A History of Beaver County

Prosperity and depression, 1920 - 1950-2

PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 261 only the practical minded stockmen who can see only the forage value of the most beautiful desert flower, but the aesthetic too, are among the guests at the Range. In the 55,000 acres of the Experiment Station, one may see areas of excellent forage, beautiful flowers, and an even green cover, or barren wasted desert with only the misleading green of Russian Thistle showing."122 When the camp was eventually closed down, Milford felt the loss of this significant resource, protest­ing strongly the order.123 As a result, the closure was delayed for a period of time, largely because of the lobbying efforts of the Lions Club, but was eventually closed down with the end of the CCC pro­gram. 124 PWA/WPA and other New Deal Alphabet Agencies The Public Works Administration hired men from Beaver to work on local civic improvement projects. Paul R. Arentz from the PWA visited the county commission on 5 February 1935 to explain the way work was conducted under the agency. He told them the gov­ernment had $4.5 billion for projects over the next eighteen months. He was in Beaver County to survey what particular needs might be met by PWA programs. The principal objective of the program was to build up towns, cities, and counties, and to employ local men and teams, attempting to employ all unemployed persons in the county. Projects proposed by the commission included installation of a power plant, improvement of local streets and sidewalks, landscap­ing, new city halls, courthouses or schools, lining irrigation systems, and preservation of historic landmarks like Cove Fort.125 Men hauled gravel for Beaver City streets and country roads for $3.00 a day throughout winter months. A work crew of local carpenters built "Roosevelt Memorials" or public restroom facilities. WPA recre­ational director for Beaver County, Stan McKnight identified an area near the Telluride plant for the development of a ski course and recreational site. The hill was described as being "not too steep but is an ideal place for the amateur to test his skill. About 7 pairs of skiies [sic] are available and every one will be given an opportunity to try their hand. It is hoped that the introduction of this sport into this section may be the foundation of a real sports program."126 In February 1938 work began on a ski run near the Hi Low Lake 262 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY area near Clover Beds. Grading was underway for a ski run more than one mile in length that would provide slopes for beginning skiers or more advanced experienced skiers as well. An ice skating pond and hills for tobogganing and sledding were also developed. Beaver's Chamber of Commerce announced that the ski run would be opened on 6 March 1938.127 That same year a group of skiing enthusiasts organized a local ski club to plan for future skiing pro­jects and developments.128 Over the next decade the ski club played a key role in encouraging further winter sports developments.129 In lanuary 1939 President Roosevelt approved five new WPA projects for Utah, including in Beaver County a project to improve the state fish hatchery.130 In 1941 Roosevelt approved an appropria­tion of $41,365 of WPA funds for improvements on the power plant.131 To regulate CWA work, a local CWA commitee for the county was appointed in November 1933 which included C.F. Harris, chair; T.L. Griffiths and Arnold Low of Beaver; D.R. McKnight of Minersville; and L.G. Clay of Milford. Theodore Bohn of Beaver served as the distribution officer. This committee functioned as the Beaver County Emergency Relief Committee headquartered on the Tolton block in Beaver City. The first allocation were 100 men whose names were drawn from the relief rolls. The principal role of the committee was to receive requests for projects from the city, county, PTA, or the board of education and other civic associations and sub­mit them for approval to the state committee. Upon approval, they then helped organize the project itself and distributed funds allocated by the federal government.132 The Civil Works Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief office joined forces in December 1933 to distribute relief to 147 families or 535 individuals in Beaver County. The men who received relief under this program worked on two projects in Beaver City in December-improving the road from Fletcher Barton's into town and the Fish Hatchery road. In addition, the CWA employed 196 men from Beaver in December on various projects, with wages that varied according to the type of work-a common laborer received 50 cents an hour; timekeeper and foreman, 60 cents; a man with a team, 75 cents per hour; and blacksmiths and other skilled workers 75 cents PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 263 per hour. During the last week in November 1933, the CWA payroll for projects in the county was $1,530.133 These placements continued through the month-twenty more were employed on forest work, six sent to Delta, and fourteen to Greenriver. The payroll for the week ending 11 December was $3,945. Much of this work represented a partnership with city government which had to provide materials in certain cases for projects or other supplies.134 The number of men employed and the number of hours they could work fluctuated wildly over the next several months. In January 1934, for instance, thirty-four men were dropped from local civil works projects and the number of hours each could work per week was limited to fifteen. In short, this meant that the CWA payroll in Beaver County was half what it had been in December.135 The CWA was suspended 31 March 1934 after the completion of the projects that were underway at the time-the Creek Bed road bridges, improvement of the Beaver County Jail, feeding malnourished chil­dren, and the supervising nurses and the relief medical program.136 The Federal Emergency Relief Administration also funneled funds into the county. In July 1934, the FERA payroll for the county for the week of 18 July was $2,310. The local committee described its purpose and method of accessing funds in an article in the Beaver Press dated 20 July 1934. It specified that "anyone making application for relief holds himself out as subject to a thorough investigation as to his financial resources. He does not receive relief because he is out of work, but receives it because he has exhausted all resources with which to live and make a living." Any person who applied for relief might have been put on Direct Relief Work Relief. If it was believed that the worker was squandering away his wages, he would be trans-fered to a program where his wages would not be given in the form of cash but in disbursement orders to be redeemed at local stores. One typical FERA project was the curbing and guttering of the ditch just north of the Beaver High School building for three straight blocks and moving the White Way light posts back and reconnecting them-work that was superintended by city councilmen George Paice and Levi Howd, with William Goodwin as project engineer.137 In 1935 the FERA appropriated $6,800 to improve sanitary condi- 264 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY tions resulting from improper drainage systems and unsanitary priv­ies and cesspools.138 Community Life Throughout the Depression years, the people of Beaver County continued to raise their families and attempted to maintain commu­nity institutions that tied them together. In 1935 " a record breaking crowd gathered at the Beaver high school at 10:30 Wednesday morn­ing to enjoy one of the best programs ever put on on Beaver's Birthday," the Press reported. The crowd began by singing, "Come, Come, Ye Saints" led by Professor Cannon Thomson of Beaver High. Then followed a series of readings about early pioneer life in the val­ley, a skit "Depicting Early Pioneer School" and a "delicious hot din­ner" was provided by the four local camps of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. The day ended, as it most likely would have in pioneer times, with a rolicking dance that ran until 12:30.139 There was sufficient new construction in Beaver in 1935 for one writer to describe it enthusiastically as a "building boom."140 Several new homes were noted periodically in the paper-evidence of eco­nomic recovery.141 Beaver City began work on a new city sewer sys­tem in November 1935, adapting in part to new growth.142 Active throughout the 1930s, the Beaver Chamber of Commerce contributed greatly to