Duchesne, Utah

Episode 120 / 23 May 2019 / 148 min / full

Guns, Explosives & A Lion

"We're going to Utah, outwest to Utah, to Duchein, Utah; this is in Duchein County" about 0:06:28

The case: Murders of June Flood and Rex Tanner (October 1998). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2019

Population

1,826

Median age

30.5

Median household income

about $49,000

Median home value

$192,200

Two-bedroom rent

about $816

Cost of living

about 94

Religious

83.5%

Property crime

▼ about 10% low

Violent crime

▼ about half the norm

History, in brief

• Duchesne was one of the few places in Utah not settled by Mormon pioneers, who passed on it. about 0:10:11
• Brigham Young sent an exploration party to the Uinta Basin; it reported the land was a vast contiguity of waste, measurably valueless except for nomadic purposes and hunting grounds. about 0:11:44
• An 1776 expedition came through the valley and camped on the banks of the Duchesne River, then called near the San Cosmi or Strawberry River. about 0:12:22
• Around 1900 leases were arranged with the tribes through Indian agent Major H. P. Mighton, and land was sold for sheep pasture where Duchesne now stands. about 0:13:25
• The Indians had a big village where Duchesne is now, used in winter before they scattered to hunt and gather in spring. about 0:15:02
• In 1905 the Secretary of the Interior directed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to pick reserve land suitable for town sites: Duchesne, Mighton and Randslet. Theodore Roosevelt approved the reservation of the land. about 0:16:13
• Land lotteries gave tickets numbered one to 111, and 111 people were allowed to stake claims; the first 60 settlers were 46 adults and 14 children. about 0:17:02
• The streets were laid out in 1905 and the first cabin was built in October 1905. about 0:17:26
• The town was first called Elsie, then Dora after the cabin builder's daughter, then Theodore in honour of Theodore Roosevelt. about 0:17:37
• The first white child in the town was born on September 15, 1905. about 0:17:56
• The first settlers spent the winter in tents and temporary shelters; in spring the Duchesne River overflowed and flooded them out. about 0:18:42
• Flooding continued every spring until 1910, when the government gave $5,000 to build four river cutoffs. about 0:20:09
• A bridge was built in 1906, the Boosters Club raised $500 towards a bridge over a flooded area, and a better bridge came in 1914. about 0:20:28
• The population reached 929 in 1910, and about then the citizens changed the name to Duchesne; the post office kept the name Theodore until about 1913. about 0:21:02
• Duchesne is named after the Duchesne River, itself named after Rose Philippine Duchesne, founder of the Sacred Heart near St Louis, Missouri. about 0:21:25
• In the twentieth century the town had heavy machinery and steel manufacturers, making underground cranes, rifle barrels, locomotive and turbine parts, and also coal mines and power plants. about 0:22:31

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