Let's Go Places and Find New Roads to Crescent Junction, Utah
Recently, I received an email message from Ms. Bobbe Wimmer Kidrick. She wrote, “I read your articles about Crescent Junction, Utah with a great deal of pleasure. My grandfather, Thomas G. Wimmer
initiated the homesteading of Crescent Junction. I have pictures of
family members, some of the buildings and additional history.”
Bobbe went on, “The history of Crescent Junction
really began with the homestead. My grandfather, Thomas G. Wimmer was a
diversified businessman (sheepman, river runner and freight hauler)
who lived in Green River in the early 1900's. In 1916, he contracted to
haul equipment from the railroad to build the copper mine at Big Indian, some fifty miles south of Crescent, in the Lisbon Valley, Utah.”
“At the time (1915/16), the road didn't go directly from Moab to Crescent. It went north as far as the place then called Valley City. From that central point, the road veered west to Floy (AKA Little Grand) and east to Thompson (now Thompson Springs). Because there was a railroad siding at Crescent (Brendel),
he decided it would be easier on his team to go directly north to
Crescent. A short time into the operation, he persuaded his two
daughters, Laura and Marg to file for a homestead at what is now
Crescent Junction.”
“Laura and Marg filed for 160-acres each, and my dad, Ed Wimmer, being
too young to file, lived there with them. Ed fell in love with the
desert and no matter where he was, he was always ‘going home’. For the
required five years, Laura, Marg and Ed lived at the railroad siding
known as Brendel, with no road access closer than Thompson, which is
six miles to the east. In 1923, after living
there for the required five years, the two young women received the
patents for 160-acres each. They later divided the 320-acres into three
parcels of 106 acres each, and deeded the middle parcel to their Dad
(Thomas Wimmer). This then was the beginning of Crescent.”
Bobbe said, “I am telling you all this to put it in perspective.
Although I was born in Moab, I now live in the Salt Lake area. Here, I
will tell my father, Ed Wimmer’s story.”
“Ed Wimmer was born in Salt Lake City in 1900, but spent much of his formative years in Green River, Utah.
He grew to love the desert, to the point that no matter where he went
throughout his life, he always returned. After graduating from East
High in SLC, he married Erma Snyder and they moved to Helper, Utah,
where he worked as a Railroad Express Messenger. As such, he was
required to carry a gun because he took the mine payroll from Helper to
Sunnyside, a distance of thirty-three miles. Their oldest child, Bette was born in Helper.”
“The family moved to Los Angeles shortly after Bette was born and Ed worked for Crescent Creamery. Their second child, Bud was born at this time. From there, the growing family moved back to Utah, living in the town of Cliff. At that time, son Duane was born in nearby Fruita, Colorado. Soon thereafter, the family moved again to Los Angeles, where Ed worked in the petroleum industry. Their fourth child, Pat was born at this time.”
“In March of 1932, an earthquake
shook Southern California and the country was in the middle of the
Depression. After arranging with his brother, Andy to buy calves and
start a dairy heard in Utah, the whole family traveled by automobile
back to Utah. Even in early April, it was hot in the desert, so they
traveled at night for the first two days. Bette remembers Las Vegas as being little more than a small oasis, and certainly no casinos.”
“Their journey took them through Mesquite, Nevada, and on to St. George and Cedar City, Utah. They turned east at Cove Fort
and then through Price, and eventually to Green River. When a
hoped-for ranch in Green River was unavailable, Ed moved the family to
Moab in 1934, where he continued to try to make a go of the dairy business. The last child, Bobbe was born there in 1934. Even after moving the family to Roosevelt, the dairy business did not thrive.”
“When the Second World War broke out in 1941, Ed secured a job as a welder in Salt Lake at the Remington Arms
plant. Also during that time, he worked in Hawaii as a welder,
repairing damage sustained during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
As the War ended, he then returned to Salt Lake, where he started a
service station. In 1947, Ed Wimmer headed back to Crescent for what
would be the last time. There he established the Crescent Junction
Service and Café, which he and Erma owned jointly until his death in
1951. Erma retained ownership of both businesses until 1969, when she
turned the service station over to son Pat and the Café over to
daughter Bette and her husband, Al Lange.”
“After
the War ended, Dad headed back to Crescent. He had very little money
but owned a redwood livery barn in the backyard of the house in Salt
Lake. After dismantling the barn, Dad, Bud and Duane left Salt Lake
with a load of wood and high hopes to begin the building at Crescent
Jct. They laid the foundation of Crescent in July of 1947. It was on
July 24, that they poured the cement floor. At the time, Dad marked the
date in the wet cement writing, ‘Just 100 years after Brigham (Young)’.”
“Mom and Dad gave their all to Crescent and in many respects; they
expected the same from the rest of us. Money was always hard to come
by, so we made do with what was available. Mom sold the house in Salt
Lake. The proceeds went to pay debts incurred by an employee at Dad’s
service station on Main Street, Salt Lake. Dad felt honor-bound to
clear up everything even though he was not legally responsible. I also
found out, years later, that he had cashed savings bonds belonging to
me to buy materials for the first building. No matter… it was a family
project and we all did what we could. Some of the proceeds from a small
curio business I handled during the early 1950s also went into the business.”
