Swett Ranch - Timeline for the Ranch and Greendale Area

1890 – August 11, Oscar Swett born to Elizabeth and Lyman Johnson Swett.

1892 – December 10, Emma Osiek born.

1906 – June, the Forest Homestead Act signed.  The Green brothers file for a homestead in Greendale.

1907 – Oscar’s father dies in Vernal.  Oscar’s mother gives him $100, which he uses to purchase cattle. He grazes his herd in the Greendale area.

1909 – Elizabeth files a homestead claim for 151.5 acres.  Oscar and his brothers build a one-room cabin to prove up their claim.  Oscar meets Emma while riding cattle outside of Heber City.  Emma’s family moves to Vernal, courting begins.

1910 – Bill Green becomes ranger and runs an unofficial post office from his cabin.

1911 – Oscar files two claims adjacent to his mother’s for a total of 77 acres.

1912 – The Green River Ranger Station is built near the Swett homestead.  Oscar purchases a cabin from McKee Draw, disassembles it, and hauls it up to the ranch by horse-drawn wagon. He reassembles it as the one-room cabin.  Oscar builds the horse barn near his cabin.

1913 – January 20, Oscar marries Emma Osiek.  May 24, Oscar and Emma’s first child, Mary Elizabeth, is born in Vernal.

1914 – December 24, Oscar and Emma’s second child, Almey Thomas (Tom) is born in Vernal.

1915 – Elizabeth files for 8.5 more acres.

1917 – May 22, Oscar and Emma’s third child, Irma Eliza is born in Greendale.

1918 – Elizabeth sells her 151 acres to Oscar for $100 and moves back to Vernal.

1919 – Oscar builds the two-room cabin to provide more space for his family.  A schoolhouse is built between the ranger station and the Swett property.  May 27, Oscar and Emma’s fourth child, Myrle Augusta is born in Greendale.

1920 – Oscar builds the first blacksmith shop with lumber cut from his sawmill.  Wood shed built.

1921 – June 12, Oscar and Emma’s fifth child, Verla Farnsworth is born in Brush Creek.

1926 – June 12, Oscar and Emma’s sixth child Idabell is born in Vernal.

1929 – Ranger district headquarters officially moves to Manila.  Oscar and a carpenter build the five-room sawed log house.  October 8, Oscar and Emma's seventh child, Louis Lyman is born in Vernal.

1930s- Single-wire phone lines were brought to Greendale. The Swetts had the only phone in the area.

1932 – April 4, Oscar and Emma’s eighth child, Merne, is born in Greendale.

1933 – Tom brings home a Hudson Super Six automobile from Idaho. The car dies before making it back to the ranch. In time, Oscar recycles the parts for other uses on the ranch.

1934 – Forest Homestead Act ends.

1936 – August 9, Oscar and Emma’s ninth child, Wilda Beverly is born.

1940 – Hunters burn down the ranger station.

1941 – No longer in use, the schoolhouse is dismantled, shortened, and rebuilt as a work shop on the end of the horse barn by Oscar.

1942 – Oscar buys a Chevy pickup with cash, which allows for more frequent trips to Vernal; about once a month except during winter.

1940s- (early) Many of the outbuildings are constructed, including the milking barn, granary, second blacksmith shop, the lambing barn, cow barn, and the calf shelter.

1940s- (late) Louis Swett four-room home is constructed.

1950s- Water is piped into the five-room house.
Oscar buys a Delco generator to power the house.

1957 – Construction of Flaming Gorge Dam begins.

1960 – Electricity replaces the generator.

1960s- A modern bathroom is added to the five-room house.

1963 – Flaming Gorge Dam is completed.

1968 – The National Recreation Area is created. Grazing lands are reduced; making it difficult for the Swetts to operate the ranch.  Oscar dies. Emma is forced to sell the land and moves back to Vernal. A developer, Eggertsen, purchases it.

1971 – Emma dies.

1972 – The Forest Service purchases the ranch from Eggertsen after much dispute.