Paul Smith has written a wonderful story about Ephraim:
Ephraim Garn lived in a small adobe house with faded green doors and window frames on land that he had taken up at Lake Shore, Davis County, Utah in 1878. It was 12 miles North of Salt Lake City on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, between Centerville and Farmington.
He was part owner with George O. Chase in a pleasure resort called Lake Shore Resort. They built a large pier for bathers, bath houses, a dance hall, and a bowery covered with willows for picnickers where they had access to tables and benches. They built a house where they cooked and served meals, and made and sold sandwiches and soft drinks. They also built a large, dirt bicycle track, where races were held. The bicycles of that day were the ones with the big wheel in front and the small wheel in back. Each season, greater numbers of pleasure seekers flocked to the bathing resort and "Eph" as he was called, saw the need of fresh water for showers and dressing rooms.
In the late summer of 1883, they started drilling for water on Eph's property. Water was not struck at the usual 3 or 4 hundred feet, so they continued to drill. At approximately 550 feet, using a six inch iron pipe lining, they hit natural gas and the pressure became so great that the pipe could not carry the escaping vapor. It burst forth from the bottom and tore an opening up the entire length of the casing. Mud, rocks, and water flew fifty feet in every direction, while the escaping gas produced a din like a hissing, monstrous locomotive. The mud drenched the confused men, who stood about in awe while volumes of potent gas poured into the air.
After they recovered from the shock, they decided to stop the flow by capping the pipe and filling the aperture alongside, with rocks and gravel. After a few days, the men courageously uncapped the pipe and lighted the gas with a very long torch. At that instant a mighty flame belched into space and then settled down to an immense, steady glow, shooting from the top of the pipe, 50 feet into the air and having the appearance of a gigantic candle. When darkness came, the countryside for miles around glowed with light.
People were in a state of eager curiosity and arranged excursions to see the great gas well. They rode miles in wagons, buggies and surreys and often sat in the warmth of the flame to enjoy a picnic. Skaters glided over the ice on the shore of the lake 3 miles in either direction, then returned to sit on the benches under the gas light to get warm. Excursions by train, (Utah Central Railroad had built a spur track to the resort earlier due to the popularity of that resort, so people from Ogden, Salt Lake City and Davis County residents could also enjoy it.) were arranged and visitors from all over the State assembled at the well to witness various demonstrations of the power of gas. After a few weeks, grass started sprouting and soon made a thick growth for about 50 feet around the well.
During these years, Eph was trying to interest investors in his great gas project. He hoped it might be piped to Salt Lake City and Ogden for household use. To prove its efficiency, he piped the gas into his own kitchen stove, where he had invented a burner that he could turn on and light at will. For many years he did all of his own cooking and baking in this deluxe fashion. He also contrived a gas pipe and jet on the wall that when ignited furnished an unlimited light. Eph realized the danger of these unguarded flames and used gas with discrimination. Yet he would sometimes appear with his hair, eyebrows and whiskers singed down to stubble and his hands and face burned so red that they looked crisp.
Lake Shore Resort enjoyed prosperity and popularity for five or six years, at which time another very popular bathing resort was buit at Garfield beach. This drew the Salt Lke City people away from Lake Shore and definitely hurt its business.
About this time, the owners found that the property on which the resort was located and on which they had located under squatter's right, had previously been taken up by another man, under the same right for grazing purposes. Council moved that Garn and Chase had no rights to the said property.