ANTELOPE ISLAND -- Frary Peak is named for the George Frary family, which established a homestead on the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island in 1891.
A former Great Lakes sailor, Frary was no stranger to large bodies of water. He and his wife, Alice, built a small, three-room cabin along the east shore of the island, below its tallest peak and about four miles from the Garr homestead farther south.Frary originally intended to prospect and mine on the island but turned to ranching after finding little ore. The Frarys raised a family of six children. However, late in the summer of 1897, after the birth of their last child, Alice Frary became seriously ill, possibly from an appendicitis attack.
On Sept. 3, 1897, George Frary jumped in a small boat and rushed to Ogden for help. While returning at night in a storm, the boat capsized and, by one account, he lost the medicine he was carrying and was forced to hang on to the boat until morning when he swam for shore. According to another account, however, an Ogden doctor was with him in the boat.
However, upon arriving exhausted at his home, Frary learned that his wife had already died. She and the children had built a signal fire, hoping to attract help, but none came.
Before Alice Frary died, she asked to be buried on the island.
Some stories report she was buried near the Garr ranch, while another indicates the site is just west of her home, where a marker is located.
George Frary and his children remained on Antelope Island for many years, exploring the lake in boats they built. They also assisted in taking lake soundings for construction of the Lucin Cutoff in 1903. One of Frary's daughters was a passenger on the first train to travel across the lake.
At one time Frary's original buffalo herd of 12 had grown to 400 head. Part of today's herd is a remnant of that original group of bison. Shots of a buffalo stampede for the silent movie "Covered Wagon" were filmed near Frary's ranch in 1922.
Frary died at age 88 in 1942 after spending half a century on Antelope Island -- longer than anyone else.
Today nothing remains of the Frary home or ranch, though Antelope Island State Park manager Garth Taylor said he hopes to someday develop a side road leading to Alice Frary's grave.