02 - Winter Summer 1992 - Watermark

theOUTLIWTRAIL JOUaAL
VOLUME 2 WINTER/SPRING 1992 NUMBER 1

Rose Daniels
Inthisissue:
PioneerWomen
oftheUintahBasin
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Uintah County Western Heritage Museum
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THEOUTLAWTRAILJOURNAL
ManagingEditor:JohnD. Barton
Associate Editor:Michael Kelley
OUTLAWTRAILHISTORYASSOCIATION
BOARDOFDIRECTORS
WilliamJolley.Chairman
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KennethJessen
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JohnD. Barton
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~ O U T W TRAIL JOURNAl.
Volume 2 Winter/Spring 1992 Number 1
Contents
Dr. LurrineMiles,ACulturedLadyin a
FrontierLand DonnaBarton 3
Chipeta:GloryandHeartache H. BertJenson 12
AnnBassett, "QueenoftheCattleRustlers" ....DebbieSpafford 23
BookReviews:
Kid Curry: The Life and Times of Harvey Logan and the Wild
Bunch: An Old West Narative reviewedbyMichaelKelley 31
The Train Robbing Era: An Encyclopedic History ..
............................................................ reviewedbyNormanDavis 33
Cowboying; A Tough Job in a Hard Land ..
.................................................... ........reviewedbyEvanL. Baker 35
WesternPoetry 36
FolkTalesfrom theOutlawTrail.................................................. 39
"TheOutlawTrailJoumal" isajournal of history published semi-annually by the Outlaw Trail
History Association. It isa jou rnal dedicated to the preservation and research of the history of the
Outlaw Trail, the greater Uintah Basin region and the Intermountain West. Historic interpretation
of articles are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Outlaw Trail History Associa-
tion. Manuscripts for journal articles or folk-tales are welcome. Article manuscripts should be
submitted in duplicate, double-spaced, with footnotes following the Turabian style of annotation.
Folk Tale manuscripts need not be annotated. If possible, please include a copy of the manuscript on
a disk if typed on WordPerfect. Please send all manuscripts for consideration of publication to the
Managing Editor, The Outlaw Trail History Center, 155 East Main Street, Vernal, Ut. 84078.
Manuscripts will not be returned unless a self addressed, stamped envelope is included.
Copyright1992
TheOutlawTrail HistoryAssociation
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2 TIlE OUTLA W TRAIL jOURN;\L
Dr. LurrineMiles
upon graduationfrom RushMeciealSchool
Photo courtesyof RuthAllen
Dr. LurrineMiles
Photo courtesyof RuthAllen
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THE OUTLA WTRAIL JOURNAL
Dr. Lurrine Miles, A Cultured Lady
in a Frontier Land
by Donna BarlOn*
History has recognized a few Individuals for their contributions to
mankind, but most have sacrificed in obscurity. Albert Schweitzer
was called the greatest Christian of his age. At thirty he left his rich,
comfortable life of artistic fame to devote his life to save starving
African children. An unsung saint of the Uintah Basin, Dr. Lurrine
Miles, led a devoted life similar to Dr. Schweitzer's. Most Basin
residents have heard of Dr. Miles, but few know of the remarkable
path tha t led her to be a fron tier doctor when her Ii fe outside the Basin
could have been cultured and even glamorous.
Lurrine Miles was born in Payson, Utah, in 1887, to a family whose
parents had given everything to follow the Mormon Church west.
She was the third of seven daughters. Although her family kept roots
in rural Utah, her parents had a strong determination that their girls
should have a thorough education. Therefore, they purchased a home
in Salt Lake next to the parents of one of Brigham Young's wives. The
girls loved to peep out the windows at their famous neighbors.
1
Lurrine and her sisters attended Salt Lake public schools which had
a very rigorous curriculum at that time. They studied Greek and Latin
as well as English, history, mathematics, and science. Lurrine sel-
dom, if ever, received less than an A in any subject. After completing
high school in Salt Lake, Lurrine, like her sisters, attended the
University of Utah.
2
Life in Salt Lake at the turn of the century was no longer one of
hardship and privation. The pioneer days were gone. Mansions lined
South Temple Street: the Kearns and the Kith mansions were com-
pleted in 1900 and 1901. The McCune mansion, built higher on the
avenues, even boasted silver door hinges and knobs.
3
Society thrived
on weddings, balls, musicals, and parties; and Salt ~ boasted the
largest ballroom in the United States. Drama had been an established
Donna Barton. M.A. in American Studies, MEd. teaches Enfjlish at Altamont High
School and is a part-time instUClOr at Utah State University's Uintah Basin Education
Center.
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4 THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
part of life in the valley since the first settlement of the pioneers, and
the Salt Lake Playhouse was an elegant structure closely patterned
after the English theater of Drury Lane. The arts flourished as local
artists went to Europe to study; classes were taught, and prizes given
for outstanding work. The Tabernacle Choir and the pipe organ
sounded as part of the outstanding musical commitment of the
people. Telephones had rung since 1880; municipal waterworks, an
electric company, and a street railway for city transportation all
opera ted before the turn of the century. The city boasted five
newspapers, a library, twelve banks, hot springs and mineral baths,
and a bicycle racing track.
4
While life in Salt Lake sparkled with new inventions and prosper-
ity, another part of Utah, the Uintah Basin, was thrown open to white
settlers in 1905; and the back-breaking harshness of pioneer life
similar to that of Salt Lake Valley in the 1850's was reenacted only one
hundred and fifty miles away.
Lurrine's family knew of the territorial expansion, and her father
saw the raw land as a possible place to create new wealth. But pioneer
hardship had little to do with Lurrine's world. Culture and study
dominated her life. She took art lessons from Dr. Harwood, a
renowned Utah artist, and won prizes for her sketches and paintings.
She studied music and literature and loved books which she gave as
gifts all of her life. She always saved magazines; and after she had
read them, she passed them on to others to enjoy.s Her family formed
a close friendship with the Taylor family, grandchildren of President
Joseph F. Smith. Lurrine especially admired Agnus, an older sister
who studied nursing and music in Chicago after completing school in
Salt Lake. The two families shared many outings and parties. When
Lurrine was fifteen or sixteen, her parents sent her on a trip to regain
her strength after a particularly hard yearof study. Agnus Taylor had
recently married. She and her husband drove and chaperoned
Lurrine on a horse and buggy trip to Yellowstone. The trio's camara-
derie rekindled Lurrine's esteem for Agnus. By the end of their
vacation, Lurrine confided that she wanted to be a nurse also. Having
known her all her life, the older girl assessed Lurrine's character and
suggested, "You like to give orders a lot better than you like to take
them, Lurrine. Why don't you become a doctor instead of a nurse."6
Thus the seed was planted for a delicate, but extremely scholarly,
young lady to study medicine.
Back home, although she had dresses of batiste with lace delicatel y
inserted and fashionable shoes, she viewed her more stately sisters
wi th longing and reached the concl usion that her own fi ve-foot height
and ninety-eight pound weight were too puny and "monkey-like" to
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5 THE OUTLA WTRAIL JOURNAL
ever find a suitor. She decided she had better plan to make her own
way in the world. When she graduated from the University of Utah
with the highest possible honors, she knew her academic standing
guaranteed her acceptance to medical school in spite of her gender?
While Lurrine began medical school in Chicago, her father studied
prospects in the primitive Uintah Basin. At the same time Salt Lake
City modernized and spent lavishly.
By 1905 Salt Lake City owned a magnificent municipal building
which cost a million dollars, and ZCMI did six million dollars worth
of business} meanwhile, a new group of pioneers began moving into
the Uintah Basin. Before 1905 the entire area was solely Indian tribal
land. Most of the s t t ~ s were very poor; but Mr. Miles, who had
funds and connections, saw the undeveloped land as a new area of
business expansion. The excitement of a big ranch attracted him. He
purchased a large tract of land in Nine Mile Canyon, and stories still
persist that the name of the canyon came from the nine members of the
Miles family living there. However, others claim the canyon was
named years before the Miles family entered the valley. While
Lurrine studied at Rush Medical School, which is the University of
Chicago today, her family moved to the Uintah Basin.
Lurrine studied even harder than she had before; she had to prove
that a female could achieve in a man's profession. She had a wonder-
ful memory and retained almost verbatim the symptoms and cures of
diseases described in her medical books. The male students usually
ignored her except when a test was imminent; then they begged to
study with her and borrow her notes.
9
Lurrine was especially
interested in gynecology and obstetrics: this too was an area which the
male students avoided until test time and then wanted Lurrine's help.
Because of her intelligence and hard work, Lurrine Miles again
graduated with highest honors as one of the top five students in her
graduating class. She was admitted to the most elite medical frater-
nity of the United States, a fraternity which until that time had never
admitted anyone west of the Mississippi, let alone a young woman
from Utah. Clinics and universities offered her jobs and practices in
Boston and other large eastern cities.
lO
Her future looked lucrative
and successful. She had made her way in a difficult male profession.
But the newdoctor had other priorities. Wi th her parents living on
the frontier in the Uintah Basin where pioneers drove wagons and
lived in log cabins, and gun fights still occurred, Dr. Miles saw the
hardships of a life far different from her studious paths. In Chicago,
viewers could thrill to early motion pictures of the Wild West, but
Lurrine could live such adventures as "the saloons had all of the
rough elements which could be attracted to a frontier town./I There
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were shoot outs, and at least one man was killed on the main street of
Myton as he ran from the marshall.
ll
Lurrine felt very grateful to her parentis for all of the support they
had given her. She saw the need of the people in the area where her
parents had settled, and she felt indebted for all she had received. She
sought spiritual help and was given a blessing by the leaders of her
church. They promised her that if she would go to the Uintah Basin,
she would be blessed with good health and strength even though she
was small and frail. This blessing was fulfilled: she lived to be ninety-
one. The onl y illness she ever had was Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Thus this intelligent, highly educated, cultured lady braved the
frontier and doctored in the isolated Uintah Basin.
Dr. Miles set up her practice in a little house in Roosevelt, living in
part and conducting surgery in the other part. Even though she kept
this office in town, most of her practice was accomplished in the field.
She hitched her horse to a little buggy and traveled hundreds of miles
across poor roads that were muddy or dusty by turn, but always rocky
and bumpy. Manyof the homes she visited were poor cabins with dirt
roofs and floors. Getting a plank floor was a great event in the lives
of the settlers who were Dr. Miles' patients.
12
Not long after arriving in the Basin, she was called to visit a
woman in labor. Rain pounded on the buggy top, and mud oozed
everywhere. As she drove, Dr. Miles expected to find relief from the
storm inside the house where the baby was being born. This was not
to be as the bedraggled cabin had both a sod roof and floor. The roof
had not settled fully; thick, brown water poured into the room where
the mother lay on a wet bed. The floor, like the outdoors, was a sea of
muck -- Dr. Miles' buggy was drier. A kindly neighbor sat near the
bed trying to ease the mother's pain. Dr. Miles quickly instructed the
helper to put pans around the floor to catch as much of the incoming
deluge as possible, but rain still drenched the laboring woman. Dr.
Miles opened her umbrella and gave it to the neighbor to hold over the
patient while she delivered the baby.13 In spite of such a wet arrival,
the baby and her mother survived with no ill effects. The dripping
cabin was a far cry from a sterile hospital at Rush Medical College, but
Dr. Miles also flourished. She had the spirit to drive on in any kind
of circumstances.
Under such primitive circumstances, Dr. Miles received little pay
for her services, they paid when they could. Two of her favorite
stories were about payments from children. One boy about twelve
learned his berthing fee had not been paid. He talked his father into
giving him a calf which he raised and sold in the fall. Very proudly
he took that check t Dr. Miles. He had erased the debt; he was paid
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for in full. At another poor home Dr. Miles delivered a baby who had
a number of older brothers and sisters. After the baby was born, the
children presented Dr. Miles with a paper sack full of pennies. They
had saved every cent they could earn or were given for months to pay
for their new arrival. Dr. Miles hated to take such hard-earned money
from the children, but she couldn't deny them the pri vilege; they were
so proud to have paid for the baby themselves.
