**Sam's Town** is a town in the State of Utah. It is situated in the valley of Mount Stone and near the Dixie River, approximately 14 miles northeast of the City of Dixie and 17 miles east of New Canaan. According to the 2001 Census, the town has a population of 1995 making it the largest town in Ute County. The town was settled in 1887 by Mormon fundamentalists moving east out Dixie seeking a more religious place to live. Today the town remains a large, albeit much smaller than before, lumber industry shipping most products out on the New Canaan and Northern Railway. Sam's Town attracts motorists, truck drivers, and drifters on State Highway 17 looking for a place to stop, eat or sleep. The town's strong Mormon values and the increase of traffic coming off the Long 17 has led to a few clashes between the visitors and the townspeople, who's religious values are often seen as 'extreme' by outsiders.

## General Information

### Railways

Dixie & Eastern (former)New Canaan Central

## History

In the early 1880's a group of Mormon fundamentalists felt unsatisfied in Dixie, claiming many who lived there were going against the Mormon church and it's rudimentary principles. In 1887 Lead by local bishop Sam Graham, the group left their dwellings in, what is today, the community of Centennial. They reached the east bank of the Dixie river the following week and settled in the valley of Mount Stone.

## Economy

Early Sam's Town took advantage of the vast forestry in the area and was heavily dependent on the lumber industry. In 1901 the town built the Sam's Town Western Railway in order to export the lumber to Dixie and New Canaan. The railway was merged with the Dixie Road to form the Dixie & Eastern Railway. Sam's Town is still fairly dependent on the lumber industry but production has slowly, but steadily, ramped down in the recent years and the town is steadily becoming more reliant on tourism, and feeding and lodging those who are passing through. Though this creates conflict within the town between the outsiders and the townsfolk, residents do their best to put up with it as they know Sam's Town relies on it.

## Notable Events

In the spring of 1888 a Ute man was killed by a settler after an argument resulting from the native man attempting to stop the cutting down of a sacred tree. As a result the Ute tribe placed a curse on the town and never returned to the area, only approaching as close as the East bank of the Graham River.

In July of 1888 under the direction of Sam Graham, construction of the first LDS Church began. In the fall of 1890 the church was completed and had it's first Sunday Mass. Graham however never got to see the opening of his church as he was killed during construction when a large piece of concrete landed on him. He is now buried in Dixie Cemetery.

During the summer of 1892 the Sam's Town Church caught fire and suffered severe structural damage requiring massive renovations. The fire is commonly believed to have been caused by unattended lantern left to burn overnight, however this has been disputed by small groups believing that the Ute curse put on the town to be responsible. The official cause remains undetermined to this day.

On February 1916 a group of about 15 Ute men women and children disbanded from their tribe and ask to settle with the town. They were the first Ute people in the town for nearly thirty years. The rest of the Ute tribe still has yet to set foot in the town.

The Stay in Sam's Town opens for business on February 29th 1916, the building still stands and remains open today. Despite being acquired by Best Western in 1981 the hotel remains under the same management.

During the summer of 1934 the Sam's Town Bank was robbed by two members of The Fiends and $38.40 was reported stolen. Two bank tellers and a bystander were shot; all died of their injuries making it the most deadly crime in the town's history. The two gunmen were never apprehended.

### Marked Men Standoff

###### Main Article:

In 1990 the was an armed standoff between local police and members of the extremist group, The Marked Men. Several shots were fired but nobody was injured and the tense situation came to a peaceful conclusion after three days.