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GENEALOQY COLLECTION
3 1833 01103 5760
UTAH
SINCE STATEHOOD
HISTORICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL
NOBLE WARRUM , Editor
ASSlstet BY
HON. CHARLES W. MORSE for Bench and Bar and
W. BROWN EWING, M. D., for the Medical Chapter
VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1919
121G910
"TlMcWi
CUtTTc^f^
FOREWORD
The prospectus of this work promised a History of Utah "Since
Statehood." In accordance with that promise, special attention has
been given to the administrations of the several state governors, politi-
cal conventions and campaigns, election returns, the acts of the
various legislatures and the general development of the state since its
admission into the Union.
But when the actual work of research and compilation com-
menced, the editor and his assistants found many subjects inseparably
connected with the territorial period. This was especially true of
Agriculture, County History, Education, Mining, Transportation,
etc., hence they deemed it appropriate to show the connection between
these antecedent events and conditions since statehood. In fact this
was necessary in many instances, in order to give the reader a clear
view and thorough understanding of Utah's wonderful development.
Less than three-quarters of a century ago the territory now com-
prising the State of Utah was a primeval waste, inhabited only by the
wild beast and savage Indian. Then came the first actual settlers and
the spirit of Utah's dream was changed. Great irrigating systems were
inaugurated, the waters of the streams were turned upon the barren
soil, arid lands were reclaimed and the desert was made to "blossom
as the rose." Immense deposits of coal, lead and the precious metals
were made to give up their wealth for the benefit of mankind. The
council wigwam has given way to the halls of legislation, the old
Overland Trail has been supplanted by the railroad, the hum of
peaceful industrv has superseded the war-whoop of the painted sav-
age, and the lowing of kine is heard instead of the howl of the wolf
that once caused little children to cuddle closer together in their beds
in fear.
The "Old West" is rapidly passing. Few men are now living
who can recall the days of the old Concord coach, the Pony Express
5
6 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
rider or the red-shirted miner that depended more upon his "six-
gun" than upon the law to protect his claim. Yet these few can
recount the development that has been made since Utah was organ-
ized as a territory in 1850. To tell the story of this wonderful prog-
ress is the purpose of this history. How well that purpose has been
attained is for the reader to determine.
The work has been one involving great care and labor, but the
publishers confidently assert that no efTort has been spared to make
this History of Utah both authentic and comprehensive. Authentic,
because, as far as possible, the official records have been drawn upon
as sources of information and comprehensive, because, it is believed
that no important event connected with the growth and development
of the state has been overlooked or neglected.
Samuel Johnson, in his Story of Rasselas, says : "He that has much
to do will do something wrong; and if it were possible that he should
always act rightly, yet when such numbers are to judge of his con-
duct, the bad will censure and obstruct him by malevolence, and the
good sometimes by mistake." In presenting this History of Utah to
the people of the state, the publishers are hopeful that the "malevo-
lent" will find but little to criticize and that the "good" will point
out the errors in a kindly spirit.
The editor and publishers take this opportunity to acknowledge
their obligations to the various state officers and departments for their
aid in consulting the public records ; to county officers, old settlers and
others, to whom letters were written asking for information concern-
ing local history; to the officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, who kindly responded to requests for data to be
found only in the church records; and to the attaches of the Salt Lake
City Public Library for their uniform courtesies while the work was
in course of preparation.
S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
CONTENTS
PART I
EARLY HISTORY
CHAPTER I
UTAH— A GENERAL VIEW
LOCATION — LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE — AREA — BOUNDARIES — TOPOG-
RAPHY — DRAINAGE — GEOLOGY — THE GLACIAL EPOCH — ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY — SOIL AND CLIMATE — THE NAME "UTAH" — EARLY
EXPLORATIONS — CORONADO AND CARDENAS — ESCALANTE AND
DOMINGUEZ — DISCOVERY OF GREAT SALT LAKE — THE FUR TRADERS
— ACTUAL SETTLEMENT — THE MORMON BATTALION — "WEST-
WARD HO" 21
CHAPTER II
INDIAN TRIBES OF UTAH
ORIGIN OF THE NAME "INDIAN"— TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION AT THE BE-
GINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY— INDIANS OF UTAH — THE
SHOSHONE— THE UTE— THE PAIUTE— THE GOSIUTE— THE NAVAJO
— OTHER TRIBES — DISPOSSESSING THE INDIAN — FOREIGN POLICY
TOWARD THE INDIANS — THE UNITED STATES POLICY — ORIGIN OF
THE TREATY SYSTEM — ^TREATY OF 1 849 — EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 86 1
— FIRST SHOSHONE TREATY — THE GOSIUTE TREATY — TREATY OF
1865— TREATY OF M.4RCH 2, 1 868— TREATY OF FORT BRIDGER—
EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 873 — UNCOMPAHGRE RESERVATION — NAVAJO
TREATIES 49
7
8 CONTENTS
CHAPTER III
THE STRUGGLE FOR ADMISSION
UTAH IN MEXICAN TERRITORY — FIRST MOVE FOR STATEHOOD — STATE
OF DESERET — THE SECOND EFFORT — THE THIRD COxNSTITUTION—
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1 872— THE FIFTH EFFORT— THE SIXTH
CONSTITUTION — SUCCESS AT LAST — ENABLING ACT — ELECTION OF
DELEGATES — CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION — THE ELECTION —
PROCLAMATION OF ADMISSION — CONDITIONS IN 1 895 73
PART II
POLITICAL HISTORY
CHAPTER IV
WELLS' FIRST TERM— 1896-1901
STATE GOVERNMENT INAUGURATED — THE INAUGURAL CEREMONIES —
GOVERNOR Vl^ELLS — FIRST LEGISLATURE — GAVEL PRESENTED —
GOVERNOR'S FIRST MESSAGE — IMPORTANT ACTS PASSED — POLITICAL
CAMPAIGN OF 1 896— SECOND LEGISLATURE— SEMI-CENTENNIAL
CELEBRATION — ELECTION OF 1 898— THIRD LEGISLATURE — SPECIAL
ELECTION FOR REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS— POLITICAL CAM-
PAIGN OF 1900 103
CHAPTER V
WELLS' SECOND TERM— 1 901 -1905
BEGINNING OF GOVERNOR WELLS' SECOND TERM— FOURTH LEGISLA-
TURE—GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE — ELECTION OF UNITED STATES SEN-
ATOR— LAAVS ENACTED— ELECTION OF 1902— FIFTH LEGISLATURE—
WELLS' LAST MESSAGE — THE SESSION LAWS — CARBON COUNTY
STRIKE — GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION CALLING OUT THE NATIONAL
GUARD — LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION — POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
OF 1 904 121
CHAPTER VI
CUTLER'S ADMINISTRATION— 1905-1909
SKETCH OF GOVERNOR CUTLER — SIXTH LEGISLATURE — THE GOVERNOR'S
MESSAGE — ACTS PASSED — SUTHERLAND ELECTED SENATOR — LEWIS
CONTENTS 9
AND CLARK EXPOSITION — FIRE AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE —
THE OGDEN STORM — ELECTION OF 1906 — SEVENTH LEGISLATURE —
GOVERNOR CUTLER URGES A STATE CAPITOL — LAWS ENACTED —
JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION — POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1908 135
CHAPTER VII
SPRY'S FIRST TERM— 1909-1913
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GOVERNOR SPRY — EIGHTH LEGISLATURE— LEGAL
HOLIDAYS — LAWS ENACTED — A SHORTAGE — SEATTLE EXPOSITION —
IRRIGATION EXPOSITIONS — ELECTION OF 1910 — NINTH LEGISLA-
TURE — GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE — LAWS ENACTED — POLITICAL CAM-
PAIGN OF 1 91 2 — THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS — THE STATE TICK-
ETS — ELECTION RETURNS 1 5 I
CHAPTER VIII
SPRY'S SECOND TERM— 1913-1917
SPRY's second INAUGURATION^ — TENTH LEGISLATURE — THE GOVER-
NOR'S MESSAGE — CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS CREATED — IMPORTANT
ACTS PASSED — HATCHTOWN DAM DISASTER — ELECTION OF 1914 —
ELEVENTH LEGISLATURE — SPRY ON STATE FINANCES — LAND FUNDS
AND INCOMES — LAWS ENACTED — INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITIONS — POLIT-
ICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1916 — NATIONAL CONVENTIONS — STATE CON-
VENTIONS — THE ELECTION 1 65
CHAPTER IX
BAMBERGER'S ADMINISTRATION
SKETCH OF GOVERNOR BAMBERGER — TWELFTH LEGISLATURE — GOV-
ERNOR'S MESSAGE— THE SESSION LAWS — ELECTION OF 1918 — THIR-
TEENTH LEGISLATURE — MESSAGE OF 1919 — LAWS ENACTED — ARBOR
DAY— governor's PROCLAMATION— CHANGE IN OFFICE— THE UTA-
CARBON 179
CHAPTER X
PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
DUTY OF THE STATE — EARLY CONDITIONS IN UTAH — THE PENITEN-
TIARY — CONVICT LABOR — ROAD BUILDING — GRATUITIES — INDUS-
TRIAL SCHOOL — MENTAL HOSPITAL — SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND
BLIND — APPROPRIATIONS FOR EACH INSTITUTION — CONSTITU-
10 CONTENTS
TIONAL PROVISIONS— FEEBLE MINDED — MISCELLANEOUS CHARI-
TIES 1 93
CHAPTER XI
STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
FIRST MOVE FOR A CAPITOL — DONATION OF THE SITE — GOVERNOR CUT-
LER'S MESSAGE OF 1907 — SELECTING PLANS — SELECTING MATERIALS
—AWARDING CONTRACTS— MORE GROUND NEEDED— MONOLITHIC
COLUMNS — LAYING THE CORNER STONE — THE BALANCE SHEET —
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS — FORMAL OPENING AND RECEP-
TION 209
PART III
INDUSTRIAL
CHAPTER XII
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS
GOODYEAR'S "truck patch" — PIONEERS OF 1 847 — SEASON OF 1848^
NECESSARY FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL FARMING — TYPES OF FARMING
— IRRIGATION — EARLY LAWS RELATING TO IRRIGATION — THE CAREY
ACT — RECLAMATION SERVICE — IRRIGATING BY WELLS — DRY FARM-
ING — EXPERIMENT STATIONS — FARM PRODUCTS — LIVE STOCK
INTERESTS — NATIONAL FORESTS — THEIR INFLUENCE ON AGRI-
CITLTURE — HORTICULTURE — DAIRYING — BEES AND HONEY —
POULTRY 223
CHAPTER XIII
UTAH'S MINING INDUSTRY
CHARACTER OF UTAH'S MINERAL WEALTH — SUTTER's MILL RACE —
OPPOSITION OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS — FIRST PROSPECTING IN
UTAH— FIRST ORE SHIPMENTS— NEW MINING DISTRICTS— IN BING-
HAM CANYON — THE COPPER MOUNTAIN — UTAH'S METAL PRODUC-
TION — ASSAY OFFICE — COAL MINING — MINE DISASTERS — IM-
PROVED CONDITIONS — RARE MINERALS — MISCELLANEOUS
FACTS 253
CHAPTER XIV
COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURING
TRADE DISCOURAGED BY CHURCH LEADERS — FIRST MERCHANTS — BAR-
TER AND DUE BILLS — SALE OF GOVERNMENT STORES AT CAMP FLOYD
CONTENTS 11
— ZION'S co-operative mercantile institution — ADVENT OF
THE RAILROAD — MANUFACTURING — FIRST MILLS AND INDUSTRIES
— MANUFACTURING PROGRESS — SUGAR— CEMENT AND CLAY PROD-
UCTS — BRICKMAKING — PACKING HOUSES — FLOUR MILLS — IRON
WORKS — SHEET METAL WORKS — CANDY FACTORIES — SALT — KNIT
GOODS — MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES — ELECTRIC POWER. .273
CHAPTER XV
FINANCIAL HISTORY
COINING MONEY — PUBLIC REVENUES — COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS
1895 AND 1919— TAXATION AND INCOME— THE BONDED DEBT— THE
SECURITY — BANKING, ORIGIN OF — UNITED STATES BANKS— UTAH
BANKS— LIST OF BANKS IN 1919 — CAPITAL STOCK — DEPOSITS —
BANK OFFICIALS, ETC 295
CHAPTER XVI
TRANSPORTATION— OX TEAM TO RAILROAD
PROGRESS SINCE CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE'S DAY — EARLY TRAILS — THE
OREGON TRAIL — FREIGHTING — STAGE LINES — THE PONY EXPRESS —
BEN HOLLADAY — EDUCATING A TENDERFOOT — PASSING OF THE
STAGE COACH — THE RAILROAD ERA — UNION PACIFIC — UTAH'S
MEMORIAL— FIRST MOVE BY CONGRESS— FINAL ACTION— CREDIT
MOBILIER — CENTRAL PACIFIC— THE GOLDEN SPIKE — MISCELLANE-
OUS FACTS ABOUT THE UNION PACIFIC — GOLDEN SPIKE JUBILEE —
UTAH CENTRAL — UTAH SOUTHERN — UTAH SOUTHERN EXTENSION
— UTAH NORTHERN — OREGON SHORT LINE — DENVER & RIO GRANDE
— LOS ANGELES & SALT LAKE — WESTERN PACIFIC — MINOR RAIL-
ROADS — ELECTRIC LINES — MILEAGE AND VALIDATION IN 1918. .^21;
PART IV
EDUCATIONAL
CHAPTER XVII
UTAH'S SCHOOL SYSTEM
FIRST SCHOOL IN UTAH— PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM — SCHOOL LANDS
GRANTED BY CONGRESS — SCHOOL BUILDINGS — VOCATIONAL EDUCA-
TION — COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE — UNIVERSITY OF UTAH — ^DR.
JOHN R. PARK — UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS AND THEIR COST — APPRO-
12 CONTENTS
PRIATIONS — AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE — CEDAR CITY BRANCH —
APPROPRIATIONS— PUBLIC LIBRARIES 359
CHAPTER XVIII
PRIVATE AND DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS
FEW PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN UTAH— BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY—
BRIGHAM YOUNG COLLEGE — LATTER-DAY SAINTS UNIVERSITY —
ACADEMIES — KARL G. MAESER— CATHOLIC SCPIOOLS — ST. MARY'S
ACADEMY — SACRED HEART ACADEMY — ALL HALLOWS COLLEGE —
ST. ANN'S ORPHANAGE — PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS — PROTESTANT
SCHOOLS — WASATCH ACADEMY — MISSION SCHOOLS — WESTMIN-
STER COLLEGE — YOUNG MEN'S ACADEMY 389
CHAPTER XIX
THE PRESS OF UTAH
ORIGIN OF THE NEWSPAPER — FIRST NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES
—UTAH'S FIRST NEWSPAPER — ^THE SECOND VENTURE — OTHER EAR-
LY NEWSPAPERS — LIST OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS IN 1919 —
CHARACTER OF THE UTAH PRESS 41 1
PARTY
MILITARY
CHAPTER XX
UTAH IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN
SPANISH TYRANNY IN CUBA — REVOLT OF 1829 — THE LOPEZ EXPEDI-
TIONS — THE TEN YEARS' WAR — WEYLER's CRUELTY — PROTESTS
OF THE UNITED STATES — DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE — CONGRESS
DECLARES WAR — CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS — UTAH'S RESPONSE —
BATTERY A — BATTERY B — BATTERY RECRUITS — FIRST CAVALRY
TROOP — ROUGH RIDERS — SECOND ENGINEERS — BATTERY C —
ROSTER OF EACH ORGANIZATION — IN THE PHILIPPINES — AGAINST
THE INSURGENTS — CASUALTIES — THE HOME COMING — ORGAN-
IZATIONS THAT REMAINED IN THE UNITED STATES — RESOLUTION
OF THANKS 429
CHAPTER XXI
NATIONAL GUARD— WAR WITH GERMANY.
TERRITORIAL MILITIA — WHEN THE STATE WAS ADMITTED — MILITIA
LAWS— ON THE MEXICAN BORDER — WAR WITH GERMANY — THE
CONTENTS 13
CAUSES — STATE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE — COUNTY COUNCILS — RAIS-
ING THE ARMY — CONDITIONS IN UTAH — MARINE CORPS — IN
ACTUAL SERVICE — THE FINANCIAL SIDE — LIBERTY LOANS — WAR
SAVINGS STAMPS — WOMEN'S WORK — FORT DOUGLAS^TWO UTAH
MEN — THE ARMISTICE 449
PART VI
COUNTIES
CHAPTER XXII
THE COUNTIES OF UTAH
FIRST COUNTIES IN UTAH — ACT OF MARCH 3, 1 852 — NEW COUNTIES
CREATED — PRESENT DAY COUNTIES — BEAVER — BOXELDER — CACHE
— CARBON — DAGGETT — DAVIS — DUCHESNE — EMERY — GARFIELD —
GRAND — IRON — JUAB — KANE — HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH —
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — TOPOGRAPHY — DATE OF ORGANIZA-
TION—EARLY SETTLERS— RESOURCES — OCCUPATIONS — TRANSPOR-
TATION AND WEALTH, ETC 467
CHAPTER XXIII
COUNTY HISTORY, CONTINUED
MILLARD COUNTY — MORGAN — PIUTE — RICH — SALT LAKE — SAN JUAN
— SANPETE — SEVIER — SUMMIT — TOOELE — UINTA — UTAH — WA-
SATCH — WASHINGTOxN^ WAYNE — WEBER — BRIEF HISTORY OF
EACH— WHEN ORGANIZED— EARLY SETTLEMENTS — INDIAN WARS
— OCCUPATIONS — RESOURCES' — TRANSPORTATION — TOPOGRAPHI-
CAL FEATURES — TOWNS AND VILLAGES — POPULATION AND WEALTH,
ETC 503
CHAPTER XXIV
SALT LAKE CITY
LOCATION — LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE — FIRST SETTLEMENT — THE
BOWERY — SURVEYING THE CITY — THE OLD FORT — PIONEER HOME
LIFE — INCORPORATION — LIST OF MAYORS — THE COUNCIL HOUSE — ■
THE "SPANISH" WALL— TEMPLE AND TABERNACLE— HOTELS AND
THEATERS — PUBLIC UTILITIES — PUBLIC LIBRARY — THE POSTOFFICE'
—SOME SALT LAKE CLUBS— A FEW FIRST THINGS— SALT LAKE CITY
TODAY 551
14 CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXV
THE COUNTY SEATS
FOUR CLASSES OF MUNICIPALITIES IN UTAH — ^THE COUNTY SEATS —
BEAVER — BRIGHAM — LOGAN— PRICE — MANILA — FARMINGTON —
DUCHESNE — CASTLE DALE — PANGUITCH — MOAB — PAROWAN —
NEPHI — KANAB — FILLMORE — MORGAN — JUNCTION — RAN-
DOLPH — MONTICELLO — MANTI — RICHFIELD — COALVILLE —
TOOELE — VERNAL — PROVO — HEBER — ST. GEORGE — LOA —
OGDEN — FACTS REGARDING SETTLEMENT — INCORPORATION — BUSI-
NESS INTERESTS— SCHOOLS — CHURCHES— RAILROADS, ETC 589
CHAPTER XXVI
CITIES AND INCORPORATED TOWNS
INCORPORATED CITIES AND TOWNS IN 1915 — GENERAL LAW OF 1 884 —
ALPINE— AMERICAN FORK— AURORA— BEAR RIVER CITY— BINGHAM
— BOUNTIFUL — CASTLE GATE — CEDAR CITY — CENTERFIELD — CLARK-
STON — CORINNE — DELTA — ELSNORE — EMERY — ENTERPRISE —
EPHRAIM—ESCALANTB— EUREKA— FAIRVIEW—FERRON— FIELDING
— FOUNTAIN GREEN — GARLAND — GOSHEN — GRANTSVILLE — GREEN
RIVER— GUNNISON— HELPER— HIAWATHA — HINCKLEY— HUNT-
INGTON— HURRICANE— HYDE PARK— HYRUM— KAMAS — KANOSH
— KAYSVILLE — LEHI — LEVAN — LEWISTON — MAMMOTH — MARYS-
VALE — MAYFIELD — MENDON — MERCUR — MIDVALE — MIDWAY —
MILFORD — MINERSVILLE — MONROE — MORONI — MOUNT PLEASANT
— MURRAY — MYTON — NEWTON — OPHIR — ORANGEVILLE — PARA-
DISE — PARK CITY — PAYSON — PLEASANT GROVE — PROVIDENCE — RED-
MOND — RICHMOND — ROOSEVELT — SALEM — SALINA — SANDY —
SANTAQUIN^SCIPIO — SCOFIELD — SMITHFIELD — SPANISH FORK —
SPRING CITY — SPRINGVILLE — TREMONTON — WASHINGTON —
WELLSVILLE — WILLARD — OTHER TOWNS — SETTLEMENT — IN-
DUSTRIES — POPULATION. ETC 629
PART VII
PROFESSIONS
CHAPTER XXVII
BENCH AND BAR OF UTAH
ORIGIN OF CIVIL LAW — PURPOSE OF THE COURTS — TENDENCY TO CRITI-
CIZE — THE LAWYER AS A CITIZEN — TERRITORIAL COURTS — EARLY
CONTENTS 15
JUDGES — PROBATE COURTS — LATER APPOINTMENTS OF JUDGES —
UNDER THE CONSTITUTION — SUPREME COURT — DISTRICT COURTS —
THE HILLSTROM CASE — STATE LAW LIBRARY — UTAH STATE BAR
ASSOCIATION 677
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF MEDICINE — PRACTICE IN ANCIENT CHINA —
IN EGYPT — AMONG THE HEBREWS — IN INDIA — GREECE AND ROME
—THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH — IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY — MOD-
ERN PROGRESS — THE PIONEER DOCTOR — HIS CHARACTER AND
EQUIPMENT — EARLY UTAH PHYSICIANS — MEDICAL SCHOOLS —
UTAH STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION — IRREGULAR SCHOOLS — HOME-
OPATHY 693
CHAPTER XXIX
OSTEOPATHY AND CHIROPRACTIC 713
PART VIII
RELIGIOUS AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER XXX
CHURCH HISTORY
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN COMPILING CHURCH HISTORY — THE
LATTER-DAY SAINTS— CATHOLIC CHURCH— EPISCOPAL CHURCH—
THE PRESBYTERIANS— CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH— METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH — OTHER DENOMINATIONS — STATISTICS,
ETC 723
CHAPTER XXXI
FRATERNAL AND CIVIC SOCIETIES
EARLY FRATERNAL SPIRIT — SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER — INTEREST IN
THE SUBJECT LIMITED — MASONIC FRATERNITY — MASONRY IN
UTAH — INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS — ITS ORIGIN — ODD
FELLOWSHIP IN UTAH — KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS — GRAND ARMY OF
16 CONTENTS
THE REPUBLIC— women's AUXILIARIES— THE ELKS— OTHER OR-
DERS — women's CLUBS 745
PART IX
MISCELLANEOUS
CHAPTER XXXII
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
purpose of this chapter — GEN. WILLIAM H. ASHLEY — ANDREW
HENRY — JAMES BRIDGER — ^PETER SKEENE OGDEN — "YEAST POWDER
BILL"— SCRATCHING BEN'S NOSE— THE PRIZE POEM, "THE PIO-
NEERS OF UTAH"— UTAH HISTORICAL SOCIETY — THE GOOD ROADS
MOVEMENT — ^THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY — A CURIOUS CAVE — A FEW
UTAH MEN — GEORGE A. SMITH — MOSES THATCHER — WALKER
BROTHERS— JOHN Q. PACKARD— WILLIAM C. A. SMOOT — GEORGE C.
WHITMORE 76 1
CHAPTER XXXni
STATISTICAL REVIE'W
FIRST ACCURATE INFORMATION REGARDING THE GREAT WEST — UTAH
ORIGINALLY MEXICAN TERRITORY — CENSUS OF 1 850— POPULATION
BY COUNTIES — PRINCIPAL CITIES — TERRITORIAL OFFICIALS — ELEC-
TIVE STATE OFFICERS — UNITED STATES SENATORS AND REPRESENTA-
TIVES IN CONGRESS — UTAH'S PRESIDENTIAL VOTE — UTAH
ALTITUDES — A FEW GENERAL FACTS 783
CHAPTER XXXIV
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
CIVILIZED COUNTRIES THE PRODUCT OF EVOLUTION — IMPORTANCE OF
DATES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY — ONE EVENT DEPENDENT UPON
ANOTHER — ILLUSTR.ATIONS — THE SUMMARY 795
PART I
EARLY HISTORY
BRIGHAM YOUNG
Utah Since Statehood
CHAPTER I
UTAH— A GENERAL VIEW
LOCATION — LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE — AREA — BOUNDARIES — TOPOG-
RAPHY — DRAINAGE — GEOLOGY — THE GLACIAL EPOCH — ECONOMIC
GEOLOGY — SOIL AND CLIMATE — THE NAME "UTAH" — EARLY
EXPLORATIONS — CORONADO AND CARDENAS — ESCALANTE AND
DOMINGUEZ — DISCOVERY OF GREAT SALT LAKE — THE FUR TRADERS
— ACTUAL SETTLEMENT — THE MORMON BATTALION — "WEST-
WARD HO."
The State of Utah is rectangular in form, extending from 37
degrees to 42 degrees north latitude and from 109 degrees to 114
degrees west longitude, indented at the northeast corner of Wyoming,
the indentation taking about seven thousand square miles from the
rectangle and leaving Utah an area of 84,970 square miles, as shown
by the United States surveys. Of the forty-eight states in the Union,
Utah is tenth in area, being exceeded in this respect by Texas, Cali-
fornia, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Wyom-
ing and Oregon in the order named. It is larger than all of New
England, nearly as large as the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio com-
bined, and when compared with foreign countries it is almost as large
as Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), more than one-
third as large as France, and nearly six times as large as Switzerland.
On the north it is bounded by the states of Idaho and Wyoming; on
the east by Wyoming and Colorado; on the south by Arizona, and
on the West by Nevada.
TOPOGRAPHY
Utah is divided into two great sections by the Wasatch Mountains,
which enter the state from Idaho and extend in a southerly direction
for about one hundred and fifty miles, the range proper terminating
near Mount Nebo, not far from the geographical center of the state.
21
22 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
From that point the dividing highland continues southward as the
great "High Plateau" to the central portion of Arizona.
That part of the state lying east of the Wasatch Mountains and the
"High Plateau" contains all of the high and serrate mountains, the
most noted of which are the Uinta Mountains (also written Uintah),
in the extreme northeastern part, the highest in the state. Gilbert
Peak of this range has an elevation of 13,687 feet above the sea level,
and four other peaks are over thirteen thousand feet in height. A
peculiarity of the Uinta Range is that its general trend is from east
to west, nearly all the other chains of the Rocky Mountain system
trending north and south.
About one hundred and twenty-five miles south of the Uinta
Mountains are the Roan or Brown Cliffs, which also extend in an
easterly and westerly direction. Between the Uinta Mountains and
the Brown Cliffs is a broad, fertile valley, once known as "Brown's
Hole" or "Brown's Park," watered by the Green, Duchesne and
White rivers and their tributary creeks. South of the Brown Cliffs
the surface is broken by a number of small ranges, such as the Abajo,
Henry and La Sal mountains; the Book, Coal and Orange cliffs; the
Elk Ridge, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the San Rafael Swell.
A large part of the western half of the state lies in the "Great
Basin," much of which is relatively level, with small mountain ranges
here and there half buried in the sedimentary deposits of the depres-
sion known as "Lake Bonneville," which deposits belong to the Pleis-
tocene period. Among the desert mountain ranges in this section are
the Antelope, Cedar, Clifton, Confusion, Deep Creek, Detroit, Dug-
way, Fish Springs and Thomas mountains, and a few of lesser note.
In the northwest corner are the Blue Springs and North Promontory
ranges and Hansel, Tecoma, Raft River, Grouse Creek and Goose
Creek mountains, the last named extending northward into Idaho.
In the southwestern part are numerous ranges of small mountains,
including the Beaver Dam, Cricket, Harmony, Iron, Mineral, Paro-
wan. Pine Valley and Wah Wah mountarns and some others, and in
this section are several isolated peaks, the best known being Adams
Head, Brian Head, Mount Dutton, Hancock and Hawkins peaks,
Mount Henrv, Indian Peak, Salmon's Peak and Sugar Loaf Butte.
Utah is drained bv a large number of rivers and creeks, the most
important of which is the Colorado River. This stream is formed
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 23
by the junction of the Green and Grand rivers, near the southeast
corner of Wayne County, and it receives the waters of all the eastern
half of the state except the region north of the Uinta Mountains,
which is drained by the Bear River into Great Salt Lake. The waters
of the northwestern part finally reach the Pacific Ocean through the
Snake and Columbia rivers. In the central part there are two drain-
age systems — one through the Provo River and a number of Canyon
streams into Utah Lake, thence through the Jordan River to the
Great Salt Lake, and the other through the Sevier River to Sevier
Lake. The Sevier River is formed near the line between Kane and
Garfield counties by the union of a number of small streams. It
flows in a northerly course through Sanpete County into Juab, where
it turns to the southwest and empties into Sevier Lake, in the central
part of Millard County. The southwestern part is drained by the
Rio Virgin and its tributaries, the waters uniting with the Colorado
River in Southeastern Nevada.
Except near their sources, most of the larger streams flow through
deep canyons. This is particularly true of the Colorado, Green,
Grand, Logan, Provo, San Juan, Sevier and Webster rivers. The
natural scenery along these rivers is of the most romantic, picturesque
and awe-inspiring character and bears testimony to the worth of the
slogan, "See America First."
No complete, connected geological survey of Utah has ever been
published, but numerous reconnaissances have been made under the
auspices of the United States Geological Survey, from which much
information regarding the geologic structure of the state may be
obtained. Between the years 1868 and 1873, Prof. F. V. Hayden
made a somewhat superficial survey of the mountainous districts of
the West and Northwest, and in the course of his investigations he
touched the northeastern part of Utah. Later Dr. Charles A. White
made a more thorough examination of the Uinta Mountains and made
the first report on the character and texture of the "Uinta Sandstone."
In 1886 Doctor White conducted some explorations in Sanpete and
Juab counties, using the town of Moroni as a base of operations, and
reported on the fossils of the Cretaceous and earlier Tertiary forma-
tions in that section.
The same year (1886) Charles D. Walcott made an examination
of the Cambrian strata in Southwestern Utah and southeast of
24 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Toquerville, Washington County, found a number of interesting
fossil specimens in the Permian rocks. Five years after this Doctor
White and T. W. Stanton explored the Bear River Valley and also
made a report on the Upper Cretaceous rocks they found exposed
along the Weber River near Coalville, Summit County.
In 1892-93 Whitman Cross explored and described the laccolitic
(volcanic) mountains of Eastern Utah, particularly the Henry Moun-
tains in the eastern part of Garfield County, supplementing work done
by Mr. Gilbert some years earlier. George H. Eldridge made sev-
eral reports upon the asphaltum and bituminous rock deposits; J. M.
Boutwell, on the oil and asphalt prospects in the Salt Lake Basin;
Waldemar Lindgren, on the ore deposits; D. C. Adams on the salt
industry and saline resources; and Maj. J. W. Powell, King, Gilbert
and others of the United States Geological Survey have at some
period or another made reports or issued bulletins on some of the
geologic features or formations.
From these various reconnaissances, geologists are inclined to the
theory that at some remote period in the geologic past, the Pacific
Ocean extended as far eastward as the Rocky Mountains; that
throughout the Paleozoic and greater part of the Mesozoic eras
numerous rivers carried debris from the mountain slopes and
deposited it in great quantities at their estuaries, where it was caught
up by the tides and borne farther out to sea. After this process- had
gone on for ages, the bottom of this primeval ocean was lifted up by
volcanic action, the Cascade, Coast and Sierra Nevada ranges of
mountains appearing above the surface of the waters. This left a great
inland sea, the waters of which were finally carried off by streams that
cut their way from the interior to the ocean. Great Salt Lake and
Sevier Lake are but the remnants of this great inland sea, their waters
being unable to find their way to the Pacific.
Subsequent volcanic eruptions, about the middle of the Tertiary
period, lifted the summits of the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada
Mountains still higher above the waters and formed the immense
lava beds that extend from northern California far into British
Columbia. These great upheavals, and others which followed, lifted
up many of the mountain ranges of Utah. This theory is sustained by
the numerous evidences of volcanic action to be found in the state.
The laccolitic mountains described by Mr. Cross in 1892, belong to
this type. Gilbert's opinion is that these mountains were formed in
the Plain or High Plateau, where the underlying horizontal strata
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 27
of sedimentary deposits were lifted up by molten masses from great
depths. The highest of such mountains reach an elevation of i i,ooo
feet or more above the sea level. Mount Ellen, of the Henry Moun-
tains, has an altitude of 11,250 feet, and Mount Pennell, of the same
range, is only 100 feet lower.
In the southwestern part of the state, in Beaver, Iron and Wash-
ington counties, the western part of Garfield and Kane and the south-
eastern part of Millard, geologic maps show a number of peaks
marked "Extinct Volcano" or "Old Crater," abundant proof that
all this region was once the scene of volcanic action.
The Great Basin and the lowest valleys of Utah represent the
original surface, before the inclosing mountains were pushed upward
by the great upheavals about the middle of the Tertiary period. In
these valleys the surface rests upon a foundation of rocks (usually
aqueous), varying in thickness and character in different localities.
Along the Green River the sedimentary beds are classified as belong-
ing to the Pliocene era of the Tertiary period, while in the inter-
montane valleys the sediment belongs to an earlier formation, prob-
ably the Miocene or Eocene period. The sedimentary deposits of the
Great Basin were not formed until afterward, being classified as
Pleistocene or Middle Quarternary.
THE GLACIAL EPOCH
After the period of volcanic action — just how long after geologists
can only conjecture — another great geologic agency effected a change
in a large part of the present State of Utah. Toward the close of the
Tertiary period there was a general lowering of temperature from
about the fortieth parallel of north latitude northward, until the cli-
mate along the northern boundary of Utah was not unlike that in the
vicinity of the Arctic Circle at the present time. Heavy falls of snow
followed each other, drifting into the valleys and depressions where
great masses of ice called glaciers were formed. This condition pre-
vailed all over the central portion of North America. Then came the
period known to geologists as the Pleistocene or "Ice Age." the last
great important geologic change, extending far into the Quarternary
era.
As the temperature again rose, the glaciers began to move slowly
toward a lower altitude. In their progress they carried along with
them soils, bowlders, etc., which were deposited as glacial drift upon
the bed rocks, far from the places where they had first been placed
28 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
by the hand of Nature. The ridges formed in many places by this
glacial drift are called "moraines." The ridge formed along the side
of the glacier is called a "lateral moraine;" that formed where two
gkciers came together, a "medial moraine;" and that where the last
of the ice was dissolved by the rising temperature and the last of the
drift was deposited, a "terminal moraine." Geologists are able easily
to determine by the character of the moraine the class to which it
belongs and thus form a definite idea of the extent of the glacier and
the direction in which it moved.
Some geological writers think that the glacial invasion of Central
North America lasted for 500,000 years, and that the last of the
glacial ice disappeared in what is now the United States at least
25,000 years before the discovery of America by Columbus. At the
close of the Ice Age the area covered by the glaciers was barren of
both animal and vegetable life. As the ice melted under the gradu-
ally rising temperature, the water settled in the depressions and
formed glacial lakes; winds carried the seeds of plants into the bar-
ren region and the simplest forms of vegetation made their appear-
ance. In the State of Utah there are about three thousand square miles
of lakes, and many of the small lakes in the eastern part are unques-
tionably of glacial origin. Representatives of the United States Geo-
logical Survey found evidences of comparatively recent glacial action
in many of the canyons, indicating that Utah was one of the last places
fo be freed from the grip of the Ice Age.
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
Probably no other state in the Union has as great a variety of
geological products of commercial value as Utah. The coal area,
consisting of three great fields, is about fifteen thousand square miles
and the estimated tonnage is 200,000,000,000. The copper mines in
Bingham Canyon are reputed to be the largest and most productive
in the world. The briny waters of the Great Salt Lake are capable of
producing millions of tons of salt, to say nothing of the great deposits
of rock salt in Sevier County and the recently discovered salt bed in
the western part of Tooele County.
Building stone of different kinds is found in various sections of
the state. The capitol building, the Mormon temple and several
other buildings in Salt Lake City are constructed of granite from
the Little Cottonwood Canyon. Sandstone from Red Butte Canyon,
near Salt Lake City, and the gray sandstone from Spanish Fork
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 29 _
Canyon have been used in a number of buildings in several western
cities. Limestone constitutes the greater part of the Wasatch Moun-
tains. That variety known as "Wasatch" limestone is an excellent
building stone. It is rich in calcium carbonate and is extensively used
in the production of carbonic acid gas by the sugar factories, and as a
flux in smelter processes. A fine oolitic limestone is found in abun-
dance in Sanpete County; marble in Cache, Boxelder, Salt Lake,
Utah and some of the other counties; Utah onyx, a calcium carbonate
of great beauty, is found in several counties and is used chiefly for
interior decorations. An excellent quality of roofing slate is quarried
in Slate Canyon, near the City of Provo.
Immense deposits of gypsum are known to exist in Emery, Grand,
Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Sanpete, Sevier, Washington and Wayne
counties and those of Juab, Sanpete and Sevier are being worked, in
the manufacture of plaster.
Gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc are all mined in large quanti-
ties; millions of tons of iron ore await development; graphite, quick-
silver, vanadium, uranium, radium, sulphur, cement rock, phosphate
rock, alunite, asphaltum, bitumen, gilsonite, rare hydrocarbons,
pumice stone and other minerals have all been found within the state
and will be further mentioned in the chapter on the "Mining Indus-
try."
SOIL AND CLIMATE
In many sections of Utah, especially in the upland valleys of the
eastern half, the soil is unusually fertile. Within the area once cov-
ered by the glaciers the character of the soil is dependent in a large
measure upon the composition of the glacial drift. Where the drift
contains a large proportion of alluvium, plant life first appeared after
the disappearance of the ice, and decaying vegetation year after year
has added greatly to the original fertility.
Much of the floor of the Great Basin, which constitutes the west-
ern half of the state, is so strongly impregnated with alkali that the
soil in its natural state is incapable of supporting vegetation.
In 1903 the Legislature authorized the establishment of six experi-
mental farms in the dry farming sections. The farms were located in
Iron, Juab, San Juan, Sevier, Tooele and Washington counties — all
in the Great Basin except the one in San Juan County. Soil surveys
have been made at each of these farms. These surveys show that the
soil of the farms in Iron, Juab, San Juan and Sevier counties has been
30 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
built up mainly by the erosion or weathering of the adjacent mountain
ranges or plateaus. The farm in Tooele County is situated in the
Tooele Valley, an arm or bay of prehistoric Lake Bonneville. Here
the soil is largely composed of sediment washed from the western
base of the Oquirrh Mountains by the waves. The soil of the Wash-
ington County farm was formed by erosion of the terrace country and
the deposit of the sediment in its present position by the Virgin
River. In reviewing these soil surveys, the Utah Conservation Com-
mission, in its report for 1913 says :
"The maintenance of the fertility of the soil is a leading question
in every agricultural state. While the natural fertility of Utah soils
is very high, under incorrect practices there may come a time when
there will be a shortage of some of the more important plant foods.
Nature seems to have provided against this emergency in Utah. Phos-
phates, which are most likely to be eliminated by improper methods
of cultivation, are found in large deposits in Utah, Idaho and Wyom-
ing. The quantity is immense and the availability for plant use is
high. Potash is also found within the state in such a way as to make
it of great agricultural importance. For instance, the waters of the
Great Salt Lake contain thousands of tons of potash, which, by the
employment of proper methods of isolation, may be secured for the
fertilization of Utah soils. Factories will, undoubtedly, be estab-
lished in the near future for the production of this commercial plant
food for the maintenance of our soils. The nitrogenous substances
can readily be obtained from the use of nitrogenous crops on our
farms."
The physical factors that determine the climate of a country are
latitude, elevation, position in relation to large bodies of water, and
position relative to the prevailing winds. The climates of the various
countries of the world are classified as continental, mountain and
marine. Utah's position inland and its altitude, varying from 2,800
feet in the lower portions of the Virgin River Valley in Washington
County to 13,687 feet in the Uinta Mountains, gives to the state all
the essential features of a continental and mountain climate. The
greater portion of the state ranges in altitude from 4,000 to 6,000 feet.
Although latitude is the principal agency in determining tempera-
ture, the altitude and distance from the ocean contribute to a dry
atmosphere and low temperatures in both summer and winter.
In Utah the mean annual temperatures range from 40 degrees in
the extreme northern part to 60 degrees in the low altitudes in the
.^^^^n
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 33
southern portion, or about the same as the temperatures in Southern
New York or Northern Pennsylvania, along the forty-second parallel,
which forms Utah's northern boundary. The temperature in January
is about the same in Utah as in the Middle States, and the July tem-
perature equals that of the Middle Atlantic States.
As a rule, the moisture or precipitation of a place is determined
by its distance from the ocean, the precipitation being lessened if a
mountain range intervenes. This is the case with Utah. The rain-
bearing winds from the Pacific Ocean encounter the Sierra Nevada
Range, which deprives them of most of their moisture, hence the
annual rainfall on the western slope of the Sierras is much greater
than that of the eastern slope, or in the states immediately east of the
range. In Utah the average annual precipitation varies from six to
twenty inches, owing to locality. Two sections of the state — one in
the Great Salt Lake Valley, including parts of Davis, Morgan and
Salt Lake counties, and the other in Kane and Washington counties — •
have an annual precipitation of more than twenty inches. On the other
hand, the southern part of Uinta, Grand, Emery and Wayne, the
eastern part of Garfield, the western part of San Juan, the southern
part of Boxelder, and the western parts of Beaver and Millard have
an annual precipitation of ten inches or less. In all other portions the
precipitation varies from ten to twenty inches. The average number
of rainy days is eighty-nine — that is, days when the precipitation
amounts to o.oi of an inch or more. There are more cloudy days in
winter than in summer, which accounts to some extent for the com-
paratively mild winter temperatures and slightly daily variations.
Taken altogether, for health and comfort, the climate of Utah is
one of its greatest assets.
THE N.-\ME "UTAH"
The word "Utah" is derived from the principal Indian tribe
that inhabited the region now comprising the state. Old Spanish
archives, relating to the occupation and settlement of New Mexico,
in the early part of the Seventeenth Century, contain frequent men-
tion of a tribe of "Yuta" Indians, who "inhabited the country north
of the Moquis." The early orthography of the word is varied. In
the archives alluded to the common spelling was "Yuta," which
some writers think might be called the proper one. In other early
writings the name appears as "Ute," "Youta," "Uta," "Ewtaw,"
"Eutaw," "Utaw," and finally "Utah."
34 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
About two years after the Mormon settlement at Salt Lake City
was founded in 1847, the settlers adopted a constitution for the
"State of Deseret," extending from latitude 33 degrees to 42 degrees
and from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevadas,
and including a small portion of Southern California. As this vast
tract embraced much of what was then known as the "Great Ameri-
can Desert," many people think that the name "Deseret" was derived
from that fact, but this is an erroneous conclusion. The name
"Deseret" is taken from the Book of Mormon. In the Book of
Ether, which gives an account of the people who crossed over the
great water from the Old World to the New, it is written: "And
they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a
honey bee."
When Congress passed the act providing for a territorial govern-
ment (approved on September 9, 1850), the old Indian tribal name
was adopted, and in January, 1896, the State of "Utah" was admitted
into the Union. The beehive represented upon the great seal of state
is a reminder of the name selected by the people for their proposed
state before Congress created the Territory of Utah.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS
While most of the early European explorers confined their efforts
to the lands along the Atlantic coast, at least two Spanish expedi-
tions penetrated far into the interior about the middle of the Six-
teenth Century. One of these was the expedition of Hernando de
Soto, who discovered the Mississippi River in the spring of 1841,
and almost contemporary with it was the expedition led by Fran-
cisco Vasquez de Coronado, governor of New Gallicia. one of the
northern provinces of Mexico. Coronado has been described as
"cold, cruel and ambitious, always looking for an opportunity to
distinguish himself and win favor with his royal master." Such an
opportunity came to him when four men reached New Gallicia and
,gave a circumstantial account of an expedition which had left
Florida some eight years before, of which they claimed to be the
only survivors. One of the four, called Estevan or "Stephen the
Moor," told Coronado of opulent cities, known as the "Seven cities
of Cibola," of which he had heard frequent mention while captive
among the Indians, but which he had never seen.
In Estevan's report Coronado saw an opportunity to win fame
and establish himself more firmly at court. In the spring of 1540,
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 35
with 300 Spanish soldiers and 800 Indians, he left New Gallicia and
took up his march for the seven cities. Three accounts of the expedi-
tion were afterward published — one by Coronado himself, one by
his lieutenant, Jaramillo, and one by a private soldier named Casta-
neda. Although there is a lack of harmony in these reports in many
essential particulars, all agree that Coronado reached the seven
cities to find only seven insignificant villages, with no lofty build-
ings such as had been described, no gold, no silver, no valuable jewels.
The majority of those who have investigated the route of Coronado
locate these villages in the southwestern part of New Mexico, not
far from the present Town of Zuni. X^jLGSJ O
From Cibola Coronado sent out expeditions in various direc-
tions. One of thestf, consisting of twenty men under Don Pedro de
Tobar, went in a northwesterly direction until it arrived at the Moqui
villages. Tobar learned from the Moqui Indians of a great river
farther northward, the banks of which were inhabited by a tribe of
very large people, and carried the information back to his com-
mander at Zuni. Coronado then despatched Capf. Garcia Lopez de
Cardenas with twelve men to explore the river. According to
Castaneda's narrative, Cardenas pursued a northwesterly course to
the Moqui villages, where he obtained guides and provisions for the
march across the desert which the Indians informed him lay between
their villages and the river. After twenty days the expedition came
to the river, "whose banks are of such a height that it seemed to them
they were three or four leagues up in the air."
This description of the river and the route followed by Cardenas
from Zuni, makes it almost certain that he struck the Colorado near
the head of the Grand Canyon. For three days he ascended the river
in search of a crossing. This brought him into what is now San
Juan County, Utah, and so far as known he and his twelve Spaniards
were the first white men to set foot upon Utah soil.
ESCALANTE AND DOMINGUEZ
On July 29, 1776, Silvestre Velez de Escalante, ministro doctri-
nero of Zuni, and Francisco Antanasio Dominguez, visitador comi-
sario of New Mexico, left Santa Fe for the purpose of discovering a
direct route to Monterey, on the Pacific coast. Besides the two
priests there were seven men in the party. Their course was at first
northwest and was identical with what later became the old Spanish
trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. They then turned northward.
36 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
struck the Dolores River and followed it some distance.. About the
9th of September they crossed the White River (called by them the
San Clemente) and entered the present State of Utah. Two days
later they reached the Green River, to which they gave the name of
Rio de San Buenaventura, and followed it toward the southwest for
a distance of ten leagues. There they turned westward and by a
devious course ascended the Uinta River, crossed the Duchesne,
passed through the Wasatch Mountains, struck the river called by
them Purisima (now the Provo), and on the 23d came within sight
of Utah Lake. This part of their route was afterward surveyed and
mapped by Capt. J. N. Macomb of the United States topographical
engineers, as the old Spanish trail from Santa Fe to the Great Salt
Lake.
On the shores of Utah Lake they found a tribe of friendly Indiana
who lived in willow huts, and who told them that the name of the
lake was Timpanogos and that it was connected with a great salt lake
farther north. To these Indians Escalante gave the name of Timpa-
nois. After a brief rest at the Indian village, they obtained a supply
of provisions and on the 26th resumed their journey. They passed
over to the Sevier River, which they named the Santa Isabel,
descended that stream for some distance, or until it entered Sevier
Lake, and came to the Escalante Desert, in what is now Iron County,
Utah. They then turned eastward, crossed the Beaver River and
about the middle of October came to the Escalante Valley, in Gar-
field County. There it was decided to abandon the undertaking
and return to Santa Fe. On the 26th they reached the Colorado
River and spent several days in searching for a ford, which they
found near the line between Utah and Arizona, and after many hard-
ships reached Santa Fe on January 2, 1777. The Escalante River,
which flows through Garfield and Kane counties, still bears the name
of one of these early Spanish explorers.
DISCOVERY OF GREAT SALT LAKE
In 1735 Baron La Hontan, lord lieutenant of the French colony
at Placentia, New Foundland, published a narrative of his explora-
tions in America. He tells how in 1689 he sailed up the Long (Mis-
souri) River to the Northwest, where he met four Mozeemlek Indi-
ans, who were held as slaves by another tribe. These slaves described
their country, lying about one hundred and fifty leagues to the south-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 39
west, where there was a large lake of salt water, 300 leagues in cir-
cumference, on the shores of which there were over one hundred
villages and in the valley surrounding the lake "six noble cities."
Some historians regard La Hontan's stories as fables, but in some
way he must have received information about a great salt lake some-
where in the West, and there is good reason to believe that it was
the one now so well known in Utah.
