Monthly Archives: October 2020

Stewart Ranch Foreman’s House

18 Sunday Oct 2020

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Stewart Ranch Foreman’s House

This house was constructed in 1919 to replace the original ranch foreman’s cabin that was built soon after Stewart Ranch was established c. 1902. The builder and first foreman to occupy this house was Randolph Fife, a nephew of the four Stewart brother who founded the ranch. Subsequent occupants include Alex Murphey (1923-c. 1930), Herman Cooley (c.1938-1955), and Arvin and Ardean Anderson (1955 to at least 1986). Stewart Ranch functioned first as a livestock operation (c.1902-1931) then as a dairy ranch (1931-1955). It concurrently served as a recreational retreat for its owners – the Stewarts then the Hewletts – who were successful business and professional men in Salt Lake City. Stewart Ranch was probably the largest and longest lived of the “recreational ranches” that were established in this area during the early twentieth century by prominent families from Salt Lake City.

Part of the Stewart Ranch, the Stewart Ranch Foreman’s House is located off highway 35 near Woodland, Utah and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#85001135) on May 23, 1985.

Willie Nelson’s Utah Ranch

18 Sunday Oct 2020

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This ranch on the west side of Highway 89 in Birdseye, Utah is talked about a lot for formerly being owned by country music star Willie Nelson.

Randal B. Thatcher has a cool article in the Sanpete Messenger:
I happened to ask my cowboy neighbor, recently, what he knew about the history of that fabled “WN” ranch, and he promptly introduced me to his longtime friend, Kal, a resident of Mt. Pleasant, who proceeded to give me the following firsthand account, which I paraphrase:

Kal had once been a horse trainer and occasional stunt double for the actor Robert Redford, who introduced him to a friend who was looking to buy some horses. Kal said this would-be buyer did not have the look of a traditional horseman, with his scruffy, white beard, and his dingy, red bandanna tied around a head of long, strawberry-blonde hair.

The buyer turned out to be none other than the famous singer, Willie Nelson.

They instantly hit it off, and before he knew it, Kal was looking for property for the famous singer somewhere in the Central Utah area, where Willie could keep his newly acquired horses and bring friends to visit.

Kal crisscrossed the state from St. George to Spanish Fork looking at over a dozen available properties before finally settling on the 95-acre ranch in Birdseye.

Read the rest of the article here.

Uintah U (Weber)

17 Saturday Oct 2020

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The big letter U on the mountain for Uintah in Weber County, there’s another Uintah U in Vernal.

See other hillside letters on this page.

The Mountainside “U”

Looking east you will see a large white “U” on the side of the mountain. This “U” cemented a bond between the residents of the small community of Uintah and played an important role in its history. The creation of the “U” has been celebrated each year through U-Day that continue to tie the community together.

During the years 1919 and 1922 trouble at the little schoolhouse in the valley began to build between the principal and the older youth; erupting when the principal shot William Lloyd Bybee, 19, a student who died from the wounds. That incident divided the town in 1922, Golden Albert Kilburt was hired as the new principal and he worked to bring the town back together and reunite Uintah.

Kilburn came up with the idea of putting a “U” on the side of the mountain. The “U” would represent the town of Uintah, the word United, the state of Utah, and the United States. Working with Claude Elliot Stuart, Sr., Bishop Charles Fernelius, local scout troop #34, and the land owners Joseph ). and Byran L. Bybee, the mountainside “U” became a community project where they could all work together to become united again.

After 83 years of deterioation and vandalism, the community rebuilt the large “U” in 2005 under the direction of Cheryl Barnum Prescott, James LeRoy Martin, and Mike J. Keyes.

Woodland Cash Store

16 Friday Oct 2020

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Woodland Cash Store

There was a time when most of Woodland‘s residents worked and played where they lived, using local services and relying on the general store for most of their supplies.

This small building supplied nearly everything the community needed for nearly sixty years. Hyrum Winterton and his oldest son, Harold, sold everything from fresh meat, eggs and dairy products to appliances, clothing, nuts and bolts, coal and hay-baling wire, and even pumped gas. They used their trucks to deliver locally produced goods to the Salt Lake and Provo valleys, returning with feed and supplies for local residents.

Hyrum Winterton moved his family to the Woodland Valley because his Charleston farm was destined to be flooded by Deer Creek Reservoir. He purchased a fire-gutted building in the early 1930s, cleared the lot and began construction of this building. Though he hired a mason from Midway to lay the eight-inch-thick brick walls, he and his family built most of the structure.

When Harold died in a truck accident while delivering cattle, Hyrum’s daughter and son-in-law, Luella and Lamont Walker became the sole owners of the shop. After Lamont Walker passed away in 1971, Luella continued to run the store, selling sewing and craft supplies, until she sold the building in 1987.