Erosion problem of pioneer trail realized in the 1930s; Plus, a second Thurston Peak and Malan's Peak fires

                    This is the Place Monument at the mouth of Emigration Canyon.

THE early pioneer trails of the 19th Century were etched firmly in the soil as a semi-permanent historical marker for later generations. However, by the 1930s, it was apparent that the trails were also causing significant soil problems.
"Early pioneer trail forms soil problem" was a May 23, 1937 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.
This Associated Press story outlined how the  original pioneer trail through the Wasatch Mountains was producing soil erosion that had to be dealt with.
"A winding mountain trail that almost a century ago led Mormon pioneers over the Wasatch mountains into Salt Lake Valley is just a soil erosion problem today," the story stated. "City, state and federal governments have joined forces to experiment with it."
The story stated that, "Each spring melting snows coursed down the rutted trail until it deepened and widened into a 20-foot gully."
Sheep grazing in the same area had made the erosion worse and equaled "a barren gash across the mountains" and "a flood hazard and menace."
As such, the Civilian Conservative Corps ("CCC") was being used to try and shore up the damage. The CCC built terraces, planted more foliage and a fenced trail for sheep to follow in the area around Little Mountain in Emigration Canyon.

                          The other "Thurston Peak" (Unofficial name), east of Centerville.

-MORE HISTORY: Thurston Peak is the not only the highest peak east of Layton city, but it is also the tallest peak in Davis and Morgan counties, straddling the county line.
At, 9,706 feet above sea level, this peak was not officially named until 1993. It had previously been labeled as a benchmark from Francis Peak.
However, the name "Thurston Peak" is not a unique title to Davis County.
When a United Airline Plane crashed in Davis County on Nov. 4, 1940, the crash site was identified as being on "Thurston Peak" or "Thurston Mountain." This peak was said to be on the south side of Ford's Canyon, east of Centerville.
A fleet of newspapers on Nov. 4, and Nov. 12-13 of 1940 all identified the crash site as being on "Thurston." These included the Salt Lake Tribune, the Salt Lake Telegram and the Davis County Clipper.
Although not named "Thurston" on official government maps, locals in the Centerville area had referred to the mountain as such for many years.
Yet, when the highest point in Davis County was officially named in 1993, the knowledge of this earlier "Thurston Peak" had apparently been forgotten. The name had been lost to history, some 50-plus years after the 1940 crash of the airplane, which killed all 10 passengers.





-THE annual hike by Weber State College students to Mount Ogden routinely lit a fire on Malan's Peak, left photo, (or in Malan's Basin), below the higher peak, to create a "Flaming W" symbol. However, this was NOT the only event to light Malan's Basin on fire. According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of May 3, 1941, "Peak fire will roar if drive is successful" was the headline. A fire was to be lit if efforts to find local housing for thousands of high school students competing in the national regional high school music contest was successful.

                            Malan's Basin, with Mount Ogden in the far background.

What are the Names of the Mountain Peaks and Canyons in North Davis County?

                                                                       Above, Whitney Arave photographs and lettering.

THE Wasatch Mountains, east of Layton City, are majestic landmarks most people probably take for granted each day. However, what are the names of the mountain peaks and canyons viewed regularly?

Surprisingly, the majority of the mountain peaks lack official names. Some long-time residents have opted to nickname a few of the nameless peaks. Even some of the smaller canyons are not even titled.

(Officially naming geographical features is often a complicated and lengthy process.)

And, those features that have names, there is usually a story to tell about their titles.

Of course, residents of the City’s east side have a much different view of the mountains than those on the west end.

From Weber Canyon to Farmington Canyon is the width of the main mountainous panorama that most Layton residents enjoy.

                                      Thurston Peak

-Kingpin of those mountains is Thurston Peak, at 9,706 feet above sea level.

However, this loftiest of peaks in those two counties wasn't even officially named until 1993 -- it was previously listed as a benchmark on maps, "Francis VABM" previously on all older maps.

