A History of Uintah County

Law and order

13 Silver Stars and Jailhouse Bars LAW AND ORDER W, hen settlement began in Ashley Valley in 1873, Utah was governed by territorial law. Ashley Valley, located in Wasatch County, was far removed from other settlements, and, until the establishment of Uintah County in 1880, all legal matters, criminal cases, probate, and civil court cases were handled in Heber City, the county seat. Many disputes were settled with fists or the end of a six-shooter. Minor infractions by LDS church members were usually handled ecclesiastically by local Mormon church officials. Isolated geographically from the county seat, residents of Ashley Valley petitioned the territorial legislature in 1880 for their own county. On 18 February 1880 the territorial legislature created Uintah County, which included all of northeastern Utah from the Utah- Colorado line west to the 110 meridian, south to the Green River and the Emery County line, and east to the Utah-Colorado line. The town of Ashley was made the county seat. The legislature appointed Jeremiah Hatch as probate judge and Pardon Dodds, Thomas Bingham, Sr., and Isaac Burton, Sr., as select­men. 1 When the first elections were held in August 1880, Isaac 368 LAW AND ORDER 369 Burton, Soloman Roof, and S. Campbell were elected as selectmen. The following year Roof's post was declared vacant and N. C. Davis was appointed as selectman. In August 1880 the legislature selected Thomas Bingham as the county probate judge.2 Bingham was one of the early settlers in the county and a local leader of the Mormon church. The judge presided over the selectmen (changed to county commissioners in 1896) in meetings where county decisions were made. In addition to deciding wills and probates, administering the estates of deceased persons, serving as guardians of minors and oth­ers incapable of caring for themselves, and granting petitions for United States citizenship, county probate judges presided over all civil and criminal cases in the county, thus making the probate judge a very powerful official. The territorial legislature continued to select county probate judges until the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887 when Congress gave that power of selection to the president of the United States. Isaac Burton, a non-Mormon, was appointed acting probate judge in 1882 to fill the remaining term of Thomas Bingham, who was in hiding from federal marshals who were hunting polygamists in the territory. Bingham was eventually arrested, tried, and sen­tenced to three months in the territorial prison at Sugar House, near Salt Lake City. James H. Glines was chosen probate judge and remained in office until 1889 when Burton was appointed by President Grover Cleveland. Burton remained judge through May 1894, when E.J. DeFriez was appointed. DeFriez officiated until 1896, at which time Utah became a state and probate judges were elimi­nated from county government. The first meetings of the probate judge and county selectmen were held in the cabin William Gibson had moved into the town of Ashley during the Meeker Massacre scare. Uintah County purchased Gibson's cabin to serve as the courthouse. After the county seat was moved to Vernal in 1893, the county moved the "Gibson Courthouse" to 92 North Vernal Avenue where it was used as the courthouse until 1899 when the residents of the county approved a building bond of $16,000 to build a new courthouse. Construction on the new building began in 1900. Passage of the Poland Act by Congress in 1874 removed all civil 370 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY and criminal authority from the county probate judges. Federal dis­trict courts in the territory were given jurisdiction over all civil and criminal cases, and Uintah County was placed in the district court located in Provo. When Utah gained statehood in 1896, the state constitution cre­ated six district courts, with Uintah County assigned to the Fourth District Court headquartered in Provo. In 1978 a circuit-court sys­tem was established in addition to the district courts. Kenneth G. Anderton became the first circuit-court judge, and he was succeeded by Whitney Hammond in 1980. After Hammond retired in 1984, A. Lynn Payne served until 1993. In 1982 Uintah County had become part of the Seventh District Court, and Richard Davidson of Vernal and Boyd Bunnell of Price were appointed as judges. In 1986 Dennis L. Draney became district court judge. In 1989 Uintah County was placed in the Eighth District Court, which serves Uintah, Daggett, and Duchesne counties with two judges, currently John R. Anderson and A. Lynn Payne The first prosecuting, or county, attorney was William Ashton, who was appointed by the probate judge, probably in 1881. His remuneration was set at 25 percent of all fines collected in cases pros­ecuted by him. In 1895 the Constitution of the State of Utah pro­vided that the county attorney should be elected for a two-year term. William Gibson was appointed the first county constable in May 1880. In August, after deliberation by the county selectmen, a second constabular position to serve the Brown's Park precinct was placed on the ballot. This constable was also the poundkeeper and had authority to administer the law, but he was subordinate to the elected sheriff. In their isolation, the first lawmen often had to be prosecu­tor, judge, and jury. A great deal of outlaw activity occurred in the area, especially in remote sections like Brown's Park. The chief law-enforcement officer for Uintah County is the sher­iff. The county sheriff was elected for two-year terms of office. The first elected sheriff for Uintah County was Lycurgus lohnson. He and those who succeeded him were responsible for keeping the peace in an isolated county where cattle theft and general lawlessness were common. Trespassing offenses on the Indian reservation were fre- LAW AND ORDER 371 quent, and the Strip presented a major law-enforcement problem for lawmen. W. C. Britt was appointed the first justice of the peace for the Ashley Precinct in May 1880. The number of justice-of-peace precincts in the county fluctuated through the years, but by 1940 only three precincts