Adults as well as children gratefully paid what and when they
could. Humble mothers crocheted edging on cheap tea towels or on
fragile handkerchiefs in grateful payment. Others offered handmade
quilts. Calves were often traded for her services. Dr. Miles hated to
keep track of remittances. Her sister Mattie Edwards sometimes
,
arrived at Dr. Miles' office when Lurrine was out of town and
carefully wrote bills and put them in envelopes for her sister to mail.
When Lurrine found neat stacks, she always berated Mattie. "Those
people know they owe me," she said emphatically. "They will pay
when they can. You should not have wasted your time and the
postage, for I will not add shame to their lives by sending them bills
they cannot pay."14
Mud was a way of life. When even the floors of houses were slick,
the roads were quagmires. Dr. Miles drove her buggy and later her
car from little settlements to far mountain tops and far distant
shanties. The impassible trails were her worst deterrent. Each small
community had only one telephone. In Mount Emmons the phone
was at the Atwood home. In bad weather Vaughn Atwood always
volunteered to pull Dr. Miles' vehicle through Case Lane with his
team. Case Lane was a bottomless morass of mud in the spring and
fall and a frozen driftland in the winter. The hitched horses and their
willing dri ver dragged the car or buggy both directions to allow Dr.
Miles to treat those who couldn't get to her.
ls
On at least one trip to
a lonely spot when Dr. Miles didn't have a trusted helper along, her
car slid off the road and overturned. She pulled herself out and
walked the rest of the way to her patient.
16
On another occasion, the
day Judy Madsen was born in Boneta, the family waited and waited
and then became worried, for babies would not wait until it was
convenient. The family knew Dr. Miles was dependable; therefore
they reasoned that she must have had trouble along the way. Alfonzo
Madsen went in search of her and found her marooned on the river
hill, stuck, unable to go in either direction. He hurried her to his wife
and then went back to dig her car outY
These rides of sliding into ditches seemed almost commonplace to
Dr. Miles after a few years, but she recalls in her personal history how
she drove so fast from a steep mountain to save a man's life that she
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feared they might not make it to town without a wreck. She brought
a man, shot through the abdomen by deer hunters, driving more than
a hundred miles over the rough mountain roads to a hospital, oper-
ated on him and saved his life. In telling about the ride she said she did
not know whether the man would be alive or dead when she got to the
hospital, and on some parts of the road she was driving 90 miles an
hour, realizing that time might determine whether the man lived or
died.
18
The man lived. One other risky ride found Dr. Miles riding
thirty miles by horseback to the Chain Lakes to save a boy who had
been thrown from a horse and dragged over a mile. Finding the boy
still alive, she stabilized him, had a pole stretcher built, and had him
hand-carried mostof the way outofthe mountains to his home, where
he recovered.
19
Mud, snow, and steep trails became commonplace for
the plucky little doctor, who forgot to be afraid or concerned for
herself as she hurried to help her patients. After she married Jesse
Allen in 1928, he drove her to her middle-of-the-night appointments.
"He [Jesse] used to say I just wore him out driving," Dr. Miles recalled
to Angelyn Nelson, the Salt Lake Tribune medical editor in an
interview in the 1970's.
In the frontier outpost, far from her former big-ci ty uni versi ty, Dr.
Miles needed her cataloging memory to diagnose and treat the
unusual cases which came her way. Before antibiotics, pelvic perito-
nitis killed almost everyone who became infected. Opal Barton
recovered from a complicated case of peritonitis after her treatments
from Dr. Miles. She reports,
I was just terrifically sick. It seemed like it was about once a week that
I would take a terrible cramping. There was something wrong and it
became worse and worse and periodically I would slough something
that looked a little on the order of skin.... I became violently ill and was
taken to Roosevelt to the hospital, which was in the doctor's home. She
said, "Gh my, you have pelvic peritonitis; we will doctor you." She gave
me... what she called some diathenny treatments. I was in the hospital
for three orfour days and felt much better. Whatever it was, it was a heat
procedure.... I got better. I believe the same thing happened to me
happened to a little pregnant girl from Talmage. She lost her life and her
baby.20
Opal Barton lived, partly due to her own tough constitution, but also
because Dr. Miles could diagnose unusual and mixed symptoms and
had purchased a machine which could kill strong, even dangerous,
infections when there were no miracle drugs.
Dr. Miles also treated the tough, mountain settler Con Wilkerson
for a rare disease. He had gone to Price and the Wasatch Front seeking
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9 THE OUTLAWTRAIL/OURNAL
an explanation for his symptoms which persisted. Nothing helped.
Returning to the Uintah Basin, he consulted Dr. Miles. Again remem-
bering her textbook examples, she correctly diagnosed his illness as
tularemia, a disease humans can contract from infected rabbits. This
was the first case ever reported in Utah. Even today it is rare enough
that cases are still difficult to detect. Yet Dr. Miles correctly diagnosed
and cured Mr. Wilkerson. He lived many years, a rare outcome as
confirmed in De Re Medicina, a textbook for doctors.
21
During their
consultations as to the possible contraction of the disease, Mr. Wilk-
erson remembered seeing a bloated rabbit by a stream when he had
been in the mountains. He also recalled a deer-fly biting him while he
was in the area. De Re Medicina lists insect bites as the most common
method of transmitting the bacteria.
22
These are only two of the many
examples of Dr. Miles' marvelous diagnostic abilities.
Dr. Miles also practiced innovati ve medicine. Before medical texts
advised grafting, Dr. Miles believed in saving body parts and sewing
them back on. When a child cut off a finger in the school shop class
and was rushed to Dr. Miles. She sent the teacher back to the
classroom to hunt for the finger. It was found, washed, and sewed
back on. It healed completely.23 Years later, Clem Labrum tried flying
a small airplane, but did not get very far before crashing behind the
show house on Main Street in Roosevelt. Clem had a broken leg and
ribs, and hi nose was cut almost completely off. Dr. Miles sewed the
nose back on, and it too healed wi thout disfiguring her patient.
24
Dr. Miles derided the idea tha t doctors should keep a professional
distance between themselves and their patients. Her patients were
her friends, and he cared about more than just their physical well-
being. After treating her patients' illnesses, Dr. Miles often invited
them to view her garden and have a cup of tea. Florence Jessen
remembers pleasant afternoons looking at flowers and talking of
neighbors, cattle prices, and politics. She also recalls that while
visiting their ranch, Dr. Miles often climbed the corral fences to look
at prize cattle.
25
Vhen Dr. Miles visited the homes of the sick, she often quietly left
money with he family if they were in need rather than asking for
payment. She felt so comfortable with her patients that when she
arrived to car for a woman in labor, she went to bed herself if the
mother was not ready to deliver. Vera Fisher remembers Dr. Miles
comingin late one night so tired she scarcely could stay awake. When
it was obvious that the baby wasn't in a hurry, Dr. Miles lay down.
There were two or three other women in the house. Suddenly the
baby arrived. The woman delivered the baby while Dr. Miles slept.
When she awoke, she checked the baby and the mother; everybody
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10 THE OUTLAW TRAiL JOURNAL
was doing fine. The family urged Dr. Miles to sleep until she was
rested, which she did.
26
A spirit of cooperation and love existed
betweenDr. Milesandherpatients. Sheoperatedonkitchen tables
and sentmagazinesubscriptionsand books to many ofher friend-
patients. She treatedsoulsandmindsas well asbodies,listeningto
trouble and giving down-to-earth advice. Being a doctor meant
caringaboutpeople. "Ihadtogetinvolved,"shesaid. "Mypatients
weremyfriends."27
Sheonceoperatedonthirteenconsecutivecasesofappendicitison
anold kitchen table in oneday,andonanotherlongdayshedrove
over 150 miles to deliver four babies. After she retired, family
m mbersestimatedthatDr.Mileshaddeliveredover5000babies; but
when she was asked aboutit, sheshrugged her thinshouldersand
ga ethereporteran"oh-there' s-no-way-I-could-keep-tracklookthat
impliedthousands." Shedidconcedeafterafewminutesthought,"I
guessImusthavedeliveredfour-fifths ofthe UintahBasin."28
PearlLabrumrecallshowsheandhersistershelpedtheiraunton
her rounds. "Aunt Lurrine" seemed to think thatall girls needed
midwifeskills. "Sheinsisted weaccompanyheroncaseswhenshe
needed help or when a delivery could be a learningexperience for
us." Thegirlswereexpectedtoholdinstrumentsandnotget sick. But
thiswasonlypartoftheeducation"AuntRene"gaveherfamily. She
helped nieces and nephews attain college educations as well. She
becameabelovedmothertoJesseAllen'ssonNathan;andalthough
shesorrowedwhenshecouldnotcarryababyfull termherself,her
griefmadeherevenmoreawareofothers' troubles.
Fewknewofhersorrows. Whocouldhaveguessed thatsucha
determinedladyhadbecomeadoctorbecauseshethoughtherselftoo
unalluringtoattractabeau. Hersenseofdutyandgratitudedirected
herpathtoalandshehadnotimaginedwhileshedreamedofexotic
placesadmistherbooksandpictures. Herlifemixedpracticalstudy
and intelligentworkwithimpractical kindnessand unlikelycondi-
tion . Shearrivedina rawcountrytosmoothlife'sroughestplaces.
Like Dr. Schweitzer,shepurposefullychanged herlifeofglory to a
lifeofservice.
NOTES
2EmilyWilkerson, inlerviewby[he aU/hor, 14June 1991, Roosevell, Vlah.
2LurrineMilesAllen, unpublishedaUlobiographicalhisIory,(Roosevelt, VI.: nodale, heldby
NalhanandRUlh /lrnold).
JJohn S. McCormick, Sail lake Cily {he Galhering Place,(WoodlandHills, California: Windsor
Publishing Co,1980), 72.
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'Deseret News, "The City oj the SainJs," (Salt Lake City, Utah: 1906),32.
5Miles-AlIen, 2.
61bid,1.
71bid.
8"City oj the SainJs," 32.
9R uth Alien, inJerview by the aUlhor, 29 May 1991, Roosevelt, Utah. Ruth Alien is the daughter-
in-law oJDr. Miles.
IOlbid.
IIFinley C. Pierce, Q My Father. A Biography o(Joseph Harold Eldredge, (Yorba Linda,
California: Pierce, 1980),74.
J2Vera Hansen Fisher, inlerview by Ihe aUlhor, 4 June 1991, AlIamonJ, UIah.
IJAlIen, interview.
"Miles, 2.
'5Bernece AlWood, inlerview by Ihe aUlhor, 29 Augusl 1990, /\/lamonJ, Ulah.
1
6
AlIen, inJerview.
1
7
Melba Madsen Allred, inlerview by Ihe awhor, 4 June 1991, AIIamont , Utah.
18Miles, 2.
29Ibid,1.
200pai Mower Barlon, Privale leller IranscribedJrom a lape 10 her granddaughler, Cindy
Barlon-Coombs, Fairview, Ulah: 2 July 1990.
21De Re Medicina, (Indianopolis, Indiana: Eli Lily, 1941),93.
22lbid.
2JAlIen, inlerview.
2'lbid.
25Minnie Lue Roberls, inJerview by Ihe aUlhor, 8 June 1991, /\/Iamonl, Ulah.
26Fisher. inlerview.
2
7
Sall Lake Tribune, "Uinlah DOClOr's Career Proves 'InvolvemenJ,''' 3 OClOber 1977.
28lbid.
