The Hittle Bottom Homestead

In the early 1900's Frank Hittle and his wife, Carrie Bernard Hittle, left Iowa in a covered wagon with their children to find a new place to live and farm and raise their family. After living a few years in Nebraska, they traveled all the way to Utah and settled on a parcel of land by the Colorado River about 23 miles northeast of Moab off Hwy 128. Here they lived in a cabin and tried to eke out a living. This is a very beautiful, but barren, desert-like region, which made farming difficult. It would have been quite a chore hauling water from the river for everyday use and diverting it to irrigate the crops and get them to grow in the clay-like soil. Dealing with the snakes and scorpions was yet another matter. Frank's daughter, Annabel, remembered that well. But she also had fond memories, too. For instance, when they were not doing chores or attending school, she and the other children spent a lot of their time playing around and under the old Dewey Bridge and exploring their surroundings.

When it became too difficult to continue living this way, Frank and Carrie pulled up stakes and moved their family to Molina, Colorado where they bought some land and built up a small farm which proved much more successful. There they raised their children, chickens, cows and horses, grew alfalfa for hay and food for their family. Frank used his horses for plowing, going to town, and pulling neighbors' tractors out of the mud. He dug irrigation ditches and diverted water from the creek to irrigate his crops. The creek was fed by run-off from Grand Mesa and was used for drinking water, too. Frank also kept his own bees for honey. Even after Carrie died, he canned all of his food and meat himself.

As for the place by the river in Utah, it still bears his name and is known today as Hittle Bottom. It is now a historic site and a campground with a raft/boat launch under the care of the BLM. The cabin is gone, but the old cellar still remains. The site has been upgraded with fencing and signs since these pictures were taken.

In the summer of 1988 Annabel along with two of her children, a grandchild, and two great grandchildren returned to Hittle Bottom to see her "old stompin' grounds". She said it brought back a lot of memories and was like taking a trip back in time. They took in the natural beauty around them and left with a greater appreciation of what their ancestors had endured so many years ago.