were operating-one assigned to the eastern part of the county, one to the western section, and one at Vernal. In 1989 the legislature changed the name of justice of the peace to justice court judge. In 1991 the districts in the county were consolidated to one Uintah County justice court with one judge. When Naples City came into existence, Rolene Smith Allen was appointed Naples City Justice Court judge. In luly 1994 changes were made again when Vernal City began its own justice court and appointed Pat McRae as city justice court judge. This made three jus­tice courts functioning in the area. Brent Feltch is currently serving as judge for the Uintah County lustice Court. Uintah County Jails Jail facilities were inadequate before the turn of the century. After Uintah County was formed in 1880, local prisoners were often boarded in the sheriff's or constable's homes. If the prisoner was considered dangerous, he was handcuffed and the officer sat up at night and guarded him. When Sheriff Sterling Colton had to leave home, he left a handcuffed prisoner in a bed for his wife to watch.3 The first county jail was built in 1883; it was twelve by fourteen feet, with stone walls two feet thick and nine feet high, covered with square timbers six inches thick, and featuring a durable door with substantial locks and hinges. The door was lined with sheet iron and there was one window with bars. The roof was covered with dirt. This jail soon was destroyed by fire, and in September 1884 plans for a much larger jail, twenty by thirty feet, were let out for bids. The bids for the new jail were evidently too high-county offi­cials authorized Sheriff Johnson to fix up the cellar back of his store to serve as the jail. In 1885 Johnson built a rock jail and rented it to the county for two years. This jail did not prove satisfactory, how­ever, and in 1887 two "iron cages" were ordered, and a jail of logs and rocks was built around the cages, or cells as they are now 372 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY Uintah County Courthouse with log jail in the background on the left. (UCLRHC collection) called.4 An inspection of the jail found it to be in good condition except for the fact that weapons could be slipped through the win­dow or through an opening dug between the logs, so the sheriff was compelled to keep guard day and night when he had a prisoner. After the county seat was moved to Vernal, the jail was taken apart and moved to the present courthouse grounds, where it was used until 1910 when it was replaced by a new brick building.5 When the second courthouse was built in 1959, it included a jail in the base­ment. In 1985, after the third courthouse was built, a brick jail was built to the east of the courthouse. This jail can house 110 prisoners. Sheriffs and Outlaws William Gibson acted as sheriff until the first county election was held in 1880. In 1881 he was defeated by Lycurgus lohnson in the election. Sheriff Sterling Driggs Colton became the next elected sheriff in the fall of 1883 and he, like his predecessors, had to enforce the law during a period of peak outlaw activity in the region.6 Once Colton made a long hard horseback trip to LAW AND ORDER 373 Uintah County Courthouse with the new brick jail on the left of the court­house. (UCLRHC collection) Greystone, Colorado, to bring back a prisoner. He placed the pris­oner in jail and went home for some badly needed rest. The next morning he was informed that the prisoner had escaped and was in a local saloon bragging how the sheriff could not capture him again. The sheriff stepped into the dimly lit saloon and saw a man move away from the bar, then saw a flash, and a bullet went through his hat. Colton drew his gun and in seconds the man lay dead on the saloon floor. Colton felt remorseful about shooting the man 374 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY even though it was in self-defense, and he was thankful he never had to kill another criminal.7 William E. French was the next sheriff, elected in the fall of 1887, and, like those before him, he tried to take care of the crime in the valley but made no attempt to cover Brown's Hole (Park). The his­tory and lore of Uintah County includes many stories of the activi­ties of outlaws who frequented Vernal and sought refuge in Brown's Hole, a part of Uintah County until 1917. Characters like Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay, Queen Ann Bassett, Gunplay Maxwell, David Lant, and "Mad Dog" Harry Tracy are among the best known; but many other outlaws also left their mark on the county. Brown's Hole, located in the corners of three states, became a favored location for men on the run from the law. The Utah por­tion of the area was in Uintah County. Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch headquartered in the Hole. His lieutenant, Elza Lay, married an Ashley Valley girl, Maude Davis, as did outlaws Cleophas Dowd, who married Ella Colton, niece of Sheriff Sterling Colton, and Gunplay Maxwell, who married Ada Slaugh from the Davis Ward area. Ashley Valley boys who took up with outlaws included David, John, and Alma Rasmussen, lames McKee, and Robert and Charles Atwood.8 The outlaws spent a lot of time in Ashley and Vernal saloons. Charlie Crouse of Brown's Hole, who was perhaps the worst outlaw of them all, purchased a saloon in Vernal and kept beds upstairs for outlaws. Butch Cassidy purchased a .45-caliber Colt six-shot revolver in 1895 from the Ashley Valley Co-op in Vernal;9 but Cassidy and his gang maintained good terms with the people of Ashley and Vernal, doing their skullduggery elsewhere. Robberies, hold-ups of travelers, and murders kept Uintah County law officers busy. A favorite story is told of a robbery at the old Ashley Valley Co­op in 1888. Clerk Enos Bennion had just locked up for the night when George Bartlett, Charley Weist, and George Freestone wanted to come in so Weist could buy a hat. Bennion let them in and climbed upon a ladder, as the hats were on the top shelf. The door had been left open and two outlaws entered the store shouting, "Hands up!" Charley responded, "What the hell for?" One of the two men shot a revolver in the air, and Bennion came