From fossil hunting to ghost town discovery...

[fustercluck]

...Some of y'all may have noticed I've been conspicuously scarce lately. In short the Fuster Family has been settling into our new (to us) house and hosting curious family members. It took us about three weeks to find and get connected to high speed internet. In the mean time, we have resumed our interests in exploration and discovery.

For example, last weekend we went looking for fossils in the back country of Northern Utah. We found some great ones which I will photograph when they are ready to display about midweek. While we were on the trail, we stumbled upon a ghost town and cemetery. The following digi-pics will document our discovery and adventure. Pics imminent....

[fustercluck]

Below is a pic of the Jr Fusters on the trail Saturday when we went looking for fossils. This was early on so they were still animated and willing accomplices.




By contrast we see the Jr Fusters obliging a pose by a surprise titular monument. This was at the end of the day and their patience was tissue thin. The youngest Fuster is holding his throbbing fingers because his momentarily neglectful and overly eager father closed them in the gate...ooopsie!




Below is a pic of an unusal bonus. This is a privately provided brief history of Mill Fork, Ut. Mill Fork is a ghost town located about 12 miles east of Thistle in Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah County, Utah,. Named for its sawmills, Mill Fork was important in the development of the railroad through the canyon. The Utah and Pleasant Valley Railroad, a predecessor of the Denver and Rio Grande Western, was building through Spanish Fork Canyon in 1875–1879. Sometime during this period the railroad established three sawmills at Mill Fork to process railroad ties. A large water tower and a small reservoir were constructed in 1888, soon to be joined by a general store and housing for railroad employees. A helper engine was also stationed here. The population grew as high as 250.

Another use for the area's timber came with the creation of an extensive charcoal business in the canyon. Mill Fork residents were employed in cutting the wood or working the kilns. The charcoal business closed down around 1890, followed by the store, and Mill Fork was in a serious decline. Most residents had left by 1900; a few homesteaders lasted until the 1930s. The 1940s saw the change to diesel locomotives. No longer needed as a water stop, and with its helper engine obsolete, the Mill Fork railway station was closed down in 1947. The railroad removed its section house in the late 1950s, leaving little besides the cemetery

[fustercluck]

This is a pic of the posted history and a guest book which we, among others, signed. Later I'll display some of what the others wrote.



The historical account described 3 or 4 kiln structures that still stand about 4 miles up this canyon. Sadly, there was a mutiny among the rest of the Fusters driven by hunger and a lust for onion rings, so I didn't get to hike up and photograph them. They are likely the only remaining standing structures from the original township. I don't recall Louis and Clark's expedition being stunted by a hot tray of onion rings.....so sad--He says in soliloquy.

The kiln structures, singing the Sirens' song, can be found up this shallow canyon (pic)

[fustercluck]

Okay this might just be my nuttiness, but I thought this 100+ year old clasp design was cool. While I snapped this pic, the mutinous Fusters left me for a trickling stream down the slope of the cemetery.....INGRATES!

Note the design how it hinge clamps around a link of chain and comes to rest in a hollow which allows a ring to be slid over and into a notch neatly clasping the chain. I thought that for a device that was over 100 years old, it was at once simple and complex for the day. Other members of my party were not so convinced. This was the sum of security for access to the cemetery.



Part of the reason I focus on the cemeteries of ghost towns is that many times that is all there is left to record the anthropology. They are usually maintained enough to provide some history in context. For example, the image below displays a headstone for a soul who lived less than a month. He was born at the turn of the century during a time when infant survival was tenuous in civilization. This was the frontier so infant deaths were common. However the anguish that a loving mother feels at the loss is no less than what we imagine a woman would sense today. Poetry to that point is carved into the reverse sideof this headstone. I thought it too tender to post here. He is an Atwood. That family maintains this site still. They were responsible for the historicall account and the guest book/log.

If Durward Atwood had survived for a full life, he would be almost 108 today. May he rest in peace.