the building of the city's infrastructure. Meeting around a banquet table at the Meredith Cafe, twenty-three members discussed the construction of a new armory and work already underway on the sewer system. The armory would be par­tially funded by the state, the city, and the WPA.143 In February 1937 the chamber discussed with George Jefferson, president of the Milford State Bank, the possibility of establishing a bank in Beaver City some time during the following year.144 Supplementing the work of the county commission, the chamber threw its support behind a number of projects that helped Beaver meet change effectively.145 KSUB radio station in Cedar City featured a weekly fifteen minute program on Beaver County using information provided by the chamber of commerce. Advertising the area's natural resources and built environment, it described the amenities here in glowing terms. "May we invite you to spend the week-end or regular vacation trip in PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 265 i Members of the Beaver Band announce a Barn Dance. (Utah State Historical Society) Beaver's Wonderland where Nature in all it's grandeur has created a wonderful bewitching and fascinating retreat; where we can assure you will have an outing never to be forgotten. Beaver City is sur­rounded by a rich farming and dairy section. The City owns its own water and electric light systems, has a $165,000 senior High School, a splendid grammar school, Carnegie Library, fine churches, and is indeed and in truth a splendid home city. Beaver welcomes the tourist and the homemaker."146 Beaver City was also featured on KSL radio in April 1938. City councilman E.F. Mackerell told the story of the eighty-two-year history of the community, reminding his audi­ence of the 1865 remarks of town pionner John R. Murdock, "We must be like the beaver-we must work hard and long-for here is a great country with resources everywhere about us." Mackerell noted Beaver's important scenic and mining resources as well as its key importance as the "center of the state's dairy industry."147 The Firmage Theater opened in Beaver in the summer of 1937- a new "De Lux" motion picture showhouse, built for $25,000. The theater, which had 400 seats, was equipped with the most up-to-date sound equipment and featured air-conditioned air in summer and 266 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY The Goddess of Liberty and her attendants. (Utah State Historical Society) clean heated air in the winter. According to the Press, "Lobby appointments give the air of distinctive colorings in white, blue, beige with trimmings of stainless steel. Groups of modernistic furniture add the finishing touch."148 The chamber of commerce joined with the city to raise money for a race track for Beaver City at special meeting in August 1938 held at the I.O.O.F. hall. The race track project was largely completed and would cost overall an estimated $30,000. An additional $2,000 were needed to complete the grand stand, race track, and stables and stalls PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 267 for horses. The t r a c k was b u i l t on the g r o u n d s of t h e Murdock Academy, the location of t h e Beaver County Fair. A race meet was held Labor Day weekend.149 An editorial in The Beaver Press in April 1944 epitomized the enthusiasm Beaver brought to the future: Few rural communities of Utah have natural resources and advan­tages to compare with those with which a beneficient Creator has endowed and surrounded Beaver City. Few towns and cities of comparable population, offer as many opportunities for expan­sion, and the profitable application of capital investments. . . . Sheltered from cyclones and tornadoes, floods, fogs, severe droughts and extremes in temperature, and fed by one of the most dependable and conservative small rivers in the state, admirably adapted to the production of dependable hydro-electric power, and the coolest, clearest, purest culinary water supply possible, with wonderful grazing, mineral and recreational advantages, it leaves nothing to be desired that is conducive to the comfort, con­venience and well-being of homemakers and industrialists. . . . Cool attractive summer camps and trout-stocked streams, won­derful scenery and the best hunting in the world-people not only exist here-they LIVE! As a manufacturing community, we have the cheap power, water, man and woman power by people who want to make their homes here permanently; considerable surplus housing already established and available, economical transporta­tion, an all-year desirable climate, economical fuel supply and a total absence of labor troubles. Can all these advantages long go begging to be snapped up? We think not.150 Beaver's Mormon congregation completed construction of a new ward chapel in December 1931. The building, designed by prominent Mormon architects Harold Burton and Theodore Burton, pulled the various activities of the church under one roof-from this point for­ward, Relief Society activities, t h e distribution of welfare for the poor, and other worship and social activities would be staged in this beau­tiful s t r u c t u r e , which included classrooms on a second level and other offices and rooms in the basement.151 The LDS church sold the site at the northeast corner of the city part for the new federal building in 1938 for $7,500, with the stipula- 268 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY Business students at Murdock Academy. (Utah State Historical Society) tion that the city officials beautify the lower part of the church prop­erty. 152 The new structure officially opened on 2 September 1941 and was described by The Beaver Press as "a colonial design, stressing of simplicity and design. A metal and glass cupola surmounts the roof. The interior of the building is elaborately designed, and the modern heating equipment has been installed."153 The two-story black stone Murdock Academy building was torn down in 1932 despite decades of adapting it to new uses.154 Beginning with the cooperative enterprises of the nineteenth century and continuing down through the twentieth century, volun­teer activity was crucial to the development of Beaver County. Men and women of each generation gave generously of their time, talents and resources to build their community-the chambers of com­merce, Lions Clubs, volunteer fire departments, and other entities benefitted everyone and reflected a strong local public mindedness and sense of connectedness. A new volunteer fire department organized in February 1941 in Beaver City with Walter B. Nowers as chair and Walter L. Carlton as secretary. Charter members included all the members of the city PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 269 council and other volunteers. The group met each Thursday night at 8 P.M. in the basement of the Beaver Library.155 The 1940 census showed a slight decrease in the population of the county in the past decade by 152 for a total of 4,984. Most of this decrease was in Milford, which dropped by 133; both Beaver and Minersville increased in population.156 Between 1941 and 1943, Beaver City completed internal improvements-the hydro electric plant was completed, landscaped, and began service; Beaver City streets were repaired; and a new bridge was constructed at the Dee Stapley corner and another near the cemetery. The street in front of the court house was graveled and oiled; and the culinary water supply improved with new pipes bring­ing spring water to Beaver City homes without ever coming above ground.157 Electrical Power Residents of Beaver City debated whether they should purchase power from Telluride Power Company or continue to supply local power with the city hydro-electric plant and build a new dam. Those in favor of a connection to Telluride emphasized that the plant's diesel engines produced power for less than half the price, and that it would put Beaver in a dangerous position financially to go further in debt to build a new dam, and that, furthermore, purchasing new equipment that would be out of date within ten years was not eco­nomically prudent either.158 They also reminded the city that Manti was purchasing its power from Telluride and had found the arrange­ment to be perfectly satisfactory.159 In 1936 the city purchased a new diesel engine for its power plant for $21,027 raised through a bond election.160 In 1940 the city coun­cil considered the feasibility of building a new hydro-electric plant up Beaver Canyon and upgrading the plant already up and running in town.161 A series of public meetings was