LAW AND ORDER 375 down the ladder fast. He was ordered to unlock the safe, which held two drawers of money-gold, silver, and paper. The men each took a drawer and ran out of the store. Mounting their horses, they rode straight south out of town. Reaching Fifth South, in front of the Bartlett home, they hurriedly emptied the money into a sack and threw the drawers down. The next morning one of the Bartlett boys found sixteen dollars in change lying at the side of the road. The rob­bers also missed a bag in the safe containing fifty dollars in gold pieces. After the holdup, an examination of the hat Bennion had been wearing revealed the bullet had passed within an eighth of an inch of his head. His hat hung on a wall in the office for many years as a memento of his close brush with death.10 When John T. Pope was elected in 1890, he became the first sher­iff to venture into Brown's Hole and even had a ranch on Red Creek north of the larvie ferry. It was said that Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay often spent time at Pope's ranch. Ann Bassett (called queen of the outlaws) lived in Brown's Hole and wrote in her diary that Pope was friendly with the outlaws, who were often at his place.11 After one of their bank robberies, Pope received a warrant for the arrest of Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay. Even though Pope had never had any trouble with them, the sheriff formed a posse. It was rumored Cassidy and Lay were staying at the Allan Davis ranch north of Vernal; Davis was Lay's father-in-law. The outlaws were tipped off and, evading the posse, rode into town to the Overholt Saloon. When the posse arrived back in town, young Albert Davis warned the out­laws, who escaped out the back door and left town. Three weeks later Pope received a postcard mailed from a town in Arizona. It read, "Pope, gawd damn you, lay off me. I don't want to kill you!" It was signed "Butch." Ann Bassett wrote in her diary that she thought Pope turned his head and let Butch step out the back door of the Vernal saloon and escape.12 Pope did bring many other outlaws from Brown's Hole to justice. One malefactor, nicknamed Buckskin Ed, went to the Hole after causing trouble in Vernal; Pope went after him. After arresting the man, Pope attempted to bring him across the Green River in a boat. He turned his back for a moment and the outlaw slipped out a con­cealed knife and stuck it in Pope's throat. Pope whipped out his 376 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY revolver and fired, dropping the outlaw into the river. The sheriff tied a kerchief around his neck and made it home. When asked what had become of Buckskin Ed the sheriff replied, "The last time I saw him he was on his way to Arizona."13 Pope was sheriff during the worst outlaw times and had to kill many men to enforce the law and pro­tect himself. Cattle rustlers contributed greatly to the problems of the sheriff. Sheriff Pope had trouble with local outlaws as well. The McKee brothers from Diamond Mountain were in constant trouble. On the Fourth of luly 1891, jim McKee came into town and stood on a street corner making remarks about the law which he punctuated occa­sionally with a shot from his gun. Pope walked up and told McKee he was under arrest. McKee went for his gun, but Richard Pope, John's brother and later sheriff himself, came up behind McKee and hit him over the head with his gun butt, knocking him out. Another time Pope was shot at while walking down a dark street in Vernal. He believed the shooter was McKee; however, he could not prove it, and could do nothing but be glad the bullet had missed him. The sheriff's reputation grew, and it was said that outlaw gangs offered a reward on his life, ranging up to $4,000. The sheriff was ambushed several times but his good fortune and alertness kept him alive. Stories of Sheriff Pope's adventures are numerous.14 In 1898 Sheriff William Preece took a posse into Brown's Hole after one of the most hardened outlaws, Harry Tracy, an escapee from the Salt Lake City jail along with David Lant, a young man who had previously worked for the McCoy Sheep Company and spent a lot of time in Vernal. A story appeared in the 25 November 1897, Vernal Express stating Sheriff Preece had been looking for Lant and Tracy, who had been hiding in the valley. The outlaws had stolen sev­eral horses from ranchers living in Merrill Ward (Naples) and were traced to the Uintah Reservation where some of the horses were recovered. The escapees hid out in the outlying Naples area with some of Lant's old friends, Will Bascom and Charlie and Nephi Atwood-young Mormon boys gone astray. Tracy and Lant rode with the Atwood boys, Jacob Kay, and Will Bascom to Waldemar Lybbert's place in Naples. Four horsemen came in view riding fast toward them. Tracy had a spy glass; he looked in it and said, "It's the LAW AND ORDER 377 law, give me my rifle, I'll stop 'em!" Bascom looked through the glass and exclaimed, "Hold your fire, that's my brother lack!" So the out­laws jumped on their horses and escaped. lack Bascom, David Manwaring, Waldemar Lybbert, and Sheriff Preece made up the posse. Lybbert had worked with the sheriff of Lavern, Utah, before coming to Vernal, where he had been deputized to keep law and order in Naples.15 Lant and Tracy hid out around Vernal until it was no longer safe and then went on to Brown's Hole. The two hunted men joined with another badman, Patrick Louis lohnson, who ended up killing Willie Strang. The outlaws fled to the hills and a posse was formed to go after them. This venture ended with the capture of the outlaws by the Vernal and Craig, Colorado, lawmen and posses. One man, lohn Bennett, who had tried to help the outlaws was hung from the Bassett gate by vigilantes.16 Several young men of the Vernal area who took up with the out­laws, including Charles and Robert Atwood and James McKee, ended up in prison. Before Sheriff Preece and other lawmen left for Salt Lake City with the young Vernal outlaws, the jail was guarded for sev­eral hours in order to avoid interference from their friends.17 Henry Lee operated a roadhouse at Halfway Hollow near the notorious Strip west of Vernal and became friendly