Whiterocks is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Uintah County Uintah County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 35,620. Its county seat and largest city is Vernal. The county was named for the portion of the Ute Indian tribe that lived in t ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. The population was 221 at the 2020 census, a decrease of the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

population of 289. In 1828, one of Utah's first European-American trading posts, Fort Robidoux, was established on the outskirts of modern Whiterocks.

Geography

Whiterocks is located at (40.467560, -109.929607). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 341 people, 92 households, and 78 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 145.1 people per square mile (56.0/km²). There were 96 housing units at an average density of 40.8/sq mi (15.8/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 5.57%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 93.84% Native American, and 0.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population. There were 92 households, out of which 47.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 47.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.2% were non-families. 10.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.71 and the average family size was 4.03. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 41.6% under the age of 18, 13.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 3.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $10,417, and the median income for a family was $15,156. Males had a median income of $21,750 versus $15,833 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $3,920. About 63.4% of families and 70.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 81.1% of those under age 18 and 90.0% of those age 65 or over.

History

1828 Four French traders from Kentucky -- William "Toopeechee" Reed, Jim Reed, Dennis Julien, and Augustus Archambeaux -- entered the Uintah Basin and set up a trading post near a spring of water just south and east of the present settlement of Whiterocks. The site was at a junction of trails used by the local Ute people. They brought in the first butcher knives, coffee beans, and other articles traded to the locals for fur.

Antoine Robidoux Antoine Robidoux (September 24, 1794 – August 29, 1860) was a fur trapper and trader of French-Canadian descent best known for his exploits in the American Southwest in the first half of the 19th century. Early life Robidoux was born in 1794 in ...

(or Rubidoux) purchased the enterprise in 1832 and built a larger "fort" just east of the post named Fort Robidoux (or Fort Uinta). In 1844, Utes burned the trading post to the ground and it was not rebuilt. October 3, 1861 By order of Abraham Lincoln and the secretary of the Interior the "Uintah Valley in the Territory of Utah, be set apart and reserved for the use and occupancy of Indian Tribes." 1868 Amos Reed, a government clerk in the employment of the Indian Service, made a trip to Whiterocks. His guide, Chief Antero, said that since he was to be moved to the Uintah Reservation he would choose Whiterocks for his home, and he suggested to Mr. Reed that the Indian Agency be established at that place. His reason for his choice was the fact that Whiterocks was located in the center of the Basin. Here the local Utes were used to staying. Here traders and trappers had established posts and headquarters. Many trails led to and from it, and here the site had a lovely natural setting. On the recommendation of Chief Antero, the agency was moved from Rock Creek to Whiterocks on Christmas Day 1868.

Archaeology

Whiterocks is near the site of the eponymous "Whiterocks Village," a Uinta Fremont village partially excavated in 1966 by Wayne F. Shields, assigned on the basis of architecture and radiocarbon dates to the Whiterocks Phase, A.D. 800-950. The excavated portion consisted of four round pithouses, 12-18 square feet in size, and a rectangular

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

25 by 29.5 feet in dimensions featuring coursed

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

walls. Of the four dwellings, two had

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

walls and central firepits, while the other two had single stone walls and no firepits. One fragmentary burial with two disarticulated skeletons was reportedly found but not described in the published report. The site is notable for a high frequency of Uinta Gray

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

sherds; 5,675

potsherds This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

were recovered, 5,540 of which were interpreted as Uinta Gray, a diagnostic style of the Uinta Fremont characterized by calcite temper. Other artifacts included chipped and ground stone tools, shells, nine corncobs, beans, and bone tools. The site is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Much of the surface of the site was under cultivation at the time of excavation and was presumed to have been largely destroyed by agricultural activity.National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form for Whiterocks Village (42 UN 170) https://collections.lib.utah.edu/file?id=1225794 Retrieved 4 May 2021

References

External links