There's now a permanent monument of Utah granite has been erected on the peak with a brass plaque, encased in concrete, that reads:

"Named in honor of Thomas Jefferson Thurston, a Centerville resident who viewed the virgin valley of Morgan from the summit of the mountain in 1852 and recognized its potential for colonization. Realizing its disadvantage was its inaccessibility, in 1855 Thurston influenced others to assist him to carve a passible wagon road through Weber Canyon. He was among the first to settle in Morgan Valley and is acknowledged for bringing about its colonization."

It took a five-month-long effort by the Morgan Historical Society to name the peak in 1993.

The fact was it is named for Thomas J. Thurston is very fitting, because that man and his family had lived in both Davis and Morgan counties as one of their earliest settlers.

It was a June 10, 1992 article, headlined, "Either way you look Francis is Tallest," in the Deseret News, that drew attention to the prominent peak as having no official name and created the spark for it to finally be named.

The view of the top of "North Francis Peak" in 1991, before the peak was named or had a monument on its lofty summit -- it was just a pile of rocks and some posts.

Thurston Peak is also the tallest Wasatch range peak between Willard Peak on the Weber-Box Elder county line and Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake County.

                          Francis Peak, complete with two radar domes.

-The other prominent part of the north Davis County section of the Wasatch Mountains is Francis Peak, adorned by two geodesic domes.

Francis Peak was named Francis in honor of Esther Charlotte Emily Wiesbroddt Francis, an early pioneer woman who settled in Morgan in 1863. Her expert knowledge of mathematics, particularly calculus, drew many to seek her help. She assisted early surveyors and, among other things, helped organize Morgan City into blocks, lots and streets.

It was customary in early settlements of the West to name a landmark after a person in recognition of services rendered or contributions made. Sometimes a first name was used. In the case of Francis, her last name probably sounded like a better name for the most prominent mountain peak in the area than her first name.

Brigham Young himself is reported to have honored Francis by naming the mountain after her.

Francis Peak was once Davis County's craggiest mountain summit. However, some 22,000 cubic yards of material and 32 feet of the peak's height were removed to level the site for the radar domes.

While most maps list Francis Peak's elevation at 9,547 feet, that was its original height and doesn't account for the loss in height during the $2 million construction in 1958-59.

The natural height is now 9,515 feet, making it the fifth-highest peak in the county. The facility's base adds 55 feet and the radar domes chip in another 60 feet for a total of 115 feet in artificial height - making the peak, some could argue, 9,630 feet above sea level.

The FAA originally wanted to locate the radar site above Salt Lake City, near Alta or Snowbird. But the National Guard was already using a temporary facility at Francis Peak, so that became the joint location.

Workers at the peak's construction site had to wear thick, long boots and carry sticks or pistols: Although snake experts said the reptiles can't live that high, someone forgot to tell the rattlers.

There were numerous nests of rattlesnakes uncovered in the building process, despite the site's almost 2-mile-high elevation.

In the late 1970s, a tramway was proposed as a quicker and more convenient access up Shepard Canyon to Francis Peak than traveling up Farmington Canyon. However, the FAA's approval for the site got caught in environmental red tape and never became a reality.

                                   "Layton Peak," center.

-For some unclear reason, only two of the 10 highest peaks in Davis County have names - at least official monikers approved by the Utah Geographic Names Committee.

-“Layton Peak” (unofficial name) is the first peak to the left, or north of Thurston Peak and is 9,571 feet above sea level. This peak is also tied with another unnamed one to the north as the second-tallest summit in Davis

County.

“Layton Peak” is 0.7 of a mile north of Thurston

Peak and lines up with Antelope Drive. Like most tall

peaks in Davis County, the “Layton” summit also

straddles the Davis County-Morgan County line.

The “Layton” Peak rises approximately one vertical mile away the valley floor.

Over time, popular usage of such geographical nicknames often become the standard, official titles of unnamed features.

-“Ed’s Peak,” an unofficial title, was named after Ed Ford, who lived in a hollow down below in Kaysville, east of the City Cemetery.