There is a circumstantial account by one Samuel A. Ruddock,
that "in the year 1821 he journeyed from Council Bluffs to Santa Fe,
and thence with a trading party by way of Great Salt Lake to Ore-
gon," but his description of places along the route, the location of
the lake, etc., are so full of errors that his account has never been
given much credence.
From authentic records the fact is well established that the honor
of being the discoverer of this great inland sea belongs to "Jim"
Bridger, the noted scout and frontiersman. Late in the year 1824 a
party of trappers in the employ of the Rocky Mountain Fur Com-
pany were encamped on the Bear River, not far from the present
boundary line between Boxelder and Cache counties. A discussion
arose as to the probable course of the river, and Bridger, then a
youth of eighteen years, was sent to ascertain the truth, a wager
having been made regarding the river's destination. Following the
river he came to the lake, tasted the water and found it salt, after
which he returned to the camp and made his report.
At first it was thought that the lake might be an arm of the
Pacific Ocean, but in the spring of 1826 four men explored the shores
in skin boats and reported that the lake had no outlet. The first
written description of the lake was that made by John C. Fremont
in his report of his expedition of 1843. Six years later an official
exploration was made by Capt. Howard Stansbury, and still later,
another by the United States Geological Survey.
THE FUR TRADERS
In early days the beaver flourished in all the canyons of Utah
and this fact was soon discovered by trappers and traders after the
trade in furs was opened with the Indian tribes of the Northwest and
the Rocky Mountain country. In the spring of 1822 the Rockv
Mountain Fur Company was organized at St. Louis by Gen. Wil-
liam H. Ashley and Andrew Henry. On April 15, 1822, its first
40 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
company of trappers, numbering about one hundred young men, left
St. Louis for the fur country. In this company were James Bridger,
David E. Jackson, Jedediah S. Smith, the four Sublette brothers,
Robert Campbell, James Beckwourth and several others who after-
ward became noted in the annals of the western frontier.
In 1824 General Ashley discovered the South Pass, through
which he led a party of his trappers into the Green River and Bear
River valleys. The next year he explored parts of Colorado and
Utah and established a trading post (Fort Ashley) on the shore of
Utah Lake, which became known as Lake Ashley. About the time
Ashley built this post, Peter Skeene Ogden, an agent of the great
Hudson's Bay Company, established a trading post about where the
City of Ogden now stands.
Neither Ashley nor Ogden, however, can claim the distinction of
being the first to engage in trapping in Utah. As early as 1820 a
trapper named Provost (after whom the Provo River and City of
Provo are said to have been named) was operating in the country
about Utah Lake. Some writers have endeavored to give this
Provost the credit of being the first white man to look upon the
waters of the Great Salt Lake, but the claim is unsupported by trust-
worthy evidence.
On July 18, 1826, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was suc-
ceeded by the firm of Smith, Jackson & Sublette, composed of Jede-
diah S. Smith, David E. Jackson and William L. Sublette. "Jed"
Smith, as the senior partner of the new firm was commonly called,
set out on August 22, 1826, "with his rifle and his Bible, accompanied
by fifteen men," to explore the country to the southwest of the Great
Salt Lake. He followed approximately the route over which the
Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad was afterward built, and in
December reached the San Gabriel Mission, Calif., "their appearance
creating no small commotion." The party wintered in California
and in the spring of 1827 made the return trip by way of the San
Joaquin Valley.
Following the early trappers came Capt. Benjamin L. E. Bonne-
ville, who spent the years from 1832 to 1835 in the Rocky Mountain
country, and who brought the first wagons into Utah. These wagons,
twenty in number, were drawn by oxen and carried cargoes of goods
for the Indian trade. Captain Bonneville's name was given to the
prehistoric lake in the Great Basin.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ACTUAL SETTLEMENT
None of the forts, trading posts or trappers' camps in Utah was
established with a view of founding a permanent settlement, though
the reports of these adventurers, when circulated through the older
states, added to the meager stock of knowledge concerning the Great
West and hastened the march of civilization west of the Missouri
River. Says Chittenden in his History of the American Fur Trade:
"It was the trader and trapper who first explored and established
the routes of travel which are now, and always will be, the avenues of
commerce. They were the 'pathfinders' of the West and not those
later official explorers whom posterity so recognizes. No feature of
western geography was ever 'discovered' by Government explorers
after 1840. Everything was already known and had been known
for a decade. It is true that many features, like the Yellowstone
wonderland, with which these restless rovers were familiar, were
afterward forgotten and were rediscovered in later years; but there
has never been a time until very recently when the geography of the
West was so thoroughly understood as it was by the trader and trap-
per from 1830 to 1840."
The honor of planting the first actual settlement within Utah's
borders belongs to the Latter-day Saints or Mormons, and the story
of that settlement has no parallel in the history of the nation. The
early history of the Mormons, the opposition and persecution they
encountered, their expulsion from Missouri and Nauvoo, 111., has
been told so many times that it is deemed unnecessary to repeat it
in detail here. On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of the
church, and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob while confined'
in jail at Carthage, 111., and in January, 1845, the Legislature of
that state repealed the city charter of Nauvoo, which had been
granted in December, 1840. Early in the year 1846 the hegira from
Nauvoo commenced, and the following winter several thousand
Mormons were gathered at Winter Quarters, where the Town of
Florence, Neb., now stands, a few miles up the Missouri River from
Omaha.
On January 14, 1847, Brigham Young, who had succeeded
Joseph Smith as the head of the church, made known a revelation he
had received regarding the organization of the Camp of Israel and
the journey westward to a new abode. Among other things this
manifesto contained the following:
42 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
"Let the companies be organized with captains of hundreds,
captains of fifties and captains of tens, with a president and his two
counselors at their head, under the direction of the Twelve Apostles.
"Let each company provide themselves with all the teams,
wagons, provisions, clothing and other necessities for the journey
that they can.
"Let each company bear an equal proportion, according to the
dividend of their property, for taking the poor, the widows, the
fatherless and the families of those who have gone into the army, that
the cries of the widow and the fatherless come not up into the cars
of the Lord against this people."
THE MORMON BATTALION
The above allusion to "those who have gone into the army"
referred to the members of the Mormon Battalion. At the time the
exodus from Nauvoo began the war with Mexico was in progress
and Capt. James Allen was sent by the United States Government
to the Mormon camp on the Missouri River in the early summer of
1846 with instructions to raise a battalion of five companies among
the emigrants. The Mormons cheerfully answered the call and
July 16, 1846, four of the companies were mustered into the United
States service. The fifth and last company was mustered in on the
22d and the same day the battalion started for Fort Leavenworth.
At Fort Leavenworth each member of the battalion received a
bounty of $40, the money being taken back to their families by
Col. Thomas L. Kane, a brother of the Arctic explorer. The bat-
talion was assigned to the command of Col. Stephen W. Kearney and
served in New Mexico until January, 1847, when it was ordered to
California. It was then on duty at San Diego, San Luis Rey and
Los Angeles until the close of the war. Some of the members
worked in the construction of Sutter's mill race and were there when
gold was discovered in January, 1848. The battalion was disbanded
at San Diego on March 25, 1848, and the men rejoined their families
at Salt Lake City or on the Missouri River.
"WESTWARD HO"
Immediately following the manifesto of January 14, 1847, six
months after the departure of the battalion, the Saints went to work
on their preparations for the march across the plains. On April 5,
1847, Heber C. Kimball moved out four miles from Winter Quarters
WEST SIDE OF MAIN STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, ABOUT 1867, BETWEEN
SOUTH TEMPLE STREET AND FIRST SOUTH STREET
EAST SIDE OF MAIN STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, 1862, BETWEEN SOUTH
TEMPLE AND EAST FIRST SOUTH STREET, BISHOP HUNTER'S
RESIDENCE ON THE EXTREME LEFT
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 45
with six teams and formed a camp which became the nucleus at
which the first company of emigrants could assemble. There the
Pioneer Company was organized on the i6th. It consisted of 143
men, 3 women, 2 children and 73 wagons. The captains of hundreds
were Stephen Mark-ham and Albert P. Rockwood; of the fifties,
Addison Everett, James Case and Tarlton Lewis; of the tens, Wil-
ford Woodruff, Ezra T. Benson, Phineas H. Young, Like S. John-
son, Stephen H. Goddard, Charles Shumway, James Case, Seth Taft,
Howard Egan, Appleton M. Harmon, John S. Higbee, Norton
Jacobs, John Brown and Joseph Matthews. The three women were
Clara Decker Young, wife of Brigham Young; Harriet Page
Wheeler Young, wife of Lorenzo D. Young; and Ellen Sanders Kim-
ball, wife of Heber C. Kimball.
There was also a military organization, of which Brigham
Young was lieutenant-general; Stephen Markham, colonel; Jesse
C. Little, adjutant; John Pack and Shadrach Roundy, majors, and
Thomas Tanner, captain of artillery. The artillery consisted of one
small field piece, which was at first carried in one of the wagons,
but was afterward mounted upon wheels, where it could be seen by
the Indians in the hope that it would thus be the means of preventing
an attack.
Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt and H. K. Whitney kept diaries,
from which it is learned that the company had 93 horses, 52 mules,
66 oxen, 19 cows, 17 dogs and a few chickens. Most of the men
walked, each carrying a loaded rifle. Upon going into camp at night
the wagons were arranged in an oval or circular form as a corral,
inside of which the live stock was placed to prevent their straying
away. At half past 8 o'clock the bugle sounded the signal for each
man to retire to his wagon for prayers and a half hour later e^'ery
one was asleep except the sentries. At 5 A. M. the bugle again
sounded, when every man arose, assembled for prayers, after which
the horses were fed, breakfast eaten and by 7 o'clock the company
was on the march.
On May i, 1847, the company was at Grand Island; on the ist of
June Fort Laramie was reached; on the 3d the company crossed
to the south side of the Platte River at Fort Laramie, having fol-
lowed the north bank of that stream from the Elkhorn River;
recrossed the Platte on the 14th, 124 miles west of Fort Laramie,
and on the last day of June arrived at the Green River. Fort Bridger
was reached on the 7th of July and there the company rested for two
46 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
days before resuming the journey. It was on this occasion that Jim
Bridger warned Brigham Young that he was going into a desert
and offered $i,ooo for the first bushel of grain grown in the Great
Salt Lake Valley. To this warning Young merely replied: "Wait
and see."
Distance was measured on this trip by an ingenious contrivance
invented by William Clayton and constructed by Appleton M. Har-
mon. It was a combination of cog wheels, springs and screws,
attached to the axle of one of the wagons, and recorded the distance
traveled with perhaps as much accuracy as some of the modern
cyclometers. At intervals along the route landmarks and guide
boards were placed for the information of those who were to follow,
and in most instances the distance traveled was noted.
Leaving Fort Bridger on July 9, 1847, the Pioneer Company
moved in a southwesterly direction. On the 12th President Young
was attacked by mountain fever and, after a formal meeting, Orson
Pratt was directed to take forty-two men and twenty-three wagons
and go on in advance, leaving the others to follow at a more leisurely
gait. Pratt's company passed through Echo and East canyons,
thence over Big Mountain, from the summit of which on July 19,
1847, Orson Pratt and John Brown, who were on horseback a little
way in advance, obtained their first view of the Salt Lake Valley.
From there the trail led over Little Mountain and at noon on the
2 1 St they stopped at a stream which they named "Last Creek,"
because they believed it would be their last halting place before they
entered the valley. Here Erastus Snow arrived with a message from
Brigham Young directing Pratt "upon leaving the mountains to
turn northward and stop at the first place convenient for planting
seed."
That afternoon the little company moved down Emigration
Canyon. Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow, with one horse, were in
advance. The temperature was 96° Fahrenheit and Snow was rid-
ing with his coat thrown across the saddle. When about three miles
from the mouth of the canyon he missed his coat and went back to
look for it. Pratt walked on and was therefore the first of the Latter-
day Saints to enter the valley. The company encamped that night
about a mile and a half above the mouth of the canyon and the next
day Orson Pratt, George A. Smith and seven others rode into the
valley for the purpose of majcing a more thorough examination.
About five miles from the mouth of the canyon they turned north-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 47
ward toward the lake and found what they considered a favorable
spot for planting the first crop. Early on the morning of the 23d
Pratt sent a messenger back to advise President Young of what had
been done, and then led the company into the valley. Camp was
established near the south branch of City Creek, not far from the
intersection of the present State and Third South streets, where
Orson Pratt offered a prayer and dedicated the land and camp to
the Lord.
As the summer was well advanced, no time was to be lost if seed
was to be planted and three plows were soon at work in what is now
Salt Lake City's business district. The ground was so hard that
Seth Taft and Levi Kendall broke their plows. William Carter
and George W. Brown have both claimed the honor of turning the
first furrow, but the preponderance of evidence seems to be in favor
of Carter. While some were engaged in plowing, others built a
dam and cut trenches to convey the water of City Creek to the fields.
Wilford Woodrufif planted the first potato, having brought a bushel
with him from the Missouri River, and a little early corn was
planted — that is, corn which did not require a long season to mature.
About noon of the 24th Brigham Young arrived on the scene and
expressed his satisfaction at what had been accomplished. The next
day being Sunday, no work was done and religious services were
held both in the morning and the afternoon. Thus was established
the first permanent settlement in Utah. Other companies followed
and before the close of the year 1847 nearly three thousand Mormons
were in Salt Lake City. Colonies from Salt Lake City established
settlements in various parts of the state. For an account of these
settlements see the chapters on County History and Cities and
Towns.
CHAPTER II
INDIAN TRIBES OF UTAH
ORIGIN OF THE NAME "INDIAN" — TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION AT THE BE-
GINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY — INDIANS OF UTAH — THE
SHOSHONE — THE UTE — THE PAIUTE — THE GOSIUTE — THE NAVAJO
— OTHER TRIBES — DISPOSSESSING THE INDIAN — FOREIGN POLICY
TOWARD THE INDIANS — THE UNITED STATES POLICY — ORIGIN OF
THE TREATY SYSTEM— TRE.\TY OF 1 849— EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 86 1
— FIRST SHOSHONE TRE.ATY — THE GOSIUTE TREATY — TREATY OF
1865— TREATY OF MARCH 2, 1 868— TREATY OF FORT BRIDGER—
EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 873 — UNCOMPAHGRE RESERVATION — NAVAJO
TREATIES.
Probably more pages have been written concerning the Indian
tribes of North America than on any other subject connected with
American history. To the student of history there is a peculiar fas-
cination in the story of these savage tribes — their legends, traditions
and customs — that makes the topic always one of great interest, and
no history of Utah would be complete without some mention of the
tribes that inhabited the region before the coming of the white man.
When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the New
World in 1492, he believed that he had at last reached the goal of his
long cherished dream, and that the country where he landed was the
eastern coast of Asia. Early European explorers in America, enter-
taining a similar belief, thought the country was India and therefore
called the race of copper colored people they found here "Indians."
Subsequent voyages and more extended explorations disclosed the fact
that Columbus had really discovered a continent hitherto unknown to
the civilized world, thus correcting the error regarding the geog-
raphy, but the name given by the first adventurers to the natives still
remains.
50 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
TRIBAL DISTRIBUTION
The North American Indians are divided into a number of fami-
lies or groups, each of which is distinguished by certain physical and
linguistic characteristics. Frequently each group is subdivided into
a number of tribes, each ruled over by a chief, the whole being banded
together as a sort of confederacy. This is especially true of the larger
families. About the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, when the
first European explorers began to obtain definite knowledge of the
natives, they found the principal Indian families distributed over the
continent as follows:
Far to the north were the Eskimo, a tribe that has never plaj'ed
any conspicuous part in history. These Indians still inhabit that part
of the continent lying north of the sixtieth parallel of latitude and
extending to the Arctic Circle. Some of them have occasionally been
employed as guides by explorers searching for the North Pole, which
has been about their only association with the white man.
South of the Eskimo, within a great triangle roughly bounded by
the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Cape Hatteras and by lines
drawn from those two points to the western end of Lake Superior,
lived the Algonquian family, the most numerous and powerful of all
the Indian nations. Here dwelt the Delaware, Shawnee, Miami, Sac
and Fox, Pottawatomi and other powerful tribes, which yielded
slowly and stubbornly to the advance of the superior race. Almost in
the very heart of the Algonquian triangle — along the upper reaches
of the St. Lawrence River and the shores of Lake Ontario — lived the
Iroquoian group, composed of the Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk.
Seneca and Cayuga tribes. These intrepid, warlike tribes were
known to the early New York colonists as the "Five Nations." Some
years later the Tuscarora tribe was added to the confederacy, which
then took the name of the "Six Nations."
The region south of the Algonquian country, extending from the
Atlantic coast inland to the Mississippi River, was inhabited by the
Muskhogean group, the principal tribes of which were the Cherokee,
Chickasaw, Creek and Choctaw. The Indians of this group have
been classed by ethnologists as among the most intelligent as well as
the most aggressive and warlike of all the North American tribes.
In the great Northwest, about the headwaters of the Mississippi
River and extending westward to the Missouri, lay a large region
inhabited by the Siouan family, composed of a number of tribes
voLUNia^M
LEADERS IN INDIAN UPRISING IN SAN JUAN COUNTY IN 1913
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 53
closely resembling each other in physical appearance and dialect and
noted for their warlike disposition and military prowess.
Between the Siouan territory and that of the Eskimo lived the
Athapascan family, the tribes of which were noted for their skill in
hunting, and south and west of the Siouan tribes lived the "Plains
Indians," composed of tribes of mixed stock. Foremost among these
tribes were the Arapaho, Cheyenne and Pawnee in the northern part
and the Apache, Kiowa and some minor tribes farther to the south.
All these Indians were skilful hunters, vindictive in disposition and
ready to declare war upon the slightest provocation.
West of the Plains Indians dwelt the Shoshonean family, the prin-
cipal tribes of which were the Bannock, Comanche, Shoshone (or
Snake) and Ute. In the extent of territory claimed, this group was
second only to the Algonquian, though numerically it was one of the
smallest on the continent.
Farther to the southward, in what are now the states of Arkansas
and Louisiana was the Caddoan group, and scattered over other parts
of the country were numerous small, independent tribes which in all
probability had separated from some of the great families, but who,
at the time they first came in contact with the white race, claimed kin-
ship with none. These minor tribes were generally inferior in num-
bers, often nomadic in their habits, and consequently are of little
importance historically.
Such, in a general way, was the distribution of the Indian tribes
when the white race began the work of exploring America. In a
history of this nature it is not the design to attempt an extended
account of the Indian race as a whole, but to notice only those tribes
whose history is more or less intimately connected with the territory
comprising the State of Utah.
THE SHOSHONE
The Shoshone (or Shoshoni) is the leading tribe of the Shosho-
nean family and the one from which the family derives its name,
which means "People of the high land," originating no doubt from
the fact that these Indians occupied the country along the eastern
slope of the Rocky Mountains, also certain districts west of the divide.
Some of the explorers and travelers in the West called them the
"Rocky Mountain Indians" and others the "Snake Indians." The
first white men to give any account of the Shoshone were Lewis and
Clark, who came upon a band of them in Western Montana while on
54 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the expedition to the Pacific coast. The explorers called them Snakes,
and in the journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition frequent men-
tion is made of the Snake woman Sac-a-jawea (the bird woman) , who
acted as guide from the headwaters of the Missouri to the source of
the Columbia River. From this woman and others of the tribe, Lewis
and Clark learned that the Shoshone inhabited or claimed the coun-
try now included in western Wyoming and Montana, northern Utah,
southern Idaho, northeastern Nevada and eastern Oregon. Those
living along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains owned ponies
and hunted the buffalo, but they seldom ventured far from their
mountain homes for fear of the warlike tribes of the plains. Those
having no ponies were called "Shoshoko" (walkers), and as they
could not participate in the buffalo hunts, but lived largely upon
roots and plants, they were also known as "Diggers."
A Shoshone tradition says that many years ago they inhabited a
country far to the southward, where the rivers were filled with mon-
sters (from their description these monsters are believed to have been
alligators). Consequently when a Shoshone comes to a strange river
in his wanderings, before attempting to cross it he offers a brief prayer
to the alligators that may be in it to spare his life. After leaving that
southern country they came to the Rocky Mountains, where they
had dwelt for more than a generation before the first white trappers
and traders came into their country. During that period they had
been engaged in frequent wars with the Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne,
Arapaho and other plains tribes.
The Shoshone were superstitious, with a firm belief in ghosts,
fairies, little demons, etc. They also believed in a demon of bad luck,
who resembled a short, stocky human being dressed in goatskin cloth-
ing, and who carried a quiver always filled with invisible arrows. Any
one shot with one of these invisible arrows did not die, but was certain
to suffer a reverse of health or fortune. If a horse went lame, or some
member of the family fell ill, it was considered proof positive that an
invisible arrow had done its work, and the only way to obtain relief
was to remove to another part of the country.
On the other hand, as every poison has its antidote, to hear a
coyote howl, especially at full moon, was an omen of good luck. If a
family removing at such a time to another place, to get rid of the evil
influence of the invisible arrow, was fortunate enough to hear the
howl of a coyote, the head of the family would immediately give the
order to return to the old home, confident that the spell was broken.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 55
There is no positive evidence that the Shoshone tribe proper ever
had a permanent habitation in what is now the State of Utah, but that
they claimed a large tract of country in the northern portion of the
state is shown by the Treaty of Fort Bridger, an account of which is
given further on in this chapter. Several kindred tribes belonging
to the Shoshonean family inhabited various sections of the state, the
most important of which is
The Shoshonean division coming under the general name of "Ute"
was divided into a number of subordinate tribes, most of which were
in turn divided into small bands. Their earliest known habitat em-
braced the territory now comprising central and western Colorado,
eastern Utah, including the eastern part of the Great Salt Lake Val-
ley, and extending southward into New Mexico. In the northeastern
part of Utah, one of these subordinate tribes called the Uinta Utes
intermarried freely with the Bannock and Shoshone Indians, and
those dwelling farther south intermarried with the Apache until they
practically became a part of that tribe, though still retaining their old
name.
According to their traditions, they were among the first Indians
to come into possession of ponies, which intensified their naturally
aggressive character, and they were for many years noted for being a
warlike people. Seven of the Utah tribes were at one time united in
a confederacy under Chief Ta-wai (commonly called "Tabby"), and
while the confederacy existed it enjoyed immunity from attacks by
other tribes.
THE PAIUTE
The term Paiute — also written Piute, Pyute and Pah Ute — is
involved in considerable confusion and has been applied, without dis-
crimination, at one time or another to various tribes of Shoshonean
origin inhabiting a wide range of country in Nevada, eastern and
central Utah, northern Arizona, southern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and
the eastern and southern portions of California. Maj. J. W. Powell,
of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, says the name belongs
exclusively to the Corn Creek Indians of southwestern Utah and the
adjoining sections of Arizona and Nevada.
As to the origin of the name, most writers agree that the word
"Pah," in the language of the tribe signifies "water," hence the name
56 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Pah Ute (or Paiute) means "Water Ute" and indicates that these
Indians once occupied the country in the vicinity of the Great Salt
Lake. The principal subdivisions of the tribe were the Tantawat,
Shivwitz, and one that became affiliated with the Navajo.
The principal chiefs of the Paiute tribe in early days were
Natchez and Winnemucca. A city on the Humboldt River in north-
ern Nevada bears the name of the latter. As a rule the Paiute were
peaceable and inclined to be on friendly terms with the whites, though
in the early '60s they came in hostile contact with the miners and set-
tlers, who they thought were trespassing on their domain.
THE GOSIUTE
This subordinate tribe of the Shoshonean group derived its name
from one of its early chiefs called Go-ship, and some of the early
writers on the native tribes allude to them as Goship Utes, Goshutes
or Goshoots. Originally the tribe was composed of five distinct
bands, viz: The Pagayuet, the Pierruiat, the Torountogat, the Turu-
wint and the Unkagarit. These bands lived together in the region
west of the Great Salt Lake, extending as far southward as the pres-
ent Juab County.
The Gosiute was one of the few Shoshonean tribes that engaged
in agriculture, their principal villages being located near the streams,
where there was arable land, and there is a tradition that they prac-
ticed irrigation in a crude way. Many of them were converted to
the Mormon faith by missionaries. It is a matter of record that in
June, 1874, their interpreter, William Lee, baptized about one hun-
dred of them in Deep Creek, in the southwestern part of Tooele
County.
THE NAVAJO
Ethnologists differ in their opinions regarding the origin of this
tribe. The most generally accepted theory is that the Navajo belong
to the Atahapascan family, whose original habitat was north of the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude. According to tradition, the
family became divided into three groups in the latter part of the Six-
teenth Century. One of these groups continued to occupy their old
home, in what are now the British Provinces of Alberta and Sas-
katchewan; the second crossed over the Rocky Mountains and took
up their abode on the Pacific slope; and the third, composed chieflv
DEVIL'S SLIDE IN WEBER CANYON, ABOUT FORTY MILES EAST OF OGDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 59
of the Apache and Navajo, wandered southward into the country
along and south of the San Juan River.
A Navajo legend says the first clan of the tribe was created by the
Great Spirit in Arizona or Utah, about two hundred and fifty years
before the Spaniards came into the territory, that people had lived
upon the earth before -that time, but they had all been destroyed by
demons and monsters as a punishment for their wickedness.
F. W. Hodge, of the United States Bureau of Ethnology,
advanced the theory some years ago that the tribe is of composite
origin, small groups of Athapascan Indians wending their way into
Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, mingling with other tribes there
until a new nation was formed. He says. the term "Navajo" was
given to these Indians by the Spaniards, and that the tribal name was
"Di-ne," meaning "the real people."
These Indians were known to the Spaniards early in the Seven-
teenth Century. Fray Alonso de Benavides, in a memorial letter to
Philip IV in 1630, refers to them as the "Apache de Navajo" and says
the name means "great seed sowings," or "great fields," indicating
that they had some knowledge of agriculture.
In 1846 Col. Alexander W. Doniphan led an expedition into the
Navajo country and on November 22d of that year concluded a treaty
of peace with the chiefs of the tribe, but it was not lasting. Three
years later, when the United States took possession of the southwest-
ern country at the close of the Mexican war, the Navajo was engaged
in a war with the Pueblo Indians. Col. John M. Washington led
another expedition into their country and on September 9, 1849, made
another treaty of peace, but, like its predecessor, it was soon broken.
In 1863 Col. "Kit" Carson made a raid upon the Navajo, killed many
of their sheep and took most of the men captive to Fort Sumner,
where they remained prisoners of war until 1867. The loss of their
sheep left the Navajo without their principal means of support and
the four years from 1863 to 1867 were years of great privation. Then
the prisoners were released, their country was restored and a new sup-
ply of sheep was given to them by the United States Government.
At one time the Navajo tribe was one of the most powerful in the
Southwest, numbering about twenty-five thousand. The women were
taught the use of the loom by the Pueblo women and soon surpassed
their teachers in the art of weaving. The Navajo blanket is still a
highly prized article in many civilized homes.
60 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
OTHER TRIBES
In addition to the Shoshone, Navajo and the various Ute bands
that dwelt in or claimed territory within the present limits of Utah,
the Apache occasionally extended their hunting expeditions into the
Green and Grand River valleys, and the Comanche (tribal name
Nu-ma) traditions tell how that tribe, once one of the most powerful
of the Shoshonean group, lived west of the mountains in what are now
the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. That must have been
many years ago, as no authentic record has been found to show that
either the Apache or Comanche ever had a permanent habitation in
Utah.
DISPOSSESSING THE INDIAN
Scarcely had the first white settlements in America been planted,
when the work of driving the native red man from his accustomed
haunts was commenced. Often the colonists went through with the
"pleasing fiction" of formally purchasing the land from the Indian
occupants. The Indian knew nothing of commercial transactions or
relative values, and the white man frequently took advantage of his
ignorance to obtain large tracts of valuable land in exchange for a few
insignificant trinkets or gewgaws that appealed to the savage's fancy.
Such bargains were not always lasting and volumes have been written
of the bloody wars that followed the Indian's repudiation of his con-
tracts. Much of the trouble in this respect experienced by the United
States grew out of the policies adopted by the European nations in
dealing with the natives.
When Cortez was commissioned captain-general of New Spain
(Mexico) in 1529, he was directed to "give special attention to the
conversion of the Indians; to see that no Indians be given to the
Spaniards as servants; that they pay such tribute to His Majesty a?
they can easily afTord; that there shall be a good correspondence be-
tween the Spaniards and the natives, and that no wrong shall be
offered the latter either in their goods, families or persons."
Notwithstanding these explicit instructions from the Spanish
Government, during the conquest of Mexico and Central America
the treatment of the natives was distinguished by its cruelty, many of
them being captured and forced to work in the mines as slaves. Don
Sebastian Ramirez, bishop and acting governor after Cortez, made
an honest effort to carrv out the humane orders of the commission.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 61
Antonio de Herrera says that under his administration "the country
was much improved and all things carried on with equity, to the gen-
eral satisfaction of all good men." But the Spanish authorities never
accepted the idea that the Indians owned all the land. That part
actually occupied by them, or that might be necessary to supply their
wants, was conceded to them, all the rest of the land belonging to
Spain by right of discovery, and the policy of dealing with the natives
was based upon this theory.
The English policy treated the Indians as barbarians and in mak-
ing land grants the crown ignored any claim they might make to the
soil. The "Great Patent of New England," issued to the Plymouth
Company in 1620, embraced all the land "from 40° to 48° north lati-
tude and from sea to sea," and made no allusion whatever to the
Indian title. In a vague way this "Great Patent" included all that
part of Utah lying north of the fortieth parallel of latitude. In the
charter granted by Charles I to Lord Baltimore, the grantee was
given authority to "collect troops, wage war on the 'barbarians' and
other enemies who may make incursions into the settlements, and to
pursue them even beyond the limits of their province, and if God
shall grant it, to vanquish and captivate them; and the captives to
put to death, or, according to their discretion, to save."
In fact, nearly all the charters granted by the English crown to
companies or individuals, giving them lands in America, contained
similar provisions. This policy was largely responsible for most of
the Indian wars in the English colonies and the early troubles with
the Indians after the independence of the United States was estab-
lished.
The French had no settled policy regarding the title to the land.
In the letters patent given by Louis XV to the Western Company in
August, 1717, was the following provision:
"Section IV — The said company shall be free, in the said granted
lands to negotiate and make alliance with all the nations of the land,
except those which are dependent on the other powers of Europe; she
may agree with them on such conditions as she may think fit, to settle
among them, and trade freely with them, and in case they insult her
she may declare war against them, attack them or defend herself by
means of arms, and negotiate with them for peace or a truce."
In this section it will be noticed there is nothing said about the
acquisition of lands. As a matter of fact the French cared but little
for the absolute title to the lands, the principal object being the con-
62 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
trol of the fur trade. The friendship and good will of the natives
were therefore of more importance than the title to the land without
that friendship. The trading post did not require a large tract of
land, and outside of the site of the trading house and perhaps a small
garden, the Indians were never molested in their possession. Nor did
the French become the absolute owners of the small tracts at the
trading posts. In case the post was abandoned or removed to another
place, the site reverted to the Indian owners. Under such a liberal
policy it is not surprising that the French traders were nearly always
on friendly terms with the natives.
All the nations of Europe which made discoveries and acquired
territory in America, asserted in themselves and recognized in others
the exclusive right of the discoverer to claim and appropriate the
lands claimed and occupied by the Indians. Says Parkman : "Spanish
civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and neg-
lected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him."
THE UNITED STATES POLICY
The early colonies in this country adhered to the policy of the
European nation to which they acknowledged allegiance. By the
treaty of September 3, 1783, which ended the Revolutionary war, all
the rights and powers of Great Britain descended to the United States,
which soon began the work of modifying the Indian policy of the
mother country. The Articles of Confederation, the first organic law
adopted by the American Republic, contained the provision that:
"The United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole and
exclusive right and power of regulating the trade and managing all
affairs with the Indians not members of any of the states, provided
that the legislative right of any state within its own limits be not
infringed or violated."
On March i, 1793, President Washington approved an act to
regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, in which it was
expressly stipulated: "That no purchase or grant of lands, or any
title or claim thereto, from any Indians, or nation or tribe of Indians,
within the bounds of the United States, shall be of any validity, in
law or equity, unless the same be made by a treaty or convention
entered into pursuant to the constitution."
The penalty for each violation of this act was a fine of $1,000 and
imprisonment not exceeding twelve months. With amendments from
time to time, this law constituted the basis of all relations with the
I
WATERFALL IN OGDEN CANYON
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 65
Indians of the country until it was repealed by the passage of the act
of March 3, 1871. Cyrus Thomas, of the United States Bureau of
Ethnology, says: "By the act of March 3, 1871, the legal fiction of
recognizing the tribes as independent nations, with which the United
States could enter into solemn treaty, was, after it had continued for
nearly one hundred years, finally done away with. The effect of this
act was to bring under the immediate control of Congress the trans-
actions with the Indians and reduce to simple agreements what had
before been accomplished by solemn treaties."
The first treaties made by the United States with the Indian tribes
were merely treaties of peace and friendship. On August 3, 1795, a
great council was held at Greenville, Ohio, at which time the Miami,
Pottawatomi and associated tribes ceded to the United States certain
lands in Ohio and Indiana for military posts and roads. This was the
first cession of lands made to the United States by Indians after the
ratification of the Federal Constitution. A little later the Delaware
Indians ceded a portion of their domain for settlement by the white
people. From that time treaty after treaty followed, each extending
the white man's territory farther to the westward until about the mid-
dle of the nineteenth century, when his progress reached the State of
Utah.
TREATY OF 1849
The first treaty to be negotiated with any of the Utah tribes was
the one concluded on December 30, 1849, with certain bands of the
Ute Indians. Utah had been settled two years before and this treaty
was simply one of peace and friendship, though provision was made
that reservations might be established for the bands that joined in
making the treaty, should occasion require. Under this provision
four reservations were defined by the Indian agents during the next
ten years, to wit: The Spanish Fork, Corn Creek, San Pete and Deep
Creek reservations.
The Spanish Fork reservation was situated on the shore of Utah
Lake, about ten miles southwest of the present City of Provo, and was
the smallest of the four. The Corn Creek reservation was ten miles
in extent from east to west and twelve miles from north to south, the
northeast corner being near the present Town of Fillmore. The San
Pete reservation was located in the southern part of the county of that
name, the fourth standard parallel south forming the southern bound-
ary and one-third of it lying west of the Salt Lake meridian. The
66 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
present Town of Gunnison was almost on the eastern border. The
Deep Creek reservation, as its name indicates, was situated in the
Deep Creek Valley, not far from the Nevada line and in the south-
western part of Tooele County. This reservation was set apart by
Indian Agent Jarvis for the Gosiute band in 1859. The other three
had previously been established by Garland Hurt, while Indian agent,
for/)ther Ute bands.
These four reserves, aggregating 291,480 acres, were ordered to
be sold by act of Congress, approved on May c,, 1864, and brought
623/^ cents per acre.
EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 86 1
By an executive order issued on October 3, 1861, President Abra-
ham Lincoln set apart a reservation for various bands of Ute Indians,
said reservation to include the "entire valley of the Uinta River
within Utah Territory, extending on both sides of said river to the
crest of the first range of contiguous mountains on each side." This
order was subsequently approved by four acts of Congress, the last
under date of May 24, 1868.
The bands for which this reservation was established were the
Pah Vant, Pi-ede, San Pitche, Seuvarit, Timpanoy and Uinta and
some of lesser importance. The remainder of the country claimed by
these bands was afterward taken possession of by the United States
without formal treaty or purchase. The reservation established by
this order extended from the Uinta Mountains on the north to the
divide south of the Strawberry River, and from the Wasatch Moun-
tains on the west to the first range of hills east of the Uinta River. The
lands that passed into the hands of the United States included the
triangle immediately east of the reservation, bounded by the Green
River on the east, the Uinta Mountains on the north, and the first
range of hills east of the Uinta River on the west; also a large tract
of country south of the reservation extending to the western and south-
ern boundaries of Utah, including the greater part of Juab Countv,
all the counties of Carbon, Emery, Millard, Sanpete. Sevier and
Wayne, and the eastern portions of Garfield and Kane.
FIRST SHOSHONE TREATY
On October i, 1863, a treaty was concluded with the western bands
of Shoshone and Bannock Indians by which those tribes ceded to the
United States a large tract of their country, "bounded on the north
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 67
by the Wong-go-ga-da Mountains and the Shoshone River Valley;
on the east by the Po-ho-no-be, or Steptoe, Valley and the Great Salt
Lake Valley; on the south by the Wi-co-bah Mountains and the Colo-
rado Desert, and on the west by the Su-non-to-yah or Smith Creek
Mountains."
The tract thus ceded extended into Nevada, California, Utah,
Idaho and Oregon. That part of the cession in Utah embraced the
territory west of a line drawn from northwest to southeast through
the center of the Great Salt Lake, the southern boundary being fixed
by a line drawn from the southern shore of Great Salt Lake near the
present Town of Garfield to the western boundary of the state. It
included the western half of Boxelder County and a strip about fifteen
miles wide across the northern part of Tooele County.
In taking possession of the ceded lands, the United States entered
into no formal agreement to pay the Indians a stipulated price there-
for, assuming the right to satisfy their claims by assigning to them
such reservations as might appear necessary and supplying them with
food, blankets, etc. The President of the United States was author-
ized to establish reservations in accordance with the terms of the
treaty "when deemed advisable." LTnder this provision, President
Grant established the Lemhi Reservation (in Idaho) on February 12,
1875; President Hayes established the Duck Valley Reservation by
executive order on April 16, 1877, and the Carlin Farms Reservation
on May 10, 1877. Neither of these reservations was in Utah.
THE GOSIUTE TREATY
On October 12, 1863, commissioners of the United States met with
the chiefs of the Gosiute and certain bands of Shoshone Indians at
Tuilla (Tooele) Valley, Utah Territory, and negotiated a treaty by
which those tribes ceded certain described lands in Utah and Nevada.
That portion of the cession within the Territory of Utah lay immedi-
ately south of the Shoshone lands ceded elev.en days before and in-
cluded the greater part of Tooele County and a little of the northern
part of Juab, extending from the Uinta Reservation as established by
the executive order of October 3, 1861, to the western boundary of the
territory.
This region was claimed by the Gosiute band and the only part
taken by the Shoshone chiefs was to acquiesce in the relinquishment
of the lands to the United States. The President was authorized to
establish a reservation for the Gosiute band, but it was not until ten
68 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
years later that President Grant set apart a reservation on the Moapa
River, in Nevada.
TREATY OF 1 865
A treaty was concluded by Superintendent Irish on June 8, 1865,
with certain various bands of Ute Indians, by w^hich they ceded all
claim to lands in Utah except the Uinta Valley Reserve, extending
from the Uinta Mountains to the first watershed south of the
Duchesne River. This treaty merely approved the executive order
of October 3, 1861, which extinguished the Indian title to about one-
third of the State of Utah. Although it was not ratified by Congress,
the Indians generally observed the conditions and, except in rare
instances, did not disturb the white man in his possession.
TREATY OF MARCH 2, 1 868
Early in the year 1868 a number of Ute chiefs were invited to
Washington, D. C, by the secretary of the interior, and there on the
2d of March, a treaty was concluded by which the Capote, Grand
River, Muache, Tabeguache, Uinta, Winnemucca and Yampa Ute
bands ceded to the United States a large tract of their country lying
in Colorado and Utah. That part of the cession in Utah included all
the country east of the Grand River and north of the San Juan River.
A treaty had previously been concluded with the Tabeguache band
on October 7, 1863, at Conejos, Colo., under the provisions of which
that band relinquished its claim to this same territory and accepted a
reservation in Colorado. After the treaty of March 2, 1868. that
reservation was enlarged for the accommodation of the other bands.
TREATY OF FORT BRIDGER
In the spring of 1868 the United States Government appointed
Gen. W. T. Sherman, Geo. A. H. Terry, Gen. C. C. Augur and Gen.
W. S. Harney to visit various Indian tribes in the Rocky Mountain
country and if possible negotiate treaties by which said tribes would
agree to occupy reservations and relinquish claim to the large tracts
of country claimed by them. After negotiating treaties with several
tribes in Wyoming and Montana, the commissioners summoned the
chiefs of the Shoshone and Bannock Indians to council at Fort
Bridger, Wyo. There on July 3, 1868, a treaty was concluded by
which the associated tribes agreed to cede to the United States all
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 69
their lands in Wyoming, Utah and southeastern Idaho except reserva-
tions on the Wind River in Wyoming and at Fort Hall, Idaho.
The Indian lands in Utah ceded by this treaty embrace all that
section of the state north of the Uinta Mountains and extending west-
ward to the cession of October i, 1863. They included that part of
Uinta County north of the Uinta Mountains ; all of Summit, Morgan,
Rich, Cache, Davis and Weber counties, the greater part of Salt Lake
County and the eastern half of Boxelder. The first settlements in
Utah were made in this section twenty years before, but the Indian
title was not officially extinguished until the treaty of Fort Bridger.
This was the last treaty with the Indian tribes of the West before the
enactment of the law of March 3, 1871.
EXECUTIVE ORDER OF 1 873
By an executive order dated March 12, 1873, President Grant
defined the boundaries of a reservation on the Moapa River, in
Nevada, for the Gosiute and certain bands of Paiute Indians. This
reservation was all south of 37"^ north latitude and was not satisfactory
to the Indians. The executive order of March 12, 1873, was there-
fore modified by a new order dated February 12, 1874, which estab-
lished a new reservation, including southwestern Utah, southeastern
Nevada and northwestern Arizona, and the remainder of the Paiute
lands became the property of the United States without formal pur-
chase.
That part of the reservation in Utah included the counties of
Beaver, Iron and Washington, and the western parts of Garfield and
Kane. By subsequent agreements all this territory has passed into the
hands of the United States, except the little Shivwitz Reservation of
one congressional township of land, situated on both sides of the Santa
Clara River, in the southwestern part of Washington County.
UNCOMPAHGRE RESERVATION
An agreement was made with the White River Ute band on
March 6, 1880, in which they ceded certain lands to the United States
and accepted a home upon the Uinta Reservation in Utah. It was soon
discovered that the reservation did not contain sufficient agricultural
land for the use of the increased Indian population, and on January
5, 1882, President Arthur issued his executive order establishing the
Uncompahgre Reservation with the following boundaries: "Begin-
ning at the southeast corner of township 6, range 25 east, Salt Lake
meridian; thence west to the southwest corner of township 6, range
TO UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
24; thence north along the range line to the northwest corner of said
township 6, range 24; thence west along the first standard parallel
south of the Salt Lake base line to a point where said standard paral-
lel will, when extended, intersect the eastern boundary of the Uinta
Reservation as established by C. L. DuBois, United States deputy
surveyor, under his contract dated August 30, 1875 ; thence along said
boundary southeasterly to the Green River; thence down the west
bank of the Green River to the point where the southern boundary of
said Uinta Reservation, as surveyed by DuBois, intersects said river;
thence northwesterly with the southern boundary of said reservation
to a point where the line between ranges 16 and 17 east. Salt Lake
meridian, will, when surveyed, intersect said southern boundary;
thence south between said ranges 16 and 17 east, to the third stand-
ard parallel south; thence east along said third standard parallel to
the eastern boundary of Utah Territory; thence north along said
boundary to a point due east of the place of beginning; thence due
west to the place of beginning."
The Uncompahgre Reserve as thus established embraced prac-
tically the southern half of Uinta County as at present constituted.
By an executive order dated September i, 1887, President Cleveland
set apart the Fort Duchesne Military Reservation — "Beginning at a
point two miles due north of the flagstafif of Fort Duchesne, Utah Ter-
ritory, and running thence due west one mile to the northwest corner;
thence due south three miles to the southwest corner; thence due east
two miles to the southeast corner; thence due north three miles to the
northeast corner; thence due west one mile to the place of beginning,
and containing six square miles."
By an act of Congress, approved on May 24, 1888, a small triangu-
lar tract of the Uinta Reservation lying directly east of the Fort
Duchesne Reserve was restored to the public domain, a considerable
part was allotted to the Indians in severalty, over one million acres
were set apart as forest reserves, and another million acres were
opened to homestead entry. Of the L^ncompahgre reservation, an
act of Congress, approved on June 7, 1897, allotted 12,540 acres in
severalty to the Indian inhabitants and the remainder of the reserva-
tion w'as restored to the public domain.
NAVAJO TREATIES
As early as July 18, 1855, Superintendent Merriwether concluded
a treaty with the Navajo tribe, by which a portion of the country
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 71
claimed by them was ceded to the United States, but his action failed
to meet the approval of Congress. The Navajo at that time claimed
all the country between the Colorado River and Rio Grande, includ-
ing New Mexico, nearly all of Arizona and a little of southeastern
Utah, that portion south of the San Juan River and east of the
Colorado.
During the next three years the Navajo were at war the greater
part of the time with some of the adjacent tribes. On December 25,
1858, Colonel Bonneville and Superintendent Collins negotiated a
treaty of peace between the Navajo and their Indian neighbors, defin-
ing the boundaries of the Navajo territory, etc., but this treaty was
not ratified by Congress.
In the early part of this chapter mention is made of the raid of
Col. "Kit" Carson into the Navajo country in 1863 and the capture of
many of the warriors who were held prisoners for about four years.
Late in the year 1867 the prisoners were released and on June i, 1868,
a treatv was concluded with the chiefs and head men of the tribe, at
Fort Sumner, N. M. In this treaty the United States agreed to fur-
nish the Navajo a new supply of sheep on condition that they would
accept and remain upon a reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and
Utah.
By an executive order dated May 17, 1884, President Arthur
included in the Navajo Reservation all that part of Utah lying south
of the San Juan River and east of the Colorado River. This order
was modified by one issued by President Harrison on November 21,
1892, restoring that part of the reservation in Utah west of 110° west
longitude to the public domain. This order left the reservation
bounded on the north by the San Juan River to the mouth of Monte-
zuma Creek and thence by a straight line running due east to the east-
ern boundary of Utah; on the east and south by the state lines, and
on the west by the meridian of 110° west longitude. The Navajo
Reservation and the little Shivwitz Reservation in Washington
Countv are now the onlv Indian reservations in Utah.
CHAPTER III
THE STRUGGLE FOR ADMISSION
UTAH IN MEXICAN TERRITORY— FIRST MOVE FOR STATEHOOD— STATE
OF DESERET — THE SECOND EFFORT— THE THIRD CONSTITUTION —
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1872— THE FIFTH EFFORT— THE SIXTH
CONSTITUTION — SUCCESS AT LAST — ENABLING ACT — ELECTION OF
DELEGATES — CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION — THE ELECTION —
PROCLAMATION OF .ADMISSION — CONDITIONS IN 1 895.
At the time the first settlement in Utah was established at Salt
Lake City in 1847 the territory comprising the state formed a part
of the Mexican possessions. On February 2, 1848, the Mexican war
was concluded by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (a small suburb
of the City of Mexico), by which all the territory held by Mexico
north of the Rio Grande was ceded to the United States. The ceded
territory included the present states of Arizona, California, Nevada,
New Mexico and Utah, the western part of Colorado and the south-
western portion of Wyoming. Almost immediately after the United
States came into possession the people of Utah began their first
movement for admission into the Union as a state, thus inaugurating
a struggle for statehood that lasted for nearly half a century before
their efforts were crowned with success.
On Thursday, March 8, 1849, a convention met in Salt Lake City
to consider the question of petitioning Congress for admission and
remained in session for three days. Soon after the convention was
organized, Albert Carrington, Joseph L. Heywood, William W.
Phelps, John Taylor, Charles C. Rich, David Fullmer, John S.
Fullmer, Erastus Snow, John M. Bernhisel and Parley P. Pratt were
appointed a committee to draft a constitution for a state government
and report the same to the convention. Judging by the short time
consumed by the committee in its deliberations, it would appear that
73
7i UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the document had been prepared in advance, as the draft of the pro-
posed constitution was submitted to the convention within a few
hours after the committee was appointed. It was debated in the
convention during the afternoon of the 8th, all day of the 9th, and
was adopted on the loth, the name of "Deseret" being chosen for the
proposed state.
An election was then held on Monday, March 12, 1849, for offi-
cers of the provisional government of the new state. At this election
Brigham Young was chosen governor; Willard Richards, secretary;
N. K. Whitney, treasurer; Heber C. Kimball, chief justice; John
Taylor and N. K. Whitney, associate justices; Daniel H. Wells,
attorney-general; Horace S. Eldredge, marshal; Albert Carrington,
assessor and collector of taxes; Joseph L. Heywood, surveyor of
highways. Almon W. Babbitt was then selected as a delegate and
sent to Washington with the petition to Congress asking for the pass-
age of an act admitting the "State of Deseret" into the Union. Mr.
Babbitt was courteously received by Congress, though the petition
was finally denied, and thus ended in failure the first attempt to
secure admission to statehood.
TERRITORY OF UTAH
In the discussion of the petition presented by Mr. Babbitt it was
made plain that the people of Utah were in need of and entitled to
some form of civil government and on September 9, 1850, immedi-
ately following the denial of the petition. President Millard Fill-
more approved the act providing for the organization of the Terri-
tory of Utah with the following boundaries: On the north by the
Territory of Oregon; on the east by the summit of the Rocky Moun-
tains; on the south by the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude;
and on the west by the state of California. The area included within
these boundaries was approximately 225,000 square miles, embrac-
ing all the present state of Utah and Nevada, the western part of
Colorado and the southwest corner of Wyoming.