with outlaws. He joined in at least one robbery that can be documented and served five years and six months of an eight-year sentence in the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary.18 Elza Lay and other outlaws ran a saloon on the Strip where silver dollars and currency were counterfeited. Pope was assigned to close the saloon, to take inventory, and sell the building and stock. He found about two thousand dollars in counterfeit currency which he turned over to the Northwestern Detective Agency at Denver, Colorado.19 Lay also had a racetrack on the Strip where horseraces were held with the Indians and gambling was common. As long as outlaws stayed in the Strip area, they were fairly safe from the law, as only a federal marshal could enforce the law and even then only for violations of federal statutes. This strip of land had been removed from the Ute Indian Reservation for mining purposes; but, since it still remained within the boundaries of the reservation, it was diffi- 378 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY cult to enforce the law there. This left it wide open for saloons, gam­bling, and brothels, resulting in an outlaw paradise. Uintah County records indicate that at least sixteen men were killed in gunfights on the Strip from 1888 to 1906. These were only the deaths that were officially investigated; recollections by early settlers account for many more.20 Between 1911 and 1933 major crimes facing the sheriffs had changed from outlaws riding horses to bootleggers in cars during Prohibition. In 1909 Utah's governor refused to sign legislation cre­ating a local option to prohibit alcohol. In the Vernal City election of 5 November 1909 the choice of Vernal remaining "wet" or going "dry" was placed on the ballot. The citizens chose to remain wet, not because "Vernal was a town of drunkards" but because "they knew that liquor would be sold and drank in the town, and they preferred to have it done openly, under strict and proper regulation, than in the hidden caverns of perjured protection." It was also felt that since the legislature had decided it too risky an experiment for the state, it was certainly too much of an experiment for the little town of Vernal.21 A move was made, however, by the anti-saloon people to ban sales of liquor; yet Republicans held dances and rallies to keep the town wet and won big. However, the movement to ban con­sumption became too strong to ignore, and in 1911 the governor signed an option bill. As a result of the legislature's action nearly every community in Utah, including Vernal, went dry. A local anti-saloon league was organized in 1913 by twenty-two prominent LDS church leaders. Its purpose was to prevent the reinstatement of saloons in Vernal.22 The local saloons changed to pool halls which sold only beer; however, gambling became a big problem and boot­legging escalated. Seven years later, in 1918, Utah banned all alcohol sales and con­sumption. The U.S. government did the same after passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution two years later. Even then many people refused to give up liquor consumption, and numerous stills were set up in Uintah County from Tridell to Randlett, Deep Creek to Jensen. Stills were found in cellars, a restau­rant, under a truck garden, and in a honey house; even a janitor had a little bootlegging business going under the Uintah State Bank.23 LAW AND ORDER 379 Josie Bassett Morris ran a still on Cub Creek, bringing her moonshine to town in false-bottomed milk cans; another bootlegger floated his product in fish nets in the Green River. Sheriff Lafe Richardson, who began his duties in 1918, confiscated thousands of gallons of liquor, arrested many bootleggers, and destroyed many stills during this period. One humorous incident occurred when the sheriff arrested some Kemmerer, Wyoming, men bootlegging in Vernal. The Kemmerer whiskey had a reputation of being the best around, and it sold well in Vernal. The sheriff confiscated the whiskey and stored it in a cell in the jail. Two young men had been arrested and placed in the next cell. When a friend, Harold Workman, came to visit, he sug­gested the men snare a few bottles of whiskey out of the next cell for him. The whiskey could not be reached from the prisoners' cell, so Harold went home and made a hook. This worked so well that the men went into business and bootlegged whiskey out the jailhouse window. The whiskey was nearly gone when the sheriff caught on to what was happening.24 In 1933 the majority in the state voted to repeal Prohibition, although the majority in Uintah County voted to remain dry. At that time a liquor store was opened in Vernal and was located in the Uintah Rexall Drug Store, with proprietor T.T. Johnston appointed as Utah liquor agent for Uintah County. During Herb Snyder's seventeen-year tenure as sheriff--1939-45 and 1947-58-two savage murders of women occurred, in 1943 and 1956. Sheriff Snyder and his deputies solved both crimes, bringing the perpetrators to justice. His successor, Norman Fletcher, was sher­iff from 1959 to 1970-and endeavored to keep rebellious youths in line as drug use became more common. Sheriff Arden Stewart took over from Fletcher in 1971 and served until 1986. Stewart had to con­tend with witchcraft cults and claimed UFO sightings, for which cat­tle mutilations in the area were occasionally blamed. The current sheriff, Rick Hawkins, like the lawmen of old, has to handle gangs, and the modern gangs with cars and motorcycles are proving perhaps more troublesome than the old ones who rode horses. Hawkins also faces the growing problem of narcotic rings in addition to the increase in gang activity and violence. 