Oasis, Utah | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 39°17′31″N112°37′46″W / 39.29194°N 112.62944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Utah |
County | Millard |
Settled | 1880 |
Area | |
• Total | 0.4 sq mi (1 km2) |
• Land | 0.4 sq mi (1 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 4,590 ft (1,400 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 75 |
• Density | 190/sq mi (72/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
ZIP codes | 84624, 84650 |
Area code | 435 |
GNIS feature ID | 2584773 [2] |
Oasis is a census-designated place in northeastern Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 75 at the 2010 census. Once the main rail shipping point in Millard County, Oasis declined in importance after the establishment of Delta, now the county's largest city.
Oasis is located in the eastern Sevier Desert of Millard County, approximately 140 miles (230 km) southwest of Salt Lake City. Oasis lies some 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Delta, and 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the village of Deseret, with which it has always been closely associated. About 4 miles (6.4 km) north is Gunnison Bend Reservoir, the last impoundment of the Sevier River. The area consists of irrigated farmland on the edge of harsh desert, an oasis east of Swasey Mountain.
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Oasis has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. [4]
The Utah Southern Railroad Extension reached the Oasis area in October 1879, [5] : 163 and by 1880 a settlement had begun to develop. [5] : 184 Originally named Deseret Station, [5] : 170 it became known as Oasis by 1885. In the early years, a small dam near Deseret provided all the irrigation water. Then in 1886, the Oasis and Riverside Canal Company and the Gunnison Bend Canal Company were organized, with ambitious plans to expand the cultivation of the surrounding land. The canal projects took years longer than expected, [5] : 162 but supported steady population growth.
In the meantime, Oasis's main economic activity was as a railroad station. The precious metal mines of Frisco and Joy provided substantial freight traffic to the shipping point at Oasis. [5] : 164 The station served communities as distant as Baker, Nevada, 100 miles (160 km) away. [5] : 167 It also made an attractive location for shearing sheep, shipping livestock, and outfitting ranches. [5] : 176–177 A small commercial center began to develop, with a general store, hotel, restaurant, saloon, bank, and other small businesses. [5] : 184
In 1891, the Deseret Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was divided into three congregations, for Hinckley, Deseret, and Oasis. [5] : 185–186 It is from this time that Oasis is usually regarded as a separate community, an outgrowth of Deseret. [6]
The location for the town that became Delta was chosen at a 1905 meeting of the Melville Irrigation Company held in Oasis. Originally named Burtner, the new town boomed. The Oasis Land and Water Company was organized in 1908 to develop water and land west of Burtner, but it failed due to flooding and financial problems in 1910. [5] : 206–210 The Burtner project, on the other hand, was wildly successful, selling thousands of acres per month. In the 1910 census, Burtner's population was nearly double that of Oasis. Homesteaders streamed into the makeshift railroad depot, which by 1911 was the busiest in the county. That year Burtner was renamed Delta, and the railroad built a new Delta Station, the largest south of Salt Lake City. [5] : 212–213 The centrally located Delta permanently supplanted Oasis in prominence. [5] : 218
Its railroad business gone, Oasis returned to agricultural industries. Alfalfa seed, lumber, and sugar beets were important products. A few businesses rounded up and trained Mustang horses for sale. [5] : 225–226 A creamery was established in 1913. [5] : 263
A coal-fired power plant was built in Oasis in the 1920s. Small and inefficient, it served Deseret, Hinckley, and Delta until 1930. [5] : 269
The last years of the 1920s were hard on the entire region. Drought, insects, and frost damaged crop yields, and numerous farms closed down under financial difficulties. The Oasis State Bank went out of business in 1928. [5] : 273–274 Continuing drought conditions in the 1930s severely reduced the available irrigation water, and large tracts of farmland in the Oasis area had to be abandoned. [5] : 282
In June 1983, about 400 people in the Deseret–Oasis area were evacuated when the Gunnison Bend dam and the DMAD dam above it failed due to that year's excessive spring runoff. Some 16,000 acre-feet (20,000,000 m3) of water inundated a large area with Oasis approximately in the center, leaving about 70,000 acres (280 km2) of farmland with no means of irrigation that year. [7]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1890 | 199 | — | |
1900 | 248 | 24.6% | |
1910 | 245 | −1.2% | |
1920 | 307 | 25.3% | |
1930 | 364 | 18.6% | |
1940 | 224 | −38.5% | |
1950 | 190 | −15.2% | |
2010 | 75 | — | |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau [8] |
As of the census [3] of 2010, there were 75 people living in the CDP. There were 28 housing units. The racial makeup was 78.7% White, 4.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 14.7% from some other race, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.3% of the population.
