Pipeline construction in southern Utah has caused significant damage to historic trails in Holt Canyon near the infamous Mountain Meadows massacre site, according to a leading trail preservation organization.
Damaged were portions of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail and the Salt Lake to Southern California wagon road, according to T. Michael Smith, preservation officer of the Oregon-California Trails Association's (OCTA) Utah Crossroads Chapter. The Old Spanish National Historic Trail, used from 1829 to 1848, was a pack train route connecting Santa Fe and Southern California. The Salt Lake to Southern California wagon road, used from 1848 to 1869, connected Mormon settlements in Utah with the west coast and is being considered for inclusion in the National Historic Trail System. The two trails roughly overlap in Holt Canyon, approximately 35 miles west of Cedar City, Utah.
The 399-mile UNEV pipeline will carry petroleum products between Woods Cross, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada. Smith and Al Matheson of the Old Spanish Trail Association (OSTA) recently noticed that pipeline construction had damaged the trails.
"It appears to be a case of various cultural resource evaluations required for construction approvals not adequately identifying historic resources," according to Smith. "The pipeline contractor operated within their established corridor. But the corridor was too wide and should never have been allowed to run through such a historically sensitive area. Tragically for history, destruction of a National Historic Trail segment is the result."
Additionally worrisome, according to Smith, is a proposal to put a transmission line across the south end of Holt Canyon at Mountain Meadows National Historic Site. In 1857, some 120 men, women and children, members of an Arkansas-to-California wagon train, were killed at the site by a Mormon militia and Indians. Many bodies are interred there in a mass grave and commemorated by a monument.
While the extent of the trail damage is being assessed, OCTA is working with OSTA, the Bureau of Land Management, and pipeline contractors to better map and mark trails to avoid additional damage.
OCTA is headquartered in Independence, Missouri with chapters throughout the western U.S. and is dedicated to preservation and enjoyment of historic emigrant trails.
The UNEV Pipeline is a partnership between Holly Corporation and Sinclair Oil.
Contact OCTA for additional details and photographs.
Contacts:
Oregon-California Trails Association
Travis Boley 816-252-2276
or
T.
Michael Smith 801-487-9115