380 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY City Marshals and Police On 5 December 1893 WC. Britt presented a petition with fifty-one signatures to the county court requesting a town charter for Vernal. Incorporation followed and elections were held in November 1894. lohn W Galloway was elected to serve as the first Vernal town marshal. Galloway served one year and did not file to run in the fol­lowing November election, nor did anyone else. County Sheriff lohn T. Pope agreed to be the combined city marshal and sheriff and served in this capacity until 1899. Elections were held every two years on the even-numbered year. As Vernal had been incorporated as a third-class city in 1897, the job was now called city marshal. In 1899 J.M. Tolliver became the city marshal.25 During his sec­ond term, however, he was arrested by the sheriff for "retaking" tres­passing animals. He also was in constant trouble with the sheriff for being drunk and disorderly. In October 1901 he submitted his resig­nation to the city council at their request. Fred Wood was elected as the next city marshal and held the position twelve years, longer than any other marshal, although the years were not in succession. Two other long-time marshals were Lafayette (Lafe) Richardson, serving ten years, and Herman Miller, also serving ten years. The early city marshals were often busy keep­ing peace in the area saloons. In 1907 Marshal Richardson had to arrest saloon owner Jim MacKnight (Josie Bassett Morris's first hus­band) for keeping a disorderly house. Marshals also found themselves settling disputes over water, animals, or women. Some amusing incidents occurred. Marshal Richardson once arrested men for speeding on Vernal Avenue with a sleigh and team, and the judge gave them a steep fine. In 1908 city marshal Hyrum Meeks, who was nicknamed, "Little Detective," was taking some pris­oners out for exercise and forgot something; as he stepped back inside to get the item, a prisoner slammed the door and locked him in. The prisoner, a local man serving time for a minor charge, did this as a joke, but by the time the door was shut he found himself look­ing down the barrel of a gun and found that the joke was on him. Tragedy was also part of the job; Meeks was once called to a site LAW AND ORDER 381 where the dirt roof of a cabin had caved in, killing two boys and injuring their mother. By 1906 Vernal also had a night watchman who patrolled the city streets at night. Henry Foster was city marshal in 1912 and Andrew King was the night marshal. Vernal had voted to outlaw liquor in 1911 and city officials believed the state liquor law gave them power to pass a search-and-seizure ordinance when they had reason to believe liquor for sale was being kept on saloon premises. King and Foster raided Henry J. Erekson's saloon and confiscated over $1,000 worth of liquor. Erekson brought suit against the two officers and city justice B.D. Nebeker to recover the value of the liquor. The district court ruled against the city and the officers after a long court fight. Another saloon owner, Bert Singleton, also brought a suit against the two officers. The pressure proved too much for these two lawmen, and they resigned in December of the first year of their term.26 Marshal Byron Eaton was instructed in 1920 to arrest people exceeding the 8-mile-per-hour speed limit. Night marshal Adam Erickson served for about twelve years under many of the city mar­shals. Several of the marshals also were elected as sheriff, either before or after serving their terms as city marshal; but only John T. Pope served in both capacities at the same time. In 1949 Arthur P. Corless's name began appearing in the local newspaper as chief of police. In lanuary 1950 the city reappointed Corless as chief of police, which is the first record this writer found officially designating a Vernal chief of police.27 In October 1952 the city council reorganized the police force and introduced new regulations. All police officers were given equal rank, with City Manager LeRoy Taylor given chief-of-police authority-the office of chief of police being considered unnecessary by the council. At this time the officers who had been called marshals were desig­nated policemen and their badges were changed to read "Vernal City Police." (The badges were updated in 1993 to read "Vernal Police Department.") The officers were also required to wear police uni­forms. Officers at that time were Art Corless, Carl Staley, Hugo Hullinger, lack Boren, and Boyd Boren. In March 1954 it was decided that a police chief was needed, and Jack Boren was appointed. Earl Labrum was hired to replace him on 382 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY the force. Boren ran for sheriff in the primary election and lost just before he resigned at the end of September. Officer Carl Staley was appointed to temporarily fill his position. By November it was decided not to refill the position, and city manager LeRoy Taylor was placed over the police force again; but he soon resigned due to health problems. Morris Caldwell was appointed chief of police in April 1955. Harold Alexander was appointed as policeman in his place. Caldwell resigned, and Claudius Banks was appointed chief of police on 31 May 1956, serving for eighteen years before retiring in 1974. The largest police force under Banks was seven officers. The police force was reorganized in November 1972, at which time Banks was put in charge of special investigations. Captain Richard Horton was appointed head of the Vernal Police Department and was in charge of the criminal-investigation division. Lieutenant Milburn Hatch assumed the duties of traffic division officer. Other officers were Lowell Gray, Tom Campbell, and Darrell Lance. In 1974 Jock Jones was appointed chief of police; there were ten men on the force. During his six-year period in office, a few major crimes occurred and he spent much of his time modernizing the depart­ment. Officers Mike Hamner and Robert Downard began computer­ization of the department under Chief lones. Robert Downard became chief of police in 1980. The force rose to thirteen officers as the oil-shale boom was in full swing and tran­sient workers camped along the Green River. This "shadow popula­tion" created many problems for the officers, and the police force grew to twenty-three men by 1983. Downard was then faced with handling the bust period when oil-shale activity decreased dramati­cally. The force dropped from twenty-three to thirteen officers. Drug problems had become common and Vernal's police started focusing on the situation as a crime problem. Downard established the "Uinta Basin Narcotics Strike Force." An extensive surveillance