Uinta County WY Archives History - Books .....Chapter Two Physical Features 1924
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Book Title: Uinta County, Its Place In History

CHAPTER TWO
Physical Features

    The Territory of Wyoming was organized by Act of Congress in the year 1868,
with the boundaries of the present state. As originally divided, its four
counties, extending from Montana on the north to the Colorado and Utah lines on
the south, were Laramie, Albany, Carbon and Carter. In its derivation Carter
County stood alone among not only the counties of Wyoming but of the nation as
well, for it was composed of portions of the three great western accessions of
the United States. That part northeast of the Shoshone range came from the
Louisiana Purchase of 1803. From these mountains to the 42nd parallel is a tract
acquired from the Oregon Territory, to which the claim of the United States was
definitely established in 1846. The land south of this came to us from the
Mexican Cession of 1848. The territories of Utah, organized in 1850; Dakota, in
1861, and Idaho, in 1863, contributed to the formation of Carter County. From
the time of the organization of the Territory of Utah in 1850 to the
establishment of our territorial government, the southern part was known as
Green River County, Utah. [1]

[1] See Chapter VIII.

    At the meeting of the first territorial legislature in 1869 Carter County
was divided into Sweetwater and Uinta Counties. The original Uinta County was
about fifty by two hundred and eighty miles in size. Within it lay nearly all of
the Yellowstone National Park.

    For variety and beauty of scenery the region covered by this history is
unsurpassed, and each year sees an increasing number of tourists from all lands
enjoying its attractions. Yellowstone Park is the wonderland of the world. Its
mountains, rivers, lakes, falls and geysers have been described by the ablest
pens in all languages. Due south of it lies Jackson's Hole. In the Shoshone
Mountains on its eastern boundary the Yellowstone River has its rise in several
small streams and flows north. The Snake, flowing from the north, passes through
Jackson Lake on its southwest journey between wild mountain ravines. The lake
mirrors in its depths the massive form of Mount Moran, and is guarded by the
lofty Tetons, the Alps of the Rockies. The giant of this magnificent trio lifts
its hoary head nearly fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. From
Teton Pass a panorama of matchless beauty greets the eye, lovely valleys,
billowy slopes covered with a thick, plush-like verdure of varied evergreen, and
snowy mountains dazzling white in the rare atmosphere.

    On the south of Jackson's Hole rises the Gros Ventre range, where the Hoback
River takes its source. It flows northwest into Jackson's Hole, and unites with
the south branch of the Snake River. John Day's River flows north along the
eastern slope of the Salt River Range, and enters the Snake near the Idaho
boundary. A few miles west of its mouth Salt River, another tributary from the
south, enters the Snake. Salt River is the main stream of the beautiful Star
Valley, whose cultivated fields and pretty villages nestle between the most
picturesque of mountain ranges. Despite its high altitude, this valley is
capable of sustaining a population of many thousands.

    The Piney, La Barge, Fontenelle and other eastward-flowing streams, water a
region famous in the cattle history of the state. All are tributary to Green
River, as are the streams rising in the Wind River Range to the east. Green
River flows along the eastern boundary of the original county, out into
Sweetwater County, and on to the Colorado. Ham's Fork flows from the northwest
and joins Black's Fork, which, with Smith's Fork and other streams, supplies
water for the famous Bridger Valley. Henry's Fork and its tributaries water the
southeast corner of the region.

    On the west numerous small streams having their rise in the Uinta Mountains
unite to form Bear River, which pursues its winding course, enriching the
valleys of three states, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah, before losing itself in the
briney waters of the Great Salt Lake. Bear River nearly doubles upon itself in
its journey of nearly four hundred miles, and its mouth is about fifty miles
from its source.

    In spite of these splendid water courses the agricultural development of
Uinta County has been slow. In the minds of the early settlers the short seasons
and the high altitude were too great a menace to farming and they turned to what
they thought the safer road to wealth, livestock raising. The native grasses
that had nourished countless herds of buffalo, deer and other wild animals, were
utilized for cattle, and fortunes were made on the free range. Later, big
ranches were taken up and devoted to the care of livestock and cutting native
hay. Then through circumstances as romantic in their own way as any of the
developments of the frontier, came the discovery of the possibility of
agricultural wealth. A few chance grains of wheat or oats from the feeding
grounds would take root and spring up in surprising vigor, and under the benign
influence of the constant mountain sunshine, would mature in an astonishingly
short time. Canals and ditches from the generous mountain streams furnished a
steady supply of water, and the rich virgin soil combined with these elements in
producing grains superior both in quality and quantity to those of lower
agricultural lands.

