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Show '~r?t fgn ~l1 .f" P {·V(J. ·t.; f"f!.U'" Fu·.' S18 Spectrum Sunday, June 22, 1980 • ' I' ~.... - .. .. The .) byRanda1l o. Christe~n " Concerning the coming of the rail~oad to Cedar' City, don't know bow it was, but anybow I bappened to be lu~ky ._ stretchea acrosS" the desert in west Iron County . . Lund George A. Wood recalled his experience,with' Tom Peck in .enough to be able to belp develop a wbole lot those thlJigs. . became the door to' rail traffic for nearly two decades, thesp. words: . . '.. - After the railroad came to Cedar City, I could see the giving Cedar and Parowan residents a freighting haul of . Mr. Peck wanted to go onto Squ~re, or Lone _Tree, . pbilosopby of what be told me. only thirty miles. .. , . Mountain. After arranging for a buggy, Tom Peck .and I . Determined to. get the ~aximum benefit from even that . went.up onto the top of the.mountain. ' We drove asJar as we , Tom ~eck was echoing Brighan Young's prediction made ' close a proximity, enterprising Cedar City citizens formed ,. could, then we footed it up to wbere the lone tree stood. He nearly 70 years earlier. ' "From this city (Salt Lake City), a _ a company,.raised the money by public subscription to put says, "Now, Mr. Wood,l'm a visionary man. I'm-gonna tell ' rail'road will most probably be constructed to Iron County, . up the bond, and sub-let contracts to smaller companies so you wbat! think. I'm' a mamer." He bad with bim a pair ' as also continously to Southern California, terminating af thatthe'road could be'build> . ' , _of binoculars, one of the best pair of binoculars that I ever " San Diego. . · .' '" , . ' Between IS and 20 years, elapsed before any great .enseen, I Utink be told me they came from Scotland. 'It bap- . George A. Smith also saw the need for a railroad. While . th1,1siasm was generated to run a spur·.Jine into Cedar City, pened to be a nice clear day and we could see the butte' out leading the Iron County Mission south" he wro(e a petition : and perhaps the greatest faCtor lay ~n a ·'tourisr' future. on -January 18, 1851, to the General Assembly requesting "a ·.. Theodore Roosevelt's national conservation program had on the deser:t and the whole valley; and be says; "i"Jow, 'you take the binoculars. You can see wbere that butte is out railroad from Salt Lake City to Iron Springs." :' " -.-' resulted in the creation ,.of Grand Canyon Nationl '. , there, Lund is,right north of that. Someday, there will be After the completion of the trans-continental railroad in Monument in '1908, 'Muktmtuweep National Monument train coming in bere to.Cedar City, and they will. come over ,' 1869, the tracks finally began to creep· southward from Salt ' (Zion) in 1~9, and the subsequent establishment of the the bere and they will.take busses and they will go up to Cedar Lake City, first to York in 1875 and then.to Milford In 1880: A' National Parks sCl'Yice in 1916. On the basis of anticipated 'quarter of century oftransportation. using freight wagons, traffic from agriculture, livestock, tourist-travel, and iron Breaks; they will go out to the Grand Canyon; they w1Il go - over to Bryce Canyon; and they w1Il go down,toZion ,P ark." · stages, buckboards, 'and White-tops buggies followed. ' . ~ ore, Union Pacific officials gave ,approval for a spur line I being rather skeptical, .1 though~ ,be waS ·a ~amer. -I . Then, in 1905, the Salt. Lake City to ~os Ang~les railroad ; from ~und to Cedr City. . . _ . . , , '. 0' I Pet.er Yee, owner -FEATURING:':'. Special Chinese and Ame!ican Dinners ' .. - I - Seafoods -Steaks - Lunch M-enue Home cooking in a quiet-cozy Atmosphere. . : • j" F.AMILY DINiNG' . . . . "'; - ," Coffee Shop & Dining Room . . ,I , . Ice Cream Fountain Salad Bar . , . Homemade Soup . Dai,lv Specials = . ".. I I ' Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner ; First train Iron Spring May 28 ' . .' 1923. We'reOpenAfter The Festival $,.a.m ... rnird night 7 days a week · 170.N. • Ma.-n The Cedar City Chamber of .. Commerce ' appointed ..a Cedar City committee to raise funds to purch~se the homes . and • .O rders to Go - 586-6042 . 50WestCent~r. property on the right-or-w.ay, a strip of Jand between the . . . two .towns, and homes o~ two full city blocks. A total of . FflEI; PARKING ON NORTH SIDE CeeJar ~ity .. $115,000 wastrains expended. . _. celebration. .' . ' . .~=;;==~;;;:;:;:===::::===~ 586-7272 The first to arrive were'.heralded with I _~_~___II!I!II~~~~~~__~~~~~ . The first engine over the trach came only to the-vicinity of I Leigh Hill since the last of'track wasn't yet completed. In . the fall of 1851, David Bulloch had ridden on the· running gear of the lead ..yagon of the pioneer corppany known as the_ . - .Scotch Company. By that act, he had become the first" . c white boy on the site. Seventy-two years later, as the last survivor of that memorable company, now in his 70's it was only fitting that he should meet and welcome the first train . , BREAKFAST · by riding on the front of the ffrst engine. That particular . train reached the f:xtreme western limits of the city on . LUNCH .. Sunday, June 10, -1923. Pictures were .taken .and a celebration w~s held . .The last rail was laid June IS, 1923,at DINNER 1l:15 a.m. Once·work began on the'.spur line, it was rush'ed ' , to completion i~ .87 days at a cost ·· to Union·· P.acific- oJ . .,OPEN $1,049,000. .' 6am-10pm On June 27, 1923, seventeen days after c the arrival of the . . . .; • • , first train, U.S. President Warren G. Harding and his party Daily • arrived. They were making a quic){ trip though the nation . , OUR and wanted to see Zion National Park. The dignitaries were welcomed by . the local president commitiee~ 36 native . . SPECIALTY .~.. :::'.;( ::: Pahutes, and a crowd estimated at 6,000 ail~ extraordinary 15,- . number wh~n the limited population of this,section of.Utah .Homemade Pies. Daily specials. Homemade breads · ~~~~~-;;~ HOME MADE . is considered.lt was ah' occision of great solemnity rather · ALSO VISIT OUR than a cheering demons~ratin. As the ' fourteen-auto PIES caravan m.oved up Main Str~et, tears were too plentiful and throats too full for cheers. . . " . '." At the close of the remarkable day when the celetlrities .. ' '-V . ' .(upstairs). ' returned to Cedar City, the townspeople crowded. the train plat~orm, ,where they shook hands with the P.resident. Old Spain Atmosphere Then, while the crowd stood with uncovered heads -as the . 6pm - 11 pm Daily' train moved out and the President waved his~ "good-bye"; . . S{J!>cializing in... STEA!<S : LOBSTER - SHRIMP Gordon Matheson's clear ~enor' voice led the assembagle in . singing, "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." The ap- . .. - propriateness of the sOJlg stirred the vast majority to tears. The long predicted rail service to Cedar City was finally 'a " ( -. COCKTA'/LS'& WINES •....~ reality. The Union 'Pacific purchased Hotel Er Escalante, . orgimized the" Utah Parks Company, which absorbed Located Downtown Cedar~City , · private tourist enterprises, and settled down to the business of inviting the world r to come and ' see the unexcelled 586-67~1 grandeur.of Southern Utah. rr;;;!~~~~~ ~ ~~ ·~a.~~ to12p~m. , " ">Pa ~~ Joda S;E~K R~OM .'. ,', SAlAD, BAR; . :', ... ' 155 N. MAIN, -. |