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Man's actions are the picture
book of his creeds.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chipeta: Glory and Heartache
by H. Bert Jenson*
"It has pleased a great many people that the Steamboa t Commer-
cial CIub Committee selected the name of Chi peta for one of the scenic
points on the Rabbit Ear Highway." So wrote the Myton Free Press on
August 4, 1921. Chipeta lived in a remote area of the Uncompahgre
reservation in the BookCliffs of eastern Utah at that time. Word of this
naming may have reached her ears. That Chipeta was deserving of
such an honor is not in question by anyone familiar with her peaceful
exploits between the Utes and Whites in the late 19th century. But her
health was greatly declining at that time; within three years she had
passed away. Any such honor was too little, too late, and did nothing
to meet the needs of the once-proud "Queen" of the Utes.
While most non-Indians extol Chipeta, recalling her years visiting
Washington D.C. and befriending the white settlers in western Colo-
rado, they keep the lame idea that this was her life. The truth is, these
were but fleeting moments. Much of her life was an atrocity of
poverty and neglect brought on by none other than those she helped
most.
Chipeta was born June 10, 1843, a Kiowa Apache. When her
parents were killed in a raid on their camp, passing Utes found
Chipeta crawling around the deserted campsite and adopted her.
l
She became a member of the Taviwach (Uncompahgre) band
2
of the
Ute tribe. Her beauty and congeniality are legendary. At age sixteen
she married Ouray, who was ten years her senior.
Ouray, "Arrow," was born in Taos, New Mexico, in 1833. His
father was Jicarilla Apache; his mother, Taviwach (Uncompahgre)
Ute. He was raised by a Mexican family, baptized by a Jesuit Priest,
and formally educated at Taos. Ouray spoke Spanish, English, Ute
and Apache. He returned to his people in 1850.
3
* Ben Jenson is a History Major at Utah State University, Uintah Basin Education
Center. He a/so serves on Duchesne County lIistoric Preservation Commillee.
Property of the
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Chipeta
OutlawTrailHistoryCenterCollection
In 1853, Ouray married Black Mare. She died in 1857, and he
married Chipeta in 1859.
Ouray became a subchief of the Taviwach band soon after their
union. She and Ouray loved each other very much and were insepa-
rable. Whether at home, or on diplomatic journeys to the Nation's
capital, they were together for the next twenty-one years, until
Ouray's death in 1880.
At age five, Ouray's son was kidnapped by the Sioux while on a
hunting trip with his father; Chipeta was not with them. Though
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Ouray searched for his son, he was not found. It is a general
misconception that this lost son was the issue of Ouray and Chipeta.
It was in fact, Black Mare's son, Queashegut (Little Left Hand), who
was kidnapped.
4
Some accounts say Black Mare died in childbirth, others that it was
due to snakebite. Regardless of the cause, Chipeta was evidently
appointed to watch over this child after Black Mare's passing. It is
possible that Chipeta was the stepsister to Black Mare and that it was
her duty to take over household chores upon her sister's death.
5
The
notion that the child was Chipeta's must lie in the fact that she loved
him very much--as her own. She had raised this boy from infancy.
Her loss, and that of Ouray, was never filled; Chipeta was unable to
have children.
The fact that Ouray loved Chipeta is founded in the fact that he
could have, as a great chief, taken another wife in order to have more
children. He did not. And while testimony at the settlement of
Chipeta's estate says she had no natural children,6 she and Ouray did
take in and raise to adulthood, three other children?
Due to leadership abilities which he developed, the United States
government recognized Ouray as head chief of all the Utes. The fact is,
some Utes listened to him, others did not. But he earned the respect
of many, enough to give him considerable clout. His word was
accepted as wisdom in most things.
8
Starting in 1868, Chipeta accompanied Ouray to Washington D.C.
several times for treaty negotiations. Both had seen the terrible
armament of the anglo armies, and the vast numbers of their people.
They were convinced the best way for the Ute people to survive was
to make the best treaties possible and live by them in peace. Resis-
tance was futile; they knew that.
Ouray made the statement: "the agreement an Indian makes to a
United States treaty is like the agreement a buffalo makes with his
hunter when pierced with arrows. All he can do is lie down and give
in." He told his fellow Utes: "my beloved brethren, it's no use your
kicking; the white man has a gun for every tree."
9
Ouray's vanguard position in the battles of diplomacy were
misunderstood by some of his people, who thought he was lying
down, giving in, a coward before the white rifles. Some sought his
life. Chipeta and Ouray, like other heads-of-state, lived under
constant pressure and, in later years, had armed guards posted at
their residence.
lO
The most incessant pressure the Utes felt was trespass by whites
onto Indian lands, and lead to most, if not all, treaty negotiations.
White intruders wanted Indian lands.
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General Edward M. McCook was appointed Colorado Territorial
Governor in 1869. In a report to the Indian Commission r on
September 30, 1870, McCook said:
One-third of the territory of Colorado is turned over to the Utes who
will not work and will not let others work. This great and rich country
is set aside for the exclusive use of savages. A white man secures 160
acres by paying and preempting: but one aboriginal vagrant, by virtue
of being head of a family, secures 12,800 acres without preemption or
payrnent.
ll
Such rhetoric was joined by other anti-Indian sentiment, bolh
verbal, and written, and led to flagrant abuses in trespass by white
settlers and miners in particularY
In 1873, Felix Brunot, a Washington bureaucrat, was trying to
negotiate with Ouray and his people for the San Juan Cession on
hehalf of mining interests. He thought that if he found the long-lost
son of Ouray, the great chief would readily sign any agreement/
whether it dealt with mining intrusions or not.
The son had been traded away or stolen from the Sioux by the
Arapahos. This is where he was finally found. Taken to Washington
D.C., he served to lure Ouray there for treaty negotiations. The boy
was too much changed to return to his people and refused to admit
relationship to OurayY Nevertheless, the San Juan Cession became
reality.
Further north, the White River Utes were being encroached upon
by white settlers and miners also. Accusations by these intruders, that
the Utes were molesting them, were fanned by general disagreements
between the Agent and the Utes and led to the Meeker incident in
1879. The whites called it a massacre and the actions by the White
Rivers started a movement to relocate all Indians out of western
Colorado, even the Uncompahgre.
It had been Ouray who ordered all Ute hostilities towards the
whites stopped, bringing a swift end to that infan t war. Chipeta rode
her pony four days and nights to secure the safety of the Meeker
women held hostage and led them to her home in the Uncompahgre
Valley. She felt remorse and wept over them.
This is not the only time Chipeta had taken action to save white
lives. /lOnce, upon learning of a raid to be made upon her white
neighbors, she mounted her pony and swam the Gunnison River at
flood time, and delivered her message in time to save the settler's
lives."14
This, nor any other help Ouray and his wife had given over the
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years, received any consideration from white politicians. Leaders of
the Uncompahgre were coerced into signing the Agreement of 1880
which forced them off from their lands along the Uncompahgre
Valley.
Unlike previous visits to Washington where Ute leaders were
treated like royalty, the 1880 negotiations delegation, including Chipeta,
met with "active hostility and was given an armed guard. To the
public, all Utes were 'murderers."'ls
Within months of this signing, while visiting the Southern Utes
concerning removal, the great Ute leader Ouray, died August 24,
1880. Chipeta was wi th him. Honoring his wishes, that he be placed
where no white man could find him, she quickly solicited the help of
Southern Utes to take him to a secret location on a high plateau.
Congress, fearing that without Ouray the removal agreement
would fail, quickly ratified it, appointing a five-member commission
to oversee relocation of the Utes. In a no-where-near majority vote,
bought with bribes and intimidation, the Uncompahgre ostensibly
"ratified" the agreement.
By the next Spring, 1881, they were beginning to understand
what was happening to them. "They claimed they had given up only
their lands in the mountains and that they should remain in the
valleys."16 All reasoning fell on deaf ears. Government relocation
efforts continued.
In June, the Commission ignored relocation guidelines and
arbitrarily decided to resettle the Uncompahgres on the confluence of
the White, Green, and Duchesne Rivers--not in Colorado, but in Utah
Territory. This location was hurriedly approved by the Secretar: of
the Interior who declared the Uncompahgre be moved to Utah
forthwith.
As an agency and roads and bridges were built for an effective
resettlement route to Utah, "the actual removal of the Utes from their
reservation was resisted by the Indians by all means at their disposal,
short of actual war."l?
In August the Commission informed the Government of their
failed efforts to get the Uncompahgres removed. Nine companies of
cavalry and an equal complement of infantry were mobilized. The
Utes were surrounded and told to be ready to leave in two hours. Six
pieces of field artillery were placed over the Ute camp to emphasize
the order.
On August 27, a three-weeks ration was issued to the Uncom-
pahgre and they began the long march to th ir new reservation.
Captain James Parker of the Fourth Cavalry describes what he saw:
Property of the
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The next morning, shortly after sunrise, we saw a thrilling and pitiful
sight. The whole Ute nation on horseback and on foot was streaming by.
As they passed our camps their gait broke into a run. Sheep were
abandoned, blankets and personal possessions strewn along the road,
women and children were loudly wailing.
18
Ouray and Chipeta had been well accepted on early visits to
Washington. She had many expensive gifts showered on her: money,
china, silverware--thousands of dollars worth. Ouray drove a nice
carriage with matched horses, was a successful farmer, and received
a salary from the Government for working as an interpreter and
negotiator. Heand Chipeta liv d in a well- furnished, six-room adobe
home which had been built for them in the Uncompahgre Valley.19
They had a fenced, five-hundred acre farm with fifty acres in hay,
grain, and vegetables. The ranch had quarters for the hired help,
storehouses, granaries, stables and corrals. The pasture was dotted
with two-hundred head of horses and mules, and even more sheep,
goats and cattle. Chipeta's house was furnished with iron beds,
rocking chairs, table_ and chairs, rugs, stoves, and other...furnishings.
Chipeta even took on the burden of polishing silver and washing
china. They owned a piano...
2o
Chipeta even learned to play the guitar and developed a beautiful
singing voice. William Saunders was a reporter for the City of Ouray
paper, and visited Chipeta. He writes:
Chipeta got use to my presence very soon and gave free rein to her
natural vivacity, talking in Spanish, mostly about two pets she had, a
mountain lion and a deer, which she had trained to consort with each
other on most friendly terms. Her voice was low and clear and melodi-
ous and she talked with a fascinating play of feature and gestures... (Chipeta)
rode like an Amazon and he and (her) horse might have been one, so
perfectly did her body meet the movements of his. Her horse was a
sorrel, a pony she told me she had raised herself.
21
Ouray and Chipeta were the only Indians who ever ate at the table
of the agent and employees at the agency. They were always
welcome, and frequent guests. All of this was stripped away in
less than a year of Ouray's death. Chipeta was a mere 37 years old.
To this point in her life Chipeta had gone from total freedom of the
old Utes, to subjugation. She had been forced by treaty from one
homeland to another--each smaller, each one more worthless. With
each move there had been a grinding, a wearing away of culture and
pride. The intangible box in which she now found herself, was even
more belittling, and the aura of well bing, worse. She was left with
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nothing. The ne l years, until her death, would be spent in dire
poverty and ncglecl.
Ch peta - ill had h r people, however. The great task of helping
he U lC 1m ahgre adjwl now fell in large part upon her shoulders.
She mo, t y w tid h,lVe bom much of the pressure during this
time. f r eled leClder and well thought of by her people, she was
allov,rr d alwa .' nd ften b mvitalion, to sit in council meetings.
Thi i- an h nor Ile he Ute woman had ever known.
22
The' l ncom ,ot} gre Reservation was a "desert" 23 and the
U pal r' pi w're shock d and dismayed. "The bleak, poor
land co lId nl h ve b n more different from the lush mountain
home yr. fore d to give up 24 Chipeta sought to live as her
people an 1m mlo a tepee lodge as they did. She used her
r maini 19 Tn 1i to -upport several orphaned children and fought
for the righ of her people.
