The Ogden standard. [volume], October 15, 1917, 4 P.M. CITY EDITION, Page 9, Image 9

About The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1913-1920

Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library

                
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trll THE. OGDEN STANDARD: OGPEN. UTAH, MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1917. -J
IpiD FORT'S EARLY HISTORY
I WIN THE INDIANS FORCED THE
r I ' SETTLERS TO BUILD A FORT
1i Kf Editor The Standard: They are
MbuJldJng a new sub-high school out at
Mound Fort. It Is very modern, up
ftoniato and commodious, but there is
Haomethlng wrong. They are going to
LcaU it the "North Sub-High."
V; Wherefore, the old timers residing
thereabout are much grieved.
They note that lately there have
fcbeen changes in ecclesiastical oircles
gyhercby the old original Mound Fort
IRward has boen divided into two wards,
each given a number. The Mound Fort
M&yard, which in the fifties Included
SEfeverything from Ogden river bridge
gffitn many miles north and from the
Rmoontain to the lake, has now been
Rlesislated out of existence.
K The school house which was built in
Bl890 on the southeast corner of
(Twelfth street and Washington ave
Kfnue still bears the name of Mound
gFort, but the high school building now
Bgoing up to the south of the grade
Wschool is to be called the "North Sub
H Wherefore, as stated previously, the
Hold timers are up in arms.
K They have not forgotten that long
B before there was a house on Ogden
B.hcnch, or before even a cow track indi
Bcated where Twentyfifth street was
Hto be, Mound Fort was a town and a
Ifiplace on the map. Local pride must
If be reckoned with.
If There was later a lime when the i
Buorth line of Ogden city was at Mill
H creek and Mound Fort was the next
B-door neighbor on the north. And, when
Bn the fullness of time, it became dc
Hsirable to annex Mound Fort and
Bxynne, the city fathers came with
their hats off and petitions in their
'hands, humbly approaching the pros
perous burghers of Mound Fort and :
B suggesting that they sifrn ud to be- i!
IaH-come a part of the city and have a
'JRshare In Its large future and already
Mgrowing bonded indebtedness.
Ilf And now they are going to call It
II the "North Sub-High."
M The first settlers came with Cap
M tain lames' Brown, who bought Good
year's fort on the -Weber river, near
IJBi Twenty-eighth street, in February of
B- 1848, but very soon after settlers
B built their cabins on the north of Og
B den river.
B They went up the stream to a point
B' where they noted an old river cban
B nal or dray swale. Here they built a
B temporary dam and turned the water
B into the old channel to see if it could
B1 be made to irrigate the rich river
Bj bottom land which they proposed to
Be t The water flowed merrily down the
B' old river bed and crossed Washington
B avenue at Mill creek. About four
B blocks east of the Phoenix mill they
W built another dam and again coaxed
II the river water out upon the ground
II to the north as far as Twelfth street
IK and extended the canal across Wash
IE nton avenue past the mound which
11 lay to the north of Twelfth street.
And there they made the center of
.ttal their settlement, built a fort and
ij gave it a name, and that was nearly
IB seventy years ago.
B And now a younger generation "that
WK knew not Joseph" wants to call it the
M "North Sub-High. How hath the
IB glory departed!
IB Was there really ever a Mound
IB Fort? Sure. The ruins can still be
mm seen and the remains of the old mud
Hi wall can still be readily traced.
wM Herewith please find a few a very
IB few hand sketches of this Interesting
. . IB locality, prepared with the assistance
n 111 pf CaIeb Pnrr' of Marriott, Wells
'n V IB Chase, recently deceased, Mr. Amos I.
i f IV 5tone ot Twelfth street and others
jast Ija wuo WGre famjnar with the early his
tarn W Lory of ogden.
B From the first, the early settlers felt
B the need of protection from the In
B dlans. Thofe were frequent "Indian
to ; B Scares." Some of the scares wore real
om i m euough. Several settlers lost their
yer : W lives and the tension was always high
re- tim enough that when the rumor of an
ex i h Indian raid came there was a whole
hearted rush for shelter and mutual
protection.
The big clay mound which extends
from Twelfth street to Ninth street
was selected as the main feature ol
the participation. The west slope ol
the mound was very steep andit did
not require much labor to dig down
the slopcso as to have an almost per
pendlcular bank from six to ten feel
high up which it was impossible to
ride a horse and which would bother
even an Indian to climb.
To strengthen the west side still
further a breastwork, perhaps three
feet high, was built along the top of
the perpendicular bank behind which a
rifleman could crouch arid from which
he would have a clear viowof ihf
bad land to the south, west and nortl
Trouble with the Indians came '"
denly and swiftly in those days .t.
generally on horseback. The Indirr
was never a good foot soldier, but I'
would go against any odds so lour r
he could ride. Hence when they ha
fixed the west side of the mound ro
that the Indian cavalry could n't
charge up it, they called that sid
safe. At a 'number of points the high
bank and a ridge marking the line of
the breat work can still be seen.
