Fort Ashley Center

Jeremiah Hatch came to Ashley Valley in 1878 as an Indian agent. Following the Meeker, Colorado massacre of 1879, he was instructed to build a fort to protect white settlers. Their cabins, with cedar post buttresses between them, formed part of the wall, and water was hauled from Ashley Creek. In 1881, the first schoolhouse was built on this site, with C.C. Bartlett as teacher. The fort, called Ashley Center, Jericho, and Hatchtown before the later name Vernal, was abandoned in 1882 in Uintah County.

Vernal, Utah · United States