Uintah County Western Heritage Museum               Vernal, Utah

by Doris Karren Burton
Forward by Esther Campbell

Deep insided the soul of Blue Mountain, the spirits of all those who have ever shared her hospitality surely gather.  Light and dark skinned, Indian and homesteader, they must join to trade experiences and mountain moments of joy, sadness, humor and love: heartfelt stories of Indian battles and communities that danced until dawn, homesteader struggles to survive and roundups that put the mountain in motion, secrets of sheep and cattle wars and wedding night chivarees, murder, rape, and suicide, but triumph over adversity.

Doris Karren Burton was a newborn when she was first introduced to Blue Mountain, which straddles the Utah-Colorado border.  Her father, Victor Karren, had homesteaded on the mountain in 1918.  In 1929, soon after he married Stella Boren, herself the daughter of a homesteader, they packed up their Model A Ford and headed for Blue, where they spent as much time as possible.  As homsteaders "starved out," Vic purchased their land, and by the time Doris reached her teen-age years, she had the run of the mountain.  She scoured the hills, draws, and caves and wondered about the people who had built the deserted cabins.  She also met some very memorable characters and devoured the stories of those who had come before her.

There was Joe Haslem, so tall and thin it was said he nearly disappeared when he turned sideways, a teller of colorful stories, and Charlie Mantle, a rugged mountain man who spun amazing, though not entirely true, tales that captivated his young listener.  Pat Lynch, the hermit of Pat's Hole, had come much earlier, but his story of African enslavement, escape to America, and eventual solitary Blue Mountain life with horses that "spoke" to him was repeated again and again.

All these stories enthralled the author as a girl and within these pages she shares them as Blue Mountain comes alive again.

Hardback, c1998, xii, 627 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

$34.95