From the south point of the mound
tq the west side of Washington avenue,
a mud wall was built along the north
line of Twelfth street. It was extended
north along Washington as far as'
Eleventh street, some say to Tenth
street, but on the first named street
about ten feet from the south side
can still be traced a low ridge which,
it is claimed, is the remains of the old
wall.
The wall, when first built, was about
three feet thiok at the base, eight feet
high and about 16 inches wide at the
top. In building it, two 'forms were
set up for the sides. Men shoveled
dirt into the forms and a man tamped
the dirt with a maul. As the wall rose
additional planks were added -until the
required height was attained. As fast
as one section of the wall was built
the forms were moved along to form
the next section.
Sometimes water was hauled and
the dirt was moistened while it was
being tamped. This resulted in a very
solid, compact wall of dried mud which
withstood the action of the elements
for years.
All the settlers living in the fort and
those who expected to take refuge
there were required to do their share
of work on the wall and each new-comer
was given a part to do in repairing
it.
This was In the early fifties, but In
ten years- the settlers had grown so
numerous and so confident of their
own strength that the repairing of the
wall was abandoned and It was level
led by tho owner of the land, Ambrose
Shaw.
Mr. Shaw built a fence along the
low ridge which remained a fence
formed of cedar posts set in pairs.
Wooden- pins, driven into auger holes
In the posts connected them and
formed rests for poles and rails.
Nearly a thousand feet of this kind of
fence can still be seen on three sides
of the ground enclosed and. according
to A. I. Stone, indicates the line of
the old wall.
There were a numbor of dwellings
log cabins inside the fort. Among
the names mentioned are Shaw,
Tyrrell, Rolf, Dana, and several
others.
One of the first dwellings was a
one-room cabin built by Henry Kemp
on the Washington avenue side at a
point about 240 feet north of Twelfth
street And the one-room log cabin
later became the first school houBe to
carry the name Mound Fort.
Among the schoolmarms who taught
the young Mound Fort Ideas bow to
shoot was a Mrs. Rolf, a relative of
the Dinghams of Bingham's Fort. Sho
had among her pupils numerous boys
whose names have been written fre
quently on the abstracts of the lands
I north of Ogden river tho MooreB,
Ijlj CANDILS
fill $25.00 Cash
II 1 To the Person Who Can Prove
I I That Orpheum Confections Are
I I O Not tiie HiShest Quality of Any
J vf Produced in Ogden!
All Materials Absolutely Pure. Full Weight and Fair
Treatment Absolutely Sure.
CHILI CON CARNE, T AM ALES AND
SOFT DRINKS A SPECIALTY
1 2522"Watoington Phone 1941
' ' e o-j-i-io - suj-iu . i ,
pyouhear it here, there, everywh ere c They have such beautiful J 1 !
HMr " things that awaken new interest in jrour home; a wonderful col- . I 'I
BB lection beautiful, useful things that lend new color that gb I M
I gratify the eye that refresh the mind that make your home I Ml H
artistic and distinctive things that give you a NEW IDEA of j ' 1 ! j ' yLU
home that make home an INSPIRATION to happier, better N g
beautiful furniture, beau tiful rugs, beautiful draperies and deco- y 1 ' . . (
t ' rative fabrics ; beautiful lamps, pictures, art wares ; beautiful china . ' v. 1 1L
-i wares a thousand-and-one things for the appointment, adorn- - ' . v fl
M - ment and BEAUOOTCATION of your home- V ' V I j :
: Come see them to know what is new, and beautiful, and in style ""ESUv 1 M IH
vr: WELCOME, . I '
Durfees, Jones, Chases, Barkers and j
others. '
She lived in a room adjoining the
school room and on one occasion sun
dry boys who had found the carcass
of a badly decadent dog by the way
side, "just as a joke on teacher,"!
dropped it down the chimney of the'
school house in the dusk of the early
evening. The dog lodged in the chim
ney and teacher came out to see whatj
had caused the chimney to suddentlyi
atop drawing. The boys went right
away from there and the subsequent
history of the dog is shrouded in mys-'
tery.
Among the early teachers ihvthe.
fort was Henry Chamberlain, whowas I
noted as a rigid disciplinarian, andl
another named Hall, who later rol
moved to Huntsvllle.
This was in the early sixties, and
now they are going to call the new
building the "North Sub-High."
