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Tag Archives: La Verkin

The Historic Hurricane Canal

18 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Canals, historic, Historic Markers, Hurricane, La Verkin, SUP, utah, Washington County

2017-03-05 08.35.00

SUP Marker # 101B in Hurricane. (Also located here is #118)

When first conceived, the Hurricane Canal seemed like an impossible dream. Beginning at a point seven miles up the Virgin River, water had to travel through flumes, tunnels, and over deep ravines. The canal had to hang on steep, unstable cliffs and be tunneled through sections of mountain. To make matters more difficult, money was virtually non-existent for the local residents. Engineers said the canal could not be built.

Upriver, the little towns suffered from the flash floods of the wild Virgin River that devoured half their farmland. The men were desperate. More cultivated land was needed to support their growing families. In the fall of 1893, James Jepson of Virgin and John Steele of Toquierville envisioned and promoted the plan for the water to be brought to the “Hurricane Bench.” With a simple carpenter’s spirit level, they figured a feasible route, and men were recruited from neighboring towns. Isaac McFarlane, county surveyor, surveyed and estimated the construction cost at $53,000. The only tools available were picks, shovels, crowbars, and a homemade wheelbarrow. Over 100 hopeful me worked on the canal project the first few winters.

By 1902, long after the expected completion date, only eight to ten men were left working. Many of the men had sold their stock and quit. Expensive portions remained undone, and the few remaining men were broke and discouraged. Life was injected back into the project when Jepson went to Salt Lake City and convinced the LDS Church to buy $5,000 worth of canal stock. The influx of money restored morale; and now, giant powder to blast through tunnels and lumber to build the flumes could be purchased.

Two years later, August 6, 1904, the impossible dream came true as water flowed onto the Hurricane Bench from the canal, giving life to 2,000 acres of fertile land. The valley could now be settled. After twelve years of sacrifice, incredibly hard work, and true grit, a community was born, complete with real heroes.

The vision of two men, James Jepson and John Steele, along with the faith, dedication, and tenacity of many others, changed forever the lives and dreams of thousands of people in Utah’s Dixie. They did all this for their families. And they did it for us. We give thanks to these men of valor.

See other historic markers in the series on this page for SUP Markers.

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Toquerville, Utah

26 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

La Verkin, Toquerville, utah, Washington County

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Toquerville was named after an early Paiute chief. The population has grown from only 19 families in the late 1800s. Toquerville’s proximity to Zion National Park has created a healthy tourism economy where the community traditionally had depended on agriculture.

Although it was still a town at the 2000 census, Toquerville became a city at the end of 2000.

Toquerville Posts:

  • Toquerville DUP Marker

Washington, Utah

02 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Hurricane, La Verkin, St. George, utah, Washington, Washington County

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Washington is part of the St. George Metropolitan Area, also known as Utah’s Dixie because the Mormon pioneers that settled the St. George area came to the area to raise cotton, which was milled at the cotton mill in Washington. The population was 8,186 at the 2000 census, and 18,761 as of the 2010 Census. The city administration has tried to encourage the use of the name “Washington City” in recent years , relying on old pioneer documents from the 19th Century that use that term, but many cities haphazardly added “City” to early documents when it was never intended that the cities involved use “City” as part of their names. The U.S. Post Office lists “Washington, UT 84780.”

Washington Posts:

  • Covington Mansion
  • Nisson Park
  • Washington Cotton Factory

 

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Virgin, Utah

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

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La Verkin, utah, Virgin, Washington County

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Virgin was first settled by whites in 1857 six miles east of La Verkin. The site is enclosed by red sandstone cliffs and had an early name of pocketville because the local Indian name meant a pocket or hole. The settlement soon took the name of the nearby Virgin River.

In May 2000, a law was passed which required every homeowner to keep and maintain a firearm. This was highlighted in Michael Moore’s 2002 film Bowling for Columbine. Exceptions to this law include “the mentally ill, convicted felons, conscientious objectors and people who cannot afford to own a gun”.

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Hurricane, Utah

22 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Hurricane, La Verkin, St. George, utah, Washington County

  • hurricane

The Paiute Indians called the area Timpoweap, “Rock Canyon”. It is a deep gorge where the Virgin River emerges from the Hurricane Fault. The town of Hurricane lies below the fault to the south of the river and the community of La Verkin. Hot sulphur springs boil up from the bottom and sides of the river on the fault line. About one mile below the hot springs the conjoined streams of Ash Creek and La Verkin Creek make a common confluence with the Virgin River. It is a site of great historical significance.

