A History of Wasatch County

Depression, 1930 - 1941

DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 Lor much of America, the wdd optimism of the 1920s ended with the stock market crash in October 1929. The 1930s was a time of depression, unemployment, and agricultural disasters. Republican President Herbert Hoover and Democrat Utah Governor George H. Dern offered the same philosophy: the depression would be short­lived and private organizations would provide relief. When the Great Depression continued, Americans elected Democrats in 1932. Shortly after taking office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a bank holiday to stop runs on banks and launched an assault on Capitol Hill. His "Hundred Day Congress" passed federal relief programs. The Federal Emergency Relief Act assigned $500 million as direct relief to states, cities, counties, and towns. That figure was later increased to $5 billion. Harry Hopkins, the director of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) that distributed the funds, believed the unemployed wanted to work and not simply receive a handout. CWA money helped build and improve roads, schoolhouses, airports, parks, sewers, and water systems. Governments receiving the funds provided a partial match. The National Industrial Recovery Act 166 DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 167 included money for the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The PWA funded larger pro­jects and usually covered materials; the WPA paid wages and required the local government agency to provide materials. Other programs included the Agricultural Recovery Administration to assist farmers and the Civdian Conservation Corps (CCC), which gave young men jobs. The Bureau of Reclamation also expanded, sometimes using programs like the CCC to construct reservoirs. Utah's new governor, Henry H. Blood, also announced a bank holiday and geared up the state to receive federal relief. The new federal programs meant jobs and welfare relief for Utah's unemployed. Wasatch County experienced the Depression in much the same way as did the rest of the state and nation. County residents were stdl recovering from the depression of the 1920s, so the New Deal pro­grams brought welcome relief from unemployment and agricultural stagnation. Federal programs also transferred more resources to the populated Wasatch Front. Most noticeable was the construction of Deer Creek Reservoir, which moved water from the Provo River to Salt Lake Vadey and also buried much of the town of Charleston. Economy and Businesses The Depression of the 1930s had a direct impact on Wasatch County businesses. The county's property valuation dropped from $11,500,000 during the late 1920s to only $4,500,000 in 1936. Sales dropped 39.3 percent between 1929 and 1935. The biggest change took place in stores that did not provide general merchandise, food, automobde supplies and services, furniture, lumber, and drugstores. There were ten "other" stores in Heber in 1929, only four in 1933, and seven in 1935. Two food stores went out of business between 1933 and 1935 and several general stores eliminated food. In 1933 the state took over the Bank of Heber for ninety days to manage its assets; the bank remained closed for more than a year. Besides these problems in the general economy, there were unrelated disasters which impacted the county's economy. In January 1937 a predawn fire broke out in the Heber Mercantile building. The Heber, Park City, and Provo fire departments were called to try to contain the fire. Before it was put out, the fire also damaged the county library, the 168 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY foresters' office, the state road survey offices, the relief offices, and the Heber Drug Company. Undaunted even in hard economic times, the local stockholders in the "Merc" voted three to one to rebuild the store. The Merc temporarily reopened in another building until a new store could be budt.1 Individuals as well as businesses suffered. In 1930, Wasatch County remained a rural area with 43.4 percent of the 1,642 "gain­fully employed" workers involved in agriculture. The Depression forced many county residents not normally working as farmers to return to agriculture to make a living. The farm population increased from 1,700 living on farms in 1930 to 2,119 in 1935. At the same time, just over a fifth of the county residents, 21.8 percent, were stdl employed as miners. In 1937, 170 people in Wasatch County were totally unemployed, 130 were emergency workers, and 107 were partly unemployed. Laborers suffered the most: 20 percent of the unemployed were farm laborers; another 20 percent were other laborers. But everyone felt the effects: 15 percent of the jobless were semi-skdled workers and 10.5 percent were skdled workers or fore­men. Ralph F. Gdes, a member of the city councd at the time, recalled that from 1930 untd 1934 many people were out of work and it was hard even to get a day job; he reported, "There were twenty-five men for every chore."2 Individual examples dramatize the situation. Calvin Gdes's father was kdled in 1930. Calvin, his mother, brothers, and sisters lived in a two-room log house with no electricity and no bathroom. They ate milk gravy and potatoes (if they had any) for dinner most nights. In 1932 his mother lost his father's land because she could not pay the taxes. To help provide for the famdy, Calvin peddled fruit for a Provo farmer, earning thirty-five cents a day. Although people had little money, most had animals and gardens. Ralph Gdes recalled that he had a cow and some hogs which he fed weeds from the garden. He also had some hens. His wife Mina made over clothes and even made underwear for their children from flour sacks. He added, "We felt no stigma because most everyone else was in the same condition." He got a government job that paid for fifty-five dodars a month for a six-hour day, six day a week job. He declared, "We felt we were on easy street." Famdies met most of their needs, but if people did have to pay DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 169 for things, milk was only five cents a quart, eggs were thirteen to fif­teen cents a dozen and a deluxe four-door Chevy sedan was only $895. Moroni Besendorfer had one pair of red corduroy pants to wear to school. At night he wore old overalls to do chores. He explained, "We got by like that, but we never thought anything of it. Everybody was in the same boat. We had our own butter, eggs, meat, potatoes, vegetables, and flour. We had a good livelihood and a good way of life."3 When businesses and individuals suffered, the towns also had financial difficulties. The communities depended on the sale of elec­tricity for some of their income, yet many people could not afford to pay. At first the power company told the board members they needed to help collect the bills or pay the delinquent accounts. With this increased push for payment, local residents appealed to the city in 1934 to be lenient in requiring payment of monthly electric and water bdls. Their request was ignored, but the