Chipeta' he 3ft wa<; stilI in the lands of her youth. Newton Castle,
an 'nrlv trader to lh ' Utes, told of a chance meeting between them.
" hl'W;) lily eager to hearaboutUncompahgrecountry... Far
int ) th night r 'at before the fire and talked of the changes that had
come... Finally Chipeta arose... and said, 'Too much fences!' With this
dictum 1e slipped noL elessly inl the dark."25
In It 1 _'h...., l pposed a survey that essentially barred Utes from
enlenng Coloradu ancestral lands. The Brunot Agreement of 1873,
provided th t the Utes could hunt upon ceded Colorado lands "so
long as game l( ':-Ls, and the Indians are at peace with the white
people II w, .:- legal Jor them to return there, and they did.
Inl Chi ,ttl and others returned to Colorado on a hunting trip. l"
They w re attack d by lhe militia who wounded a number of Utes
and kill d:> v r I lhers About five thousand poundsof dried meat,
twenty-fiv hundr d goats and sheep, and several hundred head of
hor e al d callie were taken by the pos e. In fact, all the band's
lifetime P). -ion . 7
Troop::. finally arri 'ed from newly established Fort Duchesne and
esc rled lkm b.. 0 th re-ervaUon. Only part of the stolen chattels
wer ev r returned and none of the Utes was reimbursed for their
losse. ChipC'la h, d 10. t mOT 111 the raid than any other person.
As if this Wer n l t:llough, the General Allotment Act (Dawes
Act) went inlo, ffe lllhllsllme year.
28
Chipeta was assigned to a site
in the iller Cre 'k anyon area in the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah.
There wa. 10 wal"'r n the land for irrigation. Her family spent the
5l mn l r-- 111 abin nt:(,r the head of Bitter Creek running their sheep
Property of the
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History Association
and some cattle. They would spend the winter months near the
mining town of Dragon. She had remarried at sometime to Com-mo-
gu-uech. Even with his help, life here was meager at best. He died in
1905.
29
George E. Stewart pleasantly recalled his first meeting Chipeta
and considered it one of the great honors of his life. "I was bashful and
timid about meeting this great lady." George said. "I WIll neverforget
how she came to me, the crowd pressing around, and lowered her elf
to my level. Then, she reached out and gently touched my face.
Kissing, as we know it tod y, was not known among the early
Indians," George explained. "A hand slid gen tly down the cheek was
this most affectionate gesture. By her touch she had kissed me, and
then she quietly said in Ute, "The boy is frightened." This became
George's "Indian name," "Boy Afraid."
He was teased for his name, and in ub-equent year Chipeta re-
named him a second and third time. The name that finally stuck was
Utiev (Turkey). "In those days 'turkey' didn't carry the derogatory
meaning it does today." George clarified. "My Ute friends have
always called me that with respect." Then he concluded, "Chipeta
was one of the most loving persons I hav ever known."30
At the age of 73 Chipeta was still fighting for her people, asking the
Government to have water brought to the Uncompahgre allotments.
J1
It seems that some question concerning the government's lack of
gratitude toward Ouray's wife, Chipeta, came to the attention of the
Indian Commissioner in 1916. Chipeta had been moved from her old
and comfortable home near Montrose, Colorado, some thirty years
before. Now, the government, remembering her, wanted to hear how
she was faring.
When interviewed Chipeta said that representatives of the gov-
ernment came to her at Montrose and told her that she could have a
better home if she would move to Utah. She had moved, but had not
gotten a better home. When asked if there was anything that the
government could do for her she replied, "No, I expect to die very
soon."
Full of remorse at such neglect on the part of the government,
Commissioner Cato Sells suggested that she be presented with som
furniture....The agent suggested that a gay shawl would be a suitable
gift.
32
The gift was received after a charade of sending it to Washington
so Commissioner Sells could send it back, presumably so it would
have the Washington D.C. post mark. This "gaudy shawl," as Fred
Conetah calls it, did nothing to get water onto her peoples' ground or
help in any other way. "The Government's supposed remorse was as
Property of the
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always, short sighted and worthless." Chipeta suffered from cata-
racts in her old age. Surgery didn't help, and she went blind. "When
she was in this condition her relatives, with whom she lived, u ed to
stretch a cord from her [door] out into the bush. By follmving this, she
could get some privacy from the household. On August 9, 1924, she
died at her brother, McCook's camp, a hundred miles from the
agency, and was buried after the Indian custom, in a shallow grave in
the bottom of a small wash tributary to Bi tter Creek."33
Chipeta had joined the Episcopal church in 1898.
34
Perhaps that
was part of the reason that some, driven by their own Christi n ethic,
could not stand to leave her buried in the "Indian custom," and
sought to reinter her "honorably." If a sacrilege was ever committed
it was in the disgusting competition of western slope Coloradans for
the bones of Ouray, so he and Chipeta could rest forever together. It
was in the greed of these same people to build a mausoleum thus 0
create a tourist attraction, and in the blatant ignorance that by so
"honoring" the couple, they could at all redeem themselves from
their guilty past.
By their past treatment of her they had in essence, spat upon
Chipeta, deceived, denied, and discarded her, and her people, in a
litany of perfidious whitewash. Those few years in which she and her
husband led in greatness and peace, are remembered by the whites
simply because they were monumentally productive for them, the
intruders.
Chipeta was great because of the service she gave and her perse-
verance with insurmountable problems, poverty, and dejection. Her
life speaks for itself. As one "old Indian" told George E. Stewart:
"Chipeta needs no monument. If you'll look, she rides the evening
sky, on the resplendent rays of the glorious sunset. The birds peak
her name, Spring That Runs Clear. The deer speak it too. Even the
coyote cries for Chipeta./lJ5
NOTES
ISmilh, P. David, Ouray: Chie(o{the Utes, (Wayfinder Press, Ouray, Colorado, 1986),52.
2AI Ihe time of Chipeta's birlh Ihere were approximately twelve bands of Utes scattered across
Ihe lands Ihal would become known as the states of Utah and Colorado. With the coming of the
whites, Ihe Ules were decimation by disease and war. Certain bands joined together for the
common welfare of the whole, and others were forced together as the United States GovernmenJ
arbitrarily pushed them onJo newly created reservations. Formerly independenJ bands losltheir
idenlity and assumed one of several designaliollS. Chipeta's band was no longer referred to as
the Taviwach, bw became known as the Uncompagre.
JElmo SCOII Watson, "Chief Ouray, The Dictator of the Utes," as printed in The Myton Free
Press, August 3,1922.
'Samuel Stanley, "Chief Ouray, Warrior and Statesmen," Wild West, March 1972, Vol4:2, 27-
31.
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21 THEOUTLAWTRAILJOURNAL
5Smith, 1986,52.
6WPA WorkProjecl, "Chipela," compleledforColoradoSialeHistoricalSocielyandavailable
at RegionalRoom,Vernal, UI.
7Smilh, 1986,58
8FredConelah,A fliSlOry oflheNorthernUte People, EditedbyKathrynL. McKay & FloydA.
ONeil(SaltLakeCily: UniversityofUtahPress, 1982),106.
9ChiefOuray, asquotedbySmith, 1986,72.79.
IOSmith, 1986.143.
II McCook, EdwardM.. TerritorialGovernorofColoradoin a lettertoIndianCommissioner
Parker,September30,1870,asquotedbySmith. 1986,85.
12
11 wasthegraciousnessofOurayandChipeta, despite the inlrusionsofsomanywhites, Ihat
preservedoneofIhe grealesllegaciesofhisloryforIhe Uinlah Basin. PreSionNullerwas a
youngmanIraveling wilhAlferdPackerin 1873 whentheytrespassedonlo Ute landsin
southwesternColorado. WarnedbyOuraynotto attempt acrossing ofthemaUnlainsdue10
snow,Nulter, andothers, acceptedthe invitationofOurayandChipela to winlerwith Ihem.
Thosefew who wenl on with Packereitherdiedorwere killedandeatenbyhim. PrestonNutter
livedto becomeoneofUtah'sgreat cattlebaronswilh headquartersinNine Mile Canyon.
I3Stanley. 1972,27-31.
14 Wallace Starke andAlbertB.Reagan, "Chipeta, Queenof the Utes", The VernalExpress,May
26.1932.
15Stanley, 1972,27-31.
16Conetah, 1982, 112.
J7June LymanandNorma Denver. Ule Historv:AnHistoricalStudy. ed. FloydA. ONeiland
JohnD. Sylvester, (Salt LakeCity: UniversityofUtah, 1970).36.
18CaptainJames ParkerasquotedbyConetah, 1982, 113.
19LymanandDenver, 1970,91.
2Smith, 1986, 137
21William Saunders, asquotedbySmith. 1986.140-1.
22SIarke andReagan, The VernalExpress. May26,1932.
23Commissionerof IndianAffairs,AnnualReport. 1883. 153. AsquotedbyConelah, 1982, 113.
2
1
Conetah, 1982, 113.
25Mrs. NewtonCaslle, "Chipeta, Famous Ute Chieftain'sWife: FriendtoPioneers,"astoldtoJ.
Melody Raber. The VernalExpress, DecemberI1,1941.
26Rockwell, The Utes, 182-187.
27Dw:hesne Chapter of the Daughter of the Utah Pioneers, Early History of Duchesne County,
MildredMiles Dillmancompiler.(Springville, Utah: Arl CityPublishing Company, 1948),83-4.
28"The GeneralAllotmenlAct (DawesAct):The enac!menl of1887andamendmenlsin1891,
1906,and1910 aulhorizedthepresident to parcellriballandtoindividualmembersintractsof
40,80, or160acres, calledallotmenls. The Secretaryof Inleriorwastonegotiateforthe
purchaseof thesurpluslandremaining afteralleligibleIndians hadreceivedtheirshares,and
theproceedswere10 bedevotedtotheedw:ationandcivilizationof thetribe ... Each allolment
wastobeheldintrust bythe U.S.for25 yearsorlonger. ajierwhichthegovernmenl would
issueafeepatenl ...lndividualmembersof thetribe uponreceivingpatenls wereto become
citizens...TheDawesActof1887Cui triballandholdingsfrom 138millionacresto roughly48
millionacresin1934."(JuneLymanandNorma Denver, Ule History:AnHistoricalStudy, ed.
FloydA, O'NeilandJohnD.Sylvester. SaltLakeCity.' UniversityofUtah Press, 1982,43.)
29WPA WorkProject, "Chipeta,"RegionalRoom, Vernal, Ut.
30GeorgeE. Siewart, interviewbywriler,July24, 1989, Notes, H. BertJensonCollection.
31Conetah, 1982, 135.
32WPA WorkProjecl, "Chipeta,"RegionalRoom,Vernal, UI.
33[bid,
31Rockwell,TheUtes. 258.
35Stewart inlerview.
Property of the
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AnnBassell
OwlawrrailllistoryCenterCollection
Property of the
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THE OUTLA WTRAIL JOURNAL
AonBassett;
"QueeooftheCattleRu
by Debbie S['afford*
The name Ann Bassett, when introduced inl a l n\ Lation,often
results in heated discussions. Everyone who 'n "'. I ber 11, s .m
opinion or story. Separating the tru th from fi'li n al"' I 1 nn 13,L s tt
is not easy. It is hard to decide what the Lrlll J. L I rl. crylhing
about Ann Bassett wa ,and continues Lo b , 'onLr )\ er hI. E.1.:'h new
source or book contradicts the last, and j nn S 1.1 :'1 ) r )nlri1di "L
almost everything written about her. Theon II illooLetl.ln. bOllt I1n
Bassett is that one cannot be certain of anythin '. That'., ,h. t makes
hersointeresting--sobeguiling. Much rAnn'shbloryisle
h
nd,but
this paper will advance the facts that can be lib 'Lantic t} ab lit Ann
Bassett.
