The History of Bunkerville

Abstract

Bunkerville, a small town of about 200 inhabitants, lies just over the rim of the Great Basin on the southern bank of the Virgin River, at a point about 30 miles above the place where that stream enters the Colorado. It is surrounded on all sides by miles of chaparral and cactus covered desert, rolling rocky hills on the south lead to a range of mountains about 12 miles away and on the north a range of sand hills stretch away to a table land of desert. The altitude of the valley is 1000 feet; the climate is extremely dry and arid. It rains very seldom; a snow fall is an event of a life-time. The climate is very warm. As one old settler said, “We have nine months of summer and three of pleasant weather.” The thermometer frequently registers from 109 to 115 in the summer and has been known to reach 120 degrees.1The first record we have of any exploration of the valley was in 1854 when Captain May, of Mexican War Fame, and a company of men passed through to explore a road between Fillmore, then the capital of Utah, and the California-Utah line, which was supposed to be about 30 miles east of Los Vegas, Nevada. They followed down the creek of the Santa Clara to Camp Springs, over the mountain to the Virgin, went down that river 25 or 30 miles, crossed the sand hills to the Muddy Creek somewhere near where Overton now stands, up the Muddy Valley and across the mountains to Los Vegas. Previous to this Captain Fremont had followed this trail east from Southern California a few years before and some of the Mormon Battalion Boys had found their way over this route to Salt Lake City in 1847.The first settlement was made as a result of the Mormon belief in the United Order. This had been attempted in Santa Clara, but proved unsuccessful. When it was discontinued, there were still some who wished to go on with it. These few decided to go down the river, start a new settlement and live under this plan. James G. Bleak, then secretary of the St. George Stake, gives an account of the move in his records. Book D page 136: “A few persons including Edward Bunker and family, Lemuel S. Leavitt and family, and Edward Bunker Jr. and family, and others being desirous to enter once more into the United Order, held a meeting at Santa Clara on the first of January 1877 and organized themselves into a company for that purpose, with Sr. Edward Bunker as president and Lemuel S. and Dudley Leavitt as counsellors, Mahonri Steele as secretary and Edward Bunker Jr. as secretary. Their company numbered, in all, 23 persons. On the 2nd of January they started for the Mesquite Flat on the Virgin River and were joined by Lemuel Leavitt and daughter, also by Samuel O. Crosby. The company had 6 wagons and 70 head of cattle. They arrived at Mesquite on January 5th. On further examination, they decided to locate on the south side of the river and pitched camp at a point about 2 <two> and one half miles north east of where the town of Bunkerville now stands. They started work at once, and on the very day of their arrival put up a small lumber building on top of the hill and called their location Bunkerville, after Edward Bunker Sr. the leader of the company. On the 7th which was Sunday, the first meeting was held at Bunkerville, then consisting of one house and six wagons . . . On Monday January 8th, the brethren commenced work on a canal to convey water from the Rio Virgin to the flat which they had selected as farm land on the south side of the river. They vigorously prosecuted this work during the week.On Sunday <the> 14th of January the second meeting was held, on which occasion a Sunday School was organized, with Elder Samuel O. Crosby as superintendent——there were present eighteen members in all.”2 (Deborah Leavitt and Elethra C. Bunker were the first women to come to Bunkerville.)The quotation gives a good deal of information as to the type of people who made up that company. They must have been hardy and courageous to have faced such an uninviting situation as they met, and possessed of unusual religious zeal to have left the homes they had just built to move to a place where they could live a religious principle. That they were industrious is shown further by Brother Bleak's record: “The work on the canal was continued the following week, and on the 18th some settlers began clearing and grubbing the land. On the 22nd of January, Monday, the four foot canal was finished to a point of 2 ½ miles from its head. It had cost 108 days labor.”3When one stops to consider this, it seems almost impossible, especially when the nature of the country is taken into consideration. Because I doubted the accuracy of the statement I looked further into the record and found on page 92 of the same book an account of a conference and a report of a sermon delivered by Edward Bunker Sr. I quote: “On January 22 they finished their irrigation ditch, a mile and a half long and four feet wide, costing 108 days of labor. This ditch was afterwards increased to 2 ½ miles in length. They set to work and cleared 75 acres of land. Had sugar cane in 7 acres which was in healthy condition, had harvested 22 acres of wheat, 14 acres of cotton, and the balance of the land was in corn.”4Such an accomplishment by so few men seems very remarkable. In fact, it is doubtful if they could have succeeded so well under any other plan. They lived at first like one big family, having one large dining room and kitchen, and individual bed rooms. It was customary for all to gather for morning and evening prayer. The meals were served first to the men and boys who were old enough to work in the field, the women and children eating later. Everything was done under the direction of the president, after frequent cou[n]cil meetings with the brethren. The women divided their work, a part of them taking charge of the cooking for a week, others caring for the butter, while still others took charge of the clothing, including the washing, ironing and mending. Each week the women changed tasks, rotating in regular order.With all its faults, the progress made under the United Order was phenomenal. Byy the fall of the year they had established a burr flour mill, a cotton gin and a molasses mill all run by water power. The first crop of grain was reaped with a cradle, threshed by a flail and by driving over it with cattle on a clay floor, and chaffed by hand. This was done by taking the grain in pans, holding it high and letting it fall on canvas. A breeze would blow the chaff away. Brother Bleak reports: “New years day 1879 the burr mill at Bunkerville did its first grinding turn out a fairly good grade of flour.”5The first harvest was a great relief to the settlers, as they had to bring all their provisions from Santa Clara and St. George, a four day trip by team. The summer, too, had brought its discouragements. The extreme heat, bad water, and swampy condition of the river bottom brought sickness. The personal diary of Myron Abbott reports nine at one time with Malaria, others suffering with boils, and frequent calls for administration. There were some points of encouragement, however. During the summer Myron Abbott and his family had joined the group, as did a number of others. The wives of most of the men had also arrived.On Wednesday, August 15, 1877, the first white child was born. This was Hugh, the son of Edward Bunker Jr. and his wife Ariminta McClellan.Varying reports of that first harvest are found.