-Note that “Bair” is the correct spelling of the canyon and creek. John Bair was the namesake of the two natural features, but his name has been misspelled “:Baer” and even “Bear” at times, (See the Deseret News of Dec. 29, 1995 for a full explanation.)

-In addition, there are three small lakes — Smith Creek Lakes — hidden on the east slope of the Wasatch Mountains east of Layton and Kaysville. (A jeep trail , the right fork just past Bair Canyon, leads to these secluded bodies of water.

NOTE: By Lynn Arave and previously published in "Layton Today," by Layton City and the Davis County Clipper.

SOURCES: Deseret News Archives, USGS Maps

The Naming of Thurston Peak -- Davis, Morgan County's Tallest Summit

                                                      Thurston Peak.

By Lynn Arave

THE TALLEST PEAK in Davis and Morgan counties is Thurston Peak, at 9,706 feet above sea level.

However, this loftiest of peaks in those two counties wasn't even officially named until 1993 -- it was listed as a benchmark on maps, "Francis VABM" previously on all maps.

There's now a permanent monument of Utah granite has been erected on the peak with a brass plaque, encased in concrete, that reads:

"Named in honor of Thomas Jefferson Thurston, a Centerville resident who viewed the virgin valley of Morgan from the summit of the mountain in 1852 and recognized its potential for colonization. Realizing its disadvantage was its inaccessibility, in 1855 Thurston influenced others to assist him to carve a passible wagon road through Weber Canyon. He was among the first to settle in Morgan Valley and is acknowledged for bringing about its colonization."

It took a five-month-long effort by the Morgan Historical Society to name the peak in 1993.

The fact was it is named for Thomas J. Thurston is very fitting, because that man and his family had lived in both Davis and Morgan counties as one of their earliest settlers.

It was a June 10, 1992 article, headlined, "Either way you look Francis is Tallest,"  by Lynn Arave in the Deseret News, that drew attention to the prominent peak as having no official name and created the spark for it to finally be named.

Arave hiked there Memorial Day weekend of 1992 to personally stand on the peak, that was located almost directly east of his Layton home.

The mountain is the tallest Wasatch range peak between Willard Peak on the Weber-Box Elder county line and Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake County.

                                                         Thurston Peak.

Before 1993, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geographical maps listed the peak as ``Francis VABM.'"

 The U.S. Geological Survey office in Salt Lake City reports that VABM means ``vertical angle bench mark'' and refers to the presence of a triangulation station on the peak.

    Information obtained from the Geographical Survey's Cartography office reveals how the two highest peaks came to share the same name.
    The key mountain peaks in northern Utah were re-surveyed in the 1950s using triangulation methods. One such VABM point was set up in 1954 on the unnamed 9,706-foot peak north of the original Francis Peak.
  

  The view of the top of "North Francis Peak" in 1991, before the peak was named or had a monument on its lofty summit -- it was just a pile of rocks and some posts....


  The Geological Survey office reported it was not unusual for some of the highest peaks in the state to be nameless. For example, more than 15 unnamed peaks in the High Uintas exceed 13,000 feet in height.
    The triangulation survey teams were reportedly notorious for naming unnamed geographical features after already named natural points. Although this method wasn't the official way to do things, it still put the name Francis on all geographical maps from 1955 on, and hence on other maps too, such as those of the Forest Service. 

(When this name dubbing took place, the original Francis Peak was still a jagged mountain with no radar towers on it.)

   You can save yourself a 4,000-foot initial climb from the valley by driving some 13 miles up Farmington Canyon on a dirt road to a site near Francis Peak (at least you can when that scenic byway road is open)  — the walking-point elevation is 9,515 above sea level.

 Most cars can make this trip, though there are some bumps and hairpin turns to negotiate.
   The rewards are eye-candy views every single second as a bird's-eye panorama opens up, not only of Davis County and the Great Salt Lake, but Morgan County and beyond to the east. There are no dull views on this hike, and there is always plenty to see.
   Francis Peak, located directly east of the Kaysville I-15 exit, is a popular summertime scenic backway destination in Davis County.