On May 12, 1878, the first white child W,)S burn i 1 Brown" Park,
Utah.
1
She was born to Herb and Mary :liz. b th C 1 mb rlc in
Bassett. Ann's parents wer themselve a ... tudv III II lrrl t.. Herb
was a middle aged, mild-manner d, clerk/ school teach r \\'i th poo.
heal tho The exact na ture of Herb' illness is 1I ncertc in. f- t'rb Jl'_-Cl ibed
it as "heart and liver trouble with frequent f an l 1i1l..'" Wh. I
he was describing may have been malaria. He al-l su ltred from
asthma. III health was the rea on for his c;;eeking r-t drier limatc than
his home state of Arkansas. Although his origmal d . tin<1ti m was
California, they never made it past Brown's Park, at the c( rners of
Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Perhaps the beaut: )f the ,ueil
forestalled them, or perhaps Herb's brother Sam, who had aIr aoy
homesteaded there, persuaded him. Whatever the Brown's
Park became his family's home.
Ann was an active baby who creamed loudl.' \'he1 h needs
were not satisfied. Unfortunalely lhis wa. aflen sin e "\izabllh was
unable to nurse her} probably due to the hardships she ndu"cd
* Debbie Spafford has researched the life ofAnn Bo "H'I( for rnln II {'1mI'd i/ ;/ t
Outlaw Trail Theater.
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24 TIlE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
Elizabeth produced no milk. So an Indian woman, See-a-baka, from
the nearby Ute Tribe, was secured as Ann's wet nurse.
4
For the first
six months of her life, Ann was visited several times a day by See-a-
baka.
When Herb and Elizabeth Bassett cam to Browns's Park in 1878,
Elizabeth was well-advanced in her third pregnancy. Her strength of
character was demonstrated here. She must have felt some dismay
when she first saw Sam Bassett's one-room, dirt-floored, lean-to that
was her new home. Apparently Elizabeth loved a challenge and
thrived on hard work. Indeed, it is probable that Elizabeth worked
right along side Herb and Sam in spite of her advanced pregnancy.
Ann inherited this gutsy quality from her mother along with others,
but also inherited some of her father's gentle ways. This interesting
mixture surely lent itself to her two-sided personality and helped
create the legend surrounding her life.
Elizabeth Bassett was a force to be reckoned with. While Herb
spent much of his time in the house or garden, Elizabeth ran the ranch
with the help of her friends, Jim McKnight, I om Dart, and Matt Rash.
These four became known as the "Bassett Gang."
S
Ann's childhood was unconventional for the times. While in large
cities strict mores of society help young women to certain roles, Ann
had no such restrictions. Instead of playing the family organ or
baking sourdough biscuits, Ann was learning to rope a calf ,at full-
speed from the back of a horse. She would rather be at the corral than
in the kitchen. Ann said of her wildness, "I wondered if more than
milk was not imparted through those months of feeding," from her
Indian wet nurse.
6
Because of the harsh lifestyle of the frontier, Ann
was able to run wild and free. Rarely did anyone remind her to be a
lady. Elizabeth and Herb were busy just trying to survive.
Ann had one characteristic that contributed greatly to her ability
to survive this rough existence -- her stubborn, fiery temper. She went
headlong into whatever situation presented itself never thinking of
the consequences. When fifteen years old she came upon a bear cub
in a clearing. Without cautious thought, she roped the cub with a
long-practiced expertise. No sooner had she wrapped the rope
around her saddle horn when the mother bear charged out of the
woods. Ann escaped serious injury by climbing a tree, but sadly
watched as the she-bear killed her saddle pony. Ann was truly
remorseful over the episode, especially because of the loss of a good
saddle horse. Herb was just grateful that Ann was not seriously
injured or killed.?
During her youth, Ann's family played host to any travelers who
made their way into Brown's Park. Noone really worried about these
Property of the
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strangers or questioned where they came from or what they did for a
living. If a meal and a place to bed down for the night were needed,
the Bassett Ranch was the place. Among the visitors who came was
a young man named Robert LeRoy Parker, later known as Butch
Cassidy. He spent one winter on the Bassett Ranch as a ranch hand,
and later worked for another Brown's Park resident, Charley Crouse.
Elza Lay, who later became Butch's right hand man, also carne to The
Park as a young man. He worked at haying and branding and even
went to school with Ann and her sister Josie. Later, when Butch and
Elza led the Wild Bunch, Ann said that she did not believe half the
stories told of them.
8
Butch was always well received in The Park
because of his good nature, and it was well-known that he had never
killed a man. Ann wrote a detailed account of a Thanksgiving dinner
given by the outlaws to the residents of Brown's Park for their
generosity towards them. Ann descr"bed everything from the food
eaten to those who attended and what they wore.
9
Ann was only fourteen years old when her mother died. Elizabeth
was barely thirty seven when she became suddenly ill and passed
away in her horne. Ann'soldersister,Josie, became the mother of Ann
and her three brothers, Sam, Eb, and George. Josie was every inch her
mother's daughter: elegant, beautiful and charming. There is no
doubt that Ann loved Josie, but she was also extremely jealous of her.
Josie had also inherited her mother's fiery temperament, but Josie had
learned to control it. This really galled Ann. So she would tease,
torment and di obey until Josie could stand no more and lose her self-
control in a fitofrage. This would satisfy Ann for a while until she felt
that Josie had maintained status-quo for too long, and she would
begin the torment all over aga n. Herb really loved his daughters and
was a calming influence in their lives. While Elizabeth was out
branding calves, Herb was at home giving his children the love and
attention they needed. After Elizabeth's death, it became apparent to
Herb, and everyone else wi thin a hundred miles, that Ann was totally
out of control. Herb sought divine intervention and sent Ann to Salt
Lake City to St. Mary's Catholic School. This was the same school that
Josie had attended. Josie, herself, did not return to school, but married
a close family friend, Jim McKnight, just three months after her
mother's death.
There is a controversy surrounding Ann's schooling. Ann claims
she finished school at St. Mary's. In fact, in her memoirs she writes of
her love for the nuns, and of whata great adventure school was.
lO
The
nuns tell a different story. They say Ann was asked to leave the school
after her first year because she was uncontrollable.
ll
Ann was a consummate actress and she claims that the school was
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like a theater. She just played the lead role. Ann states that she also
attended and exclusive girl's school in the Boston suburbs, Miss
Porter's School for Girls. Josie calls this another of Ann's exaggera-
tions. But it did serve to enhance the legend surrounding Ann. In her
later years, Ann wrote a story supposedly about Miss Porter's which
does have a ring of truth to it. Atthe school a "mawstah" was engaged
to teach the girls horsemanship. The girls were expected to learn how
to post in a decorous canter over chosen bridle paths. When Ann's
turn came, she threw her leg over the side-saddle and raked the old
gelding's sides while letting out a cowboy yell. The old horse pranced
and reared while Ann put him through several range stunts. When
the riding master attempted to grab the bridle, Ann exclaimed, "Go to
hell, you repulsi ve little monkeyfaced skunk!" He promptl y reported
Ann to the school office but, protecting Ann, none of the girls could
remember anything of the incident when called in for questioning.
12
It is difficult to know exactly what outside influences shaped Ann
Bassett. As she matured a metamorphosis began. Ann became a
fashion plate. Her clothes were always of the latest mode and
immaculately clean. She carried herself as if she were a princess. You
could pick Annoutof a crowd a mile away just by the straight carriage
of her back and head. On the outside she was every bit the perfect
lady. She cultivated a cultured tone and manner of speaking. This
polished veneer fooled many. But Ann was still a wildcat as events
during the summer of 1900 were to prove.
All over the West battle lines between cattle barons and the
homesteaders were being drawn. The big cattle companies had used
the range for years, even though they possessed legal title to only
small portions of what they actually used. They considered the open
range their property. When homesteaders, or worse still, sheep
ranchers, invaded their territory, it was only a matter of time before
violence broke out. In Brown's Park there was little trouble until Ora
Haley, owner of the Two-Bar Ranch, decided he wanted to use the
rich Brown's Park range. He hired Hiram H. "Hi" Bernard as foreman
of the Two Bar. Hi was considered one of the best cattle ranchers this
side of the Mississippi. He was smart enough to realize that he must
strike a bargain with the Brown's Park folk. Unfortunately he did not
get the bargain he had hoped for. Ann was most vocal in her
opposition of the big cattle company. With her as an instigator the
people in The Park formed their own cattle company with Matt Rash
as president. They even went so far as to patrol the borders and keep
any Two-Bar cattle from straying over into the rich pasturelands of
Brown's Park. When Ann rode on patrol many Two-Bar cows met
. their match.
13
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THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL 27
The metamorphosis of Ann surely must have turned many male
heads when she returned to Brown's Park. She was a striking woman
with an hour glass figure and beautiful auburn hair, streaked with red
highlights. It is not surprising that Matt Rash began to "squire her
around." It must have been quite a shock for Matt to see this tomboy
turned fashion-plate. How deep the relationship became, or how
intimate, is another mystery of Ann's legend. It is known that he
escorted her to several dances and social functions and that they
"kept" company together. Only Ann and Matt knew how deep the
commitment was between them and Ann never talked much about it,
even after many years had past. Perhaps it was too painful for her, or
perhaps she just enjoyed people speculating. For whatever reason,
the secrets of their relationship died with them.
On July 7,1900, after visiting Ann at herranch, Matt rode up to his
cabin for the night. Three days later Rash's body was discovered by
two young boys lying dead in his bunk. He had been-shot twice, once
in the back, and had been dead for about three days.14
Ann was furious over Matt's death. She placed the blame on a man
named Jim Hicks, a drifter who just happened into Brown's Park at
the time of the murder, then suddenly disappeared. Ann believed
him to be the notorious killer and gunslinger, Tom Horn.
15
This was
likely. The cattle barons had hired Horn to intimidate, and in some
cases murder, small ranchers and homesteaders who were prevent-
ing their expansion. Jim Hicks, alias Tom Horn, had been a suspicious
character whom Ann took an instant dislike to. A few days after Horn
left Brown's Park, Matt Rash, Isom Dart, and a few other local
ranchers, received threatening notes telling them to leave the park or
"suffer the consequences."16 There was Ii ttle doubt in the minds of the
people of Brown's Park that Ora Haley had hired Tom Horn to
infiltrate their society, hoping to find evidence of cattle rustling.
When he found none, he simply murdered the most influential,
hoping to scare off the other ranchers. Ann's sweetheart was dead.
Just three months later, Isom Dart was also killed by an unknown
assailant as he left his cabin. Many people assume that Ann's vendetta
against Ora and the Two Bar stemmed only from Matt's murder. But
Isom was also a very close family friend. He had lived with the
Bassetts for years and had helped raise the Bassett children. His death
must also have been a tremendous blow to Ann. She was set on
destroying Ora Haley and the Two-Bar Ranch. In December after
Matt's death, she claimed to have received a letter telling her to leave
The Park or suffer the consequences. She even had it published in a
local Colorado paperY This letter was suspect. In her grief and
frustration it is possible that Ann wrote it herself. Someone did
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actually take a shot at Ann while in her cabin. This, in all probability,
was someone trying to shut her up. Ann told anyone who would
listen about Torn Horn and Ora Haley. Considering that Ora very
likely hired Torn Horn to kill Matt and Isom it is possible that he hired
someone to take a shot at Ann.
The killings in Brown's Park had frightened the other settlers and
ranchers and many left. The border patrols stopped because of fear of
being shot and Rash, their leader, was dead. Ann patrolled alone
riding the border obsessively with a rifle strapped to her horse. She
became Brown's Park's version of Robin Hood. She shot Two-Bar
cattle and gave themto needy families in the Park. More than onceshe
ran herds in the Green River where many drowned. She kept up her
vendetta and many families benefitted from her generosity. No one
questioned where the beef carne from, they were just happy to have
food on the table.