——On page 136 of Book D Brother Bleak: “The season of 1877 the Bunkerville company of the United Order produced 400 bushels of wheat, 700 gallons of molasses, 9,040 pounds of cotton lint as well as corn, squash, and other vegetables.”6On page 206 Book C he reports: “Bishop Edward Bunker addressed the saints in the tabernacle. He reports the result of working the United Order in Bunkerville, Nevada, being satisfactory. In 1877 the first year, they produced 450 bushels of wheat, 12,000 pounds of cotton on the seed, and 600 gallons of molasses.”Since the company arrived in January and consisted almost entirely of grown-ups, no school was held the first year. With the coming fall, however, and the arrival of families, the need was felt and school was held for about four months in the shanty on the hill. Charlie Hoath was teacher. Most of the people had now moved down to the old gin site about a mile and a half below the original settlement, and some had moved down another mile to the present town site, so most of the children had to go a long distance to school. The equipment in the school was primitive; rough, home-made benches of split cotton-wood logs, a long table and a bit of black-board made up the furniture. Some of the students had slates or pieces of slates, and the teacher had a spelling book, an arithmetic, and two or three readers. This same year Myron Abbott taught a night school for the men and boys old enough to work.Just a little over a year after their arrival, the colonists were organized into a ward. They had previously been a branch of Santa Clara. This took place on January 12, 1879, with Edward Bunker appointed as Bishop, Edward Bunker Jr. as first counsellor, and Myron Abbott, as second councellor. George Lee was ward clerk. They now proceeded to organize more fully and to draw up written rules for their guidance. These give a good idea of the way in which the United Order was carried out, and seem to furnish a basis for a more extended study of the system. I given them in full as they were first drawn up: Art. I. This company shall be known as the Bunkerville United Order.Art. 2. The officers shall consist of a president, two counsellors, and a secretary-treasure[r], to be elected by members of the company.Art. 3. No person shall be received as a member of the company except they put themselves and their possess—that there shall be no conflicting interests outside the company.Art. 4. All property shall be appraised and on as and then shall be over to the members in or as be for the of the company.Art. No person shall be received as a member the of the company.Art. the of year, all the property by the members of the company shall be appraised by the to the property has in by and to all that they be with same the There shall be a of four or more appointed with to all property and to of it member or shall have to and to they shall have all or part of the of property to their shall with the company in all of All of any property by the company shall be held as to balance any that or to be divided the members of the company as be for the of the person to draw out so after an of the the company. They draw out their capital and an part of the of the to the during the time they were with the company which shall be by the The company shall have the to any member for with the rules or for or a to the and by the company. This shall be done by a of the company and they shall be with as in 12 and No individual out, or being from the company shall have the to any or made but shall be in and as by the the and the shall to it shall be to the company.Art. person out shall have a full settlement the are at the of the All of shall be done by a of the company.Art. No members shall be to the of the company.Art. The officers of this company shall be elected during the of January of year at the place by the The above rules be or by a of the members present at any meeting when has been the and and to and by the above rules in the and the of in to to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rules were by the had now and was to live as a family, a of was this one would be for a of the work and would as of others. Brother was made of the He all the by the and them out as they were would have charge of of and the put in a of the first on the present was a for this the idea of the way in which this be by the personal of some of the as they were to a record of the of under their In the one by Myron Abbott, such as the following are ditch and Myron in went after a of second summer also proved a one for the settlers, in of the that their was by a in Brother Bleak reports: 1879 they produced bushels of wheat, pounds of cotton on the seed, and from to gallons of This year a was brought in being by all the way from a three of St. George arrived with after and at This the first house was on the Bunkerville United Order under which people lived to now and we it could have been as as it The and it were of the the being that was to the for which he was That was to his all for the good of the group, in his and the same of and which his During the first year and under the they were for a some I from Brother Bleak's Book C page it in the Bunkerville where the of the United Order have been working as that some through their and were and in while others through and bad were the of the year the This was very to were to at the of The result was that a meeting was held at which it was decided that have the to draw of the of their the to be in the as a to the capital This proved to and they of This a settlement to be made of the increased and it was decided to the Bunkerville United Order. The company the and of the The United Order from January 1877 four page of the same book, under of he “The settlers at Bunkerville on the Rio Virgin, having in the United Order for of have this commenced to its property