next year the residents passed a revenue bond to pay off the power company's debt." Local clubs, the LDS church, county government, and the school district tried to help the unemployed. In November 1930 the Heber City Lions Club hired people to work on city projects. The first activ­ity was to haul snow from the downtown area. Two years later an LDS stake report listed the families needing assistance in Heber and Midway by ward. Civic authorities and the service clubs cooperated to help these people. For example, during the winter of 1933-34 Heber officials distributed wood to needy families using the LDS ward structure to make sure it reached the people in need. Midway started a "make work" wood-hauling project in January 1933, but after spending seventy-seven dollars in one month, the town councd discovered that it was more than it could afford. Using the Smith- Hughes program, the school offered adult night classes and encour­aged a "back to the farm movement." The Utah School Reports explained, "A new concept of agriculture is being pioneered, and if successful in translating theory into practice, a new farm economy will replace our worn concepts in both crop and livestock production and general farm management."5 170 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY Federal "Alphabet" Programs Despite attempts to use existing programs to resolve the growing economic crisis, things got worse in Heber. In 1933, 206 residents signed a petition asking the city to develop a public-works project to help the unemployed. The mayor and the city councd supported the idea in principle but could not come up with a definite plan. Later, though, they decided to budd a new city hall rather than use an exist­ing budding because the new construction would put men to work. They also hoped to get money from the state advisory board and the Federal Emergency Administration to redo the Heber Water Works. City leaders felt this would be a "practical and sound make-work pro­ject to relieve unemployment." Mayor H. Clay Cummings went to Salt Lake City and found that it would be impossible to get an electric and water works project through the CWA since that agency mainly covered wages and there would be high material costs. He suggested making two proposals-one for upgrading the main line from the spring through the PWA and one to improve the distribution system under the CWA. Heber submitted the proposals, and the federal gov­ernment approved the PWA proposal in 1935. The government pro­vided 30 percent of the labor and material to the city; the city agreed to pay the rest over twenty-five years. The contractor submitting the lowest bid received the work, but he had to agree to hire local citi­zens. The project included replacing the sandstone wads of the stor­age tanks with concrete and redoing the main lines, and the city used hand labor instead of a trenching machine to dig the water lines pro­viding more work to those who were unemployed.6 The WPA also funded projects in the county. In 1935, 64 people in Wasatch County received WPA assistance; that number went up in 1936 to 201 but dropped in 1937 to 117 because of cutbacks. It went back up in 1938 to 160. The Heber City government suggested that the WPA improve the sidewalks and install a sewer system. The fed­eral agency did not approve the sidewalk proposal but agreed to pro­vide WPA funds for a sewer in 1937. In 1941 the government extended the project for three years. The city charged fifty dodars for residential hook-ups, and the people laid their own pipes. Ironically, at the same time Heber was planning a sewer system, the WPA paid DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 171 for improving outdoor toilets. Ralph McGuire pointed out, "Rather than putting the same money into budding a bathroom inside of the houses, they just replaced the existing privy with one that was a little better." This included digging a deeper hole and installing a more comfortable seat.7 Midway received federal monies to beautify the cemetery, improve sidewalks, and upgrade the town's water and the farmers' irrigation systems. One of the more permanent New Deal projects in Wasatch County was the Midway Recreation Center. At first the com­munity hoped to build a town, church, and school gym. In January 1937, however, the school district board asked the state board of edu­cation if it could contribute. The state reported that a school budding had to be under the management of the education board though civic and church groups could contribute. Discussions continued, and in 1939 the LDS bishops, PTA officers, the town board, and school officials met again to discuss the budding. The town asked the school board to pay $3,500 rent for the next fifty years, and again the board questioned its involvement. After these setbacks, Midway resi­dents met in January 1939 to decide "whether or not a Municipal Auditorium and Recreation Hall could or should be erected." Two months later the town board president, William Haueter, continued the discussion of the "feasibdity of erecting a public gymnasium." The budding would cost $20,000 and the town's contribution was $6,000. By June the architectural plans and the WPA proposal were in place. Haueter and his brother F. O. Haueter supervised the construction using local labor and materials. The building was dedicated on 13 June 1941. By the time it was completed, the Midway Center cost $50,000, more than two and a half times the estimated cost. The city asked people using the building to pay rent to help cover the cost. Since Midway schools used the budding for play activities, the school board agreed to pay $200 a year in rent.8 The WPA also sponsored school lunches. Residents suggested serving lunches at the high school as early as 1925 so the students would eat more nutritious foods. The next year a hot lunch was served at the Daniel school. Supporters of school-lunch programs felt that the lunches would improve the students' performance in school; however, some teachers in Wasatch County did not think it 172 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY "increased the efficiency of pupils." Part of the problem with lunches was funding. It took financial support from the WPA to get the pro­gram countywide, and the school board could not always meet fed­eral regulations-for example, it could not afford furniture for WPA projects in 1938. Central and Midway schools had no tables; Wallsburg did receive a cupboard. In August the WPA school-lunch workers asked the board to furnish electric stoves for the Charleston, Daniel, and Wallsburg schools; a kitchen to prepare lunches for Heber's Central and North schools; and a new site for the Wadsburg lunch room. The board suggested the workers ask the PTA for help. The only request the board funded was twenty-five dollars for the Wadsburg school to purchase vegetables and then only on condition the workers would pay back the money in the spring. A month later the school-lunch officials asked the board to furnish lumber and nails to build cupboards at the Daniel, Charleston, and Midway schools; the board