May 1900 · Butterfield Canyon
Even the judge
went underground.
Herriman’s farmers said mining tunnels had taken the water from their springs. The mining company disagreed. To help settle it, geologist James E. Talmage went into the mines himself.
His May 5, 1900 journal records a close call: beyond a door in the Queen tunnel, his candle went out in bad mine air. He nearly lost consciousness.
Later that month, Judge Henry Rolapp joined the lawyers, engineers and witnesses for an inspection. Talmage recorded that they spent part of the night inside the Butterfield tunnel.
The case eventually returned to the Utah Supreme Court, which divided the disputed water in 1902. This was a water investigation that took the judge out of the courtroom and into the mountain.
Court history & Talmage’s original journal excerpts ↗
April 1996 · Hi-Country II
Three bullet holes.
In the water tank.
This happened within living memory. On April 21, 1996, the Deseret News reported that someone had shot three holes in the tank collecting water for Hi-Country II in the Herriman-area foothills.
The same report described a resident who refused a neighbor’s water supply and hauled barrels five miles instead. Water arrangements in the area could be intensely personal.
A bigger change was already underway: the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District was installing transmission pipes to connect three private water companies. Better supply and fire protection were expected to lift restrictions on new development.
Before Herriman’s subdivisions spread across the hills, getting dependable water to them was still a major obstacle.
Read the April 1996 reporting · “Plumbing Herriman” ↗