    With an altitude nowhere less than five thousand five hundred feet, the
winters of Western Wyoming are long and severe, but so dry is the air and so
abundant the sunshine that the newcomer from lower-lying regions feels inclined
to doubt the veracity of the thermometer registering 300 below zero, and even
lower. The snowfall is abundant, making up for the dearth of summer, and there
is a charm in the winter prospect that no one can escape. Spring comes on
slowly, and summer frosts are not unknown. However, they do not seriously
interfere with vegetation, which, with the adaptability of nature, developes an
amazing hardiness. From July until late autumn the climate is wonderful and must
be experienced to be appreciated.

    The mountain flora is profuse and varied, and adds much to the loveliness of
the view, decking hills and valleys with a brilliant beauty that changes from
month to month. Professor Marcus Jones, the painstaking botanist of Salt Lake
City, says that no place on earth holds a greater variety of wild flowers than
the stretch of hills between Goodman's ranch and Evanston in July.

    Most of the mountain streams are fringed with willows, backed up by the
hardy cottonwood. The quakingasps, with their shimmering leaves, group together
in the next higher places, gathering around slow-melting snowdrifts on the
hillsides and running back into the ravines. Sarvice berries, haws and choke
cherries love the same moist soil, and their glossy foliage delights the eye
long after the pretty blossoms have fallen. Still higher up the evergreens
flourish, climbing in stately beauty, to die forbidding timber line, which is
here about ten thousand five hundred feet above sea level. And everywhere
between these green vistas grows the sagebrush, toning down their vividness with
its soft, unobtrusive gray.

    Game is still plentiful, and the region around Jackson's Hole, owing to its
proximity to the Yellowstone Park sanctuary, is the finest hunting ground in
America today. Bear of many species, mountain lion, mountain sheep, elk, deer,
antelope and moose abound. The same wild life is to be found throughout the
county, though not in such numbers. Coyotes still lope across the hills, and on
a wintry night their doleful howls are carried to dwellers of towns as well as
of ranches. The work of the beaver is still to be seen along the streams, much
to the disgust of the rancher, whose plans seldom coincide with those of this
untaught builder of dams. Elk have become so accustomed to the presence of man
that they are a constant menace to haystacks, and no winter passes that the
state does not have to make provision for feeding these animals now cut off from
the free range on which their ancestors feasted. On the predatory animals, the
bear, the wolf, the coyote and the fox, a bounty is paid by the state and
trappers are still able to make their capture profitable.

    Fish are plentiful in streams and lakes, the favorite being the mountain,
salmon and rainbow trout.

    There is a great variety of feathered folk throughout the region. On the
night preceding August first, when the open season for sage chicken and grouse
begins, the hills are alive with hunters armed with shotguns, and they are still
able to bring in a goodly supply of the delicious wild fowls that were within
easy reach of all a score of years ago.

    The smaller mountain birds, of which we shall mention only a few, are an
interesting study. The waxwing, or cedar bird, winters in the Bridger Valley,
from whence in the early spring great flocks of the crested beauties make their
flying excursions, and flirt their brilliant feathers half concealed by the soft
gray overlapping plumage. The notes of the gamble sparrow are to be heard in
every valley, as is also the merry, questioning song of the wild canary. Most
loved of all the songsters is the mountain meadow lark, whose liquid strains
delight the ear from early dawn to dark for many a month. Storks are found in
some places, and curious and stately pelicans strut along the shores of some of
the northern lakes, where are also a few wild swans. Hawks are common, and
occasionally one may see an eagle. There are many migratory birds, from the
bluebird, with its wonderful hue, and the sociable robin, both of which come to
prospect for homes before the winter snows are gone, to the flocks of wild ducks
and geese that call the hunter again to the mountain lakes and streams in the
late fall.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

UINTA COUNTY ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
ELIZABETH ARNOLD STONE
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. 
THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY

A History of the Original Uinta County, Wyoming, and its Subdivisions

To the dear memory of my father,
Rev. F. L. Arnold


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