Introduction

To the casual observer there may at first seem to be not much of a connection between the town of Torrey and Capitol Reef National Park to the east. True, Torrey is the closest town to the park, only three or four miles from Capitol Reef’s western boundary. However, the ties go much deeper than that.

First of all, and most obvious, if you have occasion to write to the national park, you will find that the mailing address is Torrey, Utah, which is the nearest post office. The tiny community of Fruita, which was settled in the heart of Capitol Reef around the junction of Sulphur Creek with the Fremont River beginning about 1880, discontinued its post office in 1918. Ever since that time mail has been coming via Torrey.

Secondly, Joseph S. Hickman and Ephraim P. Pectol, who in the 1920s and 1930s were undoubtedly the area’s staunchest advocates for Capitol Reef achieving state and then federal park status, were both residents of Torrey. Mr. Pectol, in fact, is known as the “Father of Capitol Reef.”

Thirdly, some former residents of Fruita moved from Capitol Reef to live in Torrey. Especially with the so-called “Mission 66” project of the National Park Service beginning early in the decade of the 1960s, the federal government started buying out the private land holdings within the park area. Several of these families subsequently located to nearby Torrey.
In the summer of 1925, the people of the region were led to believe that a part of the Capitol Reef area was imminently to be set aside as Utah’s first state park. On the Sunday morning of July 19, a large crowd gathered on the benchland rim just a short distance east of Torrey, with its view of the Capitol Reef cliffs, for the formal ceremonies. Though the proposed state park did not ultimately come to pass, Torrey was certainly its rallying point.

I first passed through Torrey and visited Capitol Reef nearly forty years ago, and I have been back many times since. I have explored the area, learned of its history, made friends with some of its residents, and even lived and worked there for a brief time. It is a place that I have come to regard with a great deal of affection and is probably my single most favorite locale in all of southern Utah.

The following are some of the experiences that I have had in the Capitol Reef area, some of the people that I have met and became acquainted with in and around Torrey, and some of the stories and history that I have heard and read about the region. Through these pages I hope that others will come to know and understand a little more about a truly fantastic place.

James H. Knipmeyer
Lee’s Summit, Missouri

Part I — 1963: The First Visit
Part II — The Three Nephites
Part III — 1969: Home
Part IV — Early 1970's: The Prodigal Son Returns
Part V — 1967-1987 Interlude
Part VI — 1990's: The Last Years
Epilogue — 2000