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Church Fork, Millcreek
Canyon
Beginning a half mile
beyond the Boy Scouts of America’s Camp Tracy, on the left hand side of
the
road, is the Church Fork claim. The road through Church Fork
winds its
way up the hillside, through a picnic area on Forest Service land, to
the
beginning of the Grandeur Peak trail head. The paved road ends
here in a
small parking lot. Large boulders have been placed at the trail
head,
where the pavement ends, to prevent vehicles from passing beyond this
point. From here a dirt road continues up Church Fork into the
old
Florida and New Hampshire Placer Mines, an area now owned by the Boy
Scouts of
America (BSA). As the road continues through this area and back
onto
Forest Service land, it gradually becomes narrower. Eventually
the road
diminishes down to the size of a trail, which would not be passable in
a
vehicle.
"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."
Evidence
of construction of this road can be seen from the point of its
departure with
Millcreek Canyon Road up to the Pipeline Trail. The first stretch
of the
road is paved as it makes its way through the Church Fork Picnic
Area.
Upon reaching the Grandeur Peak Trail head the pavement ends and the
route
turns into a dirt road, continuing on to its intersection with the
Pipeline
Trail. Beyond this point the trail becomes narrower and
steeper as
it proceeds up the canyon. There are also large boulders in the
middle of
the trail that show no evidence of having ever been moved. The
route, as
shown in the GIS data set obtained from the Salt Lake County
Surveyor's
Office, ends around its intersection with the Pipeline Trail. The
list
submitted by the Salt Lake County Commission, gives a distance for the
claim
that would extend it an additional half mile up the canyon. There is little, to no evidence of a road
having been constructed along this segment of the trail.
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."
The road up Church Fork
was originally used to provide
access to logging and mining operations in the canyon. Eventually
the
mining claims in the canyon were deeded to the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA).
However, the U.S. Forest Service obtained an easement from the BSA
allowing for
the construction of a public trail across their land. While the
route is
currently open to the public, it is no longer passable by
vehicles.
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."
The first logging
activity in the canyon took place in the
mid 1800's, predating its reservation as part of the Wasatch National
Forest in
1904.
The road
into Church Fork was built in 1854 to provide access for the removal of
timber
from the canyon. A gentleman by the name of Abraham O. Smoot was
directed
by the LDS Church to construct a building in the area to house
sugar-making
machinery. In order to obtain the lumber he needed to construct
the
building, Smoot had to petition the county court for the right to build
a road
into the canyon, and to control the removal of its timber. The
petition
was granted and Smoot went to work. However, because he had been
working
under the direction of the LDS Church, the canyon took the name Church
Fork
instead of being named after him.
Toward the
end of the 1800’s, logging began to wane and a significant amount of
prospecting for minerals began to take place. This activity
resulted in
the patenting of many mining claims along the Wasatch Front.
Church Fork
was no exception. The two major claims in the area, the New
Hampshire and
Florida Placers, were patented in 1902 and 1903, respectively.
These land
patents consisted of approximately 160 acres in the heart of the
canyon.
In 1904 these claims were transferred to the Salt Lake Southern Railway
Company. There is no evidence that the company ever worked any of
its
claims; however, records show that they were used as collateral by the
company
to issue $2 million in bonds. In 1915 the company lost its
charter to do
business in Utah, and by 1919 Alvin V. Taylor, the only surviving
director and
trustee for the stockholders of the Salt Lake Southern Railway Company,
gave
the Boy Scouts of America the deeds to most of the Company’s remaining
holding
in Millcreek Canyon. This gift included the deeds to the Florida
and New
Hampshire Placers in Church Fork, which the BSA holds to this day.
During the
1930’s the CCC was involved in the maintenance and improvement of many
of the
picnic areas and trails in Millcreek Canyon.
Part of their work involved the improvement of the Church Fork
Picnic
area and the road through the picnic area.
In 1970 the U.S. Forest Service obtained an easement from the
Boy Scouts
of America for the construction of a trail across their land in Church
Fork.
Keller, Charles L. Lady
in the Ore Bucket: A History of
Settlement and Industry in the Tri-Canyon Area of the Wasatch Mountains.
Salt Lake City, UT, USA: University of Utah Press, 2001. p 57.
Mining Abstracts. Florida
Placer. Book I, p491. Salt Lake
County Recorder’s Office. October 27, 1903.
Mining Abstracts. Florida
Placer. Book O, p167. Transfer of
deed to the BSA recorded. Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office. 1918.
Mining Abstracts. New
Hampshire Placer. Book I, p476. Salt
Lake County Recorder’s Office. September 15, 1902.
Mining Abstracts. New
Hampshire Placer. Book O, p168.
Transfer of deed to the BSA recorded. Salt Lake County Recorder’s
Office. 1917.
U.S. Forest Service.
Right-of-way easement for the construction of a trail across
lands owned
by the Boy Scouts of America. June 15,
1970.
U.S. Forest Service.
An easement for development of the Church Fork Campground Water
System
across lands owned by the Boy Scouts of America. October
28, 1970.
Easement
Deed - June 15, 1970 (pdf 689 kB): The Boy
Scouts of
America grant the US Forest Service an easement for the trail across
the New
Hampshire Placer and Florida Placer mining claims in Church Fork.
Easement
Deed - October 28, 1970 (pdf 428 kB): The
Boy Scouts of America grant
the US Forest Service an easement for the Church Fork Campground Water
System.