Dominguez and Escalante in 1776 made the first historical reference to American irrigation as they observed it at this watercourse confluence: it was a Paiute Indian farm and remains a farm to this day. There are those who say that mountain men Jedediah Smith, George C. Yount, and William Wolfskill passed this way. For certain, the Parley P. Pratt southern expedition of 1849-50 and the John Steele–J.C.L. Smith exploration of 1852 along the Markagunt Plateau and Upper Virgin River used this river junction as a landmark. It was a place that could be forded.

The river has cut deep into the volcanic walls of Timpoweap Canyon, thus making it impossible to take water directly to the table-lands above. However, the soil was fertile and there was good forage, so the pioneer residents of Toquerville and Virgin town were able to use the benchland as range for their herds. These users always dreamed that some day they could get irrigation water onto the flat surface.

Hurricane Posts:

  • Birth of Hurricane
  • Hurricane High School
  • Hurricane Historic District
  • Hurricane Library/City Hall
  • Hurricane Pioneers
  • Hurricane Valley Pioneer Heritage Park
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La Verkin Canal

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DUP, historic, La Verkin, utah, Washington County

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La Verkin Canal

These things are not is use as the modern technology of pipes are now how Hurricane gets water. “In December of 1888, Thomas P. Cottam and Thomas Judd made a preliminary survey to determine the probable cost of a canal. Early in 1889, Isaac C. MacFarlane made a working survey, and work was started as soon as his survey was completed. In June of 1889, the La Verkin Fruit and Nursery Company was incorporated to establish nurseries, orchards, and vineyards and to promote fruit raising, stock raising and general farming, all of which would be benefited by the canal. The building of this canal was difficult. The canal leaves the Virgin River on the north side about two and one-half miles above the La Verkin hot springs and follows along the precipitous canyon walls for about a mile and a half. The ditch then enters a tunnel through the mountains for about nine hundred feet opening out upon the La Verkin bench. Because most of the canal is built in the rocks, the builders felt it was completely secure. The first years were difficult because the patches of gypsum in the rocks in the ditch constantly melted away, both in the canyon and in the tunnel. Lack of water when it was most needed threatened to make the project a complete loss. Leaks were plugged with rocks and then “pulled” with dirt. Cotton lint from the Washington Factory, straw, and bagasse were used without much success. Finally the worst places were flumed with lumber, and water became more certain. Water was vital to the western pioneers. The La Verkin canal was an extremely difficult, but successful, solution to this problem.”

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Check out all of the historic markers placed by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers at JacobBarlow.com/dup

La Verkin

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DUP, historic, La Verkin, utah, Washington County

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La Verkin – “Indian for Beautiful Valley”

In 1881 Thomas Judd, promoter, with others completed an 840 foot tunnel and 1 1/4 mile canal to bring water from the Rio Virgin for the cultivation of this valley. Excavations opened a large crystal cave of stalactite and stalagmites. In 1903, the first post office with H.W. Gubler as post master. June 23, 1904, an L.D.S. Ward was organized under a bowery with Morris Wilson as bishop, in 1904 first school house was built.

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Check out all of the historic markers placed by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers at JacobBarlow. com/dup

Hurricane Pioneers

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DUP, historic, Historic Markers, Hurricane, La Verkin, St. George, utah, Washington County

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Hurricane Pioneers

In 1863 settlers on the upper Virgin River whose lands were being washed away, made preliminary surveys for irrigating and occupying these lands. Erastus Snow, David H. Cannon and Nephi Johnson came down the hill over an old Indian trail, with a heavy buggy drawn by mules, using ropes to keep it from tipping.  A whirlwind took the top off the buggy.  Erastus Snow exclaimed, “Well, that was a hurricane. We’ll name this Hurricane Hill.” The fault, bench and town were named from this event.

This historic marker is located in Hurricane Valley Pioneer Heritage Park in Hurricane, Utah.

See other D.U.P. Markers here.

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La Verkin, Utah

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

La Verkin, utah, Washington County

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La Verkin is a city in Washington County, Utah, United States. The population was 4,719 as of 2010, an increase from 3,392 in 2000. La Verkin is within walking distance of Hurricane, Utah, and the two cities have historically had close ties.

La Verkin Posts:

  • La Verkin Canal
  • La Verkin “Indian for Beautiful Valley”

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Theories about the origin of the city’s name suggest that it may be a corruption of the Spanish la virgen, after the nearby Virgin River, or possibly an error in the transcription of the term “beaver skin.”

The city made national headlines in 2001 when the City Council passed an ordinance declaring La Verkin a “United Nations-free zone”.

La Verkin contains the southern most highway junction to Zion National Park, at the intersection of Utah SR-9. The city is also home to Pah Tempe Hot Springs; a historic volcanic sulfur spring that sits on the edge of Virgin River. There’s also a noted pony-truss style bridge, built in 1908, that rises some 600ft over the river, spanning over 75ft in length.


Visit my list of places in Utah.


2017-03-04 17.08.22

2017-03-04 17.08.41

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