History
Uinta was the first county created under Wyoming Territorial laws in 1869. Originally, the county had been part of Utah and Idaho. Before Yellowstone was created as the nation’s first national park in 1872, the area was part of Uinta County. It shrunk to its present size with the creation of Lincoln and Teton counties. Although the transcontinental railroad brought significant population, the county had been populated by fur traders since the 1840s when Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez established Fort Bridger in what was then part of Mexico. Railroad shops and coal mines were important to the county’s early economy. Evanston was home to a substantial population of Chinese Americans and the town has a replica of an early Joss house.
Early Settlement
One might say John Meyers, who established his ranch in the valley of the Bear River in 1860, and made his home on the east bank of the river, where the Salt Lake Trail crossed it, was the first permanent settler in what is now Uinta County. There were others who lived in the county for relatively short periods of time before Meyers, but Meyers built a home, developed a ranch, obtained the first recorded water right in Wyoming in 1862, and lived out his life in the county. Some of his descendants still live in Uinta County!
One of the others was Jim Bridger, "Old Gabe," who came west in 1822, and wandered and trapped all over the West, but had kind of a soft spot for what is now eastern Uinta County, and is known as Bridger Valley. With Black's Fork Creek winding through the area and the Uintah Mountains, with their snow capped peaks hovering in the southwestern horizon, the valley is lovely and mild; Bridger apparently spent a great deal of time there. As the fur trade was reaching its end, and aware that the way west to Oregon and California would pass through the valley, Old Gabe, with his partner Louis Vasquez, formally opened a trading post on the bank of Black's Fork during the summer of 1843.
Fort Bridger
At the time Bridger and Vasquez established their trading post, with the construction of two crude cabins and a blacksmith's shed, it was located in Mexico, as was all of Uinta County. It would remain so until the Mexican Cession in 1848. By then a rough stockade, built by driving poles into the ground and plastering mud between the poles, had been erected, and a few more cabins had been put up inside the stockade. Also by 1848, business was good at the trading post, beginning to be known as Fort Bridger, as western migration approached the crescendo which occurred following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California. Old Gabe and Vasquez were at the right place at the right time.
It was the right place because the fort was located nearly midway between Fort Laramie and Fort Hall in Idaho, and was a natural provisioning stop for the tens of thousands of travelers who would go west over the trail. Bridger and Vasquez kept the fort well-stocked, and traded horses and oxen to the emigrants, as well as selling staples needed to complete the journey. Between 1843 and 1847, the emigrants were mainly bound for Oregon, with a few breaking away from the trail at Fort Hall and turning west to California. In 1847, with Brigham Young and some of his apostles in the van, the Mormon exodus to the great Salt Lake Valley, probably chosen by Young because it was also in Mexican Territory, began. The migration of the Latter-Day Saints to Deseret would continue for a decade, and would be joined in 1850 by the hordes of gold seekers rushing to California to strike it rich.
Fort Bridger was particularly important to the Mormons. It was the jumping-off place to the terrible descent through the jagged Wasatch Mountains, with their steep canyons, to the Salt Lake Valley. It was also the last chance for the Saints to purchase supplies they might need to survive until they could grow their own food. Moreover, many of the Saints, who didn't have a lot of supplies, or money, at the beginning of the Mormon Trail at Council Bluffs, Iowa, were completely impoverished and worn down by the time they reached Old Gabe's fort. To have any chance to successfully complete the most difficult part of the trail, the Saints needed rest, succoring, and maybe even assistance by the time they arrived at Bridger's domain.
Utah Territory and Mormon Control
In 1850, following the Mexican Cession in 1848, when the Salt Lake Valley and Bridger Valley became a part of the United States, Congress created Utah Territory. The territory included present day Utah, the Fort Bridger area, and most of today's Uinta County. The enactment put Brigham Young and his Latter-Day Saints, as well as Jim Bridger and Vasquez, back under the authority of the U. S. Government, one of the main reasons, along with religious persecution, why the Saints had fled in mass to the Salt Lake Valley. Because of their religious beliefs, including the practice of polygamy, the Mormons had been in conflict with the federal government since the 1830s, and would remain so until near the end of the nineteenth century.