Millard County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 12,975. Its county seat is Fillmore, and the largest city is Delta.
Sanpete County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 28,437. Its county seat is Manti, and its largest city is Ephraim. The county was created in 1850.
Delta is the largest city in Millard County, Utah, United States. It is located in the northeastern area of Millard County along the Sevier River and is surrounded by farmland. The population was 3,622 at the 2020 census.
Fillmore is a city and the county seat of Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,592 at the 2020 United States Census. It is named for the thirteenth U.S. President Millard Fillmore, who was in office when Millard County was created by the Utah Territorial legislature.
Hinckley is a town in Millard County, Utah, United States, in the middle of the Sevier Desert. Irrigation water from the Sevier River, passing nearby, has been used to turn Hinckley into a farming oasis. The mountains that are common in Utah are seen only in the distance, and beyond the reach of the river, a severe desert prevails. The population was 614 at the 2020 census.
Oak City is a town in Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 578 at the 2010 census.
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Salina is a city in Sevier County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,660 at the 2020 census.
The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river, the 5th longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. The name Colorado derives from the Spanish language for "colored reddish" due to its heavy silt load. Starting in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora.
The Jordan River is a 51.4-mile-long (82.7 km) river in the U.S. state of Utah. Regulated by pumps at its headwaters at Utah Lake, it flows northward through the Salt Lake Valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Four of Utah's six largest cities border the river: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, and Sandy. More than a million people live in the Jordan Subbasin, part of the Jordan River watershed that lies within Salt Lake and Utah counties. During the Pleistocene, the area was part of Lake Bonneville.
The Sevier River is a 400-mile (640 km)-long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. Originating west of Bryce Canyon National Park, the river flows north through a chain of high farming valleys and steep canyons along the west side of the Sevier Plateau before turning southwest and terminating in the endorheic basin of Sevier Lake in the Sevier Desert. It is used extensively for irrigation along its course, with the consequence that Sevier Lake is usually dry.
Clarion is a ghost town in Sanpete County, Utah, United States, 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Gunnison. Clarion was the site of an early-twentieth century experiment in Jewish rural living. The Clarion site totaled 6,085 acres, and was five miles from north to south along the Sevier River and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide. The area today is in the Centerfield, Utah postal district.
Sutherland is a census-designated place in northeastern Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 165 at the 2010 census.
McCornick is an unincorporated community and near-ghost town located in Millard County, Utah, United States. Lying in Whiskey Creek Flat 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Holden, McCornick was a failed land development project that lasted from 1919 until circa 1930. Today, McCornick is made up of a few scattered homes and farms.
The Pahvant or Pahvants were a band of Ute people that lived in present-day Utah. Called the "Water People", they fished and hunted waterfowl. They were also farmers and hunter-gatherers. In the 18th century they were known to be friendly and attentive, but after a chief's father was killed by emigrating white settlers, a group of Pahvant Utes killed John Williams Gunnison and seven of his men during his exploration of the area. The bodies of water of their homeland were dried up after Mormons had diverted the water for irrigation. Having intermarried with the Paiutes, they were absorbed into the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and relocated to reservations.
Deseret is a census-designated place in Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 353 at the 2010 census. Deseret is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Delta, and about 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Salt Lake City. The name Deseret comes from the Book of Mormon.
The Beaver River is a river in western Utah, 110 miles (180 km) long, that drains to Sevier Lake via the Sevier River.
William Valentine Black was an American Mormon leader and one of the early settlers of Manti, Spring City, Rockville, and Deseret, Utah. He was also a close friend of Chief Kanosh the leader of the Pahvant band of the Ute people. He was also the first branch president of the LDS Church in Deseret, Utah.
The Colorado River is a major river of the western United States and northwest Mexico in North America. Its headwaters are in the Rocky Mountains where La Poudre Pass Lake is its source. Located in north central Colorado it flows southwest through the Colorado Plateau country of western Colorado, southeastern Utah and northwestern Arizona where it flows through the Grand Canyon. It turns south near Las Vegas, Nevada, forming the Arizona–Nevada border in Lake Mead and the Arizona–California border a few miles below Davis Dam between Laughlin, Nevada and Needles, California before entering Mexico in the Colorado Desert. Most of its waters are diverted into the Imperial Valley of Southern California. In Mexico its course forms the boundary between Sonora and Baja California before entering the Gulf of California. This article describes most of the major features along the river.
Then Gunnison Massacre Site, in Millard County, Utah near Hinckley, Utah, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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