denied the request. None of the Heber schools had lunch facilities. Local WPA administrators stepped in and made arrangements with Heber City's mayor to use a cabin to prepare lunches. The school board agreed to provide coal and electricity but not to pay the rent for the budding. The next year, the school board decided to set up a lunchroom in the high school where lunches could be prepared for the city's North and Central elementary schools as wed as the high school. Even as the school-lunch program was being established, there were growing problems because too many organizations and agen­cies were sponsoring the program. In 1942, two years after the school-lunch program started, county school superintendent Lula Clegg explained: "Two years ago our facilities were meager and our program ftdl of uncertainties because of the multiplicity of agencies and organizations trying to sponsor and help the schools handling the noon hour meal. The school lunch program seemed everybody's responsibility and as a result the entire project lacked direction and drive." Clegg decided the superintendent's office should take control of the lunch program.9 The school board helped to improve school buddings with WPA funds. In 1936 it suggested adding fire escapes, modernizing the buildings, and adding onto the Central School to consolidate the two DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 173 Heber elementary schools. Other plans included leveling the playing field in Charleston. But the school board did not have the funds to meet its share of the equipment. The next year the board attempted to get funds to tear down the Keetley school and build auditoriums at the Central and Midway schools, but it was unsuccessful with the plans. In 1943 the board sold the Keetley school to the new Park Utah Mining Company for $1,500.10 The federal Civd Conservation Corps also provided work in the county. In 1935 the government agency moved its Hobble Creek Camp to Heber. According to reports, this camp was going to be "100% Utah men." The Wave declared, "The coming of this CCC Camp will mean a great deal to the community in a financial way." Richard McGuire recalled that the CCC workers were not local people. They came because "they had no work, no money, and no way to maintain themselves." The local residents, he argued, didn't need the work because they could live off the land and work in the mines. With some disdain for the federal involvement, McGuire explained, "That was paid for by the federal government from money borrowed from the government." He saw positive benefits, though: "The CCC camp . . . resulted in a lot of good new blood in the val­ley." Some corpsmen stayed, married local girls, and added to the community." Roads Road improvements were made in the county during the Depression of the 1930s. In 1921 the federal government had desig­nated the highway from the Uinta Basin through Strawberry Valley to Heber Valley and Park City as federal Highway 40. But the state did not implement the marking and designation of the road until 1926. By the end of the decade Heber City officials asked for Main Street, part of the federal highway, to be paved. At first the federal govern­ment agreed to cover three-quarters of the cost to pave one mile of the street but then backed off. When the federal government with­drew its support, the state highway department agreed to provide half the cost and asked Heber City to match its contribution. Unable to raise the needed funds, Heber City postponed paving Main Street until 1940, at which time the Wave with a great deal of enthusiasm 174 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY reported: "Heber is destined to become one of the outstanding cities of its class in the state . . . because of its new modern thoroughfare." In the end, the local taxpayers paid three-fourths of the cost of the mde stretch of Main.12 There was also a big push to complete Highway 40 outside Heber City. In 1932 Wasatch County commissioners met with state officials to discuss the completion of and payment for the road from Denver to Salt Lake City. Local civic organizations argued that the new high­way would provide a better mail route from Salt Lake City to the Uinta Basin. Work was slow, and in 1936 civic groups questioned why. They complained that Utah needed to keep up with improve­ments on the Colorado side. To encourage action, a group of one hundred marched on Salt Lake City with banners proclaiming, "We demand that highway No 40 be completed by 1937." A committee met with Governor Blood, who promised the state would complete the road by the deadline. Work began on the road in September and was finady completed in June 1938.13 Civic Improvements Many of the civic improvements made in the 1910s by Heber City, Midway, Charleston, and Wasatch County were worn and out­dated by the 1930s. The power plant which had been the pride of Heber City, Midway, and Charleston was badly in need of repairs. In 1930 the Central Trust Company and the Edward L. Benton Company submitted proposals to the Heber City councd to use city monies to rebuild the plant. That year Heber residents approved a bond issue to reconstruct the plant, but Midway voted against it. The communities agreed to rebudd anyway, and the repaired plant started operating on 1 April 1931. Later that year Heber, Midway, and Charleston entered agreements on ownership of the repaired facdity. The rebudt power plant continued to be an expense. In 1934 Midway had to borrow money to pay its share of improving the plant.14 When electricity came to Heber City, the city could not afford street lighting. Finady, in 1935 city residents funded lighting known as the "White Way" on six Main Street blocks. When the city turned the new lights on, the business community committee rejoiced. Utah's Governor Blood and the city officials celebrated the occasion, DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 175 Heber City Library, constructed as a New Deal WPA project in 1938-39. (Allan Kent PoweU) and the Salt Lake papers proclaimed, "Heber's white way is believed to be the last way in beauty and efficiency for a city of its class."15 Following the cooperative pattern established by the electric plant, Midway, Charleston, Heber City, and the county cooperatively purchased fire-fighting equipment. Midway held a mass meeting in March 1932 on whether the town should participate. For a year Midway refused to help purchase the equipment. In May 1933 after Heber City agreed to pay one-half the expenses and upkeep of the equipment and the county agreed to contribute one-fourth, Midway consented to give an eighth along with Charleston. The agreement passed without opposition in a citizen meeting. By 1934 each city had its own fire substation to cut insurance rates.16 Deer Creek Reservoir After World War I, water users from Utah and Great Salt Lake valleys turned their attention eastward in search of additional water for their growing cities and expanding farms. One important source was the unused high volume spring runoff in the Provo River water­shed. If this runoff could be stored, it would help solve a water crisis. 