held to encourage civic involvement in the decision making process.162 By March the city opened the bidding process for construction of a new plant, believ­ing it would produce a more consistent supply of electricity to the city.163 The city also applied to the Federal Power Commission for permission to construct the new plant.164 In December 1940, Beaver 270 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY The Hotel Low in Beaver. (Utah State Historical Society) City held a bond election in the attempt to secure $130,000 to be used to build a hydro-electric power plant at the Beaver City power site in Beaver Canyon, build a new city hall with a fire station, reha­bilitate the electrical system, and other development supplemented by the rural electrification program.165 Approved by Beaver votes 122 to 79, the bond would result in significant improvements for the area.166 Despite the many challenges faced along the way, including entrance into World War II, the new hydro-electric plant was com­pleted in December 1942. Mayor Thompson described the new sys­tem in glowing terms: "The new generator plant is complete in every detail, and as fine as money can buy. It is fully automatic, insuring an even and constant flow of power and heat elements, which will be a great improvement over the system now in town and with one of the best mountain streams in this part of the state to operate from Beaver City should have one of the finest power and light system in the country."167 On Wednesday, 4 January 1943, Mayor Thompson turned on the switch which set the plant in motion. The older hydro and diesel PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 271 engine plants were closed down, but it was planned that they would be kept in good condition for emergencies.168 By 1943 the Telluride Power company was building connection lines-transformers and other equipment-to pick up the "dump load electricity" from the city power plant because of greater demand from small towns which depended on the company for power in times when water shortages made it difficult to generate power locally.169 The Telluride Beaver Canyon Line would likely cost $150,000 but would service not only small towns in Beaver County but other towns in the area. It would provide an alternative independent source of power for west Beaver County which depended on Sevier County for electrical service.170 Regardless of their efforts to upgrade service for Milford and other towns to the west of Beaver, the company experienced several major breakdowns and periods of low voltage and single phasing, all creat­ing problems for Milford businesses.171 In 1999 there were two power plants operating in the county- the Sulphurdale Plant fifteen miles north of Beaver, and the Blundell Power Plant northeast of Milford. Hospitals Beaver City's Chamber of Commerce backed the city's efforts to develop a plan for building a hospital in town and met with the county commission on numerous occasions to discuss the matter.172 The city sent a proposal to the WPA for support in March 1936.173 Largely at the encouragement of Abe Murdock, Walter M. Crandall of the War Department and other army officers came to Beaver to inspect a proposed site for a 1,000-bed army hospital-for which the city proposed to donate the race track and fair grounds at Fort Cameron.174 In 1945 the LDS church considered a proposal to build a hospital in Beaver County, splitting the costs in half with the county. Of particular concern in the debate over the issue was the lack of support given by Beaver residents to the Milford hospital.175 Dr. L.A. Busch, Jr., of Pittsburgh bought the Milford hospital and began to remodel it not soon after. In addition, Busch purchased the practice of Dr. Owen L. Felt and planned to care for "out patients" at his offices in downtown Milford.176 272 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY Schools During the Depression, it was difficult to fund schools for an entire year. In the past it had been the practice of the school board to borrow money to operate schools against tax notes, repaying the loans upon receipt of tax revenues. But under the stringencies of the Depression years, it was impossible to do so. As a result, schools were closed periodically until monies were secured to pay salaries and other school expenses.177 For instance, in 1932 schools were held for eight months and closed during May.178 Holding bond elections to provide more permanent funds for school operations was a frequent topic of debate. In April 1932 it was seen as a potential solution to school closure, and a bond election was scheduled for two weeks later.179 Beaver schools closed that same week.180 Nevertheless, Beaver County voters rallied, and a $40,000 bond was widely supported when it came to a vote, and schools were able to continue to the end of the term.181 Over the next few years, attendance became a critical issue for county schools because schools' budgets were in part determined by the number of students in the classroom. The policy was established that if a student missed more than fifty days he or she would receive no credit.182 Seventy-three students graduated from Beaver High School in May in 1937, the largest graduating class ever, despite the many strains placed on education and families during the Depression years.183 The district had enough money by 1938 to start a program of renovation and construction for local schools-including an addi­tion on Belknap Elementary School, a new wood workshop and machine shop at Beaver High School, and a new shop and gymna­sium at Milford High School.184 School enrollment totals increased between 1938 and 1940. Nearly half of the total student population came from Beaver East and Beaver West (361 from Beaver East and 342 from Beaver West, as opposed to 398 from Milford). The school superintendent had identified fifteen additional boys and girls who were potential students but who weren't attending school. The results of the school census showed that in the county a total of 813 boys attended school, 710 girls, for a total of 1,523 students.185 A school census conducted five years later indicated a slight drop in total PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 273 number of students-to 1,407 in the county and a total of 647 from Beaver, 453 from Milford.186 Roads The road between Beaver and Milford was resurfaced in 1931- graveled and oiled at the rate of 362 yards a day for about eighteen days with men working two shifts.187 The State Road Commission and the Beaver County Commission announced a program of exten­sive road building to begin in 1932. Highway 91 would be the focus of much of the improvement work financed in part by the state, the federal government, and the county. The highway would be widened in places, graded, graveled, and oiled to the Millard County line. Local men would work on the project, contracted in ten-mile sec­tions. With the completion of this work, the highway would be either oiled or paved the entire distance to Salt Lake City.188 The Beaver County Lions Clubs backed efforts to hire unemployed county men for road construction, in this way spreading the money through the county. With the support of Senator Abe Murdock, the seriousness of the unemployment problem in the county was brought to the attention of the federal officials still considering how the work ought to be divided up and contracted out.189 By the end of the year, $90,000 had been spent on improving twenty miles of Highway 91; ten miles of repair and improvement on the road to Puffer Lake were com­pleted. In 1939 the federal government appropriated $225,000 for con­struction of a new road eighteen miles north of Beaver between Manderfield and Pine Creek, a six-mile, safer road than the previ­ously existing one which wound its way through Wild Cat Canyon. Ideally, all unskilled labor on the project would be done by local men, thereby bringing much needed revenue into the county.190 Regardless, decisions about funds coming into the county for road work were hotly contested, and Milford and Beaver were often pitted against each other as competitors for the same funds. In June 1948 the Milford Lions Club accused Beaver "interests . . . with divert­ing road funds which had been earmarked for Highway 21, to the re­routing of the Puffer Lake road 'for the private gain of a few individuals.'"191 It was decided that for the three years after 1948 the 274 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY The Beaver Garage with the Low Hotel in the background. (Utah State Historical Society) portion of