Editing Vernal, Utah (section)

==History==
Vernal, unlike most Utah towns, was not settled by [[Mormons]] moving west, or across the state. [[Brigham Young]] sent a scouting party to the area [[Uintah Basin]] in 1861 and received word back that the area was good for nothing but nomad purposes, hunting grounds for Indians, and "to hold the world together." That same year, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] set the area aside as the [[Uintah Indian Reservation]], with Captain Pardon Dodds appointed as [[Indian agent]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/vernal.html |title=Vernal |publisher=Historytogo.utah.gov |access-date=2012-11-09 |archive-date=November 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119030933/http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/vernal.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dodds later built the first cabin erected by a white man in the Uintah Basin around 1868. Settlers began to filter in after that and built cabins in various spots on or near [[Ashley Creek (Utah)|Ashley Creek]]. In 1879, many came close to perishing during the infamous "Hard Winter" of that same year.