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• S.C.R. 4

S.C.R. 4 Concurrent Resolution - Old Spanish Trail Designation

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Bill Sponsor: Sen. Okerlund, Ralph

Floor Sponsor: Rep. McIff, Kay L.

• Drafting Attorney: RuthAnne Frost
• Fiscal Analyst: Gary K. Ricks

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• Bill Text
  • Introduced
  • Enrolled (Currently Displayed)

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• Related Documents
  • Fiscal Note
  • House Transmittal Letter 1
  • Senate Transmittal Letter 1
  • Agency Perf Note

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• Information
  • Last Action: 1 Mar 2016, Governor Signed
  • Last Location: Lieutenant Governor's office for filing
  • Effective Date: 1 Mar 2016

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Enrolled

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S.C.R. 4

1     CONCURRENT RESOLUTION - OLD SPANISH TRAIL
2     DESIGNATION
3     2016 GENERAL SESSION
4     STATE OF UTAH
5     Chief Sponsor: Ralph Okerlund
6     House Sponsor: Kay L. McIff
7     

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8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10           This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor urges the National Park
11     Service to include the Fish Lake Cutoff in the official designation of the Old Spanish
12     Trail.
13     Highlighted Provisions:
14          This resolution:
15          ▸      urges the National Park Service to include the 72-mile trail known as the Fish Lake
16     Cutoff, which joins the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail at the confluence of
17     the East Fork of the Sevier and the Sevier River near Junction, Utah, in the official
18     designation of the Old Spanish Trail.
19     Special Clauses:
20          None
21     

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22     Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
23          WHEREAS, the Old Spanish Trail was an early western trade route between Santa Fe,
24     New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California;
25          WHEREAS, the Old Spanish Trail was used by traders, trappers, emigrants, and
26     possibly prospectors;
27          WHEREAS, there are several shortcuts and detours on the Old Spanish Trail, but none
28     are better documented than the Fish Lake Cutoff in central Utah;
29          WHEREAS, the 72-mile long Fish Lake Cutoff, called the "Summer Branch," was

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30     defined by Captain John W. Gunnison in 1853;
31          WHEREAS, the Fish Lake Cutoff split from the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail
32     two and a half miles south from Ivie Creek in Red Creek Canyon;
33          WHEREAS, the Fish Lake Cutoff rejoins the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail at
34     the confluence of the East Fork of the Sevier and the Sevier River near Junction, Utah;
35          WHEREAS, the Fish Lake Cutoff shaved only 21 miles from the journey of trail
36     travelers, but it led them to the lush grasses in Johnson Valley and Fish Lake, which teemed
37     with fish that provided much needed protein;
38          WHEREAS, the Fish Lake Cutoff enters the Fish Lake Basin from the banks of Lake
39     Creek on the north end of the lake;
40          WHEREAS, the trail passes within a hundred feet of the Moon Ridge fishing village;
41          WHEREAS, this site was recorded in the early 1990s by Lincoln Land Community
42     College of Springfield, Illinois;
43          WHEREAS, in 1996, the site was excavated by a BYU archaeological field school,
44     which discovered a fishing village intermittently used from roughly 300 A.D. into the Late
45     Prehistoric period;
46          WHEREAS, historic trade goods were found in the upper levels of the site, including
47     metal arrow points, a moccasin awl, tinklers, and glass beads from approximately 1840;
48          WHEREAS, recent surveys by the Fishlake National Forest along the Fish Lake Cutoff
49     found conclusive proof that the trail was heavily used during the heyday of the Old Spanish
50     Trail;
51          WHEREAS, the tree ring studies document the use of both the Fish Lake Cutoff and the
52     Old Spanish Trail before 1829, suggesting that the Old Spanish Trail and Fish Lake Cutoff
53     travelers were following a well-established system of trails established by Spanish merchants
54     and perhaps prospectors 34 years before the previously estimated period of use;
55          WHEREAS, some of the trail travelers that used the Fish Lake Cutoff, or were nearby
56     at the junction of the main branch, include Kit Carson, Lieutenant George Brewerton, Jedediah
57     Smith, Orville Pratt, Benjamin Chouteau, Denis Julien, Lieutenant E. K. Beale, Lieutenant

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58     E.G. Beckwith, Colonel W.W. Loring, the Elk Mountain Mission, and Wakara;
59          WHEREAS, beginning in 2009 the Fishlake National Forest began an intensive
60     archaeological survey of the multiple corridors of the Old Spanish Trail and the Fish Lake
61     Cutoff;
62          WHEREAS, the archaeological survey has employed a variety of methods to unlock the
63     keys to the story of Utah's sections of the Old Spanish Trail and the Fish Lake Cutoff, including
64     pedestrian survey, satellite imagery, computer image enhancement programs,
65     dendrochronology, protein residue analysis, historical research, herding strategies and stock
66     movement, communications with professional peers, and the involvement of the general
67     public;
68          WHEREAS, these efforts were awarded by the concurrence of the Utah State Historic
69     Preservation Officer that the Utah sections of the Old Spanish Trail and the Fish Lake Cutoff
70     were eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places;
71          WHEREAS, in 2013, the Utah sections of the Old Spanish Trail and the Fish Lake
72     Cutoff were listed by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, or "Keeper of the
73     Register";
74          WHEREAS, due to the eligibility determination of both the Old Spanish Trail and the
75     Fish Lake Cutoff segments in the Fishlake National Forest, Utah is required by the National
76     Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, to protect and preserve Utah's section of the
77     trails from internal and external impacting agents;
78          WHEREAS, a management plan is also being prepared to guide management practices
79     and allow the public to enjoy these historical wonders; and
80          WHEREAS, inclusion of the Fish Lake Cutoff in the official designation of the Old
81     Spanish Trail would be a fitting capstone to all of the efforts over many years to recognize the
82     complete expanse of this trail:
83          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
84     Governor concurring therein, urges the National Park Service to include the 72-mile trail
85     known as the Fish Lake Cutoff, which joins the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail at the

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86     confluence of the East Fork of the Sevier and the Sevier River near Junction, Utah, in the
87     official designation of the Old Spanish Trail.
88          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the National
89     Park Service, the Lincoln Land Community College, the Brigham Young University
90     Department of Anthropology, the Fishlake National Forest Offices, the Utah State Historic
91     Preservation Officer, and the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places.