Highway 21 west of Milford would be a county priority, because of the convincing argument that the entire county would benefit by the livestock and minerals trucked out of Milford to west­ern markets.192 The automobile provided a new stimulus to Beaver's recreational development-making it easier for tourists to travel through Beaver County's canyons on roads constructed during the New Deal years, thus enjoying the widely varied and beautiful scenery here.193 Airports Representatives from the county approached Governor Herbert B. Maw about a proposed airport to be built in Beaver, including John P. Barton, S.G. Hickman, H.D. Thompson, E.D. Joseph, and R.F. Heppler, in February 1943. The county had already secured the prop­erty and cleared the landing field, secured lumber and other building materials for a hanger, and had hauled a drilling machine to the site to begin drilling for a well, but felt that state help in the project was necessary for its success.194 The airport project proceeded for the next PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 275 Loading a shipment of hay at the Milford airport for delivery to stranded cattle during the winter of 1948. (Courtesy Gladys Whittaker) few years. By 1943 a two-man crew was reported operating the county road grader and caterpillar tractor on a second runway, which was like the first, approximately 6,000 feet long and 135 feet wide.195 Once it was finished, the city chamber of commerce began efforts to locate a flight school at the site, attracting additional federal funds for the airport.196 In 1946 Milford's airport was given a $20,000 expenditure to upgrade the landing field, build new hangars and improve the road leading to the field. The site included a 500-foot by one-mile landing strip which would be totally paved by 1947.197 In October 1947 the Milford city council estimated the costs of paving the strip at $55,158, $34,286 of which would be paid by the federal govern­ment. 198 The runway was oiled by August 1948, and the gravel shoul­ders, 200 feet on each side, were rolled and packed. The work was funded by the federal government, the State of Utah, and Milford City.199 Within a few years, the airport had "paid for itself" providing a safe landing field for planes in emergency situations nearby. An army transport loaded with several crewmen was guided to a safe landing at Milford by a sharp CAA operator who detected the plane's distress call over the desert to the northwest. During the heavy snows of the 276 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY winter of 1948-49, t he Milford airport served as the base for the "haylift" operations bringing food to sheep and cattle with national guard and air force planes. In 1954 an air force jet landed at the Milford airport because the pilot had not been able to see through a heavy fog over the Cedar City airport. The site was considered by many airline pilots to be one of the most "strategic emergency land­ing field between Salt Lake and Los Angeles."200 Milford The railroad continued to be an important generator of jobs and income for Milford. Sixty-nine men were put on the Milford Union Pacific payroll early in 1937 in high paying jobs for a total of about $14,000 per month. This included eight train service crews of five men each, ten switch engine men, four mechanics, five car men, three dispatchers, and a night clerk for the dispatcher's office. Besides these jobs, a number of employees were added to the stations along the line to Milford earning between $200 and $350 a month.201 Milford experienced similarly significant progress in its built environment during the 1940s. H.S. Barrington, developer and builder, began fifteen new brick homes in the summer of 1945 near Milford's high school.202 A number of old landmarks were torn down as Milford went through a Main Street renovation program the next year.203 The Martin Garage and the Tanner House Hotel were each potent reminders of times gone by, their demolition a statement about movement toward the future.204 These efforts did not go unno­ticed by the rest of the state. The Ogden Standard Examiner described Milford's efforts to "improve and beautify the community, and stressed the vast resources that can be used to turn Milford into the leading city of Southern Utah."205 This growth tested available resources, however, and in July 1946 Milford city officials put restric­tions on the use of water for gardening, encouraging water users to test water nozzles, plumbing systems to insure that no water was being wasted, and to restrain from using water for any absolutely unnecessary purpose. Violators would be fined up to $50 and receive a thirty-day jail sentence.206 A new Milford-Beaver phone line was approved by the Denver office of the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company in August 1946. Responding to complaints from PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 277 Main Street in Milford. (Utah State Historical Society) Milford long distance users, this new circuit would "relieve the situa­tion somewhat, by providing two direct wires to Beaver, and also will provide Minersville, Greenville, and Adamsville phone subscribers with direct service to Beaver."207 Milford was made a third class city in August 1946 with a town board president and four trustees constituting local municipal gov­ernment. Town ordinances would be revised to city standards. It was anticipated this would make it easier to regulate and encourage civic improvements.208 Milford businessmen began discussing the organi­zation of a chamber of commerce in 1947 to help attract business and resources to the area.209 Within weeks, forty-six "progressive citi­zens" became charter members of the group and held their first meeting in the I.O.O.F. Hall in Milford. They described their objec­tives as follows: "To encourage active participation in all things that have to do with commercial, civic, and industrial benefit, and to cooperate with all other organizations in worthwhile endeavors for the public's welfare and the advancement and betterment of Milford."210 Early discussions of the board of trustees included construction 278 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY Milford businesses with The Milford Hotel on the left offering a European Plan for its guests. (Utah State Historical Society) of a new fire hall and jail, improving power and water systems and cleaning up the railroad yards.211 The chamber of commerce took a different approach to mapping out Milford's most pressing issues, looking instead to smaller issues like cleaning up the streets. "A bigger and better Milford is okay-a fine thing," James D. Williams, cham­ber member, said, "but a house must have a foundation first, then the walls and roof, before exquisite furnishings can be considered. Let's try to get the city into a basis of 'sensible service' before we go in for luxuries."212 The upgraded Milford airport was dedicated on 10 October 1948, a day celebrated with the "Flying Farmers," private pilots from across the state, army planes from Hill Field, and Utah's "Flying Mayors." A dinner for the town and the visiting dignitaries was held that night in the airport hanger.213 The Milford Ward built a rock meetinghouse in 1932, hauling the rock from Beaver. The Seventh-day Adventists organized a congrega­tion in 1935. And the Nazarene church purchased the First Church of Christ, Scientist, building in 1945 for their newly organized group. The Saint Bridget Catholic Church was dedicated in Milford on 31 PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 279 Members of the Milford Baseball Team. (Utah State Historical Society) October 1948, t h e Feast Day of Christ the King, in the Catholic tra­dition. High mass was sung by Father Valine at 9:30 A.M. and Bishop Hunt presided over the sermon, a choir of twenty men's voices came 280 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY for the dedication from the Newman Center in Salt Lake City. The property where the new church was built was bought thirty years ear­lier, but because of the Depression and war years, the building was not built any earlier. The building project was largely the result of the diligent efforts of Father Valine, a Dominican priest from San Francisco who was given responsibility over this area. During the construction of the church, Valine worked alongside the builders tire­lessly devoted to the success of the venture.214 Milford farmers and stockmen met in October 1946 to form the Beaver County Rural Electrification Administration in the attempt to bring