Utah Centennial County History Series - Morgan County 1999

W e b e r Canyon posed a formidable barrier for those early western travelers who wanted simply to find the easiest, most direct route through present day Utah and Nevada and onto California or Oregon. In the spring of 1846, Lansford W. Hastings, James M. Hudspeth, and James Clyman discovered the inhospitable barriers to Morgan County: The trail was easy down the Weber [River] and around through Croydon Valley, but then began the struggle with the lower canyons of the Weber [River]. It required seven days to force a way through, often in the stream bed. Three times it was necessary to rig windlasses to lift wagons over obstructions. The rope broke once near the windlass and the men had to let go or be dragged to [their] death. During a heart-stopping moment, the oxen struggled for their lives and then the wagon hurled them over the seventy-five foot precipice. The men were silent for several moments before resuming their task. When they finally pulled out of the [mouth of the] canyon onto the open bench land (Uintah) they felt an overwhelming sense of deliverance.'