It appears from my reading that Holt may have built here as a last-ditch effort to save his investments in Widtsoe which were being threatened by drought. But to no avail. Killed off by the same climate upheaval that displaced the citizens of Widtsoe, the abandoned site of Osiris is not only easily accessed via the paved John’s Valley Road, but also features the impressive granary and ruined foundations of the creamery.

Osiris was settled in 1910, along the east fork of the Sevier River near what is now Bryce Canyon National Park. The town was originally called Henderson after William James Henderson, a shepherd from Panguitch, who donated the land.

In the 1920’s W. E. Holt, the financier-developer of Imperial Valley, California arrived from the nearby town of Widtsoe. For unknown reasons, Holt renamed the town Osiris, after the Egyptian god of the afterlife. He and his family built a house and the creamery. The flour mill and massive silos were added later (some historians say it was converted from a creamery to a flour mill at some point. Others say they ran together on the same property).

The ruins of the Holt family home still remain across the street from the creamery. Harsh weather and insufficient water made farming difficult. After a decade of struggle, the Holt family abandoned the settlement.

It’s an awesome thing to see as you come down the winding road and are introduced to this time capsule still standing after over 100 years.

This village was founded by a resident of Widstoe, who built the large rock and wood structure which still stands: this was a creamery (using the milk from herds on the farms in Henderson, Widstoe, etc.) In the wooded areas around the hill across the road, there are additional structures (houses). We do not know whether Osiris ever had a separate post office. The location is very pretty. All the access is by 2-wheel drive; in fact, the Utah state road (SR22) is paved as far as Widstoe; it then turns to high-quality, i.e., fast, dirt, and stays that way all the way to Antimony.

It was founded by E. F. Holt, the financier-developer of Imperial Valley, California, in the late 1920s. Holt built a rock-walled creamery at Osiris, in Black Canyon, which was later converted into a grain processing plant. Holt also built a large summer house overlooking the creamery. The buildings remaining in Osiris are privately owned and should only be viewed from the dirt road which runs past the old creamery. Data on this town was compiled by Kristine Curry for the State of Utah in March 1998.

Years of Occupation: 1910s to early 1930s
Status of Site: Closed, Private Property
Classification: Abandoned Town
Type: Agricultural, Ranching
Remnants: Stonewall ruins of a creamery, a derelict building on the opposite side of the road, and the prominent and impressive granary.