of possible drug rings in the county and drug traffic in schools was the result. Also under Downard, the "Child Abuse Task Force" was set up in 1988. This was one of the first such units in the nation and has been used as a training model for others desirous of establishing a similar task force. LAW AND ORDER 383 Following Downard's resignation in 1990, Mike Hamner was appointed chief of police. Thirteen men remained on the force along with one animal control officer. The economy was healthier during Hamner's first years, with a steady increase in local population. In 1992, after nearly a year of investigation, law-enforcement officers arrested seventy-two Uinta Basin residents for narcotics and firearms violations. Gang activity became a problem in the 1990s, with several known gangs established in Vernal by 1994. The department is cur­rently working hard to rid Vernal of this bad element. Chief Hamner has continued to modernize the department. He has consolidated dispatch and made emergency 911 service available through grant funds. In March 1995 fourteen police officers and one animal control officer were on the city police force. The Naples City police force was organized a year after that city was formed in 1982. The first year service was contracted from the county. lohn Ledkins was the first chief of police, followed by Everett lohnson, Reed Merrell, and Steve Guibord. In 1994 a chief with a sergeant and one other officer were on the force. The city of ten square miles has over 450 homes and 110 businesses. In 1992 the Naples police handled a total of 2,381 cases called into central dis­patch plus other cases which did not go through central dispatch. Juvenile Crime The juvenile population is committing a larger portion of area crimes each year. The figures have more than doubled in the past decade. In 1984 there were 840 referrals; in 1995 there were 1,800. In 1991 there were 116 felonies; this increased to 152 in 1992, 163 in 1993, 190 in 1994, and 204 in 1995. Misdemeanors dropped from 634 in 1991 to 576 in 1992; but from that point they increased to 771 in 1993, 905 in 1994, and 1,056 in 1995.28 Most of these crimes are theft and burglaries; some are drug related. Prior to the mid-1950s a juvenile court judge periodically came from Provo to handle cases of minors-those under eighteen years of age. About 1953 attorney Ray Nash was appointed deputy judge in charge of juvenile offenses and served until about 1957. Several oth­ers persons then served in this position through 1964. At that time Tom Freestone was appointed director of juvenile court service for 384 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY five eastern Utah counties. He acted as court referee and as the judge pro tern in the absence of the district judge assigned to juvenile court. First District judge Paul Keller periodically came from Price. The dis­trict was then redivided and district judge Merrill Hermansen served from Provo. Juvenile court was held in the old county courthouse in the 1950s. The next decade it was moved to the second Uintah County courthouse. In the 1970s money was obtained from a community impact grant and the current building was constructed at 780 West Main; a juvenile detention center was built at 980 West Market Drive. Federal Bureau of Investigation A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office officially opened in Uintah County on 5 August 1991. Agent Michael McPheters had begun operations in Vernal prior to this in February and special agent Manuel J. lohnson joined him later. Johnson was one of fifty Native American FBI agents in the country. The Vernal office serves six counties: Uintah, Daggett, Duchesne, Carbon, Summit, and Wasatch. The office is involved in interstate investigations and cases of felonies on the Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation. At present (1995) McPheters is the only agent in the Vernal office. Indian Justice Native American people from the American Revolution to the passage of the Dawes Act in 1887 have been treated as wards of the federal government. The government has generally worked from the assumption that white norms are best. This attitude has been identi­fied as "paternalism" by some and has often clashed with the Indian cultures and values. The passage of the Dawes Act, shortly after the creation of Uintah County in 1880, set in motion a move towards the dissolution of Indian tribes and the distribution of Indian reserva­tion lands to individual Indians and families. Indians were promised, at a future date, American citizenship with all its rights, responsibili­ties, and privileges, including being subject to national laws. Within the realm of law and order, Congress in March 1885 extended federal criminal law over Indians for major crimes including murder, manslaughter, arson, burglary, and larceny. Lesser crimes committed LAW AND ORDER 385 Ute Indian Police. Sitting on the left is Charlie Mack and Panuch lack on the right. Standing left to right: lohn Duncan, Bill Chapoose, Tully lack, and Scott lack. (UCLRHC collection) on the Uintah and other reservations were the responsibility of the Indian police. For the Uncompahgre Indian people, t h e dissolution of their social order and the distribution of their reservation lands occurred in 1898. For the Uintah and White River Ute people, this occurred in 1905 when their reservation was t h r o w n open to white settle­ment. With the opening of t h e U i n t a h I n d i a n Reservation, those Indians living in Uintah County who received citizenship through t h e acceptance of individual land allotments were subject to the laws of the county and state. In 1906, however, Congress passed the Burke Act, p o s t p o n i n g for twenty-five years c i t i z e n s h i p for all Indians who received individual land allotments. With the Burke Act, t h e enforcement of t h e law on the former Ute reservation land became mixed. D e p e n d i n g u p o n t h e crime, where t h e misdeed occurred, and who was involved, the Uintah County sheriff, federal law-enforcement officials, or local Indian police have been involved. Court cases also have followed a mixed jurisdiction and responsi­bility. 