176 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY • s s ^IF4**^ Early Construction Work at Deer Creek Reservoir. Deer Creek was built by the Bureau of Reclamation during the 1930s. Most of the water is trans­ported to Utah and Salt Lake counties. (Utah State Historical Society) In 1922 water users from Utah and Salt Lake counties looked for a place to budd a reservoir. They considered a location a short distance downstream from Charleston where Main Creek from Round Vadey and Deer Creek joined the Provo River. There were, however, prob­lems with this site. Much of the community of Charleston would be buried by the dam, and the Denver and Rio Grande radroad line and the highway from Heber City to Provo ran through the center of the proposed dam and reservoir. Wasatch County farmers also feared that with the construction of the reservoir they would lose precious water rights. The Utah Water Storage Commission and federal reclamation planners, however, did not consider the Deer Creek project a top pri­ority. Instead they constructed the Echo Dam in Summit County (begun in 1927) and the Hyrum Dam in Cache Valley (built between 1934 and 1936). As part of the Echo Dam project, the Weber-Provo diversion canal was constructed across the Kamas Vadey in Summit County to the Provo River just below Francis. The purpose of this DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 177 Work on the 150-foot earth fid dam on the Provo River. A CCC camp was built and CCC workers helped in the construction of Deer Creek Reservoir. (Utah State Historical Society) diversion canal was to transfer water from the Weber River to water users in Utah and Great Salt Lake vadeys. A severe water shortage occurred in the Great Salt Lake and Utah valleys between 1931 and 1935. Utah Lake dropped from 850,000 acre-feet to 20,000 acre-feet. In response, residents in those valleys expressed renewed interest in building a reservoir at Deer Creek. Salt Lake City and other communities along the Wasatch Front joined efforts to convince the federal government to fund the construction of the reservoir. The state presented its reports to the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works in 1933 and the Provo River project received $2,700,000 to build the reservoir and other facilities.17 Before work could start, communities benefiting were required to form water districts that would assume financial responsibdity. In March 1935 a metropolitan water-district act passed the state legis­lature. Despite a challenge, it was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in July. With the structure in place, Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, American Fork, and Lehi voted to form met- 178 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY ropolitan water districts. A committee representing the Provo River Water Users Association inspected the land that the dam would cover in Charleston. Though they reported it was some of the most valu­able ranching land in the state, people from the Wasatch Front needed the water and were more concerned about their needs than preserving the ranch lands.18 Allen M. Winterton recalled that the state was purchasing the land for the reservoir about the time he got married. "Our farm was one of those affected by the backed up water." When the water users offered to purchase his farm, he saw no other option. Max North recaded that his father had a smad farm that the Provo Water Users purchased. His parents "got as much money out of it as it was worth. . . . I know my mom and dad got enough money out of it to buy this ground up [in Heber]." Although many Charleston residents agreed to sell their land, not all were happy with the purchase prices. The Wave reported that 60 percent of the Charleston residents wanted more money for their land. However, most of the people accepted the amount offered. By the end of 1938 the Provo Water Users Association had purchased seventy-two tracts of land totaling 4,117.31 acres. The association paid $364,462.66 for this land. After the sale was completed, the association sold the land to the Bureau of Reclamation.19 Still some people refused to sell their property unless they received more money. The Provo Water Users Association had the property condemned and took the owners to court. At the end of 1938, the water users' legal counsel, with help from the Bureau of Reclamation's attorneys, filed eight cases. The Wasatch County District Court records list thirty-eight cases, some dealing with the same people, between Wasatch County residents and the Provo Water Users Association. At least one of these cases regarded the purchase of an easement. The first case was heard in the Wasatch County District Court in 1938; the Arvd Scott trial lasted twelve days, and the jury awarded the defendant $24,417 for 102.2 acres and $4,961 for the damages to the remaining 600 acres. The Bureau of Reclamation complained, "This was greatly in excess of the appraised value... and grossly unjust." The water users appealed eventually to the state supreme court, but then settled out of court for 14 percent more than DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 179 BWfly *B f|F* ... C^7-:" " Mi ^S^^k^S? w~' *~ •ngn**^ BK^ESSP^-* ;:i J * ~ "*" ^I^^W^^^H^T^aB * 8& < ^s^yy^j ^ ^ i HS :' , 4 ' • .1 " SH .. M^jfc.-fc^.;.... ^^^^TJk " « « * i A 5 "• '-'t*!&';*-'7v': Construction work on the Deer Creek Dam. (Utah State Historical Society) the appraised value. Although this was the first case to go to court, it was one of the last resolved and was not completed until 1941. All the cases tried in Wasatch County resulted in awards higher than the appraised value. Because the bureau and the water users association felt that they could not receive a fair trial with Wasatch County juries, they requested a change of venue. Their motion was successful in only one case; the courts moved that case to the Cache County District Court. There the jury awarded $2,000 instead of the $800 appraised value. Because it was less than the Wasatch County courts awarded, the Bureau called the settlement "satisfactory." Eventually the Provo Water Users Association agreed to settle most cases out of court. The association, for example, offered John and James Ritchie 14 percent more than the appraised amount for their property. The bureau and water users justified the increase since they could not win a change of venue and court costs were high.20 Some Wasatch County residents were bitter about Deer Creek. In 1946 when the Forest Service asked local residents to stop overgraz- 180 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY Aerial view of construction of the Deer Creek Dam. Deer Creek buried much of Charleston and changed the overall appearance of Heber Valley. (Utah State Historical Society) ing to protect the Deer Creek watershed, L. C. Montgomery remem­bered what the construction of Deer Creek meant to his famdy: "If you were familiar with the subject at all you would know that not one drop of water of the entire Provo River watershed is entitled to