Uintah County, Utah Pioneers

Wilbur (Will) Britt

Will Britt was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa Sep 22, 1849, a son of LeRoy and Rhod Britt. After the death of his first wife, Melissa Graves, he and his brother, Findley Britt started out to find a new home. While in the Black Hills of South Dakota, they befriended a sick miner. He gave them a map of a gold mine on Carter Creek where the Carter Creek dugway is now. Early in the spring of 1876 they decided to go west and hunt for the hidden gold mine. In the evening before they left, they met a young man by the name of Peter Dillman who wanted to accompany them. The three came to Green River City, Wyoming, then over the mountains to Carter Creek, arriving in May, 1876 and prospected until September when they came to Ashley Valley.
Before winter they went to Whiterocks and spent the winter with Pardon Dodds. In the spring of 1877, Pardon Dodds, Peter Dillman, W.C. Britt, and Findley returned to Ashley, built cabins and prepared to make homes.
W.C. Britt built a store which housed the first post office. He was the first Justice of the Peace, and the first school teacher. On Nov. 2, 1881, his two daughters, Lillian (Mrs. W.P. White) and Gertrude, aged six and nine, came from Hillsdale, Iowa and joined their father.