Settled Later ThanThe North End?
by Doug Alder, Historian
When Charles C. Rich led Mormon Settlers into the valley in
1863, they entered through Emigration Canyon on the north in Idaho. That was the easiest entry. He immediately set up negotiations with Chief
Washakie, chief of the Shoshone Indians.
Amazingly Washakie was amenable to the arrival of the Mormons. Perhaps he was worried about Colonel Patrick Connor
at Fort Douglas who had led the massacre of Indians in Cache Valley at the
Battle of Bear River. That is
speculation but the fact is that Washakie agreed to allow the Mormons to settle
in the north end of the valley, the Idaho part, in return for an agreement that
the Mormons would provide the Shoshoni with flour and beef. He insisted that the southern part be
reserved for the Shoshoni. So the
northern settlements were undertaken, using the general Mormon plan of villages
and family farms also using the northern entrance and later the Logan Canyon
route. They also settled mainly on the
western side of the lake because they perceived it as the best agricultural
land.
The southern part of the valley needed to be settled if the
Mormon plan of preventing non-Mormons from claiming the land were to be
achieved but the Washakie agreement stood in the way. Charles C. Rich limited himself to the
north. In 1864 Luther Reed was assigned
to go to the Bear Lake settlements. He
recruited a group of a dozen men (not families) to accompany him. They entered the valley by the northern route
but then went directly to Round Valley.
Washakie and his leaders had left the valley on a year-long hunting trip
so hey had some time to get established.
Upon arrival Joseph Moore, one of the group, was appointed as presiding
elder.
The Shoshoni quickly responded and began to threaten the
settlements. The issue became heated and
the Round Valley settlers fled to St. Charles.
Charles C. Rich agreed to negotiate with Washakie once more. He took a delegation of men and met with
Washakie. The chief was fully aware that
waves of American immigrants were swarming over the West, not just
Mormons. He was deeply worried about the
future of his people. Once again he
agreed to allow the Mormons to settle in the valley, this time including the
south. He hoped that Rich would help the
Shoshoni fine a new home. Rich was an
Indian Agent but did not have the power that Washakie hoped. Nonetheless the U. S. Government was planning
a reservation in the Uinta Mountain region and by 1872 the Shoshoni began settling
there. The delegation of men returned to
the south end and built a fort at Laketown with David P. Kimball as leader.
In 1868 a road into Bear Lake valley via Ogden Canyon was
accomplished. This brought settlers to
the valley, entering at the south. Most
of these were self-motivated rather than assigned. The growth was substantial. Garden City was begun, initially as ranching
but then as farms and village about 1870.
Initially it was called Little Valley but in 1878 it took the name
Garden City that meant it had become a village.
It was the last town to be established in the Valley. The next two decades were filled with
strenuous labor to establish irrigation systems and farms throughout the south
end of the valley.
(Much of this information is based on Robert E Parson’s book
A History of Rich County.)