 Francis Peak was named Francis in honor of Esther Charlotte Emily Wiesbroddt Francis, an early pioneer woman who settled in Morgan in 1863.

 Her expert knowledge of mathematics, particularly calculus, drew many to seek her help. She assisted early surveyors and, among other things, helped organize Morgan City into blocks, lots and streets.

    It was customary in early settlements of the West to name a landmark after a person in recognition of services rendered or contributions made. Sometimes a first name was used. In the case of Francis, her last name probably sounded like a better name for the most prominent mountain peak in the area than her first name.
    Brigham Young himself is reported to have honored Francis by naming the mountain after her.
    Why her name was given to the second-highest peak in the mountain range between Bountiful and Weber Canyon is unclear.

 Lacking modern equipment, perhaps no one in the 1800s knew the north peak was the highest, or possibly the south peak just looked more spectacular because it was pointed. (The northern Francis Peak is rounded.)
    Obviously, South Francis Peak looks much different today, with radar towers perched atop it that were not there before the 1960s. Meanwhile, the taller, northern Francis has remained a wilderness. The peak was surveyed at 9,707 feet high in 1955 until a re-measurement in 1991 lowered it by one foot to its current 9,706.

  Even non-hikers will find the view at Francis Peak alone worth the visit. However, you will likely meet few people north of Francis Peak. There's solitude there in abundance — in the back yard of the populous Wasatch Front, especially when the jeep road is still blocked by snow.

   This trek is more of a challenge in late spring and early summer, when these large snow patches still block the roads and trails. Still, the snow adds some refreshing variety.
   The first western canyon encounter past Francis Peak is Bair and next is Webb Canyon, with lakes directly east on the backside of the mountain.
   There are three small lakes — Smith Creek Lakes — hidden on the east slope. Take the jeep trail's right (east) fork just past Bair Canyon to find these secluded bodies of water.
 

                                     Layton's Snow Horse shape.


  The "Snow Horse" formation is also visible in late spring just north of Webb Canyon. The figure appears every spring and was a prominent pioneer landmark.
   The figure is located east of the Kaysville-Layton boundary at about the 8,500-foot elevation. The pioneers believed if the horse was still visible by the Fourth of July, there would be plenty of water all summer.
   The tailless horse's legs are composed of deep, snow-covered gullies, and its head is a grassy area without sagebrush. Open ridges and several outcroppings of rock round out the horse's shape.
   As the snow melts, the horse's legs get thinner and thinner. However, even after all the snow is gone, a vague outline remains.  Returning to Francis Peak, retrace your path or make your own shortcuts.
   --For some unknown reason, only two of the 10 highest peaks in Davis County have names - at least official monikers approved by the Utah Geographic Names Committee.
    Thurston Peak (elevation 9,706 feet) and Francis Peak (9,515 feet) are the lone summits with official names.

All 10 of the highest Davis peaks are in the north end of the county.
    South Davis County's highest summit - Bountiful Peak (9,259 feet above sea level and located east of Farmington's Glover Lane) - has an official name, but it just doesn't have the elevation needed to crack the top 10, checking in at No. 11.    -- Here's a listing of Davis County's 10 highest peaks (in descending order), all found from Fruit Heights northward:
    - Thurston Peak, 9,906. Located east of Layton's Cherry Lane.
    - Two unnamed, 9,571-foot summits. One is just north of Thurston Peak. The other is one peak north of that location.
    - A 9,536-foot unnamed summit, north of the twin 9,571-foot peaks.
    - Francis Peak, 9,515, located east of Kaysville and Fruit Heights, with the radar domes on top.
    - Nameless 9,491-foot peak, located between Webb and Adams canyons.
    - A 9,423-foot unnamed peak, just north of the peak identified above.
    - A 9,381-foot peak, near Webb Canyon and sometimes referred to by locals as ``Ed's Peak.''
    - Nameless 9,365-foot peak, located between Francis Peak and the Smith Creek Lakes.
    - A 9,314-foot summit with no name, found just north of Francis Peak.

(-Distilled from a series of articles previously published in the Deseret News, by Lynn Arave.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net