[fustercluck]

This gentleman seems a bit luckier. He lived to 72 years of age. For perspective, imagine what events in history occured during Aaron's life. When he was born 78 years after the declaration of independence was signed, slavery was still a practice in the US. He was 7 when the US civil war started in the same month as his birthday; Abraham Lincoln was president. He passed away 7 years after the end of WWI. and right before the great depression. He witnessed the first automobile in 1866; though it was steam powered. He was 44 when the Spanish American war began. He was 26 when the electric light bulb was invented, though I suspect he was quite a bit more advanced in years by the time he had regular access to their convenience.

These are the things upon which I reflect when I stand at the foot of the graves of those who've gone before us. I don't know why, but I am drawn to them. I feel compelled to learn about their lives and personalities. This is an appetite rarley satisfied.




This not the first time I have encountered a cemetary that contained the resting place of the unknown. These two souls lived and died. That is all we can know. Whom they loved and influenced, whether they were good or bad people, what the circumstances of their passing were, we'll likely not know in this life...these anonymous markers graciously and respectfully preserved by the Atwood family are all we have to declare the existence of these people.

[fustercluck]

This site marks the grave of the daughter of the Jensens born and died on the same day 1905. The inscription at the bottom is a heart breaking plea from a grieving mother to Providence on behalf of her infant.




To her deceased 8 year old daughter Ellen wrote: "Clara Louisa, how we miss you. But how sweet, how sweet it will be when at last we will meet you up in heaven where no more we'll part with thee."

[fustercluck]

A few pages from the guest book written by some who visited. The page on the right reads:, "Was here...went to get some beer. Beautiful spot. Great history. Signed....

The beer part cracked me up.



This page was written by an elderly type whose trembling hand made almost illegible his message. To my best, this is all I could decipher:, "Enjoyed the visit. Wonderful history and heritage. My G. Grandfather, Frank Thomas (Daughters: Ruth Thomas Williams, Claude W. illegible) rode the range here with Cattle Enterprises. G.G.Grandmother had a dream to not relocate from Spanish Fork to Thistle. The family they were to join (next page) were massacred by indians."

Mr Williams' G.G.Grandmother is buried within these gates. This revelation is a magnificent vista into the life of his relative. Her premonition saved her family's life from an indian massacre back in the mid 1800's. I'm not sure history gets any more striking that this.

Parenthetically, I did some superficial research on 'Cattle Enterprises'. I could not find any historical record of such a business surviving to recent chronology. This may be a dead end to discover more of Mr Williams' G.Grandfather.

[fustercluck]

We left our own message in the booklet. It reads:, "My family and I dropped by to pay our respects. We were moved by the messages carved into the headstones. Someday I'd like to meet these people and learn their stories."

So ends the Fuster family adventure for the weekend. We mounted our trusty Toyota and rode off into the sunset toward the nearest source of onion rings and cheeseburgers chased by ice cold Dr. Pepper...a luxury ne'er experienced by the good people of Mill Fork, Utah.

Some of us build our trucks to hang from boulders and span impossible crevasses. Some of us satiate an appetite for dodging peril with our 4x4's. Some of us soothe a craving to tinker endlessly with these vehicles. The above is the reason I do it. To reach and expose my family to a rapidly eroding history.

[corax]

Good post, seems like a very well maintained site. Unfortunately, that probably means it's not very well traveled. I'm sure you probably already know about this site, but if not you may want to check out Ghost Towns.com Be careful of the music - hit mute and you can find all kinds of information on sites, history and locations.

Is this the site you were at? There's no Mill Fork listed on Ghost Towns, but there is a town called Mills. It sounds about right, except it's in West-Central UT
NAME: Mills
COUNTY: Juab
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Hot summer, snow in winter
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Spring through fall COMMENTS: 22.66 miles south of nephi on i-15.
REMAINS: Old Mills Cemetery, few bulding remnants
Setted as a railroad town, it was also known as Wellington in the mid to late 1800's. Many early residents lived in Dugouts or cabins. There was a local general store owned by John Williams, whom nearby John Williams Canyon was named for. Submitted by: Kyler Williams

[fustercluck]

I've been to that Ghost towns site online. The music is startling at first hehe.

Mill Fork is not on that site because it never had it's own post office building. Frnkly, Mill Fork was really never more than a glorified 'whistle stop'. I suppose that is why I am so drawn to it and towns like it.