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Butterfield Canyon
The
Butterfield Canyon claim begins to the west of Herriman at the foot of
the
Oquirrh Mountains. The claim extends from the mouth of
Butterfield Canyon
to the top of the ridge, the boundary between Salt Lake and Tooele
County.
Shortly
after splitting off of Highway 71, the Butterfield Canyon claim passes
through
a large yellow gate. The gate remains open if the road is
passable, but
will often be closed during the winter months, depending on the
condition of
the road. The first portion of the claim is a wide, well
maintained road
that travels through federal and private lands. After going
approximately
half way up the canyon, as the road leaves the canyon bottom and begins
to
climb the hillside, it becomes significantly narrower. As you
approach
the ridge, about a mile before the end of the claim, the pavement
ends.
From this point on, with the exception of a few stretches where some
wash-boarding has occurred, the claim is a relatively well maintained
dirt
road. At the top of the ridge, and the end of the claim, there is
room to
park several cars. Hikers, horseback riders, and off-road vehicle
users
can access several trails from this area. The road can be
followed from
the top of the ridge down into Tooele or along another branch that
splits off
and runs along the ridge a short distance.
"The
right-of-way for the construction of highways over the public
lands not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted."
Construction:
"Means an intentional physical act or series of intentional physical
acts
that were intended to, and that accomplished, preparation of a highway
by a
durable, observable, physical modification of land for use by highway
traffic."
The road in Butterfield
Canyon is paved for the majority of
its length. As it approaches the ridgeline the pavement ends;
however,
evidence of road construction continues as the road is cut into the
hillside as
it climbs out of the canyon bottom.
Highway:
"Means a thoroughfare that was prior to the latest available date used
by
the public, without discrimination against any individual or group, for
the
passage of vehicles carrying people or goods from place to place."
This road is open to the
public when conditions are safe and
the road is passable. It connects the southwestern part of Salt
Lake
County to the city of Tooele.
Unreserved
public lands: "lands owned by the United States...that had not
yet
been set aside, dedicated, withdrawn, reserved, settled, preempted,
entered,
appropriated, or disposed of, or on which claims had not been located."
It is likely that this
road was constructed early in the
1900's, probably predating any reservation.
There is little
detailed information that exists about the early history of the Oquirrh
Mountains. However, it is known that the
early Mormon Settlers in the area came to this mountain range in search
of a
lumber source in the mid 1800’s. Around the turn of the century
several
deposits of lead, silver and gold were found. As happened in the
Wasatch
Mountains, this led to a significant amount of mining and prospecting
in the
canyons of the Oquirrh Mountains. Relative to the neighboring
Bingham
Canyon, few mining claims where patented in Butterfield Canyon.
Those
that were include the Butterfield and the Butterfield Park Placer
mining
claims. These claims were located along Butterfield Creek and
extended up
both sides of the canyon. The two claims consisted of most of the
canyon
bottom for the first half of Butterfield Canyon. It is not clear
if the
road up the canyon was constructed to allow work to be done on these
claims. Maps from a survey of the area done in the late 1890’s
include the
area patented for these mining claims, but do not show a road into the
canyon. If a route accessing these claims was being used at the
time of
the survey, it was not significant enough to be included in these
maps.
This would suggest that the fairly substantial route that connects
Butterfield
Canyon to Tooele County was built sometime in the early 20th
century.
Coon, Bill.
Past
President of the Utah Backcountry Horsemen (currently President of
Friends of
Sound Horses). Conversation on August 25,
2005.
Salt Lake County
Recorder’s Office. Research of plat maps in
area of Butterfield Canyon. Salt Lake
City, UT. August 16, 2005.
Bureau of Land Management
(Utah). Research of mining claim patents. September 21, 2005.
Salt Lake County
Surveyor’s Office. “The Bible” - Book of maps, accompanied by a book of field
notes (Field Notes of Survey - Hwy No. 124 p. 190).
Surveyed September 1-3, 1898 with field notes
recorded in Field Book I p. 60-67.
Map of the Butterfield
Canyon Claim
Index
of County Roads (pdf 1.5 MB): An index of Salt Lake
County Roads,
completed on September 26, 1935. This list was compiled by the
County
Recorder and includes Butterfield Canyon, Highway 124.