Ashley Valley ( Images of America) by Uintah County Regional History Center
Ashley Valley, Utah Situated within northeastern Utah's mountainous Uinta Basin, the Ashley Valley takes its name from William Ashley, a trapper who passed through the area in 1825. Both beautiful and rugged, the Ashley Valley's landscape required a lot of grit from its first settlers. An early expedition party sent out by territorial governor Brigham Young called the area unfit for settlement. This delayed permanent American settlement until 1876, when a few hardy families formed communities in the area, including, Ashley, Vernal, Maeser, Dry Fork, Glines, Naples, Davis, and Jensen. The valley was rich in minerals and oil and saw its share of boom0and0bust cycles, as miners and oil-workers struck out to find fortune and left facing government regulations. The Ashley Valley pioneers were a stalwart, hardworking mix of settlers, farmers, miners, and other hardy folk who left a rich legacy. Today, as visitors come over the valley hill, they will encounter a community with a developing oil and gas industry, modern growth, and traditional small-town appeal. Uintah County Regional History Center was started in 1982 by Doris Karren Burton. The center is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and making available biographies, histories, and photographs that tell the story of the Ashley Valley and the Greater Uinta Basin region. The images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title present the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.
