Pintura, Washington County,
Utah
(Formerly Bellevue)
The town of Pintura was known as Bellevue from 1868 to 1925. It got its first name because some of the first settlers thought that the valley looked like a bell when looking down from the black ridge. In 1925 the post office asked them to choose a name that wasn't so common so they changed the name to Pintura which means "painting" in Spanish. This was suggested because of the many colored hills in the area.
The first settler to the area was in 1858. A Mr. Morrill who took up a squatter's claim. He lived there for eight years, improved the land and made a nice ranch for himself. He sold out in 1866 to Joel Johnson. About this time James Bay also established a ranch in the area. Peter Anderson later moved in and took the other available land. Joel Johnson ordered quality grape roots from France and planted cuttings from them, he shared cutting and soon there were many fine quality vineyards in the area that flourished until the repeal of the 18th Amendment when most of the vineyards were plowed under. There were many fine orchards in the area also.
Another thing that Belleview (Pintura) was known as was the "Great Camp Ground." The town was halfway between Cedar City and St. George and was a good place to camp for the night for freighters and other travelers. At the time that Silver Reef was at its peak in producing silver there were always two hundred or more teams on the road. At this time it was common to see ten to fifty teams in for the night and many campfires throughout the valley. Pintura is located just before or after the Black Ridge depending on which direction you are traveling. Even today our cars sometimes have trouble on this stretch of road so it's easy to imagine how hard this stretch was to the pioneers. This and weather also made Pintura a nice resting place. It is hard to believe as we buzz past the town in our cars that it used to be a stopping place because we are usually just getting started on our journeys as we pass.
Today there are not many people living in Pintura but those living there enjoy their beautiful, quiet town. -CBA
_________________________
Related links:
Note to all:
If you have histories of the pioneers of Pintura/Bellevue (on a website or
that you would like to have published on the web), other genealogy help for
this town, or know of related links please let me know.
--Cindy Alldredge
Copyright © 2006 by Cynthia B. Alldredge