Porterville
Porterville was settled by the members of the Porter
family. Sanford Porter Jr., while on duty as a scout
in the winter of 1857-58, rode into a canyon so
rocky and difficult to travel that he named it
Hardscrabble. Here he found a stream of water and bundant timber,
ideal for a sawmill. In 1859 the family hauled machinery and sup-
plies over the Wasatch Mountains by pack mule and built the first
sawmill in Morgan County. In 1860 Sanford Sr. and Nancy warriner
Porter built a cabin five miles east of the mill and spent the first winter
here. During the following two years, four sons, Chauncy, John,
Sanford Jr., and Lyman built log home and moved their families into
the valley.
For several years after settlers came, Chief Washakie and
his band of Shoshone Indians returned each fall to hunt,
fish, dry meat, and pick berries.
In 1863 English converts began to arrive. In 1864 a branch of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized.
When the railroad was built through Morgan County, the Porter mill
furnished ties to lay the track from Echo to Devil's Gate.
No. 433
1986
Hardscrabble Camp
