Intermountain Histories

John Jarvie’s Historic Ranch

2024-01-20T08:08:00+00:00

Not all hospitality is returned in kind. In the case of John Jarvie, the outlaws to whom he was so obliging went on to rob and murder both him and his son.

In 1880 John Jarvie and his wife Nellie Barr moved from Rock Springs, Wyoming to the burgeoning settlement of Brown’s Park. Jarvie set up a general store, post office, and ran a river ferry that crossed the nearby Green River. Jarvie became well known for his sagacity and kindness to all those who lived in the region, even the Wild Bunch outlaws. Such associations did not serve him well in the long run, but his kindness did, and his legacy has continued to today in Uintah and Daggett County. John Jarvie was born in Scotland in 1844. As a young man after being beaten soundly by a mine supervisor, Jarvie elected to immigrate to the United States as a stowaway. He arrived in America in 1870 and settled in Rock Springs, Wyoming. After several years as a businessman in Rock Springs, working as a Saloon Owner, Jarvie met residency requirements and became a citizen on October 8th, 1875. In 1880 at the age of 36, Jarvie married Nellie Barr, 22, and the couple moved to Brown’s Park, the present location of John Jarvie’s Historic Ranch. Jarvie opened a general store, moved the local post office to his property, and ran a ferry that crossed the Green River. Jarvie sold to everyone in the region, even notorious outlaws. One location on the historic ranch in particular, a storage cellar, was thought to have housed criminals like Butch Cassidy when they were on the run from the law. One notable event on the Ranch in 1895 termed the “Outlaws’ Thanksgiving Dinner” saw a dinner of gratitude between several notorious outlaws including Billie Bender, Les Megs, Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay, Isom Dart, and the Sundance Kid. The meeting was jovial and in celebration of Jarvie and other residents in Brown’s Park tolerance of the outlaw’s activities. In light of their warm relationship, it is tragic that Jarvie and one of his sons eventually lost their lives to outlaws. William King and George Hood, hearing false rumors about Jarvie’s great wealth, came to the ranch on July 6th, 1909. Jarvie was alone, his sons having taken jobs on other farms, and his wife having died of Tuberculosis in 1895. Jarvie was known for his generosity and tendency to feed visitors so he set the table for three. The outlaws did not return his kindness. They forced Jarvie to open his store safe and took the contents, a $100 bill and a pearl handled revolver. Jarvie fled the store and was shot in the back and head. The outlaws placed his body on a boat and sent it down the river. Details of the murder slowly tricked out. When reports circulated of two men trying to change a $100 bill in Rock Springs, Jarvie’s son Jimmy pursued the outlaws voraciously. Jimmy was on their trail at an Inn in Idaho when he was pushed from a second-floor balcony and fell to his death. The criminals were never apprehended. Jarvie left a powerful legacy which was seen in the obituary written for him in the Vernal Express. There he was praised as a “the sage of the Uintahs, the Genius of Brown’s Park, and the Wizzard [sic] of the hills and rivers. He was not only a man among men but he was a friend among men… He was as broad and generous and far reaching in his good deeds as the stream which he knew and loved[.]”
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The 1911 Kolb Expedition through the Gates of Lodore: Part 1 of 5 of the 1911 Kolb Expedition Tour

2017-06-08T00:35:43+00:00

A description of the Kolb Brothers’ experience river-running the Green River through Lodore Canyon in late September, 1911.