inexpensive farm power to west Beaver County. The group pro­posed to install a 900-horsepower hydro-electric plant at the Rocky Ford Dam near Minersville, with a two 500-horsepower standby diesel units to guarantee the power load through winter. Transmission lines and feeder lines throughout the area would also be funded and laid by the association.215 Milford had experienced considerable problems with service provided by the Telluride Power Plant over the past several years, including low voltage, single phas­ing, and power outages.216 Fairs and Celebrations The Beaver County Fair pulled the residents of Milford, Beaver, Minersville, and other county towns together, reminding them of what they shared instead of what made them different. In 1938 the new race track at the fair grounds was opened for the first time beginning with a parade down Beaver City's main street complete with bands, floats, and horse back riders. The rodeo grounds were brightly lit for the evening's festivities, the track graveled and oiled in preparation for the race and rodeo activities.217 The county fair was held in Milford the next year at its new fair grounds which included as well a half-mile race track. Opening Labor Day weekend 1939, the three-day fair included various entertainments and exhibitions of Beaver County produce. Twenty-four different horse races were staged over the weeked, with awards totalling $1,515. Milford staged its first "homecoming" for the first weekend of the new fair grounds-which began with a parade Thursday morning and ended each day with a dance at the fairgrounds.218 PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 281 In 1940 the WPA designated $12,000 for improvements on the Beaver race track at the Murdock Academy fair grounds. For the most part, these changes were beautification projects-lowering the rail around the inside of the track, installing picnic tables and shelters, landscaping, and adding other amenities.219 At the fair that year Milford organized the celebration for Thursday, Minersville, Friday, and Beaver, Saturday. Each day included band concerts, dances in the park, and races at 2:00 in the afternoon. On Friday night at 7:30, a soft ball game between the "fat team and the lean team" of the busi­ness and professional women's club was played, and, according to one reporter, "from what the writer has witnessed during their frequent practices there should be plenty of very amusing moments and fun for all."220 The annual horse races became a particular focal point of local fair planners.221 In 1949 the county fair featured tours of the Lehman Caves. Attended by the governors of Utah and Nevada, J. Bracken Lee and Vail Pittman, the program included vocal numbers and a brief com­mentary. A new power plant constructed at the cave provided light­ing throughout the cave in its hundreds of nooks, alcoves, and mysterious spaces.222 Early Sunday morning a caravan of more than 500 cars traveled out to the cave, including the governors' official par­ties, the Beaver and Milford Lions Clubs, the two city councils, the county commission, and other dignitaries.223 The 4th of July was yet another local favorite celebration. Typically, the day included a 6 A.M. at salute, 9:30 A.M. band concert at the Beaver City High School, and a patriotic pageant at 10 A.M. in the high school auditorium. In 1939 the pageant, written by Katherine Miller, Martha Louise Hurst, Lola White, Carlie and Kathryn Murdock, was called My America. Martha Louise Hurst, representing Columbia, read the narrative as the pageant proceeded with musical numbers and scenes like "The Birth of a Nation," "The Spirit of 1776," and "The Making of the Flag." Congregational singing con­cluded the morning festivities. Games and races held at the city park ran all afternoon: soft ball games were always a favorite county-wide activity, as were the dances that usually topped off any local celebra­tion. 224 Minersville's American Legion organized its 4th of July cele­bration in 1948, including a parade at 9:30 A.M. led by a float with 282 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY A horseman and early Beaver automobile prepare for a Fourth of July parade in front of the old Beaver LDS Church. (Utah State Historical Society) "Miss Minersville"-Shannon Banks, and Dorthy Myers as "Miss Liberty." A program and lunch followed in the school; races, sports, games and a boxing exhibition were held at the Minersville race track.225 An important development in preserving and documenting the history of Beaver came with the establishment of local camps of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers in the 1920s and organization of the Beaver County Company in 1931. The county company included four camps in Beaver, two in Minersville, and one in Milford. The first major project of the Beaver Company was the construction of a building in 1934 for meetings, social gatherings, and to house the col­lection of pioneer relics. In 1937 the Lincoln Camp in Minersville erected a monument commemorating the opening of the Lincoln Mine. The dedication of the monument on 20 March 1937 was a big affair and included speeches, costumes, a parade, sports, and an PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 283 evening dance. In 1945 Margery Adams Mackerell became president of the Beaver County Camp. She established a committee to research and compile a history of the county. The 367-page volume, edited by Aird G. Merkley, was published in 1948 under the title Monuments to Courage: A History of Beaver County. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers also participated in the Utah Pioneer Centennial Celebration in 1947. Aird G. Merkley served as the chair of the Beaver Centennial Committee, and throughout 1947 many centennial activities were held in Beaver, Minersville, and Milford.226 World War II As the United States entry into World War II seemed only a mat­ter of time, Beaver's National Guard unit went into active service in March 1941. Beaver guardsmen underwent preparations to join other Utah groups in traveling to San Luis Obispo, California. On 17 March 1941, the men and their equipment including tanks, trucks, guns, and supplies left Beaver. The whole town came to the park in the center of Beaver City for a farewell party. Upon reaching San Luis Obispo, Beaver's soldiers were separated into other units. At the beginning of 1940, the government announced the army draft. All young men over the age of eighteen had to register and then wait for their number to be called. Clark and Evan Patterson were the first two numbers drawn from Beaver. Evan was the first to leave. Almost every young man who qualified served for a period of time. By December 1942, Beaver City alone had eleven commissioned officers in service and 139 young men enlisted in the armed services. By the end of 1945, nearly 700 Beaver County residents had seen mil­itary service during the war, including 339 from Beaver, 205 from Milford, 116 from Minersville, 25 from Greenville, and 11 from Adamsville. Several were wounded during combat, including Elmo James Patterson during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Local newspapers tracked where local boys were sta­tioned and gave updates on their time in service particularly when they left to go overseas.227 At least twenty-two men from Beaver County died in military service during World War II, including twelve from Beaver, three from Minersville, four from Greenville, and three from Milford. Boyd 284 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY Baldwin was killed in action in the South Pacific, and William Arch Patterson during the fierce fighting on Iwo Jima. Russell V. Bakes was lost on 24 August 1944 when his plane went down in the Adriatic Sea. Milton George Smith died in a German prisoner of war camp on 19 January 1945 of wounds he received in combat prior to being taken prisoner. Warren Faux Neilsen, a bombardier, died when his plane was shot down over Holland in January 1945. Ward M. Burt was killed in action in Germany in March 1945, a few weeks before the end of fighting in Europe. Two men lost their lives in Texas. James Byron Blackner of Greenville was killed near El Paso, when a B-17 bomber which he piloted crashed. Archie Eugene Fotheringham, an aviation cadet from Beaver, was killed in a plane crash on 27 November 1943. Others died of illness, drownings, and accidents, including Alma Wayne Barton who died of a ruptured appendix, Alfred Cartwright who died of pneumonina, Elmer D. White who died from acute uremia, George Leslie Oakden who drowned