In 1879 Daniel Goulding settled near Bryce’s ranch. Seeking water for irrigation, he and Bryce devised a scheme to divert water from Pine Creek in the Great Basin by means of a canal over the divide. This they finished, but upkeep was expensive, their crops were poor, and Goulding lost about five hundred fruit trees from drouth. Bryce became discouraged and left for Arizona in 1880 and Goulding moved to Henrieville in 1883. Bryce, unimpressed by the beauty of the canyon, considered it “awful hard to find a cow that was lost” in the intricate maze of its pinnacles.
Seth Johnson and several others located in 1886 on Yellow Creek (Kane County) about three miles southwest of Cannonville and named the settlement Georgetown, in honor of the same man for whom Cannonville was named.
In 1890 the two Ahlstrom brothers built homes on the present site of Tropic and with several others began a second and more ambitious attempt to divert water from the East Fork of Sevier River over the divide into Paria Creek. This time the project succeeded. Tropic townsite was surveyed in 1891 and settlers began to flock there and prepare homes and lands in anticipation of the coming of the water. A fitting celebration was staged on May 23, 1892, when the water was turned into the canal.
By this time, most of the suitable valleys and canyons had been occupied. Erosion, however, caused trouble at Kanab. From 1883 to 1890, floods presumably resulting from overgrazing tore out dams and ditches and gutted the canyons and valleys with deep washes. Water arose in the bottom of the washes and that in Kanab Wash (below Kanab) was diverted about 1886 onto a new townsite just beyond the state line in Arizona, called Fredonia, which later served as a refuge for a number of polygamous wives during the Federal offensive against the practice.[86]
While southern Utah was thus growing, a new movement was developed. In 1879, the Mormon Church leaders called for eighty men from the Southern Mission to establish an outpost for the purpose of “cultivating and maintaining friendly relations with Indians whose homes were near the point where the state of Colorado and the Territories of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona come together.” Twenty-five men, including Kumen Jones, went out to investigate routes and locations. They traveled via Lee’s Ferry, Tuba City and Monument Valley to the San Juan River as far as Four-Corners, spent about three months exploring the region, and then returned home via a northern route, past the sites of Monticello and Moab.[87]
While they were away, another party set out from Escalante seeking a short-cut to the San Juan country. A route much more direct than that mapped by the first party was reported, apparently on imperfect observation. It was, however, accepted, and by October the party was on its way. It passed through Escalante and reached Forty-mile Spring where it was held up by excessively rough country, while snows in the mountains blocked retreat.
Three scouts were sent ahead to investigate some of the wildest and most rugged scenic areas of America. The three returned in disappointment; one held the route feasible, another positively rejected it, while the third thought it might be possible to get through with special help. Envoys were sent to Salt Lake City to appeal for assistance, which was given in the form of a legislative appropriation for blasting a way through.
It took fifty days to get eighty-two wagons through Hole-in-the-Rock and down to the Colorado River and ninety days to reach Bluff on the San Juan River where the first settlement was made. Three babies were born on the way and the hardships endured form a Western epic.[88]
The story of Orderville has been left for the last. The United Order[89] was organized at Mt. Carmel, March 20, 1874, by John R. Young, at which time one hundred and nine members were listed. One summer of the United Order was enough for most members. Bishop Bryant Jolley, with his numerous family and relatives, formed the core of the dissenters. To avoid contention, those who wished to continue with the Order sold their holdings and moved in a body two miles above Mt. Carmel where title to all land was vested in the group and where they set up the town Orderville, under the leadership of Howard O. Spencer. The new town was surveyed February 20, 1875.
The first building was a hotel where all ate together in the large dining hall, from July, 1875 to May, 1880. As time passed, living quarters were provided for each family and work was divided into more specialized fields.