29 In m o r e recent years t h e r e has b e e n an i m p r o v e m e n t of cooperation among county, state, Indian, and federal law-enforce- 386 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY ment officials as well as improved judicial cooperation among the various courts. A major problem historically in the county has been sales of liquor to the Ute people. The federal government in the 1820s took steps to prohibit the sale of liquor to all Indians. Prohibition of the sale of alcohol to the Indians was strengthened further in 1862. The setting apart of the Strip for the mining of Gilsonite compounded the problem of prohibition of the sale of alcohol to the Utes. Saloons were quickly established and located on the front doorstep of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Illegal sales of whiskey continued to be a serious problem in the county. The opening of the Uintah Indian Reservation in 1905 solved for a time the liquor question while at the same time created increased jurisdictional problems for Indian and white law-enforcement offi­cials and the courts. State law prohibited the sale of liquor to any Indian regardless of the circumstances. Uintah County commission­ers order a vigorous enforcement of prohibition of liquor sales to the Utes. In 1920, with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition was implemented nationwide. Violent crimes were committed on the reservation prior to its opening; from 1882 to 1904 at least eight Indians were murdered- five by whites, three by other Indians.30 After 1905 such crimes con­tinued to be committed. It appears that federal officials cooperated with local officials in apprehending perpetrators and then often turned them over to local officials for arraignment and incarceration. Court dockets reveal two cases-one of assault with the intent to kill and another of rape, in which the perpetrators were Indians and the victims white-were tried in state courts. The first case involved an Indian who was arrested by the Indian police and then turned over to local authorities for prosecution.31 In the 1920s a reform movement nationwide developed out of a concern over the loss of Indian allotment lands to whites. Later, under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Congress, embracing many of the Indian reformers' concerns, passed the Indian Reorganization Act. With this change of law and direction, Indian tribes once again established their own tribal governments and tribal judicial system under federal supervision. This change of policy was LAW AND ORDER 387 aimed at establishing tribal self-determination rather than individ­ual self-determination while also facilitating the preservation of tribal culture. The Ute people of Uintah County adopted a constitution and by­laws for the tribe, which were approved by the federal government in 1937. The tribal business committee elected by members of the tribe became the governing body for the tribe. In 1945 approximately 217,000 acres of undisposed former Uintah Reservation land located in Duchesne and Uintah counties was restored to the ownership of the Ute Tribe. Early in the 1950s federal Indian policy was changed once again, to one labeled termination. The law now attempted to end the spe­cial relationship of Indians and the federal government by placing more responsibility for the assimilation of Indian people in the hands of the states. This policy required the county's Utes to be fully inte­grated into the legal system of whites, abiding by all the laws of the state of Utah. The health, safety, education, and economic develop­ment of the Indians became the responsibility of Utah and local com­munities. This new policy was strongly favored and promoted by Utah senator Arthur V. Watkins. The policy of termination was reversed in the early 1960s and Congress reestablished the special federal-Indian relationship. Since the 1960s the specific status of the Ute people and the Uintah-Ouray Reservation has been in a state of flux. In certain matters, Congress has chosen to exert its authority; in other matters, it has ceded some of the responsibility to the state of Utah. The results have left some confusion regarding the jurisdiction of legal authority and the man­agement of the land and resources among the Ute tribe, the federal government, and state and local governments. By 1960 the Ute Tribe was beginning to assert its independence and power. The discovery of oil beneath their land increased their power. The impact of this reawakening led to litigation in the 1980s regarding whether Indian self-determination or general community determination would control future county land-use planning and development. The Utes consider themselves a sovereign nation and want control of all law enforcement inside the original reservation boundaries. They also believe they should not have to pay sales tax in 388 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY Fort Duchesne cavalry. (UCLRHC, C. J. Neal Collection) any store inside this boundary. Cases have gone into lengthy court battles, and solutions to these problems will be slow in coming. Present law-enforcement agencies of Uintah County have their own jurisdiction and offices, although the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) uses the Uintah County jail. The Ute Indian Tribe has a hold­ing facility where prisoners are lodged until dealt with either by the tribal judge or a federal judge in Salt Lake City. If the Indian prisoner is convicted by a federal judge, he is sent to a federal penitentiary. The different entities are in charge of crimes arising in their jurisdiction but call on each other for assistance, if necessary. All peace officers are required to be certified by the State of Utah. Any officer viewing a crime being committed anywhere in Utah can legally make an arrest. Until recently, all officers including the BIA police were cross-depu­tized; presently the Utah Police Officers Standards & Training (POST) office requires BIA officers to attend POST classes and the BIA requires all officers to attend BIA training. At present BIA peace officers are the lead agency handling offenses on Indian trust ground. LAW AND ORDER 389 The Uintah County sheriff's department handles whites on tribal land and endeavors to work with the BIA when in pursuit of Indian malefactors. