Widtsoe in Garfield county,is now a ghost town. It is situated near the junction of the East Fork of the Sevier river and Sweetwater Creek. The area was open range in the 1870's and was known by various names such as Adair, Winder, Houston and John's Valley. In 1915 Adairville and Winder (Houston) joined and the community became Widtsoe in honor of John A Widtsoe, president of the University of Utah, and a dry-farm expert. But the area was too high and cold for crops to grow. The poor soil and occasional floods and drought occurred, so by 1920 the majority of settlers left. In 1936 the Federal Resettlement Administration bought the entire area and it became public domain again.
Some nice black and white pictures were taken by the WPA. They are available online.
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