at Midway Island, Joe Erickson who drowned at Hawaii, and Douglas Thompson who was killed in a weapons carrier accident on Okinawa.228 Maurice Clothier of Minersville died after being taken captive by the Japanese on the Philippine Islands. Two other Minersville residents who died during military service were Louis Jamison and Dell Hollingshead, the latter was killed while fighting with the Marines on an island in the South Pacific. Three other Minersville men, Royal Wood, George Erickson, and Fred Potter, were also captured by the Japanese on the Philippine Islands, but they survived and returned home after the war ended in 1945.229 Beaver City joined the state in the Third War Loan Drive in 1943-raising more than $61,000 from county contributors. A "Bond Sale Show" raised more than $4,500 of the total by showing The Sky is the Limit with Fred Astaire and Jeanett Blair and staging a "Big Cash Auction" immediately after. Many Beaver businesses donated items to be auctioned off including everything from furniture to bottles of wine, rifle cartridges to silk hose, and thirty gallons of gasoline.230 During the war, local farmers mobilized by attempting to increase their farm productivity and planted all available cropland. Farm Mobilization Day scheduled for 12 January 1943 called for every farmer in the county to participate in forming a 1943 Farm PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 285 Plan Worksheet for Maximum War Production. According to William Peterson, director of the Extension Service, "this farm plan is the most important document farmers as a whole have ever been asked to complete. On it the farmer will indicate his maximum pos­sible contribution to the national food goal." The worksheet also allowed the farmer to estimate his costs for livestock shelter, fencing, machinery, fertilizer labor, and so forth to meet these goals.231 The war effort created shortages in farm labor which directly impacted output and the ability of farmers to meet these goals.232 On the home front, gasoline, tires, nylons, and other items were rationed. Meetings, socials, and other gatherings were curtailed in an effort to conserve gasoline. Telephones and mail were used more often for communication between communities within the county and the state. Barbara Bradshaw remembered the day the end of the war was announced. She was working as a clerk in the rationing office in town. The fire alarm started sounding, fire trucks ran up and down main street. All the people flooded out of offices and shops onto the street shouting for joy. Soon they joined hands and moved through stores and restaurants and out onto the sidewalk in a snake dance up and down Beaver's city streets.233 After the war Beaver County welcomed back its young men, par­ticularly those who had been held in Japanese prisoner of war camps. Private George Erickson was held as a prisoner after the fall of Corregidor Island, early in the war. The Milford News reported, "In almost constant communication with his mother and others by tele­phone and letter since his release from prison camp, Pfc. Erickson's return home has been slow, due to stops in San Francisco and enroute to that port."234 The suffering of those left behind in war torn countries was not ignored as more than 3,000 articles of clothing were collected in December 1945 for shipment to Europe.235 Surviving the Depression, two world wars, and other major social and economic shifts took its toil on the county, but natural disasters added to the challenges of these years as well. In January 1949, 175,000 head of sheep were snowbound and in grave danger of freez­ing to death because of record-breaking snow storms. In some parts 286 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY of the county, families were marooned for weeks. Every available trac­tor, bulldozer, and piece of equipment was in almost constant use, clearing roads and searching for abandoned animals. In "Operation Airlift," two C-47s, the "flying boxcars," loaded hay at the Milford air­p o r t to feed s n o w b o u n d stock west a n d northwest of town. The transport planes loaded between fifty and sixty bales of hay at a time, r e t u r n i n g again and again before they completed the mission. Regardless of what sometimes seemed i n s u r m o u n t a b l e obstacles, Beaver County moved into the second half of the twentieth century better equipped to deal with the challenges of the modern world.236 ENDNOTES 1. "Abe Murdock, 86, Dies; Former Senator From Utah," The Washington Post, 17 September 1979. 2. "The Death of Former Senator Abe Murdock," The Congressional Record, 1 October 1979. 3. "Former Beaverite Becomes Famous Thru Television," The Beaver Press, 25 September 1936. 4. See: Elma G. "Pern" Farnsworth, Distant Vision-Romance and Discovery on an Invisible Frontier (Salt Lake City, n.p., 1989); Allan Kent Powell, ed., Utah History Encyclopedia, (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994); and "Acceptance and Dedication of the Statue of Philo T. Farnsworth" (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1991). 5. Patterson, "Legacy of a Great People," 145. 6. "New Warm Pool Will Open Today," The Beaver Press, 3 July 1931. 7. Beaver County History Committee interview with Bill Firmage, 28 January 1999 8. This summary was provided by Dell Hollingshead, whose father was a member of the 1927 basketball team 9. Bill Wood, Charles K. Jamison, and Randall M. Banks, interviewed by Jay M. Haymond, 24 February 1977, Minersville, Utah, 56. 10. Ibid., 59. 11. The Weekly Press (Beaver, Utah), 14 July 1922. 12. "Sheriffs Destroy 300 Gallons of Mash Made of Government Wheat," The Beaver Press, 3 June 1932. 13. The Weekly Press, 26 September 1919. 14. Arid G Merkley, editor, Monuments to Courage: A History of Beaver PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 287 County, (Milford, UT: Beaver County Chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1948), 337-38. 15. 13 Richfield Reaper, 30 April 1937. 16. "Rich Ore Strike on Indian Creek," The Beaver Press, 3 July 1931. 17. "Huge Body of Lead Ore Located in West Mt. Range," The Beaver Press, 10 July 1931. 18. "Beaver's Gold Fields," The Beaver Press, 10 July 1931. 19. "Great Future is Seen for Fortuna Plan Development," The Beaver Press, 21 August 1931. 20. "Fortuna Mining Company Preparing to Ship Ore from Property," The Beaver Press, 25 September 1931. 21. "Prospectors Rush Work in Fortuna District all Winter," The Beaver Press, 26 February 1932. 22. "Mining Notes," The Beaver Press, 17 July 1931. 23. "Milford Men Developing New Mine in the Bradshaw District," The Beaver Press, 21 August 1931. 24. "New Prospect Being Developed by Horn Silver," The Beaver Press, 4 September 1931. 25. "Plans Being Made to Reopen Sulphur Mines in this Company," The Beaver Press, 25 September 1931. 26. "Sulphurdale Mines Begin Operations; Machinery Arrives," The Beaver Press, 10 June 1932. 27. "Interest in Mining Being Evidenced," The Beaver Press, 20 May 1932. 28. "Reopening of Mines," The Beaver Press, 21 July 1933. 29. "Work Starts on Custom Rod Ore Mill in Beaver," The Beaver Press, 9 September 1932. 30. "Installation of Process Ore Mill Underway in Beaver," The Beaver Press, 16 September 1932. 31. "Ore From Fortuna Mine Gives Assay of $38.60 per Ton," The Beaver Press, 4 November 1932. 32. "Gold Mine Sells for $250,000," The Beaver Press, 5 April 1935. 33. "Important Mining Deal Consummated in Beaver," The Beaver Press, 10 April 1936. 34. "Car of Ore to Be Shipped from the Sheep Rock Mine," The Beaver Press, 9 October 1936. 35. "Star District Mining Activities," The Beaver Press, 26 April 1935. 36. "Rich Ore Strike," The Beaver Press, 3 May 1935. 37. The Beaver Press, 28 lune 1935. 288 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY 38. "Quadmetals Will Resume Operations in Near Future," The Beaver Press, 6 December 1935. 39. "San Francisco District is Alive with Mining Activity," The Beaver Press, 22 October 1937. 40. "Smelter Official is Much Impressed with Frisco Strike," The Beaver Press, 12 November 1937. 41. "Ray Barton Heads Bonanza Company," The Beaver Press, 19 November 1937. 42. "New Mining Company Receives Charter," The Beaver Press, 7 January 1938. 43. "Horn Silver Hits Heavy Production," The Beaver Press, 7 March 1940. 44. "Scheelite Adds Millions to Value of Old Hickory Mine Mill Will Be Installed," The Beaver Press, 5 December 1940. 45. "Tungsten Discovered in West Granite Mining District of Beaver," The Beaver Press, 26 February 1942. 46. "Work Resumed on Tungsten Claims in West Mountains," The Beaver Press, 6 August 1942. 