Ann's unpredictablity stunned even her best friends when she
married Hi Bernard. It was well-known that Hi had cooperated with
Torn Horn during the Matt Rash incident,18 and that he managed the
hated Two-Bar ranch. It is no wonder people were scratching their
heads over this union. Rather than love, Ann wanted a viable cattle
ranch from the union. She saw herself as another Elizabeth Bassett, in
command of a large outfit, and in command of Brown's Park. Shealso
wanted to compete against Ora Haley and Hi Bernard was the best
cattleman around.
The story goes that Ann invited Hi up to her cabin for a "business
meeting." When Hi arrived she was decked out to beat the band. It
is little wonder that Hi proposed on the spot for Ann was a beautiful
woman. Hi was fired within a fewdaysofhis marriage.
19
The Bassett-
Bernard Cattle Company was only marginally successful and the
Bassett-Bernard union was a disaster. They separated after six years.
Bernard left Brown's Park gi ving Ann sole possession of their Douglas
Mountain property which was another weapon to use against Ora
Haley.
Shortly after Hi's departure, Ann closed off a watering hole on her
land that was used by Two-Bar. This infuriated Ora and his new
manager, Bill Patton. Once again they sent a spy to find evidence to
convict Ann of cattle rustling.
20
Fresh cattle hides were found on her
property and newly killed beefin her storeroom. That the cattle hides
had no brand was inconsequential. Ora Haley took the evidence to
the authorities and Ann was indicted for Cattle rustling.
21
The trial,
held in Craig, Colorado where Ann was well-known, became a circus.
A local opera house was rented to accommodate the huge crowds.
Ann appeared looking every bit the perfect lady and used her best
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Boston manners. There was not any proof that the cattle hides found
on her property had belonged to the Two-Bar. Even though the jury
felt she had shot Two-Bar cattle, they could not convict her without
proof. The jury was hung. The trial was rescheduled twice before she
was actually tried again. This time Ora Haley took the stand and was
caught perjuring himself.2
2
His credibility was ruined and Ann was
acquitted. The town went wild in celebration. A local newspaper
dubbed her "Queen of the Cattle Rustlers." She was forever after
"Queen Ann."n
Ann returned to Brown's Park, hoping her notoriety would at last
bring her the respect of all the Brown's Park residents. She hoped they
would rally behind her and continue their harassment of the Two-
Bar. But it did not happen. The people were tired of fighting. They
just wanted peace and Ann was a constant thorn in their sides. She
kept stirring things Up.24 Ann eventually married a local rancher,
Frank Willis. This was a love match. Ann had waited a long time for
a good man, and she wanted this marriage to work. The ambitious
couple tried ranching in several different places, including Califor-
nia, but Brown's Park eventually called Ann home. Upon her return
she bought up the original family homestead and built herself a new
home there. She and Frank tra veled back and forth between Brown's
Park and Leeds, Utah, where they also had a home. She passed away
very quietly in 1956. It was the only peaceful thing she had ever done.
Contrary to the end, even in death she caused trouble. Ann had
asked to be cremated and have her ashes sprinkled across Brown's
Park. However, the cremation was poorly done, and instead of ashes
Frank received an urn full of lumps. He could not bring himself to
sprinkle those, and he did not dare bury her. He claimed Ann had
threatened to haunt him the restofhis days if her final wishes were not
carried out. Even in death Ann bullied those who dared love her.
Frank carried her around in the trunk of his car until his death in 1963.
On the day of Frank's burial, Ann was laid peacefully to rest in the
place she loved so well, Brown's Park.
25
Standing in Brown's Park today, one can feel the presence of those
stalwart pioneers who first settled the area. It is peaceful there -- so
peaceful you can hear the grass growing and the clouds bumping into
one another as they pass in the sky. But upon listening real close, that
old antithetical Ann Bassett can be heard above the peaceful empty
space. When the wind reaches its peak in the sudden burst of fury her
voice carries across the valley. "Butch Cassidy, why sure I knew him,
he was the subject of all young liars, old liars, and damn liars.... "26
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30 THE GUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
NOTES
IAnn Bassell, Ann Bassell' s Memoirs, Edited by Evelyn Peavy Sernatan, (Unpublished
Manuscript held in Ou/law Trail History Center, Uintah County Library, Vernal Ut.), 1.
2Grace McClure, The Bassell Women, (Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, Ohio University Press,
1985),5.
llbid,12.
'Ann Bassell, Memoirs, 2.
SMcClure, 29.
6Ann Bassell, Memoirs, 29.
7lbid,2.
8Ann Bassell, Memoirs, 26.
9McCIure, 58-59.
IOAnn Bassell, Scars and Two Bars, Ann Bassell's Memoirs, (Unpublished manuscript held in the
Ou/law Trail History Center, Uintah County Library, Vernal, Ut.), 25.
JlMcClure, 50.
12Ann Bassell,Memoirs, 39-40.
IJDiana Allen Kouris, The Romantic and Notorious History QjBrown's Park, (Greybull,
Wyoming: Wolverine Gallery Inc.), 97.
I4McClure, 80-81.
IlAnn Bassell, Ann Bassell's Memoirs, Edited by Evelyn Peavy Semotan. P.53.
16McCIure, 80.
J7McClure, 84-85.
18McCIure, 92.
191bid,92.
2lbid, 100.
21Ibid,100.
22Denver Post, 12 August 1912.
2llbid.
UMcClure, 105.
2slbid,182.
26Bassell, Scars and Two-Bars. 14.
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BOOK REVIEWS
Kid Curry: The Life and Times of Harvey Logan
A recurrent theme among students and historians of the American
West are stories and books about the outlaw Butch Cassidy (Robert
Leroy Parker) and his men called the Wild Bunch. Yet another book
has recently appeared about this famous gang: F. Bruce Lamb (Ph. D.),
Kid Curry: The Life and Times of Harvey Logan and the Wild Bunch:
An old West Narrative (Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, 1991).
This book purports to be based upon what Kid Curry told the
author's aunts and uncles during the winterof1903-1904when he was
staying at the Lamb Sand Creek Gulch Ranch in Fremont County,
Colorado. The author's father FrankR. Lamb and his uncle John Lamb
were particularly close to Kid Curry and have always wanted his side
of the story to be told. So this book has a purpose: to reveal Kid Curry
in his own words. The author does a masterful job in recreating
dialogue with dramatic action.
The book is divided up into three sections. The first is Jim Thornhill's
Story. Jim Thornhill, alias Frank or Dad Jackson, the last member of
the Sam Bass gang of Texas was a close associate and partner of
Harvey Logan alias Kid Curry. Thornhill describes how The Kid
came into Montana as a cowboy working with Flat Nose George
Currie (from whom he took his name) back in 1884. The Kid learned
the trade of a horseman and cowboy from an expert Mexican hand
Mike Ortega. Kid Curry became such a natural that he quickly forgot
his Kansas City roots and adapted to life in the Cow Country of
Wyoming, Colorado and Montana. He decided to settle down in
Montana and bought a horse ranch. Rock Creek Ranch was located
some 5 or 6 miles from the cabin of an early prospector and settler of
Montana: Pike (Powell) Landusky. There developed a regular feud
between Kid Curry, his brothers John and Lonny Curry (it did not
help matters that Lonny Curry got Pike's step-daughter Elfie Dessery
pregnant), his partner Jim Thornhill and with Pike Landusky and his
buddies. Because there have been many misstatements of the facts
dealing with Kid Curry's killing of Pike Landusky on 27 December
1894, the author carefully reconstructs the event quoting extensively
from court evidence available in Montana archives. Both Lonny
Curry and Jim Thornhill were brought to trial for their part in the
killing of Pike Landusky but both got off on a plea of self-defense.
Thornhill tried to persuade Kid Curry to come back and face a trial to
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32 TI IE OUTL/\ WTRAIL JOURNAL
clear his name, but the Landusky Affair sent him down the Outlaw
Trail to Hole in the Wall, Wyoming where he came into contact and
close association with Butch Cassidy, Harry Longabaugh alias the
Sundance Kid, and Elza Lay. He had joined the Wild Bunch.
In his wanderings around the Tri-Sta te Area (Wyoming, Mon tana,
Colorado), the Kid came across the Lamb Ranch. He liked the place
for its isolation. Here he befriended the Lamb family, especially John
Lamb. This brings us to the major and second part of the book: John
Lamb's Story. This part of the book develops the Kid's propensity for
train robberies as part of Butch Cas idy and the Wild Bunch. He
appears to admire these men and to enjoy his life as a robber. There
appears no remorse for his part in robbing trains; after all they
represent big men and big business intere ts. The Kid wanted money,
he wanted it fast and he was not too particular on how he obtained it.
Jim Thornhill was one of the few faithful friends that Kid Curry had,
and he reappears in John Lamb's Story as a friend who helps the Kid
hide out from the law.
The last part of John Lamb's Story deals with Kid Curry's last
major robbery: holding up the Great orthern train near Malta,
Montana on3 July 1903. He left Montana for For Worth, Texas where
he met the love of his life, Annie Rogers from Kennedale, Texas.
Together Kid Curry and Annie Rogers went off to Mena, Arkansas
and set up house as the Bob Nevills. Eventually they moved to
Nashville where they tried to pass hot money from the Montana
robbery and were caught. Annie Rogers went to ja'l while Kid Curry
was involved in a shoot out in Knoxville while looking for Luther
Brady who was trying to fence his hot money. Kid Curry was
apprehended and placed on trial in Knoxville for various robberies;
for which he was tried and convicted. Curry had a horror of jail and
prison so he boldly escaped from K lOX County Jail while the sheriff
was away at a funeral. The narrative break down here: for example
in the Jim Thornhill Story there is no mention of Jim Thornhill being
in Knoxville to attend the trial of Kid Curry, yet in the John Lamb
Story, Thornhill was in Knoxville for almost a year. After his escape
from Knoxville, Kid Curry heads for Montana where tl e faithful Jim
Thornhill has a horse ready for the Kid who proceeds to ride to
Wyoming and to Sand Gulch, Colorado for the winter of 1903-04. The
final part of the book deals with Kid Curry's final months at the
Lamb's Sand Gulch Ranch and his last attempt at a train robbery. It
concludes with what the author thinks is the suicide of Kid Curry on
9 June 1904.
This book is written well and has an easy narrative style. But it is
almost pure historical fiction. It is written in the first person through-
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out. What saves the book from being completely fictional are the
extensive endnotes. Here the author has painstakingly reconstructed
from books written on the Old West, journals, unpublished manu-
scripts and newspaper accounts events of the life of Kid Curry.
In concI usion, this book is an artistic reconstruction of Kid Curry's
life. It is partisan and wri tten from the Kid's pointof view. But readers
who want to know more about the Kid would do well to read it.
Enigmas such as the death of Kid Curry or the destiny of his "girl-
friend" Annie Rogers remain-in fact, they will always remain so.
Michael Kelley
Utah State University, Uintah Basin Education Center
The Train Robbery Era: An Encyclopedic History
Reading entries from Richard Patterson's The Train Robbery Era:
An EncyclO'gedic History (Boulder, Colorado: Pruett, 1991) was for
me like eating a certain brand of potato chip: I couldn't read just one.
The place entry"Adair, Iowa" led me to "James, Jesse Edwards (Jesse
James, Jr.)" (my mistake/ not knowing son from father) which in turn
led to senior (a "see" entry) and "The James-Younger Gang"--the
treasure trove on that subject. But that information led me on to "The
Pinkertons," equally fascinating (I once worked for them, though in
the humdrum capacity of a hospital security guard). In the Pinkerton
entry I met an old friend from researches into literature of the
Southwest, good old Charlie Siringo. My, did he get around!
