Fort Ashley Center

Vernal began as a fort with too many names. In 1878 Jeremiah Hatch came to Ashley Valley as an Indian agent, and after the deadly 1879 clash at the White River agency in Colorado, he was told to fortify the settlement — the colonists' own cabins, braced with cedar posts, forming part of the wall, with water hauled up from Ashley Creek. The place was called Ashley Center, then Jericho, then Hatchtown before it settled on Vernal. The fort was abandoned by 1882, its purpose past; the town it guarded became the seat of Uintah County.

What the plaque says

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 as protection for white settlers. Their cabins, with cedar post buttresses between, formed part of the wall. Water was hauled from Ashley Creek. In 1881 first schoolhouse built on this site, C.C. Bartlett, teacher. The fort, called Ashley Center, Jericho, Hatchtown, later named Vernal was abandoned in 1882. Uintah County

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Utah Field House of Natural History — steps away
  A dinosaur museum with life-size replicas in an outdoor garden
• Vernal — steps away
  The self-proclaimed Dinosaur Capital of Utah
• Steinaker State Park — 4.2 mi
  A warm-water reservoir popular for swimming in the desert heat
• McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs — 6.5 mi
  Massive Fremont-era rock art panels on private ranch land open to visitors

More markers nearby

• Parcel Post Bank (2) Markers — steps away
• St. Paul's Episcopal Church — steps away
• Afghanistan & Iraq Veterans Memorial — 0.2 mi
• American Mother Veterans War Memorial — 0.2 mi