Overview

Hype:

The Centennial Cabin in Fremont Indian State Park was built to commemorate the continuous settlement of the bend of Clear Creek from the early 1880s to the 1970s. The cabin was originally from Junction, UT.

Trail Guide

Families

Lott- early 1880's to 1909. Joe (Joseph Augustus) Lott. Wife: Merua Twitchell. Children: Ella, Etta, Orville, Benjamin, James, Donald. Joe, was one of four of the children of John Smiley Lott, and his first wife Mary Ann, that first homesteaded Clear Creek Canyon. The family's fields, orchards and pastures of 160 acres extended through the bottom of the canyon. Joe was also a teamster that drove a wagon between Sevier and Kimberly. The Lott family lived here at least until the 1910 census.

Utley- 1909 to 1920. Gab (Gabriel) Utley, Jr. Wife: Verona Gardner. Six children including Merrill (Doc) Utley. When Utley bought this land, he was a wagon teamster and also had other jobs at the Kimberly mine. The family probably ran the farm from Sevier and did not live here.

Ross- 1920 to 1945. Donald Ross. Wife: Pearl Waters. Children: Wendel, Ralph, Coy, Dale. The Ross family and probably his parents, who owned the land, lived in the original cabin for 25 years. A neighbor remembers the cabin and corrals as being the only structures on the property, but additional patent land was granted to the Rosses in 1941.

Hol1- 1945 to 1970's. Henry Holt. Wife: Lillis Burgess. Children: Jay, Leone, Louis, Bill, Anne, Don, Bud, Verna Jean, Rita, Ruth. In 1945 Floyd Bekin bought this and at least one other piece of property in Clear Creek Canyon. The Holt family moved onto the property and managed it as a storage yard for the beginning of Bekins Moving Company. The larger home was build and the cabin was used for storage. Two bridges crossed the creek and corrals, barns and a milkhouse were on the other side.

Homes

Lott Cabin- From the way that the homestead is today, it should not be hard to imagine what the log cabin that stood here for almost 100 years, that Joe Lott built, looked like. It was the same size and looked much like the Centennial Cabin, except the windows were smaller and the chimney was much simpler. It also seems similar to the cabin built earlier one mile away that was lived in by Joe's mother and brother and sisters. There is no way to tell if the cabin was divided into two rooms, but it is assumed that it was since the Lott's had six kids. The southeast corner of the Centennial Cabin is 6 ft. north of the northeast corner of the Lott Cabin. The front of the cabin was at an angle facing northeast.

Farmhouse - This home was in the cleared area (within the fence) east of the Centennial Cabin. The house was almost square, with a half story attic and a central chimney. It had exterior siding and two front windows and an off-center door. In front of the east half of the house was an uncovered cement porch. With its orchards and flowing spring water pipe, this home was one of the favorite stopping places in the canyon.

CentennialÂ Cabin

This cabin was moved to Fremont Indian State Park and Museum from Junction in Piute County in 1995. It was chosen because it is similar to the cabin on this homestead and others in Clear Creek Canyon. The cabin was built in about 1885. Relatives of the owners claim that the cabin was first located on a ranch that they bought in 1892, that was north of Junction where Piute Reservoir now is. In 1908 when the reservoir was built, the cabin was moved to its location in Junction. Other residents of Junction claim that the cabin was built and always had been in the same location. The Junction property was bought in 1903 by Bernard Barnson and his wife Hannah Elizabeth Braithwaite Barnson. When they moved in, they had 9 children, of which 6 lived in the cabin. The Barnsons lived here together until he died in 1933. She died 20 years later in 1953. Mrs. Barnson's grandchildren describe the cabin by saying: "The living room had a treadle sewing machine, a cot bed, a dish cupboard, a couple of chairs and Grandma's chair that sat here by the window. The window had geraniums on the windowsill." After Mrs. Barnson's death in 1953, the cabin remained in the possession of her children and was donated by Garn Samson, her grandson, to the park.

Time:

Fees: Entrance fee

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