And Frank James: in the Jesse Jr. a dJames-Younger entries/ I got
tantalizing glimpses of Frank as an older man, and uncle paying a
disconcerting visit to town in the account of Jesse Jr. and a white-
bearded, top-hatted tour host at the James farm in a photograph in the
James-Younger entry. No, I could never read just one entry when I sat
down wi th the book.
And speaking of older, respectably retired robbers, what of Emmett
Dalton? After making a perfectly wretched flop of a movie on the
gang's exploits (Emmett created his own film company for the task)
and having toured with it "givi g a 'law and order' sermon with each
showing," he settled down to the construction business in a boom
time and "was moderately successfu1." On the side he kept his hand
in Hollywood, script writing and playing minor parts.
Speaking again of respectable retirement, there was old Bill Miner.
He respectably retired more than once--sometimes while in the midst
of his train-robbing career. Up in Aspen Grove/ Bri tish Col umbia, Bill
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proved to be no mean preacher. We are told that he was "something
of a favorite...such a fatherl yold fellow wi th the children." (The locals
heard in shocked disbelief of his apprehension as a train robber.) I
especially like his pleasant little sally after his last conviction. "Old
Bill tipped his hat to some ladies... with the comment: 'When one
breaks the law, he must expect to pay the penalty. I am now old, but
during my life I have found the Golden Rule the best guide to a man
in this life." That was Miner's last imprisonment and consequently
his last escape, a fatal one because he imprudently drank some
contaminated water and died--back in prison--of the resulting fever.
"I'm getting a bit old for this sort of thing," he "reportedly" com-
mented upon recapture.
See what I mean? I couldn't lay the book down. And, upon
reflection, that inability troubles me just a bit. What a nonchalant,
blood-spattered era is depicted in this encyclopedic picture as one
pieces it together from entry to entry. Oh, not utterly nonchalant.
Derring-do was mixed wi th equal parts of wounded vanity and Robin
Hoodish anger at railroad barons, a mixture causing lawman and
outlaw to square off at each other in the most foolish,life-squandering
encounters imaginable. That is, until sensible, unprepossing people
like James B. Hume appeared on the scene and applied "the science
of crime detection" and admirable self-restraint:
"Although thoroughly courageous and tough as nails, Hume... was
strictly a professional law officer who believed in an orderly arrest, trial
and conviction... rather than a shoot-out."
And when it came to determining who should get the credit, Hume,
despite his own painstaking and successful personal involvement in
a case, "was not interested in advancing his own reputation and
would let the local officers make arrests and take the credit.
"'All is vanity,' saith the preacher?" Not quite all it seems. Shall
we bless the Humes or damn them for helping close the curtain on the
entertaining train robbery era? Patterson properly does neither. His
is a seminal compilation, not a last word.
I found The Train Robbery Era a troublingly fascinating book and
commend it to railroad buffs, history buffs, Robinhood fans, Knights
of the Garter, and professional historians too. It is a one volume,
thoroughly researched source book on one key aspect of Western
History.
Norman Davis
Utah State University, Uintah Basin Education Center
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Cowboying: A Tough Job in a Hard Land.
James H. Beckstead, Cowboying: A Tough lob in a Hard Land, (Salt
Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press,283 pages, illus. index. $45;
paper, $19.95.
Cowboy poet, James H. Beckstead, has turned out a well researched
and thoroughly enjoyable work. ThE' forward is by prominent Utahn
and actor, Wilford Brimley. If you want to know more about the
history of the cowboy and especially his roll in the history and
development of the state of Utah, here is the book. Beckstead's
research is thorough and sheds light on an aspect of Utah's history
that is seldom if ever covered. Utah has not been considered as has its
surrounding states when discussing the history and impact of the
American cowboy. It is good to see a work that credits Utah with
something besides its Mormon impact on history. Beckstead has
highlighted his work with numerous photos which lend impact and
insight into the everyday life of the American cowboy. The book
covers where the cowboys came from, how the cattle companies--both
large and small began, their interaction with each other, and the
Mormon settlers they met in the Utah territory. Beckstead also
included a section to the legendary cowboy outlaws and the lawmen
who pursued them. Beckstead touches on the impact and interaction
with sheep and sheepmen. He concludes with how the image of the
cowboy has changed over the decades, and how the 'love-affair' with
the cowboy image took the East and Europe by storm. Cowboying is
fascinating, delightful, and worth curling up with on a cold winter's
night.
Evan L. Baker
Director, Uintah County Library
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MURDER IN THE OLD WEST
By Thelma Thacker
I'll tell you a story that's sad, but it's true
About my great uncle, and a tragedy, too
His name was Matt Thomas, a tall handsome man
To get a good cow herd was part of his plan
He had three small children, and a nice Ii ttle wife
To own his own ranch was the goal of his life
He worked very hard, and he bought a small herd
This is the kind of a life Matt preferred
He was a well-thought of man, honest and true
He had lots of friends, and family too
But a gang of cheap outlaws despised Uncle Matt, and
envied his horses and cattle and land
In their hate and in greed they devised a cruel plan
And determined to rob, and kill this good man
Now, Matt had his cattle over Roosevelt way
He decided to ride into Vernal one day
At Halfway Holler the crooks did all hide
As unsuspecting and innocent Matt did ride
At the crucial moment the crooks did attack
And one of them shot Uncle Matt in the back
He lay on the ground, a fine life taken
His horse headed home, alone and forsaken
The crooks searched the body for their ill-gotten pay
A total of sixty-three cents was in Matt's pocket that day.
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LAWLESS LOVE
by Doris Karren Burton '90
(Maude Davis and Elzy Lay 1896)
TwoGigglingcousinsclimbedthestairs.
Theybrushedtheirhairandsaidtheirprayers.
Acandlesoftlylittheloft.
Thefeatherquiltwaswarmandsoft.
Thensuddenlytheysatupright
As fright'ningnoiseswokethenight!
Downs tairs theki tchenfilled wi thmen.
TheWild Bunchhadreturnedagain!
As motherfed thehungryscore,
girlspeakedthroughcracksinwoodenfloor.
ThereMaudefirsteyedherElzyLay
Withwhomshe'donedaygoastray.
Maudeslippedawayandmarriedlay
tostartalifeofdisarray.
TheylivedintentsatRobber'sRoost
withlawlessmenandthreatofnoose.
AjobwasplannedatCastleGate.
So Maudewassentbackhometowait.
LaycametoAshleyfor hiswife
andfoundshe'dtiredoflawlesslife.
Sheborehischildandhopedhe'dstay
athomeandchangehiswaywardway,
butherefusedandrodeaway
tosoonregretthatpartingday.
Aprisontermreformedhislife,
butthenhefoundhe'dlosthiswife.
Fromthatdayon,heplayeditstraight
andlongedfor loveofAshleymate.
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38 TIlE OUTLA WTRAlL JOURNAL
THE DIAMOND MOUNTAIN BOYS
by James 1/. Beckslead
A cowboy stoked the fire and set the night aglow
on a Utah mountain a hundred years ago
A saddle for his pillow, a blanket for his bed
Visions of the girl back home were dancing in his head.
The silent night was broken, as riders came on in
loaded down with weapons and looking mean as sin.
The horses foaming lather, their spirits strong and bold
straining from the weight of men and leather bags of gold.
A warming by the fire, a sip or two of brew
nothing more was wanted, that's how the legend grew.
here's a coin from Castle Gate, pretend you never saw
this tired gang of outlaws just running from the law.
There is a lonely mountain where legends live and grow
where outlaws use to roam a long long time ago,
and cowboys on tha t mountain, ha ve heard their mournful cry
when the moon is full they've seen ghost riders in the sky.
It was Cassidy and Sundance, Matt and Tom O'Day
Kid Curry and the Texan, Big Nose and Elzy Lay-ay
High living was their pleasure, robbing was their ploy
Outlaws everyone of them, the Diamond Mountain Boys.
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FOLKTALES
FROMTHEOUTLAWTRAIL
THE LEGEND
OF YOUNG SPRINGS GOLD
Richard(Dick) De]ournelte
November 17, 7991
I was mighty young when I first heard about the hidden gold at
Young Springs. When I first went there, I thought I had found the
gold, because I saw little yellow rocks along the way. When I asked
my dad, he assured me it wasn't gold but copper that had shook out
of the freight wagons that had hauled ore from the old Dyer Mine on
the South slope of the Uintas, over the Young Springs dugway, then
through the Young Springs Park and on to the old Carter Station in
Wyoming. Then he told me about the Outlaw gold. Before I tell you
more about the gold, I need to tell you a little history about Young
Springs.
According to the records of the Ashley National Forest, my dad
first bought the permits to graze sheep at Elk Park and Young Springs
in 1910. My dad said when he was running sheep across the Green
River on Goslin Mountain, that he watched the forest on fire on the
north slope of the Green's Lake country, and he made up his mind that
it was the country that he wanted to graze his sheep on.
Anyway, I was about ten years old when the Outlaw Gold story
came out. My dad, Ford De Journette, told me that he had a feller
working for him that moved his camp every year, and that he spent
every summer looking for the gold. When I asked him who it was, he
said it was someone that was about half outlaw in his younger days.
He said that he went by the name of Ed Grounds, but that it wasn't his
real name.
This is the story that Ed Grounds told my dad, and he related it to
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me: These Outlaws were horse thieves, and they had stolen a big herd
of horses in Montana and Wyoming. They trailed them around by
Evanston, Wyoming to the Salt Lake City country, and sold them to
the Mormons. On the way back, they came through the Indian
Reservation and the once famous Strip. They got into a robbery of
some kind and stole some army horses and started over the mountain
on the old Carter Trail through Young Springs. They had the Army
right on their tails. When they carne to Young Springs, there was three
Outlaws, driving about twenty head of stolen horses, and a pack
horse with their supplies and money, about seventeen thousand in
gold. The pack horse was played out so two of the Outlaws took the
horses and went on and left the other Outlaw thief to hide the gold.
Then he was to catch up with them. It was getting dark, as they came
into Young Springs Park from the south. The old road angled off to
the West, because of the high, rugged rim of ledge rocks on all sides.
It was a rough, treacherous area. The Outlawspli t off and hid the pack
and the gold under the rough rim of ledge and slide rock. In the
meantime, the law and the army personnel were right behind the
other two Outlaws with the stolen horses. So wi th the army between
him and his two friends, he id not only the gold but the pack saddle
and grub and rode east toward Elk Park. He was trying to get to a
hideout on Doud Mountain. The Doud Mountain area belonged to
Cleophas Ooud, whom Doud Mountain is named after. The Outlaws
had to abandon their stolen horses and make a run for it. They headed
for the Wyoming desert. The two Outlaws split and one headed for
Brown's Park and the other one they caught and killed up near Green
River, Wyoming. The one that hid the gold got killed by Doud, or
another badman. This all happened late in the fall. The loose pack
horse that was give out was found turned loose in Young Spring Park.
Just where the Outlaw hid the pack and gold in those pine trees and
ledges is the MYSTERY.
I will tell you about the clues and the people that I know that have
looked for the gold cache for many years. Now whether this Ed
Grounds was one of the Outlaws or had been told the story, I do not
know, but my dad said he was sure Ground's didn't find anything. I
was not sure just who Ed Grounds was, but my dad knew. He knew
several different Outlaws, but he just wouldn't talk about them.
And then there was Bill Luckenbill who worked for my dad in
Brown's Park, and was with us for forty years. He tended the ca ttle
and horses on Diamond Mountain mostof the time. However, I know
he spent one or two summers just looking for the hidden gold in
Young Springs, but never did find it. He always thought that Butch
Cassidy hid some gold in their hideout between Sears Canyon and
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Rye Grass Draw. He spent a lot of time every summer looking in that
area.