for In the company all the capital and on all from the first of January 1877 to of Myron Abbott gives some of the of this The property was first appraised by a of men selected from their the and given a It was then divided as near as the This who had put into the company. men who had the two and a half years were this Order was its still on all and irrigation were by days being set when on When a new or a building was built the same also other in the holding at the was that the be and This was as the people were to and Their cotton was to the in for some had their and made their Their molasses and took the place of Salt was from a mountain miles and their butter, fact, they was at the up of the family was as as the had been to this time there was little and in were very With of the however, there was for and the people began They could from ½ to the four a distance of miles, a day for when the were a was for other and people of and other this time was as a of to this point I have given the more side of the of it was its As as began to and other were held on a year after their this they and by a lumber by the side of the dining one side of which a to was to two while in the left the one one a was This with two and the the the consisted of an by were in the it as his This held for the second year of the people moved to the present and a number of were and were held in the when the first building was on the shanty with a had served as a meeting place during the summer months before The new house had been finished by so the men and boys as time as on it during the On the day before all the members of the on while the women and in to their in it would be done for the it was The were all the and the was as water as and there were two and a it was so It would by just a little while the other would two and most of the The school as they called it served as a school and a when a large was was by the of men who had been the of the It was a of the town that be held on but they were on a trip and a before they the was they to one of their over which they would have They organized a company with Leavitt as president, Abbott, George and George Bunker as They a site, put in a had some of the and the lumber for when the them to the ward and the building a ward it was 75 by with a a high and a It had been built by the of work and from in a of their and lumber from miles two of and a was to the a company was organized and such as and “The in a were years the of the town in of the that season a few The frequent and were the of this On Brother Bleak had a ditch at the cost of of which ½ mile was also six to acres of their farm land. Dudley was at and at There were 22 land Book C page On this a part of canal at It is that would the Mesquite the 7 mile canal was away in which would cost some to as were in the years that one being followed by a few in and the there was a need for a new school a number of years there had been three but they had taught in in in of the people and themselves to a school Some of the men in charge that at that time the people of the town were the known in the United as I have found the of The building was finished in and was a four three which were by after by Edward I. I. and others and by the made for a The first 15, was teacher. The year an a was made for two more years of work, and the first and second A high school had come to There was a school a but with all the of a students to and of were held in in and in the the coming of and S. in the school was and a new in school in and were and work was to In the first was in to this as I there was no school In a building was but just as it was well under way it was down by a Because of this the people decided to the to a The building was and in way was to the It a large and and and out with A and a good and were also same year, however, the town another great and the of was set of this has been as it started about 2 in the The grade building was and all the equipment The old was then with one of a was put in and the two in the of the and one on the This did on to a this building was also the equipment and were and the children with their before this the of Bunkerville, St. and were to and who had been at Bunkerville before was made his the new grade building was in too, is in way and a to the has been a great to the town and the child now a high school away from to live and with no to or is and and all are cost to the of this the school is There seems to be a of on the part of it is just a where and person with to the good old but there seem to be the and that in the first few years of school when there was a for a I this however, by During the years the school had a which was once the of the and for a number of years for were also and the for were the table of that of who up or went on to of them a they are work, an record to In and a number went for two but to the which was given in and at Bunkerville and in at St. there have been a number of the of years go the is so as by the have been a number of who have to is the from homes which have and have while just as and just as but from have This is shown by the that out of the from one family of who have four are from the same that has to it is the that for a number of years there was a school to between and The situation was such that the of school was and under such condition of could be the present however, are The building and equipment are good for a school of the the well and the work is of grade in The school well in the the present time the town seems to have to The of has In it was in and in it had to The ward before were by but from to that have left The record also gives account of people who left but The of that have in the this The town is a healthy place to as the that the are year and a of very few were The for a regular of water for irrigation to were the most in people to that has been people have moved away of the and more of in other there is no water in the and a few have and there are no The and the across the Virgin May, have the of now there are in The of the as the for and for farm is the of such as and and people in a grade of and These followed on a would lead to which in and people to come to most before the town is the There has been a great deal of of and the people there be a great deal the table that out of the now are entirely to the and four of are This it almost that the people Bunkerville is on to a or in a great small in the shall be done about people to with the is that to be with the of would it be if it could be new is but the time has passed when people to and there seems to be no to come it. of and an of the situation bring a