On September 20, 1850, President Fillmore appointed Brigham
Young governor; Broughton D. Harris, of Vermont, secretary;
Joseph Buffington, of Pennsylvania, chief justice; Perry C. Broc-
chus, of Alabama, and Zerubbabel Snow, of Ohio, associate justices;
Seth M. Blair, of Utah, United States attorney; and Joseph L. Hey-
wood, of Utah, United States marshal. News of the organization
of the territory and the appointment of territorial officers did not
^"^
- ' " -■ ■ '.^'^
EAST FIRST SOUTH STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, FROM MA[N STREET, IN
THE EARLY '70s
CORNER OF MAIN AND FIRST SOUTH STREETS, SALT LAKE CITY, IN 186;
THE BUILDING NEXT TO BASSETT & ROBERTS ON THE RIGHT
IS NOW THE UTAH STATE NATIONAL BANK
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 77
reach Salt Lake City until January 27, 185 1, and on the 30! of Febru-
ary Brigham Young took the oath of office as governor.
In the meantime the people of Utah had elected members of a
provisional Legislature of the "State of Deseret," which body met
for the first time on Monday, July 2, 1849. The sessions of this
Legislature continued until April 5, 1851, when it was finally dis-
solved. On March 28, 185 1, a few days before the adjournment sine
die, the Legislature adopted resolutions expressing good feeling on
the part of the people of Utah toward the United States Government
for the organization of the territory. The first Legislature of Utah
Territory convened in Salt Lake City on Monday, September 22.
185 1, and organized by electing Heber C. Kimball president of the
council, and William W. Phelps speaker of the house.
THE SECOND EFFORT
For five years the people lived under the territorial form of
government, apparently contented with their lot, before another
elTort was made to secure the admission of Utah as a state. On
March 17, 1856, a constitutional convention assembled in the old
council house, on the corner of Main and South Temple streets,
Salt Lake City, and organized by the election of the following offi-
cers: J. M. Grant, president; Thomas Bullock, secretary; J. Grim-
shaw, assistant secretary; R. T. Burton, sergeant at arms; W. C.
Staines, messenger; Thomas Hall, doorkeeper; G. D. Watt and J.
V. Long, reporters.
The convention held daily sessions until March 27, 1856, when
a constitution was unanimously adoptefl and the name of "Deseret"
was again selected for the proposed state. A memorial to Congress
was also adopted and John Taylor and George A. Smith were
appointed delegates to present the constitution and memorial to Con-
gress. They proceeded to Washington, where they were given a
hearing, but Congress declined to grant the petition for admission
and Utah continued as a territory.
THE THIRD CONSTITUTION
The third constitutional convention assembled in Salt Lake City
on Monday, January 20, 1862. Daniel H. Wells was chosen to pre-
side; William Clayton was elected secretary; Patrick Lynch and
Robert L. Campbell, assistant secretaries; Robert T. Burton, ser-
geant-at-arms; John W. Woolley, doorkeeper; James F. Allred,
18 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
assistant doorkeeper; Andrew Cunningham, foreman; David P.
Kimball and Henry Heath, messengers; Joseph Young, chaplain.
After a session of three days a constitution was adopted on the 23d
and provision made for submitting it to the people at an election to
be held on March 3, 1862. A memorial to Congress praying for
admission was likewise adopted and William H. Hooper and
George Q. Cannon were elected delegates to carry the constitution
and memorial to Washington and present them to Congress. The
name "Deseret" was once more suggested for the new state.
Messrs. Cannon and Hooper went to Washington, where they
labored early and late for the fruition of their hopes, but without
avail. The constitution and memorial were referred to the commit-
tee on territories in both the house and senate and were never
reported back for action. At the election in Utah on March 3, 1862,
the constitution was unanimously ratified by the people; Brigham
Young was elected governor; Heber C. Kimball, lieutenant-gov-
ernor, and John M. Bernhisel, delegate to Congress.
Subsequently, at an adjourned session of the Legislature, the
complement of state officers was completed by the election of the fol-
lowing: William H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon, United States
senators; Daniel H. Wells, secretary of state; William Clayton, state
auditor; David O. Calder, state treasurer; Aurelius Miner, attor-
ney-general; Elias Smith, chief justice; Zerubbabel Snow and Seth
M. Blair, associate justices. It was hoped by the advocates of state-
hood that the results of this election and the action of the Legisla-
ture, by showing the unanimity of the people of the territory, would
have an influence upon Congress, but the Civil war was then in
progress and Congress failed to act, as above stated.
In January, 1867, the war being over, the Territorial Legislature
passed an act providing for a special election to be held on the first
Monday in February following, at which a representative in Con-
gress for the State of Deseret should be chosen and the constitution
of 1862, with certain amendments thereto, should be submitted to
the people for their ratification or rejection. The principal amend-
ment to the constitution was one relating to the western boundary
line of Utah, which was fixed to conform to the line as defined when
part of Utah's domain was taken to form the Territory of Nevada.
At the election some sixteen thousand votes were cast, the amended
constitution was approved by a large majority, and William H.
Hooper was elected to represent the state in Congress in the event of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 79
its admission. Returns of the election and a copy of the amended
constitution were carried to Washington, but Congress declined to
confer the state government asked for and Utah again settled down
to "the even tenor of her way" as a territory.
COXSTITUTIOX OF 1872
After the failure of 1867, five years elapsed before the citizens of
Utah resumed their fight for statehood. A fourth constitutional
convention met in Salt Lake City on February 19, 1872, and orga-
nized by electing Gen. E. M. Barnum president. Immediately fol-
lowing the organization. Judge William Haydon addressed the con-
vention, stating that he had been elected a delegate without his
consent, and that he was opposed to the admission of Utah at that time,
and concluded his remarks by moving that the convention adjourn
sine die. This motion was discussed for three days, when it was
voted down and the convention proceeded with its labors. On
March 2, 1872, it adopted a constitution and adjourned. The con-
stitution was ratified by the people on March 18, 1872, by a vote of
25,160 to 365. Thomas JFitch and William H. Hooper were elected
United States senators a little later.
George Q. Cannon, Frank Fuller and Thomas Fitch were elected
delegates by the convention to go to Washington and cooperate with
William H. Hooper, then Utah's delegate in Congress, in the presen-
tation of the constitution and memorial. The constitution was pre-
sented to both houses of Congress on April 2, 1872, and referred to
appropriate committees, but the final action was unfavorable and
the people of Utah were again doomed to disappointment.
THE FIFTH EFFORT
Repeated rebuffs at the hands of Congress chilled the ardor of
some of the leaders in the movement for statehood, and another
decade was allowed to pass before the efforts in that direction were
renewed. On Monday, April 10, 1882, the fifth constitutional con-
vention met in Salt Lake City. The convention was composed of
seventy-two delegates, three of whom were women, and every county
in the territory was represented. Joseph F. Smith was elected presi-
dent; L. E. Harrington and Edward Dalton, vice presidents; Arthur
Stayner, secretary; L. R. Martineau and Mrs. Elmina S. Taylor,
assistant secretaries; B. Y. Hampton, sergeant-at-arms; W. W. Cluff,
chaplain.
80 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The convention remained in session until the 27th, when a con-
stitution was adopted by a unanimous vote and this time the name
"Utah" was proposed instead of "Deseret." At an election held on
May, 22, 1882, the constitution was ratified by the people by a sub-
stantial majority and on June 6th following the convention reassem-
bled in Salt Lake City for the purpose of preparing a memorial to
Congress. William H. Hooper, David H. Peery, Franklin S. Rich-
ards, William D. Johnson, Jr., James Sharp, John T. Caine and Wil-
liam W. Riter were selected as delegates to present the constitution,
the returns of the election of May 22nd and the memorial to Con-
gress. The delegates performed their duty and some of them
remained in Washington until the adjournment of Congress on
August 8, 1882, when they returned to Utah to report another fail-
ure. Congress had refused to grant the prayer of the petitioners.
THE SIXTH CONSTITUTION
For about five years the question of admission was permitted to
lie dormant, though the subject was frequently discussed by little
groups of citizens in all parts of the territory. In the spring of
1887 a number of prominent men issued a call for a constitutional
convention to meet in the city hall at Salt Lake City on the last day
of June. The convention met at the appointed time with all the
counties represented except Garfield, Rich and San Juan. John T.
Caine was elected president; E. G. Woolley and J. T. Hammond,
vice presidents; Heber M. Wells, secretary; Robert Sloan, assistant
secretary; H. S. Cutler, messenger.
Regular sessions were held daily until Wednesday, July 7, 1887,
when a constitution was adopted. It contained a provision not found
in any of its predecessors, viz: "Bigamy and polygamy being con-
sidered incompatible with a republican form of government, each of
them is hereby forbidden and declared a misdemeanor," etc.
The name of "Utah" was chosen for the state in the event of its
admission, and a memorial was drawn up by J. E. Booth, C. C. Rich-
ards, James Sharp, J. F. Wells and Andrew Jensen, a committee
appointed for the purpose. This memorial was carried to Washing-
ton by Franklin S. Richards, W. W. Riter and E. G. Woolley, who
had been appointed by the convention as special delegates to unite
their efforts with those of John T. Caine, then delegate in Congress,
in urging the passage of an act admitting Utah into the Union.
While thev were absent on their mission, the constitution was ratified
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UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD S3
by the people by a vote of 13,195 to 504, a rather emphatic notice to
Congress that they desired admission, but as in former instances.
Congress turned a deaf ear to the appeal and Utah remained a ter-
ritory.
SUCCESS AT LAST
In each of the six instances above noted, the people of Utah acted
upon their own initiative and without the authority of Congress. In
the seventh, and what proved to be the successful efifort for the
acquisition of statehood, the process was reversed. In 1890 the peo-
ple of the territory divided upon national party lines and Joseph L.
Rawlins was elected delegate to the Fifty-third Congress in 1892.
Soon after taking his seat he introduced a bill providing for the
admission of Utah. This bill (the Enabling Act) passed the house
on December 13, 1893, and was sent to the senate, where it was
referred to the committee on territories. On May 17, 1894 it was
reported back, with certain amendments, and in the amended form
was passed by the senate on July 10, 1894. The next day the house
concurred in the amendments atnd the act was approved by President
Cleveland on July 16, 1894. Following is the full text of the act:
ENABLING ACT
"An act to enable the people of Utah to form a constitution and
State Government, and to be admitted to the Union on an equal foot-
ing with the original States.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inhabi-
tants of all that part of the area of the United States now constituting
the Territory of Utah, as at present described, may become the State
of Utah, as hereinafter provided.
"Section 2. That all male citizens of the United States over the
age of twenty-one years who have resided in said territory for one
year next prior to such election are hereby authorized to vote for and
choose delegates to form a convention in said territory. Such dele-
gates shall possess the qualifications of such electors; and the afore-
said convention shall consist of one hundred and seven delegates,
apportioned among the several counties within the limits of the pro-
posed state as follows: Beaver County, two delegates; Boxelder
County, four delegates; Cache County, eight delegates; Davis
County, three delegates; Emery County, three delegates; Garfield
84 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
County, one delegate; Grand County, one delegate; Iron County,
one delegate; Juab County, three delegates; Kane County, one dele-
gate; Millard County, two delegates; Morgan County, one delegate;
Piute County, one delegate; Rich County, one delegate; Salt Lake
County, twenty-nine delegates, thus apportioned, to wit: Salt Lake
City, first precinct, four delegates; second precinct, six delegates;
third precinct, five delegates; fourth precinct, three delegates; fifth
precinct, three delegates; all other precincts in said county outside
of Salt Lake City, eight delegates; San Juan County, one delegate;
San Pete County, seven delegates; Sevier County, three delegates;
Summit County, four delegates; Tooele County, two delegates;
Uintah County, one delegate; Utah County, twelve delegates;
Wasatch County, two delegates; Washington County, two delegates;
Wayne County, one delegate, and Weber County, eleven delegates;
and the governor of said territory shall, on the first day of August,
1894, issue a proclamation ordering an election of the delegates afore-
said in said territory, to be held on the Tuesday next after the first
Monday in November following. The board of commissioners
known as the Utah Commission is hereby authorized and required
to cause a new and complete registration of voters of said territory
to be made under the provisions of the laws of the United States
and said territory, except that the oath required for registration
under said laws shall be so modified as to test the qualifications of
the electors prescribed in this act, such new registration to be made
as nearly conformable with the laws as may be; and such election for
delegates shall be conducted, the returns made, the jesult ascer-
tained, and the certificate of persons elected to such convention issued
in the same manner as is prescribed by the laws of said territory regu-
lating elections of members of the Legislature. Persons possessing
the qualifications entitling them to vote for delegates under this act
shall be entitled to vote on the ratification or rejection of the consti-
tution, under such rules and regulations as said convention may pre-
scribe, not in conflict with this act.
"Section 3. That the delegates to the convention thus elected
shall meet at the seat of government of said territory on the first Mon-
day in March, 1895, and, after organization, shall declare on behalf
of the people of said proposed state that they adopt the Constitution
of the LInited States, whereupon the said convention shall be, and is
hereby, authorized to form a constitution and state government for
said proposed state.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 85
"The constitution shall be republican in form, and make no dis-
tinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except
as to Indians not taxed, and not to be repugnant to the Constitution
of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. And said convention shall provide by ordinance irrevo-
cable without the consent of the United States and the people of said
state —
"First, That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be
secured, and that no inhabitant of said state shall ever be molested in
person or property on account of his or her mode of religious wor-
ship: Provided, That polygamous or plural marriages are forever
prohibited.
"Second, That the people inhabiting said proposed state do agree
and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unap-
propriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof; and
to all lands lying within said limits owned or held by any Indian or
Indian tribes; and that until the title thereto shall have been extin-
guished by the United States, the same shall be and remain subject
to the disposition of the United States, and said Indian lands shall
remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the Congress
of the United States; that the lands belonging to the citizens of the
United States residing without the said state shall never be taxed at
a higher rate than the lands belonging to residents thereof; that no
taxes shall be imposed by the state on lands or property therein
belonging to or which may hereafter be purchased by the United
States or reserved for its use; but nothing herein, or in the ordinance
herein provided for, shall preclude the said state from taxing, as
other lands are taxed, any lands owned or held by any Indian who
has severed his tribal relations and has obtained from the United
States or from any person a title thereto by patent or grant, save
and except such lands as have been or may be granted to any Indian
or Indians under any act of Congress containing a provision exempt-
ing the lands thus granted from taxation; but said ordinance shall
provide that all such lands shall be exempt from taxation by said
state so long and to such extent as such act of Congress may prescribe.
"Third, That the debts and liabilities of said territory, under
authority of the legislative assembly thereof, shall be assumed and
paid by said state.
"Fourth, That provision shall be made for the establishment and
86 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
maintenance of a system of public schools, which shall be open to all
the children of said state and free from sectarian control.
"Section 4. That in case a constitution and state government
shall be formed in compliance with the provisions of this act, the con-
vention forming the same shall provide by ordinance for submitting
said constitution to the people of said state for its ratification or
rejection, at an election to be held on the Tuesday next after the first
Monday in November, 1895, ^^ which election the qualified voters of
said proposed state shall vote directly for or against the proposed
constitution, and for or against any provisions separately submitted.
The return of said election shall be made to the said Utah Commis-
sion, who shall cause the same to be canvassed, and if a majority of
the votes cast on that question shall be for the constitution, shall
certify the result to the President of the United States, together with
a statement of the votes cast thereon, and upon separate articles or
propositions, and a copy of said constitution, articles, propositions
and ordinances. And if the constitution and government of said pro-
posed state are republican in form, and if all the provisions of this
act have been complied with in the formation thereof, it shall be the
duty of the President of the United States to issue his proclamation
announcing the result of said election, and thereupon the proposed
State of Utah shall be deemed admitted by Congress into the Union,
under and by virtue of this act, on an equal footing with the original
states, from and after the date of said proclamation.
"Section 5. That until the next general census, or until otherwise
provided by law, said state shall be entitled to one representative in
the House of Representatives of the United States, which representa
tive in the Fifty-fourth Congress, together with the governor and
other officers provided for in said constitution, may be elected on the
same day of the election for the adoption of the constitution; and
until said state officers are elected and qualified under the provisions
of the constitution, and the state is admitted into the Union, the terri-
torial officers shall continue to discharge the duties of the respective
offices in said territory.
"Section 6. That upon the admission of said state into the Union,
sections numbered two, sixteen, thirty-two and thirty-six in every
township of said proposed state, and where such sections, or any
parts thereof, have been sold or otherwise disposed of by or under
the authority of any act of Congress, other lands equivalent thereto,
in legal subdivisions of not less than one-quarter section, and as con-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 89
tiguous as may be to the section in lieu of which the same is taken,
are hereby granted to said state for the support of common schools,
such indemnity lands to be selected within said state in such manner
as the Legislature may provide, with the approval of the secretary
of the interior: Provided, That the second, sixteenth, thirty-second
and thirty-sixth sections embraced in permanent reservations for
national purposes shall not, at any time, be subject to the grants nor
to the indemnity provisions of this act, nor shall any lands embraced
in Indian, military, or other reservations of any character be subject
to the grants or to the indemnity provisions of this act until the
reservation shall have been extinguished and such lands be restored
to and become a part of the public domain.
"Section 7. That upon the admission of said state into the Union,
in accordance with the provisions of this act, one hundred sections
of the unappropriated lands within said state to be selected and
located in legal subdivisions, as provided in section six of this act.
shall be, and are hereby, granted to said state for the purpose of
erecting public buildings at the capital of said state, when perma-
nently located, for legislative, executive and judicial purposes.
"Section 8. That lands to the extent of two townships in e]uan-
tity, authorized by the third section of the act of February 21, 1855.
to be reserved for the establishment of the University of Utah, are
hereby granted to the State of Utah for university purposes, to be
held and used in accordance with the provisions of this section; and
any portions of said lands that may not have been selected by said
territory may be selected by said state. That in addition to the above,
one hundred and ten thousand acres of land, to be selected and
located as provided in the foregoing section of this act, and includ-
ing all saline lands in said state, are hereby granted to said state, for
the use of said University, and two hundred thousand acres for the
use of an Agricultural College therein. That the proceeds of the
sale of said lands, or any portion thereof, shall constitute funds, to
be safely invested and held by said state, and the income thereof to
be used exclusively for the purposes of such University and College
respectively.
"Section 9. That five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of
public lands lying within said state, which shall be sold by the United
States subsequent to the admission of said state into the Union, after
deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the
said state, to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only
90 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
shall be expended for the support of the common schools within said
state.
"Section lo. That the proceeds of lands herein granted for edu-
cational purposes, except as hereinafter provided, shall constitute a
permanent school fund, the interest of which only shall be expended
for the support of said schools, and such land shall not be subject to
preemption, homestead entry, or any other entry under the land laws
of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, but shall be
surveyed for school purposes only.
"Section ii. The schools, colleges and university provided for
in this act shall forever remain under the exclusive control of the
state, and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale or disposal of
any lands herein granted for educational purposes, or of the income
thereof, shall be used for the support of any sectarian or denomina-
tional school, college or university.
"Section 12. That in lieu of the grant of land for purposes of
internal improvement made to new states by the eighth section of the
act of September 4, 1841, which section is hereby repealed as to said
state, and in lieu of any claim or demand by the State of Utah under
the act of September 28, 1850, and section 2479 of the Revised
Statutes, making a grant of swamp and overflowed lands to certain
states, which grant, it is hereby declared, is not extended to said State
of Utah, the following grants of land are hereby made to said state,
for the purpose indicated, namely:
"For the establishment of permanent water reservoirs for irri-
gating purposes, five hundred thousand acres; for the establishment
and maintenance of an insane asylum, one hundred thousand acres;
for the establishment and maintenance of a school of mines in connec-
tion with the University, one hundred thousand acres; for the estab-
lishment and maintenance of a deaf and dumb asylum, one hundred
thousand acres; for the establishment and maintenance of a reform
school, one hundred thousand acres; for establishment and main-
tenance of state normal schools, one hundred thousand acres; for the
establishment and maintenance of an institution for the blind, one
hundred thousand acres; for a miners' hospital for disabled miners,
fifty thousand acres. The United States penitentiary near Salt Lake
City and all lands and appurtenances connected therewith and set
apart and reserved therefor are hereby granted to the State of Utah.
"The said State of Utah shall not be entitled to any further or
other grants of land for any purpose than as expressly provided in
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 91
chis act; and the lands granted by this section shall be held, appro
priated and disposed of exclusively for the purposes herein men-
tioned, in such manner as the Legislature of the state may provide.
"Section 13. That all land granted in quantity or as indemnity
by this act shall be selected, under the direction of the secretary of
the interior, from the unappropriated public lands within the limits
of the State of Utah.
"Section 14. That the State of Utah shall constitute one judicial
district, which shall be called the District of Utah, and the circuit
and district courts thereof shall be held at the capital of this state
for the time being. The judge of said district shall receive a yearly
salary of frve thousand dollars, payable monthly, and shall reside in
his district. There shall be appointed clerks of said courts, who
shall keep their offices at the capital of said state There shall be
appointed for said district one district judge, one United States attor-
ney and one United States marshal. The regular terms of said
courts shall be held at the place aforesaid on the first Monday in
April and the first Monday in November of each year. For judicial
purposes, the District of Utah shall be attached to the eighth judi-
cial circuit, and only one grand jury and one petit jury shall be sum-
moned in both of said courts.
"Section 1 1;. That the circuit and district courts for the District
of Utah and the judges thereof, respectively, shall possess the same
powers and jurisdiction and perform the same duties possessed and
required to be performed by the other circuit and district courts and
judges of the United States, and shall be governed by the same laws
and regulations.
"Section 16. That the marshal, district attorney and clerks of the
circuit and district courts of the said District of Utah, and all other
officers and other persons performing duty in the administration of
justice therein, shall severally possess the powers and perform the
duties lawfully possessed and required to be performed by similar
officers in other districts of the United States, and shall, for the serv-
ices they may perform, receive the same fees and compensation
allowed by law to other similar officers and persons performing
similar duties.
"Section 17. That the convention herein provided for shall have
the power to provide, by ordinance, for the transfer of actions, cases,
proceedings and matters pending in the supreme or district courts of
the Territorv of Utah at the time of the admission of the said state
92 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
into the Union, to such courts as shall be established under the consti-
tution to be thus formed, or to the circuit or district court of the
United States for the District of Utah; and no indictment, action or
proceeding shall abate by reason of any change in courts, but shall be
proceeded with in the state or United States courts according to the
laws thereof, respectively. That all cases of appeal or writ of error
heretofore presented and now pending in the Supreme Court of the
United States upon any record from the supreme court of said terri-
tory, or that may hereafter lawfully be prosecuted upon any record
from said court, may be heard and determined by said Supreme
Court of the United States; and the mandate of execution or of
further proceedings shall be directed by the Supreme Court of the
United States to the circuit or district court hereby established within
the said state from or to the supreme court of such state, as the nature
of the case may require. And the circuit, district and state courts
herein named shall, respectively, be the successors of the supreme
court of the territory as to all such cases arising within the limits
embraced within the jurisdiction of such courts, respectively, with
full power to proceed with the same and award mesne or final process
therein; and that from all judgments and decrees of the supreme
court of the territory, mentioned in this act, in any case arising within
the limits of the proposed state prior to admission, the parties to such
judgment shall have the same right to prosecute appeals and writs
of error to the Supreme Court of the United States as they shall
have had by law prior to the admission of said state into the Union.
"Section i8. That the sum of thirty thousand dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any
money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to said territory
for defraying the expenses of said convention and for the payment of
the members thereof, under the same rules and regulations and at the
same rates as are now provided by law for the payment of the terri-
torial Legislature.
"Section 19. That the constitutional convention may, by ordi-
nance, provide for the election of officers for a full state government,
including members of the Legislature and representative in the
Fifty-fourth Congress, at the time for the election for the ratification
or rejection of the constitution; but the said state government shall
remain in abeyance until the state shall be admitted into the Union as
proposed by this act. In case the constitution of the state shall be
ratified by the people, but not otherwise, the Legislature thereof may
THE BEE HIVE HOUSE, SALT LAKE CITY. THE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE
PRESIDENT OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS CHURCH
THE LION HOUSE, SALT LAKE CITY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 95
assemble, organize and elect two senators of the United States in the
manner now prescribed by the laws of the United States; and the
governor and secretary of state of the proposed state shall certify the
election of the senators and representative in the manner required by
law, and when such state is admitted into the Union, as provided in
this act, the senators and representative shall be entitled to be admit-
ted to seats in Congress, and to all rights and privileges of senators
and representatives of other states in the Congress of the United
States; and the state government formed in pursuance of said consti-
tution, as provided by the constitutional convention, shall proceed to
exercise all the functions of state officers; and all laws in force made
by the territory at the time of its admission into the Union shall be in
force in said state, except as modified or changed by this act or by the
constitution of the state; and the laws of the United States shall have
the same force and effect within the said state as elsewhere within the
United States.
"Section 20. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with the pro-
visions of this act, whether passed by the Legislature of said terri-
tory or by Congress, are hereby repealed."
ELECTION OF DELEGATES
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of the above act, Gov.
Caleb W. West issued his proclamation on August i, 1894, ordering
an election to be held on November 6, 1894, for delegates to a consti-
tutional convention. The Utah Commission caused a new registra-
tion of voters to be taken, and at a meeting of the commission on
October 8, 1894, a full set of election judges for each precinct in the
territory was appointed. At the election the following delegates
were chosen from the several counties:
Beaver — A. S. Anderson and John R. Murdock.
Boxelder — William H. Gibbs, Peter Lowe, William Lowe and
John D. Peters.
Cache— Charles H. Hart, Henry Hughes, William J. Kerr,
James P. Low, William H. Maughan, Moses Thatcher, I. C. Thore-
sen and Noble Warrum, Jr.
Davis — John R. Barnes, Chester Call and B. H. Roberts.
Emery— William Howard, Jasper Robertson and William G.
Sharp.
Garfield— John F. Chidester.
i»6 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Grand — Mons Peterson.
Iron— Robert W. Heyborne.
Juab — Louis L. Coray, Joseph A. Hyde and George Ryan.
Kane — -Joseph E. Robinson.
Millard — Charles Crane and Daniel Thompson.
Morgan — Samuel Francis.
Piute— Rufus A. Allen.
Rich — Aquilla Nebeker.
San Juan — Francis A. Hammond.
Salt Lake — ^John R. Bowdle, George M. Cannon, Arthur J.
Cushing, James F. Green, Harry Haynes, Harrison T. Shurtlifif.
George B. Squires and Joseph J. Williams.
Salt Lake City — Herbert G. Button, Dennis G. Eichnor, George
R. Emery, Charles C. Goodwin, Samuel H. Hill, William F. James.
Andrew Kimball, Richard G. Lambert, Richard Mackintosh, Jacob
Moritz, Elias Morris, Frank Pierce, William B. Preston, Alonzo
H. Raleigh, Franklin S. Richards, John H. Smith, Charles W.
Symons, Williarn G. Van Home, Charles S. Varian, Heber M.
Wells and Orson F. Whitney.
Sanpete — Parley Christiansen, Joseph L. Jolley, Christen P.
Larsen, Laurifz Larsen, Anthony C. Lund, Jeremiah D. Page and
James C. Peterson.
Sevier — Theodore Brandley, George P. Miller and Joel Ricks.
Summit — Alma Eldredge. David Keith, Thomas Kearns and
James D. Murdock.
Tooele — Thomas H. Clark, Jr., and David B. Stover.
Uintah — Lycurgus Johnson.
Utah — John S. Boyer, Elmer E. Corfman, William Creer,
George Cunningham, Andreas Engberg, Abel J. Evans, John D.
Holladay, Hyrum Lemmon, Karl G. Maeser, Edward Partridge,
Joseph E. Thorne and Samuel R. Thurman.
Wasatch — William Buys and Joseph R. Murdock.
Washington — Anthony W. Ivins and Edmund H. Snow.
Wayne — Willis E. Robison.
Weber — Louis B. Adams, William Driver, David Evans, Lorin
Farr, Frederick J. Kiesel, James N. Kimball, Theodore B. Lewis,
Thomas Maloney, Robert McFarland, Hiram H. Spencer and
Charles N. Strevell.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 97
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
On Monday, March 4, 1895, the delegates met in the hall of the
joint city and county building in Salt Lake, for the purpose of
framing a constitution in accordance with the provisions of the
Enabling Act. The convention was called to order by Charles Crane,
one of the delegates from Millard County, and after prayer bv
George Q. Cannon and the presentation of a certified list of the dele-
gates by Charles C. Richards, territorial secretary, the delegates were
administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Samuel A. Merritt.
An address of welcome was then delivered by Gov. Caleb W. West,
after which a temporary organization was effected by the election of
James N. Kimball as president, and Heber M. Wells as secretary.
Owing to a contest in the third precinct of Salt Lake City, which
was referred to a committee on credentials, a permanent organization
was not made until the 6th, when John Henry Smith, of Salt Lake
City, was elected president; Parley Christiansen, of Tooele County,
secretary; Rasmus Clawson, of Sanpete County, sergeant-at-arms;
Bruce Johnson, of Salt Lake County, watchman; Thomas S. Watson,
of Wasatch County, messenger; John H. Thorne and Lawrence C.
Camp, pages; Frank E. McGurrin, stenographer; Charles S. Rapp
and Joseph A. Smith, clerks; B. T. McMasters and Henrietta Clark,
committee clerks.
Sessions were held daily (Sundays excepted) until May 8, 1895,
when the constitution was completed and ordered to be submitted
to the qualified voters of the territory at a general election to be held
on November 5, 1895, at which officers for the proposed state govern-
ment were to be elected.
THE ELECTION
In the political campaign which followed the constitutional con-
vention, three parties nominated candidates for the state offices.
The republicans held a convention in Salt Lake City on August 28,
1895, at which the following ticket was -selected : Heber M. Wells, for
governor; James T. Hammond, for secretary of state; Morgan Rich-
ards, Jr., for state auditor; James Chipman, for state treasurer; A.
C. Bishop, for attorney-general; John R. Park, for superintendent of
public instuction; Clarence E. Allen, for representative in Congress;
James A. Miner, George W. Bartch and Charles S. Zane, for jus-
tices of the Supreme Court.
98 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
On Thursday, September 5, 1895, the democratic state conven-
tion met at Ogden. Brigham H. Roberts was nominated for repre-
sentative in Congress ; John T. Caine, for governor ; Fisher S. Harris,
for secretary of state; Guy C. Wilson, for state auditor; Alma Green-
wood, for state treasurer; A. J. Weber, for attorrney-general ; Karl G.
Maeser, for superintendent of public instruction; Samuel R. Thur-
man, Richard W. Young and Thomas Maloney, justices of the
Supreme Court.
The people's party (or populist) convention was held in Salt
Lake City on September 14, 1895. No nominations were made for
justices of the Supreme Court, but the following candidates were
named for the other state offices: James Hogan, representative in
Congress; Henry W. Lawrence, governor; T. C. Bailey, secretary
of state ; H. O. Young, state auditor ; Thomas L. Jones, state treasurer ;
J. S. Weaver, attorney-general; I. T. Alvord, superintendent of
public instruction.
At the election the constitution was ratified by a vote of 31,305
to 7,687 (more than four to one), and the entire republican ticket
was elected by pluralities ranging from 867 for representative in
Congress to 2,361 for superintendent of public instruction. The vote
for governor was as follows: Wells, 20,883; Caine, 18,519; Law-
rence, 2,051.
The canvass of the election returns was completed on December,
5, 1895, and the same day the Utah Commission appointed two of
its members — Jerrold R. Letcher and Hoyt Sherman, Jr. — "to pro-
ceed to Washington, D. C, as early as convenient, to deliver in
person to the President of the United States an original copy of the
constitution of the proposed State of Utah," and for certain other
purposes. The two commissioners were accompanied to Washing-
ton by Governor West; Frank J. Cannon, then delegate in Congress;
C. C. Carleton, of the Salt Lake Herald; W. E. Annin, of the
Tribune; John W. Burton and Isaac Trumbo. At noon on Decem-
ber 16, 1895, this delegation obtained an audience with the Presi-
dent, when the copy of the constitution and certain other communi-
cations and documents were presented for his consideration. After
the matter had received consideration by the President and the Attor-
ney-General, the former, on Saturday, January 4, 1896, issued the
following:
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 99
PROCLAMATION OF ADMISSION
"Whereas, the Congress of the United States passed an act which
was approved on the i6th day of July, 1894, entitled, 'An act to
enable the people of Utah to form a constitution and state govern-
ment, and to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with
the original states,' which act provided for the election of delegates
to a constitutional convention, to meet at the seat of government of
the Territory of Utah, on the first Monday in March, 1895, for the
purpose of declaring the adoption of the constitution of the United
States by the people of the proposed state and forming a constitution
and state government for such state; and
"Whereas, delegates were accordingly elected, who met, organ-
ized and declared, on behalf of the people of said proposed state,
their adoption of the constitution of the United States, as provided
for in said act; and
"Whereas, said convention so organized did, by ordinance irre-
vocable without the consent of the United States and the people of
said state, as required by said act, provide that perfect toleration of
religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of said state
shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her
mode of religious worship, but that polygamous or plural marriages
are forever prohibited; and did also by said ordinance make other
various stipulations recited in Section 3 of said act; and
"Whereas, said convention thereupon formed a constitution and
state government for the said proposed state, which constitution,
including said ordinance, was duly submitted to the people thereof
at an election held on Tuesday next after the first Monday of Novem-
ber, 1895. 3S directed by said act, and
"Whereas, the return of said election has been made and can-
vassed and the result thereof certified to me, together with a state-
ment of votes cast and a copy of said constitution and ordinance, all
as provided in said act, showing that a majority of votes lawfully
cast at such election was for the ratification and ordinance; and
"Whereas, the constitution and government of thfe proposed state
are republican in form, and said constitution is not repugnant to the
Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Tndeoend-
ence; and all provisions of said act have been complied with in the
formation of the said constitution and government:
"Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United
100 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
States of America, in accordance with the act of Congress aforesaid,
and by authority thereof, announce the result of said election to be as
so certified, and do hereby declare and proclaim that the terms and
conditions prescribed by the Congress of the United States to entitle
the State of Utah to admission into the Union, have been duly com-
plied with, and that the creation of said state and its admission into
the Union on an equal footing with the original states is now accom-
plished.
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington this 4th day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1896, and the Independence of the United States
the one hundred and twentieth.
"Grover Cleveland.
"By the President:
"Richard Olney, Secretary of State."
With this proclamation the long struggle was ended, the forty-
fifth star was added to the constellation on the national flag, Utah
cast aside the territorial garb she had worn for more than forty-five
years and donned the robes of statehood. According to the report
of Gov. Caleb W. West to the secretary of the interior for the year
1895, Utah came into the Union with a population of 207,905, and
assessed valuation of property of $97,942,1 51.87, thirty-nine bank-
ing institutions with deposits of $9,689,267, and 1,376 miles of rail-
road in operation. Such had been the progress of Utah since its first
settlement in 1847. Two days after President Cleveland issued his
proclamation the state government was put in operation, and the
progress of the state from that time to 1919 will be shown in the
subsequent chapters of this history.
PART II
POLITICAL HISTORY
CHAPTER IV
WELLS' FIRST TERM— 1896-1901
STATE GOVERxNMENT INAUGURATED— THE INAUGURAL CEREMONIES-
GOVERNOR WELLS — FIRST LEGISLATURE — GAVEL PRESENTED —
governor's first MESSAGE — IMPORTANT ACTS PASSED — POLITICAL
CAMPAIGN OF 1 896 — SECOND LEGISLATURE — SEMI-CENTENNIAL
CELEBRATION — ELECTION OF 1 898 — THIRD LEGISLATURE — SPECIAL
ELECTION FOR REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS— POLITICAL CAM-
PAIGN OF 1900.
The state government of Utah was inaugurated on Monday,
January 6, 1896, when the state officers elected the preceding Novem-
ber were installed in their respective positions. The occasion was
observed as a general holiday, large numbers of citizens coming
from all parts of the new state to participate in the ceremonies.
Owing to the great number of people who desired to witness the
inauguration of the officers, it was found necessary to hold the exer-
cises in the large tabernacle, and even then many were unable to
obtain admission. After a parade the people assembled in the
tabernacle, the entire dome of which was covered with a huge flag,
with a new star inserted, behind which an electric light shone
brightly during the ceremonies. The program was as follows:
1. Called to order by Charles C. Richards, territorial secretary
and acting governor.
2. Music by the Sixteenth Infantry Band.
3. Prayer by Wilford WoodrufT.
4. Music by choir and organ — the "Star Spangled Banner."
5. Reading of the President's proclamation by Joseph L. Raw-
lins, formerly delegate in Congress.
103
104 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
6. Inaugural address of Heber M. Wells, governor-elect.
7. Administering of oath to state officers.
8. Benediction, by Rev. T. C. Ilifif.
Early in the day exercises of a retrospective and prospective
nature were held at the high school, one of the leading features of
which was an original poem by Henry M. Kirkham, to wit:
"THE TRAVELER
"What say ye, watchers of the night?
Whence comes this star — this silvery light
That shineth out so full and bright?
Is it some wandering vagrant of the sky
Lost in yon field of blue, whose spangled frame
A Union's birth and Liberty proclaim?
"THE WATCHER
"Nay, traveler, 'tis a regal orb,
Ten thousand hearts beat strong accord;
Ten thousand eyes watch o'er its fame
And watching, guard a nation's name.
'Tis a star of promise — a new-born state —
'Tis a nation's care, 'tis a nation's fate;
With its silvered mountains and golden dreams,
With its snow-clad peaks and green-clad hills.
With its waving fields and dancing rills,
Aye, blessed with all that Nature gives
Of rain and sunshine, it grows and lives.
" 'Twas a dreary desert; it 'blooms as the rose'
That none but perfect Eden knows.
Yes, traveler, tarry thy weary feet
In this 'haven of rest' on its rock-ribbed seat;
For behold! The night of a future shall rest
Neath this Star of Utah, the Queen of the West.
"Unfold, ye banners, with the clustering stars
In the fields of blue and the flaming bars;
That a world may view in thy azure rim
A star whose luster shall never dim."
Si
1^
Ip;!^^
:^ = 'l
- . Hi,
MAIN STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, ABOUT 1870. FROM FOOT OF CAPITOL HILL,
LOOKING SOUTH
THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 107
In his inaugural address at the tabernacle, Goveinor Wells
reviewed the various efforts to obtain admission and congratulated
the people of the state that old controversies were ended and many
of the old wounds healed, referring to the fact that Chief Justice
Zane, who had sentenced many Mormons to prison, was elected to
a place on the bench of the first Supreme Court of the state by the
same citizens who had elected a Mormon for their first governor.
"Our future," said he, "will be what we make it. If with all her
resources, her location in the very heart of the continent, her fruit-
ful soil, her wealth of water, her glorified air, her thermal springs,
her wonderful lake, her phenomenal fields of natural gas, her new^
lands to cultivate, her new mines to open, her new railroads and
factories to build, her new reservoirs and canals to construct — if with
all these, added to the impetus which statehood gives, Utah does not
become one of the foremost states of the Union, it will be the fault
of her own people."
The inaugural ceremonies were followed by a grand ball in the
evening, which was attended by a large number of people from all
parts of the state, and the next morning the new state administration
began the more serious affairs of statehood.
GOVERNOR WELLS
Heber M. Wells, the first governor of the State of Utah, was born
in Salt Lake City on August 1 1, 1859. His father, Daniel H. Wells,
was one of the first settlers of Utah; was the first attornev-general
of the State of Deseret; was one of the party that located the City
of Ogden in August, 1850; was major-general in the reorganized
Nauvoo Legion; served as president of the council in every legisla-
ture from 1858 to 1864, and in 1866 was elected mayor of Salt Lake
City. His death occurred on March 24, 1891.
Governor Wells was educated in the public schools of his native
city and in the University of Utah. In 1882 he was appointed
recorder of Salt Lake City, to fill a vacancy caused by the resigna-
tion of John T. Caine, and was afterward elected three times, hold-
ing the office until 1890. In 1892 he was a candidate for mayor of
Salt Lake City, but was defeated with the rest of his party ticket.
He served two terms as a member of the board of public works; was
secretary of the constitutional convention of 1887; was a member of
the constitutional convention of 1895; was nominated by the repub-
lican state convention of that year for governor arfd was elected on
108 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
November 5, 1895. the same day the constitution was ratified by the
people; was reelected in 1900 and served two full terms as Utah's
first chief executive. Upon retiring from the office in January, 1905,
he turned his attention to banking and commercial pursuits.
FIRST LEGISLATURE
The constitution framed by the convention and ratified by the
people on November 5, 1895, divided the state into eighteen senatorial
districts, each of which was represented by a state senator, and twen-
ty-seven representative districts, to which were apportioned forty-five
members of the lower house of the legislature. Neither the constitu-
tion nor the Enabling Act provided the time for the commencement
of the first session of the new state's legislature, hence the first official
act of Governor Wells was to convene that body in special session, to
commence on January 6, 1896, at 2 o'clock P. M. The senate was
organized by the election of George M. Cannon, of Salt Lake County,
as president and Lillie R. Pardee as secretary; and the house elected
Presley Denny, of Beaver County, speaker and William M. Thomp-
son, chief clerk. The members of the two branches of the legislature,
elected in November, 1895, at the same time as the state officers, were
as follows:
Senate — Edward M. Allison, John R. Barnes, Hiram E. Booth,
William D. Candland, George M. Cannon, Robert C. Chambers,
John F. Chidester, James P. Driscoll, Abel J. Evans, Elmer B. Jones.
David McKay, Glen Miller, Reuben F. Miller, Edward H. Snow.
George Sutherland, Malin M. Warner, Noble Warrum, Jr., Abra-
ham Zundell.
House of Representatives — James Andrus, George Beard, John
M. Bernheisel, James M. Bolitho, Albert Cazier, Edgar L. Clark,
Amasa S. Condon, Lee A. Curtis, Harwood N. Gushing, Edward B.
CritchJow, Presley Denny, R. E. Egan, James X. Ferguson, Thomas
Ferguson, William H. Gibbs, William Gibson, Nathan J. Harris.
Daniel Heiner, William Howard, Marinus Larsen, Hyrum Lem-
mon, Thomas D. Lewis. John Lowry, Sr., M. W. Mansfield, Peter
M. Maughan, Joseph Monson, Charles Morrill, Seth M. Morrison,
Joseph R. Murdock, Aquilla Nebeker, William P. Nebeker, George
L. Nye, Emil J. Raddatz, Joseph E. Robinson, Thomas Sevy. John
H. Shafer. Abraham O. Smoot, John F. Snedaker, Andrew P. Soren-
sen, Thomas J. Stevens, Alvin V. Taylor, Orville Thompson, Peter
Thompson. James T. Thorne, William W. Wilson.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 109
GAVEL PRESENTED
As soon as the senate was organized, Senator Elmer B. Jones, of
Salt Lake County, presented the president with a gavel and read the
following from the donor:
"This gavL-l is a fac simile of the one presented to the president of
the Utah constitutional convention. The body of the gavel is com-
posed of Utah mahogany, part of the material of which one of the
floors of the Salt Lake Temple was constructed, and the handle is
composed of paradise wood from one of the trees grown on the Tem-
ple Block, which was planted over forty years ago. The light piece
of oak inlaid in one end is a piece of the hanging of the old Liberty
Bell of Philadelphia, and the dark piece of oak in the other end is
from the British pay ship August, that was sunk in the Delaware
River opposite Red Bank dufing the Revolutionary war, lay over
eighty years under thirty feet of mud, and was taken up over twenty
years ago.
"This gavel was constructed by T. K. Stidman and presented to
the president of the senate of Utah State."
(iOVERXCJR'S MESSAGE
On the afternoon of January 8, 1896, the two houses of the legis-
lature met in joint session to hear the reading of the governor's mes-
sage — the first message to be delivered after the state was admitted
into the ITnion. After congratulating the people of Utah upon the
admission of the state, Governor Wells reviewed at some length the
financial condition, reporting the bonded indebtedness of Utah
(inherited from territorial -days) to be $700,000. He announced that
the governor and secretary of state were occupying the offices formerly
occupied by the governor and secretary of the territory in the so-called
"Industrial Home," which was the property of the United States,
that the supreme court and attorney-general were temporarily located
in the joint city and county building, and that the auditor, treasurer
and superintendent of public instruction were without any prescribed
offices. He therefore recommended that some provision be made for
arranging suitable quarters in which to transact the state's business.
The governor reminded the members of the Legislature that one
duty devolving upon them was to elect two senators to represent Utah
in the upper house of the United States Congress; recommended the
enactment of a banking law; a law regulating freight rates on rail-
no UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
roads; the passage of an act to promote irrigation of arid lands; the
creation of a board of arbitration and conciliation; a liberal appro-
priation for the maintenance of the Utah National Guard, which then
numbered 1,012 officers and men; the enactment of a law protecting
the fish and game of the state; proper provisions for canvassing the
vote for presidential electors, as a presidential election would occur
before another session of the Legislature would be convened; and a
memorial to Congress asking for the remonetization of silver and the
free coinage of both gold and silver at the ratio of sixteen to one.
Most of the governor's recommendations were observed by the
Legislature. On January 22, 1896, the two houses again met in joint
session and elected Frank J. Cannon, of Ogden, and Arthur Brown,
of Salt Lake City, United States senators, the democratic members
of the Legislature voting for Moses Thatcher and Joseph L. Rawlins.
One of the most important acts of the session was that authorizing
the appointment of a commission to codify the laws of the new state.
Another act instructed the state board of examiners to rent suitable
offices for the various state officials. Under the provisions of the lat-
ter act the examiners made a contract for four years with the county
and city authorities at Salt Lake City for quarters in the city and
county building, with furniture, light, heat and janitor service fur-
nished, for $4,000 per year, with the stipulation that the contract
should sooner be terminated in the event the state erected a capitol
building.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1 896
Tn the year 1896 Utah, for the first time in her history, partici-
pated in the election of a President and Vice President of the United
States. No state officers were to be elected this year, so that all the
political interest was centered upon the national campaign. The first
state convention of the year was held by the republicans at Salt Lake
City on the 7th of April, for the purpose of nominating delegates to
the national convention. Arthur Brown, United States senator, was
elected chairman and the following were selected as the delegates:
Frank J. Cannon, Arthur Brown, Isaac Trumbo, C. E. Allen, Thomas
Kearns and W. S. McCornick. Among the resolutions adopted was
one favoring the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver
at the ratio of sixteen to one, and another declared in favor of a pro-
tective tariff as one of the cardinal principles of the republican party.
On June 6, 1896, democratic delegates from all the counties of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD HI
the state assembled in convention in Salt Lake City. David Evans,
of Weber County, was chosen chairman, and H. F. Murray, of San-
pete County, was elected secretary. The convention adopted resolu-
tions reaffirming the platform declarations of 1895 and demanding
the reinstatement of silver as a primary money as it had been prior to
its demonetization in 1873. Moses Thatcher, Joseph L. Rawlins,
Orlando W. Powers, Samuel R. Thurman, David Evans and R. C.
Chambers were elected delegates to the national convention.
7"he people's party (or populists) held a convention at Ogden on
June 20, 1896, with H. W. Lawrence as chairman and Miss Josephine
Kellogg as secretary. James Hogan, H. W. Lawrence, M. M. Kel-
logg, Frank S. Luethi and Mrs. Kate S. Hilliard were chosen dele-
gates to the national convention, and H. W. Lawrence, of Salt Lake
County, T. L. Jones, of Davis, and H. O. Young, of Summit, were
nominated for presidential electors.
The activity of the bimetallists of the West forced the money ques-
tion to the front as the paramount issue of the campaign. In June
the republican national convention was held in St. Louis. William
McKinley, of Ohio, was nominated for President, and Garret A.
Hobart, of New Jersey, for Vice President. The platform indorsed
the act of 1873 demonetizing silver and declared in favor of the gold
dollar as the standard unit of value.
On July 8, 1896, the democratic national convention met in Chi-
cago. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was nominated for President
on the fifth ballot, and Arthur Sewall, of Maine, was named for Vice
President. The principal plank in the platform was the one declar-
ing in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver
as the primary money of the country at the ratio of sixteen to one.
A ratification meeting was held in Salt Lake City on July 18,
1896, in which advocates of the free coinage of silver, without regard
to party affiliations, joined in the indorsement of Bryan and Sewall
and the Chicago platform. Fisher S. Harris was called to the chair;
speeches were made by Joseph L. Rawlins and Judge R. N. Baskin,
democrats; C. S. Varian, a silver republican; Warren Foster, popu-
list; and Frank B. Stephens, who had been a classmate of William J.
Bryan in college.
Three state conventions were held on September 24, 1896. A
fusion convention, composed of democrats, populists and silver repub-
licans, met at Provo and C. C. Richards was chosen chairman. The
presidential electors nominated by the populist convention at Ogden
112 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
in June withdrew and the following were nominated in their places:
Robert C. Lund, democrat; John J. Daly, silver republican; H. W.