At first, the federal government allowed Brigham Young (he was appointed the first territorial governor)and the Mormon Church to control the territorial government. Except for two district court judges, who were Gentiles and soon in conflict with the rest of the government officials and the Mormon population, all the appointed territorial officers were Saints. Governor Young made the decisions for the territorial government, just as he did for the Mormon Church, as its President. Recognizing that it was highly unlikely the federal government would permit the status quo in Utah Territory to continue indefinitely, Young determined to establish the presence of the Latter Day Saints throughout the new territory, and even beyond. With a growing population and increasing wealth (the Saints had charged California bound gold rushers better than premium prices for their products), President Young had the necessary resources. One of his first decisions was to buy Fort Bridger from Old Gabe and Vasquez.
At the time negotiations were underway in 1853 for the sale of the fort, Young and the Mormons were particularly upset with Bridger and Vasquez. Rumors were flying around the Salt Lake Valley that Jim Bridger was furnishing the American Indians with ammunition and encouraging them to go out and kill Mormons. According to the rumors, this usually occurred after Old Gabe had sold the American Indians large quantities of his liquor. Consequently, Brigham Young ordered the Salt Lake Valley sheriff to form a posse with 150 men, and proceed to Fort Bridger. At the fort, the sheriff was to arrest Old Gabe, confiscate his ammunition, and destroy his whiskey and rum.
Young's sheriff went to the fort as ordered, but Jim Bridger had disappeared, apparently having been warned. The sheriff and his men searched diligently for the ammunition, but none was found. They did locate Old Gabe's whiskey and rum. According to Bill Hickman, who had been ordered by President Young to accompany the raiding party, Bridger's liquor ''was destroyed by doses.'' Hickman claimed that the sheriff, his officers, the doctor, and the chaplain worked so hard destroying the whiskey and rum that they became completely exhausted and couldn't stand.
Eventually, Bridger or Vasquez worked out a deal with President Young. Old Gabe claimed he had a Mexican Land Grant that stretched along the Black's Fork for thirty miles. The sale included the fort, all other buildings, and the supposed land grant for $8,000. (Bridger was never able to produce deeds when he tried to sell it to the federal government, after the fort was occupied by the army). Only $4,000 was paid down by the Mormons, but eventually Bridger collected the remainder. After the Mormon War, with the U. S. Army entrenched at Fort Bridger, Old Gabe claimed he was owed a great deal more money. His story was that Brigham Young and the Latter-Day Saints had threatened to kill him, if he didn't sell the fort, and had stolen goods and supplies from him worth more than $100,000.
The Mormons took over Fort Bridger in August or September 1853, and then in November established Fort Supply, twelve miles southwest of Bridger. In the spring of 1854, consolidating their power over the area even more, the Utah Territorial Legislative Assembly created Green River County. The new county included all of present day Uinta County, and both Fort Bridger and Fort Supply. The Latter-Day Saints would hold the two forts until 1857, but the area remained a part of Green River County and Utah Territory until 1861. That year, Congress placed all of what is now Uinta County, except the southwestern corner, in Dakota Territory. The southwestern corner would be a part of Utah Territory until Wyoming Territory was created in 1869.
Mormon War
The election of James Buchanan as President in 1856, was the catalyst for change in Utah Territory, including Fort Bridger and the area that would become Uinta County. Following his inauguration in March 1857, Buchanan announced his intent to remove all office holders in Utah Territory and replace them with non-Mormon appointees. To insure the installation of his new territorial officers when they reached Utah, Buchanan ordered an army of 2,500 men to escort them to Salt Lake City.
Brigham Young and the Latter-Day Saints were celebrating the tenth anniversary of Young's and the exploration party's arrival in the Great Salt Lake Valley, when they received word of President Buchanan's action. The Mormons were incensed. They vowed never to submit to the government and to defend their new Zion against the monstrous tyranny, which they considered the federal government to be. Young sent word to President Buchanan that the army would not be allowed to set foot in the valley, and began to arm and organize the Saints in squadrons. The Mormon War began not in today's Utah, but in Wyoming's Uinta County, when a flying squadron of Mormons burned three wagon trains carrying army supplies. When the army finally neared Fort Bridger in November 1857, the Mormons burned it to the ground, and Fort Supply too, and then retreated to fortifications in Echo Canyon near Salt Lake City.
