Fred Hayes State Park at Starvation (formerly Starvation State Park) is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

Duchesne County Duchesne County ( ) is a county in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 18,607. Its county seat is Duchesne, and the largest city is Roosevelt. History Much of Duchesne County was ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, featuring the Starvation Reservoir. The park is northwest of the city of

Duchesne Duchesne is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Joseph Duchesne (c. 1544–1609), French physician and chemist. Physician-in-ordinary to King Henry IV * André Duchesne (1584–1640), French historian * François Duchesne (1616� ...

Facilities

The Starvation Reservoir is open year-round, and is popular for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

. It lies at an elevation of . Established in 1972, the marina features a 54-unit RV campground along with developed and primitive

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, rental cabins, boat ramp and dock, a sand beach, restrooms, showers, a group-use pavilion, sewage disposal, and fish cleaning stations. Primitive camping is allowed in designated areas around the perimeter of the reservoir for a fee. OHVs are only allowed at Knight Hollow Campground. County-owned dirt roads are open (including the road from Knight Hollow to the town of Duchesne) in the nearby area.

History

There are various narratives explaining the name "Starvation". Orson Mott recounted the most credible story. In 1900, A.M. Murdock of Heber city, approached Major Myton of the Uintah Indian reservation to purchase grazing permits for his cattle. He was given grazing permits in the upper Strawberry river area. Dave Murdock, brother of Al Murdock, had secured a contract to provide beef to the Ute tribe at Fort Duchesne. In the fall of 1904 they brought the herd out of the high grazing areas and made it to the river bottoms which is now covered by Starvation reservoir. Very heavy snows stranded the herd. With no feed the entire herd died. Dave Murdock named the area "Starvation Flats" from this experience. Another account describes a group of fur trappers stranded in harsh winter conditions who survived by stealing a local Native American cache of food, which resulted in their

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

. Another account tells the opposite story, with the Indians doing the stealing and the trappers starving. A third story involves a local

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

er who attempted to graze

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

in the area, and they all starved. Yet another explanation for the name involves

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s in the early 1900s trying to survive along the banks of the Strawberry River, in the area now occupied by the reservoir. These settlers dealt with near-starvation in a hostile environment. Winters in the area are long and cold, and their livestock often died. The area's short growing season was hindered by

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

, early

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...

and other problems. These settlers could have nicknamed the area Starvation. In 2019 the park (which had previously been named the Starvation State Park) was officially renamed the Fred Hayes State Park at Starvation. Hayes had been the director of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation (now known as the Utah Division of State Parks) from 2012 until he died unexpectedly in early March 2018.

Starvation Dam

The Starvation Dam () is a ,

earthfill dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

. The reservoir is fed by the Strawberry River in the Uinta Basin, and is part of the

Central Utah Project The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's ...

– Bonneville Unit. It was constructed in 1970.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1972 establishments in Utah State parks of Utah Protected areas of Duchesne County, Utah Protected areas established in 1972

Facilities

History

Starvation Dam

See also

References

External links