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Show Form No. 1Q-300a (Hev 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM CQNT} NU ATI ON SHEET ITEM NUMBER DATE 8 PAGE 4 3 twelve streams flowing through a good country into the Great Salt Lake." Fears of the valley's killing frosts and harsh winters related to them by the trappers and the strength of the Shoshooi Indians, who considered the valley their hunting grounds, left the area free of Mormon settlers for a decade. However, the need for further expansion became more intense and in 1859 Peter Maughan received permission from Brigham Young to settle Cache Valley. Maughan and the several families that came with this seasoned pioneer founded a small community at the southwest end of the valley not far from the mountains through which they entered the valley. The community called Maughan's Fort (later named Wellsville) immediately became the rendezvous spot for the flood of new settlers that surged into the valley in the late spring and early summer. Maughan encouraged the new settlers to find new sites and start new communities. He also advised them to follow his pattern of settlement-j the fort style. This method of settlement was used extensively in the early days of Utah. The log houses and dugouts were very close together, but they were separated by a fence that encompassed a back yard of substantial size for the stock. All the | houses were arranged inside a perimeter fence or stockade. One long street divided j the two rows of houses with a gate at each end. The fort style had several advantages;, Most important, it aided in protection against Indian raids. The Shoshonis, though basically nomadic, considered Cache Valley their hunting grounds, and they were naturally disturbed to see the settlers come and compete with them for the wildlife and to turn their pristine valley into a civilization they could not comprehend. On numerous occasions, there were confrontations and killings. One Wellsville citizen explained the Indian experience this way: We had a pretty hard time for three or four years to make a living. We had many times to guard the fort at nights and herd our stock in the day so the Indians could not steal them. In the summer of 1859, the Indians stole every horse that was out on the ranged The fort style protected the settlers from possible intrusions, but it also gavel unity to the town and provided a sense of belonging which most emigrants needed as much as any physical object. One settler explained other advantages of the fort style: ... a splendid lesson had been taught and learned, it being really necessary to love the neighbors, their doors being only half speaking distance apart, 5 which however was quite convenient in one respect, as people had to 5 return. and borrow to task great a not was it extent, borrow to quite an The influx of new settlers brought on a settlement bonanza in 1859. In just a few months, Providence, Logan, Hyde Park, Smithfield, Richmond, and Mendon were 3 Ibid, p. 29 4lbid, P. 35 5 Ibid, p. 35 |