be stored in the Deer Creek Reservoir. My brother and I and Julia Anderson own about one-fourth of the water of the Daniel Creek project and it was necessary to confiscate my property to protect it." He continued, "Then the hundreds of thousands of people [who] would get the benefits of that confiscation ought to pay me for it." Moroni Besendorfer's famdy lived above the dam in Charleston, but he knew all of the families whose property was taken. He recalled, "Some people just died because they were affected so much. It took everything they had. Some of the ranchers had beautiful homes down t h e r e . . . . It took big barns. It took livelihoods and wiped them out."21 By November 1937 work on the Deer Creek Dam was ready to begin. When the government discussed the project in 1933, the Wave, extolling the benefits to Wasatch County, claimed that it would bring DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 181 Tunnel work during the construction of the Deer Creek Dam. (Utah State Historical Society) employment. It did not. The Bureau of Reclamation used the CCC to clear the dam site so bidders could inspect the site and work on the construction. So work could progress quickly, the government built a CCC camp on the dam site in 1938. The buildings included a lab and office budding, seven three-room residences, one three-room bunkhouse, three garages, and sewer, water, and lighting systems. The Provo Water Users Association used these structures after construc­tion was completed.22 The project involved more than building a dam. First, a tempo­rary road was built around Round Valley Creek. Then the railroad, Western Union telegraph lines, and the roads from Charleston to Midway and down Provo Canyon were rerouted. The Bureau of Reclamation filled the reservoir by diverting water from the Weber and Duchesne rivers, so canals had to be built from those rivers to the Provo. While Wasatch County residents might not have sup­ported the dam, watching the construction was exciting for their chd­dren. Moroni Besendorfer was in the fifth grade when the radroad changed its tracks. "Our teachers would get a little bit disturbed 182 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY [when we watched out the window]. We'd hurry and get our work done so we could stand and watch them."23 Although the dam was finished in 1941, the diversion canals and aqueduct systems to transfer the water to Salt Lake County were not. World War II slowed the project because labor and resources were needed in the war effort. The government closed all CCC camps on 25 July 1942, making these workers unavailable to complete the pro­ject. The canals were completed after the war, and the reservoir was filled for the first time on 14 June 1946. The dam was the second largest earth-filled dam built by the Bureau of Reclamation. It was 1,300 feet high and 1,000 feet wide at the base, used over 2.5 mdlion cubic yards of earth and rock fid, and cost $15 mdlion. When com­pleted, it captured 152,564 acre-feet of water from the Weber, Provo, and Duchesne rivers. Sixty percent of the water came from the Weber River.24 What did Deer Creek mean to Wasatch County and the rest of Utah? Its immediate effect was to cover hundreds of acres of range-land and inundate two-thirds of Charleston. That town's population went from 343 in 1930 to 323 in 1940, a 5.5 percent drop. During the same period, Heber's population grew by 11 percent, Midway grew by 7.5 percent, and the rural areas of the county grew by 20.7 percent. The dam was responsible for some of those gains since government and contractor's employees moved to the area. From 1940 to 1943 the government continued to purchase land in Charleston, and its popu­lation continued to decline-from 323 to 175, a drop of nearly 50 percent. Deer Creek had other negative effects on Wasatch County. Ad vadey residents lost some water rights. One resident, Calvin Gdes, recaded that before Deer Creek Dam the residents had free use of the water; then "they started to put in weirs to measure water. In those days, we were used to taking ad we wanted. But as time went on, they regulated the water and cut us down severely in the valley."25 Like Strawberry Reservoir, Deer Creek Dam made Wasatch County an exporter of water to the more populated Wasatch Front. Livestock Federal policies also affected the livestock industry in the county. When the Forest Service continued to cut permits to protect the DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 183 range, cattlemen protested that the available resources should be divided in half between sheep and cattle rather than allowing three times as many sheep. When a drought added to the economic depres­sion, sheepmen and cattlemen protested when they could not use the range earlier, and cattlemen were upset that sheep were allowed on the range first. Cattle and horse numbers were cut from 5,012 in 1934 to 4,797 in 1935 while fees were increased. Stoney W. Nicholes, a sheep owner from Utah County, recalled the permit cuts. When he first got permits in 1917, he had about 2,200 sheep. After the cuts he had about 1,500. "They took three different cuts in three years, 10 percent on them. When you came in the fall, you were too small to go onto the desert with a small setup of that kind.... [But] you had nowhere in the summer and the spring to go with them." As a result, he and other sheep operators purchased permits whenever someone wanted to sell.26 Agriculture Farming remained an important part of life in Wasatch County during the 1930s. The main crops were alfalfa, mixed clover, and grass hays. In 1941, 8,000 acres were planted in those crops. County farmers also planted grain. LeRoy Sweat of Center Creek recalled, "In the spring of the year we would put three horses on a plow." The horses got tired at first after not working all winter, but in a few days they were conditioned to work all day. After being plowed, the field was harrowed and then planted. About the end of May the farmers would have to start irrigating their crops. They would continue to water every twenty days untd the grain was ripe. When the grain was ready, it was cut and stacked and farmers waited for the thresher. Since there was usuady only one machine in the valley, "Sometimes the thresher wouldn't get there untd after several storms in the fall to thresh our grain." Calvin Giles recalled, "[It] was a great occasion when we fed the threshers when they came to our place." It would take one hundred pounds of potatoes, five gadons of milk for gravy, two or three jars of jam, and about fifteen loaves of bread. Sweat remembered that at homes that had "a real good cook sometimes we'd just slow down a little so we could get two meals there."27 Farmers used much of the hay and grain for feed. Peas contin- 184 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY ued to be a cash crop because they matured early, were usually not frozen out, and were grown even during droughts. County residents also earned salaries by operating the pea viners in Lake Creek, Center Creek, Daniel, Charleston, Stringtown, Midway, and Heber