Lawrence, populist. William H. King was nominated for congress-
man-at-large.
The republican convention met at Mount Pleasant. Senator
Arthur Brown was elected to preside; C. W. Bennett, of Salt Lake
City; J. D. Page, of Utah County; and Joseph A. Smith, of Cache
County, were named as presidential electors. An independent repub-
lican convention of the same date indorsed the fusion electors and
nominated Lafayette Holbrook, of Provo, for congressman-at-large.
This nomination was indorsed by the "regular" republicans.
Party lines were greatly disrupted over the coinage question. On
September 2, 1896, a convention of democrats opposed to the free
coinage of silver was held in Indianapolis, Ind., and nominated John
M. Palmer, of Illinois, and Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky, for
President and Vice President, respectively, on a platform opposing
the free coinage of silver until such time as the leading nations of
Europe would agree. An element in the people's party known as the
"middle of the road" populists, while indorsing the candidacy of Mr.
Bryan, was opposed to that of Mr. Sewall for Vice President, and
nominated Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. Neither of these factions
was recognized in Utah.
At the election on November 3, 1896, the Bryan and Sewall
electors carried Utah by a vote of 64,851 to 13,461. William H King,
the democratic candidate for representative in Congress, received
47,217 votes to 27,503 for Holbrook, republican, and 2,202 for War-
ren Foster, populist.
SECOND LEGISLATURE
The second session of the State Legislature convened at Salt Lake
City on January 11, 1897, ^"^ remained in session for sixtv days.
Aquilla Nebeker was elected president of the Senate and John N.
Perkins speaker of the house. On the 12th Governor Wells delivered
his message to a joint session of the house and Senate. He reported
the bo"nded debt of the state as being $900,000, an increase of $200,000
over that reported in his first message. This increase was occasioned
by the sale of bonds to the amount of $200,000 by the state board of
loan commissioners on July i, 1896, the bonds to run for twenty years
and bearing 4 per cent, for which the board received a premium
of $3,21 2. CO. This was the first time in Utah's history that her bonds
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 113
were issued at such a low rate of interest, and the governor announced
that the board was making arrangements to refund some of the 5 per
cent issues at a lower rate, a fact which spoke well for the state's credit.
He announced that the code commission authorized by the preced-
ing session had completed its work and that the result would be sub-
mitted to the present session for their approval. He called attention
to the fact that the only unsettled agricultural lands in the state with
a present water supply suitable for irrigation were located within the
Uinta Indian reservation and recommended a memorial to Congress
asking that, when the reservation was opened to entry, the state be
given a sixty days' preference right to select agricultural lands therein.
The message also suggested a memorial asking Congress to make Fort
Douglas a permanent army post and appropriate a sum sufficient to
restore some of the buildings erected in 1862, when the fort was estab-
lished, and which had fallen into a state of decay.
When Frank J. Cannon and Arthur Brown were elected United
States senators on January 22, 1896, the latter drew the short term,
which expired on March 4, 1897. ^^ therefore became the duty of
the second Legislature to elect his successor. The first joint ballot
was taken on January 20, 1897, and resulted as follow: Moses
Thatcher, 21 votes; Joseph L. Rawlins, 16; Henry P. Henderson, 17;
H. W. Lawrence, 4; C. C. Goodwin, 3; Aquilla Nebeker, 2. The
total number of votes cast was sixty-three, and thirty-two being nec-
essary to a choice no election resulted. Balloting continued daily
until the fifty-third ballot on February 3d, when Joseph L. Rawlins
received the necessary thirty-two votes and was declared elected.
Among the acts passed during this session was one authorizing the
governor to appoint five commissioners, with full power to arrange
an exhibit of Utah's products at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition to
be held at Omaha, Neb., in 1898, and to provide a state building upon
the exposition grounds. The act also provided that all exhibits of the
state at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and then in the
custody of certain state institutions, were to be placed at the disposal
of the commissioners, to be returned to the institutions at the close of
the Omaha Exposition. An appropriation of $8,000 was made to
carry out the provisions of the act.
The code commission was continued in office until December i,
1897, with instructions to have the code, including the acts of the sec-
ond session, printed as the "Revised Statutes of Utah," and the sum
of $17,500, "or so much thereof as may be necessary," was appropri-
114 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ated to pay for printing 3,000 copies, one-half of which were to be
bound and distributed to public officials throughout the state, or sold
to attorneys, etc.
On March 11, 1897, the last day of the session. Governor Wells
approved an act to establish a branch of the State Normal School in
the southern part of the state — in either Beaver or Iron County — on
condition that the county or the city at which the school might be
located would donate the grounds and a suitable building. During
the session the election laws were revised and an appropriation of
$2,000 was made for an exhibit of Utah's resources at the Tennessee
Centennial Exposition at Nashville in 1897.
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
July 24, 1897, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the
pioneers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. In order that the event might
be fittingly observed, the first State Legislature appropriated $5,000
toward defraying the expenses of a celebration that would portray
Utah's progress during the preceding half century, and authorized
the governor to appoint a commission of ten persons to take charge
of the ceremonies. In his message to the Legislature in January,
1897, the governor stated that the commission desired to extend the
anniversary festivities over a period of five days, beginning on Mon-
day, July 19, 1897, ^'^<i ending on Saturday, the 24th — "Pioneer
Day" — and recommended an additional appropriation of $10,000, as
the commission had decided to expend $50,000, if necessary, and to
depend upon contributions from the people for sufficient funds to
conduct a celebration that would attract national attention.
By the act of March 11, 1897, the governor was directed to
appoint five additional members of the commission and the sum of
$15,000 was appropriated for a celebration during the entire week
of July 19-24, a portion of which appropriation was to be expended
under the direction of representatives of the several counties in sums
ranging from $150 to $350 to the county. The act also provided that
the festivities should be conducted one day in Ogden and one day in
Provo, on condition that those cities would pay all expenses incurred
in the removal of materials from Salt Lake City and back again. This
ofifer was not accepted by the cities and the entire celebration was
conducted in Salt Lake City.
Governor Wells appointed as the commission Spencer Clawson,
E. F. Colburn, E. G. Rognon, J. D. Spencer, Jacob Moritz, W. A.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 115
Nelden, E. A. Smith, W. B. Preston, Horace G. Whitney, Mrs.
George Y. Wallace, Miss Emily Katz and Miss Cora Hooper, all of
Salt Lake City; Reed Smoot, of Provo; H. H. Spencer, of Ogden,
and Mrs. R. C. Easton, of Logan. The governor also designated a
citizens of each county to co-operate with the commission in the ex-
penditure of the money appropriated for the county. In addition to
the $15,000 appropriated by the Legislature, the commission received
in contributions from all sources $43,997.51, making a total of
$58,997.51 to be used in preparing the features of the Pioneer Jubilee.
Monday, the 19th, was taken up with the final preparations, the
reception of visitors, etc., and the festivities really began on Tuesday
with a great parade to the Pioneer Monument, surmounted with a
bronze statue of Brigham Young, which was dedicated by President
Wilford Woodrufif, after which a reception was tendered the surviv-
ing pioneers at the tabernacle, where they were decorated with hand-
some badges. The principal feature of Wednesday's ceremonies was
a parade illustrating Utah's progress in fifty years. On Thursday the
parade of the Sunday school children was given, and in the evening
the illuminated parade of "Great Salt Lake, Real and Fanciful," took
place. The city was brilliantly illuminated and it was claimed at the
time that the crowd on the streets was the largest ever seen in Salt
Lake City. On Friday occurred the parade of the counties, which
was both interesting and instructive. Every one of the twenty-six
counties was represented by a float showing its resources. In the even-
ing a children's concert was given.
Saturday, the 24th, was the big day of the carnival. This was the
real "Pioneer Day," the fiftieth anniversary of the advent of the first
actual settlers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. The parades of the four
preceding days were consolidated into one great procession, with the
surviving pioneers, United States troops and the National Guard of
Utah all participating. Bands from Salt Lake City, Beaver, Grants-
ville, Ogden, Parowan, Provo and Wellsville furnished music and
the famous drum corps of Leadville, Colo., attracted much attention.
Among the floats in the procession were those representing or illus-
trating Jim Bridger's Cabin, Utah in 1847, the First House in Utah,
Gulls and Crickets, the First Legislative Hall, the First Sugar Mill,
Engine No. i of the Union Pacific Railroad, the First Smelter, Utah
in 1897, ^"d a number of others representing various events in Utah's
history or private industries. On Sunday, the 25th, memorial services
116 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
in honor of the deceased pioneers were held in the Tabernacle and
the Semi-Centennial Jubilee was over.
ELECTION OF 1 898
The only officials to be elected in 1898 were a representative in
Congress and a justice of the Supreme Court. Three tickets were
placed in the field. On September 9, 1898, the republican state con-
vention nominated Alma Eldredge for Congress and Charles S. Zane
for re-election to the Supreme Court. The democratic state conven-
tion was held on the 14th of the same month. Brigham H. Roberts
was nominated for Congress and Robert N. Baskin for justice of the
Supreme Court. The populists again selected Warren Foster as their
candidate for representative in Congress and nominated J. M. Bow-
man for justice.
At the election on November 8, 1898, the democratic candidates
were elected. For representative in Congress, Roberts received
31,351; votes; Eldredge, 26,401 ; Foster, 2,376. Baskin defeated Zane
by a vote of 30,904 to 28,227, Bowman receiving 1,187 votes.
THIRD LEGISLATURE
On January 9, 1899, the third State Legislature was convened in
Salt Lake City. The Senate organized by electing Aquilla Nebeker,
president and A. C. Morris, secretary. W. M. Roylance, of Utah
County, was elected speaker of the house and Joseph M. Cohen, chief
clerk. Governor Wells' third message was more comprehensive than
either of his former ones. He reviewed at length the condition of the
various state institutions and made recommendations for their im-
provement; gave a full account of Utah's part in the Spanish- Ameri-
can war; reported that on September i, 1898, the state board of
loan commissioners had refunded $150,000 of the 5 per cent bonds
issued in 1888 at a rate of 3J/^ per cent, and reminded the Legislature
that no state fair had been held since Utah was admitted into the
Union. He recommended an appropriation for a fair, to be held in
October, 1899, under the auspices of the Deseret Agricultural and
Manufacturing Society, closing the subject with the laconic sugges-
tion: "It may not be considered wisdom to attempt to compete with
Paris in 1900." The Legislature made no appropriation, however,
for a fair.
Governor Wells was a pioneer in the movement for the conserva-
tion of natural resources. In his first and second messages he referred
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 117
to the necessity of preserving the natural forests of the West, and in
1899 he said: "The intimate relation between extensive forests in the
mountain canyons and plateaus and a bounteous supply of water for
irrigation in the valleys below, is so universally recognized and under-
stood as to require no new confirmation. Yet our native forests have
never received the attention and care their import.ance demands.
True, the state board of land commissioners is authorized to 'set apart
and reserve from sale such tracts of timber lands and the timber
thereon as may, in the opinion of the board, be required to preserve
the forests of the state, prevent a diminution of the flow of rivers and
aid in the irrigation of the arid lands,' but this applies only to state
lands, and we must look to the General Government for a more exten-
sive system of forest preservation."
The second Legislature had asked Congress for a tract of land in
Sevier and Wayne counties, in the vicinity of Fish Lake, for a state
park, but the secretary of the interior and the commissioner of the
general land office opposed the grant, chiefly because the tract asked
for was in their opinion too large. The governor referred to this in
his message, and also to the fact that President Cleveland, by an
executive order of February 27, 1897, had set apart over one million
acres about the headwaters of the Bear, Weber, Duchesne and Provo
rivers and withdrawn the same from entry, the reserve being under
the supervision of the interior department. He recommended a
memorial to Congress asking that the lands in the Fish Lake region
be made a national forest reserve, since the same had been denied to
the state for park purposes.
The most important acts of the session were the ones revising the
tax laws; locating a horticultural experiment farm in the southern
part of the state, the site to be selected by three persons appointed by
the governor, and appropriating $6,000 for its maintenance during
the years 1899 and 1900; and a long act of 198 sections relating to
negotiable instruments.
An appropriation of $225, "or so much thereof as might be nec-
essary," was made for the purpose of purchasing badges for the mem-
bers of the Semi-Centennial Commission, the badge to be designed by
a committee consisting of the governor, president of the Senate and
speaker of the House of Representatives, or by some one whom they
might employ.
A "State Institute of Art" was created, to promote an interest in
and study of the fine arts. The act provided for a board of seven gov-
118 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ernors, to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent
of the Senate, whose duty it should be to conduct annual exhibitions
of art works, and otherwise to encourage art studies by lectures in the
University of Utah, the Agricultural College, the State Normal and
Industrial schools, teachers' institutes, etc.
One of the duties that devolved upon this session was the election
of a United States senator to succeed Frank J. Cannon. The first
ballot in joint session was taken on January i8, 1899. The candidates
voted for were Frank J. Cannon, William H. King, Alfred W. Mc-
Cune, Orlando W. Powers, with one or two scattering votes at times
during the balloting. A deadlock occurred and, though the balloting
continued until the final adjournment of the Legislature on the 9th
of March, no candidate received the necessary majority of the votes
cast, hence for the next two years Utah had but one senator in the
Congress of the United States.
SPECIAL ELECTION
The Fifty-sixth Congress, the members of which were elected in
1898, met on Monday, December 4, 1899, and after a long and some-
what bitter discussion Brigham H. Roberts was denied a seat in the
House of Representatives on the grounds that he had violated the
United States laws relating to polygamy. On January 27, 1900, Gov-
ernor Wells issued his proclamation calling a special election for
Monday, April 2, 1900, to choose his successor.
On Thursday, March i, 1900, a democratic convention met in
Salt Lake City, organized by the election of W. M. Roylance as chair-
man and I. C. Thoresen, secretary, and William H. King was nom-
inated for representative in Congress on the first ballot. The next day
the republicans met in convention. Arthur L. Thomas was elected
chairman and Joseph Odell, secretary, and James T. Hammond was
nominated for the unexpired term in the Fifty-sixth Congress. At the
election on the 2d of April King won by a substantial majority.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1900
The year 1900 was a "Presidential" year and a full complement
of state officers in Utah was also to be elected. The democrats opened
the national campaign at their convention of March ist, by selecting
as delegates to the national convention Joseph L. Rawlins, A. J.
Weber, George W. Thatcher, R. C. Chambers, W. F. Knox and A. H.
Tarbet.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 119
On May lo, 1900, a republican state convention met in Salt Lake
City for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention
of that party. The delegates chosen were: Arthur Brown, Heber
M. Wells, George Sutherland, Thomas Kearns, C. E. Loose and
George M. Hanson.
The republican national convention met in Philadelphia, Pa., on
the 2<;th of June, adopted a platform indorsing the administration of
President McKinley and renominated him without opposition. Theo-
dore Roosevelt, of New York, was nominated foe Vice President.
On July 5, 1900, the democratic national convention assembled in
Kansas City, Mo. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was again nomi-
nated for President, and Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, was named
for Vice President. Mr. Stevenson had previously held the office of
Vice President from 1893 to 1897. A convention held by the "middle
of the road" populists in Cincinnati, Ohio, nominated Wharton
Barker, of Pennsylvania, for President, and Ignatius Donnelly, of
Minnesota, for Vice President.
Following the national conventions, each of the leading parties
held a state convention in Utah to nominate a state ticket. The repub-
licans held their state convention at Provo on September 4, 1900.
Arthur Brown, former United States senator, was chosen to preside
over the convention and George J. Kelly, of Weber County, was
elected secretary. Wesley K. Walton, C. E. Loose and J. R. Mur-
dock were named for presidential electors; George Sutherland, for
representative in Congress; George W. Bartch, for justice of the
Supreme Court; Heber M. Wells, for governor; James T. Ham-
mond, for secretary of state ; C. S. Tingey, for state auditor ; John De
Grey Dixon, for state treasurer; M. A. Breeden, for attorney-general;
A. C. Nelson, for superintendent of public instruction. The platform
congratulated President McKinley upon the successful termination
of the war with Spain ; opposed combinations for the purpose of rais-
ing prices on staple commodities; approved the gold standard;
declared in favor of a protective tariff as one of the cardinal princi-
ples of the republican party; and congratulated the people of the
country upon the general prosperity.
On September 9, 1900, two days after the republican convention
at Provo, delegates from all the counties of the state assembled in the
democratic state convention in Salt Lake City. Congressman William
H. King was chosen chairman and Joseph M. Cohen was elected
secretary. Orlando W. Powers,' Alexander H. Tarbet and I. C.
120 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Thoresen were nominated for presidential electors ; William H. King,
for representative in Congress; J. W. N. Whitecotton, for justice of
the Supreme Court; James H. Moyle, for goveror; Fisher S. Harris,
for secretary of state; Henry N. Hayes, for state auditor; Robert C.
Lund, for state treasurer; A. J. Weber, for attorney-general; Nathan
T. Porter, for superintendent of public instruction. The platform
adopted indorsed the action of the national convention; advocated an
amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the
election of United States senators by popular vote; reaffirmed the
faith of the party in the principle of bimetallism; and demanded a
free government for the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands.
The election was held on November 6, 1900, and the republican
candidates carried Utah by substantial majorities. The McKinley
electors received 47,139 votes, and the Bryan electors, 45,006. Gov-
ernor Wells received the largest votes of any of the candidates and
was re-elected by a majority of 3,153. The republicans also elected a
majority of each branch of the Legislature.
CHAPTER V
WELLS' SECOND TERM--1901-1905
BEGINxMNG OF GOVERNOR WELLS' SECOND TERM — FOURTH LEGISLA-
TURE—GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE — ELECTION OF UNITED STATES SEN-
ATOR — LAWS ENACTED — ELECTION OF 1902 — FIFTH LEGISLATURE —
WELLS' LAST MESSAGE — THE SESSION LAWS — CARBON COUNTY
STRIKE— GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION CALLING OUT THE NATIONAL
GUARD — LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION — POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
OF 1904.
Governor Wells' second term began with the opening of the fourth
session of the State Legislature on January 14, 1901. Abel J. Evans
was chosen to preside over the Senate and William Glassman was
elected speaker of the House. On the second day of the session the
governor delivered his message to a joint session of the House and
Senate.
"Among the first and most important of your duties," said he,
"will be the selection of one of your fellow citizens to the exalted
position of United States senator to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
failure of the third Legislature to elect. * * * I deem it opportune
at this time to direct your attention to the fact that the State Legisla-
ture of Pennsylvania, in which stak there also occurred a recent
failure to elect, on April 6, 1899, adopted a resolution providing for
the appointment of a committee to confer with the legislatures of
other states of the Union regarding an amendment to the Constitution
of the United States which shall provide for the election of United
States senators by direct vote of the people. The committee so
appointed has adopted a resolution requesting Congress to call a
convention for the purpose of proposing such amendment," etc.
121
122 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Under date of November 30, 1900, the chairman of the Penn-
sylvania committee wrote to Governor Wells, inclosing a copy of the
resolution asking for a convention, which was then before the United
States Senate, and stating that the lower house of Congress, by a vote
of 240 to 15, had adopted a resolution in favor of submitting to the
states an amendment providing for the election of United States sen-
ators by direct vote. This was the beginning of the movement that
finally culminated in the adoption of the seventeenth amendment to
the Federal Constitution, which went into effect on May 31, 1913. It
may seem strange that, notwithstanding all political parties in Utah
declared in their platforms at some time or another in favor of the
direct election of senators, the state was one of the twelve that failed
to ratify the amendment when it was submitted to the legislatures.
On the subject of taxation, particularly the methods used in assess-
ing property, the governor pointed out that in 1900 the credits,
money, judgments and mortgages of the state were assessed at
$3,540,334, while the Salt Lake City banks alone on January i, 1901,
currently reported deposits of $20,000,000; that the live stock of the
state was assessed at $8,600,000, though the United States census gave
the live stock values of the state as $23,000,000. In the face of these
conditions he recommended the enactment of laws to equalize assess-
ments and raise more revenue.
ELECTION OF SENATOR
As the republicans were in the majority on joint ballot in the
Legislature, it was generally conceded that the United States senator
to be elected would be a member of that party. A republican caucus
was held on January 18, 1901, at which eight candidates were pre-
sented. W. S. McCornick received nine votes; A. L. Thomas, eight;
Thomas Kearns, eight; Arthur Brown, five; George M. Cannon,
four; O. J. Salisbury, Reed Smoot and C. E. Allen, one each. The
caucus balloting continued daily until the 22d, when Thomas Kearns
received a majority and was elected in joint session on the 23d, receiv-
ing thirty-seven votes to twenty-five cast by the democratic members
for A. W. McCune.
LAWS ENACTED
Among the more important acts passed during the fourth session
of the Legislature was one accepting the conditions of the act of
Congress commonly known as the "Carey Act" (approved on August
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 123
i8, 1894) ' together with all grants of land to the state under its provi-
sions. The act of acceptance also set forth the manner in which the
lands should be selected, etc.
A reservoir land grant fund was created, "to consist of all moneys
received from the sale of land selected under the grant for this state
of 500,000 acres of land for the establishment of permanent water
reservoirs for irrigating purposes." The state board of land commis-
sioners was authorized to select sites for the reservoirs, direct the state
engineer to prepare plans, receive bids and award contracts for the
construction of the reservoirs, and the sum of $500,000 was appropri-
ated out of the fund for the construction of said reservoirs.
A state school of mines was established as a department of the
University of Utah and made the beneficiary of all land grants and
appropriations made by the United States to the State of Utah for the
maintenance of such an institution.
Several laws relating to labor conditions were passed. One of
these provided for the establishment of a state board of labor, con-
ciliation and arbitration to be composed of three members appointed
by the governor, one of whom should be an employer, one an employe
belonging to some labor organization, and the third neither an em-
ployer of manual labor nor an employe, who was to be chairman of
the board. Another act of this class provided for a coal mine inspec-
tor, for the ventilation of mines and for other measures for the safety
of workmen. A bureau of statistics was established, to be in charge
of a commissioner appointed by the governor for a term of four years,
"to collect, assort, systematize and present in annual reports to the
governor statistical details relating to agriculture, mining, manufac-
turing and other industries in the state."
County commissioners were authorized to defray the burial
expenses of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who
might die without leaving sufficient means to assure himself decent
burial. No such soldier, sailor or marine was to be buried in ground
set apart for the "pauper dead," and the amount to be expended by
the commissioners was limited to $70.
Complaints from several places in the state led to the passage of
an act to prevent compulsory vaccination and to prevent vaccination
being made a condition precedent to entering the public schools. The
act was vetoed by Governor Wells, but on February 21, 1901, it was
124 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
passed over his veto by the necessary two-thirds of each house and
filed in the office of the secretary of state on the 2d of March.
Other acts of the session were those requiring railroads to fence
their tracks; authorizing cities and towns to grant depot sites to rail-
road companies; amending the banking laws of the state; levying a 1;
per cent tax on all inheritances over $10,000; authorizing the Deseret
Agricultural and Manufacturing Society to sell its exposition grounds
to Salt Lake City for a sum not less than $20,000, and to hold an an-
nual fair at Salt Lake City; making eight hours a lawful day's work
on all state, county or municipal public works; amending the acts
relating to the powers of city councils; establishing municipal courts
in certain cities, and defining the boundary lines of certain counties.
ELECTION OF 1902
The only public officials to be elected in 1902 were a representa-
tive in Congress and a justice of the Supreme Court. On September
10, 1902, a republican state convention met at Ogden to nominate
candidates for these positions. John E. Booth was chosen permanent
chairman, and A. J. Bruneau, of Tooele County, secretary. Joseph
Howell received the nomination for Congress and W. i\L McCarty
was named for justice of the Supreme Court. The platform adopted
deplored the assassination of President McKinley at Buffalo in Sep-
tember, 1901 ; indorsed the efforts to secure the opening of the Uinta
Indian reservation in Utah; and approved the action of Congress in
authorizing the construction of the Panama Canal.
The democratic state convention was held at Provo on September
16, 1902. Frank J. Cannon was selected as permanent chairman and
Henry N. Hays, of Sevier County, as secretary. William H. King
was nominated for representative in Congress and Richard W. Young
for justice of the Supreme Court, both nominations being made bv
acclamation. The platform congratulated the people of Cuba upon
the acquisition of their freedom; opposed the policy of territorial
aggression; denounced the Philippine policy of the republican party
as a record of costly blunders; opposed militarism as "expensive,
unnecessary and inimical to free and popular government;" indorsed
the record of United States Senator Rawlins, and praised George
Sutherland, Utah's republican representative in Congress, for voting
with the democratic members on questions of finance and tariff.
A socialist convention nominated Mathew Wilson for representa-
tive in Congress and Warren Foster for justice of the Supreme Court.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 125
The election was held on November 4, 1902, and resulted in a victory
for the republican candidates. For Congress, Howell received
43,710 votes; King, 38,196; and Wilson, 2,936. The republicans also
elected a majority of each house of the Legislature.
FIFTH LEGISLATURE
On January 13, 1903, the fifth session of the State Legislature was
convened at Salt Lake City. The Senate organized by the election
of Edward M. Allison as president, and Thomas Hull was chosen
speaker of the House. As soon as the two houses were organized,
they met in joint session to hear the governor's message. Governor
Wells gave an account of the mine explosions at Scofield on May i,
1900, and at the Daly- West mine in Summit County on July 15, 1902,
and recommended the enactment of a law prohibiting underground
magazines in mines. For the account of these explosions see the
chapter on Mining Industry.
On the subject of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to be held at
St. Louis, Mo., in 1904, he said: "While special place has been
reserved for the states carved out of the Louisiana Purchase, and
ample and appropriate room for all the others who desire it, I am
notified that only until the ist of May, 1903, will the allotted space
for Utah, which is described as one of the most eligible of all, be
reserved, after which date the room unclaimed will be given to indi-
vidual exhibitors and to other states."
He also called attention to the fact that the Legislature of 1899
had provided for a commission to represent the State of Utah at the
Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition to be held at Portland, Ore.,
in 1905, and suggested that provisions be made for removing the
exhibits at St. Louis to Portland.
An interesting feature of the message was the governors report
on the status of the land grant funds for the various state institutions
on December 31, 1902, when the investments wxre as follows:
Public School Fund $290,315.99
State Universi_ty 186,365.01
Agricultural College 33)578-25
State Normal School 13,778.41;
State Industrial School 22,522.45
School of Mines 25,484.25
Insane Asylum 20,906. 96
Deaf and Dumb School 14.870.83
126 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Institute for the Blind 8,686.20
Public Buildings 10,289.00
Reservoirs 82,377.01
Miners' Hospital 9,014.10
Total $718,188.50
As the term of Joseph L. Rawlins, United States senator, expired
on March 4, 1903, one of the duties of this Legislature was to elect
his successor. Reed Smoot, republican, was elected by the joint ses-
sion on January 21, 1903, and five days later a protest signed by nine-
teen citizens of Salt Lake City was forwarded to Washington, urging
Mr. Smoot's expulsion from that body. The protest was given into
the hands of Senator Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan, chairman of
the committee on privileges and elections, but Senator Smoot took,
the oath of office on March 5, 1903, at a special session of the Senate,
without opposition. Subsequently the committee on privileges and
elections began an investigation, hearing witnesses at intervals from
March, 1904, to January, 1905, when a report was made and the
Senate voted to retain Mr. Smoot in his seat.
THE SESSION LAWS
During the sixty-day session of the fifth Legislature a number of
new laws were placed on the statute books of the state. A commis-
sion of five members, consisting of the governor and four persons to
be appointed by him, was authorized to provide on the exposition
grounds at St. Louis a suitable building for the State of Utah and to
arrange an exhibit illustrating the state's resources, provided the cost
of the building and exhibit did not exceed the amount of the appro-
priation of $50,000, which was made for carrying out the provisions
of the act. A similar commission was authorized for the Lewis and
Clark Centennial Exposition at Portland in 1905 and an appropri-
ation of $10,000 was made to defray the cost of removing the exhibit
at St. Louis to Portland.
A commission was established to secure to Utah its proportion of
benefits of the arid lands reclamation fund provided for by the
national irrigation laws. By this act the state was divided into five
districts, to-wit: i. The counties of Boxelder, Cache, Rich, Weber
and Morgan: 2. The counties of Davis, Summit, Salt Lake, Tooele
and Utah; 3. The counties of Wasatch, Uintah, Carbon, Emery,
Grand and San Juan; 4. The counties of Sanpete, Juab, Millard,
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 127
Sevier, Beaver and Piute; 5. The counties of Wayne, Garfield, Iron,
Washington and Kane. The governor was authorized and directed
to appoint one commissioner from each of the above districts, the
commissioners to serve without compensation except actual expenses,
and an appropriation of $6,000 was made to carry out the provisions
of the act.
The office of state dairy and food commissioner was created, the
act defining the standard of purity for certain foods and providing for
the codification and revision of existing laws relating to the subject.
Also, the office of state chemist was established, the incumbent of
which was required to analyze all articles of food and drink manu-
factured, sold or used in the state, and to report bienially to the dairy
and food commissioner.
Another act of this session provided for the establishment, con-
struction and maintenance of a system of state highways, and another
appropriated $6,000, "or so much thereof as may be necessary," to
aid in defraying the expenses of the National Irrigation Congress at
Ogden in 1903, on condition that the citizens of the state would sub-
scribe and pay half that amount for the same purpose.
A long act of seventy-three sections was passed for the purpose of
settling disputes growing out of the laws relating to irrigation and
water rights, and an appropriation of $25,000 was made to carry out
its provisions.
Other acts of the session prescribed the method of taking territory
from one county and annexing it to an adjoining county; authorized
county commissioners to offer a bounty not exceeding one cent per
pound for the destruction of grasshoppers; established a state board
of sheep commissioners and a sheep inspector, the members of the
board and the inspector to be experienced wool growers, to inspect
all flocks of sheep and quarantine those infected ; amended the divorce
laws by making permanent insanity grounds for divorce; made pun-
ishable the desecration of the United States flag by using it for ad-
vertising, etc., by a fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment in a
county jail for not more than thirty days, or both; and a curfew law
to regulate the presence of minors on the streets of towns and cities
after a certain hour of the evening.
Three memorials were addressed to Congress — the first urging the
admission of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma to statehood; the
second asking for the annexation to Utah of that part of Arizona
lying north of the Colorado River; and the third requesting an appro-
128 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
priation of $75,000 for the purpose of investigating irrigation pros-
pects in the State of Utah.
CARBON COUNTY STRIKE
Early in November, 1903, discontent manifested itself among the
coal miners of Carbon County, where most of the important coal
mines of the state are located, and a general strike followed "to secure
the correction of certain grievances held against the company operat-
ing the mines." The strike centers were at Scofield, Castle Gate and
Sunnyside. On the 20th Gomer Thomas, state coal mine inspector,
at the request of the governor, visited the mines at Sunnyside and was
informed by the leaders of the miners' union that the Utah Fuel Com-
pany had granted all the demands of the union except two, viz. : Semi-
monthly pay days and recognition of the union. Mr. Thomas re-
ported to the governor and the next day (the 21st) Hyrum Wilcox,
sheriff of Carbon County, wrote to the governor stating that he had
several of the strike leaders arrested for shooting to intimidate miners
who refused to join the strike, etc., and closed by saying:
"I have made every effort to preserve the peace in this county and
in answer to the last paragraph of your letter (Governor Wells had
previously written to the sherifif asking for information), reply that
the local police authority and deputy sheriffs are not sufficient and
are powerless to cope with the lawlessness and protect life and prop-
erty and maintain law and order. My resources are exhausted and
therefore believe it my duty to call upon you as governor of the state
for aid and assistance at Scofield, Castle Gate and Sunnyside."
W. H. Frye, county attorney, indorsed the sheriff's letter and
request for assistance, and the governor sent Gen. J. Q. Cannon, com-
mander of the National Guard of Utah, to investigate and report.
This officer acted promptly and in his report recommended the call-
ing out of the guard. After a conference with members of the Legis-
lature and a number of prominent citizens, Governor Wells issued
the following:
PROCLAMATION
"Whereas, the sherifif of Carbon County represents that he and
the local police authorities in said county are unable to maintain
law and order at Scofield, Castle Gate and Sunnyside, in said county,
and calls upon the executive of the state for aid; and
"Whereas, after a full and complete investigation of such re-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 129
presentations, it appears that there is imminent danger of breeches
of the peace and destruction of life and property in said county,
''Now, therefore, I, Heber M. Wells, governor, in pursuance
of and by authority vested in me, do hereby call out and order the
active services of the state for the execution of the laws, the preserva-
tion of the peace, the maintenance of order, and the prevention of the
menace to life and destruction of property, the organized and equip-
ped militia known as the National Guard of Utah, as the same may
be required, with their special place of service within said county
to be as shall hereafter be designated in proper military orders.
"Done at Salt Lake City, the capital of the State of Utah, this
23rd day of November, A. D. 1903.
"Heber M. Wells, Governor.
"Attest, James T. Hammond,
"Secretary of State."
On the 24th Adjutant-General Charles S. Burton ordered the
entire National Guard of the state into active service. Under com-
mand of General Cannon the troops were hurried into the districts
where trouble was most imminent and remained on duty until De-
cember 21, 1903, when a compromise was effected and the mines
reopened.
LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION
By the act of 1903 creating the Utah Lousiana Purchase Com-
mission, the governor was made ex-oflicio chairman, with power to
appoint the other four members. Governor Wells appointed Hoyt
Sherman, Samuel Newhouse, Willis Johnson and L. W. Shurtliff.
This board met and organized on March 27, 1903, when 'it was
decided to act jointly with the commission appointed for the Lewis
and Clark Exposition. John Q. Cannon was elected joint secretary
and Hoyt Sherman, treasurer. An office was established in the
city and county building, and early in April an address was issued
to the people of the state requesting their co-operation in the prepa-
ration of an exhibit.
On April 30, 1903, the centennial anniversary of the Treaty of
Paris ceding the Province of Louisiana to the United States, the
dedication exercises of the exposition grounds at St. Louis com-
menced. Several members of the commission were in attendance
and the site for the Utah building was selected and dedicated.
S. T. Whitaker was engaged on July i, 1903, as director-general.
130 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
He designed the Utah building, for which $7,500 were set aside
by the commission, and he also designed and superintended the con-
struction of the booths in the Agricultural, Mining and Educa-
tional buildings, in which the commission had procured space for
exhibits. Don Maguire visited all sections of the state, selecting
specimens of Utah products for the exhibits, in the arrangement of
which he was assisted by Mr. Whitaker and B. A. Perkins. When
the exposition was formally opened on April 30, 1904, Utah was one
of the few states that had their exhibits all in place.
The state's principal exhibit was in the department of mining
and metallurgy, where a model of a concentrating mill, complete
in all its details, jigs, crushers, rolls, concentrating tables, etc., was
one of the principal features. This mill was kept running from two
to four o'clock every afternoon, during which time lectures explained
to the spectators the various processes through which the ore was
passing. At the close of the exposition the model was presented to
the States School of Mines, to be used in connection with the course
of study.
In the department of agriculture the exhibit consisted of grains,
grasses, vegetables, etc., produced under irrigation, the system of
irrigation being illustrated by.^ cycloramic painting with a set fore-
ground. Honey, raw silk, etc., were also exhibited in this depart-
ment and the chief of the department declared that the exhibit was
one of the most entertaining and instructive of the exposition.
Some difficulty was encountered in obtaining desirable space
in the educational department, through no fault of the Utah com-
mission, application having been made in due form and overlooked
by the management of the exposition. Russia gave up the space
assigned and the Utah educational exhibit was therefore placed
among the foreign exhibits, a fact that proved to be an advantage
rather than otherwise. Among the features of this exhibit were the
work of the Agricultural Experiment Station and the exhibit from
Cache County, including the shop work of the class in social economy.
Grand prizes were awarded the states for the general collective
exhibit in the department of mining and metallurgy, for the exhibits
of irrigated lands and for the grains, grasses and legumes in the
agricultural department. The concentrating plant, the exhibits of
honey and raw silk, the Normal Training School and the elementary
school of Salt Lake City each won a gold medal. Silver medals were
awarded to the exhibit of iron ores, the Salt Lake City high schools.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 131
and the general school exhibit as a whole. In addition to these
awards, a number of gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to
individual exhibitors.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGiN OF 1904
The campaign of 1904 was opened in Utah by the republican
party, which held a state convention in Salt Lake City on the 8th of
April to select delegates to the national convention. Parley Chris-
tainsen, of Salt Lake City, was elected chairman, and L. R. Ander-
son, of Sanpete County, was chosen secretary. The delegates selected
were: George Sutherland and James H. Anderson, of Salt Lake
County; C. E. Loose, of Utah; H. Bullen, Jr., of Cache; Willard
F. Snyder, of Piute, and L. W. Shurtlifif, of Weber. These delegates
were instructed to work and vote for the nomination of Theodore
Roosevelt for President.
On June 9, 1904, the democratic state convention met in the Salt
Lake Theater, Salt Lake City, for the purpose of selecting delegates
to the national convention. The convention organized by the election
of W. M. Roylance as chairman, and Daniel Stevens as secretary.
Joseph L. Rawlins and Simon Bamberger, of Salt Lake County;
Frank J. Cannon, of Weber; Joseph IVtonson, of Cache; Samuel A.
King, of Utah, and George C. Whitmore, of Juab, were chosen as
the delegates.
Three presidential tickets were presented to the voters of Utah
in this campaign. The republican national convention, which was
held in Chicago, nominated Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, for
president, and Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, for vice pres-
ident. The democrats held their national convention in St. Louis and
nominated Alton B. Parker, of New York, for president, and Henry
G. Davis, of West Virginia, for vice president. The third ticket
was that of the socialists, the candidates being Eugene V. Debs, of
Indiana, and Benjamin Hanford, of New York.
A full complement of state officers was to be elected in 1904 and
after the national conventions were held, state conventions met for
the purpose of nominating candidates. On August 25th delegates
from all the counties met in a republican state convention in Salt
Lake City. George M. Cannon, of Salt Lake City, was chosen to
preside and F. J. Hendershot, of Ogden, was elected secretary. A.
W. Wade, of Weber County, H. P. Myton, of Salt Lake, and D. H.
Cannon, of Washington, were named for presidential electors ; Joseph
132 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Howell, of Cache, for representative in Congress; John C. Cutler,
of Salt Lake, for governor; Charles S. Tingey, of Juab, for secretary
of state; J. A Edwards, of Boxelder, for state auditor; James Chris-
tiansen, of Sevier, for state treasurer; M. A. Breeden, of Weber, for
attorney-general; A. C. Nelson, of Sanpete, for superintendent of
public instruction; Daniel N. Straup, of Salt Lake, for justice of
the Supreme Court. The platform indorsed the nomination of Roose-
velt and Fairbanks, approved the state administration of Governor
Wells, and requested the Utah senators and representatives in Con-
gress to urge that the northwestern part of Uinta Indian reserva-
tion be granted to the state for a state park.
On September 8, 1904, the democratic state convention met in
Salt Lake City. Samuel R. Thurman, of Utah County, was elected
chairman and J. A. Hougaard, of Sanpete, was chosen secretary.
The presidential electors nominated were Samuel Newhouse, of
Salt Lake County; Edward H. Snow, of Washington; and Fred-
erick J. Kiesel, of Weber. Orlando W. Powers, of Salt Lake City, was
nominated for representative in Congress; James H. Moyle, of Salt
Lake City, for governor; Levi N. Harmon, of Carbon County, for
secretary of state; J. W. Geiger, of Summit, for state auditor; W.
B. Wilson, of Weber, for state treasurer; Grant C. Bagley, of Utah,
for attorney-general; Nathan T. Porter, of Davis, for superintendent
of public instruction; C. S. Varian, of Salt Lake City, for justice
of the Supreme Court. The platform adopted was short, the prin-
cipal planks being those reaffirming the national platform and in-
dorsing the nomination of Parker and Davis.
The socialists nominated J. W. McGann, A. C. Jacobson and J.
H. Zenger for presidential electors; W. H. Schoek, for representa-
tive in Congress; Joseph A. Kaufman, for governor; A. L. Partee,
for secretary of state; Joseph McLachlan, for state auditor; Ole
Arilson, for state treasurer; Charles E. Randall, for attorney-general ;
Claude Lewis, for superintendent of public instruction; C. C. Good-
win, for justice of the Supreme Court.
A new element was introduced into Utah politics in this camp-
aign. It was known as the "American Party of Utah" and dated
its beginning from a meeting held in the Auerbach Hall, Salt Lake
,City, on the evening of September 7, 1904. A week later another
meeting was held in the Grand Theater in Salt Lake City, at which
Fred T. Dubois, of Idaho, was the principal speaker. Ogden Hiles,
E. B. Critchlow and Samuel McDowell also spoke. The burden
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 133
of the speeches was that the Mormon leaders were interfering with
the political rights of citizens of the state, and that a new party
was a necessity. A resolution to that effect was adopted and the
following state committee was appointed: P. L. Williams, J. D.
Wood, A. R. Derge, Willard F. Snyder and P. J. Daly. This com-
mittee was authorized to add to it not more than one member from
each county, to conduct the campaign, and to call a mass conven-
tion to nominate a candidate for representative in Congress and a
state ticket.
Opponents of the movement asserted that the leaders of the new
party were disgruntled politicians or disappointed office seekers, but
the state committee went ahead with its preparations and issued a
call for a convention to be held in the Salt Lake Theater, in Salt
Lake City, on the last day of September. Edward B. Critchlow was
chosen to preside and an address was delivered by Frank J. Cannon,
formerly United States senator. No nominations were made for pres-
idential electors and justice of the Supreme Court, but the following
candidates for the other offices were named : Ogden Hiles, represen-
tative in Congress; William M. Ferry, governor; Walter James,
secretary of state; Louis B. Rogers, state auditor; William W. Arm-
strong, state treasurer; Samuel McDowell, attorney-general; Isaac
N. Smith, superintendent of public instruction. All these nominees
were from Salt Lake City except the secretary of state and superin-
tendent of public instruction, the former being from Millard County
and the latter from Cache.
This was a republican year all over the country. The vote in
Utah for presidential electors were as follows: republican, 62,446;
democratic, 33,413; socialist, 5,757. For governor. Cutler received
50,837 votes; Moyle, 38,047; Kaufman, 4,892; Ferry, 7,959. The
other candidates on the republican ticket were elected by about the
same plurality.
CHAPTER VI
CUTLER'S ADMINISTRATION— 1905-1909
SKETCH OF GOVERNOR CUTLER — SIXTH LEGISLATURE — THE GOVERNOR'S
MESSAGE — ACTS PASSED — SUTHERLAND ELECTED SENATOR — LEWIS
AND CLARK EXPOSITION — FIRE AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE —
THE OGDEN STORM — ELECTION OF 1906 — SEVENTH LEGISLATURE —
GOVERNOR CUTLER URGES A STATE CAPITOL — LAWS ENACTED —
JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION — POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1908.
John C. Cutler, the second governor of the State of Utah, was
born in Sheffield, England, February 5, 1846, a son of John and
Elizabeth (Robinson) Cutler. Until he was about twelve years of
age he attended private schools in his native land, and then entered
the wholesale house of S. & J. Watts & Company in the City of Man-
chester. He remained with that firm until 1864, when he accom-
panied his parents to the United States, came directly to Utah and
settled in Salt Lake City. During the next ten years he was engaged
in various occupations. In 1877 he accepted a position as agent of the
Provo Woolen Mills, where he was associated with his three broth-
ers — Thomas R., Heber S. and Joseph G. — who in 1895 incor-
porated the business under the firm name of "Cutler Brothers & Com-
pany," of which he was made president.
For more than forty years Governor Cutler has been one of the
active and successful business men of Utah. Among the corpora-
tions with which he has been connected may be mentioned the Utah-
Idaho Sugar Company, the Utah Light and Power Company, the
Beneficial Life Insurance Company, the Home Fire Insurance Com-
pany of Utah, the Deseret Savings Bank, the Monroe State Bank, the
Bank of Garland, the First National Bank of Murray and the Utah
Hotel Company, in most of which he has held positions as director
135
136 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
or one of the executive officers. For many years he was a director
in the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. On May i,
191 1, he was elected president of the Deseret National Bank, which
position he still held in the spring of 1919. He is a member of the
Commercial and Alta Clubs of " Salt Lake City and has served as
trustee and treasurer of the Latter-day Saints University.
When political parties in Utah were divided along national lines,
Governor Cutler cast his lot with the republicans. From 1884 to
1890 he was clerk of Salt Lake County and e.\-officio clerk of the
probate court, and in 1904 was elected governor of the state, his term
beginning on Monday, January 2, 1905, and expiring on January
4, 1909.
SIXTH LEGISL.ATURE
The sixth State Legislature began its session on January 9, 1905,
just a week after the inauguration of Governor Cutler. Stephen H.
Love was elected president of the senate, and Thomas Hull, speaker
of the house. Governor Cutler's message, which was delivered to a
joint session as soon as the two houses were organized, was one of the
longest messages ever presented to a Utah Legislature. He began by
saying: "In his last message to the Legislature, my predecessor called
attention to the favorable conditions then prevailing in Utah. I am
pleased to be able to state that those conditions have continued and
are still prevailing. Capital is still seeking avenues of investment in
Utah, the products of the field and flock are plentiful and command
good prices. A notable feature of our industrial growth is seen in
the establishment of manufacturing enterprises and the support
afiforded to such industries."
After giving an account of the strike in the Carbon County coal
mines, mentioned in the preceding chapter, he explained that at the
time of the trouble the state had no funds available for paying the
expenses of the National Guard, and that a loan of $25,000 had been
negotiated through the National Park Bank of New York for one
year, with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. He recom-
mended the payment of this note, with accrued interest, and that the
Legislature make some provision for a fund to be placed at the dis-
posal of the governor, to be used only in case of riot or insurrec-
tion. On January 23, 1905, Governor Cutler approved an act appro-
priating $25,625 for the payment of the note and some incidental
expenses in connection with the strike, and later in the session an act
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 137
was passed making it a misdemeanor to threaten violence to employes
or to destroy property, but no contingent fund was created, probably
because the members of the Legislature realized that strikes, riots and
insurrections were so infrequent they could be handled without such
a fund.
On the subject of state fairs the governor said: "According to the
report of the directors of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufactur-
ing Society, the state fairs held in 1903 and 1904 were, in point of
paid admissions and value of exhibits, in advance of any previous
fairs held in the state. In point of paid admissions the fair of 1904
was a record breaker; total paid admissions being 51,485. At this
fair compliant was made that there was not room for all the exhibits.
It is hoped by the directors of the society that a sufficient appropria-
tion will be made by the present Legislature to insure the completion
of the building now under wav, in order that needed room may be
provided. The architect estimates that it will require $40,000 more
to complete the building."
The governor recommended an appropriation of that amount
and $15,000 for the regular expenses of the society until the meeting
of the next Legislature. He also presented the following estimated
needs of the several state departments and institutions for the years
1905 and 1906, to meet which appropriations were necessary:
Legislative Department $ 36,220
Executive Department 22,000
Judicial Department 218,400
University of Utah 335)431
Agricultural College 282,190
State Mental Hospital 173,180
State Board of Corrections 11 1,660
Deseret Agric. & Manfg. Society 55,ooo
National Guard of Utah 65,140
State Board of Loan Commissioners 72,350
"State Industrial School 60,000
State School for Deaf, Dumb and Blind. . . . 62,300
Miscellaneous small appropriations 454,054
Deficits 88,975
Total appropriations asked. . . .- $2,036,900
138 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ACTS PASSED
In making appropriations, some of the governor's estimates were
reduced, though on the other hand a number of appropriations not
included in the estimate were made for specific purposes. A state
board of park commissioners was created "to manage and control all
lands the state may acquire, make rules and regulations regarding the
grazing of stock and cutting timber thereon," and an appropriation
of $2,000 was made to carry out the provisions of the act. An appro-
priation of $500 was made to provide medals of honor for the veterans
of the Indian wars in Utah between the years 1850 and 1872 inclusive,
the governor and secretary of state to select a suitable design, the only
stipulations being that the medals should be made of bronze and sus-
pended by a red, white and blue ribbon.
Cities of the first and second classes were authorized to issue scrip_
against funds to be raised by special taxes, the scrip to become a lien on
property subject to the special tax and to be redeemed and canceled
when such tax was paid.
A juvenile court was created for each city of the first or second
class, to have jurisdiction in all cases relating to children, the judge
to hold office for a term of four years and to receive a salary of not
more than one thousand dollars per year. Judges of the several dis-
trict courts of the state were directed to appoint a probation officer in
each county.
The Legislature of 1903 passed an act providing for the appoint-
ment of a commission to collect and prepare an exhibit for the Lewis
and Clark Centennial Exposition to be held in Portland, Oregon, in
the summer of 1905. The sixth Legislature repealed the first nine
sections of the act of 1903 and passed an act providing for the appoint-
ment of a new commission, to consist of the governor and four citizens
of the state appointed by him, the commissioners to serve without
compensation, except actual expenses. They were authorized to pro-
vide a building for Utah upon the exposition grounds and an appro-
priation of $io,OGo was made for the purpose of carrying the act into
effect.
