|
Before Sterling There was Pettyville ...
Pettyville was first settled in 1873 when George Petty led fifteen
families to that area located two miles west of Sterling. The town
was named after Mr. Petty and was situated along the Sanpitch
River. The land was owned by the Indians, and the only rights Mr.
Petty and his group had were "squatter's rights." Some of
the homes in Pettyville were constructed with slate rock from the
nearby mountains, according to Don Olsen, who owns the ranch
located where Pettyville used to sit.
A newlywed couple built a rock cabin and homesteaded on land just
above the canal east of the Olsen range buildings. Nothing is left
of the cabin.
Mr. Olsen also said that his corral covers the foundation of the
two-room school that those early settlers built. Then, pointing to
the present road which goes past his farm onto U.S. Highway 89, he
said, "That road goes right through the old cemetery." Some of the
graves were dug up and moved to the Sterling Cemetery; however, it
is believed that some graves are still there, because the rush
grows much higher in a few places. He also said that, in
addition to the Sanpitch River, there are many springs in the west
mountains which the people of Pettyville used during their stay in
the area.
The town of Pettyville did not last
long. In 1881 James C. Snow secured form the government the right
to survey the present site of Sterling. Within a few short years
the people of Pettyville had all moved to Sterling.
Pettyville was no more.
The Railroad Comes to Sterling
The "Iron Horse" came to Sterling in the mid 1880's. Although the
Sanpete Valley Railroad started coming primarily to haul coal and
salt from the mines in Sanpete and Sevier Valley's , it opened up
daily communication with the outside world.
The trains brought mail from the northern areas of the state each
morning and from the south in the afternoon. The tracks were
located by the Gunnison Reservoir -- and a "flag station" was
built there. Jasper Larson was the first person to go down to the
station, get the mail, and deliver it to the people of Sterling.
The train was always regular as a clock. Many people set their
clocks by its whistle. occasionally the train was late, especially
in cold weather; and once it wrecked.
On an icy cold 40-degree-below-zero morning in 1924, the Denver
and Rio Grade was about to stop at the Sterling station when it
was derailed. This caused the engine and a coal car to tip over.
The engineer was killed and, as the engine tipped over, a lot of
steam escaped. Townspeople rushed down to the station, and many of
them
gathered up the coal in sacks and buckets.
|
