Picto Diary - 25 October 2019 - Lot's Dam
Above: Log Cabin. Henifer, UT. 25 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Sight along the pioneer trail. Post fall, pre winter landscape... Everything is beautiful in its own way. Someone built this dwelling, lived a life there, and then died or left. I try to imagine the figures that populated this place, likely around one hundred twenty years ago. They had passions, faced obstacles such as hard winters and long work days, yet they survived and passed their genes and learnings on to another generation. Who were they? And, what impact did they have on the world?
People of yore.
Legacy left?
In stuff poor.
In deed deft.
Above: Mouth of Echo Canyon, transcontinental railway and I-84 (right). 25 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Image captured from the Echo frontage road looking north. I-84, from Echo Canyon, just down the road, to Portland, OR, is to the right of the tracks.
Lots of history passed this way. Pioneer trail to Salt Lake City, and for the hardy (The Donner Party), beyond to California via the Hastings Cutoff. Also, Pony Express Trail and the Transcontinental Railway. Not to mention 2000 federal troops sent to Utah by President Buchanan in 1857 to knock the Mormons into line.
Looking South.
Echo mouth
UP track right.
No train in sight.
Oblique rays.
Shorter days.
Scenic red rock.
Utah stock.
Duc still hies.
'til snow flies.
…...……....................
UP rolls.
Owl hoots.
Bishop waves.
UP toots.
Transcon route.
Century and a half.
Linked US.
Chinese last laugh.
Above: Echo Cliffs. Echo Canyon. Utah. 25 October 2019.
Image taken from I-80, north side, frontage road looking east towards Evanston, WY.
From the cliff tops at left, in 1857, Lot Smith's Mormon Militia, one of which was my great great grandfather, Andrew Hunter Scott, harassed Albert Sidney Johnston's 2000 US Army troops as they proceeded towards Salt Lake City to help Brigham Young understand who buttered his bread.
Echo Cliffs. Late day light.
Lot's militia poised for fight.
June '58. Times are tense.
Not one soul on the fence.
Albert Sidney talking tough.
Alfred Cumming bad enough.
Brother Brigham poised to flee.
Kane steps up. Let it be.
John D. Lee. Out of the loop.
Arkansas travelers in the soup.
Above: Rock Dam. Echo Canyon, UT. 25 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Dam built by Lot Smith's Mormon Militia in 1857. The dam pooled the creek in Echo Canyon narrows forcing US Troops making their way to Salt Lake City in 1857 to proceed just under the Echo Canyon cliffs. This put the troops in closer proximity to the Mormon Militia members atop the cliffs enabling the militia's easier access to harass the troops or otherwise impede their progress to the Salt Lake Valley, some forty miles distant.
This is my first sighting of this dam despite the fact that I've been up and down this road dozens of times. I was alerted to its presence by Jack and Jill, Evanston, WY locals who I met on the Bear River Greenway a week ago.
Mormon Militia builds a wall.
Dams creek at narrows. Slows Feds all.
1858. Brigham needs a whippin'.
Albert Sydney gets a dippin.'
Feds march along SLC Main.
All the way to Floyd, sans blood stain.
Utah War, buired in Civil War fame
Like Kohima, a blur in D-Days acclaim.