Hidden History: George Scott, chuck wagon cook extraordinaire

Scott was a cook for the Utah Construction Co., a cattle company that owned nearly a half-million acres of rangeland in western Utah, northern Nevada and southern Idaho, and leased another 2 million.

The ranching empire, once owned by the Sparks and Harrell Cattle Co., was divided into two territories. The Nevada branch of the cattle company burned the Winecup brand into the hides of their cattle; the Idaho branch used the Shoe Sole brand.

Scott homesteaded north of the Nevada border along Salmon Falls Creek before the Salmon Dam was built and flooded lands upstream. He then moved to the mouth of Rock Creek Canyon south of Hansen, where he cooked for cattle crews.

Scott was one of the best-known chuck wagon cooks in the area. His wagon carried provisions for the cowboys who rode the range well into the 20th century.

Scott had two brothers, Lynn, a horseman who made Hagerman his home, and Walter, a shyster known as “Death Valley Scotty.”

Utah Construction Co., founded in 1900, also built railroads in northern Utah and northern Nevada.