more permanent basis through the assistance of public agencies. The committee requested every family who wanted television to contribute $30 in cash plus an equal amount in labor. The funds were used to purchase equipment, most of which was installed by volunteers. Changes in Federal Communications Commission regulations made it possible to obtain a license to "translate" the VHF signals to UHF frequencies for rebroadcast. A major hurdle was getting a power line to the translator site. The site was only five miles from Orangeville but sat atop a three thousand foot escarpment, the upper third of which was a sheer cliff. When the Utah Power and Light Company estimate for building a line proved to be far beyond the available funds, the local group undertook construction of the power line themselves, planting poles and stringing wire across almost incredibly difficult terrain. The power line was completed and two translator units installed in late 1956. The FCC license had not yet been approved, so station KSL used its own broadcasting license to provide service on a temporary basis. The first continuous television transmission from the translators took place in early February 1957. A testing permit was granted in May and an operating permit followed shortly thereafter. After the system was operational, the county commission agreed to levy a small recreation tax for its maintenance. A third translator was installed in April 1958, making all three Salt Lake City commercial stations available. Initially the translators served only the area from Huntington to Ferron. An Emery group was organized in November 1957 for the purpose of installing a relay station on a ridge east of Moore, which began operating in January 1958. In 1961 Green River City applied for a translator license. In 1964 San Juan County funded the installation of more powerful transmitters to relay the signals to that area.69
Medicine and Public Health Polio was the most dreaded disease of the postwar period. Successive outbreaks in the late summer and fall of 1950 and 1951 claimed the lives of four children in the county and left several others with long-term disabilities. The county participated in the 1954 clinical tests of the Salk vaccine, which effectively ended the polio threat." While this disease was devastating to those who contracted