City, and also by working at the Woods Cross pea factory in Heber. Richard McGuire, who lived in Daniel, recalled that peas were the main crop in town. Harvesting time was intense since the crop ripened all at once and had to be cut as soon as possible. Farmers tried to cut their peas and get them to the viner by four in the morning so they were fresh and a high grade. Machinery broke the pods and separated the vines and pods from the peas. Then the vinery operator graded the peas. For Richard McGuire's father, Francis Preston McGuire, who ran the grader in Daniel, grading was "walking a tight rope. If he graded too good, Woods Cross would be unhappy. If he was a little on the tight side, the farmers didn't like him." LeRoy Sweat of Center Creek agreed. "If the peas were a little too old, the [vinery operators] would cud some of them but not ad of them. The [farmers] felt like there was a little favoritism on whose peas were getting in there just right."28 Dairy According to a WPA report," [Wasatch] county is rapidly becom­ing a leading dairy center in the state." One reason was an expanding market. Increasingly milk was transported to Salt Lake City, where it was bottled and sold directly to consumers. Farmers received a higher price for the Grade A milk that was sold for drinking instead of the Grade C milk that they had been selling for butter and cheese pro­duction. As a result, the local creameries closed, and the area lost another industry. The higher prices attracted more people into smad-scale dairying; milking cows became part of almost every farm. In the 1930s, 250 to 300 farmers shipped milk to Salt Lake. Companies in Salt Lake City liked the rich milk produced in the mountains.29 Education During the early 1930s, area teachers and the county superinten­dent often failed to communicate. This came to a head in 1935 when teachers complained that the superintendent cut the school year DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 185_ without notifying them. After a heated discussion, the board sided with the teachers, voted not to maintain Superintendent Ralph F. Ndsson, and hired Clarence Ostlund, a school superintendent from Lyman, Wyoming. The next year the school had to be closed early again because of high health costs during a scarlet-fever epidemic and the cost of playground equipment for the North School. To avoid the problems of the previous year, the board informed the teachers of the dilemma. The teachers agreed to the early closure if their salaries were not affected. The board responded that "all the public would be affected and that the levy would have to be raised, and that the teachers should come to the rescue of the people already taxed to the limit." After a discussion, the teachers agreed that if the levy could not be raised they would take their last week pay in June. They added, however, that they felt the schools needed to maintain the current salary levels to attract the best teachers. Ostlund reported resolutions of the problems in 1936: "School conditions in Wasatch County were somewhat disturbed when I assumed the Superintendency a year ago last July. This was largely because of an accumulation of local dissat­isfaction that brought on an open rupture between the trustees on one hand and the superintendent and staff people on the other. Fortunately time has assuaged many of these ills and so our system is rapidly recovering the ground lost during the period."30 Small schools continued to present problems for the Wasatch County Board of Education during the Depression because they were expensive to operate. Also, the school populations varied such that it was difficult to know how many teachers to maintain. For example, the Wallsburg and Charleston schools grew, and in 1932 residents requested additional teachers. The board gave each school an addi­tional teacher. Not all decisions were smooth, though. In 1940 Midway residents saw a report showing Wallsburg had a lower stu­dent- teacher ratio and demanded a Wallsburg teacher be reassigned. When the school board agreed, Wallsburg patrons picketed the school and would not adow their students to attend. The community residents met with the county board, which refused to change the decision. They then took the dispute to the state superintendent, who sent an assistant superintendent and elementary school supervisor to inspect the schools. The state representatives supported the county HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY This school replaced the original Central School in Heber City which was destroyed by fire. (Lavon Provost) board, saying the local school board had started the new year with four teachers in Wallsburg despite a declining enrodment because it anticipated an increase in funding. The board had not received the mdl levy requested and did not have enough money to maintain the teachers in Wallsburg when they were needed elsewhere.31 To help control costs, the board suggested several times closing the Keetley, Daniel, and Wallsburg schools and bussing ad of the stu­dents to Heber. But communities complained. In 1930, when the board decided to transport all Keetley students above the fourth grade to Heber, some Keetley residents opposed the move and sug­gested that the Murdock Power Plant students who were going to Heber should be required to attend the smader school. However, the board favored consolidation and allowed the Murdock Power Plant residents to continue to send their children to Heber. The fate of the Keetley school continued to be uncertain. In 1931 there were only nine or ten students, and parents agreed to close the school so that the teacher could be used in Heber and ease overcrowding. When a resident claimed there would be at least fifteen students at the school, the board agreed to keep it open; but it warned that if there were DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 187 fewer than twelve students the school would be closed. By the begin­ning of school in the fall, the board said it could not afford to operate a school for so few students.32 The Daniel school also faced closure. A community delegation opposed the move in 1934, and the board agreed to leave it open. The problem became more severe when the state board removed the Daniel school from its list of approved two-room schools, which meant the school was no longer eligible for state equalization funds. Lula Clegg, clerk for the board, explained in September 1941 that the student-teacher ratio was lower in Daniel than in other places in the county. There were only fifty-two students in the first six grades; the two teachers there had twenty-six students a piece. At the Heber Central School the ratio was thirty-five to one and at the North School it was thirty-six to one. In addition it cost $92.71 per pupd at the Daniel school and only $59 at the North school. If the board moved the students to Heber or Charleston, it could save the costs of salaries, heat, and maintenance of the school. A month later the Utah Supreme Court ruled that an Emery County school could not be closed without patron consent. The Wasatch County