There was an old man Bryan that was my dad's Uncle. He died at
Island Park at Ruple's Ranch. My dad said that he came West from
North Carolina, claiming that he had some knowledge of where to
look for the Young Springs gold. He was killed or died before he got
to look for it, and my dad never did get his belongings from Ruple's,
so he didn't know if Bryan had a map of the hidden gold area or not.
I think it was about the year of 1948, that I had a chance to meet an
older fellow by the name of Ira Dern. He was a wrestler, and he
brought wrestlers into Vernal. I got acquainted with him, and when
I told him that I run my sheep at Young Springs he just about had a
heart attack. He got real excited and told me he knew where to find
the gold. He had never been to YoungSprings, buthe described it and
where the trail went back then. He described how the man with the
pack horse had run into the slide rocks and ledges and had hid the
gold and pack saddle under the ledge rock. He had in his possession
a map, or he had seen an outlaw map in order to be able to describe
the area as clearly and as accurate ashe did. He mademe promise that
I would take him to Young Springs. It was in the fall when I met him,
and I was ready to bring my sheep off the forest, but I told him that I
would take him there the following summer. I never heard from him
and then later someone told me that he had died. Isortof forgot about
it until last summer (1991) when so much interest in the Outlaws
ignited and it brought it all back as if it was only yesterday. I had
wanted to take this man to Young Springs because he had such a great
desire to go.
I got to thinking that perhaps I might find something about the
family of Mr. Dern's, so on November 16, 1991, I called a Mrs. Elaine
Dern in Salt Lake City, her husband, now deceased was a nephew of
Ira Dem. Most of his relation has passed on now. I guess the Ira Dern
story about Young Springs went to the grave with him. He has no
close relatives left. He had two children, both deceased, and neither
one had any children of their own. How I wish that I could have taken
him on the trip to Young Springs and at least found out what
information he had. I would have liked to have seen the map or heard
about it. He knew what he was talking about J am certain.
I remember I was talking to Mrs. George Adams. We all called her
Mother Adams. She wore a white sailor cap with a feather in it. She
was very petite. She was a very interesting little lady to know. I told
her one time that I run my sheep at Young Springs. The first thing she
wanted to know was if I had hunted for the outlaw gold. ] told her not
toomuch. She told me thatshe and her husband had been in the sheep
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42 THE GUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
business atone time and had run their sheep at Young Springs before
my Dad was there. She told me how the wolves would kill the sheep,
and she told me about the outlaws hiding the gold there, so she knew
about the hidden gold too.
About two miles from Young Springs Park down on Carter Creek
there are two old cabins. The one cabin is on the West fork of Carter
Creek up about a half a mile above the main trail to the West. They
were built by an old mountain man by the name of Than Galloway.
He was an old beaver trapper, but my dad said he spent his summers
looking for the gold. He built another cabin down Carter Creek, about
a mile below the fork where Carter Creek comes into Beaver Creek.
In about 1915 my dad hired Ren Hall to plow ditches in Young
Springs Park. Ren packed a plowby pack horse into the park. He buil t
di tches and irrigated some of the meadow. Some of the old di tches are
still visible. Hall also had his shot at hunting for the hidden gold, but
like the others, he found nothing.
Grant Hacking, our eighty three year old neighbor, told us a bit
more about Young Springs. In 1923, when he was at the ripe old age
of fifteen, he went over the Young Springs dugway. He was going on
a fishing trip and on his way to his fathers sheep camp. His dad was
Joseph Hacking. He said it was a mighty rough road, and that his
wagon went over boulders as big as bushel baskets. He said after
thinking it over, he could see that with such rough and wild country,
it wasn't any wonder that the Outlaws hid there gold in a place like
that, and he could understand why no one had found it, too many
ledges and rocks.
The last time that I heard anything about the story was when I was
helping Cliff Mc Coy with his sheep on Doud mountain in 1964. Cliff
told me the story of the hidden gold in Young Springs. It was the same
story thatothers had told me. So if anybody wants to look for the gold,
just go to the north side of Young Springs Park and go about a mile
through the timber until you come to the rim and the rough, mean
looking ledges, then start looking. GOOD LUCK.
I told my wife, Daun, about Young Springs and the Outlaw Gold.
I told her it was the largest spring I had ever seen, and that the water
was ice cold. I told her after the water went down the park in a swift
stream, that finally it disappeared into the ledges. Each day she
would look up at the high mountains and say how she would like to
see Young Springs. She wanted to walk in to see it. I told her it would
be a long hike, and the way it was so cloudy every day we would get
in a storm. I told her, here I am seventy and you sixty-two years old,
I don't know whether we should even consider it. But that didn't stop
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her from wanting to go one bit. So on Thursday, September 12, 1991,
we got up real early got a few things to snack on, took our camera and
back pack and drove to Brownie's Lake. This was the end of the trail,
in the pickup anyway. From here it was on foot. We headed down the
old dim trail, it was rough and rocky. She was stepping over rocks
that made her stretch her legs to getover the top, but we kept on going.
Finally we climbed up a very steep, rough trail and topped out, and
looked down into Young Springs. It was dry and the feed was scarce,
didn't look quite as green and lush as I had remembered it. We
walked down to the spring, and she could hardly believe how
beautiful it was. The water so icy cold. It is the largest spring I know
of in this country. The..stream that runs out of the spring is deep, wide
and swift. We walked over to where the ledges were. Huge ledge
rocks were broken leaving deep canyons as well as slide rock. As you
go up west, a smaller canyon comes in with deep ledges. That is
supposedly where the gold is hidden. There is one thing for certain,
there is many a ledge to look under.
As we walked around looking at the huge ledges, we could realize
just what a plight those Outlaws were in. Big rocks, bigger than a
large school bus, were breaking off from others. Pines were trying to
grow up through the cracks between the rocks. If one closed their eyes
they could visualize what it would be like for horse and rider to come
up against a treacherous place such as this. As we walk around the
park, we saw the snow capped mountain, west of Young Springs,
where it had snowed the night before. The clouds swirled around us
and a few showers went over, but they missed us. It had been thirty-
eight years since I had been there in 1954. As I looked around, fond
memories touched my heart. We sawthe old camp orway station, not
much left standing. This was where they kept food and water for the
horses that pulled the ore wagons. From this point, they used oxen to
pull the wagons on into Wyoming. In later years the Forest Service
even put a telephone there. We saw where the old corduroy road had
been. Because the park was so wet, they cut poles a d laid logs and
poles across the trail so the ore wagons would not sink in. This is wha t
was called the corduroy road. There are still many pieces of the wood
still in place.
I was glad my wife had insisted on going there, because I had
always wanted to go back myself. Next year we are going to take our
sleeping bags with us and gear and spend the summer searching for
the YOUNG SPRINGS HIDDEN GOLD'(sic)
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OUTLAW TRAIL TREASURE
A story told to Doris Burton by Joe Winder
Uncle Orson Calder had homesteaded in Mail Draw on Diamond
Mountain. He was theone who knew the story. Three men in a black
sedan came up in Mail Draw looking for a place where there was a
spring, a cabin, and a grave which were clues to a treasure. Orson had
the Rye Grass Draw leased as Zelf Calder's homestead joined this on
the south on the Mail Draw side. He was running sheep in the Rye
Grass Draw where there was a spring. He got Earl Calder to come and
help him repair some troughs. The troughs were below this spring,
and it ran a pretty good stream of water, and by catching it in troughs
you could water a herd of sheep there. So he told Earl about this
mystery about the men coming up there looking for a cabin, a spring,
and a grave. Earl passed this information on to his cousin Edgar
Calder. Edgar came out here in 1940 from Provo where he was
working at Geneva Steel to go deer hunting. He was up on the
mountain this Sunday up in the Rye Grass Canyon with his wife and
sons George and Ken. They were down in there by this Rye Grass
Spring, and there was a cabin there. They got to conversing and
thinking that this might possibly be where the treasure was buried
these people were looking for. They looked all over in the bottom
there and couldn't discover any grave. So they locked arms and
started to circling around this cabin going out a little further each
time. Then there under a cedar tree they saw a grave marked with
some smooth stones like would come from a river bottom or water. It
was surely marked for a grave. About this time a terrible blizzard hit
them there. The snow was just pelting down and of course this was
along in October, but some of these blizzards can really pile up a lot
of snow in a hurry on the mountain. They were afraid they might get
snowed in. There car was parked up a couple of miles from where
they were. It was a pontiac passenger car and Edgar Calder was
suppose to be back out to work Monday morning in Provo. So they
thought they better get out of there and not try to pursue this anymore
at this time. Anyway as events transpired when Ed came back the
next summer, he got Claude Eaton to go back up there with him to
help dig out this spot and see if there might be something buried in
there. So they went up there and George was with them. So they
noted first of all that it looked like the grave might have been
disturbed, because some of the rocks around the grave. Some of them
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Outlaw Trail
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were roughed edged like cobble rocks. So as things developed they
did bring along their shovels and dug down there in the grave and it
was down about two and a half or three feet that they came to a place
where there was an imprint of a metal box. The box wasn't there but
they could see where it had rusted out on one corner. There was a
deposit of rust on the ground in one corner of the imprint. So they
were sure there had been a metal box in there, and someone had beat
them to it. Maybe someone had been exploring in there with a geiger
counter or something. But they thought it might have been some of
the loot from one of the bank robberies or train robbery up in
Wyoming. That was an occasion when they were just a little too late.
Someone else had found this box.
Later a man in town who was a good friend of Mr. Calder began
spending some gold pieces around town. Then he left town with a
woman (and the treasure?) never to return.( . )
SIC
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PioneerCabin in AshleyValley
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Editor's Note
This issue of the Outlaw Trail TournaI focuses on widely varying
frontier experiences of women in the Uintah Basin. Dr. Lurrine Miles,
Chipeta, and Ann Bassett were contemporaries within the region.
They had greatly different lifestyles, yet the frontier of the area
imposed similarity in privation against terrific odds. And in-spite of
these odds, or perhaps because of them, each would have to be
considered successful. These three women, like many thousands
whose stories are still untold, contributed in their own way to taming
the frontier, shaping a country, and adding color and variety to the
theme of significant roles women have played in our great Western
heritage.
On the cover is a photo of Rose Daniels taken at the Uintah Basin
Industrial Convention held at Fort Duchesne in the early 1950's. At
the time she was thought to be over 100 years old. According to her
descendants, Rose was her family's only survivor of the Bear River
Massacre (1863). Later she was captured by the Utes after they had
attacked and killed her adopted Navaho family. After several at-
tempts to escape, the Utes sold her to Aaron Daniels, who married her.
This photo captures the quiet dignity and strength of a woman who
has faced battle, slavery, deprivation, frontier childbirth and mother-
hood, and conquered them all.
John D. Barton
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48 THE OUTLA W TRAiL JOURNAL
PioneerWomen in AshleyValley
OutlawTrailHistoryCenterCollection
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utah Outlaw Trail Festival City
Outdoor Musical Production
FeaturingEvents& LocalHistoryAbout:
ButchCassidy JosieBassett
WildBunch QueenAnnBassett
TomHom EttaPlace
Elza Lay MattWarner
Sheriff JohnT. Pope
13 Performances During the Month ofJuly
Attend the Best of the Old West Outdoor Theatre
Activities
June July
TrailRide Western Song,Poetry,
JosieShoot(women) Art Contests
Shoot-Out Quilt& Art Displays
StoryTellingU.S.U.
Outlaw& Lawmen
Festival Day8:00to12p.m.
HistoryCenter
1-800-388-4538
ForInformation& Reservationswriteorcall:
UintahArts
TollFree- 1-800-477-5558
P.O. Box1417
Local (801) 789-6932
Vernal, Utah84078
HeldintheallnewWesternPark
ComplexAmphitheatre
200 South 350 East
Vernal, Utah 84078
(801) 789-7396
Sponsored by Uintah Arts Council
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VOLUME 2 WINTER/SPRING 1992 NUMBER 1

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