Army Occupation
That was the end of the Mormon War in Uinta County, but not the end of Fort Bridger. When Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston and his troopers reached Fort Bridger, it was decided to leave most of the army's supplies there, and proceed up Black's Fork for a mile and one-half to establish winter quarters. The site was named Camp Scott. On June 7, 1858, Fort Bridger was formally designated an active army post. Timber was hauled to the fort from the Uintah Mountains, and by the end of the year the fort had been reconstructed, with storehouses, stables, and quarters erected for officers and men. Although by the end of 1858 most of the differences between the federal government and Brigham Young and the Latter-Day Saints had been peacefully resolved through negotiation, the army would occupy Fort Bridger for more than thirty years. Finally, on November 6, 1890, the post would be abandoned.
Throughout the army's stay at Fort Bridger, it was involved in a continuous argument as to whom actually owned the fort. Brigham Young claimed the Mormons had bought the post from Jim Bridger, and the army should compensate the church for its loss, but he couldn't produce deeds. On the other side, Old Gabe denied selling the fort and insisted that his supposed Mexican Land Grant was valid. He finally convinced the army, even without producing the papers, and it agreed to lease the fort from him for $600 annually. The fact was, although Bridger had filed a land claim in Missouri for the fort's site, he didn't have a legal title, and bamboozled both Brigham Young and the army. He collected $8,000 from Young, and the army actually paid to lease land owned by the federal government. Old Gabe didn't see any of the army's money, but his heirs received $6,000 long after he was dead.
Territorial Creation and County Organization
In 1868, Congress passed the Organic Act establishing Wyoming Territory. The Act set forth the boundaries of the new territory, and included portions of Utah and Idaho territories. Although created in 1868, because of a political conflict and a pending presidential election, Wyoming Territory was not organized until 1869. On June 9,1869, John A. Campbell, newly confirmed governor of Wyoming Territory, issued a proclamation, stating, "that part of said territory (Wyoming) which was detached from the territories of Idaho and Utah, is hereby attached for judicial purposes to the county of Carter and forms a part of the third judicial district of Wyoming."
Thus, those residents of former Green River County, Utah Territory, were able to be candidates for office and vote in the first Wyoming Territory election, which was held on September 2, 1869. The first territorial legislative assembly met in Cheyenne on October 11, and on December 1, 1869, passed ''An Act to Create and Establish the County of Uinta." The boundaries of the county were Utah on the south, Utah and Idaho on the west, Montana on the north, and Carter County to the east.
The eastern boundary was the same as the present boundary between Uinta and Sweetwater Counties. The creating act also designated Merrill, near Fort Bridger, as the temporary county seat of Uinta County. A month later, Governor Campbell appointed county officers to organize the county and serve until officers could be elected. Officials appointed by the governor were: C. A. Phipps, N. Burman and W. K. Sloan, county commissioners; W. M. Remington, probate judge; William Hinton, sheriff; M. C. Hopkins, assessor; H. Garbanati, prosecuting attorney; W. G. Tonn, surveyor, Thomas Street, coroner; and S. K. Temple, school commissioner.
Union Pacific Railroad Arrives
By the time this occurred, the Union Pacific Railroad, with its huge construction crews and unscrupulous camp followers, had come to Uinta County, built its track across the county, and gone on to Utah to meet the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point to complete the transcontinental railroad. In its wake, the railroad left towns which had sprung to life with the approach of the construction crews. Bear River City was typical of the towns that the railroad spawned in Uinta County.
Like what occurred in other new railroad towns, Bear River City was overrun by lawless hoodlums, who preyed on the hardworking railroaders and the business people, who had established the town. Also as happened in other towns founded along the railroad tracks, vigilantes came forward to try and establish law and order. On November 8, 1868, three men were arrested and jailed for robbing citizens. Two days later, the three thieves were drug from the jail and lynched. One of the men hung by the vigilantes was a brother of a railroad worker. In his grief, he stirred up a large number of gandy dancers and the non-working hoodlums, and they attacked the town.
