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Killyon Canyon,
Emigration Canyon
The road through Killyon Canyon continues up the
main
drainage of Emigration Canyon beyond the turn off for Burr Fork.
The road
is paved for the first ¼ mile. Beyond this point it is a
well maintained
dirt road that provides access to homes in the Killyon’s
Subdivision. At
one time the road extended beyond this point, through Killyon Canyon
and over
the ridge into East Canyon. However, the road is currently
barricaded at
the end of the Killyon’s Subdivision preventing the passage of vehicles
beyond
this point. The original route the road followed has become
completely
overgrown throughout much of its length.
From the barricade, the trail up Killyon Canyon sees occasional
use by
off road vehicles, but is primarily used as a hiking trail. The hiking trail through the canyon is a
narrow single track trail that, in many places, follows a different
route than
the original road followed.
"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."
This road was originally
constructed by John Killian to
access timber in Killyon Canyon. It also formed "Killian's
Cutoff," a shorter route from the Mormon Trail at Big Mountain into
Emigration Canyon.
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 was a route from
Killyon Canyon to the base of Big
Mountain that was utilized by settlers moving into the Salt Lake
Valley.
It was also used to access timber in the canyon and bring it to mills
located
in Killyon's Canyon and at the foot of Big Mountain. This road
was
passable by four-wheel drive vehicles up until the flooding that
occurred in
1983. There are several parcels of private land that are accessed
by this
route. However, if these land owners are successful in their bid
to have
their land preserved as open space, this route will no longer serve any
transportation need.
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been set aside, dedicated, withdrawn, reserved, settled, preempted,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."
Only a small stretch of
this claim crosses land reserved as
part of the Wasatch National Forest. Since construction would
have taken
place in the 1850's the land it crosses would have been unreserved at
that
point.
In 1852 a
grant was awarded to Daniel H. Wells that gave him “exclusive control
of the
canyon for opening a road to the public, toll authorized.”
Shortly after
receiving the grant Wells was called away for other duties. While
he was
away he left the work of constructing the road and collecting tolls in
Emigration Canyon to his assistant John “Killman.” Approximately
a year
and a half after the first grant was awarded, John Killian was given a
similar
grant for the canyon. It is believed that the John “Killman”
recorded in
the original grant is actually the same person as the John “Killian”
that
received the second grant.
The grant obtained by John Killian gave him control of the upper
reaches of
Emigration Canyon. This consisted of an area beginning about 5
miles from
the mouth of the canyon and extending to Mountain Dell. The road
that he
had constructed followed the drainage up the canyon, climbed up over
the ridge
and descended to the base of Big Mountain. This road not only
provided
access to the timber on the other side of the ridge, but also connected
with
the Mormon Trail forming Killian’s Cutoff. While this route was
somewhat
shorter than the original Mormon trail, it was infrequently used.
The
original trail provided better campsites and easier access to water.
In 1858, Appleton Milo Harmon built a sawmill at the foot of Big
Mountain. It is likely that the lumber cut in Harmon’s mill was
hauled
out of Killyon Canyon by way of Killyon’s Cutoff. It is thought
that the
logging that was taking place in Emigration canyon was sufficient to
remove a
large portion of the trees, forever changing the composition of the
vegetation
in the canyon, and clearing the way for the “Sheep Driveway” that was
to come.
In the 1870’s the Mormon colonizers began to utilize the high valleys
of the
Wasatch Mountains for the grazing and raising of their sheep.
During the
warm summer months there was more than enough vegetation for them to
eat.
However, during the winter months the sheep had to be brought down to
lower,
warmer elevations. The sheep were moved to and from the Salt Lake
Valley
along the “Sheep Highway.” There were two different variations of
this
highway. The north branch, called the Big Mountain Trail, went up
Killyon
Canyon to Mountain Dell, and then over Big Mountain and into East
Canyon.
The south branch, the Little Mountain Trail, left Emigration Canyon and
went
over Little Mountain, across Mountain Dell and then up Alexander fork
to
Parley’s Summit. By the 1950’s with increasing development and
regulation
of grazing the Sheep Driveway was closed and the annual migrations were
brought
to an end.
Carlstrom, Jeffrey,
Cynthia Furse. The History of Emigration
Canyon: Gateway to Salt Lake Valley. Logan, Utah. Utah State
University
Press. 2003.
Johnson, Thomas. Private
land owner in upper Emigration
Canyon. Conversation on October 4, 2005.
Salt Lake County
Recorder’s Office. Research of subdivision
plat maps in area of the Killyon’s Canyon claim. Book
E, p.63. Book F, p. 15. Salt Lake City,
UT. August 16, 2005.
Salt Lake County
Surveyor’s Office. “The Bible” - Book of
maps (sheets 25A & 4B), accompanied by a book of field notes. Specific date of maps unknown – most likely
from the 1890’s.
U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Aerial photos of Killyon’s
Canyon taken in
1946. Found at the Salt Lake County
Archives.
Map of the Killyon
Canyon Claim
Mountain
Top Park Subdivision (pdf 131 kB): Plat
map of
the Mountain Top Park Subdivision, dedicated on October 9, 1908.
This
subdivision contains approximately 150 plots, none of which are
developed at
this point.
Killyon’s
Canyon aerial photo (pdf 1.9 MB):
Aerial photo of Killyon’s
Canyon, showing the road as it existed prior to the flood of
1983. This
photo was taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1946.