THE "FATHER OF CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL MONUMENT"

Ephraim Portman Pectol was born in 1875. As a child he lived in Caineville, a Mormon settlement 20 miles east of Capitol Reef. In 1910, he went into business in Torrey and operated a store there for many years. He served as Mormon Bishop of Torrey from 1911 until 1928.

Pectol was sensitive to the rugged beauty of the Capitol Reef area and was an avid Fremont culture relic hunter. A private museum in his Torrey store was widely known.

Pectol was anxious that others should come to appreciate the beauty of the area. In 1921, he organized a Boosters Club in Torrey. Pectol pressed a promotional campaign, furnishing stories and photos to periodicals and newspapers. In his efforts, he was increasingly aided by his brother-in-law, Joseph S. Hickman, who was Wayne County High School principal.

Pectol was elected to the presidency of the Associated Civics Club of Southern Utah, successor to the Wayne Wonderland Club. The club raised $150.00 to interest a Salt Lake City photographer in taking a series of promotional photos. For several years, the photographer,J.E. Broaddus, traveled and lectured on "Wayne Wonderland".

In 1933, Pectol himself was elected to the legislature and almost immediately contacted President Roosevelt and asked for the creation of Wayne Wonderland National Monument out of the federal lands comprising the bulk of the Capitol Reef area. Federal agencies began a feasibility study and boundary assessment. Meanwhile, Pectol not only guided the government investigators on numerous trips, but escorted an increasing number of visitors. The lectures of Broaddus were having an effect.

CAPITOL REEF GETS A WATCHMAN

Charles Kelley was a man of diverse interests and great talent. Born in 1889, "Charlie" made his living as a linotype operator and printer. As he matured, a talent for writing, as well as printing, emerged.

Moving to Salt Lake City in 1919, Kelly began a love affair with the deserts and canyons of Utah that would last a lifetime. He concentrated his exploration energies on southern Utah and the Colorado River area. His interest in archeology, as well as more recent history, grew.

He published his first book in 1930 - Salt Desert Trails. Five more books followed, the most well-known being Outlaw Trail, the story of Butch Cassidy. Scores of his articles were published by Deseret Magazine, The Utah Historical Quarterly, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Kelly developed an intense interest in Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan rockart. On several trips, he passed through Fruita and came to know a colorful resident, Dr. Arthur L. Inglesby, a dentist retired from practice. "Doc" Inglesby was an avid rockhound who had come to know Capitol Reef intimately.

Inglesby and Kelly became friends and made numerous trips into the rugged butte and canyon country around Fruita. Kelly decided that he, too, would retire in Fruita.

Meanwhile, not much was happening with the administration of Capitol Reef National Monument, which had been placed under the administration of Zion National Park. However, a stone ranger cabin and the Sulphur Creek bridge were built and some road work was performed by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA (Works Project Administration). Kelly came to know NPS officials at Zion well and volunteered to "watchdog" the park for the NPS. In 1943, he was officially appointed "custodian-without-pay".

The Kelly Years

Life was challenging for Kelly; he continued to write, mostly about Capitol Reef. During the 1950s, he was deeply troubled by NPS management acceding to demands of the Atomic Energy Commission that Capitol Reef National Monument be opened to uranium prospecting. He felt that the decision had been a mistake and destructive to the long term national interest. As it turned out, there was not enough ore to be worth mining in the monument.

It was not until 1958 that Kelly received additional permanent help in protecting the monument and enforcing regulations; Park Ranger Grant Clark transferred from Zion. The year Clark arrived, fifty-six thousand visitors came to the park and "Charlie" Kelly retired for the last time, full of years of experiences.