GUNLOCK

Gunlock (Washington) is a small community on the Santa Clara River, twenty miles northeast of Santa Clara. In 1857 Will Hamblin (Jacob's brother) was one of the first white settlers in the area. He was known by his friends as Gunlock or Gunshot Hamblin because he kept his guns in such good condition and was an acknowledged expert with a rifle. The settlement was named for him by a Mormon church authority, George Albert Smith, who visited the town in 1857. In 1862 the original settlement was relocated sourth to where the present community still stands.

John W. Van Cott