By Owen Wiese
Individuals with the Garretson Park Board and City maintenance met on the 18th of June to discuss the present and future uses of the Devil’s Gulch Park. Naturally, a discussion about the park’s history and its present and its past uses came about. I have a long association with the Gulch and will endeavor to bring the memories to mind.
There is an old saying, “the older that one gets to be, the easier it is to remember things that never happened.” I will endeavor to put things in the right order and in the right frame, but there is no guarantee that the results from a ninety-year old brain will be correct. If anyone has corrections about content or presentation, they will be welcome.
In 1950, R.P. and Ella Wiese purchased the land including Devils Gulch, and subsequently began a tree farm at the location. This photo, dated around 1952, shows the dedication of the farm after Ginnala Maples were planted along the road leading to the parking area.
In 1950, R.P. and Ella Wiese bought from Norm Engebretson the quarter section of land that included Devil’s Gulch. At the time the Gulch was not the well-kept attraction it is now. It was simply a road beginning at Oak Drive, winding through the park past the Jesse James Bridge and out, ending at Center Avenue and 5th Street.
At the east end, at the beginning of the road, there was an old dump ground that people would dig in, looking for old momentos and items of interest. The dump is still there, but it is overgrown with trees.
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