William Henry Wattis

William Henry Wattis, also known as W. H. Wattis (August 15, 1859 – September 13, 1931), was one of the three Wattis Brothers who founded Utah Construction Company in 1900.

Wattis was born in Uinta, Utah Territory, the fourth of seven children born to Edmund Orson Wattis and Mary Jane Corey. With his brother E.O., he formed a firm to lay track for the expanding railroads. The fledgling Wattis Brothers firm was wiped out in the panic of 1893. While William continued to try to find construction projects, Edmund focused his energies on running a sheep ranch the brothers had established in the Weber Valley. This ranch and others would later provide the financial strength for the large construction projects to come.

Wattis married his sweetheart, Anna Maria Dorothea Sophie (Marie) Stander, on January 9, 1889. They had three daughters and one son. In 1897, they lost Florence Louise, age 5, and Edmund (Teddy), age 1, within six months of each other while living in Astoria, Oregon.

In 1900, the Wattis Brothers (E.O., W.H. and Warren L.) again attempted to be partners in contracting. They founded the Utah Construction Company along with David Eccles and Thomas D. Dee. A short four years after its founding, Utah Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the Feather River route between Oakland and Salt Lake City. This $60 million contract was challenging, but after five years, very profitable. The Feather River route was complete for the Western Pacific Railroad in 1911. The Utah Construction Company also was a building contractor for the Utah State Capital.

In 1912, after the death of David Eccles, W. H. was elected President of The Utah Construction Company. The company thrived, and soon captured a large share of the tunneling, grading, and track projects in the rapidly expanding railroads in the mountain west. Seeing the end of railroad expansion, the Wattis Brothers looked for ways to diversify their construction risks.

In 1915, the Wattis brothers bought the Wattis Coal Company (160 acres from the federal government) and the Wattis mine shipped its first coal on April 11, 1918. The ghost town of Wattis, Utah, located south of Price, is named after the Wattis brothers. In 1919 the company merged with the Lion Coal Company, owned by the Eccles family.

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