The mob burned the jail and the local newspaper, barricading the police and townfathers in a store. Eventually, the police broke out of the store, firing their weapons. The angry mob was driven from the town, and the mayor appealed to the army at Fort Bridger for help. The next morning, after the police and town citizens had repulsed a midnight attack on the town by the outlaws, the army arrived in Bear River City and established martial law. The troopers maintained law and order in the town for several weeks, until the hoodlum element gave up and moved on. The number of men killed during the riots was never established, with reports estimating the dead from none to forty. The same reports claimed fifty to sixty men were wounded in the riot. A few months after the riot, like many of the towns that sprang to life with the railroad construction crews, Bear River City became a ghost town.
Early 1870s County Elections
When the second general election was held in Wyoming Territory on September 6, 1870, the gandy dancers and riotous hoodlums were mainly memories in Uinta County. Approximately 550 citizens voted for county officers, but because of election irregularities, only the county commissioners elected, Russell B. Thorpe, Sr., James Van A. Carter, and Norman Potter, and the county clerk, Alf G. Lee, were allowed to take office. The other county officers were appointed by either the territorial governor or the county commissioners. One other vote in the 1870 general election that was allowed to stand was the selection of Evanston, by one vote over Merrill, as the permanent county seat.
The next general election was held on September 3, 1872, and Uinta County elected its first full complement of county officers. Those individuals elected were: A. V. Quinn, E. Alton and William McDonald, county commissioners; Peter I. Downs, county attorney; Alf G. Lee, county clerk; C. E. Castle, county sheriff; John Hopkins, county superintendent of schools; P. W. Tooley, county assessor; P. H. Tooley, county surveyor; William Gunnell, county coroner; and W. A. Carter, county probate judge and ex-officio county treasurer. Justices of the peace and constables were also elected for the several precincts in the county. Nearly as soon as they had been sworn into office, the new county commissioners began to plan for the construction of a permanent county courthouse -- since its organization in 1870, the county had leased space for county offices.
County Courthouse and Jail
The minutes of the Uinta County Commissioners do not reveal whom the architect for the planned courthouse was, but on April 14, 1873, the commissioners adopted a resolution to advertise for bids for the construction of the courthouse. The advertisement stated that plans and specifications for the courthouse were available for inspection. On May 16, the construction bids were opened, and the contract was awarded to Harvey Booth of Evanston, the low bidder, for $15,425. The contract specified that the county jail, which was planned to adjoin the courthouse at the rear of the building, was to be built first and completed by October 15, 1873. The courthouse proper, was scheduled for completion a year later, October 15, 1874.
At the time the county commissioners were contracting for the construction of the courthouse, they were not legally authorized by the territorial legislative assembly to build a courthouse. The legal authorization for the Uinta County Courthouse was made by the legislative assembly on December 9, 1873, with the passage of Chapter 51, Session Laws of Wyoming, 1873. The law authorized the Uinta County Commissioners to acquire a site in Evanston for a county courthouse and jail, to enter into a contract for the construction, and to pay for the courthouse and jail by issuing county bonds, not to exceed $25,000.
Uinta County had the same kind of reverse chronological order when it came to acquiring a site for the courthouse, as it did in beginning construction of the courthouse before it was authorized. The courthouse was built near the center of Evanston on a block owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The presumption is that the county had an agreement with the railroad to build on the block, later known as Courthouse Square, but there is no record of any agreement. The only record is that on April 3, 1876, three years after the decision to build the courthouse on Courthouse Square was made, the Uinta County Commissioners agreed to purchase the site of their new and occupied courthouse from the Union Pacific for $2,250.
The jail was completed in October 1873, as scheduled, and the courthouse was finished a year later. A two-story, red brick structure, with massive columns guarding the entry, the courthouse was built by immigrant craftsmen. William Durnford was the master mason. He was assisted with the brick work by Thomas Widdop, whose descendants still live in Evanston. The brick was made by a local brickyard, and, according to legend, its dark red color was achieved by adding blood from a nearby slaughter house to the clay. The interior woodwork, all in red oak, was finished by James Baugley, a skilled wood craftsman, newly arrived from England. The ceilings were unique, embossed metal throughout the building. The new courthouse was beautiful, and filled Uinta County citizens with pride.