One of the houses built in the fort
was owned by Charles Dana, a rela
tive of the famous editor of the New
York Sun. His cabin was about 100
yards west of Washington avenue. He
planted wild currants and plums and
seedling apple trees near his home,;
some of which are still bearing fruit. 1
Close to Eleventh street and just j
west of a little slough was located a
small shack in which one of tne early
settlors who resided near the fort
undertook to operate a distillery.'
There was a great dea of emigrant
travel past Mound Fort and "Valley
Tan" whiskey had a reputation that
extended from the Golden Gate to the
Missouri river.
There was, however, a sentiment
against the traffic and this became so
strong that the distillery was raided
by the officers of the law. The
proprietor, as usual, got a tip that the
raid was being planned, so he de
tached the worm a copper coil which
was the most valuable part of his
outfit- and threw it into the deepest
hole of the slough, about 100 feet
south of Eleventh stroet.
No one was over able to locate U
and supposedly about $300 worth of
copper is" still concealed there. An
other effort was made later to oper
ate a distillery near a spring about
five blocks east and north of the fort,
but that was also suppressed.
At the southeast corner of the old
wall is a box elder tree which was
probably planted by Ambrose Shaw
and, which must be fifty years old.
Just west of it Is a row of three
smaller box elders which Mr. Stone
says ho planted for Mr, Shaw about
forty years ago.
Near the southwest corner of the
wall is another old tree about three
and a half feet in diameter. About 200
feet south of Eloventh Btreet, on the
Washington avenue side, is 'aiicotton
wood trees that is at least halfffrvcen
tury old. These trees are all growing
on the low ridge that remained after
the wall was leveled.
In the center of tho tract sur
rounded by tho wall is a spring from
which flows a small stream and which
guaranteed the settlers a water supply
: in case of siege.
Mr. Stone is not certain that tho
north half of the mound was Included
in the fort. About half way along it
was a low gap across which an effort
was made eomo twenty-five years ago
to cut a street and this may have
been the north line ol the fortifica
tion. At a point on the east slope of the
mound, near whore Eleventh street
would cross, two skeletons, supposed
to bo of Indians, were uncovered by
mon hauling dirt. The mound has been
attacked at so many points by peoplo
hauling soil, clay "and gravel that It
is hard to determine what its original
shape was.
For nearly seventy years Mound
Fort has been an educational center.
It can be said of this particular
locality as it cannot be said of any
other locality in the city, that there
has always been a school thore.
First, the log cabin in the fort, then
a later years a substantial stone house
across the street and on the south
side of Twelfth street, thon in 1890 the
stono Bchool house was torn down and
the present briok grade school was
Greeted. This later was onlarged by
the addition of more rooms", and now
),they f ar putting jip w.hlga achopj
MISS KELLER AIDS
THE BLIND OF. WAR
'MA
1 Iwttw
Helen Keller
Upon receiving recently a gift of
$500 from a friend, Miss Helen
Kellor, the blind authoress, turned it
over to a relief organization for tho
blind in the war and sent with it a
long message of cheer to her "com
rades in the dark." "There will
never be a day in the years to come
when they will not need our help,"
ohe has said,
alongside of it, and they are going to
change the name to "North Sub-High."
Which way is north, anyway? And
north of what?
The drawing that is submitted here
with is not true to Bcale and there are
so many points in doubt about the
boundaries of the fort and about its
early history that It is to be hoped that
some student of the new sub-high may
some day find time to trace accu
rately its boundary line and record
its history before time shall have cov
ered them entirely up. But they
ought to call It "Mound Fort Sub
High." O. A. KENNEDY.
I - rr .
I
Dutch Will Not Yield.
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 14. Cornelius
Van Aalst, president of the Nether
lands Overseas trust, in an interview
. printed in the Handelsbald, describes
the restriction placed by Breat Britain
TODirS
a WAE WZB !
on cable communication between Hol
land other countries including the
Dutch colonies, as a very serious meas
ure which could only have been de
vised by persons unacquainted with
tho situation and with the feeling in
Holland. i j II
Read the Classified Ads. I
' . i j
N i ' j IH
- 'Just think, for every twenty-five cents a Sammy ' r , I
somewhere in France will receive a great big m
package like the above, containing 45 cents' . ' I
., worth of good old American Tobacco , ? j' I
k The smokes he likes fresh from home will be given ; Jpf ' j 1
to him with your compliments. Then, in a few . I
weeks will come a message from him from out : , I
V .of No Man's Land blessing you as a patriot. T f.. 1
? Those of you who have failed to subscribe to this . 'f I
campaign have overlooked a patriotic move.o j . I
You can subscribe at Hemenway & Moser's two i -j ; I
' Cigar Stores, Harry Korb Cigar Store, Fred Bar-4; fe ' I
vey's Lunch Room, Turner's Smoke House, Cul-' "' I
ley's Drug Store, The Ogden Standard. I