photography / Troy Boman Dan Lawrence (back) guides the rebuilt sheepcamp trailer as Jason Rand (left) and Derrick Raddon (right) pull it onto Main Street Monday in Grantsville. Dan’s older brother Dave has restored the trailer to its original condition.

by Natalie Tripp

CORRESPONDENT

Not many people would be able to describe what a sheepcamp is, let alone the significance of finding one intact. However, Grantsville native Dave Lawrence Jr. has not only written a history on the sheepcamps that roamed the Tooele valley from 1871 to 1970, but also obtained a sheepcamp and restored it.

A typical sheepcamp, also known as a sheep wagon, is a horse-drawn covered wagon used to shelter ranchers herding sheep. Inside the wagon was a place for sleeping, a stove and a wash basin.

Lawrence acquired his sheepcamp from Lyle and Chris Johnston in 1996 with the intention of restoring it and displaying it in Ophir at his parent's historical home. After a decade of hard work restoring the treasured camp, Lawrence is ready to display all of his hard work and effort.

"I'm just tickled that people are interested in this," Lawrence said. "Some people think this is junk, but it's such a unique piece of history."

Because sheep can survive better than cattle in desert climates, Tooele County was a prime spot for sheep ranches. Lawrence remembers watching thousands of herds of sheep travel down Sheep Lane in Erda as a young boy.

"My parents and grandparents would round up the children and say 'the sheep are coming through town'," Lawrence said. "We'd jump in the car and drive out to Sheep Lane and see band after band of these sheep moving down the road."

Lawrence learned a lot about Antelope Island's sheepcamp history while restoring the sheep camp. During the late 1800s, hundreds of sheep were herded through the Tooele Valley on their way to summer and winter ranges. Antelope Island was home to 7,000 of these sheep.

Horse-drawn sheep wagons became scarce after the 1930s. Many of those that remained were lost to fire, accidents or retrofitted with rubber tires for truck towing. Most of the remaining sheepcamps are dilapidated.

Tent camping was the only option for sheepherders during the late 1800s.

The sheepcamp Lawrence purchased was pulled by a team of horses from Antelope Island to Hooper, in the mid 1950s. Over the years, children played in it until they got too old. It was then placed in a barn.

Lawrence went so far to make sure every single piece of the restored wagon was an original, down to the last screw.

"We made an effort to get the same linoleum from Scotland, and reused every bolt that we could and replaced the bolts we couldn't reuse with old original bolts," Lawrence said.

Lawrence will give a presentation on his sheepcamp at a meeting of the Tooele County Historical Society tonight at the Pioneer Museum in Tooele at 7 p.m..

"It will be great to see part of the past out in the parking lot like that," said Tooele County Historical Society president Alice Dale. "We're trying to keep history alive in Tooele, and we do everything we can to have an appreciation of that history."

The meeting will start with a short presentation by Lawrence and will then show off the sheepcamp in the museum's parking lot. A full presentation with question and answer session will follow.

"We've been trying for quite some time to have him come to us," Dale said. "He's got quite a story and history."

ntripp@tooeletranscript.com

Staff Writer Missy Thompson contributed to this article.