By 1887, Uinta County's need for jail cells had outgrown the jail built in 1873, with the courthouse. To resolve the problem of too many prisoners for their jail, the county commissioners contracted with the Pauley Jail Company of St. Louis to build a new facility for $10,000. The new jail was built behind the courthouse, and the old jail, attached to the courthouse, was remodeled into an office area and records storage space. The solution was only temporary. By 1910, the county's business had outgrown the courthouse; commissioners Tom Painter, H. J. B. Taylor, and J. A. Black, determined to erect an addition to the courthouse.
Economic Growth
A number of changes and developments occurred in Uinta County between 1873 and 1910, which brought both economic and population growth to the county. The coal industry in the county had expanded greatly since its beginning at Almy in 1869. Hundreds of miners worked in the mines in the Almy area by 1910, and the opening of new mines in the Kemmerer/Diamondville area resulted in the hiring of hundreds of additional miners. The Union Pacific Railroad had contributed substantially to the growth in the county: Evanston had been named headquarters for a railroad division; a roundhouse and repair shops had been built in Evanston; and the U. P. had contracted a second roundhouse in Piedmont, already thriving from the production of charcoal for shipment to copper smelters in Utah.
Also by 1910, a prospering farming and ranching industry had developed in the Bridger Valley, and with more and more homesteaders settling there, the towns of Mountain View and Lyman had been founded. The upper Green River Valley was being settled too, with herds of cattle being driven into the valley, ranches being laid out, and the towns of Big Piney and Daniel being established. There was even growth by 1910 in the remote Star Valley and isolated Jackson Hole. The construction in 1886 of the Wyoming Insane Asylum, now called the Wyoming State Hospital, was another factor in the improvement of the economy in Evanston and the county, as was the establishment of a Chinese Joss House in Evanston around 1880. One of only three in the United States, the Joss House attracted thousands of visitors every February to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Courthouse Addition
For the courthouse addition in 1910, the Uinta County Commissioners employed architect G. A. Graves of Ogden, Utah. The design approved by the commissioners called for the erection of a two-story, 32 by 60 feet structure to be added to the front of the courthouse. The plan required removing the columns at the entrance to the courthouse, and then relocating them at the new entrance. The contract for $24,000 to construct the addition was granted to W. H. Armstrong of Evanston. Work was begun in March and completed in December 1910. The exterior was in red brick, matching the original courthouse; the interior decor was similar to that of the original building. The new addition to the courthouse provided office and vault space on both floors.
County Division
The addition was just barely completed and occupied, when the Eleventh State Legislature drastically reduced Uinta County's need for an enlarged courthouse. After nearly session-long haggling, the legislature passed House Bill No. 203, creating Lincoln County. On February 20, 1911, Governor Joseph M. Carey signed the bill into law. The Act provided for the formation of Lincoln County out of what had been the northern three-fourths of Uinta County, with Uinta County's eastern and western boundaries remaining the same, Sweetwater County on the east and Utah on the west. The change was from north to south. Once Lincoln County was organized, Uinta County, instead of extending northward nearly 250 miles from Evanston to Yellowstone National Park, would be less than fifty miles from its southern boundary (the Utah Stateline) to its northern boundary, the dividing line between Uinta and Lincoln Counties.
The affect on Uinta County,or that portion of the county which was left, was devastating. Except for Hot Springs County, which was organized at the same time as Lincoln County, the division left Uinta County the smallest county in the state -- 2,070 square miles -- only 48 square miles more than Hot Springs County. The assessed valuation of Uinta County decreased by more than fifty percent. Its population fell by almost half. The officials and residents who would remain in the reduced size Uinta County, fought the creation of Lincoln County to the bitter end, but the state's politicians, government leaders, legislators, and its general population were demanding more counties in the state, convinced the state's economy would benefit. The legislature responded to this mood in 1911, creating seven new counties in the state, including Lincoln.
Economic Depression
During the next sixty years, little that was positive occurred in Uinta County -- the coal mines at Almy closed, the Union Pacific moved its division headquarters and shops from Evanston to Green River, and population and assessed valuation declined. Contrarily, by 1940, despite the separation of Jackson Hole and the Upper Green River Valley into Teton and Sublette Counties in 1922 and 1923, Lincoln County, as a result of increasing coal and electric power production, had surpassed Uinta County in population and assessed valuation. The hard fact was that during these years, county government in Uinta County was severely restricted by a lack of resources. Although there was little need for expanded county facilities, there was need, at times, for enlarged county programs.
