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1905-1906 On June 7, 1905 the Secretary of the Interior directed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to select one or more tracts of land in the Uintah Reservation suitable for townsites, so they might be reserved as such under the Statutes of the United States.
Three sites were designated which are the current sites of Duchesne, Myton, and Randlett.
A month later President Theodore Roosevelt approved the selections and declared these lands reserved as Townsites.
On August 28 the US government opened up the Uintah Basin to settlement of land they had acquired from the Ute Indians under the allotment act of 1891.
" Land lotteries " were held in Vernal, Provo, Price, Grand Junction, CO, and Vernal where each person was given a ticket with a number.
On August 28 numbers 1 through 111 were allowed to make their claim.
August 29 the next 111 people could make their claim and so on.
Sixty people, forty six adults and fourteen children, settled on the townsite that is now Duchesne and called it by its first name " Elsie "( Glen ).
Government surveyors laid out the streets and the survey was accepted by the government on 18 October 1905.
The first cabin was built by Charles Dickerson and Charles Ragland, in October 1905.
A. M. Murdock with the help of a few men put up a large circus tent to act as a trading post and post office.
The name of the town was changed to Dora for a short time, after Murdock's 23 year old daughter, then changed once again to Theodore, in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Sept 15, 1905, Robert Duchesne Marsh was the first " white " child born in the townsite.
The first winter was harsh and the residents were living in tents or other temporary shelter.
When spring came the high water of the Duchesne River overflowed it's banks flooding the town.
Many of the homesteaders dreams died after the first winter and they sold their claims off for next to nothing.
Judge M. M.
Smith recalls " one man asked me to write out a relinquishment for him, remarking, ' I must either give up my claim or my wife.
She won't live here.
'" Dikes were quickly built up but washed away and some of the town was under two feet of water until June.
Tents and houses were moved around to avoid the flooding problem before the next spring.

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