47. "Beaver County's Tungsten Developments Move Along," The Beaver Press, 22 January 1943. 48. "Startling Discovery Made in Old Forgotten Mine Tunnel," The Beaver Press, 4 June 1943. 49. "Beaver County Tungsten Mines Are Making Surprising Showing," The Beaver Press, 3 March 1944. 50. "Beaver County's Minerals," The Beaver Press, 26 May 1944. 51. "West Mountain District Attracts Eastern Capital," The Beaver Press, 6 November 1943. 52. "Penn-Utah Mining Company is Formed to Develop Claims," The Beaver Press, 27 October 1944. 53. "Beaver County Producer Again Active," The Milford News, 9 August 1945. 54. "A Miner's Report of the Milford District Metal and Mineral Production During the War Years 1943-1945," The Milford News, 25 October 1945. 55. "Milford is Becoming Mining Capital of Southern Utah," The Beaver Press, 25 January 1946. 56. "Metal Producers to Construct Mill to Work Low-Grade Ores," The Milford News, 21 August 1947. 57. "Horn Silver Shuts Down; Lincoln Still at Work," The Milford News, 21 August 1947. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 289 58. "Horn Silver to Resume Production Sept. 15; Mill Equipment on Way," The Milford News, 4 September 1947. 59. "Mill for Horn Silver Nearing Completion," The Milford News, 12 February 1948. 60. "Metal Producers Mill Adds Swing Shift; Working Horn Silver Dump and Pit Ores," The Milford News, 23 July 1948. 61. "Shearing Starts at Newhouse; Booking Larger Than Usual," The Beaver Press, 15 April 1932. 62. Alvaretta Robinson and Daisy Gillins, They Answered the Call: A History of Minersville, Utah, (Minersville: Minersville Centennial Committee, 1962), 137-38. 63. "Beaver County to Ship Many Turkeys," The Beaver Press, 11 November 1932. 64. "Brooklawn Creamery Making Extensive Improvements in Plant," The Beaver Press, 23 December 1932. 65. "Proposed Aid for Dairy Industry," The Beaver Press, 20 December 1933. 66. "Businessmen Urged to Support Newly Organzied Dairymen's Association," The Beaver Press, 28 January 1938. 67. "Dairymen Receive Awards from National Association," The Beaver Press, 10 October 1940. 68.Ibid. 69. Ibid.,102. 70. Dale L. Morgan, "Historical Sketch of Beaver County," 33. 71. "Planning Board Crops Report," The Beaver Press, 6 March 1941. 72. "Potato Marketing Co. Introduced Milford Valley Spuds to Nation," The Milford News, 3 November 1949. 73. "Boston Land Company Brings Extensive Crop Development to Milford," The Milford News, 7 August 1947. 74. "Milford to Ship 500 Cars of Spuds," The Milford News, 18 October 1945. 75. "Los Angeles Marketing Group Improves Quality of Utah Tubers," The Milford News, 13 September 1946. 76. Evan Patterson, "Legacy of a Great People," 108. 77. "Beaver River Water Cases Open in District Court Monday," The Beaver Press, 28 August 1931. 78. "Editorial, More Water-More Lights," The Beaver Press, 25 December 1931. 79. Bill Wood, Charles lamison, and Randall Banks, oral interview. 290 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY 80. "Minersville to Have New Water Line," The Beaver Press, 19 lune 1936. 81. "Stresses Need for Additonal Irrigation Water," The Beaver Press, 10 December 1937. 82. Beaver Acquires Right to Transfer Storage Water," The Beaver Press, 7 August 1941. 83. "Erosion in Beaver Mountains Causing Havoc to the Range," The Beaver Press, 18 September 1931. 84. "Antelope Will Be Planted in County," The Milford News, 15 March 1945. 85. "Forest Conservation Camp to Be Established at the Tusher Ranger Station," The Beaver Press, 26 May 1933. 86. "Forest Men Meet With Civic Leaders," The Beaver Press, 28 July 1933. 87. Ibid. 88. Bill Wood, interviewed by Jay Haymond, 23 June 1978, Beaver, Utah. 89. "Many Cars of Red Cross Feed Arrive," The Beaver Press, 6 May 1932. 90. Ibid. 91. "Clothing and Food for Those in Need; No Cash to be Given," The Beaver Press, 23 December 1932. 92. "Two Government Forest Camps to be Established in Beaver County Soon," The Beaver Press, 12 May 1933. 93. "Beaver Canning Center Averages 158 cans per Day," The Beaver Press, 13 September 1935. 94. "Beaver County Office NRS Established Here," The Beaver Press, 10 November 1933; "Manager Jos. Manzione Reports on Employment," The Beaver Press, 17 November 1933. 95. "Beaver's Unemployment Situation is Improving," The Beaver Press, 1 December 1933. 96. "Re-Employment News: Unemployment Decreases in Beaver County," The Beaver Press, 13 April 1934. 97. "Are You Eligible for Relief?" The Beaver Press, 29 March 1935. 98. "Re-employment Office Closed," The Beaver Press, 8 January 1937. 99. "Bank at Beaver Closes its Door," The Beaver Press, 26 February 1932. 100. "Bank to Pay Ten Per Cent Dividend," The Beaver Press, 9 February 1934. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 291 101. "Beaver Bank Pays Another Installment," The Beaver Press, 9 August 1935. 102. "Beaver Bank Pays 14 percent Additional Dividends," The Beaver Press, 16 October 1936. 103. "Bank Deposits Increase Thirty Thousand Per Month," The Beaver Press, 18 October 1945. 104. "County Ships 7 Cars of Cattle," The Beaver Press, 13 July 1934 and "Extensive Government Cattle Buying," The Beaver Press, 24 August 1934. 105. Federal, Federal-State, State and Semi-Public Agencies with Duties or Activities which relate to Agricultural Industries in the State of Utah (Logan: Utah State Coordinator for the Soil Conservation Service, in cooperation with Utah State Extension Service, 1938), 11. 106. "Farm Dept. Adjustment Committee Reports Progress in Beaver County," The Beaver Press, 28 September 1934. 107. "Rehabilitation Program Making Fine Progress in Beaver County," The Beaver Press, 27 August 1937. 108. "Beaver County's Outstanding Farm Problems," The Beaver Press, 15 December 1933. 109. "Local Groups Seek Help for Drouth Stricken Farms; County in Serious Condition," The Beaver Press, 13 July 1939. 110. Kenneth W. Baldridge, "Reclamation Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933- 1942," Utah Historical Quarterly 39 (Summer 1971). 111. Deseret News, 20 April 1933. 112. "CCC Army of Men Increases," The Beaver Press, 23 June 1933. 113. "Entertainment at CCC Camp," The Beaver Press, 4 August 1933. 114. "CCC Workers Begin Work on Junction Road," The Beaver Press, 14 July 1933. 115. "CCC Camp Established," The Beaver Press, 27 July 1934. 116. "Delano CCC Camp," The Beaver Press, 12 luly 1935. 117. "CCC Camp Delano Highlights," The Beaver Press, 10 August 1934. 118. "Importance of CCC Shown as Projects Near Completion," The Beaver Press, 14 September 1934. 119. "Large Program Laid Out for Milford CCC Boys," The Beaver Press, 8 November 1935. 120. "Camp Supervisor Reports on CCC Activities in this Area," The Beaver Press, 22 November 1935. 292 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY 121. Ninth Period Report, DG-35, 30 September 1937; Tenth Period Report, DG-35, 31 March 1938. 122. "Desert Range CCC Camp Notes," The Beaver Press, 28 May 1937. 123. "Milford Lions Protest Removal of CCC Camp," The Beaver Press, 21 March 1940. 124. "CCC Head Guest of Chamber Commerce Outlines Work," The Beaver Press, 27 June 1940. 125. Beaver County Commission Minutes, 5 February 1935. 126. "Ski Course Selected for WPA Recreation," The Beaver Press, 13 February 1938. 127. "Beaver Ski Fans Pick New Course," The Beaver Press, 25 February 1938. 128. "County Ski Club Organized," The Beaver Press, 20 October 1938. 129. "Ski Club Improves Sports Area," The Milford News, 17 January 1947. 130. "WPA Project Approved for Beaver," The Beaver Press, 26 January 1939. 131. "WPA Project for Beaver Power Plant Wins President Roosevelt's Signature," The Beaver Press, 2 October 1941. 132. "Local CWA Committee Makes a Statement," The Beaver Press, 12 January 1934. 133. "$3,000 CWA Payroll," The Beaver Press, 8 December 1933. 134. "News from the CWA," The Beaver Press, 22 December 1933. 135. "CWA Activities," The Beaver Press, 26 January 1934. 136. "CWA Work Stops March 31," The Beaver Press, 30 March 1934. 137. "Street Improvements," The Beaver Press, 18 January 1935. 138. "Sanitary Conditions in Beaver to be Improved," The Beaver Press, 11 January 1935. 139. Ibid. 140. "Building Boom," The Beaver Press, 4 October 1935. 141. "Beaver Enjoying Building Boom Greatest in Years," The Beaver Press, 4 October 1935. 142. "Work Begun This Week on Beaver City Sewer System," The Beaver Press, 15 November 1935. 143. "Beaver's Armory Needed," The Beaver Press, 28 March 1940. 144. "Milford Bankers Assure Local Civic Group They Will Furnish Bank Here," The Beaver Press, 26 February 1937. 145. "Many Problems are Discussed by Local Civic Club," The Beaver Press, 25 September 1936. