Capitol Reef - Wayne Wonderland of the Southwest

Capitol Reef National Park may not be the best know national park in the US, but this little park is possibly one of the most interesting. It is in the middle of a geologic feature called “The Waterpocket Fold”, and possibly demonstrates one of the finest examples of geologic progression in the entire Colorado Plateau. While not the originally proposed name for this park, Capitol Reef got its name from the locals, who believed the large dome shaped white colored sandstone  rocks in the area resembled the nation's capitol building. They also referred to the Waterpocket fold as a Reef, indicating that it represented a natural barrier. It's said that the two expressions combined, creating the name Capitol Reef.

This area has not been generally regarded as the center of human development. Human habitation has been sporadic at best, with little evidence of a strong human presence in this area. The reasons are possibly because of the existence of the Water Pocket Fold (the Reef), or simply because of the rocky harsh environment. Whatever the reason, humans have not flocked to the area in the past. It's thought that the Fremont culture maintained a community here between 900 AD and the 1500s, but after that, no evidence exists of permanent habitation until the first Europeans came to the area in the mid 1800s.

John Fremont passed through Cathedral Valley in 1854 on an unrelated expedition, but did not come to the area where the main part of the park now exists. Fremont wrote that the area was visited by nomadic bands of Utes and southern Paiutes, but did not find evidence of a permanent settlement.

In 1866, the Mormons began to explore the area looking for suitable areas to settle, and in the 1870s the first Mormons moved into the area and settled in what is now know as the Fruita District. The original name for this community, which never contained more than 10 families, was Junction. The settlers used the convenience of the Fremont River and quickly established fruit orchards. By the 1920s, Fruita had been nicknamed the “Wayne County Garden of Eden”, referring to the most productive farmland in Utah's Wayne County. The primary crops grown here were cherry, apricot, peach, pear, apple, and a few plum, mulberry, almond, and walnuts. Today there are still over 2,700 trees in the Fruita Historic Orchards. Additional crops raised by the Mormons was sorghum, raised for its sugar value.

In 1902, the community's name of Junction was changed to Fruita. The last remaining resident of Fruita moved away in 1969.

The father of Capitol Reef is generally regarded as Ephriam Pectol. Born in 1875, this Cainville resident moved to Torrey in 1910, and bought the general store. He became Bishop of the local Mormon Church in 1911. Pectol was fascinated with the rugged Capitol Reef area, and was an avid collector of Fremont Cultural items, keeping a museum in his store. In 1921, he organized a Booster's Club to promote Wayne Wonderland.

His brother-in-law, Joseph Hickman decided to help out, and when the Booster's Club proved unable to meet their goals, Hickman formed the Wayne Wonderland Club in 1924, which was later renamed to the Associated Civics Club of Southern Utah. That same year, Hickman was elected to the Utah State Legislature, and almost immediately introduced a bill making 16 acres of the Capitol Reef area near Fruita a State Park. This park was dedicated by Utah Governor George H. Dern on July 20, 1925. Unfortunately, Joseph Hickman drowned at Fish Lake only four days later in a boating accident, and Ephriam Pectol was left to carry on the fight for Capitol Reef alone.

The two men, Pectol and Hickman were often regarded as the only two people in Wayne County who truly appreciated Capitol Reef. To everyone else, it was just a “bad place to lose a cow.”

Before Hickman died, he had introduced a resolution in the legislature asking Congress to create the Wayne Wonderland National Monument. When Ephriam Pectol was elected to the state legislature in 1933, his first action was to again ask the national government to create the Wayne Wonderland National Monument. For the next several years, while neglecting his business, Pectol helped guide federal surveyors in the Capitol Reef area.

On August 2, 1937, President Roosevelt signed into law the creation of the Capitol Reef National Monument, which was 37,711 acres in size. Ephriam Pectol died in 1947, but not until he realized his decades old dream of bringing national recognition to this fascinating place in southern Utah.

Not much progress was made with Capitol Reef for the next few years, but in 1962 Utah State Highway 24 through Capitol Reef, was paved. This opened the area to more visitors, and helped to expose Capitol Reef to more people who appreciated its beauty. Also, in the 1960s, the Park Service received funding under what's known as “Mission 66” to generally upgrade the park system. Even though not a national park at the time, Capitol Reef received funding for and constructed a 53 site campground, employee housing, and a visitor center. The visitor center opened in, as you might imagine, 1966.

In 1971, President Nixon signed legislation creating Capitol Reef National Park. There were several versions of the park's definition, but Congress and the President finally settled on a piece of land that comprised over 250,000 acres, preserving all of the valley around the Fruita settlement and the Waterpocket Fold. Capitol Reef today is available for all to enjoy, and serves as an example of how a small number of people, given enough motivation, can involve themselves in the “process” and make things happen.