Another act of seventy-five sections codified and revised the laws
relating to water rights, and repealed certain acts in conflict there-
with. Other acts of the session ceded- jurisdiction to the United
States over the military reservations of Fort Douglas and Fort
Duchesne; provided for the registration of birth and deaths in the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 139
state, these vital statistics to be under the authority of the state board
of health; and the state board of land commissioners was directed to
establish an experimental station for Central Utah, to be located in
Davis, Salt Lake, Utah or Weber County.
An act appropriating from $1,250 to $2,000 to each county for
the construction and maintenance of public highways was vetoed by
the governor and failed to become a law.
SUTHERLAND ELECTED SENATOR
The reader will recall that the third Legislature (1899) failed to
elect a United States senator, and that for the next two years Senator
Joseph L. Rawlins was Utah's only representative in the upper
branch of Congress. In 1901 Thomas Kearns was elected to fill the
vacancy, his term expiring on March 4, 1905. It therefore fell to the
lot of the sixth Legislature to elect his successor. After ballots had
been taken in both house and senate they met in joint session on
Wednesday, January 18, 1905, and George Sutherland was elected
without serious opposition for a full term of six years. His election
gave Utah two republican senators.
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPOSITION
Under the act passed by the Legislature of 1903, providing for
a commission to arrange an exhibit at Portland, Oregon, in 1905,
Governor Wells was made ex-ofTicio chairman of the commission.
He appointed as the other commissioners Fred J. Kiesel, George F.
Holman and A. B. Lewis, and John Q. Cannon was made secretary.
When the act of 1903 was repealed by the Legislature of 1905. these
commissioners resigned and Governor Cutler, as ex-ofiicio chair-
man, appointed F. W. Fishburn, Wesley K. Walton, Web Greene
and Rudolph Kuchler as his associates on the new board, which held
its first meeting on March 25, 1905, when M. F. Cunningham was
elected secretary and Spencer Clawson, manager.
Immediately after effecting an organization, the commissioners
went to Portland, where they found all the desirable space in the
exposition buildings had been allotted. They therefore decided to
erect a building for all the state exhibits. An eligible site was
obtained and a building 55 to 95 feet, two stories high, with an
annex in the rear was commenced. Utility, rather than architectural
display, was kept in view and, although the time was short, nearly
all the exhibits were in place when the exposition opened on June i,
140 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
1905. The mineral exhibit was arranged on the left of the main
entrance, with R. H. Bradford, of the Utah School of Mines, in
charge; the educational exhibit was on the right, with L. A. Ostien,
of the State Agricultural College, as director; Thomas Judd, of the
state board of horticulture, was in charge of the agricultural and
horticultural exhibit, which was placed in the rear part of the main
building; and the annex in the rear was used for the concentrating
mill that had been shown at St. Louis. In the agricultural display
was an irrigation -model of the Bear River Valley, which was made
by Luke Crashaw.
August 24, 1905, was "Utah Day" at the exposition. On that date
the Utah Building was the center of attraction. Addresses were
delivered by Governor Cutler; Gov. George E. Chamberlain, of
Oregon; H. W. Goode, president of the exposition commission, and
Joseph Howell, Utah's representative in Congress. Utah kept "open
house" all day, serving light refreshments to visitors, and a large
quantity of advertising matter setting forth the resources of the state
was distributed.
Of the appropriation of $10,000 made bv the Legislature of 1903,
an unexpended balance of $9,317.25 passed into the hands of the new
commission. The Legislature of 1905 appropriated $20,000 and an
additional sum of $1,284.96 was received through donations, making
a total of $30,602.21 at the disposal of the commission. The building
cost $7,500, including the furniture; the cost of collecting, transport-
ing and arranging the exhibits was $20,413.09, leaving a balance of
$2,689.12, which was returned to the state.
Utah was awarded fifteen gold medals, thirteen silver medals, fif-
teen bronze medals, five collections received honorable mention, and
a number of prizes were awarded towns and individuals on their
exhibits.
FIRE AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
On the night of September 11, 1905, fire broke out in the storage
building of the department of mechanic arts of the Agricultural Col-
lege at Logan and before it was discovered had made considerable
headway. The storage building was entirely destroyed and the other
buildings and equipment of the department were badly damaged.
The college authorities went before the state board of examiners and
asked permission to create a deficit for the purpose of rebuilding or
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 141
repairing the damaged structures and purchasing new equipment for
the department. The request was granted on September 30, 1905,
when the trustees were authorized to create a deficit not exceeding
their estimate of $26,288.
THE OGDEN STORM
About noon on Saturday, October 20, 1906, a high wind began
blowing in the vicinity of Ogden and continued almost without abate-
ment until the following Monday, doing considerable damage. At
the School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind a number of windows were
blown in and several transoms torn from their fastenings. Early on
Sunday morning the kitchen chimney was blown down and a little
later the chimney of the boiler house, seventy-two feet high, fell and
carried away one corner of the building, causing a damage of more
than two thousand dollars.
The storm also inflicted considerable damage at the State Indus-
trial School. This institution was visited by Governor Cutler on the
23d, and the next day the trustees sent the following communication
to the state board of examiners:
"The big tower on the west side of the main building, as well as
large portions of the fire walls on the north and west sides, and sec-
tions of the north wall between the roof line and the floor of the top
story, are either completely down or at present in such a condition
as will require them to be taken down before any rebuilding is done.
The ceiling in the front rooms on the west side of the top floor, some
five or six rooms, is completely broken in, and in case of storm the con-
tents of the building will be totally destroyed."
Both the Industrial School and the School for the Deaf., Dumb
and Blind went before the state board of examiners to ask for author-
ity to make repairs. The trustees of the former institution were
granted the privilege of creating a deficit not to exceed $1,250. The
sum of $1,245.83, which was raised by giving a note to the Ogden
Savings Bank, was actually expended, when the trustees reported to
the board of examiners that $950 would be needed to restore the build-
ing to its original condition. In the case of the School for the Deaf,
Dumb and Blind, the board of examiners authorized the trustees to
make repairs to cost not more than $2,500, and a deficit of that
amount was created in the case of the institution.
142 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ELECTION OF 1 906
The year 1906 was an "ofif year" in Utah politics, with only a rep-
resentative in Congress and a justice of the Supreme Court to be
elected. The campaign was opened by the republican party, which
held a state convention on September 20th. George B. Squires pre-
sided over the convention and John V. Bluth acted as secretary.
Joseph Howell was renominated for representative in Congress, and
Joseph E. Frick was named as the candidate for justice of the
Supreme Court. The platform indorsed the administration of Presi-
dent Roosevelt and approved the action of Congressman Howell
and Senator Smoot.
Two days after this convention, the American party held its
state convention in the Salt Lake Theater, Salt Lake City. C. C.
Goodwin was elected chairman; Thomas Weir was nominated for
Congress, and Thomas Maloney, of Weber County, for justice of
the Supreme Court.
The democratic party held its state convention on October 4,
1906. William H. King was chosen to preside and H. N. Hayes,
of Sevier County, was elected secretary. Orlando W. Powers, of
Salt Lake City, received the nomination for representative in Con-
gress, and J. W. N. Whitecotton, of Provo, was nominated for jus-
tice of the Supreme Court. The principal feature of the platform
was the resolution denouncing the republican party for its appeal
to the Mormons for their support, and the American party for its
appeal to the non-Mormons. As the delegates to the convention
were composed of both Mormons and Gentiles, this resolution was
adopted without a dissenting vote.
No nomination for justice of the Supreme Court was made by
the socialists in this campaign, but Homer P. Burt was nominated
for representative in Congress. At the election on November 6,
1906, the vote for representative in Congress was as follows:
Howell, 42,560; Powers, 27,021; Weir, 11,411; Burt, 3,010. For
justice of the Supreme Court Frick received 42,553 votes; White-
cotton, 26,389; Maloney, 11,980.
SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
On Tuesday, January 8, 1907, the regular biennial session of the
seventh L.egislature began at Salt Lake City. Stephen H. Love,
UTAH SIN.CE STATEHOOD 1^3
who had served as president of the senate in the preceding session,
was again elected to that office, and Harry S. Joseph was chosen
speaker of the house. Governor Cutler's message at the opening
of the session was notable as being the first official utterance toward
the erection of the present state capitol building. Said he:
"Utah has now been in the Union just eleven years and yet has
'no place to lay its head.' The state is addicted to the rather repre-
hensible practice of renting a home. If a young couple had been
married for eleven years and had made no step whatever toward
acquiring a home, they might justly be accused of lack of thrift.
While the same accusation can hardly be made against the state, yet
the time seems opportune for a commencement toward securing a
building for state offices.
"1 would suggest that you gentlemen take a walk at your con-
venience to the head of Main Street and climb to the brow of
what is known as Capitol Hill. If you go there on a clear day,
when the magnificent panorama of the city, the valley and the lake
lies before you, I think you will agree with me that nature could
scarcely have done better in providing a site for a capitol building.
Such a walk may give you at least a part of my enthusiasm for the
erection, at the earliest possible time, of a capitol fitting to such a
site.
"All of the building stone and most of the stone trimmings could
be secured from our own quarries. There is no scarcity of skilled
workmen in masonry, carpentry, painting, etc. With site, material
and workmen at our doors, it will require only a united and enthusi-
astic efifort to erect a building commensurate with the dignity and
importance of the state and an object of pride to citizens and of
admiration to visitors. It would please me greatly for you to take
the initial step toward this much desired consummation. For upon
its completion the beautiful, stately building we all have in imagina-
tion would be a lasting monument to its founders — the members of
the seventh State Legislature."
Although the Legislature took no steps toward the erection of
a capitol building, the governor's message set tTie people of Utah
to thinking and prepared the way for concrete action by the next
session. In discussing the financial afifairs of the state, the governor
called attention to the fact that deficits amounting to $99,311.88
had been incurred during the preceding two years, most of which
he declared was due to "fire, storm and bounty frauds," and
144 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
announced that the general appropriations asked for by the various
state institutions and departments aggregated $2,491,177. The fire
alluded to was the one which destroyed part of the Agricultural
College buildings in September, 1905, the storm was the one which
damaged the School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind and the State
Industrial School at Ogden in October, 1906, and the bounty frauds
grew out of the laws providing for the payment of bounties for the
destruction of certain predatory animals.
Among the recommendations of the governor were: The estab-
lishment of an institution for the care of feeble minded and epilep-
tic persons; the creation of the office of state insurance commissioner;
a law prohibiting theatrical performances on Sunday; a rifle range
for the National Guard of Utah; and a law to regulate the speed
of automobiles.
In the opening of the Uinta Indian reservation in 1905, the
greater part of the burden of making improvements, roads, bridges,
etc., fell upon Wasatch County, with a population of only 5,000
and property assessed at less than two millions of dollars. The
governor referred to this matter in his message and suggested that
the Legislature might find some way of relieving the county of a
portion of the expense. He also presented for consideration the
question of having Utah represented at the Jamestown Exposition
in 1907, celebrating the three hundredth anniversary of the settle-
ment of the United States, and at the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Expo-
sition to be held at Seattle in 1909.
The appropriation of $500 made by the Legislature of 1905 for
the purchase of medals for the veterans of the Indian wars had been
exhausted and only about one-half the veterans had been supplied.
The governor therefore recommended an additional appropriation
large enough to provide a medal for every survivor who could be
located.
LAWS ENACTED
One of the most important acts of the seventh Legislature was
that authorizing the governor to appoint "two persons, practicing
attorneys in good standing, to constitute a commission to compile
and annotate the laws of the state and supervise the printing of said
laws." Governor Cutler appointed James T. Hammond, former
secretary of state, and Grant H. Smith as the code commissioners,
i
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 145
and the result of their labors was published early in 1908 under the
title of "Compiled Laws of Utah."
The act of 1905 creating a state board of horticulture was repealed
and a new one enacted. It provided for a board composed of the
governor and four persons to be appointed by him — one from each
of the following districts: i. The counties of Boxelder, Cache,
Rich, Morgan and Weber. 2. The counties of Davis, Salt Lake,
Tooele, Summit and Wasatch. 3. The counties of Utah, Juab, Car-
bon, Emery, Uintah, San Juan, Grand, Sanpete and Sevier. 4. The
counties of Millard, Beaver, Piute, Wayne, Iron, Garfield, Kane
and Washington. Each member of the board was to receive a sal-
ary of $400 per annum and the board was authorized to employ a
secretary at a salary not exceeding $1,200 per annum. It was
empowered to make and enforce rules and regulations for the quar-
antine of infested orchards, etc.; to hold institutes and appoint per-
sons to lecture and give instruction in horticulture in each district.
The name of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing
Society, which was chartered on January 17, 1856, was changed by
the seventh Legislature to the "Utah State Fair Association," which
was to be controlled by a board of twelve directors, and title to all
property owned or controlled by the Deseret Agricultural and Manu-
facturing Society was vested in the Utah State Fair Association.
Cities, towns and municipal corporations were required, in mak-
ing public improvements, to award contracts to the lowest bidders,
after publication of twenty days or more, and every city, town or
municipality was prohibited from adopting plans requiring the
exclusive use of any patented article or process wholly controlled
by any person, firm or corporation.
Other acts of the session authorized the delivery of unclaimed
dead bodies to the medical department of the University of Utah;
established a board of park commissioners in each city of the second
class, to serve without compensation and to make contracts for the
improvements in public parks for which the city council might
appropriate funds; gave first and second class cities power to estab-
lish and maintain public libraries and reading rooms; required the
United States flag to be displayed on every public school house or
grounds while school was in session; provided a method for settling
disputes between counties over boundary lines; and extended the
provisions of the penal code relating to telegraph operators to the
transmission of messages bv telephone.
146 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
A memorial to President Roosevelt requested him to rescind the
order withdrawing certain coal lands from entry. A resolution was
adopted urging the co-operation of the President and Congress in
securing conservation and utilization of the resources of the West.
On June 12, 1906, the United States senate passed a bill, introduced
by Senator Smoot, providing for the payment of pensions to the
veterans of the Indian wars in Utah between the years 1854 and 1867.
The seventh Legislature memorialized the national house of repre-
sentatives to pass the measure. Governor Cutler was instructed by
resolution to have oil portraits of himself and Governor Wells painted
for the state and to pay for the same from the contingent fund.
JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION
The Legislature of 1907 passed an act providing: "That, for the
purpose of advertising the resources of this state, the State of Utah
shall participate in the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition, at
Norfolk, Virginia, commencing April 26, 1907; and for that pur-
pose a commission be created, composed of the governor and four
members appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and
consent of the senate."
Pursuant to the provisions of this act, W. S. McCornick. Arthur
L. Thomas, Wesley K. Walton and Fisher S. Harris were appointed
commissioners. Of this board Governor Cutler was chairman by
virtue of his office, and at the first meeting Fisher S. Harris was
elected secretary and W. S. McCornick, treasurer. Mr. Harris sub-
sequently resigned on account of illness and H. P. Henderson was
appointed to fill the vacancy. Owing to the great distance and the
small appropriation made by the Legislature ($2,000), the board
decided that it would be inadvisable to attempt anything in the way
of an exhibit of the state's products, and decided that the best thing
to be done was to have a day set apart at the exposition, to be known
as "Utah Day," when the commission could bring to the attention of
the visitors at the exposition the resources and possibilities of the
state.
With this end in view, Arthur L. Thomas went to Norfolk in
April and arranged for October 15, 1907, to be set apart as "Utah
Day." The ceremonies on that day consisted of an address of wel-
come by Gov. J. T. Ellyson, of Virginia; a short address by Alvah
H. Martin, director general of the exposition; and a more compre-
hensive address by Governor Cutler, in which he set forth the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 147
resources, the industrial and educational advantages of the state.
Music was furnished by J. J. McClellan, the Tabernacle organist,
and Willard Weihe, the noted violinist. All t!ie commissioners
except Mr. McCornick and a number of prominent Utah people
were present at the exercises, which were followed by a luncheon
at the Army and Navy Club. Of the appropriation of $2,000, the
commission returned to the state $363.65, and in its final report says:
"The commission feels that the time and money was well spent in
the opportunity given to enlighten the thousands of visitors at the
exposition of the many and varied resources of Utah."
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1908
In Utah the political campaign of 1908 was opened by the repub-
lican party, which held a state convention in the Salt Lake Theater,
Salt Lake City, on Friday, May 8th, for the purpose of choosing
delegates to the national convention. D. D. Houtz, of Utah County,
was elected chairman, and John James, of Salt Lake City, was made
secretary. The delegates selected were: Reed Smoot, George
Sutherland, Joseph Howell, C. E. Loose, W. D. Livingston and Dr.
C. M. Wilson.
Delegates to the democratic state convention were selected at a
state convention held in the Grand Theater, Salt Lake City, on June
12, 1908. Nathan T. Porter was chosen to preside and John L. Her-
:ick was elected secretary. Samuel Newhouse, O. W. Powers, W.
H. King, Mrs. H. J. Hayward, A. J. Evans and S. S. Smith were
elected as the delegates and instructed to support William J. Bryan
for president.
The republican national convention met in Chicago on the i6th
of June. William H. Taft, of Ohio, and James S. Sherman, of
New York, were nominated for president and vice president, respec-
tively. On the 7th of July the democratic national convention
assembled in Denver, Colo. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was
nominated for president, and John W. Kern, of Indiana, for vice
President. Besides these candidates of the two leading parties, five
other tickets were placed in the field. The socialists nominated
Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, for President, and Benjamin Hanford,
of New York, for Vice President. Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia,
was the populist candidate for President, and Samuel Williams, of
Indiana, was nominated for Vice President. The candidates of the
prohibitionists for President and Vice President were Eugene W.
148 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Chafin, of Arizona, and Aaron S. Watkins, of Ohio. The social
labor party nominated August Gilhaus, of New York, for Presi-
dent, and Donald L. Munro, of Virginia, for Vice President. A new
party known as the "independent" entered the race with Thomas
L. Hisgen, of Massachusetts, as its candidate for President, and
John Temple Graves, of Georgia, for Vice President. Only four
of these parties — the republicans, democrats, independents and social-
ists — nominated presidential electors in Utah.
After the national conventions, state conventions were held to
nominate presidential electors and candidates for the various state
offices. In this part of the campaign the republicans again took the
lead by holding their state convention on September 15, 1908. Lafay-
ette Holbrook, of Utah County; Henry Cohn, of Salt Lake, and
Thomas Sevy, of Garfield, were nominated for presidential electors;
Joseph Howell, of Cache County, was again nominated for repre-
sentative in Congress; William Spry, of Salt Lake, for governor;
C. S. Tingey, of Juab, for secretary of state; Jesse B. Jewkes, of
Emery, for state auditor; David Mattson, of Weber, for state treas-
urer; Albert R. Barnes, of Salt Lake, for attorney-general; A. C.
Nelson, of Sanpete, for superintendent of public instruction; W.
M. McCarty, of Sevier, for justice of the Supreme Court.
Just a week after this convention (September 22d) the demo-
cratic state convention met at Logan. Frank B. Stephens, of Salt
Lake County; James Andrus, of Juab, and Aquilla Nebeker, of
Cache, were named for presidential electors; Lyman R. Martineau,
of Salt Lake, for representative in Congress; Jesse Knight, of Utah,
for governor; Evan R. Owen, of Cache, for secretary of state; J. W.
Nixon, of Emery, for state auditor; Joseph E. Caine, of Salt Lake,
for state treasurer; J. W. Stringfellow, of Salt Lake, for attorney-
general; D. H. Robinson, of Sanpete, for superintendent of public
instruction; S. W. Stewart, of Salt Lake, for justice of the Supreme
Court.
The independent party made no nominations except for presi-
dential electors and representative in Congress. Abner D. Thomp-
son, D. D. Crawford and Frank J. Tierney were the candidates of
this party for presidential electors, and P. J. Donohue for repre-
sentative in Congress.
A state convention of socialists nominated R. Leggett, M. M.
Johnson and J. C. Edgar for presidential electors; Charles Crane,
for representative in Congress; V. R. Bohman, for governor; W. H.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 149
Shoek, for secretary of state; L. A. Walker, for state auditor; Joseph
McLaughlin, for state treasurer; A. E. Wixon, for attorney-general;
Elizabeth W. Piepgrass, for superintendent of public instruction.
No nomination was made by this party for jtistice of the Supreme
Court.
The American party, which made its first appearance in the Utah
political arena in 1904, held a state convention in the Salt Lake
Theater, Salt Lake City, on September 28, 1908, and nominated
the following ticket: Dr. C. L Douglas, representative in Congress;
John A. Street, governor; E. A. Littlefield, secretary of state;
George W. Park, state auditor; Henry Welch, state treasurer; J. W.
Thompson, attorney-general; George B. Sweazey, superintendent of
public instruction; Ogden Hiles, justice of the Supreme Court.
All the state conventions (except the American) adopted resolu-
tions indorsing the action and platforms of the national conventions.
The American party, having no candidate for President, confined its
declarations to state issues.
The election was held on November 3, 1908, and resulted in a
victory for the entire republican ticket. The vote for presidential
electors was as follows: republican, 61,165; democratic, 42,601;
socialist, 4,890; independent, 92. For governor. Spry received
52,913 votes; Knight, 43,266; Bohman, 3,936; Street, 11,404.
Howell's plurality for representative in Congress was 19,563.
CHAPTER VII
SPRY'S FIRST TERM— 1909-1913
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GOVERNOR SPRY — EIGHTH LEGISLATURE — LEGAL
HOLIDAYS — LAWS ENACTED — A SHORTAGE — SEATTLE EXPOSITION —
IRRIGATION EXPOSITIONS — ELECTION OF 1910 — NINTH LEGISLA-
TURE — governor's MESSAGE— LAWS ENACTED — POLITICAL CAM-
PAIGN OF 1 91 2 — THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS — THE STATE TICK-
ETS — ELECTION RETURNS.
William Spry, the third governor of Utah after the state was
admitted in to the Union, was born in Windsor, Berkshire, Eng-
land, January 11, 1864, a son of Philip and Sarah (Field) Spry.
When he was about elven years of age he came to the United States
with his parents and two brothers — George H. and Samuel — arriving
in Salt Lake City, on June 2, 1875. With the other members of his
family, he united with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and as soon as he was old enough was sent as a missionary to
the Southern States, where he remained until 1891. For the next
two years he was connected with the Zion Co-operative Mercantile
Institution. In 1893 he removed to Tooele County and engaged in
farming and stock raising. The next year he was elected collector of
Tooele County; represented that county in the legislatures of 1903
and 1905; was president of the state board of land commissioners
in 1905 and 1906, and in the political campaign of the latter year was
chairman of the republican state central committee. In February,
1906, he was appointed United States marshal for the District of
Utah and in 1908 was elected governor as the candidate of the repub-
lican party. He was re-elected in 1912 and served the two full terms
of four years each. During his administration the new capitol build-
ing was erected and several important additions to the statutes were
enacted.
151
152 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
The eighth session of the Utah State Legislature was convened
in Salt Lake City on January 1 1, 1909. Henry Gardner was elected
president of the Senate and E. W. Robinson, speaker of the House.
On the 1 2th Governor Spry delivered his first message to a joint
session of the two Houses. He emphasized the necessity for a revi-
sion of the laws relating to taxation and revenue, pointing out that
the comptroller of the currency reported deposits in the national
banks of Utah amounting to over $42,000,000, while the state audi-
tor's reports showed only $4,426,779, in bank deposits and solvent
credits. Of the $42,000,000 bank deposits about $5,000,000 con-
sisted of state and county funds not taxable, leaving approximately
$32,000,000 not taxed. In like manner he called attention to the re-
ports of the sheep inspectors, who found 812,000 more sheep in the
state than had been found by the assessors, and closed his remarks
on this subject by saying: "It is for you to determine whether it
will be better to try to correct existing defects by amendment, or by
the enactment of a new law adequate to our present needs and con-
ditions." The Legislature responded to the governor's recommen-
dations by enacting amendments to twenty-six sections of the existing
revenue laws.
"An imperative necessity exists," said the governor, "for the erec-
tion of a state capitol building. A task of such magnitude will occupy
several years' time and the raising of funds therefor is a question
of great importance. Plans for the accomplishment of this work in
a satisfactory manner will be submitted." (For a history of the
capitol building see Chapter XI.)
LEGAL HOLIDAYS
By an act approved on February 5, 1909, the eighth Legislature
declared the following days to be legal holidays in the State of Utah.
Sunday of each week; January ist (New Year's Day) ; February
1 2th (Abraham Lincoln's birthday anniversary) ; February 22d
(George Washington's birthday anniversary) ; April 15th (Arbor
Day) ; May 30th (Memorial or Decoration Day) ; July 4th (In-
dependence Day) ; July 24th (Pioneer Day) ; the first Monday in
September (Labor Day) ; December 25th (Christmas Day) ; and all
days set apart by proclamation of the President of the United States
or Governor of the State of Utah as days of fast or thanksgiving.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 153
LAWS ENACTED
Among the more important acts of the session was one creating
a state conservation commission, to consist of the governor as ex-officio
chairman and not less than two other citizens of the state, "to in-
vestigate and ascertain the natural resources of the state, to adopt and
carry out such policies and measures as will prevent waste of the same,
and to co-operate with the national conservation commission, etc.
Also to examine and ascertain what streams in the state were capable
of furnishing water power and water for irrigating purposes. Gov-
ernor Spry appointed as members of the commission, O. J. Salisbury,
Lewis A. Merrill, George Austin, J. E. Pettit and H. T. Haines,
of Salt Lake City; John A. Widtsoe, of the Agricultural College, and
Thomas L. Allen, of Coalville. In the organization of the commis-
sion O. J. Salisbury was chosen vice chairman, Lewis A. Merrill,
secretary, and B. B. Mann was appointed clerk. In 191 1 this com-
mission made a full report, the leading features of which will be
mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Another act of this session created a state dairy and food bureau
of five members "to prescribe rules and regulations for the operation
of creameries, butter and cheese factories, dairies, confectioneries,
hotels, restaurants, bakeries, etc."
The Legislature of 1907 made it possible for cities of the third
class and incorporated towns to levy a small tax for the support ol
public libraries and gymnasiums. A number of cities voted in favor
of the tax at the general election in 1908, and the Legislature of 1909
created a library and gymnasium commission of five members to be
appointed by the state board of education. The act creating the
commission also carried with it an appropriation of $2,000 to in-
augurate the work.
An appropriation of $7,500 was made for the purpose of sinking
artesian wells in dry farming sections, the work to be done under
the auspices of the state board of land commissioners; a new state
board of horticulture was created; a long act of thirty-five pages
relating to the assessment of property and levying of taxes was passed ;
an insurance department was established; the salaries of the state
officers were defined by law; provision was made for registering,
numbering and licensing motor vehicles; an appropriation of $5,000
was made for holding farmers' and domestic science institutes under
the auspices of the Agricultural College; a state road commission
154 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
was created and provision made for a standard system of public
highways; and the governor was authorized to accept the Panguitch
school from the United States, to be continued as an institution of
learning to which Indian pupils should be admitted on the same
terms as whites.
An appropriation of $35,000 was made to provide entertainment,
etc., for members of the Grand Army of the Republic who might
attend the forty-third annual encampment to be held at Salt Lake
City during the week beginning on August 9, 1909, and author-
izing county commissioners and cities of the first and second class to
appropriate such sums as they might deem proper for a similar
purpose, or to provide transportation for veterans of the Civil war
who might desire to attend the encampment.
A long act of seventy-one sections provided for the reorganiza-
tion of the Utah National Guard and repealing all laws in conflict
therewith. The new law defined the method of enrollment of mem-
bers of the Guard, their duties, equipment, pay while on duty, etc.,
and created an armory board, composed of the governor, secretary of
state and adjutant-general, "to have supervision of all armories
and arsenals in the state." An appropriation of $10,000 was made
for the erection of a state arsenal and armory at Salt Lake City.
A SHORTAGE
About the time the Legislature adjourned, it was discovered that
there was a shortage in the accounts of the retiring state treasurer,
James Christiansen. Mr. Christiansen acknowledged that he had
used seventy thousand dollars or more of the state's money, which
he had not been able to replace before retiring from office. An in-
ivestigation of the books showed the shortage to be $70,628.94. On
March 13, 1909, Mr. Christiansen, who had been, engaged in the
banking business at Richfield before his election, gave bond to appear
in court when wanted, and his bondsmen were officially notified of
the deficit. It was claimed that Mr. Christiansen had been the
'victim of misguided friends and that the money had been sunk in
mining operations in Nevada. His bondsmen made good the loss to
the state.
SEATTLE EXPOSITIOX
The industrial exposition, or world's fair, held at Seattle in 1909
was officially known as the "Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition,''
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 155
to celebrate the forty-second anniversary of the purchase of x\hiska
by the United States. The Utah Legislature of 1907 appropriated
$2,000 and authorized the appointment of a preliminary commis-
sion to decide whether Utah should be represented by an exhibit.
The Legislature of 1909 made provisions for a commission, of which
the governor should be ex-officio chairman, "to devise and execute
plans for the display of such exhibits from the State of Utah as may,
in the opinion of the commission, be advisable to represent the re-
sources and advantages of the state," etc.
On March 27, 1909, Governor Spry appointed as the members
of the commission Chauncey P. Overfield, Thomas Hull, Rudolpli
Kuchler and R. E. Allen. For the purpose of defraying the expenses
of an exhibit, the Legislature of 1909 appropriated the sum of
$25,000, to which was added the $2,000 appropriated by the preced-
ing Legislature. Chauncey P. Overfield was elected secretary of the
commission. Early in April Governor Spry, Mr. Overfield and
W. E. Ware, who had been selected to design a state building, went
to Seattle to select a site for said building and complete arrange-
ments for the exhibits.
The cost of the Utah building was $6,500 and it was completed
on May 25, 1909, in good time for the opening of the exposition.
August 25th, 26th and 27th were set apart as "Utah days," when hun-
dreds of people from the state visited the exposition and participated
in exercises calculated to advertise to the world the resources and
possibilities of the "Beehive State." The extent and character of
the state's exhibit at Seattle were much the same as those made at
St. Louis in 1904 and at Portland in 1905, and a number of prizes
were awarded the display.
IRRIGATION EXPOSITIONS
In the fall of 1909 and again in the fall of 1910 United States
Land and Irrigation Expositions were held in Chicago. It was
about this time that the cry of "Back to the land" was being heard
as a means of relieving the overcrowded conditions in the laige
cities of the country, and the Land and Irrigation Expositions were
intended to show the advantages to be derived from the ownership of
a farm in the irrigated sections of the West. Utah's agricultural
and horticultural interests were represented at both these expositions.
The representation of the state was made possible in 1909 by Gov-
156 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ernor Spry, George Austin, O. J. Salisbury and T. R Cutler, of Salt
Lake City, and M. S. Browning, of Ogden, who personally guaran-
teed $3,500 to defray the expenses of an exhibit. In 1910 D. E.
Burley, general passenger agent of the Oregon Short Line Rail-
road Company, provided the transportation facilities and expenses
of the display. On both these occasions the fruits and agricultural
products of Utah attracted considerable attention and received favor-
able comments in the columns of the public press.
ELECTION "OF 1910
The political campaign of 1910 presented no exciting features,
as the only officials to be elected were a representative in Congress
and a justice of the Supreme Court. On September 16, 1910, the
democrats held a state convention at Provo. Ferdinand Erickson,
mayor of Mount Pleasant, was nominated for representative in Con-
gress and C. C. Richards, of Ogden, for justice of the Supreme
Court. The principal planks of the platform adopted were those
declaring in favor of state wide prohibition, a workman's compensa-
tion act, the adoption of the initiative and referendum and recall,
and the commission form of government for cities.
The republican state convention met at Ogden on the 26th of
September. Joseph Howell, of Logan, was again nominated for
representative in Congress and D. N. Straup, of Salt Lake City, for
justice of the Supreme Court. Resolutions were adopted reaffirm-
ing the national platform of 1908, approving the administration
of President Taft, declaring in favor of a local option law instead of
state wide prohibition, and demanding the admission of Arizona and
New Mexico into the Union as states.
Two other tickets were placed in the field. The American party
nominated Allen T. Sanford for representative in Congress and John
A. Street for justice of the Supreme Court, at a convention held in
the Colonial Theater at Salt Lake City on September 24th, and
the socialists nominated James A. Smith for representative in Con-
gress and Emil S. Lund for justice of the Supreme Court.
This was a republican year in Utah. For representative in Con-
gress Howell received 50,604 votes; Erickson, 32,730; Sanford,
14,042; Smith, 4,857. Straup was elected justice of the Supreme
Court, receiving 50,635 votes, to 32,610 for Richards, 13,753 for
Street, and 4,889 for Lund.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 157
NINTH LEGISLATURE
On Monday, January 9, 1911, the ninth session of the State Legis-
lature was convened in Salt Lake City. Henry Gardner was again
elected president of the Senate and E. W. Robinson was for a second
time chosen speaker of the House. Governor Spry's message was
delivered to a joint session of the two Houses on Tuesday. He called
attention to the fact that United States Senator George Sutherland's
term would expire on March 4, 191 1, and that the duty devolved
upon this Legislature to elect his successor; recommended the enact-
ment of a local option law; urged the creation of a public service
commission; and reported a balance of $1,025.60 left out of the
$27,000 appropriated for the Utah exhibits at the Alaska-Yukon-
Pacific Exposition of 1909.
On the subject of the National Guard he said: "The act of
Congress, commonly known as the 'Dick Bill,' virtually controls
the organization, equipment and discipline of the National Guard.
In order that the states may draw their pro rata of the funds appro-
priiited by Congress for the maintenance of the National Guard,
the provisions of this act must be followed. LTnder this bill each
state is required to maintain, properly armed, equipped and disci-
plined, a force of 100 men for each senator and representative in Con-
gress."
At the time this message was delivered, Utah had two senators
and one representative, which the governor pointed out required
a force of 300 men, and in the event the census of 1910 gave the state
two representatives, the number would be thereby increased to 400
men.
The governor also submitted to the Legislature for ratification
or rejection the amendment to the Federal Constitution known as
Article XVI, which provides that "The Congress shall have power
to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,
without apportionment among the several states, and without regard
to any census or enumeration."
Utah was one of the six states that failed to ratify this amend-
ment, which was declared in force on February 25, 1913, the other
five states being Connecticut, Florida,- Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
and Virginia.
A workshop for the adult blind of the state was established in
the rear of the Lion House in November, 1909, pursuant to an act of
158 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the preceding session of the Legislature. The shop was equipped
with machinery and tools for making brushes, caning chairs, etc.,
and the governor, in his message of 191 1, recommended that, if the
shop was to be made a permanent institution, it be made an adjunct
of the State School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind.
The subject of taxation occupied a considerable portion of the
message, especially the necessity for the adjustment of railroad assess-
ments. Regarding this phase of the subject, the governor showed
that in Boxelder County, where there were no valuable terminal
privileges and no double tracks, the railroad property was assessed
at $8,515,318, while in Weber County it was only $4,394,950, and in
Salt Lake County it was $8,097,675, and recommended legislation
that would secure more equitable assessments.
LAWS ENACTED
One of the most important laws enacted by the ninth Legislature
was that providing for the appointment by the governor of a board
of commissioners on revenue and taxation, whose duties as defined
by the act were to be as follows : i. To make a careful and complete
examination and investigation of the system of revenue and taxation
in force in the state. 2. To make a compilation of all laws bearing
upon the subject of taxation in force in Utah. 3. To consider care-
fully and thoroughly the taxation and revenue laws of the different
states of the Union and avail themselves of all information afforded
by the reports of tax commissions of other states, etc. 4. To embody
the results of their investigation in a report to the tenth session of the
Utah Legislature, and * * * "As a part of their report said com-
mission shall prepare a bill covering the whole subject ol revenue
and taxation, which said bill shall be in complete form for introduc-
tion in the tenth Legislature."
In his biennial report for the period ending on' November 30,
1910, the secretary of state recommended a number of changes in
the banking laws. On March 9, 191 1, Governor Spry approved
an act (of forty-five sections) embodying all the secretary's sug-
gestions and making the secretary of state ex-officio bank commis-
sioner.
An appropriation of $40,000 was made for the purpose of con-
structing an electric plant in Logan Canyon, near the City of Logan,
to furnish electric light and power to the Agricultural College, the
Experiment Station, the State Industrial School, the School for the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 159
Deaf, Dumb and Blind and the State Penitentiary, the board ol
trustees of the Agricultural College to prepare plans and award
the contracts for the installation of said plant.
The state board of land commissioners was authorized and di-
rected to bore artesian wells on state or private lands — not more
than two wells in any one county — for irrigation purposes in districts
where the land was adapted to dry farming. If such wells were
bored on private land the owner was required to give the state a clear
title to at least one acre, upon which the board could install the neces-
sary well and pumping machinery, where such machmery might
be required. The board was also empowered to lease said wells to
the responsible bidder who would enter into an agreement to furnish
water at the lowest price during a period of five years.
A state capitol building, as provided for by the Legislature of
1909, was further advanced by an appropriation of $750,000 and a
bond issue of $1,000,000. The history of the capitol building is given
in another chapter.
A child labor law was passed at this session. It provided that no
boy or girl under the age of fourteen years should be employed in
any establishment where white lead, explosives, or other poisonous
or dangerous materials were used; that no boy under fourteen or girl
under sixteen years of age should be required to work more than
f;fty-four hours in any one week; that no girls or women should be
employed in any place where intoxicating liquors are sold; and that
no boy under twelve or girl under sixteen should sell newspapers
in cities of the first or second class, except under certain restrictions.
The sum of $10,000, "or so much thereof as may be necessary,"
was appropriated for the purpose of a silver service for the Battle-
ship Utah, then under construction by the United States, the money
not to become available until the governor gave the state auditor
written instructions to that efifect.
A number of acts amending certain sections of the Compiled
Laws of 1907 and the session laws of 1909 were passed; a state board
of architecture to examine and license architects in the state was
created; a relief fund for firemen was established and provisions
made for paying indemnities to disabled firemen; cities of the first
class were authorized to acquire and maintain public parks, the
mayor to appoint park commissioners to manage and control all
public grounds; and other acts regulated the sale of intoxicating
liquors and narcotic drugs.
160 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The governor, president of the Senate and speaker of the House
of Representatives were created a special commisison, to act in con-
junction with a similar commission from the State of Colorado, "to
investigate the feasibility of the proposed Denver & Salt Lake Rail-
road and Main Range Tunnel, and to report its findings to the tenth
Legislature." An appropriation of $i,ooo was made to defray the
expenses of the special commission.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1 9 1 2
The year 1912 was a "Presidential Year" and a complete state
ticket was to be elected in Utah. For the first time in the history of
the state, Utah was entitled to two representatives in Congress, and
consequently to eight delegates in the national party conventions.
The democrats opened the campaign by holding a state convention
at the Salt Lake Theater, Salt Lake City, on May 14, 1912, for the
purpose of choosing delegates to the national convention. C. C.
Richards, of Ogden, was made chairman of the convention and
Heber C. Jex, of Utah County, was chosen secretary.
Instead of selecting eight delegates and eight alternates, accord-
ing to the time-honored custom, sixteen delegates were elected, each
one being entitled to half a vote in the convention. The delegates
were: John S. Bransford, C. P. Overfield, C. C. Neslen, John Dern
and Samuel Russell, of Salt Lake County; J. D. Call, of Boxelder;
Joseph E. Cardon, of Cache; John R. Barnes, of Davis; George C.
Whitmore, of Juab; H. L. Nielson, of Sanpete; John McAndrew, of
Uinta; Thomas N. Taylor and William M. Roylance, of Utah; E.
M. Brown, of Washington, and A. L. Brewer, of Weber.
"Resolutions were adopted criticizing Taft's administration; de-
claring in favor of a revision of the tariff downward and a grad-
uated income tax; urging Congress to submit to the legislatures of
the several states a constitutional amendment providing for the elec-
tion of United States senators by popular vote; and pledging the
party to the enactment of an employers' liability law that would
secure adequate protection to injured workmen.
The republican state convention, for the selection of delegates to
the national convention, met at Provo on May 15, 1912. Carl A.
Badger, of Salt Lake City, was made chairman and H. L. Cummings,
also of Salt Lake City, was chosen secretary. Eight delegates were
then elected, viz. : Reed Smoot, George Sutherland, Joseph Howell,
William Spry, C. E. Loose, Jacob Johnson, C. R. Hollingsworth
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 161
and J. M. Peterson. The eight alternates were: Lorenzo N. Stohl,
of Boxelder County; B. R. McDonald, of Carbon; John Walsh, of
Davis; Robert Welsh, of Morgan; Thomas O'Donnell, of Uinta;
William D. Sutton, of Wasatch; John DeGray Dixon, of Utah;
and William Glassman, of Weber.
A platform was adopted affirming allegiance to the republican
party; declaring in favor of a term of six years for the President
of the United States and rendering him ineligible for a second term;
indorsing the action of Utah's senators and representatives in Con-
gress; approving the administration of Governor Spry; deploring
the Titanic disaster and asking Congress to enact such laws as would
safeguard travel on the high seas; and favoring a tariff policy that
would protect home industries.
THE XATIOXAL COXVEXTIOXS
The first national convention in 191 2 was held by the socialist
party at Indianapolis, Ind., May 12th. Morris Hillquitt, of New
York, presided, and James M. Reilly, of Illinois, was chosen secre-
tary. Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, who had been the party's candi-
date for President in 1900, 1904 and 1908, was again nominated, and
Emil Seidel, the socialist mayor of Milwaukee, Wis., was nominated
for Vice President.
On June 18, 1912, the republican national convention assembled in
Chicago. The leading candidates for the Presidency were William
H. Taft, then President and a candidate for a second term, and former
President Theodore Roosevelt. The latter's supporters charged the
Taft managers with using unfair methods to obtain delegates in a
number of the states, and 344 of the Roosevelt delegates refused to
participate in the work of the convention. The Utah delegates were
instructed to support Mr. Taft and voted for him on the only ballot
taken, when he received 540 votes to 107 for Roosevelt, with sixty
scattering and twenty-seven delegates either absent or not voting.
Mr. Taft was therefore nominated by the narrow margin of two
votes. Vice President Sherman was also renominated, but his death
occurred on October 30, 191 2, only six days before the election, and
the national committee filled the vacancy on the ticket by the selec-
tion of Nicholas M. Butler, of New York.
On June 21;, 1912, the democratic national convention met in
Baltimore, Md., and continued to hold daily sessions (except Sun-
day) until the 2d of July. Woodrow Wilson, of New Jersey,
162 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
and Champ Clark, of Missouri, were the most prominent candidates
for the Presidency, the former receiving the nomination on the forty-
sixth ballot. Thomas R. Marshallj of Indiana, was nominated for
Vice President.
The ill feeling engendered by the action of the republican
national convention resulted in the formation of the "progressive
party." In Utah the progressives held a convention at Provo on
July 27, 191 2, at which resolutions were adopted expressing regret
at being forced to leave the republican party and declaring in favor
of a new party which would "nominate candidates for every office
from governor to constable." The following delegates to a national
progressive convention to be held in Chicago on August 5, 1912.
were chosen: James H. Mays, Wesley K. Walton, S. B. Tuttle, Glen
R. Bothwell, Mrs. Charles J. Adams, N. A. Robertson, Freeman
Morningstar and one to be chosen later. Similar conventions were
held in nearly all the states and delegates to the national convention
were selected. At the national convention Theodore Roosevelt, of
New York, was named for President, and Hiram Johnson, of Cali-
fornia, for Vice President.
THE STATE TICKETS
Five parties were represented either by complete or partial tick-
ets in the State of Utah, viz. : The democratic, republican, progres-
sive, socialist and social labor. In the nomination of candidates for
the state offices the democrats led ofif by holding a state convention
in Salt Lake City on August 29, 1912. Jesse Knight, O. W. Powers,
T. H. Fitzgerald and John Andrus were nominated for presidential
electors; Tillman D. Johnson and Mathonihah Thomas, for repre-
sentatives in Congress; John F. Tolton, for governor; Charles Eng-
land, for secretary of state; John S. Blain, for state auditor; John F.
Mendenhall, for state treasurer; Joseph W. Sfringfellow, for attor-
ney-general; A. C. Nelson, for superintendent of public instruction;
Le Grand Young, for justice of the Supreme Court.
The platform adopted criticized the administration of President
Taft; deplored official corruption in high places; denounced the
Utah republican machine for its "unholy alliance with the saloon ele-
ment" ; and declared in favor of a non-partisan judiciary, good roads,
a public utilities commission, a minimum wage law and a corrupt
practices act to secure fair and honest elections.
On September 5, 1912, the republican state convention met in
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 163
the Salt Lake Theater, Salt Lake City. Mrs. Margaret Z. Witcher,
J. N. Davis, Ephraim Homer and E. D. Woolley were nominated
for presidential electors; Joseph Howell and Jacob Johnson, for
representatives in Congress; William Spry, for governor; David
Mattson, for secretary of state; Lincoln G. Kelly, for state auditor;
Jesse B. Jewkes, for state treasurer; A. R. Barnes, for attorney-gen-
eral; A. C. Nelson (also nominated by the democrats), for superin-
tendent of public instruction; Joseph E. Frick, for justice of the
Supreme Court.
A short platform was adopted, the principal planks of which
were those indorsing President Taft's administration and the admin-
istration of Governor Spry; favoring the ratification of the amend-
ment to the Federal Constitution providing for the election of United
States senators by popular vote; and urging the enactment of anew
tax law for the State of Utah.
The progressive state convention was held in Ogden on Septem-
ber 13, 1912. Mr. Roosevelt, who was passing through the city,
made a short speech from the rear platform of the train, which
aroused the enthusiasm of the delegates. Mrs. Myra M. DeWolfe,
Mrs. Mary G. Coulter, Hugo Deprezin and G. J. Carpenter were
nominated for presidential electors; Stephen H. Love and Lewis
Larson, for representatives in Congress; Nephi L. Morris, for gov-
ernor; Frank J. Hendershot, Jr., for secretary of state; Walter
Adams, for state auditor; O. W. Adams, for state treasurer; George
N. Lawrence, for attorney-general; Ogden Hiles, for justice of the
Supreme Court. No nomination was made for superintendent of
public instruction.
The candidates of the socialist party were as follows: W. E.
Warner, J. E. Gease, A. L. Mitchell and George Husher, presiden-
tial electors; William M. Knerr and Murray E. King, representa-
tives in Congress; Homer P. Burt, governor; H. A. Saunders,
secretary of state; J. H. Lovhaug, state auditor; H. Cannegeiter,
state treasurer; W. F. Ramsey, superintendent of public instruction.
No nominations were made for attorney-general and justice of the
Supreme Court.
Arthur E. Reimer, of Massachusetts, and August Gilhaus, of
New York, were the candidates of the social labor party for Presi-
dent and Vice President. In Utah the party nominated James D.
Erskine, Roy D. Southwick, Marie S. Petersen and J. E. Guernsey
for presidential electors; E. A. Battell, for governor; Kate S. Hil-
164 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Hard, for secretary of state; and Elias Anderson for representative
in Congress. No other nominations were made.
The election occurred on November 5, 191 2, and the republicans
carried the state, the vote for presidential electors being as follows:
Republican, 42,013; democratic, 36,579; progressive, 24,171; social-
ist, 8,999; social labor, 510. Governor Spry was re-elected, receiv-
ing 42,552 votes to 36,076 for Tolton; 23,590, for Morris; 8,797,
for Burt; and 479 for Battell.
CHAPTER VIII
SPRY'S SECOND TERM— 1913-1917
SPRV'S SECOND IXAUGURATIOX — TENTH LEGISLATURE^ — THE GOVER-
NOR'S MESSAGE — CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS CREATED — IMPORTANT
ACTS PASSED — HATCHTO^VN DAM DISASTER — ELECTION OF 1914 —
ELEVENTH LEGISLATURE — SPRY ON STATE FINANCES — LAND FUNDS
AND INCOMES — LAWS ENACTED — INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITIONS — POLIT-
ICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1916 — NATIONAL CONVENTIONS — STATE CON-
VENTIONS — THE ELECTION.
Governor Spry was inaugurated for his second term on Monday,
January 6, 1913, in accordance with the provisions of Section i,
Article VII of the state constitution, and the 13th of the same month
marked the opening of the
TENTH LEGISLATURE
In the organization of the Senate Henry Gardner, of Spanish
Fork, was for a third time elected president, and William J. Seely,
of Castle Dale, was chosen speaker of the House. A large part of the
governor's message was devoted to the work of the commission on
revenue and taxation authorized by the preceding Legislature. Under
the provisions of the act of 1911, Governor Spry appointed as the
members of this commission Harden Bennion, F. W. Kirkham and
C. S. Patterson, who presented an exhaustive report on the' subject
of revenue and taxation at the opening of the tenth Legislature.
Among other things, the commissioners said:
"The radical changes which we expected to recommend, and
without which we believe no perfect system of taxation can exist,
were made impossible because of the restrictions of our constitution.