“Providence has a way of looking out for those who can't or don't look out for themselves. In Crescent, we had been using a Koehler Light Plant for power. Then, just a few months before Dad died, Utah Power & Light
built a small sub-station to provide electricity to Crescent. By that
time, all the debts from Salt Lake had been paid and there was a
growing business with comfortable living quarters. Dad (Ed Wimmer) died
in October 1951, but in his fifty-one years, he had done what he set
out to do. He made it home to Crescent, and in doing so, took some of
us ‘home’ with him.”
“Mom (Erma Wimmer), was often seen as strong willed and opinionated, but
over the next eighteen years, those traits would serve her well. Upon
dad’s death in 1951, she became sole owner of the business. From 1947
through 1966, Crescent’s water problem was solved by hauling water from
Thompson, six-miles
east. At first, we used a fifty-gallon barrel on the back of a pickup.
Later, as need dictated, we graduated to a 1000-gallon tank on a
larger truck. A cistern was built and the water dumped into it, to be
pumped out as needed.”
“The cistern was in place until 1966, when mom obtained a loan from
Utoco (Utah Oil Refining Company), to buy the necessary supplies to
build a waterline from Thompson. Pat, with the help of family and
friend Tony Pene, walked a Ditch Witch
from Thompson to Crescent during 1966 and ‘67. In the resulting trench,
they installed the waterline. The loan was paid back through gas sales
for the next several years.”
“In the early 1970s, there was a move underway to build Interstate
Highway I-70 between Colorado and I-15 in Western Utah. Mom became aware
of the fact that the new highway was proposed to go through Grand County. When she discovered that its route would bypass Crescent Junction, about four miles south of the existing highway between Thompson and Green River, she took action. She approached Archie Hamilton,
the project manager, and offered to trade acreage at Crescent for the
new project. He accepted her offer and I-70 now runs parallel to the old
highway. If built as originally planned, I-70 would have bypassed
Crescent Junction, leaving the Wimmer family business high and dry.”
“When Aunt Marg
died in 1949, she left her original portion of the Homestead to Dad
(Ed Wimmer). Upon his death, under Utah law, the property was intestate.
As such, one-third went to Mom (Erma Wimmer) and the remaining two-thirds
to his five children. By 1955, Bud, Duane, Pat and I were all married.
Bud lived in California, Duane in Moab, teaching school, Pat at
Crescent, managing the station and my husband Ralph and I lived in
various places throughout the country, due to his work. We always kept
our mailing address at Crescent and Mom would forward it each week.”
“In 1969 mom got in touch with, Bud, Duane and me, saying that she was
considering signing the business over to Pat and Al, in joint tenancy
with rights of survivorship. She asked what we all thought about that
idea. We all three agreed that it was her right to make the decision.
She explained in the letter that she was feeling a certain amount of
pressure to make sure the business remained, as it then existed. She
did just that and the business remained that way until recent years.”
“Thomas
Wolfe once said ‘You can't go home again’ and largely, he was right. It
just all depends on how or what you define as home, I guess. I will
never ‘go home again’ physically but I know ‘home’ is there at Crescent
Junction.”
Here, I will express my appreciation to Bobbe Wimmer Kidrick. She is one
of a few individuals who have both lived and worked at Crescent
Junction, Utah. By sharing stories about her extended family and their
home in the desert, she has made her “home” come alive.
In 2009, I first mention Crescent Junction in an article titled, “Rediscovering the Old Spanish Trail - Now it's a Freeway”. In 2010, I returned to the area and wrote “Green River to Floy, Utah, via Old Hwy. U.S. 6 & 50”. Later that year, I wrote, “Crescent Junction, Utah - It isn't Brendel Anymore”. In 2011, I wrote about the transfer of uranium mine tailings from Moab to a disposal site near Crescent Junction in, “The ‘Train of Pain’ Travels Thirty Miles from Moab to Crescent Junction”. In 2012, I wrote, “Interstate I-70 from Cove Fort to Crescent Junction, Utah”.
Also in 2012, I wrote, “Brendel, Utah - Still Moving Around on the Map”.
When Bobbe Wimmer Kidrick’s niece, Lani (Lee Anne Lange Asay) wrote to
me with some pictures of Crescent Junction, I published, “A Resident of Crescent Junction, Utah Tells the History of the Place”.
In 2014, when the Grand County Council made plans to defile the Sego
Canyon Indian Rockart site near Thompson Springs, I wrote “Grand County Council Plans to Desecrate Sego Canyon’s Ancient Indian Heritage Site”.
If you find yourself traveling past Crescent Junction, Utah on I-70, be sure to stop at Papa Joe's Stop & Go
for gas and refreshments. If you do, you will see firsthand the place
homesteaded by the Wimmer family a century ago. You may also notice
that in Crescent Junction, the more things change, the more they stay
the same.
By James McGillis at 05:33 PM | | Comments (0) | Link
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