| OCR Text |
Show WALES. Wales is situated on the west side of the Sanpitch miles from Manti, and near the geo- river eighteen graphical center of the county. The site was located in '57 by Bishop John E. Reese, who, in company with Indian Chief, Tabinan, discovered a vein of coal aii cropping out from the mountain ledges. Two years later about fifteen Welsh families, under the leadership of Bishop Reese, settled on the present beautiful spot and christened the colony Wales, in honor of their native country. They set to work at once and developed the pioneer coal fields of Utah, uncovering a fine vein under a limestone formation. The coal was hauled to Salt Lake City and elsewhere in wagons and was recognized as the best for blacksmithing ever mined in Utah. In '66 the Indians became so troublesome that the colony was abandoned and the people removed to other settlements. The demand for coal was so great that in the miners returned and resumed operations. company was then organized in Salt Lake City, and '68 A in the '70s began the construction of the Sanpete Valley railroad from Xephi to Wales. This enterprise was afterward sold to an English syndicate and the road built The company to this town, which became the terminus. purchased the mines and operated them for some years, when everything was abandoned, the railroad taken up and Wales left an agricultural community. These changes only temporarily affected the citizens, as farms were fenced and cultivated and irrigation canals constructed for reclaiming a large area of the exceedingly fertile soil. |