In Lodore Canyon Emery and Ellsworth Kolb quickly learned that a wild river made for a perilous journey. The Green River in this section is noted for its narrow channel, abundant boulders, and difficult rapids. Dropping 420 feet in twelve miles, the hydrologic forces funneled through this cut in the Uintah mountains are immense, measured at 9,000 cubic feet per second. At any moment, their wooden boats, laden heavy with supplies, were subjected to a force comparable to releasing five Olympic-sized swimming pools into a typical bedroom. Not only did several hundred rolls of motion picture film add weight, they were a logistical nightmare as they had to be kept secure and dry. The brothers hoped this added burden would pay out in years to come with a motion picture and photography show covering their exploits. The cold and rainy weather added to the difficulties of the trip. The arduous task of filming the journey compounded the typical trials of an already challenging whitewater expedition.
On September 22nd, 1911, Emery and Ellsworth entered Lodore Canyon, a remote and rough stretch of river. The next day Emery’s boat, The Edith, struck a boulder and began filling with water, forcing them to unload supplies and make an emergency camp. Discouraged by the blunder and damaged plates, the brothers lined their boats —pulled them by rope— down Lower Disaster Rapid. Considering the canyon is only twenty-one feet wide and the river drops fifty feet into an undercut bank, Emery was probably correct in stating later in his book about the trip, that it “would be certain death to try and run it.” Disaster struck on September 27th, when the river pinned Ellsworth’s boat against a rock and ejected him from the craft as it filled with water. Their assistant, James Fagan, retrieved the soaked gear downstream while Emery rescued his brother. As they waited for gear to dry, the brothers tried their luck fishing. Surprisingly, the cold muddy Green sustained an abundant population of fish, and the trio reeled in fourteen in under half an hour. They needed those calories shortly, as the final and largest hurdle in Lodore lay just around the bend; the notorious rapids of Triplet Falls and Hell’s Half Mile. Despite wisely choosing to line their boats and portage their gear through this stretch, it was by no means easy. In the depths of the 2,800 ft. gorge, it took them nearly three hours, nine trips, and a 100-foot climb just to move The Edith and its gear. More rain followed, leading Fagan to break down in tears.
Having successfully negotiated their first test of will power and technical skill, Ellsworth and Emery proved themselves to be competent rivermen. The fruit of their labor was the finest and earliest film ever produced of Lodore Canyon, and confidence that would be necessary for the many miles ahead.
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The 1911 Kolb Expedition at Green River, Utah: Part 2 of 5 of the 1911 Kolb Expedition Tour

2017-06-06T19:04:07+00:00

The city of Green River, Utah, was a welcome respite along an otherwise inhospitable river for two photographers on their way from Wyoming to California.

This tiny Utah outpost along the Green River has long served as a stopping point for travelers. Initially a ferrying point for the United States Postal Service, the Denver and Rio Grande railroad connected to the town in 1883. However, Ellsworth and Emery Kolb did not enter the community via train; arrived by boat, ragged and tired. Their previous ordeal in Lodore Canyon had been so intense that their hired assistant left the trip early. Staying only three nights, October 16th-20th, the brothers may have recovered physically, but did not have much time for a leisurely break from their expedition. Instead, these pioneering photographers had work to be done, developing plates, repairing boats, and corresponding with the outside world. They were among the first to photograph and film the rivers, which would provide material for a traveling motion-picture show.
After a tumultuous journey through Desolation Canyon some twenty miles north of the town, the brothers’ first taste of Green River hospitality came at the McPherson Ranch. Cattleman Jim McPherson had a certain understanding of the perils that both the river and an adventuresome spirit could incur; his father drowned in the Green and he had hosted the infamous Butch Cassidy. Once inside the town, Emery and Ellsworth sought proper beds and meals at the historic Metropole Hotel.
Here, in one of only a few momentary excursions into civilization, the brothers reconnected with the outside world and the families they left behind. The letters they wrote highlight some of the personality differences between the caring family man Emery, and the practical but restless Ellsworth. While Emery recounted the trip and expressed homesickness to his wife and daughter, Ellsworth wrote to comfort his sister Blanche who was worried about finances. The following year Ellsworth would go on to navigate the Colorado River to its delta in the Gulf of California, Emery accompanying him as far as Needles, California. The Flagstaff, Arizona, Coconino Sun ran an article describing their expedition thus far on October 20th, 1911. The paper likened the brothers to the great John Wesley Powell, and the article doubted their chances of survival. That same morning the brothers pushed off into the river, for the three-hundred and twenty mile paddle to the next swift water, Cataract Canyon.
The town of Green River offered Emery and Ellsworth Kolb a much appreciated break from the physical demands of river running. Their primary duties as self-sufficient photographers kept them quite busy, developing glass plates, fixing boats, and reconnecting with the outside world. As they continued to descend south into the Colorado Plateau, periods of isolation grew longer, rapids more treacherous, and film more astounding.
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