board asked the state if the case applied to Daniel, but the state board said the county could close the school as long as the board made "ftdl and fair con­sideration of all factors and circumstances."33 As in the past, there were areas within the county where the school board paid other school districts to provide education, always debating on what was the most cost effective. In 1938 the board decided it would be cheaper to send the Bench Creek children to Heber schools, claiming lower transportation costs and better roads made sending the students to Wasatch County schools possible. Less than a month later, the board decided to continue to send the stu­dents to Woodland or South Summit High. In 1940 South Summit closed all of its smader schools and moved ad the students to Kamas, so Wasatch County had to work out new arrangements to help trans­port its students to the consolidated Summit County schools.34 The school district worked together with the LDS church Relief Society, the Red Cross, and the communities. Some projects helped to improve children's health. In 1939 the Relief Society sponsored, and the other organizations helped pay for, immunization clinics 188 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY which gave 673 shots for typhoid, 295 for diphtheria, and 233 for smallpox. These groups also offered dental clinics and helped cover the costs of physical examinations. Other activities involved the shar­ing of facdities. The LDS church used the high school domestic-sci­ence rooms to prepare a ward and stake Relief Society dinner and leased the Wadsburg and Daniel schools for church programs. The M Men group from the LDS ward in Charleston matched the school board's money to put restrooms in the school in 1938. The church also purchased surplus buildings. After the Center school closed, the LDS ward there wanted to use the building for church purposes but could not afford the rent. When the school board offered it for sale to the highest bidder, the ward bid twenty-five dollars and bought the building. The board made very little money since it cost $15.60 to advertise the sale. When the board debated closing the Daniel school, the LDS ward there offered to buy that budding.35 The school board and LDS church interests did not always coin­cide directly, though problems were usually resolved. In 1932 the LDS stake board of education said that it would provide seminary for grades ten to twelve but would only give the ninth grade one class a week. The school board responded that since the ninth grade was part of the high school the seminary should provide equal programs for that grade. Eventually the board and the church worked out an arrangement where the seminary provided a weekly character-budd­ing program for the seventh through ninth grades, and the schools planned a program for those who did not want to attend the LDS classes. In 1934 the Mormon Mutual Improvement Association wanted to exchange use of the LDS-church-owned Heber Amusement Hall for the high school gym. The superintendent sug­gested that the church could rent the gym and also recommended that the students not take part in the church activities since the high school supported similar programs. In 1940 representatives from the three Heber wards and the stake asked if the board would cooperate in budding tennis courts. The school board agreed that tennis courts would be good for the community but felt the city should provide them. The LDS representatives in turn suggested that the city be adowed to budd the courts on the Central School lot; the city would build, maintain, and operate them. The board tabled the motion.36 DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 189 The Midway Town Hall, constructed in 1941, was a New Deal WPA project. (Allan Kent Powell) The schools were also used for community activities, but there often were disagreements on how much they should be used. In 1934 the Soldier Summit residents asked the board not to allow political meetings at the school, and the board said the school should have limited use. Six years later the board explained the PTA could hold dances and parties at the school free of charge. No one could play basketball or volleyball though and no one could drink liquor. All dances had to close by midnight, and if other groups other than the PTA wanted to use the budding, they would have to pay a three-dol­lar rental fee.37 Summary Thus, throughout the 1930s, Wasatch County remained an agri­cultural area; but things had begun to change. During the Depression, residents came to depend more on federal funds for community resources. Federal funds helped with sidewalks, roads, school repairs, power plant lines, and water and sewage facilities. 190 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY With the construction of Deer Creek Dam, some Charleston resi­dents were forced to relocate and other county citizens lost water rights. The dairy industry continued to shift from a home industry to an export one. State policy changed the educational system by deciding which schools could remain open. During these years, the county became even more dependent on outside governments and industries. For the twenty-one-month period between Aprd 1934 and December 1935, federal assistance and state and local aid amounted to $64.64 per capita, which included work projects, a sanitation pro­gram, the Deer Creek Reservoir study, direct and labor relief through the Utah Emergency Relief Administration, and the Civil Works Administration programs. The money was used to work on twenty-one miles of road, 5,460 feet of sidewalks, three weds for fire protec­tion, three springs for drinking water, repairs for four schools, improvements for one cemetery, and installment of four miles of power transmission lines. The highest per capita expenditure for that period in the state was Uintah County at $92.33, and the lowest was Box Elder with $37.20. The county average was $76.95.38 Wasatch County was thus somewhat below the state average in aid received. ENDNOTES 1. Twenty-first Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Utah for the Biennial Period Ending June 30, 1936, 92; Utah Planning Board, "Wasatch County: Basic Data of Economic Activities and Resources" (Salt Lake City: Utah Planning Board, 1940), 5; Wasatch Wave, 1 September 1933, 4; 31 August 1934, 4; 15 January 1937, 1; 29 January 1937, 1; 6 March 1937, 1. 2. Utah Planning Board, "Wasatch County," 1; 11-12; Ralph F. Giles, History, 26, LDS Church Archives. 3. Calvin Giles, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 13 January 1994, 2-3; Giles, History, 26; Moroni Besendorfer, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 25 February 1994, Wasatch County Oral History Project. 4. Ralph Giles, Oral History, 26; Heber City Council minutes, 5 March 1936,128; Wasatch Wave, 27 September 1935,4; 12 July 1935,4. 