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Farming in Duncan's
Retreat was a difficult life. The fertile land yielded bumper crops in good years, but could be washed away by torrential floods at any time. Of the 11 families living here in 1870, 9 remained in 1880. The next decade was much harsher; by 1891 Duncan's Retreat was all but
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to bring water from the Virgin River, but when it was dug, the canal was found to be useless as its route ran uphill. Another version of the story says it happened in
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291:. Chapman Duncan and most of the other original settlers fled in early 1862 in search of a more stable home, and the families who stayed behind named their village
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attacks, the town was evacuated to Virgin, although farmers returned to Duncan's
Retreat each day to work their fields. Residents moved back permanently in 1868.
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More settlers took the place of the departing pioneers, and by the end of 1862 Duncan's
Retreat had a population of about 70. They planted crops and
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All that remains of Duncan's
Retreat is some dead fruit trees, an irrigation ditch, and a few graves on the north side of
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Chapman Duncan, one of the original settlers, whose name became attached to it after his departure
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598:. Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society. p.
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Chapman Duncan came here in 1861, settling with a few others on
Mukuntuweap Creek, a small
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A local legend claims that Duncan's real reason for retreating was a botched
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was established here in 1863, and a schoolhouse in 1864. In 1866, when the
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One of many pear trees at the abandoned village, 30 August 1929
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A History of
Washington County: From Isolation to Destination
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513:(3rd ed.). Salt Lake City: Western Epics. p. 136.
637:. Utah Department of Community and Culture. Archived from
239:, United States. Lying some 3 miles (4.8 km) east of
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job. Duncan, so the story goes, was assigned to survey a
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Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost
Treasures
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deserted. The last known birth in town was in 1895.
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589:Alder, Douglas D.; Brooks, Karl F. (1996).
801:Map of Utah highlighting Washington County
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271:. The colony was part of a southern Utah
511:The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns
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471:Thompson, George A. (November 1982).
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566:. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from
111:Duncan's Retreat (the United States)
78:Location of Duncan's Retreat in Utah
705:Municipalities and communities of
564:"Census of Population and Housing"
479:: Dream Garden Press. p. 39.
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18:Ghost town in Utah, United States
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669:Utah's Dixie Historical Sites
114:Show map of the United States
425:between Virgin and Grafton.
310:, and that Duncan retreated
275:-growing project ordered by
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534:Van Cott, John W. (1990).
509:Carr, Stephen L. (1986) .
410:caused widespread fear of
402:grew particularly well. A
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231:in the eastern part of
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318:Historical population
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1033:United States portal
477:Salt Lake City, Utah
1065:Ghost towns in Utah
641:on November 9, 2010
631:"Cemetery Database"
570:on February 8, 2006
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285:Great Flood of 1862
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1001:Paiute Reservation
989:Indian reservation
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635:Utah State History
538:. Salt Lake City:
423:Utah State Route 9
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314:Duncan's Retreat.
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245:Zion National Park
235:, in southwestern
229:Utah State Route 9
143:37.183°N 113.133°W
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665:at GhostTowns.com
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949:Fort Harmony
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645:November 10,
643:. Retrieved
639:the original
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613:. Retrieved
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572:. Retrieved
568:the original
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281:Utah's Dixie
269:Virgin River
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15:
1026:Utah portal
979:Silver Reef
931:Ghost towns
888:communities
871:Pine Valley
828:New Harmony
783:Toquerville
773:Santa Clara
723:County seat
443:Utah portal
404:post office
193:Established
146: /
1049:Categories
964:Harrisburg
838:Springdale
788:Washington
778:St. George
748:Enterprise
730:St. George
450:References
225:ghost town
187:Washington
33:Ghost town
1011:Footnotes
939:Adventure
896:Brookside
833:Rockville
768:La Verkin
758:Hurricane
574:April 25,
300:surveying
265:tributary
210:Named for
201:Abandoned
997:Shivwits
974:Northrop
921:Shivwits
615:July 16,
429:See also
396:orchards
959:Hamblin
954:Grafton
916:Pintura
906:Gunlock
861:Central
753:Hildale
400:sorghum
289:Grafton
267:of the
251:History
160:Country
134:113°8′W
131:37°11′N
969:Hebron
843:Virgin
740:Cities
606:
546:
517:
483:
412:Indian
383:−40.5%
323:Census
308:Virgin
273:cotton
241:Virgin
204:c.1895
182:County
911:Pinto
823:Leeds
810:Towns
763:Ivins
596:(PDF)
368:11.3%
304:canal
279:(see
223:is a
170:State
876:Veyo
853:CDPs
647:2010
617:2012
604:ISBN
576:2011
544:ISBN
515:ISBN
481:ISBN
374:1890
359:1880
344:1870
332:Note
327:Pop.
237:Utah
196:1861
175:Utah
1051::
1003:‡)
726::
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602:.
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337:%±
312:to
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999:(
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578:.
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353:—
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