The amendments submitted to the people for ratification at the last
general, election would have permitted a long step forward in scien-
165
166 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
tific revenue legislation. That such amendments were not adopted
we believe was due to insufficient information as to the purpose and
effect of the amendments not only on the part of the people them-
selves, but also on the part of many of those who assumed to lead them
and advise them how to vote. Leaders who strained every nerve to
defeat these amendments at the late election are now demanding of
this commission, and of the Legislature of whom this report is made,
bills providing for a more equitable distribution of the taxes derived
from public service corporations, or for exemptions from taxation of
the property of the poor man's home or household furniture, not real-
izing perhaps that under our present constitution such legislation is
impossible."
Commenting upon this portion of the report in his message the
governor spoke more plainly regarding the defeat. of the constitu-
tional amendments. Said he: "Through a campaign of perversion,
misrepresentation and self interest on the part of certain individuals
and corporate interests, who saw in the adoption of the amendments
a certainty that they would be brought to bear an equal burden of
the taxation of the state, the proposals were lost."
Notwithstanding the handicap caused by the defeat of the consti-
tutional amendments, the Legislature enacted a number of important
additions to the revenue laws of the state, having for their object a
more equitable assessment of property and distribution of the bur-
dens of taxation.
Regarding the appropriation of $10,000 made by the ninth Leg-
islature for the purchase of a silver service for the Battleship Utah,
Governor Spry reported that he had appointed a committee to select
a design and make the presentation. This committee decided to give
the school children of the state an opportunity to contribute to the
silver service fund, each one so contributing to receive an engraved
certificate. Thirty thousand school children gave $2,227.42 and the
service was presented to the officers of the vessel on November 6,
191 1.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS
Section i. Article IX, of the state constitution provides that "One
representative in the Congress of the United States shall be elected
from the state at large on the Tuesday next after the first Monday
in November, A. D. 1895, ^"d thereafter at such times and places
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 167
and in such manner as may be prescribed by law. When a new
apportionment shall be made by Congress, the Legislature shall
divide the state into Congressional districts accordingly."
The United States census of 1910 showed the population of Utah
to be 373,351, which entitled the state to two representatives in Con-
gress. The Congressional apportionment was not made, however,
until after the adjournment of the Legislature in 191 1 and in 1912
the two Congressmen were elected from the state at large. On March
19, 1913, Governor Spry approved an act dividing the state into two
Congressional districts, to wit:
First District — The counties of Beaver, Boxelder, Cache, Car-
bon, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan,
Piute, Rich, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Uinta, Wasatch,
Washington, Wayne and Weber.
Second District — The counties of Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele and
Utah.
If the reader will take the trouble to trace the boundaries of these
districts upon a map of the state, he will notice that the second dis-
trict is bounded on three sides by the first, and may wonder why
such a division was made. The law requires the Congressional dis-
tricts to be as nearly equal in population as possible, and the act of
1913 divided the state so that the first district contained 183,090 of
the inhabitants and the second district, 190,261. The act also pro-
vided that the representative from each of the districts should be
elected at the general election in 1914.
IMPORTANT ACTS PASSED
The banking law passed by the Legislature of 191 1 made the
secretary of state ex-officio bank commissioner. In his report for
1911-12, Charles S. Tingey, secretary of state, said: "Neither the
examiner nor the secretary of state, who is ex-officio bank commis-
sioner, has the time to give special attention to weak and unsound
banks under the present law. I therefore recommend that our bank-
ing law be amended so as to create a banking department or bureau,
providing for appointment by the governor of a commissioner of
banking and one or more examiners."
Mr. Tingey's suggestion was favorably received by the Legisla-
ture, which created a state banking department, the chief officer of
which was the bank commissioner, to be appointed by the governor
and receive a salary of $2,i;oo per annum. The act also provided
168 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
that all banks organized under the state laws (except savings banks)
should be examined twice a year, and savings banks at least once.
Fees for examination were fixed, varying from $20, where the assets
of the bank were $100,000 or less, to $200, where the assets amounted
to $25,000,000 or more. The new banking department went into
operation on May 14, 1913, with C. A. Glazier as bank commis-
sioner.
A state board of sheep commissioners was created, to be composed
of three persons appointed by the governor, no two of whom should
reside in the same county. Each commissioner was to receive a sal-
ary of $i;oo a year and actual traveling expenses, and the board was
required to open and maintain a permanent office at the capital in
charge of a secretary, whose salary should not exceed $1,000 per year.
The act made it the duties of the commissioners to establish quaran-
tines against diseased herds of sheep, to destroy infected animals
where necessary, and to co-operate with the Federal inspectors of the
bureau of animal industry. Persons importing sheep from other
states and territories into Utah were required to notify the board, in
order that the animals might be inspected before being placed upon
the grazing lands of the state.
The branch of the State Normal School at Cedar City, Iron
County, was made a branch of the State Agricultural College, funds
were provided for its support and an appropriation of $8,2t;o was
made for needed improvements at the institution.
By another act of this session, all hotels more than two stories in
height were required to have fire escapes. Every proprietor or
manager of a hotel in the state was required to have an "inspection
certificate" showing that the hotel under his management complied
with all the conditions fixed by law regarding ventilation, sanitation,
etc. Inspections were to be made under the direction of the state food
and dairy commissioner and fees for such inspection ranged from
two dollars for hotels of twenty rooms or less to fifteen dollars for
those having one hundred or more rooms.
Other acts prohibited fraudulent or misleading advertising re-
garding fire or bankrupt sales, exhibits or amusements; provided for
the parole of prisoners by the board of pardons, which was given
power to make rules and regulations concerning such paroles; fixed
a minimum wage for women; appropriated $150,000 to enlarge the
capitol grounds; and amended the fish and game laws.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 169
HATCHTOWX DAM DISASTER
In February, 1900, the Upper Sevier Reservoir, Irrigation and
Fish Stock Company began the construction of a dam across the
Sevier River about one and a fourth miles below Hatch, Garfield
County, and some fifteen miles above the City of Panguitch. The
history of this dam is one of "hard luck" from the beginning. A
flood in May, 1900, wrecked the dam before it was completed and
the company abandoned the project.
On May 2, 1906, the state board of land commissioners took an
option upon the dam site for the state and directed the state engineer
to make surveys and determine whether the site was suitable for a
storage reservoir. After these surveys had been completed the en-
gineering firm of Jenson & McLaughlin submitted plans and speci-
fications for an earthen dam sixty feet high and twenty feet wide
at the top, with a stone masonry shaft through the body of the dam
to contain the mechanism for controlling the flow of the water. The
dam was coijipleted on November 30, 1908, and three days later the
gates were closed and the storage of water was commenced. The
cost of the project up to that time was $84,382.78. In his biennial
report for 1909-10 the state engineer says :
"At the beginning of the irrigation season of 1910 there was
stored in the reservoir very nearly its full capacity of water. Under
the pressure thus pi-oduced, a slight seepage of water occurred at
the east end of the dam. This seepage saturated the material at the
lower toe of the dam, causing some sloughing at that place. A heavy
bank of rock was piled against the slope of the dam along the line
where the sloughing occurred while the water was still at its maxi-
mum height in the reservoir and the sloughing tendency entirely
checked. Thereafter the dam stood the test of its first season of serv-
ice in an entirely satisfactory manner."
During the years 191 1, 1912 and 1913 the seepage was noticed,
but it was not regarded as serious and no precautions were taken
to prevent it or to strengthen the dam. The season of 1914 opened
as usual and all went well until the 25th of May. In the forenoon
of that date the watchman, A. W. Huntmgton, went over the dam
and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. What happened that
afternoon and evening is thus told by Mr. Huntington:
"About two o'clock p. m. a Mr. Clark, who had been staying with
me, attempted to cross the dam when he discovered a stream of muddy
170 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
water about the size of a stovepipe coming out through the down-
stream face of the dam along the east side of the culvert at the
bottom of the side wall. This stream held steady for about two
hours and then started to increase. The ground above it began to
cave, first in small slabs, then large, until the opening was about
thirty feet wide and to within sixty feet of the water line on the farth-
er side of the dam, when the dam gave way and a wall of water fifty-
two feet in height rushed through the opening. This occurred at
8 o'clock p. m. and at 1 1 o'clock the reservoir was practically empty,
three-fourths of the volume having gone out in the first hour.
"During the period from the discovery of the leak to the failure
of the dam, I, with some of the men of Hatch, tried to discover where
the water was entering the dam, and to stop the water with manure,
straw, etc., which we had hauled, but we were unable to determine
where the water entered the dam."
The flood completely wrecked the diversion dam of the state
canal near Panguitch and a new canal, extending up the river for
over half a mile, was opened on June 15, 1914. During the next two
years surveys and field investigations for the purpose of determining
the best place for rebuilding the dam were made under the direction
of the state engineer. Three sites were examined — the old Hateh-
town reservoir site, the Showalter and Black Canyon reservoir sites — ■
but up to June i, 1919, the dam had not been rebuilt.
ELECTION OF 1914
On May 31, 1913, the amendment to the United States Constitu-
tion providing for the election of senators by the people, instead of
by the state legislatures, went into efifect. Consequently, for the first
time in the history of the state, the Utah political parties nominated
candidates for United States senator in 1914. Besides a United
States senator, a representative in Congress from each of the two dis-
tricts, a justice of the Supreme Court and a superintendent of public
instruction were to be elected this year. The election of the last
named official was due to a vacancy caused by the death of A. C.
Nelson.
Three tickets were placed in the field. The republicans nomi-
nated Reed Smoot for United States senator; Joseph Howell, for
representative in Congress from the first district; E. O. Leatherwood,
from the second district; W. M. McCarty, for justice of the Supreme
Court; A. C. Matheson, for superintendent of public instruction.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 171
The democrats and progressives formed a coalition and nomi-
nated the following ticket: James H. Moyle, for United States
senator; Lewis Larson, for representative in Congress from the first
district; James H. Mays, from the second district; F. B. Stephens,
for justice of the Supreme Court; E. G. Gowans, for superintendent
of public instruction.
J. F. Parsons was nominated by the socialists for United States
senator; Benjamin Janson and A. H. Kempton, for representatives
in Congress from the first and second districts, respectively; Frank
B. Scott, for justice of the Supreme Court; Olivia McHugh, for
superintendent of public instruction.
The election was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1914, and re-
sulted in the choice of a mixed ticket, the republicans electing the
United States senator, the representative in Congress from the first
district and the justice of the Supreme Court, while the democrats
and progressives elected the representative in Congress from the
second district and the superintendent of public instruction. For
United States senator, Smoot received 56,281 votes; Moyle, 53,129;
Parsons, 5,248. Howell's plurality in the first Congressional dis-
trict was 3,041 ; Mays carried the second district by a plurality of
158; McCarty's plurality for justice of the Supreme Court was
2,369; and Gowans was elected superintendent of public instruction
by a plurality of 3,068.
ELEVENTH LEGISLATURE
The eleventh biennial session of the State Legislature was con-
vened in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, January 11, 1915, and con-
tinued in session for the full term of sixty days allowed by the con-
stitution. W. Mont Ferry, of Salt Lake County, was elected presi-
dent of the Senate and L. R. Anderson, of Sanpete County, was
chosen speaker of the House. In his message Governor Spry pre-
sented some interesting figures pertaining to the financial conditions
and interests of the state.
"Utah," said he, "embraces an area of 85,000 square miles. While
the state and its subdivisions must govern and police this vast area,
22.8 per cent only of our lands are now vested in private and cor-
porate ownership and subject to taxation. * * * Since statehood
there has been absolutely no pretense that property of any class has
been assessed at its true value and session by session, in order to meet
the growing expense, the legislators have extended the limit of levies
172 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
for various purposes, with the result that a general movement for
strict compliance with the law requiring cash value assessments
would place the taxpayer at the mercy of the various levying authori-
ties with maximum levies far in excess of what they should be under
such method of assessment."
As an illustration of this condition he mentioned the fact that
the state board of equalization reduced the state levy one-half mill
for the biennial period of 1913-14, and local authorities took ad-
vantage of the situation to advance the tax rate, so that the tax-
payers received no benefit from the reduction. The total assessed
valuation of property in 1914 was $221,720,400, which was far
below the actual value, but the governor suggested that the state
board of equalization should not be criticized for failure to establish
cash value assessments until local authorities were curtailed in the
matter of maximum levies.
He gave the bonded debt of the state as being $2,410,000, upon
which the annual interest was $93,400, with a redemption fund of
$370,000 on hand, which reduced the indebtedness to $2,040,000.
The various land grant funds and incomes he reported as follows:
Fund Income
Agricultural College $ 193,451.87 $10,251.25
Deaf and Dumb Asylum. . . . 128,359.12 7,000.00
Insane Asylum 130,459.47 7,600.00
Institute for Blind 101,699.41 5,116.30
Miners' Hospital 130,380.48 5,150.00
Normal School 1 13, 553-91 6,000.00
Reform School 131,451.81 6,590.00
Reservoir 196,278.07 9,621.20
University 305,220.81 15,211.40
School of Mines 122,746.78 6,100.00
Total $1,553,601.73 $78,640.15
These figures do not include the land grant for the support of
the public schools. Had the school lands been included in the gov-
ernor's statement, the total investments would have aggregated nearly
four millions of dollars and the total income about two hundred
thousand dollars.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 173
LAWS EXACTED
One of the most important laws passed by the eleventh Legis-
lature was that authorizing a commission "to make an inquiry,
examination and investigation into the subject of a direct compensa-
tion law, or a law afifecting the liability of employers to employes
for industrial accidents." The act provided that the commission
should consist of one state senator, one representative, two employers,
two representatives of labor and an attorney, to be appointed by
the governor and to serve without compensation except expenses, for
which the sum of $500 was appropriated. I'he commissioners of
immigration, labor and statistics were directed to co-operate with the
commission, which was required to submit a full report to the mem-
bers and members-elect of the twelfth Legislature at least sixty
days before the opening of that session, the recommendations of
the commission to be presented in the form of a bill for introduction
at the legislative session of 1917.
An "Irrigation and Water Rights Commission" was created, to
consist of the state engineer, attorney-general, the president of the
Agricultural College and two citizens appointed by the governor,
to investigate conditions in the state and report to the next session
of the Legislature.
Other acts of the session authorized the governor to appoint a
commission of seven citizens to select a site upon the capitol grounds
for a monument to the Mormon battalion and appropriated $1,000
to secure a design for said monument; appropriated $35,000 addi-
tional for a display of Utah's products at the San Francisco and
San Diego industrial expositions in 1915; $20,000 for furnishing
the new capitol building; $12,000 for the benefit of the Orphan's
Home and Day Nursery at Salt Lake City, and $4,000 for the Salt
Lake Free Kindergarten and Neighborhood House Association.
The governor was also authorized to appoint three citizens, to serve
without compensation except expenses, to investigate and report
upon the necessity of the state making some provision for the care
of the mentally deficient or feeble minded persons living within the
state.
On February 10, 1915, the senate joint resolution was adopted
recommending an adjournment to the new capitol building and the
remainder of the session was held in the new structure. Just before
the close of the session another joint resolution of the Senate was
174 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
adopted directing the capitol commission to have an oil portrait
of the members of the commission painted, the expenses to be de-
frayed by the commission and the painting to be the property of the
state. The painting, showing the commissioners in a group, was com-
pleted in due time and was hung in the board room adjoining the
secretary of state's office.
INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITIONS
During the summer and fall of 1915 two great industrial expo-
sitions were held on the Pacific Coast, viz.: The Panama-Pacific
Exposition at San Francisco, and the Panama-California Exposi-
tion at San Diego. On March 25, 1913, Governor Spry approved
an act of the Legislature creating the "Utah Expositions Commis-
sion," to consist of the governor as an ex-officio member and eight
citizens to be appointed by him. The act also appropriated $50,000
to defray the expenses of the state's exhibits and provided that all
exhibits and other property in the hands of the commission should
be returned to the State of Utah at the close of the expositions.
Immediately after approving the act. Governor Spry appointed
Glen Miller, G. B. Pfoutz, D. S. Spencer, George Austin, L. A.
Merrill and John Q. Critchlow, of Salt Lake; H. M. Rowe, of
Ogden; and J. Will Knight, of Provo, as the members of the com-
mission. Glen Miller was chosen treasurer and A. G. McKenzie,
of Salt Lake City, was elected secretary. L. A. Merrill died on
June 15, 1915, and as a mark of respect the vacancy was not filled
•by the appointment of a successor.
In his message to the Legislature of 191 5, Governor Spry an-
nounced that a site for a state building had been selected on the
exposition grounds at San Francisco, but up to that time no selection
of a site had been made at San Diego. By the act of February 25,
1915, an additional sum of $35,000 was appropriated, "to be ex-
pended by the Utah Expositions Commission under the provisions
of Chapter 104, Laws of Utah, 1913." A site was then selected
at San Diego and Cannon & Fetzer, architects of Salt Lake City,
were employed to design the state buildings at both the expositions.
J. Edward Taylor was engaged as director of the horticultural
exhibit; F. W. Reynolds, as director of the educational exhibit; John
T. Caine, as director of the live stock exhibit, and an exhibit of the
state's mineral resources was also made. The state received twenty-
eight awards, some of them grand prizes. At the close of the exposi-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 173
tion at San Francisco the Utah Building there was sold for $200,
but the one at San Diego, with the exhibits it contained, was turned
over to a committee of citzens and was kept open until late in the
year 1916.
The commission reported the total receipts as being $108,628.35,
and the total disbursements as $101,549.86, leaving a balance of
$7,078.49 to be returned to the state. At San Francisco the register
in the Utah Building showed at the close of the exposition 34,323
signatures, and the one at San Diego, 42,715, making a total of
77,038 persons who visited the two, and it is possible that some of
the visitors failed to register.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1916
The year 1916 was a "Presidential year" and the first state con-
ventions were held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the
national conventions. On April 5, 1916, "the first gun of the cam-
paign" was fired by the democrats, who held a state convention in
Salt Lake City. C. L. Olson, of Salt Lake City, was chosen to pre-
side, and W. M. Johnson, of Ogden, was elected secretary. Follow-
ing the precedent established in 191 2, sixteen delegates were chosen,
each one to have half a vote in the national convention. Eight of
these were "delegates-at-large" and four were selected from each
of the Congressional districts. The delegates-at-large were: Mrs.
H. J. Hayward, Mrs. Brigham T. Pyper and Samuel A. King, of
Salt Lake City; J. Will Knight, of Provo; Stephen Hailstone, of
Cache County; J. R. Barnes, of Davis; S. S. Smith, of Weber; James
W. Clyde, of Wasatch.
The first district selected W. L. Eddy, of Boxelder County;
Valentine Gideon, of Weber; W. W. Kirihan, of Sanpete; and H.
G. Hayball, of Cache. Those chosen from the second district were:
L H. Masters, of Utah County; Daniel B. Shields, A. J. Weber
and James H. Wolfe, of Salt Lake County.
A brief platform was adopted, the principal features of which
were resolutions favoring the conservation of natural resources and
asking Congress to assist the state in the construction of reservoirs;
urging the creation of a non-partisan tarifif commission; pledging
the party to enact a "state-wide" prohibition law; and approving
President Wilson's policy in "maintaining peace and the dignity and
honor of the nation without bringing us into war with foreign
powers."
176 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
On May i, 1916, a republican state convention met at Provo
and W. N-. Williams, of Salt Lake City, was made permanent chair-
man. Gov. William Spry, United States senators Reed Smoot and
George Sutherland, and A. R. Heywood, of Ogden, were elected
delegates-at-large to the national convention; Congressman Joseph
Howell and W. D. Candland, of Sanpete County, delegates from
the first Congressional district; Fred W. Price and H. S. Joseph,
both of Salt Lake City, delegates from the second district.
The resolutions approved Governor Spry's administration; de-
clared in favor of national woman suffrage; denounced President
Wilson's Mexican policy, and expressed resentment at his "un-
precedented and unwarranted interference in purely state matters."
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
The republican and progressive national conventions met in Chi-
cago on June 9, 1916. A short time before these conventions assem-
bled the Utah progressives selected W. D. Livingston, S. H. Love,
John A. Hendrickson and Mrs. L. M. Crawford as delegates-at-
large; F. J. Hendershot and Lewis Larson, delegates from the first
congressional district; Mrs. Alice Paddison and Brigham Clegg,
delegates from the second district.
A "harmony committee," composed of delegates from each of the
conventions, was appointed in the hope that it could formulate some
policy by which the two parties could unite in the nomination of
candidates. The progressives insisted upon the nomination of Theo-
dore Roosevelt for President, and after several meetings of the con-
ference committee the attempt to "get together" was abandoned. On
the loth the republican convention nominated Charles E. Hughes,
of New York, for President on the third ballot, and Charles W.
Fairbanks, of Indiana, was nominated for Vice President. The
progressives then nominated Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, for
President, and John M. Parker, of Louisiana for Vice President.
Mr. Roosevelt declined to accept the nomination and the progressive
national committee indorsed the candidacy of Hughes and Fairbanks,
though many members of the party refused to support the republican
ticket.
The democratic national convention met in St. Louis on June 14,
1916. On the 15th, President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President
Thomas R. Marshall were both renominated by acclamation.
Three other parties were represented in the national campaign
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD m
in Utah, viz.: Tlie socialists, the prohibitionists and the social labor
party. The socialist candidates for President and Vice President
were Allan J. Benson, of New York, and George R. Kirkpatrick, of
New Jersey. J. Frank Hanly, of Indiana, and Ira Landrith, of Mas-
sachusetts, were nominated by the prohibitionists for President and
Vice President, respectively. The social labor candidates were
Arthur E. Reimer, of Massachusetts, for President, and Caleb Har-
rison, of Illinois, for Vice President.
STATE CON\'ENTIONS
The hrst state convention for the nomination of candidates for
presidential electors and state officers, was held by the republicans
at Ogden on August 8, 1916, with F. W. Fishburn, of Brigham City,
as permanent chairman. David Jensen, Thomas Smart, Orange
Seely, Sr., and Asa R. Hawley were nominated for presidential elect-
ors; George Sutherland, for United States senator; Nephi L. Mor-
ris, for governor; Lincoln G. Kelly, for secretary of state; Joseph
Jensen, for state auditor; D. H. Madsen, for state treasurer; Harold
P. Fabian, for attorney-general; E. G. Gowans, for superintendent
of public instruction ; D. N. Straup, for justice of the Supreme Court.
In the resolutions adopted Governor Spry's administration was
approved; the course of the Utah senators and representative in
Congress was indorsed; state-wide prohibition was favored; the
party pledged to the enactment of a workmen's compensation law and
the creation of a public utilities commission, and President Wilson
was denounced for trying to abridge the rights of settlers on the
former Uinta Indian reservation to the use of water, etc.
The democratic state convention met at Ogden on August 18.
1916, and was organized by the election of D. O. Larson, of Sanpete
County, as chairman and Arthur B. Parsons, of Salt Lake, as secre-
tarv. As in 1912, the progressives united with the democrats in the
formation of a ticket. The progressive presidential electors — Mrs.
P. J. Donahoe, Mrs. L. M. Crawford, F. E. Morgan and A. G.
Anderson — and the candidate for justice of the Supreme Court —
Allen T. Sanford — were withdrawn and the following ticket was
nominated :
Robert N. Baskin, Jesse Knight, Anthon Anderson and John Sea-
man, presidential electors; William H. King, United States senator;
Simon Bamberger, governor; Harden Bennion, secretary of state;
Joseph Ririe, state auditor; Daniel O. Larson, state treasurer; Daniel
178 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
B. Shields, attorney-general; E. G. Gowans, superintendent of public
instruction (also nominated by the republicans) ; Elmer E. Corf-
man, justice of the Supreme Court.
A long platform was adopted, the principal planks of which were
those indorsing President Wilson's administration for the enactment
of the Federal Reserve banking law and for keeping the United States
out of the world war; favoring a liberal irrigation policy; and pledg-
ing the party to enact a law for state-wide prohibition in Utah.
The socialists nominated Charles E. Robinson, Morton Alex-
ander, Albert V. Wallis and Francis J. Mallet for presidential elect-
ors; Christian Poulson, for United States senator; F. M. McHugh,
for governor; George Huscher, for secretary of state; Evans G.
Locke, for state auditor; William F. Bulkley, for state treasurer;
Lawrence McGivern, for attorney-general; Olivia McHugh, for
superintendent of public instruction. No nomination was made for
justice of the Supreme Court.
The only nominations made by the prohibitionists and social labor
party were for presidential electors. The former nominated Rachel
E. Waite, Louis H. Page and James H. Worrall, leaving one place
vacant; and the latter nominated Eugene A. Battell, Howard Hall,
James P. Erskine and Theodore Peterson.
In the first congressional district the republicans nominated Tim-
othy C. Hoyt for representative; the democrats and progressives nom-
inated Milton H. Welling; and the socialists nominated Daniel Ron-
ald. The candidates for representative in the second district were:
Charles R. Mabey, republican; James H. Mays, democrat and
progressive; and Murray E. King, socialist.
THE ELECTION
The election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1916, and the
entire fusion ticket was elected. The vote on presidential electors was
as follows: Democratic and progressive, 85,135; republican, 54,137;
socialist, 4,460; prohibitionist, 149; social labor, 144. For United
States senator. King received 81,057 votes; Sutherland, 56,862; Poul-
son, 4,497 Bamberger's plurality was 18,980. The democrats also
elected a majority of the members in each house of the Legislature.
CHAPTER IX
BAMBERGER'S ADMINISTRATION
SKETCH OF GOVERNOR BAMBERGER — TWELFTH LEGISLATURE — GOV-
ERNOR'S MESSAGE— THE SESSION LAWS — ELECTION OF 1918 — THIR-
TEENTH LEGISLATURE — MESSAGE OF 1919 — LAWS ENACTED — ARBOR
DAY — GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION — CHANGE IN OFFICE — THE UTA-
CARBON.
Simon Bamberger, fourth governor of the State of Utah, was born
at Darmstadt, Germany, February 27, 1847. At the age of fourteen
years he came to the United States, and in 1869 he became a resident
of Utah. He assisted in developing the coal mining interests of Utah
and in course of time was made president of the Bamberger Coal
Company. His business interests were not confined to mining opera-
tions, however, as he has held the positions of director of the Salt
Lake Valley Loan and Trust Company and director and treasurer of
the Bamberger Electric Railway. In 1898 Mr. Bamberger was
elected a member of the board of education of Salt Lake City and
continued in that body for live years. He was elected state senator
on the democratic ticket in 1902 and served for four years. During
that time he increased his acquaintance over the state and became
recognized as one of the leaders of the democratic party. In 1916 he
was nominated and elected governor for a term of four years.
Governor Bamberger is prominent in the^raternal and club life
of Utah's capital city. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the
Elks, the B'nai B'rith, the Alta, Bonneville, Commercial and Rotary
clubs of Salt Lake City, and the Rocky Mountain Club of New York.
TWELFTH LEGISLATURE
The twelfth biennial Legislature convened in the new capitol
building at Salt Lake City on Tuesday, January 9, 1917. James W.
179
180 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Funk was elected president of the Senate, and John F. Tolton was
chosen speaker of the House. Immediately after the two branches
of the Legislature were organized, they met in joint session to receive
the governor's message, as required by section 5, article VII, of the
state constitution.
"Our platform pledges," said the governor, "are covenants with
the people. What we have promised we will do to the best of our
ability. But it does not follow because a sweeping change has been
made in the political complexion of the Legislature, that radical leg-
islation is expected except in those specified innovations promised to
and ordered by the people. Certainly nothing in the way of freak
legislation is justified by the platform upon which we were elected.
We represent a careful, painstaking and conservative constituency.
Our measures should be few, carefully considered, and constructed
to stand any test the future may place upon them."
Among the platform pledges made by the democratic party in the
campaign of 1916 was one declaring in favor of a public utilities
commission. In referring to this subject the governor said:
"Utah is one of two states — the other one being Delaware — having
little or no provision for the regulation of public service corpora-
tions. * * * The members of this assembly are pledged to create a
public utilities commission, which shall be charged with the duty of
establishing and maintaining the mutual confidence and friendly
relations of the public and the public service corporations."
He called attention to the fact that the various state departments
and institutions would come to the Legislature asking appropriations
aggregating more than one million dollars, and cautioned the mem-
bers to keep the appropriations within the estimated revenue for the
biennial period. "While the people of Utah are prosperous and con-
tented," said he, "the finances of the state government are far from
satisfactory. You, ladies and gentlemen of this Legislature, are con-
fronted with the difficult problem of providing revenue, not only to
meet the current expenses and growing needs of the state government
for the next biennium, but also sufficient to meet a deficit of nearly
half a million dollars which comes as a legacy from the preceding
administrations."
The governor recommended a budget system of making appro-
priations and an act of that kind was passed during the session. He
also recommended that provisions be made for a non-partisan judi-
ciary; a state department of agriculture; a clear and concise law
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 181
relating to water rights in irrigated districts; a new compilation of
the state laws; one board of control to have charge of the penitentiary,
the mental hospital, the school for the deaf, dumb and blind, the
industrial school, the state capitol and the finances of the University
of Utah and the Agricultural College, instead of the then existing
system of having a board of trustees for each institution.
On the subject of prohibition he reminded the members of the
Legislature that practically every one of them was pledged to the
enactment of a law prohibiting the manufacture, sale or other dispo-
sition of intoxicating liquors, and announced his willingness to ap-
prove an act of that character.
THE SESSION LAWS
On February 8, 1917, Governor Bamberger approved an act en-
titled "An Act to define, prohibit and regulate the sale, manufacture,
use, advertising of, possession of, or traffic in intoxicating liquor, malt
or brewed drinks; providing for its enforcement, and providing pen-
alties and remedies for its violation," etc. This law, stringent in its
provisions, was the "state-wide and bone-dry" prohibition bill to the
enactment of which both the republican and democratic parties
pledged themselves in their 19 16 platforms. The law went into
effect on August i, 19 17.
Two days later (February 10, 1917), the governor approved an
act authorizing him to appoint, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, two qualified practicing attorneys of the state to com-
pile and annotate the laws of Utah, each commissioner to receive
$200 per month, not to extend beyond January i, 1918. An appro-
priation of $8,000 was made to pay for the printing and binding of
a stipulated number of copies, the contract for the work to be let by
the state board of examiners. Governor Bamberger appointed Allen
T. Sanford and Richard B. Thurman to make the compilation and
on January i, 1918, these commissioners made their final report. The
result of their labors was then published under the title of the "Com-
piled Laws of Utah, 1917."
By the act of March 8, 1917, two additional justices of the
Supreme Court were provided for, making the court to consist of
five justices instead of three. The act also fixed the term of the
Supreme Court justices at ten years, one to be elected every two years,
and any three justices might constitute a quorum for hearing and
determining causes. The governor was authorized to appoint two
182 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
justices to serve until the general election of 1918, when one should
be elected for eight and the other for ten years. Governor Bamberger
appointed S. R. Thurman and Valentine Gideon as the two extra
justices.
Bonds to the amount of $2,000,000 w^ere authorized for the con-
struction of state highways, the proceeds to be expended under the
direction of a state road commission composed of the governor, secre-
tary of state, state engineer, attorney-general and state auditor.
The offices of state mine inspector and commissioner of immigra-
tion, labor and statistics, as well as the board of labor conciliation and
arbitration, were abolished and the duties formerly performed by
these officials were transferred to an industrial commission consist-
ing of three members to be appointed by the governor within thirty
days after the taking efifect of the act.
As the new capitol building was almost completed, the act creating
the capitol commission was repealed, the state board of examiners
being given authority to complete the structure, pay outstanding
claims and assume all the powers formerly exercised by the com-
mission.
A state crop pest commission was created, to consist of five mem-
bers appointed by the governor. The act provided that an inspector
of the commission should visit each county in the state and instruct
the county inspectors with regard to the inspection of nursery stock,
prohibiting the sale of infected fruit, etc., establishing quarantines
against any district infected by crop pests and other provisions of the
law.
The act relating to the use of voting machines was repealed and
a corrupt practices act was passed. It defined and limited the cam-
paign and election expenses of candidates and political committees,
and provided penalties for illegal practices in making nominations
and in general elections. Concerning this law the secretary of state
said in his report for 1916-18 : "I am convinced it is a good law, and
that as we become familiar with its provisions it will seem less exact-
ing and annoying. However, its requirements in the matter of filing
statements by candidates, committees, etc., are quite impossible of
fulfillment in some respects, and in my opinion, should be carefully
scrutinized to the end that the inconsistencies may be removed by
appropriate amendment."
Other acts of the session provided for the initiative and referen-
dum; regulated the importation, sale and use of certain narcotic
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 183
drugs; declared labor unions lawful organizations and regulated the
granting of injunctions; created a fund known as the "Indian war
veterans' pension fund" and appropriated $25,000 for the state board
of examiners to disburse in pensions; a long act relating to irrigation
districts and water rights; and to prevent unfair discrimination in
the sale of certain specified food products.
Among the appropriations made by this Legislature were: $4,000
for archaclogical explorations to be made under the directions of
the board of regents of the University of Utah; $16,000 for an addi-
tion to the mining and metallurgy building at the University of Utah;
$100,000 for a monument to the Mormon battalion, to be erected upon
the capitol grounds; $4,000 for the Salt Lake Free Kindergarten and
Neighborhood House; $2,000 to the Florence Crittenden Home, in-
corporated for the purpose of aiding homeless and destitute women;
$2,000 to the Martha Society, to found and maintain homes for des-
titute children; $2,000 for the Children's Aid Society; and $15,000
for the state geologist, an office created at this session, the incumbent
to be appointed by the governor and to receive a salary of nor more
than $5,000 per annum.
This Legislature also passed an act creating a public utilities com-
mission, to have control of all matters pertaining to the regulation
of and fixing the rates of common carriers, gas, telephone, electric
light and water companies, and appropriating $50,000 for the use of
the commission; and a long act of 104 sections known as the Work-
men's Compensation Act, which provided indemnities in case of
injury, etc.
ELECTION OF 1918
Under the new law of 1917, three justices of the Supreme Court
were to be elected at the general election in 19 18 — one for six years,
one for eight years and one for ten years. Three parties nominated
candidates for justice of the Supreme Court and for representative in
Congress in each of the two districts.
The democrats nominated Samuel R. Thurman for the ten-year
term; Valentine Gideon, for the eight-year term; Albert J. Weber,
for the six-year term; Milton H. Welling, for representative in
Congress from the first district; James H. Mays, from the second
district.
J. W. Cherry, A. E. Bowen and J. E. Frick were nominated by
the republicans for the ten, eight and six-year terms, respectively;
184 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
William H. Wattis, for representative in Congress from the first dis-
trict; William Spry, former governor of Utah, for representative in
Congress from the second district.
The socialists nominated J. F. Parsons for justice of the Supreme
Court for the full term of ten years, but made no nominations for
the six-year and eight-year terms. Daniel N. Keef was the socialist
candidate for representative in Congress from the first district, and
A. H. Kempton, from the second district.
At the election, which was held on November 5, 1918, the three
democratic candidates for justice were elected. Thurman's plurality
was 10,087; Gideon's, 9,591; Weber's, 8,441. Parsons, the socialist
candidate, received 1,128 votes. For representative in Congress in
the first district, Welling received 25,327 votes; Wattis, 20,478; Keef.
348. In the second district. Mays received 23,930 votes; Spry, 16,134;
Kempton, 719.
Three constitutional amendments submitted to the people at this
election were adopted by substantial majorities. The vote on the
first, relating to the prohibition and regulation of the sale, or traffic
in intoxicating liquors, was ratified by a vote of 42,691 to 15,780; the
second, relating to uniform taxes and exemptions, by a vote of 38,669
to 13,880; and the third, relating to the taxation of mines and mining
property, by a vote of 35,337 to 21,436.
THIRTEENTH LEGISLATURE
On January 13, 1919, the thirteenth regular session of the State
Legislature convened in the new capitol building at Salt Lake Citv.
James W. Funk, of Cache County, who served as president of the
Senate in the twelfth Legislature, was again elected to that office, and
Charles C. Richards, of Salt Lake City, was chosen speaker of the
House. As soon as the two houses were organized they met in joint
session to hear the message of Governor Bamberger.
"It would be superfluous," said the governor, "for me to discuss
at length the abnormal conditions under which we have labored in
the most critical period of the world's history. With pride of an
unusual degree I report to you that the people of our state heard and
responded to every call of the nation in such a manner as to place the
name of Utah in the front rank of every movement involving the
highest ideals of humanity. Wifh her sister states, Utah has been
privileged to do her part in suppressing a tyranny which threatened
the world and in extending liberty and justice — I might sav the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 185
spirit of Americanism — to the oppressed peoples of the earth. In
humility we give expression to our thankfulness that a victorious peace
is assured to the cause of freedom and humanity."
Much of the governor's message was devoted to the financial con-
dition and affairs of the state. Among other statements relating to
this subject, he said: "When this administration assumed control of
the state government two years ago it inherited a deficit of some
$400,000 floating indebtedness. The state's finances were subjected
to a further strain by obligations necessarily incurred in the prosecu-
tion of war activities. The report of the state's fiscal condition pre-
pared by the state auditor indicates that by the beginning of the new
budget year, April i, 1919, we will have cleared up not only this old
deficit, but will have liquidated practically all the temporary indebt-
edness incident to wartime activities, besides redeeming the state bond
issue of 1898 in the sum of $150,000. * * * At the close of the fiscal
year, November 30, 1918, there was on hand in the state treasury to
the credit of the general fund $362,209.41. The balance due from
19 1 8 school taxes was $750,000, and from the occupation tax,
$375,000. The estimated receipts from fees to state officers, inherit-
ance taxes, etc., to March 31, 1919, is $190,000, making a total of
$1,677,209.41, which, with the $350,000 to be returned to the general
fund from unused appropriations, gives the state a total credit of
$2,027,209.41."
Commenting upon the conditions following the war, the governor
said: "With the return of peace it is natural to expect industrial
development of an unusual character and volume. This state is rich
in natural resources, so vast that all the work done toward develop-
ment to this time represents little more than a surface scratch. It is
proper and highly desirable that we encourage further development
by every possible means, but we also should afford protection to our
people by eliminating enterprises of a questionable character. To
this end I would suggest the enactment of a measure to prohibit pro-
motions which are no more than stock-selling schemes. Such legis-
lation should be sufficiently broad to afford ample protection to
settlers who may be attracted to the state. In the enactment of such
a law the provisions should be selected with extreme care in order
that legitimate development may not be hampered.
"While homes and employment are by far the most important
items to our returning soldiers, I believe you will agree with me that
they are entitled to special consideration of an honorary character.
186 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Because of the widely scattered service in which they have been en-
gaged and the straggling manner of their return, it has been prac-
tically impossible for us to extend to them the welcome they richly
deserve. As a means to this end I would advocate a general peace
celebration and reunion of our soldiers, which would include all men
identified with any branch of military or naval service during the
world conflict, to be held at Salt Lake some time during the coming
summer. I am of the opinion that it would be proper for the Legis-
lature to include in its appropriations an amount sufficient to meet
the expenses of such a celebration. But the effort to honor our soldiers
and sailors should not cease with a celebration. Since my tour of the
Middle West nearly a year ago in the interest of the Third Liberty
Loan I have had in mind suggesting to you the erection of a memorial
hall in which to preserve to posterity the individual records of those
of our state who have borne arms in defense of the commonwealth or
nation, or principles for which they stand, and other data and memen-
toes of historical character. It occurs to me that the proper place
for such a structure might be the campus of our state university, where
its patriotic influence should be highly beneficial in molding the
characters of our young men and women. Inasmuch as the Mormon
Battalion would be fully represented in the memorial hall I believe
it would be proper to repeal the law enacted by the twelfth Legisla-
ture providing for the erection of the Mormon Battalion monument."
The governor recommended the ratification of the prohibition
amendment to the Federal Constitution; a "diploma of suitable de-
sign" or other memento to be given to each Utah soldier in the world
war; an act providing for a non-partisan judiciary; an asylum or
school for the feeble minded of the state; a liberal road-building pro-
gram, and a revision of the tax laws on "some satisfactory basis of
valuation."
LAWS EXACTED
Much of the legislation enacted by this session was of an amenda-
tory nature. Among the laws amended were the banking laws, the
inheritance tax law, the workmen's compensation law, the laws relat-
ing to marriage licenses, to libraries and gymnasiums, to provide a
disbursing officer for the Utah National Guard, governing the classi-
fication and annual license fees for motor vehicles, relating to the
powers and duties of city commissions, regulating the sale of cold
storage goods, the manner of examining insurance companies, regu-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 187
lating railroad freight rates on coal, regarding the control and sale
of state lands, and the laws relating to taxation and the state board of
equalization. The Compiled Laws of 1917 were "approved, legal-
ized and adopted," after which the Legislature proceeded to amend
over one hundred and sixty sections of the new code.
Several acts related to the soldiers who took part in the world
war. The most important of these was the act authorizing the state
board of loan commissioners "to provide for and negotiate, as needed
for the purpose of this act provided, a loan for the state in the sum of
$1,000,000 by issuing negotiable coupon bonds of the state therefor
under rules and regulations not in conflict herewith to be prescribed
by said board," etc.
Section 6 of the act provided that: "The bonds issued under the
provisions of this act shall not be taxed for any purpose within this
state and the proceeds of the sale thereof shall be covered into the
state treasury, and the same shall be appropriated and used exclu-
sively for the purposes authorized in the Utah Soldier Settlement
Act, and said treasurer shall pay out said moneys, so received, in the
manner required by law, upon the order of the soldier settlement
board, subject to the approval of the state board of examiners."
The Soldier Settlement Act referred to in the above section, also
passed at this session, provided "for the co-operation between the
State of LUah and the United States in the reclamation of state lands,
public lands of the United States and lands acquired under this act,
and the settlement of soldiers, sailors, marines and other citizens of
the United States thereon; making an appropriation therefor; creat-
ing a soldier settlement board and defining its powers and duties."
The primary object of the act was to provide employment and
rural homes for soldiers, sailors, marines and others who have served
in the armed forces of the United States in the European war, or
other wars of the United States. The sum of $1,000,000 was appro-
priated to carry out the provisions of the act and led to the bond issue
above mentioned. The governor was authorized to appoint a board
of three members to administer the act and "to perform such acts and
make such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry this
act into full force and efTect." Through the passage of this act the
State of Utah provided substantial assistance for those who gave up
peaceful occupations to take up arms in answer to the country's call.
Another act authorized the governor to appoint a committee of
nine resident citizens of the state, to serve without compensation, "to
188 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
consider and recommend the form or design of a suitable memorial
to commemorate Utah soldiers, sailors and marines, in the world war,
Indian war, Civil war, Spanish-American war, and all others who
have borne arms in defense of the common welfare of our nation, and
to consider and recommend a suitable site for the location of such
memorial." An appropriation of $5,000 was made for the use of the
committee.
In another act the sum of $15,000 was appropriated for the pur-
pose of defraying the expenses of service certificates and a state cele-
bration, as recommended by Governor Bamberger in his message.
The governor was authorized by the act to adopt a design and have
the certificates prepared, one of which was to be presented to each
person entitled thereto, or, in case of his death, to his nearest relative.
The act, however, failed to receive a vote of two-thirds of the mem-
bers of the House of Representatives, though it was approved by the
governor on March 20, 1919.
City commissioners, city councils, town boards and county com-
missioners were authorized by an act of this session to appropriate
money for the purpose of erecting or contributing to the erection of
a memorial commemorating the achievements of soldiers, sailors or
marines of the state, provided such memorial shall be located in the
county or municipality making such appropriation, and the city, town
or county authorities were given power to issue bonds and devote the
proceeds to the erection of said memorial.
The act of February 5, 1909 (Section 2896 of the Compiled Laws
of Utah), relating to legal holidays, was amended by the addition of
October 1 2th ( Columbus Day) to the list of legal holidays in the state,
making eleven legal holidays in each year, exclusive of Sundays and
special holidays set apart by proclamation of the President of the
United States or the Governor of Utah.
An act of the thirteenth Legislature defined criminal syndicalism
and sabotage, making it unlawful to teach or suggest the destruction
of property by open speech, distribution of pamphlets, handbills, etc.,
and providing penalties for violation thereof by a fine of not less than
$200 or more than $1,000, or imprisonment in the state penitentiary
for a term of not less than one year or more than five years, or by both
such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
The question of irrigation and water rights came before this ses-
sion and resulted in the passage of a long act of eighty sections defin-
ing general provisions concerning water and water rights, and
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 189
another act of sixty-seven sections providing for the organization and
government of irrigation districts, as well as for the acquisition or
construction of works for the irrigation, drainage and local improve-
ment of lands embraced within such districts.
In response to the governor's recommendation regarding "stock-
selling schemes" the Legislature passed a "Blue Sky Law" to prevent
fraud in the sale or disposition of stocks, bonds and other securities in
the State of Utah. A state securities commission, composed of the
secretary of state, bank commissioner and attorney-general, the
secretary to be state commissioner of securities. Every investment
company desirous of transacting business in the state was required to
register with the securities commission a statement under oath giving
all necessary details concerning the character of securities to be
oflfered for sale, and obtain a license to do business in the state before
offering any securities for sale.
Other acts of this session provided for pay days for employes at
least twice in each month; authorizing county commissioners to levy
taxes for the establishment of county libraries; regulating the sale of
agricultural seeds and the manufacture and sale of commercial feed-
ing stuffs; appropriating $75,000 for the payment of the loan made
by the Utah Council of Defense; appropriating $20,000 for the pay-
ment of pensions to Indian war veterans, and a resolution ratifying
the amendment to the Federal Constitution prohibiting the manufac-
ture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors was adopted and
approved by the governor on January 18, 1919.
ARBOR DAY
On April 10, 1919, Governor Bamberger issued his proclamation
calling upon the people of the state to observe Arbor Day, April
15th, which is a legal holiday in Utah. In the course of his proclama-
tion he said :
"Following closely upon the Civil war, and possibly actuated by
it, the observance of a special day each spring for the planting of
trees" was inaugurated. * * * This year we may give to that day
a meaning more profound, a purpose more exalted, yet also an associ-
ation more personal. Another and greater war has come to its inevi-
table conclusion. The cause of righteousness, of liberty, of all that
Americans hold dear has prevailed. We shall seek many ways to
perpetuate the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice. The
memorials will take many forms. Some names will be perpetuated
190 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
by costly monuments and inscribed on enduring tablets. Great works
that serve the needs of peace doubtless also will be dedicated to them.
But along with such memorials, we are given the opportunity simply
and spontaneously to pay our tribute. We can perpetuate their names
in familiar places. Our waysides, our yards and our pleasure places
may be adorned fittingly with young trees, each named for a fallen
soldier."
CHANGE IN OFFICE
Near the close of the legislative session in 1919, Dr. E. G. Gowans,
superintendent of public instruction, gave notice that he intended to
resign because the salary was insufficient. The Legislature increased
the salary from $2,000 to $4,000 per year, but under the constitution
no officer can have his salary increased or decreased during the term
for which he was elected. Soon after the adjournment of the Legis-
lature, Doctor Gowans wrote to Governor Bamberger tendering his
resignation, to take effect on July i, 1919.
The governor accepted the resignation and on June 21, 1919,
appointed George N. Child, assistant superintendent of the Salt Lake
City public schools, to fill out the unexpired term of Doctor Gowans.
Mr. Child assumed the duties of the office on the ist of July.
THE UTAC.ARBON
In the Fourth Liberty Loan, states which promptly subscribed or
oversubscribed their quota were given the privilege of naming one
of the ships built by the United States. Utah won the distinction
largely through the oversubscription of Carbon County and the word
"Utacarbon" was coined as the name for the ship. About the middle
of July, 1919, word was received at Salt Lake City that the vessel
would be ready for launching at the yards of the Bethlehem Steel
Company, Alameda, Calif., on the last day of that month.
On July 16, 1919, Governor Bamberger, Carl R. Marcusen, chair-
man of the Carbon County loan committee, and a number of promi-
nent citizens who had been identified with the Fourth Liberty Loan,
met in the office of the governor to make the preliminary arrange-
ments for a trip to California to be present at the launching. After
the meeting in the governor's office another session was held at the
Commercial Club, at which it was decided to present the vessel with
a silver service bearing the inscription: "As Utah served in the
world's war so may this serve the Utacarbon."
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 191
Two special cars left Salt Lake City on July 28th, bearing Gov-
ernor Bamberger, Heber J. Grant, who had served as state chairman
of the Fourth Liberty Loan, L. H. Farnsworth, chairman of the State
Council of Defense, Carl R. Marcusen, of Carbon County, Miss
Margaret Horsley, chairman of the Carbon County women's Lib-
erty Loan committee, who had been chosen to christen the ship by
breaking upon its prow a bottle of water from the Colton Springs in
Carbon County, and a number of prominent citizens.
Gov. William D. Stephens, of California, set aside July 31st as
"Utah Day" and Joseph E. Caine, Willard Ellis and Russell Lowery,
former residents of Salt Lake City, but then in California, made all
the arrangements at that end of the line for the reception of the Utah
partv. The mavors of San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda and Berke-
ley accepted invitations to be present, both at the christening of the
ship and the luncheon which preceded it at the Hotel Oakland. The
following description of the launching is taken from nev^-s despatches
of July 31, 1919:
"California joined hands with Utah today in launching the Uta-
carbon, a 10,000-ton steel tanker. Liberty Loan honor ship at the
Bethlehem shipbuilding plant. The 450-foot craft towering above
the ways which girdled it, slipped gracefully into the Oakland
estuary this afternoon amid the waving of banners and the accom-
panying strains of the 'Star Spangled Banner,' played by the ship-
builders band. A mighty cheer drowned the music as the huge steel
hulk gracefully settled in the water. It was one of the most auspi-
cious launchings ever made in the West. Two governors were pres-
ent. Gov. Simon Bamberger of Utah, the honored state, and Gov.