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 293 146. "Beaver City Being Featured Over Cedar City Station by Chamber of Commerce," The Beaver Press, 23 June 1938. 147. "Beaver City Featured Over KSL Broadcast Tuesday," The Beaver Press, 26 April 1938. 148. "Beaver's New $25,000 Theatre Will Open Tonight," The Beaver Press, 6 August 1937. 149. "Chamber of Commerce, City Council Meet Discuss New Race Track," The Beaver Press, 25 August 1938. 150. "Beaver City of the Future," The Beaver Press, 21 April 1944. 151. "West Ward Completes $50,000 Church," The Beaver Press, 25 December 1931. 152. "Beaver LDS Sell Site for Federal Building," The Beaver Press, 1 December 1938. 153. "Beaver's New Post Office," The Beaver Press, 25 September 1941. 154. "The Passing of the Murdock Academy," The Beaver Press, 12 August 1932. 155. "Volunteer Fire Department Organized Thursday Night," The Beaver Press, 27 February 1941. 156. "Official Census Shows Increase for Beaver City," The Beaver Press, 13 June 1940. 157. "Twenty Months Accomplishments by Beaver City," The Beaver Press, 29 October 1943. 158. "Statement of Telluride Proposition by McShane," The Beaver Press, 6 November 1931; see also "Straw Ballot Shows Decisively no Hook­up with Telluride; Preliminary Dam Work Begun," The Beaver Press, 9 October 1931. 159. "Manti Buys Power from Telluride," The Beaver Press, 27 November 1931. 160. "Beaver Buys New Diesel Engine for Power Plant," The Beaver Press, 30 October 1936. 161. "City Considering New Power Plant," The Beaver Press, 15 August 1940. 162. "Power Plant Discussed at Public Meeting," The Beaver Press, 12 December 1940. 163. "City Officials Open Bids on Power Plant Equipment," The Beaver Press, 20 March 1941. 164. "Chief Engineer Reports Progress at Beaver's New Hydro Power Plant," The Beaver Press, 23 October 1941. 165. "Beaver's $130,000 Bond Election," The Beaver Press, 19 December 1940. 294 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY 166. "Bond Issue Wins Approval," The Beaver Press, 2 January 1941. 167. "Beaver's New Hydro-Electric Plant Ready December 20th," The Beaver Press, 4 December 1942. 168. "Beaver City's Fine New Hydro Electric Plant Now Operating," The Beaver Press, 15 January 1943. 169. "Telluride Power Nearly Ready for Connections," The Beaver Press, 16 July 1943. 170. "Telluride Building Beaver Canyon Line," The Milford News, 13 December 1946. 171. "'Unsatisfactory' Power," The Milford News, 12 February 1948. 172. "Chamber of Commerce 100 Per Cent in Favor of Hospital for City," The Beaver Press, 6 March 1936. 173. "County Hospital Idea Received," The Beaver Press, 13 March 1936. 174. "Beaver City Hospital Site Inspected Mon.," The Beaver Press, 8 January 1942. 175. "Conditional Okay is Given Hospital," The Beaver Press, 10 May 1945. 176. "Dr. L.A. Busch Purchases Milford Hospital," The Beaver Press, 13 August 1948. 177. "School Board to Call Bond Election to Prevent Closing of Beaver County Schools," The Beaver Press, 4 March 1932. 178. "Beaver County Schools to Run Full Eight Months; Close May 6," The Beaver Press, 1 April 1932. 179. "School Board Calls Election to Vote Bonds," The Beaver Press, 8 April 1932. 180. "Schools Forced to Close in Beaver County this Week," The Beaver Press, 22 April 1932. 181. "School Bond Issue Carried in County by Large Majority," and "Schools of the County Will Complete Term," The Beaver Press, 29 April 1932. 182. "School to Open Sept. 8, List of Student Officers and Teachers is Given," The Beaver Press, 28 August 1936. 183. "Seventy-Three Students to Graduate from the Beaver High School on Friday May 28," The Beaver Press, 21 May 1937. 184. "Work Starts on School Building," The Beaver Press, 29 September 1938. 185. "School Census Shows Increase in Attendance," The Beaver Press, 30 November 1939. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 295 186. "Beaver County School Census," The Milford News, 6 December 1945. 187. "Beaver-Milford Oiled Road to be Finished Saturday," The Beaver Press, 7 August 1931. 188. " ' 9 1 ' Highway to be Oiled to Millard County," The Beaver Press, 24 lune 1932. 189. "Beaver County Lions Clubs Unite in Demand for Road Work for Unemployed Beaver County Men," The Beaver Press, 15 July 1932. 190. "Work Started on Wildcat Highway Cutoff Project," The Beaver Press, 20 April 1939. 191. "Lions Club Charges Beaver with Diverting Funds from Highway 21," The Milford News, 11 June 1948. 192. "County Group Okehs Support of Highway 2 1 , " The Milford News, 2 July 1948. 193. "Our New Recreational Area," The Beaver Press, 16 November 1934. 194. "Airport Committee Solicts Aid of State Funds," The Beaver Press, 19 February 1943. 195. "Work Pushed on Beaver Municipal Airport Runways," The Beaver Press, 23 July 1943. 196. "Beaver Airport Assumes Importance Now with Flying School Assured," The Beaver Press, 14 April 1944. 197. "Milford to Receive $20,000 Airport Aid," The Milford News, 4 lanuary 1946. 198. "Airport Runways Discussed at Special Meeting," The Milford News, 9 October 1947. 199. "Runway Oiling at Airport to be Completed August 11," The Milford News, 23 July 1948. 200. "Airport Landing Strip Gets New Surface of Heavier Mulch," The Beaver Press, 21 September 1956. 201. "Railroad Bringing Milford to Front," The Beaver Press, 5 March 1937. 202. "Work Begins on 15 Brick Houses," The Beaver Press, 5 July 1945. 203. See "Old Landmark is Being Torn Down," The Milford News, 19 April 1945; and, "Local Group Moves Toward Main Street Revamping Project," The Milford News, 11 January 1946. 204. "Milford's Famed Tanner House as Known Over Entire West," The Milford News, 25 January 1946. 205. "Milford Gets Publicity Boost in Ogden Paper," The Milford News, 17 May 1946. 296 HISTORY OF BEAVER COUNTY 206. "Milford Out of Water; Strict Control Measures Necessary," The Milford News, 12 July 1946. 207. "New Milford-Beaver Phone Line Ordered from Denver," The Milford News, 2 August 1946. 208. "Governor Maw to Declare Milford City," The Milford News, 23 August 1946. 209. "A Chamber of Commerce?" The Milford News, 17 January 1947. 210. "Chamber of Commerce Activated," The Milford News, 31 January 1947. 211. "City Starts Action on New Fire Hall and Jail," The Milford News, 21 March 1947. 212. "Chamber Bemoans Condition of Milford Streets," The Milford News, 11 April 1947. 213. "Airport Dedication Scheduled for Next Saturday, Sunday," The Milford News, 7 October 1948. 214. "Catholic Church to be Dedicated," The Milford News, 21 October 1948. 215. "South Milford Farm Group Asks REA for Electric Service Here," The Milford News, 11 October 1946. 216. "Farmers, Miners List Grievances in Telluride Power Hearing," The Milford News, 1 November 1946. 217. "County Fair Opens Today," The Beaver Press, 8 September 1938. 218. "Program Complete for Beaver County Fair to be Held in Milford Next Week," The Beaver Press, 31 August 1939. 219. "$12,000 to be Spent at Beaver Race Track," The Beaver Press, 22 August 1940. 220. "Beaver County Fair Next Week," The Beaver Press, 23 August 1940. 221. "Beaver Horse Racing Meet Promises Plenty Thrills," The Beaver Press, 11 August 1944. 222. "2,000 Visitors Expected at Lehman Caves for Beaver County Day," The Milford News, 4 August 1949. 223. "Two Chief Executives, 2,000 Citizens to Tour National Cave Monument," The Milford News, 11 August 1949; "Beaver County Day Draws Thousands to Lehman Caves," The Milford News, 18 August 1949. 224. "Throng Gathers at Beaver for Fourth of July Celebration," The Beaver Press, 6 July 1939. 225. "Parade, Children's Games Feature July 4 Celebration at Minersville," The Milford News, 9 July 1948. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION 1920-1950 297 226. Merkley, Monuments to Courage, 220, 361-67 and Robinson and Gillins, They Answered The Call, 255-88. 227. "Beaver Sends Greetings to 139 Men in Service," The Beaver Press, 23 December 1942. 228. Merkley, Monuments to Courage, 162, 202-3. 229. Robinson and Gillins, They Answered the Call, 245. 230. "Third War Loan Nears Happy Close in State, City, Nation," The Beaver Press, 1 October 1943. 231. "Beaver County Farms Quotas Announced for Current Year," The Beaver Press, 8 January 1943. 232. "Commerce Club Hears of Dire Farm Problem," The Beaver Press, 28 May 1943. 233. Barbara Bradshaw, oral interview by Martha Bradley, 9 August 1995, Beaver, Utah. 234. "Prisoner of Japs Now 'Back Home," The Milford News, 5 April 1945. 235. Merkley, Monuments to Courage, 133. 236. "Sheep and Cattle Men Still Face Critical Situation West of Milford," The Beaver Press, 3 February 1949.