5. Heber City Council minutes, 6 November 1930, 330; 22 September 1933, 1; 17 January 1934, 16; 24 January 1934, 17; Midway City Council minutes, 2 January 1933, 55; 6 February 1933, 57; Utah School Report, DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 191_ 1938-1940,108-9; Wasatch Stake minutes, 31 December 1932 report, LDS Church Archives. According to the report, forty families in the Heber First Ward, thirty-nine families in the Heber Second Ward, forty families in the Heber Third Ward, sixteen families in the Midway First Ward, and nine famdies in the Midway Second Ward needed assistance. 6. Heber City Councd minutes, 7 June 1935,76; 19 June 1935, 77-78; 25 July 1935, 85; 23 September 1935,102; 20 July 1933, 392; 18 August 1933, 395; 18 August 1933, 395; 17 January 1934,16; Wasatch Wave, 31 May 1935, 4; 24 May 1935, 4. 7. Utah Planning Board, "Wasatch County," 7; Heber City Council minutes, 6 February 1936,125; 15 July 1937,164; 1 May 1941,304; Wasatch Wave, 24 January 1941, 1; Ralph McGuire, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 12 November 1993, 7. 8. Midway City Council minutes, 3 February 1937, 239; 4 March 1937, 240; 7 October 1936, 228; 240; 17 September 1934, 136-38; 7 November 1934,151; 16 November 1935, 203; 11 January 1939; 15 March 1939; 7 June 1939; Alma Huber, Oral History, interview by Craig Fuller, 1 March 1972, Utah State Historical Society; Wasatch County Board of Education minutes, 7 January 1937, 39; 1 February 1937, 41; 23 January 1938, 161; 21 April 1941, 302; 20 October 1941, 331; Mortimer, How Beautiful, 612. 9. Wasatch County Board of Education minutes , 7 December 1925, 216; 18 January 1926, 221; 5 December 1938, 155; 5 August 1940, 253; 16 September 1940, 262-63; 4 November 1940, 276; 17 November 1941, 335; Seventeenth Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1928, 78-79; Twenty-fourth Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1942, 117. 10. Wasatch County Board of Education minutes, 16 February 1935, 268; 15 July 1935, 336; 20 January 1936, 377; 7 January 1937, 36; 5 April 1943, 396; 19 April 1943, 399; 4 October 1943, 410. 11. Wasatch Wave, 30 August 1935, 4; 13 September 1935, 4; Richard McGuire, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 12 November 1993, Wasatch County, 7-8. 12. Wasatch Wave, 11 January 1929,4; 22 February 1929, 4; 23 August 1929, 4; 16 May 1930, 4; 22 March 1940, 1; 10 May 1929, 4. 13. Wasatch Wave, 19 February 1932, 4; 8 April 1932, 4; 10 July 1936, 1; 24 July 1936,1; 25 September 1936,1; 10 June 1938,1. 14. Heber City Council minutes, 15 May 1930, 313; 3 December 1931, 355; Wasatch Wave, 11 July 1930,4; 13 March 1931,4; Midway City Council minutes, 26 January 1934, 112; 25 July 1934,127-31. 15. Wasatch Wave, 8 February 1935, 4; 15 November 1935, 4; Journal History, 12 November 1935, 4. 192 HISTORY OF WASATCH COUNTY 16. Midway City Councd minutes, 5 January 1931,124; 4 March 1932, 17; 14 March 1932, 18-19; 5 December 1932, 49; 23 May 1933, 67-68. 17. Derrick S. Thorns, 16; Project History, Provo River Project Utah, Deer Creek Division, Volume 1 (1937), 8, 16, Bureau of Reclamation Library, Provo; Wasatch Wave, 17 September 1937, 1; 29 March 1929, 4; Janice M. Hammond, "Historical Background on Utah Water and Power Board Predecessor Organizations" (Utah Water and Power Board, 1964), 11,14, Utah State Archives. 18. Wasatch Wave, 9 February 1934, 4; 31 July 1936; Project History, Provo River Project, 8,16. 19. Allen M. Winterton, Life Has Been Good to Me (Glendale, Ariz.: Wayne's Tabletop Press, 1987), 74; Max North, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 2 February 1994, Wasatch County Oral History Project; Wasatch Wave, 24 December 1937,1; Project History, Provo River Project, Volume 2 (1938), 48-49. 20. Project History, Provo River Project, Volume 2 (1938), 48-49; 5 (1941), 67; 3 (1939), 53; 4 (1940), 66. The index for the district court had docket numbers for these cases; unfortunately, the clerks were unable to find the dockets. The Cache Valley case also could not be found. 21. L. C. Montgomery to W. L. Hansen, 2 March 1946, Heber Cattle Association, Appeal Case, F l l - 1 , Uinta National Forest Fdes, Heber City Office; Besendorfer, Oral History. 22. Wasatch Wave, 26 November 1937,1; 24 November 1933,4; Project History 1 (1937), 38; 2 (1938), 72-73. 23. Project History, Volume 2 (1938), 72-73; 3 (1939), 30; 4 (1941), 40; 5 (1941), 26; Besendorfer, Oral History. 24. C. W. McCullough, "Wasatch County Celebrates Eighty Years of Achievement," Utah Magazine 3 (July 1939), 25; Project History, Volume 9 (1945), 14; 10 (1946), 7, 5 (1941), 26. 25. Leslie S. Raty, "Under Wasatch Skies:" A History of Wasatch County, 1858-1900 (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1954), 98; Project History, 4 (1940), 150-51; 7 (143), 51; Calvin Giles, Oral History. 26. Heber Cattle Company, 3 January 1933, 67; 8 January 1934, 20-21; L. C. Montgomery to Charles DeMoisey, 2 July 1934; George A. Fisher, Heber Cattle and Horse Company, to Emergency Drouth Committee, 23 May 1934; Charles DeMoisey to L. C. Montgomery, 9 June 1934; Heber Cattle Company, 7 January 1935, 74-85; Stoney W. Nicholes, Jr., Oral History, interview by John Bluth, 14, 16 May 1974, Simpson Springs Oral History Project, Charles Redd Center, 107. 27. Eugene A. Correll, General Agriculture, Wasatch County, 18 April 1941, Box 4, 6, 12, WPA Grazing Notes, Utah State Historical Society; DEPRESSION, 1930-1941 193 Calvin Giles, Oral History, 1; LeRoy Sweat, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 4 February 1994, 6-8. 28. Box 4, 12, WPA Grazing Notes, Utah State Historical Society; McGuire, Oral History, 3; Sweat, Oral History, 9-10. 29. Alvin Kohler, Oral History, interview by Rebecca Vorimo, 22 October 1993, 6-8; WPA Grazing Notes, Box 4, 6, 7, Utah State Historical Society. 30. Wasatch County Board of Education minutes, 20 April 1936, 394-95; Twenty-first Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Utah for 1936, 91. 31. Wasatch County Board of Education minutes, 2 May 1932, 134; 1 May 1933,175; 21 August 1933, 187; 27 September 1940, 265-69. 32. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 9 September 1930, 61; 22 September 1930, 62; 19 January 1931, 78; 28 January 1931, 78-79; 2 February 1931, 80; 24 August 1931,102; 21 September 1931,106. 33. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 2 April 1934,222; 5 August 1940, 254; 6 January 1941, 287-88; 6 October 1941, 328; 15 December 1941, 339. 34. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 1 August 1938, 131; 22 August 1938, 135; 5 August 1940, 252. 35. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 17 April 1939,180; 15 May 1939, 185; 18 September 1939, 206; 30 June 1941, 231; 6 May 1940, 242; 12 August 1941, 319; 8 November 1943, 414; 13 November 1944, 449; 10 February 1938, 99; 19 November 1934, 251; 10 December 1934, 255; 4 February 1935, 266; 17 January 1938, 97. 36. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 21 March 1932, 125; 8 September 1933, 191; 5 November 1934, 250; 1 April 1940, 236-237; 15 April 1940, 240. 37. Wasatch County School Board minutes, 3 September 1934,238-39; 1 April 1940, 235. 38. Statistical Summary of Expenditures and Accomplishments: Utah Emergency Relief Program (Engineering Department, Works Division: Salt Lake City, 1936), 278.