Particularly during the "Great Depression" years, the 1920s and 1930s, the county had need for expanded programs and services. One such program was the "Poor and Pauper" program. During the depression years, providing assistance for the needy was a responsibility, by law, of the counties, and in Uinta County, with tax dollars at a premium, the county commissioners adopted innovative measures to meet the needs of the poor. The county's contract for coal to heat county buildings was substantially increased, at a reduced per ton cost, and the extra coal was given to the poor to heat their homes. The commissioners also arranged to purchase, at cost, surplus dairy products and vegetables from the State Hospital's farm for distribution to the county's needy.
Farmers and ranchers had great difficulty during the depression in raising the necessary cash to pay their property taxes. Recognizing the problem and not anxious to sell farms and ranches for back taxes, the Uinta County Commissioners devised a plan to help the farmers and ranchers keep their property, and assist the county at the same time. Like the farmers and ranchers, the county had little cash for the improvement and maintenance of county roads, so a plan was instituted which allowed county residents owing county property taxes to work off their taxes by laboring on the county's roads. The taxpayers were allowed so much tax credit for each day of labor, and if they used a team of their own horses or equipment, they were granted additional tax credits. This scheme enabled property owners to avoid tax sales and loss of their farms and ranches. It also permitted the county to improve and effectively maintain county roads, vital to the farmers and ranchers.
Energy Boom
Although the county's fiscal situation improved slowly during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and the county's population increased by 5,000 residents from 1930 to 1970, it was not until the energy boom beginning in the mid-1970s and lasting for nearly a decade, that Uinta County experienced significant development and growth. Oil and natural gas exploration and production, including the construction of refineries, brought thousands of workers and their families to Uinta County. Between 1970 and 1985, the county's population surged from 7,021 to an estimated population of more than 18,000 residents. The impact of this tremendous growth on county government was traumatic, even though government revenues increased tenfold and some energy companies financially assisted with governmental programs and the construction of some facilities, recreational facilities being most noteworthy.
The Uinta County Commissioners' first efforts to deal with the energy boom in their county centered upon the expansion of county services and programs to meet the needs of the multitude of new citizens. Consequently during the first years of the boom, the commissioners channeled all available revenues to services and programs, leasing facilities as required. By 1981, the commissioners, John Fanos, Clark Anderson, and John Stevens, had made the decision to construct a new courthouse, and employed the Salt Lake City architectural firm, Cornwell, Evans and Fife, Inc. Prior to this, the commissioners made a critical decision: the 1873-1874 original Uinta County Courthouse would not be razed, but rather would be preserved, restored to period, and someway incorporated into the new courthouse. This historic decision ensured that at least one county courthouse built during the era of Wyoming Territory would be indefinitely preserved. Except for the Johnson County Courthouse, still in use, all other territorial courthouses have been destroyed.
New County Courthouse
By the middle of 1982, plans for the new courthouse complex, including a new county library, were approved and construction contracts were awarded. A city block adjoining the original courthouse square had been acquired, and construction budgets and funding sources established. Seven million dollars was budgeted for the courthouse proper, and $915,000 was allocated for the county library. Revenue sources for the building project were the Overthrust Industrial Association, the State of Wyoming Farm Loan Board, the Wyoming Recreation Commission, a No Interest Loan, Federal Library Construction Funds, and Future Severance Tax Revenues. On September 8, 1984, when the Uinta County Complex was dedicated, only $550,000 of the nearly $8,000,000 expended, was still owed by the county.
The innovative design of the new Uinta County Courthouse is unique to Wyoming, if not to the nation. The new courthouse surrounds the original 1873-1874 courthouse, touching it only with a skylight at the building interfaces. The old and the new are connected by three bridges under the skylight, so the offices and functions of county government are all tied together. The skylighted area is a spacious lobby, or public lounge, with seating and interior landscaping. The first floor of the historic courthouse encompasses the county museum, with the upper floor remodeled into offices and vaults for the clerk of the district court. The entire complex is a beautiful blending of territorial Uinta County, and the energy center Uinta County of the 1980s.
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