William D. Stephens.
"The launching of the Utacarbon was 'wet and dry.' Just as the
ship started to glide Miss Margaret Horsley, sponsor, flung against
its prow a bottle of red, white and blue beribboned vintage of Cali-
fornia grapes, and Governor Bamberger smashed a sparkling bottle
of chemically pure Carbon County water. In his speech which fol-
lowed, Governor Bamberger said:
"We are proud to be able to accept this honor, proud that we are
part of this country, proud of the fact that we have the protection of
the greatest country in the world. We are particularly proud because
this ship we are launching today was made possible through Carbon
County, composed mainly of working people who jumped at the
192 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
opportunity to show their loyalty. Utah is loyal to the greatest
degree."
Short speeches were made by Governor Stephens, A. J. Fry of
the Emergency Fleet Corporation, Heber J. Grant, Carl R. Mar-
cusen. Mayor Davie, of Oakland, Mayor Frank Otis, of Alameda,
A. W. Horsley and others. The governor and his party returned to
Salt Lake City, knowing that wherever the Utacarbon goes bearing
the American flag will be heralded Utah's response to the nation's
appeal for help in time of dire need.
CHAPTER X
PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
DUTY OF THE STATE — EARLY CONDITIONS IN UTAH — THE PENITEN-
TIARY — CONVICT LABOR— ROAD BUILDING— GRATUITIES— INDUS-
TRIAL SCHOOL — MENTAL HOSPITAL — SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND
BLIND — APPROPRIATIONS FOR EACH INSTITUTION — CONSTITU-
TIONAL PROVISIONS — FEEBLE MINDED — MISCELLANEOLTS CHARI-
TIES.
One of the early duties devolving upon the people who form
a new state is to provide suitable prisons for the confinement and
reformation of those who may be found guilty of serious oft'enses
against the laws and asylums for the unfortunate, who, through no
fault or misconduct of their own, are unable to support and care for
themselves, such as the blind, deaf and dumb, insane, etc.
The first white settlers of Utah were bent upon reclaiming a
desert and building homes. Among people with such an object in
view the criminal element is "conspicuous by its absence," hence the
pioneers had no demand for a prison of any kind for years after the
first settlements were founded. The physical strength and powers
of endurance of these pioneers were fully demonstrated by the long,
toilsome journey across the plains and through the mountain can
yons, showing that there was none who needed an asylum or an
almshouse to provide for his wants. Consequently, the charitable
institution, like the prison, was slow in making its appearance.
THE PENITENTIARY
The act of Congress, approved by President Millard Fillmore
on September 9, 1850, providing for the organization of Utah Ter-
193
194 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ritory, also carried an appropriation for the erection of public
buildings, including a territorial prison, or penitentiary. A site
southeast of Salt Lake City was selected, but the prison was not
ready for the reception of convicts for several years after the terri-
tory was organized. The prison grounds are now bounded on the
north by Twelfth South Street, extending south to Parkway Avenue;
and covering almost the entire space between Thirteenth and Seven-
tenth East streets, containing 184 acres.
Section 12 of the Enabling Act, authorizing the people of Utah
to form a constitution and state government, approved by President
Grover Cleveland on July 16, 1894, contained the provision that
"The United States penitentiary near Salt Lake City and all lands
and appurtenances connected therewith and set apart and reserved
therefor are hereby granted to the State of Utah."
Up to that time the Federal Government had expended upon the
penitentiary $300,000. The cell-house then contained 240 cells, with
accommodations for 500 prisoners, though there were then only 189
convicts within its walls. The prison buildings were surrounded
by a stone wall nineteen feet in height and seventy-eight acres of the
prison lands were under cultivation. Such was the general condi-
tion of the institution at the time of Utah's admission into the Union.
In his message to the first State Legislature, in January, 1896,
Gov. Heber M. Wells reported that the cost of operating the peni-
tentiary during the year 1895 was $40,189, which had been borne
by the United States. He thought this amount was too great and
recommended an appropriation of ^30,000 for its maintenance for
the ensuing year. This sum was appropriated by the Legislature
and at the close of the year there was a balance on hand of $2,650,
showing that the cost of maintenance during the first year of state-
hood was $12,839 less than that during the last year of Federal
control. And this saving had been effected without depriving the
inmates of the prison of any of the comforts to which they had
formerly been accustomed.
Governor Wells' message of January 12, 1897, to the second ses-
sion of the State Legislature recommended an appropriation of
$57,575, of which $30,000 should be used for maintenance and the
remainder of the appropriation applied to making needed improve-
ments and providing a better water supply. Thus at the very begin-
ning of Utah's statehood was adopted the policy of improving and
maintaining at a high standard of efficiency the institutions inherited
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 195
from the territorial regime — a policy that has been followed by suc-
ceeding legislatures.
CONVICT LABOR
A few years ago it was a common thing for labor and political
conventions in some of the states to adopt resolutions declaring in
favor of a policy which would prevent the product of prison shops
from coming into competition with the products of so called "free
labor." The contract system of employing the convicts in the Utah
penitentiary — that is hiring them out to contractors at a low rate
of wages — is not employed. The Legislature of 191 1 passed an act
authorizing the employment of convicts upon the public highways
of the state. Since that act went into efifect several miles of roads
have been constructed by convicts in Carbon, Grand, Tooele, Utah
and Washington counties. Two permanent road camps have been
established — one in Carbon and one in Grand County — and the work
of road building is still going on. Concerning this work, Warden
George A. Storrs said in the spring of 1919: "For those places the
men are carefully picked and the policy of the pardon board has
been to show as much liberality as possible to those who make
good as 'honor prisoners'; hence the success with which the practice
has so far met. As might be expected, there have been a few escapes,
but on the other hand the figures showing what percentage of them
make good, not only in the camps, but also after their release, speak
loudly in favor of the reforms that have been put in force."
A peculiar reason for attempts to escape from the road camps,
or at least one of them, is shown in the following rather humorous
despatch to one of the Salt Lake City newspapers under date of
July 6, 1919: "Too many rattlesnakes is given as the reason why so
many convicts break for liberty from the convict camps in Grand
County, the reptiles being in such numbers as to terrify the men.
Three convicts from the road camp between Thompson and Moab
have taken French leave within the past two weeks and nothing has
been heard from them, say penitentiary officials."
With the entrance of the United States into the world war in
April, 1917, came a demand for conservation and greater production
of foodstufifs. In response to this demand, the penitentiary authori-
ties decided to utilize the labor of the convicts in the cultivation of a
larger portion of the prison lands. Up to that time only about
seventy acres had been cultivated, and this had been done in a desul-
196 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
tory sort of manner. The irrigating canals and ditches were out
of repair, the young orchard had been neglected, and much of the
farm was overrun by weeds. The convicts were placed at work on
the irrigation system, the orcha*rd was cleaned up and improved, about
twenty additional acres were irrigated and from land that had pre-
viously been lying idle 182 bushels of wheat were harvested. The
year 1918 saw still further progress in this direction.
In additiiDn to this the inmates of the prison erected a building
containing a swimming pool 34 by 45 feet, with shower paths in con-
nection. The swimming pool has become universally popular with
the convicts and they have been encouraged by the management to
use it intelligently as a means of preserving cleanliness and improv-
ing their general health and comfort. The prisoners also did prac-
tically all the work on an addition to the administration building
to provide a place for the meetings of the board of pardons. For-
merly these meetings were held in the warden's office, but the in-
crease in the membership of the board made more room necessary.
A garage of brick, concrete and wood construction has also been
erected by the convicts since the spring of 1917; the old hog house
has been torn down and the lumber used in the construction of
portable shelters of approved design for the hogs; new coal sheds
have been built, and most of the old buildings have been repaired
and repainted by the prisoners.
GR.^TUITIES
Bv the act of March 11, 1886, it was provided that each convict
sentenced by the territorial courts, under the territorial statutes, to
the penitentiary should receive from a fund provided for the pur-
pose, the sum of $15 at the time of his discharge from the prison.
This system has been continued, the amount of the gratuity varying
from time to time, the theory being that it gives the discharged con-
vict more self respect to have a little money in his pocket than to
make his exit from prison walls "dead broke."
Where a convict has a family dependent upon him for support
he is employed in some line of work that is really useful to society
at large, and from a fund set apart for the aid of such families, his
dependents receive not to exceed $1 per day, sometimes more than
the prisoner contributed to the support of his family while at liberty.
In this wav extreme suffering of innocent persons is often averted
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 197
and the attitude of the state in thus caring for wives and children
frequently has a reformatory influence upon the prisoner.
APPROPRIATIONS
In the general appropriation bill passed by the Legislature of
1919, the following provisions were made for the state prison:
General maintenance $150,000
Gratuities to discharged convicts S,ooo
Improvements and repairs 1,000
Prison road camps 40,000
New boilers 6,000
Fire insurance 500
$202,500
Special appropriation acts were also passed during the session
giving the prison management $24,142.26 to cover deficits and $11,500
for repairs and gratuities to prisoners, making a total of $238,142.26
to make good the deficits and provide for general maintenance for
two years.
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
Time was when the foremost idea in prison management was the
"punishment" of the ofifender. Little heed was paid to the different
degrees of law violations and first ofifenders were confined in the
same prison, often in the same cell, with habitual criminals. Such
associations frequently served as a "school of crime" and the youth
convicted of some slight infraction of the law emerged from prison
with a more thorough knowledge of criminal practices and the notion
that "the world owed him a living" and that it was his duty to prey
upon society.
Then came the idea of "reforming" the criminal and students of
sociology and criminology began to advocate the theory that young
persons, especially minors, should be sent to an institution where
they could be taught the duties of citizenship, as well as some useful
occupation, and where they would not come into 'association with
and under the influence of persons of confirmed criminal character.
This idea resulted in the establishment of reform schools.
The Utah Reform School was established by an act of the Ter-
ritorial Legislature of 1888, which appointed a commission tn select
198 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
a site for the institution "at some suitable point in Weber County."
The same Legislature authorized an issue of bonds to the amount
of $150,000 for the establishment of the school "and for other pur-
poses." On August 17, 1888, the commissioners appointed to decide
upon the location of the school reported that the Ogden Driving
Park Association had offered to donate a portion of its grounds and
that the offer had been accepted. From the proceeds of the sale of
bonds, funds were provided for the erection of buildings and the
school opened on the last day of October, 1889.
From that time until the admission of Utah into the Union the
history of the school was uneventful. In his message to the first
State Legislature, in January, 1896, Governor Wells recommended
the purchase of the Military Academy Building north of Ogden,
which he had ascertained could be bought on reasonable terms, for
the Reform School and then taking the buildings of the Reform
School for the State School for the Deaf and Blind. The Legis-
lature authorized this change and also the change of the name of
the institution from the Reform School to the State Industrial
School. The Military Academy was purchased for $11,000 and the
school opened in its new quarters on October 31, 1898.
While this change was under way, the second session of the
State Legislature met in January, 1897, and appropriated $3,500 to
provide a cottage for girls, the act directing that the sexes should
be kept entirely separate. In his message to the third Legislature
in 1899, Governor Wells announced that the cottage had not yet
been built, the trustees deciding that an additional ten acres of land
should be purchased as a site for the girls' cottage, in order to fully
carry out the provisions of the act requiring the complete separation
of the sexes. Concerning the school and its management, Governor
W£lls said:
"The Industrial School, or Reform School, as it was formerly
called, has always been an expensive affair, based upon actual ref-
ormations accomplished and the number of inmates cared for. If
one were to sit down and figure the cost of caring for the present
inmates (twenty-four boys and one girl) upon the basis of appro-
priations asked for the next two years, he would say it represented a
cost of over eight hundred per annum for each child. If each of
these was certain of reformation, the taxpayer might be satisfied even
with the large expense per capita, but the results are and have ever
been far from satisfactory. In these remarks no criticism is made of
the present management. I have recently paid the institution a visit
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 199
and am satisfied that the trustees are energetic, progressive, con-
scientious and solicitous for the reformation of the children."
As a means of improving the school, the governor recommended
the establishment of a manual training department. Under the old
name the school acquired the reputation of being a penal rather
than an educational institution, and the governor's opinion was that
the introduction of manual training would get farther away from the
old reputation and give the school more of the educational and less
of the penal aspect. Time has proved the correctness of this theory.
Courses in manual training and domestic science are now among
the leading features of the institution. The boys are taught to repair
shoes and harness, the carpenter shop and the machine and auto-
mobile repair shop are busy places, a printing department has been
added, where some of the reports of state departments have been
printed, and a magazine is published by the students. The school
management goes on the theory that "The devil finds some mischief
still for idle hands to do," and the inmates are kept at work in con-
genial occupations, giving them no time to entertain criminal
thoughts. A statement of the superintendent, E. S. Hinckley, in
March, 1918, shows the kind of boys and girls committed to the
school. He says:
"At this date we have the largest enrollment in the history of
the State Industrial School. The home conditions from which these
children come may be rather clearly understood from the tabulated
list following: Of the 130 boys enrolled, 62 per cent of them come
from broken homes, classified as follows: 24 per cent parents di-
vorced, 21 per cent families deserted by fathers, 4 per cent families
deserted by mothers, 18 per cent fathers dead, 14 per cent mothers
dead. All e^fcept 5 per cent of the divorces above mentioned are
apparently due to desertions. The record also shows that 33 per cent
of the fathers have been more or less addicted to the use of alcoholic
liquors, and that 55 per cent of the desertions were due to alcohol.
"Present enrollment of girls is 38. Fifty-nine per cent of them
come from broken homes, distributed as follows: Fathers dead, 19
per cent; mothers dead, 19 per cent; deserted by fathers, 16 per cent;
deserted by mothers, 5 per cent; divorced, 19 per cent. The number
of divorces are all accounted for in the 21 per cent of desertion.
Twenty-one per cent of the fathers drink, 5 per cent of the mothers
drink.
"Of the 38 per cent of boys' homes and 41 per cent of girls'
200 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
homes not included in the above lists many are unsatisfactory. The
majority of them bears the strong stamp of inefficiency. Ignorance,
poverty and wretchedness are the masters of their destiny. Lack of
ideals and courage to break the bonds of serfdom keep too many in
abject slavery to superstition, ignorance and crime."
To such children as those enumerated by Mr. Hinckley the in-
dustrial school opens the door of hope. It is conducted along lines
that are helpful to the children by placing them in a better environ-
ment that that of a "broken home." The inmates are not regarded
as criminals, but as children who need more light and better train-
ing. The school, therefore, is not a place of punishment. "It aims
to be a home where misguided and unfortunate children may find
an opportunity and help to forget the past, improve the present and
hopefully and cheerfully face the future."
APPROPRIATIONS
According to the report of the commissioner of immigration,
labor and statistics for 191 5, the property of the industrial school,
including lands, buildings and equipment, was then $273,800. Since
that time additional land has been purchased and new buildings
added, increasing the value to over three hundred thousand dollars.
The state has been liberal in the support of the institution, the Legis-
lature of 1919 making the following appropriations for the biennial
period ending on March 31, 192 1, to which should be added a special
appropriation of $36,000 to cover a deficit incurred during the pre-
ceding biennial period.
General maintenance $100,000
Instruction (all lines) 30,000
Equipment, improvements, etc 17,500
Land purchase 13,200
Parole agents 6,500
Superintendent's cottage 3, 500
Disciplinary cottage 5,000
Machine and automobile shop ■ 1,000
New uniforms 2,000
Carpenter and manual training shop 1,500
Shoe and harness repair department 500
Library 750
Total $181,450
^^^^^
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'^^*''
j^siniriHdJHfl* • <
il^
STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL. PROVO
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 203
MENTAL HOSPITAL
On February 20, 1880, Gov. George B. Emery approved an act
of the Territorial Legislature providing for the establishment of
an insane asylum, the site to be selected by a board of directors
named in the act, to wit: William R. Smith, of Davis County;
Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder, of Salt Lake County;
James Dunn and Warren R. Dusenberry, of Utah County; and
William W. Burton, of Weber County. Three of these directors
were to serve for two years and three for four years, and the governor
of the territory was to be an ex-officio member of the board.
Under the provisions of the act, the board was to decide upon
a site, which they might acquire either by donation or purchase, and
adopt plans for a building that would accommodate 250 patients.
No appropriation was made by this session of the Legislature further
than to provide that the members of the board should receive $4 per
day for attending meetings and for time actually employed. The
board was also empowered to elect a medical superintendent to take
charge of the institution.
Provo was selected as the place at which the asylum should be
located, plans for a building were adopted, and the Legislature of
1882 made provisions for erecting the building, which was officially
designated as the "Territorial Insane Asylum." After Utah was
admitted into the Union the name was changed by an act of the
Legislature to that of "State Mental Hospital." The institution was
opened for the reception of patients on July 20, 1885. At first the
law provided that the expense of keeping indigent patients in the
asylum should be borne by the counties from which they were com-
mitted, but the Legislature of 1884 amended this law so that half
of the expense should be borne by the Territory of Utah.
The Legislature of 1890 authorized a bond issue of $300,000
for the purpose of completing the State University buildi-ngs al-
ready commenced, the Agricultural College at Logan, the Reform
School at Ogden, the Deaf Mute Institute, the buildings of the
Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society at Salt Lake City,
and the Insane Asylum at Provo. Just what proportion of the pro-
ceeds arising from the sale of these bonds was applied to the insane
asylum cannot be ascertained, but it is known that the water supply
system was completed in 1891 and it was probably paid for out ot
this appropriation.
204 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Up to the time Utah was admitted into the Union in 1896, the
sum of $408,074 had been expended on the insane asylum and the
institution was then caring for 217 patients. In his message to the
second State Legislature, Governor Wells recommended an appro-
priation of $92,368 for the support of the asylum during the years
1897 and 1898. With the growth in population the number of per-
sons requiring treatment in the mental hospital correspondingly in-
creased, until in 1918 the number of patients was nearly six hundred.
Since the admission of the state several new buildings have been
erected on the hospital grounds, an electric lighting system has been
installed, better equipment provided in practically every depart-
ment, and the value of the property in 191 8 was estimated in round
numbers at $1,000,000. The institution is conducted along the most
approved lines and will compare favorably with similar asylums in
the older states.
APPROPRIATIONS
The expense incident to the maintenance of an institution to care
for those mentally unable to care for themselves is considerable, but
the people of Utah have never shirked their responsibilities in this
respect, as may be seen by the appropriations made by the Legisla-
ture of 1919 for the benefit of the mental hospital, to-wit:
General maintenance $285,000
Repairs and renewals 20,000
Deficit 20,000
Farm machinery, etc 1.500
Furniture and furnishings 5,000
Engineering department 2,250
Hydrotherapy, baths, etc 2,500
Library and amusements 500
Laundry equipment 950
Insurance on buildings and contents 3,ooo
Total $340,700
SCHOOL FOR DEAF AND BLIND
The first movement toward establishing a school or institution for
the care and education of the deaf and dumb in Utah was made bv
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 205
the Legislature of 1884, which passed an act providing for the school
for deaf mutes, to be located at Salt Lake City. Four years passed
without anything being done to give the institution a tangible exist-
ence, and on March 8, 1888, Gov. Caleb W. West approved an act
directing the chancellor and board of regents of the University of
Deseret (now University of Utah) to open and maintain, in connec-
tion with and as a branch of the university, a school to be known as the
"Institute for Deaf Mutes."
An appropriation of $20,000 was made to enable the board of
regents to erect a suitable building on the campus of the university,
and another appropriation of $5,000 provided for the support of the
school during the next two years. The school was opened in 1889
and remained a part of the university until Utah was admitted into the
Union. The first State Legislature, upon the recommendation of
Gov. Heber M. Wells, passed an act providing for the removal of the
school for deaf mutes to the old site of the Reform School (now the
State Industrial School) at Ogden and reorgaaizing it as an inde-
pendent institution.
This act also added the education of the blind to the functions of
the school and the institution was given the official designation of the
"State School for the Deaf and the Blind." The removal was made
during the summer following the passage of the act and the school
opened in its new home in September, 1896.
The Legislature of 1909 made provisions for the establishment
of a workshop in Salt Lake City for the adult blind of the state. The
shop was opened in November, 1909, in a building in the rear of the
Lion House on South Temple Street. It was equipped with the nec-
essary machinerv for the manufacture of brooms and brushes, tools
for caning chairs, etc. In his message to the Legislature of 191 1,
Governor Sprv recommended that the shop, if it was to be made a
permanent institution, should be consolidated with the school at
Ogden. It was accordingly made an adjunct of the school.
From the time the school was established to 191 5 the total enroll-
ment of deaf and dumb pupils was 387, of whom 49 had graduated
in the grammar school course, and the total enrollment in the school
for the blind from 1896 to 1915 was eighty-five. Of these pupils six
completed the high school course, eighteen had finished the eighth
grade, and one had graduated from the University of Utah. These
figures give some idea of the work that is being accomplished by the
school. Eight of the deaf mutes entered the National College for the
206 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Deaf at Washington, D. C, and several attended other academies and
universities.
APPROPRIATIONS
For the maintenance of the State School for the Deaf and the
Blind during the biennial period ending on March 31, 1921, and for
certain improvements and appurtenances, the Legislature of 1919
made the following appropriations:
General maintenance $120,000
Improvements and renewals 10,000
Live stock and implements 2,000
Insurance i ,400
Traveling teacher for adult blind ;oo
Library for the deaf 500
Library for the blind 500
Total $134,900
constitioxAl provisions
Article XIX of the Constitution as framed by the convention and
ratified by the people of Utah in 1895, relating to public buildings
and state institutions, reads as follows:
"Section i. All institutions and other property of the territory
upon the adoption of this constitution shall become the institutions
and property of the State of Utah.
"Section 2. Reformatory and penal institutions, and those for the
benefit of the insane, blind, deaf and dumb, and such other institu-
tions as the public good may require, shall be established and sup-
ported by the state in such manner and under such boards of control
as may be prescribed by law.
"Section 3. The public institutions of the state are hereby perma-
nently located at the places hereinafter named, each to have the lands
specifically granted to it by the United States in the act of Congress
approved July 16, 1894, to be disposed of and used in such manner as
the Legislature may provide : First, The seat of government and the
state fair, at Salt Lake City, and the state prison in the County of Salt
Lake. Second, The institutions for the deaf and dumb and the blind
and the state reform school, at Ogden City, in the County of Weber.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 207
Third, The state insane asylum, at Provo City, in the County of
Utah."
FEEBLE MINDED
Under the constitutional provisions above quoted, none of the
penal or charitable institutions in existence at the time Utah was
admitted into the Union can be removed without a constitutional
amendment, though new institutions can be created and located at
such points as the Legislature may direct. An institution in prospect
is a home for the feeble minded.
The Legislature of 1915 provided for a commission to investigate
the problem of caring for the feeble minded. The commission made
a report to the Legislature of 1917, showing that a survey had been
made of a portion of the state, the surveyed portion containing an
estimated population of 160,000, in which 1,355 mentally defective
persons had been found. Using the same ratio for the unsurveyed
portion of the state, the commission estimated the number of feeble
minded persons in Utah at over three thousand.
The Legislature of 1917 failed to take any action looking toward
the establishment of such an institution and the superintendent of
public instruction, referring to the survey and report of the commis-
sion, says in his report for the biennial period ending on June 30,
1918: "As a menace to social welfare the presence of the feeble
minded in Utah is more serious than that of the insane, yet we are
adequately providing for the care of the latter. The very violence of
the insane constitutes a safeguard against them — their type of danger
to society is perfectly obvious. In the case of the feeble minded, the
menace to social welfare is far more subtle. These unfortunates are
capable of rapid procreation, in fact they increase twice as rapidly as
the normal minded population. * * * When we know posi-
tively that two-thirds of all feeble minded persons in the state are the
children of feeble minded parents or grandparents, or both, and when
we know that these incompetents are increasing twice as rapidly as
our normal minded population, the argument for segregation and
custodial care is absolutely irresistible. To let the thing go on with-
out segregation means to saddle a constantly increasing burden upon
our children, and to provide such care would in just one generation
cut oflf two-thirds of our problem."
Thus the leaven is working. Many states have already established
208 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
homes for these unfortunates, and it is only a question of time until
Utah will establish such an institution.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARITIES
In addition to the above mentioned institutions, maintained
exclusively by the state, there are a number of societies and charitable
concerns, most of them located in Salt Lake City, that receive state
aid. Appropriations made by the Legislature of 1919 for the benefit
of these charities were as follows : Orphans' Home and Day Nursery,
$15,000; Martha Society, $4,000; Free Kindergarten and Neighbor-
hood House, $6,000; Florence Crittenden Home, $3,000; Children's
Aid Society. $3,000; Utah Humane Society, $1,000, making a total
of $32,000 given by the state for the work of these organizations.
CHAPTER XI
STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
FIRST MOVE FOR A CAPITOL — DONATION OF THE SITE — GOVERNOR CUT-
LER'S MESSAGE OF 1907 — SELECTING PLANS — SELECTING MATERIALS
— AVv^'^RDING CONTRACTS — MORE GROUND NEEDED — MONOLITHIC
COLUMNS— LAYING THE CORNER STONE— THE BALANCE SHEET —
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS — FORMAL OPENING AND RECEPTION.
The first movement for a capitol building in Utah was made about
eight vears before the state was admitted into the Union. On Febru-
ary 28. 1888, Heber J. Grant proposed that the City of Salt Lake
donate to the Territory of Utah twenty acres of ground on Arsenal
Hill, to be used as a site for a capitol whenever the territory deter-
mined to build. His proposal was favorably considered by the city
authorities and on March i, 1888, the city council, by resolution,
tendered to the Territory of Utah a tract containing 19.46 acres, situ-
ated north of the intersection of State and Second North streets. On
the 5th of the same month the gift was accepted by the Territorial
Legislature then in session, and Arsenal Hill became known as "Cap-
itol Hill."
In addition to the above mentioned tract, the City of Salt Lake
afterward conveyed to the Territory of Utah, for reservoir purposes,
an undivided one-half interest in five acres of land (more or less),
situated on the northwest corner of Fourth North Street and East
Capitol Avenue, and three lots on the southeast corner of State and
Second North streets.
Soon after the donation of the first tract, in March, 1888, a com-
mission was appointed to supervise the erection of a building, and
E. E. Myers, an architect of Detroit, Mich., was engaged to make
plans for a capitol, the cost of which should not exceed $3,000,000.
Subsequentlv the cost estimate was reduced to $1,000,000 and the
209
210 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
plans were altered to conform to the lower estimate. In 1894 ^^e
House of Representatives in the Territorial Legislature passed a bill
authorizing a bond issue of $120,000 to begin the work, but it was
defeated in the council. Before the next Territorial Legislature was
convened Congress passed an Enabling Act (Approved July 16,
1894) ) authorizing the people of Utah to form a constitution and state
government preparatory to admission into the Union, and for the time
being the subject of a capitol building became one of secondary
importance.
For more than a decade after Utah was admitted to statehood,
the question of a capitol building was not agitated. In his message
to the seventh Legislature ( 1907) Governor Cutler urged that at least
the preliminary steps be taken to erect a suitable building for the
transaction of the state's business, but the Legislature failed to act
upon the governors recommendation.
CAPITOL COMMISSION
Soon after the eighth Legislature (1909) had begun its regular
session Governor Spry sent in a special message on the subject of a
state capitol, which resulted in the passage of "An act creating a state
board to be known as the 'Capitol Commission;' fixing the manner of
appointment and the compensation of the members thereof; prescrib-
ing their powers and duties, and authorizing the erection of a state
capitol."
Three other acts relating to a state capitol were passed during that
session. The first authorized and directed the state board of loan
commissioners to refund the outstanding bonds of the Territory of
Utah, of the issue of 1892, at the maturity thereof, by issuing in lieu
thereof negotiable coupon bonds and directing that all moneys held
in the redemption fund for the redemption of said bond issue matur-
ing in 191 2 be converted into the state treasury and devoted exclu-
sively to the erection of a state capitol. The second required a spe-
cial election to be held on the first Monday in June, 1909, to deter-
mine the question of whether or not a one mill tax should be levied
upon all the taxable property of the state, said tax to continue for
fifteen years, for the purpose of raising funds with which to build and
furnish a state capitol building upon the grounds owned by the state
at Salt Lake City. The third act authorized the state board of loan
commissioners to negotiate a loan of $200,000 and issue bonds there-
for, the proceeds to be used in the erection of the capitol building.
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UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 213
The special election was held on June 7, 1909, and the proposed
tax levy was defeated. This had the efifect of suspending further
operations until the legislative session of 191 1, when a bill was passed
authorizing the state board of loan commissioners to provide for and
negotiate a loan of $1,000,000 and to issue therefor bonds bearing
interest at a rate not to exceed 4 per cent per annum, the proceeds to
be used in defraying the cost of the proposed capitol. The bonds were
to be issued in four series, to run for periods not exceeding twenty,
thirty, forty and fifty years, respectively. In addition to this bond
issue, an appropriation of $750,000 (the Harriman inheritance tax)
was made from the general fund, thus providing sufficient funds to
start the work.
On May 13, 191 1, Governor Spry appointed John Dern and John
Henry Smith, of Salt Lake City, C. E. Loose, of Provo, and M. S.
Browning, of Ogden, as the four members of the commission to serve
with Governor \Yiniam Spry, Secretary of State C. S. Tingey and
Attorney-General A. R. Barnes, who were designated as members by
the act creating the commission. On the 17th of the same month the
commission organized by electing Governor Spry president; C. S.
Tingey, vice president; and John K. Hardy, acting secretary. Mr.
Smith died on October 12, 191 1, and the vacancy on the commission
was filled by the appointment of Anthon H. Lund. On January 6,
1913, C. S. Tingey ceased to be a member of the commission by
reason of the expiration of his term of office as secretary of state, and
he was succeeded by the new secretary of state, David Mattson. Mr.
Tingey was then appointed secretary of the commission.
SELECTING PL.AXS
At a meeting of the commission on August 30, 191 1, a program of
competition among architects for the submission of designs was for-
mulated. All LTtah architects and architectural firms, who filed their
applications to participate in the competition with the secretary by
September 10, 191 1, were to be entitled to submit designs. Participa-
tion, in so far as non-resident competitors were concerned, was limited
to the following, who had requested that they be permitted to sub-
mit plans: Cass Gilbert, George B. Post & Sons and F. M. Andrews
& Company, of New York; G. Henri Desmond, of Boston; Henry
J. Schlacks, of Chicago; W. E. Burnett, of Denver; and J. E. Tour-
telotte & Company, of Boise, Idaho.
The program set forth the character of drawings to be submitted,
214 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the space required for each of the state offices and departments, that
the building must be of fireproof construction, and that the success-
ful competitor would receive as compensation 5 per cent of the cost of
the building, exclusive of furnishings, all designs to be delivered to
the secretary of the commission by December i, 191 1.
Although twenty-one architects and architectural firms qualified
for the competition, only ten placed their drawings in the secretary's
hands within the prescribed time. They were: Richard K. A. Kiet-
ting. Young & Sons, Headlund & Price, Frank W. Moore, Cannon
& Fetzer and Ramm Hansen, Watkins, Birch, Kent, Eldredge &
Cheesbro, and Ware & Treganza, Pope & Burton, all of Salt Lake
City; F. M. Andrews & Company, of New York; G. Henri Des-
mond, of Boston, and J. E. Tourtelotte & Company, of Boise, Idaho.
On January 8, 1912, the commissioners began the examination of
drawings and during the next two months frequent meetings of the
board were held, at which the several architects were given oppor-
tunity to explain their plans and present their claims. On March 13,
1912, the examination was completed and a ballot was taken, result-
ing in the selection of the plans submitted by Richard K. A. Kletting,
of Salt Lake City. It was then ordered that $5,000 be paid to the
other nine architects who submitted designs, in sums ranging from
$250 to $750.
SELECTIXG MATERIALS
In order that the contractors might bid intelligently, it was neces-
sary that the materials to be used in the construction of the building
be determined by the commission in advance and definitely specified
by the architect when it came to making the working plans. There
was a general desire that Utah materials be used as far as practicable,
and the commissioners spent considerable time in 191 1, in connection
with expert judges of stone, in making personal inspection of a num-
ber of granite and marble quarries in the state. Among the quarries
thus visited were the granite workings in Little Cottonwood Canyon,
the quarries of the Birdseye Marble Company near Thistle, Utah
County, the sandstone deposits in Emigration Canyon, the quarries
of the Utah Marble and Construction Company near Newhouse,
Beaver County, and the onyx or travertine deposits in the vicinity of
Low Pass, Tooele County. Samples of stone from all these places
were examined and tested by experts and it was finally decided to
use the Little Cottonwood Canyon granite for the exterior. After
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 215
considering various kinds of decorative stone for the interior, San-
pete oolite was selected for the ground floor, Georgia marble for the
remainder of the building, except the Senate chamber, house of rep-
resentatives, main vestibule, reception room and Supreme Court
room, which were to be finished in the Utah onyx or travertine.
AWARDING CONTRACTS
Mr. Kletting finished his working drawings and specifications on
August 15, 191 2, and the commission advertised for bids for the
erection of the building. Nine proposals were submitted and were
opened on December 3, 191 2. The figures for the building com-
plete, according to the architect's plans and specifications, exclusive
of the excavating and grading, varied from $1,453,430 to $1,106,000,
the latter being the bid of James Stewart & Company, which was
accepted and the contract was formally executed on February 18,
1913-
In the meantime the contract for excavating for the foundation,
filling and grading the site, had been awarded on December 19, 191 2,
to P. J. Moran. At one o'clock P. M. on December 26, 191 2, the
members of the commission, Samuel C. Park, then mayor of Salt
Lake City, the state officials, architect Kletting and a large number
of citizens assembled on the capitol grounds to participate in the
ceremony of "breaking ground" for the new structure. Acting Sec-
retary Hardy stated the purpose of the gathering and introduced
Governor Spry and Mayor Park, both of whom made a few appro-
priate remarks, after which Mr. Moran's steam shovel scooped up
the first shovelful of earth. Work upon the Utah state capitol had
actually commenced.
MORE GROUND NEEDED
One of the first things done by the commission after it was organ-
ized was to have a topographical map of the capital site made, pre-
paratory to procuring plans. Upon the completion of the topo-
graphical survey and the location of the building had been deter-
mined, with State Street as its north and south axis, it became ap-
parent that additional ground on both the east and the west of the
original donation would be necessary to provide more symmetrical
grounds.
This led to three other sites being ofifered to the state. One was
a twenty-acre plat of ground bounded by Ninth and Tenth South
216 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
and Thirteenth and Fifteenth East streets; the second was a plat of
fifteen acres (or twenty acres if the commission so desired) situated
immediately south of Ninth Street and lying on both sides of Main
Street; the third was an offer made by Samuel Newhouse of twenty
acres in any part of the addition known as "Newhouse Park" in the
northeast part of the city, the consideration in each case to be one
dollar.
After considering these offers, the commission decided that the
commanding position of "Capitol Hill" presented the most desirable
location for the building. Negotiations were therefore opened with
the City of Salt Lake for the vacating of East Capitol Avenue, and
with the owners of the property abutting on that avenue between
Second and Fourth North streets. These negotiations resulted in
the vacation of the avenue and the purchase of blocks No. i and No.
4 in Plat J, Salt Lake City Survey, for $127,567.10. The city also
vacated Apricot Avenue from East Capitol Avenue to Canyon Boul-
evard.
MONOLITHIC COLUMNS
In the original plans and specifications, provision was made for
fifty-two columns, each thirty-two feet in height and three and one-
half feet in diameter, to be placed along the South front and East
and West ends of the building (see illustration). These columns
were to be made of Utah granite, in sections or drums, with tooled
surface, to correspond to the general exterior. After the contract
was let and the work of the building was well advanced, it was
suggested that polished monolithic columns of Vermont granite be
substituted for the sectional columns of native stone.
As this suggestion gained publicity, the commission received
numerous petitions from commercial clubs and other civic associations
urging that the polished monoliths be adopted. On March 19, 19 14,
a meeting attended by about one thousand people was held at the
Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City. James H. Moyle acted as chairman
and short speeches were made by Heber J. Grant, Brigham H.
Roberts, Rev. Elmer I. Goshen and others, all favoring the change.
A committee on resolutions, consisting of C. C. Goodwin, L. R. Mar-
tineau, Charles Read, Junius F. Wells, A. N. McKay, Andrew
Jensen, E. H. Anderson and C. W. Whitley, presented a resolution
declaring that the change would cost less than $100,000 and that
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 217
it was the desire of many citizens to have the polished columns. The
meeting also adopted another resolution pledging those present to
give the capitol commission loyal support in finding ways and means
to make the change, and that the commission be so advised.
On the same day the Civic Art Commission indorsed the use of
monolithic columns of Utah granite, and the Utah Consolidated
Stone Company offered to furnish such columns on board the cars
at Salt Lake City for an additional sum of $151,400. . The commis-
sion estimated that it would cost from thirty to fifty thousand dollars
more to transport the heavy monoliths from the railroad to the
capitol grounds and erect them in their places. In their report in
November, 1914, the capitol commissioners say:
"Pending the discussion regarding the use of monolithic columns,
a letter was received by the commission from the Utah Association
of Architects and also a letter from the Utah State Board of Architec-
ture. In these letters the commission was advised that the use 01
polished columns would detract from, rather than add to, the archi-
tectural beauty of the capitol, and that the columns, whether mono-
lithic or sectional, should be of the same material and be finished
in the same manner as the surface of the exterior walls of the build-
ing.
'Tt appeared to the commission that there could be no argument
for such a vast expenditure as would be necessitated m the substitu-
tion of monolithic columns, unless the columns were to be polished.
It further appeared to the commission that the polished surface
was not desirable, and that it would detract from rather add to the
beauty of the building. The columns are now in place, and we be-
lieve that their appearance is full justification for the action of the
commission in refusing to substitute monolithic columns. We are
satisfied that when the building is completed the judgment of the
public will sustain the commission in this conclusion."
LAYING THE CORNER-STONE
Following the custom that has prevailed in civilized countries
for centuries of depositing relics and records in the walls of public
buildings, the capitol commission on March 6, 1914, fixed the date
of laying the corner-stone on Saturday, April 4, 1914. On that
date a number of invited guests, the members of the commission,
the National Guard of Utah and a large concourse of citizens as-
218 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
sembled to witness or take part in the ceremonies of the occasion.
After music by the State Industrial School Band, Rev. Elmer I.
Goshen ofifered an invocation and then followed four addresses, viz:
"The State," by Governor Spry; "The Pioneers," by President Jo-
seph F. Smith; "The Capital City," by Mayor Samuel C. Park;
"Our Industries," by John Dern. The corner-stone was then placed
in position by Governor Spry and the benediction was pronounced
by Father Ryan.
In the cavity in the stone was placed a metal box containing a
typewritten copy of the act authorizing the building of the capitol;
copies of the leading Utah newspapers; a photograph of the mem-
bers of the capitol commission; a copy of "Church Chronology,
1899;" a copy of "Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia,
Volume I, 1901," and a number of coins of recent date.
THE B.ALAXCE SHEET
The act authorizing the erection of the state capitol building
fixed the maximum cost of the structure at $2,500,000. In the fol-
lowing tables of receipts and expenditures the commissioners present
in their final report the cost of everything that went into the struc-
ture and its appurtenances, showing that the principal object of the
commission was to obtain the best possible building within the limita-
tion fixed by the Legislature of 1909, which authorized the appoint-
ment of the capitol commission.
TOT.AL RECEIPTS
Bonds authorized in 1909 .' $ 200,000.00
From public buildings land grant fund. . 123,230.86
Bonds authorized in 191 1 1,000,000.00
Appropriation of 191 1 750,000.00
Bonds authorized in 1915 665,600.00
From sale of old buildings 266.00
From sale of old material 172.00
Rental from old buildings 130.25
Refund of fire insurance premium 52.15
Refund, Utah Construction Company . . . 62.07
Contribution for trees on grounds S.oo
Total $2,739,521.33
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 219
^ DISBURSEMENTS
In their report of the expenditures the capitol commissioners
gave a long itemized statement, covering about sixty pages, which
it is deemed unncessary to reproduce here. The cost of the building
proper is shown in the table below, in which the first item includes
the Stewart contract, the Moran contract for excavating, all changes
and alterations, the heating plant, plumbing, electric work, etc.:
General building account $2,099,654.05
Painting 16,280.66
Decorations 36,000.00
Electric clock system 1,170.06
Vacuum cleaner 2,447.00
Window screens 653.00
Competition for designs S^^77-77
Salaries 17,121.00
Office expenses 1,204.69
Examination of quarries 188.75
Traveling expenses 2,603.85
Rental of offices 1,660.00
Cement lions (at entrance) 800.00
Mural paintings 10,000.00
Architect's commissions 1 14,274.73
Cost of building $2,309,235.56
In addition to the above disbursements, the commission expended
$429,803.25 in the purchase of additional land, furniture and equip-
ment, grading the grounds, installing a water system, extending
sewers, etc., and reported a balance of $482.52 on hand on December
31, 1916.
FORMAL OPENING
The capitol building was formally opened on the afternoon of
October 9, 1916, by a musical program and an address by Governor
Spry, the exercises beginning at 2 o'clock. In the evening a general
public reception was held, the visitors being received in the state
reception room by the governor and members of the capitol com-
mission. The building at that time was not completed, though most
220 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
of the state offices were ready for occupancy and since that date
the business of the state has been transacted in Utah's own building.
Several of the forty-eight states in the Union possess capitol
buildings that cost more money than that of Utah, but very few states
can boast of a structure erected and equipped in all essential de-
tails within the limits of the original appropriation. It is a source
of more pride to the people of Utah that their capitol was built
without a whisper of scandal or charges of wanton extravagances,
than would be a building costing a much larger sum accompanied
by charges of "graft" or corruption in its construction.
In picturesqueness of location, no state is more fortunate than
Utah. From the front steps of the capitol is obtained a magnificent
view of the Great Salt Lake Valley, from the Wasatch Mountains
on the East to the Oquirrh Range on the West, with the city in the
immediate foreground. Passing inside, through the onyx finished
vestibule, to the main corridor and standing under the great dome,
the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the massive yet symme-
trical surroundings. At either end of this main corridor are hand-
some marble stairways and in the lunettes above them are two mural
paintings, executed by Girard Hale, of Salt Lake City, and Gilbert
White, of New York City, representing two important epochs in
Utah's history. The painting in the East lunette portrays the
"Arrival of the Pioneers in 1847," ^"^ the one in the West "Reclaim-
ing the Desert by Irrigation."
PART III
INDUSTRIAL
CHAPTER XII
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS
GOODYEAR'S "TRUCK PATCH" — PIONEERS OF 1 847 — SEASON OF 1848—
NECESSARY FACTORS FOR SLXCESSFUL FARMING — TYPES OF FARMING
— IRRIGATION — EARLY LAWS RELATING TO IRRIGATION — THE CAREY
ACT — RECLAMATION SERVICE — IRRIGATING BY WELLS — DRY FARM-
ING — EXPERIMENT STATIONS — FARM PRODUCTS — LIVE STOCK
INTERESTS — NATIONAL FORESTS — THEIR INFLUENCE ON AGRICUL-
TURE — HORTICULTURE — DAIRYING — BEES AND HONEY — POULTRY.
When Miles M. Goodyear settled, in 1841, on his Spanish grant
of land where the City of Ogden now stands, he planted a "truck
patch" to supply his household with vegetables, later enlarging his
fields and adding live stock to his equipment. But it was not until
after the arrival of the pioneer Latter-day Saints in 1847 that a
systematic development of Utah's agricultural resources was com-
menced. On Friday, July 23, 1847, Orson Pratt, as the leader of the
first company of pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley, "called the
camp together, dedicated the land to the Lord, invoked His blessings
on the seeds about to be planted and on the labors of the Saints in
the valley.''
On the 24th a few potatoes and a little early corn — that is corn
which would mature in a short season — were planted. The work
continued during the next month and late in August Wilford Wood-
ruff wrote in his diary: "We have accomplished more this year than
can be found on record concerning an equal number of men in the
same time since the days of Adam. We have traveled with heavily
laden wagons more than a thousand miles, over rough roads, moun-
tains and canyons, searching out a land, a resting place for the Saints.
We have laid out a city two miles square and built a fort of hewn
223
224 UTAH SINCE STATE FIOOD
timber drawn seven miles from the mountains, and of sun-dried
bricks or adobes, surrounding ten acres of ground, forty rods of
which were covered with block-houses, besides planting about ten
acres of corn and vegetables."
Although the season was well advanced and only a limited acre-
age was planted, good crops were harvested. Conditions in Salt Lake
City during the winter of 1847-48 are thus described by Bancroft in
his "History of Utah:" "At the opening of January, 1848, the Saints
were housed, clad and fed in moderate comfort, and general content
prevailed. The season was exceptionally mild; there were occa-
sional light falls of snow, but not enough to interfere with plough-
ing and sowing, and a large tract of land was partially enclosed and
planted with wheat and vegetables. So many people were now in
the valley that notwithstanding the abundant crops, food at length
became scarce. Families weighed out their flour and allowed them-
selves so much a day. The beef was very poor, as most of the cat-
tle had been worked hard while driven to the valley and after their
arrival, while those turned out to range did not fatten quickly.
"Butter and tallow were needed. One wild steer, well fattened,
was brought in from Goodyears ranch. A herd of deer crossing
from one range of mountains to another was startled by the unex-
pected obstruction of the fort, and one sprang into the inclosure and
was killed. Wild sago and parsnip roots constituted the vegetable
food of the settlers. * * In the spring thistle tops were eaten
and became an important article of diet."
SEASON OF 1848
Early in March, 1848, plowing was commenced and in a short
time there were many flourishing gardens. The weather was mild,
the rainfall sufficient, and everybody looked forward to a bountiful
harvest. But about the first of June, when the fields were wearing
their greatest appearance of prosperity, great swarms of big, black
crickets came down from the mountains into the valley and began a
work of devastation. Where they passed through the fields not a
green leaf or blade was left, the country in their wake having the
appearance of a land scorched by fire. Just when it looked as though
everything would be destroyed, relief came from an unexpected
quarter. Great flocks of sea gul^s swooped down upon the fields and
devoured the crickets. Day by day the birds returned until the
scourge was passed and the crops were saved. An earlv session of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 225
the Utah Legislature passed an act making it unlawful to kill or
injure a sea gull, and on October i, 1913, a beautiful monument cdm-
memorating the destruction of the crickets by the gulls was unveiled
on the Temple Block in Salt Lake City.
Such were some of the difficulties encountered by the founders
of Salt Lake City and the early Utah agriculturists. Men of weaker
mold might have abandoned the undertaking, but the pioneers strug-
gled on, founded new settlements and increased the area of culti-
vated land until success crowned their efiforts. According to the
United States census of 1850, the population of Utah was 11,380,
with 16,333 acres under cultivation, mostly in Salt Lake Valley, and
the quantity of grain raised that year was 128.71 1 bushels. The esti-
mated value of the live stock in the territory was $546,698, and of
farming implements, $84,288; certainly not a bad showing for a set-
tlement three years oid, in a region where Jim Bridger olTered $1,000
for the first bushel of grain produced.
NECESSARY FACTORS
For the successful prosecution of agriculture three things are
essential, viz.: A fertile soil, a sufficient quantity of moisture, and
a market for the products of the farm. In the first respect, a con-
siderable portion of Utah's soil consists of volcanic ash, disintegrated
rock or glacial drift, containing potash, phosphorus and other ele-
ments necessary to plant life and growth, and is sufficiently fertileto
produce good crops without the application of artificial fertilizers.
Where there is a deficiency of nitrogen, the intelligent farmer has
learned to overcome this condition by plowing under a crop of
clover, alfalfa, or some similar crop every few years and letting the
decomposing vegetable material supply the much needed nitrogen.
With regard to the second factor Utah is less fortunate, the annual
rainfall varying from about six inches in the driest portions to twenty
inches or more in the districts of greatest precipitation. On the High
Plateau, embracing the. southern part of Uinta County, nearly all of
Emery and Grand counties, the County of Wayne and the eastern
parts of Garfield and Kane, the rainfall is usually less than ten inches
annually. The same is true of part of the Great Basin, including the
western parts of Boxelder, Tooele, Millard and Beaver counties. In
all other sections of the state the precipitation ranges from ten to
twenty inches or more, and in many places farming can be success-
fully carried on without irrigation.
226 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
For a quarter of a century after Salt Lake City was settled, the
farmers were dependent upon the local markets. Stage companies
and freighters purchased large quantities of grain, hay and vegeta-
bles, which constituted the principal crops. After the completion of
the Pacific Railroad, Utah came in touch with outside markets, thus
introducing the third essential factor for building up an agricultural
commonwealth. With the building of railroads, larger tracts of
land were brought under cultivation, a greater diversity of crops was
introduced and more attention was given to live stock.