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling of 1994 (Hagen v. Utah) has com­plicated law enforcement in the Uinta Basin by holding that white officers cannot arrest Indians on tribal ground. County attorneys in Uintah and Duchesne counties, however, have made the judgement that officers should make arrests for all felonies and misdemeanors on non-deeded ground regardless of whether the suspects are Indian or white. The problem is that officers do not know where non-deeded and deeded ground lines lie. Maps are being used by the officers, but deeded and non-deeded lands are like a checkerboard. Despite these obstacles, law-enforcement officers from b o t h the BIA and the U i n t a h C o u n t y sheriff's d e p a r t m e n t endeavor to make Uintah County a safe place to live. ENDNOTES 1. Laws of Utah, 1880, lists leremiah Hatch as the first Uintah County court judge. Uintah County minutes lists the names of the first selectmen but refers to the appointed judge only as ludge Hatch, giving no first name. Inventory of the County Archives of Utah, Uintah County, lists the name of the judge as A.C. Hatch, and this error has been carried to other publica­tions. In 1896 A.C. Hatch did become judge of the 4th ludicial District which included Vernal. 2. Inventory of the County Archives of Utah, Uintah County (32) states that the first probate judge to be elected was Isaac Burton and that Thomas Bingham was a selectman. However, a close reading of the county minutes reveals that Thomas Bingham was the first judge and Burton was a select­man. Burton did step in for Bingham and complete his term. 3. Sterling Driggs and Nancy Adeline Wilkins Colton history, unpub­lished manuscript, copy located in Uintah County Library Regional History Center, folder 829. County selectmen minutes for 1880 also indicate Gibson and Lycurgus lohnson receiving money for boarding prisoners in their homes. 4. Uintah County Selectmen minutes, 6 lune 1887. 5. See Doris Burton, Silver Stars and Jail Bars: An Account of Uintah County Sheriffs, (Salt Lake City: K/P Graphics, 1987), 1-2. 6. Ray Haueter, "Early Law Enforcement," Utah Peace Officers Association (magazine exerpt, no other information available), 22-24; An 390 HISTORY OF UINTAH COUNTY Historical and Biographical Record of the Sterling Driggs Colton Family, Descendants and Related Families (S.D. Colton Family Organization, 1977), 11. Other versions of how and where the prisoner was shot can be found in Uintah County Library Regional History Center, folder 829. 7. See Uintah County Library folder 829, particularly Hauter, "Early Law Enforcement," 22-24. 8. David Rasmussen went to prison for one year. lames McKee, Robert Atwood, and Charles Atwood also served time in the penitentiary. See Vernal Express, 7 lanuary, 14 lanuary, 18 February, 25 February, 4 March, 10 lune 1897, and 21 April 1898. 9. Irvin Haws, manager of the local J. C. Penney store, found the sales slip with the serial number on it. Haws still has the sales slip in his posses­sion. 10. Ashley Bartlett, unpublished manuscript in the Uintah County Library Regional History Center, folder 725. 11. Evelyn Peavy Semontan, ed., "Anne Bassett," an account of Bassett from a diary and manuscripts written by Anne Bassett Willis, in possession of the Colorado Historical Society journal. 12. Pope's granddaughters told the author this postcard was placed in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum in Salt Lake City along with a gold badge presented to Sheriff Pope by the governor of Utah. See also E. Dixon Larson, "Sheriff Pope Stood Tall Against Butch Cassidy," Gun Week, 16 lanuary 1981. 13. Lora Sannes, "The Last Cowboy Sheriff: A History of lohn Theodore Pope" (the story of Sheriff Pope as he told it to Ms. Sannes in 1939), unpublished manuscript, copy located in the Uintah County Library Regional History Center, folder 3071. 14. Ibid. 15. lohn Bascom, telephone interview with author, 5 March 1995. 16. Accounts of this incident are located in Uintah County Library Regional History Center, folders 967 and 3075, along with a tape recording made by one of the deputies with the posse. 17. Vernal Express, 21 April 1898. 18. Information obtained by Richard Horton from Mark Setright and Tena Hill at the Wyoming Frontier Prison on 1 March 1995; see also Elnora L. Frye, Atlas of Wyoming Outlaws at the Territorial Penitentiary (Cheyenne, WY: Frye, 1990), 189. 19. See Sannes, "The Last Cowboy Sheriff; no known arrests were made for this crime. LAW AND ORDER 391 20. Gary Lee Walker, "A History of Fort Duchesne, Including Fort Thornburgh," Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1992, 233. 21. Vernal Express, 5 November and 26 November 1909. 22. Ibid., 4 April 1913. 23. Ibid., 2 May 1929. 24. Harold Workman, personal interview with author, 12 luly 1993. See also, for example, Vernal Express, 17 October, 28 November 1919, 25 lune 1920, 5 August 1921, 6 luly 1923, 9 May 1924, and 13 August 1926; consult Vernal Express Index in UCL Regional History Center for additional infor­mation. 25. See Outlaw Trail History Journal (Summer 1994), available in the Uintah County Library Regional History Center. 26. Vernal Express, 12 April, 13 lune, and 6 December 1912. 27. Vernal City Minutes, 4 lanuary 1950; Vernal Express, 5 lanuary 1950. 28. Figures obtained in April 1996 from Ron Tollefson, chief probation officer at the Uintah County luvenile Court. 29. See Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indian (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986). 30. See U. S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Annual Reports (1800-1904). 31. Vernal Express, 24 February 1906, states that an Indian named Colorow was arrested at Ouray by the Indian police and then turned over to the sheriff for prosecution of assault with intent to kill a white farmer. Fourth District Court Docket no. 128 lists a Henry lohnson (an Indian) as being before the court for the rape of Lucille Pierce (a white woman). Court records located in Records Room, Uintah County Courthouse, Vernal, Utah.