Daniel's Summit Fort

Around 1924 or 1925 an old man was riding his horse from the Uintah Basin through the Strawberry Valley on his way to Heber. He had crossed the Strawberry River and was entering the tree covered ridges near Daniels Pass when he came upon a very old and abandoned wagon road or trail. The roadway was, even at that time, so old that large pine trees had grown up through it since it had been abandoned. Puzzled by this, and being a man of some curiosity, he began to trace the old roadway north in an effort to determine its purpose.

At a point approximately nine miles north of Daniels Pass, he came upon an old rock fortress, inside of which were found three ancient brass cannons. The old fort sat perched upon a small ledge, maybe 10 to 15 feet high, and off to the right of that (to the east) were three cone shaped depressions in the side of a nearby hill which he suspected were some sort of old collapsed mine shafts. He probed around the area for a short while and then continued his journey on into Heber. (See Map# 164.)

A short time later, in 1927, he told his story to a Mr. Patterson and together they decided to return to the site to prospect the area more thoroughly. According to Mr. Patterson, when they arrived at the old fort it was just as the old man had described it, with one exception - the old cannons were no where to be seen inside the perimeter of the rock walls of the old fort. However, upon closed examination, they found that the south wall had been pushed over and beyond that, at the base of the small 10 to 15 foot high ledge, they found the three cannons lying in the cover of some buck brush or some other sort of bushes. Patterson described the cannons as "one four-man and two smaller two-man cannons engraved with Spanish inscriptions on the barrels.°'

According to Mr. Patterson, "The small ledge, on which the fort had been built, had some sort of brown-colored stringers or veins running all through it....from the old fort, you could see all of the Strawberry Valley to the east, and to the west (toward Heber) there's a jagged ridge of rock that looks like a dinosaur's back protruding from the mountain."

When Mr. Patterson and his friend could not locate any old mines in the area, other that the funnel-like depressions, they returned to their homes, leaving everything pretty much as they had found them and they never returned. However, if you should decide to explore this area for yourself, Mr. Patterson gave the following directions:

"Drive east about one and one-half or maybe two miles from the top of Daniels Pass on Highway 40 to where a finger-like ridge comes out toward the road. There, on the east side of the ridge and on the north side of the road, you'll see a jeep road. Follow this jeep road three-quarters of a mile or maybe a mile up the small canyon to its end. The old wagon road takes off from here, but walk up in and look close because it isn't always easy to see it. The old fort and cannons are about nine miles to the north up this old trail."

A part of this old road - or another like it - can be seen, as that of a rocked up structure, just east of Daniels Pass and on the north side of Highway 40. This can be seen from the highway near the tree line on a point of a small ridge.--Lost Gold of the Uintah, pg. 162

There is other evidence of early Spanish activity in that general area. In about 1924 or 1925 an old man rode his horse from the Uintah Basin through the Strawberry Valley to Heber. He had just crossed the Strawberry River near Daniels Pass when he came upon a very old road or trail, which appeared not to have been used in many years. Trees had long since grown up through its tracks in places, but its route was still discernible. Out of curiosity, he began to follow the trail, inasmuch as it proceeded northward in the same direction as his travel.

About nine or ten miles north of Daniels Pass the old road stopped at an old rock fortress, situated on the top of a small shelf of rock which was no more than 15 feet high. Inside the stone fort the old man found three brass canons, "one four-man and two smaller two-man cannons engraved with Spanish inscriptions on the barrels."

The old man discovered three cone-shaped depressions in the side of a hill to the east of the stone fort, which he recognized as old collapsed mine shafts. After poking about the area for awhile, the old man continued on his way to Heber.

In 1927, the old man told his story to John Patterson. Patterson was a half-blood Ute; in fact, his father, John H. Patterson, was a full tribal member and was signer of #82 on the Rhoades-Hathenbruck mining lease on 18 December 1897 (see Footprints, p.263). The two men decided to return to the site of the old stone fort and explore more thoroughly.

According to Patterson, everything at the site was just as the old man had described, except that the three brass cannons were no longer within the confines of the old stone fort. Upon closer examination it was discovered that someone had pushed out the south wall of the fort and attempted to remove the cannons. They were able to push them into some heavy brush nearby where they had been abandoned.

According to Patterson, "the small ledge, on which the fort had been built, had some sort of brown-colored stringers or veins running all through it...from the old fort, you could see all of the Strawberry Valley to the east, and to the west (towards Heber) there's a jagged ridge of rock that looks like a dinosaur's back protruding from the mountain."

Patterson and his friend (whom Patterson never identified) found no mines in the near vicinity, other than the caved-in shafts, and so they never returned. However, for the curious, Patterson gives the following directions to the site of the old Spanish Fort:

Drive east about one and one-half or maybe two miles from the top of Daniels Pass on Highway 40 to where a finger-like ridge comes out toward the road there, on the east side of the ridge and on the north side of the road, you'll see a jeep road. Follow this jeep road three-quarters of a mile or maybe a mile up the small canyon to its end. The old wagon road takes off from here, but walk up in and look closer because it isn't always easy to see it. The old fort and cannons are about nine miles to the north up this old trail.--Gold of Carrie-Shinob, pg. 134