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Pioneer Register
Pioneer Register
About
Some people want to leave a legacy or at least have their names remembered and spoken after they’ve passed. The Pioneer Register, a half-mile walk into Capitol Gorge from the trailhead, marks a place were prospectors, cowboys, settlers, trappers, and visitors would stand on their wagons and carve their names into the rock, above the flood line, so they’d stand the test of time.
When you look up at the names inscribed into the rock at the Pioneer Register, it’s easy to imagine people standing on their wagons to reach that high. However, there is a list of six names and a date located a little closer to the parking lot that are carved about 50 feet up from the canyon floor. How did they manage that?
The story goes that the names belong to a group of surveyors in 1912. Two of them, John Stewart and his brother Quinby, were contracted by students from the University of Utah to help them with a project in Capitol Reef. Quinby apparently got the wild idea to prank the students. As they explored, he made the occasional comment about how quickly the land appeared to be eroding since the year before. That night, the group set up camp and went to sleep. All that is, except for Quinby and John. Taking some rope, hammers and chisels with them, they hiked to the top of Capitol Gorge. John lowered his brother down the cliff on a rope chair where Quinby chiseled their names and the previous year’s date.
The next day, John and Quinby led the students into Capitol Gorge. At the proper point, Quinby halted the group and wondered aloud if this wasn’t the same place they’d carved their names into the wall last year. The students looked for the inscription at wagon height, same as the Pioneer Register, until Quinby looked up and pointed out the carving some 50 feet above them! The students were aghast-40 feet of erosion in only one year? Unfortunately the story ends there, but I wonder just how long Quinby and John were able to keep up the ruse before doubling over with laughter.
Images: Tricia Simpson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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