Range Creek is where the rancher protected and kept secret for 50 years the location of Native American ruins and petroglyphs. I have been to Range Creek at least twice. I have met Waldo Wilcox at least once. Waldo is the rancher that kept the secret for 50 years about Range Creek. When it was revealed and sold to the state it made international headlines.
Now the history of Range Creek is told in a recent article in the Utah Historical Quarterly. I went to the Main Library in Salt Lake City and was looking at the current issue of the Quarterly. In the back it had an index for the current volume. Range Creek showed up in the index so after some consideration I thought I would take a look. There were actually three articles related to that area in the Quarterly. The issue in question is Volume 79, Number 1. I believe that is the Winter 2011 issue. I read the article about Range Creek written by a man whose surname is Gerber whose family lived on Rock Creek but also bought some land at the lower end of Range Creek. He wrote a concise yet thorough article and I believe very accurate.
In the article he mentioned the character who took part in the history and controversy surrounding Range Creek. There was some question of ownership and who did what and when they did it. Preston Nutter apparently used some slight of hand to gain or retain control over the area. This led to some legal maneuvering by him and others.
Anyway, I remember my father Max, who is Joseph the 3rd, say more than once that John Darioli built the first road in Range Creek. He had to have gotten this information from Joseph the 1st either directly or indirectly from Joseph the 2nd, who is Dode. John Darioli was one of the adversaries of Preston Nutter as he homesteaded 160 acres at the lower end of Range Creek and had a lawyer from Helper who was also Italian help him. I can't go into all the detail right now for space and also memory and I refer you to the article. I will tell you how Joseph B. Curtis, Joe, figures in Range Creek.
I had met Mr. Gerber at the Main Library before maybe about a year ago when he participated in a seminar about Range Creek. I talked to him after and he mention an affidavit where there was a Curtis involved. I figured it must be Joe. Joe was one of the first settlers of Woodside. I figured there was a Range Creek connection but I didn't know exactly what it was. In the article it talks about the manager of the ranch, who was Joseph E. Wing, and his brother getting rid of greasewoods and sagebrush by using a hoe. Joe Curtis, who was a ranch hand, showed them a better way.. they hooked up a couple of horses to a roller and made it a lot easier. They then burned the piles or brush. One thing that was interesting is that Joseph Wing was a pioneer in growing alfalfa and wrote some articles about it. Getting rid of the greasewoods and sagebrush was in preparing the land for growing alfalfa. So a ranch hand had to show the manager how to do a job better. In a previous post I told about how Joe was one of the best ditch diggers in the west. It was sure exciting to learn the details of Joe Curtis and his involvement in Range Creek. I didn't know that he was a ranch hand there. This was before Preston Nutter came on the scene.
I was also impressed that on the affidavit Joe was referred to as Joseph B. Curtis. I know that is how it shows up on the Springville LDS Ward records where he was born and lived for awhile. But we know him as Joseph Augustus Curtis, Sr. So I don't know where the name Augustus came from or what happened to his initial B. This is all in a document referred to in the footnotes as Heirs of Joseph E. Wing vs John Darioli. So I'll have to see if I can get hold of that issue of the Quarterly and the document referred to.
Nicholas, Joseph the 4th.
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