TYPES OF FARMING
In most of the western states there are three distinct types ot
farming — humid, irrigation and dry. The first method is employed
in those districts where the rainfall is sufficient to produce crops, and
where the farmer has to make no special effort to conserve the natural
moisture. Humid farming can be carried on successfully in most
sections where the average annual precipitation is eighteen inches or
more. In Utah the humid farming area is somewhat limited in
extent, being confined to a few of the valleys in Davis, Morgan, Salt
Lake and Weber counties, and the Virgin Valley in the western part
of Kane and the eastern part of Washington counties.
IRRIGATION
Farming is carried on by irrigation where the precipitation is
not sufficient to furnish the required moisture for the successful
growing of crops and natural supply of moisture is supplemented by
diverting the water from creeks and rivers to make up the deficiency.
While the first plowmen were at work in what is now the business
district of Salt Lake City in July, 1847, a company of the pioneers
were employed in turning the waters of City Creek upon the soil of
the little field. So far as can be learned, this was the first attempt to
farm by irrigation in what is now the State of Utah.
On January 17, 1862, Acting Governor Frank Fuller approved
an act of the Territorial Legislature incorporating the "Jo^'dan Irri-
gation Company." The incorporators named in the act were:
Brigham Young, Daniel H. Wells, George A. Smith, Alonzo H.
Raleigh, Thomas Box, George B. Wallace, Enoch Reese, Jesse W.
Fox, Wilford Woodruff, and "their associates and successors." The
act gave the company the "right and privilege to erect and construct
a dam or dams across the Jordan River and take out the waters on
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 227
both sides thereof at a point about half a mile above the bridge across
said river on North Temple Street, in Great Salt Lake City," etc.
By the act of January 7, 1865, the privilege of the company to
use the waters of the Jordan River was extended to a point twelve
miles above the North Temple Street bridge, the said company
assuming all liabilities for damages done to property by the construc-
tion of its dams, or other irrigation works.
On January 20, 1865, Governor Doty approved an act of the Ter-
ritorial Legislature providing for the incorporation of irrigation
companies, to be managed by a board of not less than three nor more
than twelve trustees, with power to "locate proposed dams, canals or
ditches, and determine the area of land to be benefitted thereby, esti-
mate the coast of all dams, locks, flumes, canals, etc., and the amount
of tax per acre necessary to construct the same, and report to the
county court. Upon receiving a report from a regularly incor-
porated irrigation company, through its trustees, the county court
was directed to order an election to decide whether a tax should be
levied for the construction of the proposed works. If a two-thirds
majority of the taxpayers living within the district to be irrigated
voted in favor thereof, the tax was to be levied and paid to the county
treasurer the same as other taxes.
Under this general law a number of irrigation companies were
incorporated, most of them for the purpose of irrigating a restricted
area which could be irrigated at moderate cost. Several larger
projects were defeated because they failed to receive the necessary
two-thirds vote. This system, while it proved of benefit to limited
districts, created conditions that afterward stood in the way of larger
irrigation schemes. These conditions were first noted by the United
States Geological Survey.
In the summer of 1889 the United States Geological Survey made
examinations and recommended thirteen reservoir sites in Utah,
to wit: I. Near the head of Bear Lake, in Rich County; 2. At Silver
Lake, near the head of Big Cottonwood Creek; 3. Twin Lakes, in
the same locality; 4. Mary's Lake, also near the head of Big Cot-
tonwood Creek; 5. On the Sevier River near the Town of Oasis, in
Millard County; 6. On the San Pitch River near Gunnison, Sanpete
County; 7. On the Sevier River below Marysvale, in Piute County;
8. On the east fork of the Sevier River, in Piute County; 9. At the
mouth of Otter Creek, in Piute County; 10. On the east fork of the
Sevier River, in Garfield County; H- On the east fork of the Sevier
228 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
River, at Flake Meadow, Garfield County; 12. At Panguitch Lake,
near the line between Garfield and Iron counties; 13. At Blue Spring,
two miles west of Panguitch Lake.
These sites were all recommended for segregation in a letter to
the secretary of the interior dated August 26, 1889, and it was in
connection with this recommendation that Maj. J. W. Powell, of
the Survey, pointed out that, "The tendency is first to utilize small
streams on the lands that should be reserved for the large streams.
Then, when the large stream is to be used, it cannot be, because of
vested rights. They are adjusting these maters by church authority
in Utah, but we cannot elsewhere manage it in that way."
THE CAREY ACT
To remedy these conditions and overcome the inadequacies of the
state laws relating to irrigation, Congress passed the "Carey Arid
Land Law," commonly called the "Carey Act," because it was intro-
duced by Joseph M. Carey; United States senator from Wyoming.
This act, which was approved by President Cleveland on August 18,
1894, g3ve to each state in the arid regions of the West one million
acres of land, on condition that the state would construct the neces-
sary reservoirs, etc., for irrigating the land. Utah accepted the con-
ditions of the act and by appropriate legislation made provisions
for the irrigation of arid lands in various sections of the state. Under
the Carey Act and the state laws connected therewith, several thou-
sand acres have been irrigated and brought under cultivation.
RECLAMATION SERVICE
After the Carey Act had been in operation for a few years, it was
discovered that large tracts of arid lands in some sections of the West
required the outlay of larger sums of money for their irrigation than
could be raised under that act. In 1902 Congress passed the law
known as the Reclamation Act, which provided that the United
States would advance the money for the construction of the large
dams, canals and other appurtenances necessary for the irrigation of
these lands, the money so advanced to bear no interest, but to be
repaid in annual installments extending over a specified number of
years. This provision was amended by the act of August 13, 1914,
to wit:
"Section 2. Any person whose lands hereafter become subject to
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 229
the terms and conditions of the act approved June 17, 1902, entitled,
'An act appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of
public lands in certain states and territories to the construction of
irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands,' and acts amenda-
tory thereof or supplementary thereto, hereafter to be referred to as
the reclamation law, and any person who hereafter makes entry
thereunder shall at the time of making the water right application or
entry, as the case may be, pay into the reclamation fund 5 per centum
of the construction charge fixed for his land as an initial installment,
and shall pay the balance of said charge in fifteen annual install-
ments, the first five of which shall each be 5 per centum of the con-
struction charge, and the remainder shall each be 7 per centum until
the whole amount shall have been paid. The first of the annual
installments shall become due and payable on December ist of the
fifth calender year after the initial installment: Provided, That any
water right applicant or entryman may, if he so elects, pay the whole
or any part of the construction charges owing by him within any
shorter period: Provided further. That entry may be made when-
ever water is available, as announced by the secretary of the interior,
and the initial payment be made when the charge per acre is estab-
lished."
The only irrigation project in Utah built by the United States
Reclamation Service is known as the "Strawberry Valley Project,"
and is intended for the irrigation of some sixty thousand acres of
land in the vicinities of Mapleton, Payson, Salem, Spanish Fork and
Springville, in Utah County. The water for this project is taken
from the Strawberry and Spanish Fork rivers. The storage works
of the project consist of several important structures, such as the
Strawberry Impounding Dam and the Strawberry Tunnel. The
impounding dam is 490 feet long, 72 feet high, and forms a reservoir,
which, when filled to its capacity, covers an area of 8,200 acres. This
iLeservoir is situated at an elevation of 7,500 feet and its contents are
brought to the lands to be irrigated through the Strawberry Tunnel,
which is four miles in length, lined with concrete and empties into
Diamond Fork, whence the water is delivered to the lands on both
sides of the Spanish Fork River.
In 191 1 a power plant was erected for the purpose of supplying
power for the construction of the tunnel, etc. Since the completion
of the project, this plant has been used to supply light and power to
several small towns and for other purposes.
230 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
IRRIGATING BY WELLS
The report of the Utah Conservation Commission for 19 13 says:
"Since the river waters, if fully conserved, will suffice to irrigate at
most only a fifth of the lands of the state, it naturally follows that
the question of securing more water for irrigation purposes is a vital
one among the people of Utah. Recent investigation has indicated
that the great valleys of the state are underlaid by water. The Fed-
eral Government has made some study of this question and has suc-
ceeded in locating large bodies of underground water. The state
administration, likewise, has spent time, money and effort upon this
subject. To the joy of the people, the state has already succeeded in
reaching subterranean water that may be used for culinary and irri-
gation purposes in some of the most desert places of the state. The
probabilities are that in the very near future artesian wells and the
pumping of water from deep wells will be important factors in the
reclamation of Utah. Just what proportion of the lands of the state
will be irrigated in this manner is difficult to foretell, but certainly
it will be many hundreds of thousands of acres."
The same report gives a list of 1,165 wells in all parts of the
state, all flowing wells except twenty-seven, and the number of acres
irrigated by these wells was 4,400, an average of about four acres
per well. This may seem to be a small area in return for the expense
of sinking a well, but when it is remembered that the flow from an
artesian well, like that of Tennyson's brook, "goes on forever," and
that crops may be raised year after year upon the four acres, it will
be seen that such wells are a good investment.
In the spring of 1919 a party composed of Dr. E. G. Peterson,
president of the Utah Agricultural College; C. G. Haskell, Federal
irrigation engineer, and several members of the Agricultural Col-
lege, made a trip through several of the counties of Western Utah to
locate suitable areas for experimentation in obtaining water from
wells for irrigation. The investigations were carried on chiefly in
Beaver, Boxelder, Juab, Millard, Sanpete, Tooele and Utah coun-
ties and several sites selected for the installation of pumping plants,
where flowing wells might be difficult to obtain, and the probabili-
ties are that in the years to come many farmers will have their own
irrigation plants in the form of wells, thus avoiding disputes over
water rights, etc.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 231
DRY FARMING
Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as "Dry Farming," that
term having been adopted merely as a matter of convenience, and
means farming on slight rainfall. Hieroglyphic inscriptions
recently discovered show that this method of tilling the soil was
known to the ancient Egyptians long before the beginning of the
Christian Era. So called "dry farming" was practiced in Syria in
remote ages, and it has also been employed in India and China for
centuries. Its discovery in the United States is therefore not a new
thing, though in this country it has for the first time been scientifi-
cally studied and practically demonstrated, and the fact that this
method can be applied to some four hundred million acres of land
in the semi-arid regions of the United States makes it a factor of tre-
mendous influence in the agricultural development of the intermoun-
tain country and certain sections of the Pacific slope.
By the most approved dry farming methods, the farmer plows
his ground in the late summer or early fall and allows the rough
surface to remain until the following spring, when it is'worked over
with the harrow and the surface thoroughly cultivated. This causes
a sort of crust to form on the top of the ground, which prevents any
rapid evaporation of moisture during the summer, and the next year
a good crop can be raised. Byron Hunter, connected with the
United States department of agriculture, says in one of his recent
reports: "Considerable wheat is now being produced on each side
of the Columbia River with as little rainfall as eight or nine inches.
Under such dry conditions the land is summer fallowed every other
year in order to conserve the rainfall for the use of the growing
crop the next season."
The following extract from an address delivered by John W.
Springer, of Colorado, at the National Dry Farming Congress held
in Denver in 1907, illustrates what this system is doing for the farm-
ers on the arid lands of the Western States, where the annual rainfall
is from ten to fifteen inches :
"Ten years ago I came to Colorado. I went out here fifteen miles
from Denver and began to buy land, and those old fellows who had
lived there for twenty-five years or so got together in a place down
there and said: 'There is some darn fool here buying land; let us
appoint a committee to give him the whole country.' They gave me
a good end of it and I have got it yet, and now they all want it back,
232 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
but they can't have it. 'Why,' they said, 'that blamed Springer is
from Illinois and while he isn't looking let's put ten thousand acres
in his pocket so that he will have enough of a good thing.'
"There had never been a man able to make a living out there.
They didn't have a fence that would turn a coyote or anything else.
They didn't have a well. They didn't have any trees, they didn't
have any houses. Well, what in ten short years? Houses, stables,
orchards are to be seen on every hand. Why, go up and down those
canyons and you will find wild cherries and plums. I sent to Kansas
and told them to send me the best young cherry trees they had and
now I cannot gather my cherry crop, and haven't for three years,
there are so many of them. They have grown and they never had a-
drop of irrigation. This good school up here at Fort Collins that is
doing such wonderful work sent me a sack of broome grass seed, and
I have a broome grass meadow out there that never was irrigated a
drop, and that is as good as any in Illinois on land worth $200 an
acre today."
Utah has millions of acres adapted to dry farming. Practically
the entire state except the mountain ranges, the lands already irri-
gated and a few desert districts may be included in the dry farm
area. At the present time dry farming is practiced to some extent in
every county. Says the Utah Conservation Commission:
"It has been found that crops grown on dry farms are much more
nutritious than are those grown in humid climates. The nutritive
value of wheat, for instance, is from one-tenth to one-fourth higher
when grown on dry farms, so that one bushel of wheat represents a
larger amount of feeding material. Potatoes and other crops, like-
wise, are improved as they are grown with a minimum of water.
This fact should not be overlooked by the irrigation farmer who also
desires to produce the highest quality of crops. In fact, the dry farm-
ers of the West have it in their power to compete most successfully
with the great wheat growing districts because of the superior qual-
ity of the grain grown under arid climates. Fruit may be grown in
small quantities on dry farms. It is somewhat smaller than that pro-
duced on the irrigated farms, but if is of very much finer flavor and
quality."
EXPERIMENT STATIONS
The old-fashioned farmer, who relied more on his muscle and
powers of physical endurance than on his brain, has practically dis-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 233
appeared. Agricultural colleges, farmers' institutes, breeders' asso-
ciations, etc., have revolutionized agricultural methods within the
last few years. The states of the arid regions have generally adopted
the most approved methods of scientific farming an.d consequently
have achieved the best results. While Utah was the pioneer dry
farming state, many of the first attempts to raise crops without irri-
gation failed because proper methods had not yet been developed.
In 1903 the Utah Legislature passed an act and made the neces-
sary appropriations for the establishment of six experimental farms
in different dry farming sections of the state, at different altitudes
and upon soils of different texture and character, for the purpose of
demonstrating by actual experimentation the best methods of hand-
ling the soil and what crops are best adapted to dry farming. These
farms are located in the counties of Iron, Juab, San Juan, Sevier,
Tooele and Washington. The experiments at these farms have been
made under the direction of the Utah Agricultural College and in
1915 Dr. Frank G. Harris, of that institution, said:
"The establishment of a number of dry farm experiment stations
in the state did much to place dry farming on a more scientific basis,
and to assist in discovering proper tillage methods, as well as intro-
ducing and developing crops better suited to arid climates than those
previously grown. During the first years of these stations their ener-
gies were devoted largely to making practical demonstrations of what
could be done in various parts of the state, but now that the areas of
successful drv farming are more definitely outlined, experiments of
a more fundamental character can be undertaken.
"Probably the greatest cause of failure in dry farming is the lack
of care in tilling the land. Farmers practice short-cut methods,
thinking that greater care is not necessary, and as a result they fail
completely. It is rare that the farmer who practices approved meth-
ods carefully year after year has a failure. The man who expects a
full crop when he does only half the proper amount of work is the
one who is disappointed. * * * On the irrigated farm fair crops
may often be raised even where slovenly methods are practiced, but
on the dry farm the greatest attention must be given to every detail,
or failure is sure to result. Persons who are unfamiliar with the
agriculture of arid regions should take the trouble to inform them-
selves thoroughly on the subject before making heavy investments in
dry farming property. Special methods are necessary to cope with
drouth, and a knowledge of these methods must be obtained before
234 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
success can be expected. The most careful study should be made of
the precipitation records of an area before attempting to dry farm
on it.
FARM PRODUCTS
Practically every crop grown in the United States in the samt
latitude can be raised in Utah. The principal crops are alfalfa,
wheat, oats, potatoes and sugar beets. Until within recent years
spring wheat predominated, but in 191 8 half the acreage was sown
to winter wheat. In the state of Utah there are ten or twelve million
acres of land, undeveloped, upon which the soil and natural condi-
tions are favorable to the production of wheat. A few years ago the
Utah Conservation Commission discovered that:
"We have in the past grown too many varieties of wheat, practi-
cally all of them the soft white varieties characterized by a low glu-
ten content. Our commonest wheat. Gold Coin, is actually at the
bottom of the list. Both factors have given a low value to the wheat
of the intermountain West, as flour for breadmaking purposes must
be of a uniform grade and of high gluten content. There has been
too strong a tendency among us in the past to bring to the market
grain that we can only describe as 'just wheat.' Consequently, Utah
flour is discriminated against by bakers, not only abroad but at home^
except in those cases where it is known to be milled from our best
grade of hard wheat.
"It is a demonstrated fact that with care in seed selection and the
elimination of all but one variety, namely, the Turkey Red winter
wheat, the superiority of which has been proven by exhaustive mill-
ing and laboratory tests conducted by the Utah Experiment Station,
Utah can become one of the finest wheat growing countries in the
world, as well as one of the most prolific, far surpassing the Pacific
Coast in the quality of its products, and at least equalling the Dako-
tas and Kansas.
"One of the greatest needs of the wheat industry is to bring the
farmers of the state to a realization of the fact that they must aban-
don the growing of wheat on irrigated lands. Such grain contains
too little protein and too much moisture and cannot compete with
that grown under dry farm conditions. We should remember that
irrigation is a specialized kind of farming, suitable for the growing
of such crops as fruits and the small vegetables, and that irrigation
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 235
water is too valuable to waste in the cultivation of cereals, even if the
irrigationists were able to produce grains of as fine a quality."
Since that report was issued in 19 13 the experiment stations have
continued their tests, with the result that the acreage devoted to
wheat culture on the dry farms has been increased from year to year
and the quality of Utah wheat greatly improved.
Alfalfa was introduced into Utah at an early date. About 1850
gold seekers who went to California by the way of Cape Horn found
alfalfa growing in the Spanish settlements of Chile. They carried
the seed to California, and from that state it was brought by immi-
grants into Utah, where it soon became a favorite forage crop. There
are several reasons for its popularity. In all new settlements forage
is necessary to feed the horses or oxen used in plowing the new
lands, grain usually being scarce for the first few years, or until a
considerable area has been brought iinder cultivation. Alfalfa,
being the first forage crop introduced, thus gained the advantage
of an early start. It was found to be adapted to the arid regions
(having come from an arid climate), and therefore found in the
Utah valleys a congenial home. Its roots sink deeply into the earth,
giving it long life, where more shallow rooted crops might have
failed. And, being rich in protein, it furnished all the essential quali-
ties for building up muscle and strength, supplying animals with
sufficient energy for their daily work without the consumption of
grain. Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and even poultry find in alfalfa a
wholesome, nutritious food.
Although primarily a plant adapted to arid conditions, alfalfa
responds readily to irrigation and it is grown extensively on the
irrigated lands, where from three to five crops are harvested every
season. Says George Stewart, of the Utah Agricultural College:
"While progress under irrigation has been rapid and normal, on the
dry farm the industry has spread by leaps and bounds, especially
since it has proved profitable in nearly any Utah district that pro-
duces dry land wheat. * * * As a by-product of alfalfa growing
the enrichment of the land is not to be forgotten. In systems of
rotation that include grain, sugar beets, potatoes, fruits, truck crops,
corn or grass, singly or in combination, alfalfa forms a soil in Utah,
as it should do everywhere that the crop does well. Habit has become
a safeguard in this respect, even where conscious application of
scientific information is not made."
236 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
In the earlier years of oats culture in Utah the average yield
was rarely over thirty-five bushels to the acre. The farmers regarded
oats as a crop to be irrigated, and as a rule the irrigated lands were
too valuable for the production of cereals of this class. Within
recent years, however, the experiment stations have found varieties
of oats adapted to dry farming methods and both the acreage and
average yield per acre have been increased. In 1910 the number
of acres sown to oats was 58,000, the average yield per acre being
about forty bushels; in 191 8 there were 98,000 acres and the yield
was a little over forty-five bushels per acre. These figures show the
advance made in eight years, much of which is due to the informa-
tion disseminated among farmers by the experiment stations.
As barley required less moisture than either wheat or oats it
has found favor in Utah, both as food for domestic animals and for
malting purposes. In 1910 there were 13,000 acres of barley raised
in the state, the crop aggregating 468,000 bushels. At the time
spring varieties were grown exclusively, but since then the "Utah
Winter Barley" has been developed, which has proved to be a more
certain and prolific crop than any of the spring varieties. In 1918
the acreage had increased to 32,000 and the total product for that
year was 1,120,000 bushels.
Utah has both the soil and climate favorable for the production
of .potatoes, which is one of the important crops of the state. The
principal potato growing counties are Boxelder , Cache, Davis
Emery, Morgan, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Sevier, Utah, Wasatch and
Weber, though some potatoes are grown in almost every county
for home use. In 1910 the state had 16,000 acres planted to potatoes,
upon which were produced 2,432,000 bushels, an average of 152
bushels per acre. The Utah Conservation Commission, in its report
in 1913, advised the farmers that the soil and climate conditions
"all favor not only a large yield per acre, but also, if correct methods
are followed, good quality as well. It is not enough that a large
number of bushels of potatoes be grown per acre, but it is equally
as important, if not more so, that the quality be of the best. * * *
This commission believes that the potato is destined to become one of
the leading crops and should receive more attention from the irriga-
tion farmers of Utah than is at present given to it."
This advice seems to have been followed by some of the farmers
of the state, as in 1918 there were 20,000 acres planted to potatoes,
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 237
with a yield of 3,600,000 bushels, or an average of 180 bushels to the
acre, and the quality was also improved by the introduction of new
varieties and better methods of cultivation.
The sugar beet was first cultivated in Utah about 1890 and has
now become one of the leading products of the farm. In no other
line of the agricultural industry is the farmer brought in such close
relationship with this market. Sugar factories have been established
in several of the Utah towns and from these the farmer receives
expert advice on all the problems that come up in beet culture. This
advice is always cheerfully given, because the sugar factory and
refinery are dependent upon the regular production of beets and the
co-operation between the farmer and the factory is therefore for
their mutual interests — the farmer being assured of a profitable
market for his product, and the manufacturer assured of an abundant
supply of raw material.
As a result of the world war, the sugar industry in the United
States was placed upon a more stable basis than ever before. When
the people of this country were restricted to an allowance of sugar,
they learned that the nation must never again have to depend upon
outside sources for its sugar supply. Consequently, the beet field and
the sugar factory have come to stay.
Corn is grown in several localities on the irrigated lands, and
some rye is also raised in places, but neither rye nor corn can be
considered as a leading grain crop. Peas, string beans, tomatoes,
pumpkins and other vegetables suitable for canning are raised in
such places as are convenient to the canning factories, and the area
of such crops is annually increasing.
The following table, compiled from the report of the Utah In-
dustrial Commission for 1918, shows the number of acres, the total
product and value of each of the leading Utah field crops for that
year:
LIVE STOCK
Crop Acreage Bushels Value
Wheat 320,000, 6,464,000 $12,152,000
Oats 98,000 4,400,000 4,752,000
Barley 32,000 1,120,000 1,534,000
Rye 16,000 160,000 248,000
Corn 24,000 638,000 1,084,000
Potatoes 20,000 3,600,000 3,780,000
238 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Crop Acreage Tons Value
Alfalfa 320,000 944,000
Timothy 3S)Ooo 81,000 20,128,000
Other tame hay . 54,000 104,000
Wild hay 96,000 105,000
Sugar beets .... 83,000 1,012,000 10,120,000
During the period of immigration to the Great West over the
Oregon and California trails, it frequently happened that oxen grew
footsore or otherwise unfit for service and were turned out on the
plains to shift for themselves, perhaps to die of starvation or be-
come the prey of wild beasts. The tameness of these oxen and their
natural instincts kept them from straying far away from the trails and
watering places, and months afterward they would be found in better
condition than when they were abandoned by their owners. This
naturally attracted the attention of stock men to the nutritious prop-
erties of the native grasses and the value of the western country for
grazing purposes.
The beginning of the cattle business in the intermountain country
dates from about the close of the Civil war in 1865. During that
war and the years immediately preceding it, large herds of cattle ac-
cumulated in Western and Southwestern Texas and forage there grew
scarce. At the close of the war thousands of these cattle were driven
over the "Texas Trail" to Kansas, Western Nebraska, Colorado,
Montana and Wyoming, and eventually into Utah and Idaho. There
were then no farms or fences to interfere with the open range and,
except small settlements here and there, none to object except the In-
dians, with whom friendly arrangements could be made without
heavy expenses to the cattleman. The cowboy, mounted on his bron-
cho or cayuse pony, wearing the picturesque broad-brimmed hat and
"chaps," with a red bandana handkerchief around his neck and his
faithful "six-gun" on his hip, was a familiar figure in all the western
towns.
Frequently a number of cattlemen would allow their herds to
graze together and spring and fall roundups were held for the pur-
pose of "keeping track" of the ownership of the animals. At the
spring roundup calves were branded to correspond with the brands
worn by their mothers, and at the fall roundup the cattle were sepa-
REG. RAMBOUILLET RAM, J. H. S. No
Bred by John H. Seely, Mount Pleasant. Sold at Salt Lake ram sale, August, 1918, for
$6,200. Highest priced Rambouillet ram on record.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 241
rated, each man taking his own, preparatory to winter feeding. Oc-
casionally a calf would escape the brand at the time of the round-
up and would grow up as a "maverick," a name given to unbranded
cattle. When the ownership of these mavericks could not be de-
termined they were often sold at auction and the proceeds divided
among the owners of the different herds.
While these herds of cattle, frequently numbering into the thou-
sands, trailed over the "free ranges" of the Great West no thought
was given to the preservation of the natural pastures. The object
seemed to be to pasture as many animals as possible in a single season
and let future seasons look out for themselves. Moreover, in trail-
ing a herd from one feeding ground to another, as much forage was
often trampled underfoot and destroyed as was eaten by the cattle.
Then the sheep industry was introducd, which interfered with
the freedom of range. The sheep herder was generally accompanied
by dogs of the Scotch collie type, trained to assist in the manage-
ment of the flock. As the snow melted from the mountain ranges in
the spring, the sheep would graze up the slopes, reaching sometimes
an altitude of 8,000 feet by June. Then the descent would begin and
by October they would be back on the lower grazing lands to remain
through the winter. It was here that serious disputes between cattle-
men and sheepmen occurred. The cowboys and sheep herders fre-
quently fought for possession of the best pastures and water holes,
and being far out on the frontier, where the law could not interfere,
might became right. In these conflicts the cattlemen claimed
that they "got there first," and that the sheepmen were the trespassers.
More than one cowboy or sheep herder lost his life during this period
while defending the interests of his employer.
Next came the small farmers and homesteaders, who fenced the
lands, and in time broke up the free range system of grazing. These
"nesters," as they were called by both the cattlemen and sheepmen,
were cordially hated by both, but they held their titles from theUnited
States Government and could not be molested. This condition applies
with greater force to the other western states than it does to Utah,
for the reason that the Latter-day Saints had established settlements
in various sections of the state before the grazing industry had reached
its greatest proportions, and in Utah it was the homesteader who
"got there first."
242 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
NATIONAL FORESTS
Immediately following the Civil war came a few years of pros-
perity, during which lumber was in great demand for many purposes
and thoughtful persons saw that the forests of the country were rapid-
ly being depleted. They therefore began to advocate the inauguration
of some policy which would preserve a portion of the valuable tim-
ber for the use of future generations. What that policy was to be was
not very well defined, but in 1871 a bill relative to the preservation
of the forests on the public domain was introduced in Congress. This
was the first move toward the conservation of the natural resources
of the nation. Although it failed to become a law, the conservation-
ists continued their agitation and in 1876 Congress appropriated the
sum of $2,000 "to employ a competent man to investigate timber
conditions in the United States and report."
There the subject was allowed to rest for more than a decade.
If the expert employed under the act of 1876 ever made a report,
Congress failed to take action thereon. Soon after the creation of
the department of agriculture, under President Cleveland's first ad-
ministration, a division of forestry was added to the department.
Norman J. Colman, of Missouri, was then secretary of agriculture
and did not seem to be particularly interested in the subject of for-
estry, so the "division of forestry," while it sounded well, accomp-
lished nothing.
President Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated on March 4, 1889,
and appointed Jeremiah M. Rusk, of Wisconsin, to succeed Mr. Col-
man. Mr. Rusk came from a state having large timber resources
and lumbering interests and was well acquainted, by actual contact,
with the problems relating to forestry. He pointed out that the
forests, unlike many other sources of wealth, could be utilized and
at the same time perpetuated; that it was the waste rather than the
legitimate manufacture of lumber that was depleting the forests. He
also called attention to the fact that, in addition to the rapid exhaus-
tion of the timber resources of the country, the preservation of the
forests on the watersheds was necessary in order to protect the water
supply upon which depended the reclamation of vast tracts of arid
lands all over the West. Largely through his influence. Congress
passed an act, which was approved on March 3, 1891, providing:
"That the President of the United States may from time to time set
apart and reserve, in any state or territory having public lands bear-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 243
ing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered
with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not,
as public reservations, and the President shall, by public proclama-
tion, declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits
thereof."
In that same year President Harrison set apart the "Yellow-
stone Park Timberland Reserve," which was the first national forest.
Others followed and they became generally known as "forests re-
serves." Government officials soon learned, however, that to pro-
claim a certain tract of land a reservation and to insure the protec-
tion of the forest thereon were two diffierent matters. They also
learned that in establishing these reserves, injustice was often done
to local interests. Under these conditions the secretary of the interior
requested the National Academy of Science to recommend a plan for
the preservation of the forests that would protect the timber and at
the same time be equitable in its application. The suggestions of
the academy were embodied in an act approved by President Mc-
Kinley on June 4, 1897, which provided :
"That no public forest reservation shall be established except to
improve and protect the forest within the reservation, or for the pur-
pose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish
a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of the citi-
zens of the United States; but it is not the purpose or intent of these
provisions, or of the act providing for such reservations, to author-
ize the inclusion therein of lands more valuable for the mineral there-
in, or for agricultural purposes, than for forest purposes."
The act also provided that the forest reserves should be sur-
veyed, mapped and classified by the United States Geological Sur-
vey and be under the control of the general land office. The theory
of this law seemed to be that the management of the land was of
more importance than the management of the timber and under it
the use of the reserves soon brought up a number of complex prob-
lems for their solution requiring a scientific knowledge of forestry,
for which the law made no provision. To remedy this defect, the
act of July I, 1901, created the Bureau of Forestry, which could ofifer
advice, but was not given power to enforce any recommendations or
regulations it might prescribe.
When Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the Presidency upon
the assassination of President McKinley in September, 1901, the
valuable timber and grazing lands were being rapidly taken up by
244 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
lumber companies and stockmen, which affected in many instances
the sources of water supply for purposes of irrigation. On February
I, 1905, President Roosevelt approved an act consolidating the vari-
ous branches of government forest work, and placing the manage-
ment of the national forests in the hands of the department of agri-
culture, the reserves to be thereafter known as "national forests,"
and the division of the department having for its province the en-
forcement of the law is called the "forest service."
The law of 1905 is based on the theory that when a tree reaches
its mature growth it is ready to be manufactured into lumber, and
to allow it to remain standing is to invite its decay. If not used at
the proper time disintegration begins and a financial loss is conse-
quently incurred. It is therefore the intention of the forest ser\nce
"to afford the greatest use of timber consistent with the perpetuity
of the forests. Reforestration is provided for — that is, new trees are
planted to take the places of those removed — but if at any time the
service decides that the forest growth is not keeping pace with the
timber cut, the output is reduced. On the other hand, if the growth
of timber exceeds the amount cut, the annual sales are mcreased.
By this system, except where great destruction of timber occurs
through forest fires, the supply of timber is expected to remain prac-
tically the same through the years to come. In the disposal of tim-
ber, the forest service gives first consideration to local interests and
to the people who are building up the country rather than to the
large lumber companies, whose interests are purely commercial.
Only the "stumpage" is sold, the title to the land remaining in the
Government of the United States.
In 1915 there were 160 national forests, with a total of nearly two
hundred million acres. Most of these forests are located in the west-
ern states and for convenience of administration are divided into six
districts, the headquarters of which are at Missoula, Mont.; Ogden,
Utah; San Francisco, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Denver, Colo.; and
Albuquerque, N. M. District No. 4, which includes the states of
Utah and Nevada, Western Wyoming, Southern Idaho and "the
Arizona Strip," has its headquarters at Ogden, and in addition each
forest has its supervisor. Twelve of the national forests lie wholly
or in part within the State of Utah. The following table gives a list
of these forests, with the location of the supervisor's office and the
total number of acres in each within the state limits (a portion of
the lands in each forest has been "alienated," that is, set apart for
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 245
homesteads, etc., and these lands have not been deducted in the
table) :
Forest Office Acres
Ashley — Vernal 981,613
Cache — Logan 317,506
Dixie — St. George 458,890
Fillmore — Richfield 779,290
Fishlake — Salina 723,591
La Sal — Moab 563,290
Manti — Ephraim 855,722
Minidoka — Burley, Ida 92,280
Powell — Escalante 704,700
Sevier — Panguitch 802,660
Uinta — Provo 1,043,135
Wasatch — Salt Lake City 656,477
Total 7,979>i54
The reader may wonder what these national forests have to do
with the agricultural situation in Utah. They have much to do.
These forests withdraw from entry larger tracts of land that are
not suitable for home land and reserve them for forest propagation
and preservation, for the protection of the watersheds to conserve the
moisture that plays such an important part in the irrigation of the arid
lands, and for grazing purposes. Especially has the national forest
policy been of benefit to stockmen. Before the inauguration of that
policy overpasturing and reckless destruction of forage threatened
the grazing interests to such an extent that it was only a question of
time until the size of the flocks and herds would have to be reduced.
When the forest service was fully organized a grazing system was
adopted that provides for the preservation of the ranges. This sys-
tem which limits the number of animals to be grazed, opened ranges
that were previously inaccessible by the construction of roads, and
where the forage was about exhausted the ranges were temporarily
withdrawn from use, giving the grass an opportunity to regain some-
thing of its former vigor. The Federal policy with regard to grazing
rights has been liberal, and in the few instances where the regulations
required a reduction in the number of animals the decrease has gen-
246 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
erally been brought about so gradually that no serious hardship has
been imposed upon the owner of the herds.
Under the enforcement of the national forest rules the ranges are
no longer overfed; the strong can no longer overpower the weak;
the water supply is steadily increasing as the ranges are being
restored to their original conditions of tree and forest growth; trail-
ing from one feeding ground to another has been reduced to a mini-
mum; many miles of fences have been built, which greatly prevents
loss of stock through straying; herdsmen and forest rangers work
together for the destruction of predatory animals that in former years
was such a menace to stock raising; each kind of stock is placed on the
range best adapted to its needs; worthless weeds and plants are being
eradicated, and the pasturing of stock in the forests has a tendency
to lessen the danger of destructive forest fires.
According to the report of L. F. Kneipp, district supervisor, for
the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1919, there were eighty people
permanently employed by the forest service in Utah. During that
year 182,051 cattle, 923,827 sheep, 10,681 horses, 316 hogs and 115
goats found pasturage upon the ranges in the national forests of the
state.
HORTICULTURE
Among the pioneers of 1847 were some who brought with them
seeds or young fruit trees with a view to planting orchards in their
new home. A few of the old trees planted by these early settlers still
remain standing in some sections of the state, but as fruit producers
they are worthless. On September 13, 1855, the Utah Horticultural
Society was organized in Salt Lake City, with Wilford Woodruff
as president, for the purpose of encouraging fruit culture.
In the planting of the early orchards little attention was paid to
the selection of the proper varieties of fruit, that is, varieties suited
to soil, climate and general surroundings. The motto of these early
horticulturalists seemed to be "anything so it is a fruit tree." As most
of the fruit raised was consumed at home, the growers were indiffer-
ent to its proper grading, but within recent years, since Utah fruit has
become an article of commerce, the orchards are conducted on a more
scientific basis.
By the act of March 12, 1903, the state was divided into four
horticultural districts and the governor was authorized to appoint
one member of a State Board of Horticulture from each district.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 247
The districts established by this act were as follows: i. The coun-
ties of Cache, Boxelder, Rich, Morgan, Weber, Davis and Salt Lake.
2. The counties of Juab, Millard, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele
and Utah. 3. The counties of Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan,
Uinta and Wasatch. 4. The counties of Garfield, Iron, Kane, Piute,
Beaver, Washington and Wayne.
In appointing the members of the board, the governor was
required to select men with a practical knowledge of horticulture
and the board was to be, non-political. Its duties were to guard
against insect pests and contagious plant diseases, to cause to be
inspected the orchards, etc., of the state and to quarantine against any
infected district or the fruit grown therein. Under the operation of
this law and supplementary legislation the fruit growing interests of
the state have been placed upon a more scientific foundation. The
experiment station at Logan has co-operated with the board in the
development of the best methods of spraying trees and in teaching
these methods to the owners of orchards, with the result that the
yield has been greatly increased per tree, and the quality of the
fruit materially improved.
It may seem paradoxical to state that, through the influence of the
board, the orchard acreage was reduced from 43,660 in 191 2 to
30,000 in 1914 — a decrease of 13,660 acres in two years — and at the
same time announce an improvement in fruit growing conditions.
This apparent loss represented the weeding out of old orchards and
undesirable varieties of fruit, substituting therefor young and pro-
ductive orchards. Notwithstanding the decrease in acreage during
those two years, the 1914 crop of fruit was the heaviest ever produced
in Utah up to that time. The following table shows the number of
fruit trees planted in the state in the five years beginning with 1910:
Apples 1,504,705
Peaches 798,050
Cherries 185,808
Pears 82,306
Apricots 54,002
Plums and prunes 50,662
Total 2,675,533
248 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
These figures are taken from the report of the State Bureau of
Immigration, Labor and Statistics for 1915, and they are the latest
official figures available. Tree planting has gone on, however, since
1914, in perhaps as great a ratio, until the orchards of the state have
grown both in acreage and quality of trees. Small fruits have not
been neglected. Hundreds of crates of currants, gooseberries, rasp-
berries, strawberries, etc., are marketed every year. Much of this
fruit is sold through a co-operative organization, insuring proper
grading and the best returns to the grower.
DAIRYING
It is only within comparatively recent years that the dairy indus-
try of Utah has assumed commercial proportions. The early settlers
kept enough milch cows to furnish milk and butter for the family
and in some cases a few pounds of butter would be sold. Occa-
sionally a cheese was made. With the progress of settlement, the
founding of new towns, a more intensive system of farming has been
introduced, with the result that the milch cow is coming into her
own. In 1913 there were 80,000 milch cows kept on the Utah farms
and the value of dairy products for that year was $3,300,000. In
1918 the number of milch cows had increased to 96,000 and the value
of the product had increased in proportion. In 1915 Benjamin R.
Eldredge, of the dairy division of the United States Department of
Agriculture, said:
"Utah is an importer of dairy products, both butter and cheese
being brought in in considerable quantities. This condition will not
continue long and should not exist at all. With the cattle we now
have, simply a better method of feeding, taking a little pains to pro-
duce a variety of feed, that the cow may have a chance to balance her
ration, will alone increase the products of Utah cows to the point
where importation will cease. We should be exporters. Our natural
conditions, climate, soil, water, feed, all justify the conclusion that
Utah should by right be a heavy exporter of dairy products."
BEES AND HONEY
In the broad, irrigated valleys of Utah, with their fields of alfalfa
and clover, the orchards, with their prolific bloom in the spring time,
the mountain slopes, with their wealth of wild flowers, and the large
num.ber of sunshiny days each year, the busy bee finds an ideal place
to carry on his labors. The people of Utah have not been slow to
GRAND CHAMPION SHORTHORN FEMALE, MADELINE, No. 667041
Bred and owned by John H. Seely, Mount Pleasant.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 251
perceive these conditions and the result is that in almost every county
apiculture forms an important industry.
According to the United States census of 1910 there were then
26,185 stands of bees in Utah. The assessors in 1918 found only
about half that number, though the quantity of honey shows no
decrease during the period from 1910 to 1918. According to the
report of the industrial commission, there were 638,950 pounds of
honey produced in Utah in 1917.
POULTRY
In the poultry business, as in the dairy industry Utah is an
importer instead of an exporter. This is not due to any natural dis-
advantages, but rather to a lack of interest on the part of the farmers
of the state, who in the past have been concerned with the larger
problems of extensive farming. Prof. Byron Alder, of the Utah
Agricultural College, in 1915 estimated the value of poultry and
eggs imported each year at over one million dollars. Comparing
the amount invested in poultry ($327,908), as shown by the census
of 1910, with investments in other agricultural lines, he says:
"There is invested in fowls $327,908 and from this investment
there is a net return in eggs alone of $1,000,000, or 304 per cent,
while in no other case did the returns equal more than 100 per cent,
except in the case of swine, which was a little less than 1 14 per cent."
CHAPTER XIII
UTAH'S MINING INDUSTRY
CHARACTER OF UTAH'S MINERAL WEALTH— SUTTER's MILL RACE-
OPPOSITION OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS — FIRST PROSPECTING IN
UTAH — FIRST ORE SHIPMENTS — NEW MINING DISTRICTS — IN BING-
HAM CANYON — THE COPPER MOUNTAIN — UTAH'S METAL PRODUC-
TION — ASSAY OFFICE — COAL MINING — MINE DISASTERS — IM-
PROVED CONDITIONS — RARE MINERALS — MISCELLANEOUS FACTS.
Utah's mineral wealth is both varied and abundant, and a good
sized volume might be written on the subject of its development. The
pioneer Latter-day Saints, who settled the Salt Lake Valley, were
more interested in agriculture than in mining, as may be seen by
the frequent utterances of the church authorities, and preferred per-
manent homes to the precarious fortunes of the mining camp.
SUTTER'S MILL RACE
Among those who settled in California prior to the Mexican war
was John Sutter, who was born of Swiss parents in Baden, Germany,
in 1803. He located in California in July, 1839, and the following
year became a Mexican citizen. Alvarado, the revolutionist, was
then governor of the province. He took a liking to Mr. Sutter and
made him a government official. The same year Mr. Sutter bought
out some Russian settlers on the Sacramento and built a small fort.
Late in the year 1847 Mr. Sutter employed James W. Marshall to
build a sawmill near the fort. As the mill was to be run by water
power, it was necessary to excavate a mill race, an3 it was in this race
that gold was discovered. Mr. Marshall, who made the discovery,
afterward gave the following account of how it occurred :
"One morning in January (it was the morning of January 24,
1848), as I was taking my usual walk along the race, after shutting
253
254 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ofif the water, my eye was caught with the glimpse of something shin-
ing in the bottom of the ditch. There was about a foot of water
running then. I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made
my heart thump, for I was certain that it was gold. The piece was
about the size and shape of a pea."
Mr. Marshall showed the nugget to Mr. Sutter and a few others
whom he thought he could trust. All kept a sharp lookout for more
of the metal, which some took to be iron pyrites, and within a few
days about three ounces were collected. When subjected to tests, the
metal proved to be gold and they tried to keep the matter a secret,
for fear the workmen would abandon their jobs to engage in a search
for gold, but news of the discovery leaked out and although there
was no transcontinental telegraph at that time, it was not long until it
was known in every hamlet of the Union that gold had been dis-
covered on the western coast.
OPPOSITION OF THE CHURCH
Among those engaged in the construction of the mill race were
several members of the Mormon battalion, who had been discharged
from the military service in July, 1847. They joined the ranks of
the gold seekers and collected a supply of nuggets and gold dust, but
in March, 1848, shortly after news of the discovery reached Salt Lake
City, John Smith, president of the Salt Lake stake, wrote to the
battalion members to gather at the Great Salt Lake, "that you may
share in the blessings to be conferred on the faithful," and warning
them against settling down at ease in California, "with an eye and a
half on this world and its goods and half an eye set towards Zion on
account of the high mountains and the privations to be endured by
the saints."
Most of the men obeyed the injunction and came to Salt Lake
City, where naturally they displayed their wealth and a number of
the pioneers expressed the desire to start immediately for the new
gold fields. On October i, 1848 (Sunday), in a public address,
Brigham Young said : "If we were to go to San Francisco and dig up
chunks of gold, or^nd it in the valley, it would ruin us. I hope the
gold mines will be no nearer than eight hundred miles. There is
more delusion and the people are more perfectly crazy on this con-
tinent than ever before. * * « jf you elders of Israel want to
go to the gold mines, go and be damned. I advise the corrupt, and all
who want, to go to California and not come back, for I will not
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 255
fellowship them. Prosperity and riches blunt the feelings of man.
If the people were united, I would send men to get gold who would
care no more about it than the dust under their feet, and then we
would gather millions into the church. * * * Some men don't
want to go after gold, but they are the very men to go."
This stern rebuke checked the threatened migration to some
extent, through there were a few who could not resist the tempta-
tion. On December 7, 1848, Brigham Young wrote in his journal:
"Some few have caught the gold fever; I counseled such, and all
the saints, to remain in the valleys of the mountains, make improve-
ments, build comfortable houses and raise grain against the days of
famine and pestilence with which the earth would be visited."
Bancroft says that about a dozen families left Utah in the spring
of 1849, and that in March, 1851, over five hundred saints were
gathered at Payson, ready to start for California, but "the majority
of the settlers were well content to abide in the valley, building up
towns, planting farms and tending stock in their land of promise."
There was another and more material reason for the opposition
of the church authorities. Some of the early settlers suspected the
presence of gold in the mountains about Salt Lake and expressed a
desire to hunt for it. They were admonished by Brigham Young
that: "We cannot eat gold and silver, neither do we want to bring
into our peaceful settlements a rough, frontier population to vitiate
the morals of our youth, overwhelm us by numbers and drive us
again from our hard earned homes."
FIRST PROSPECTIXG
Early in September, 1863, G. B. Ogilvie, a farmer, found ore in
Bingham Canyon, about twenty-five miles southwest of Salt Lake
City. He took his samples to Camp Douglas and showed them to
Gen. P. E. Connor, commandant at the camp. On September 17,
1863, General Connor, Ogilvie, Captain Heitz and twenty-two oth-
ers located the West Jordan claim, the first mining claim located in
Utah, and in December of that year the "West Mountain Mining
District" was established. It embraced the Oquirrh Range from
Great Salt Lake southward to the end of the range. The east slope
to about the site of old Camp Floyd still retains the name.
Later in the year 1863 a party of prospectors found "pay dirt"
on the margin of Rush Lake, in Tooele County, and near the present
256 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Town of Mercur. The Rush Valley Mining District was then
organized, being segregated from the West Mountain District.
During the year 1864 ^ number of locations were made in the
West Mountain District, notably the Empire, Galena, Julia Dean,
Kingston and Silver Hill properties. In this same year the West
Jordan Mining Company was organized under the laws of Cali-
fornia, and a tunnel was commenced. The lack of railroad facili-
ties, the high price of tools, etc. (powder sold as high as $100 per
keg), and the opposition of the church dignitaries caused a suspen-
sion of the work, and it was not until after the completion of the
Union Pacific Railroad that the real development of the mining
industry began.
Meantime the prospectors were not idle. By the close of 1865
about four hundred claims had been taken up in the Rush Valley
District. Forty of these claims were located in what was afterward
known as the Ophir District, though the mines in this locality were
commonly referred to as the "Stockton mines." In 1864 a party of
Californians who had been working in the Montana mines returned
to Salt Lake City for the winter. They visited Bingham Canyon,
where they found free gold and this gave a new impetus to the loca-
tion of claims in the West Mountain District.
The discovery of silver-bearing rock in the Wasatch Range was
made by General Connor in 1867 at the head of Little Cottonwood
Canyon. He first discovered galena and later carbonate of lead, both
being found in "chimneys," but the mines were not systematically
opened until after the completion of the Utah Central Railroad to
Salt Lake City in January, 1870.
In the summer of i86g the Sunbeam mine was located on the
western slope of the Oquirrh Range, near its extreme southern end,
and a few months later the Tintic District was organized. On the
Sunbeam ledge the ores carried from 80 to 100 ounces of silver to
the ton, besides gold, copper and lead. The Tintic District was the
last mining district to be organized before the work of building rail-
roads into Utah's mining regions was commenced.
FIRST ORE SHIPMENTS
When the Union Pacific Railroad was completed to Uinta, in
Weber County, in 1868, Walker Brothers hauled a carload of copper
ore from Bingham Canyon to Uinta and shipped it to Baltimore.
This was the first carload of ore shipped from Utah. Later in the
OTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 257
season the same firm of Walker Brothers shipped a carload from ihe
mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
In the latter part of July, 1869, Woodhull Brothers, owners of
the Monitor and Magnet mines in the Little Cottonwood District,
shipped ten tons of ore to T. H. Selby, San Francisco, Calif., from
these mines, and on the last day of the month shipped the same quan-
tity of copper ore from the Kingston mine in Bingham Canyon. On
January 12, 1870, two days after the Utah Central Railroad was
opened for traffic, this firm shipped the first carload of ore over the
new railroad.
NEW DISTRICTS
During the years 1870-71 a number of mining claims was located
south of the Little Cottonwood and these claims were organized into
the American Fork District. One of these claims, the Pittsburgh,
was sold for $20,000 before it was fully developed, and the Miller
mine was sold later for $190,000. Ten years after the first locations
were made in this district, the Silver Bell mine was working a strong
vein of milling ore at a depth of 300 feet and was considered the best
paying mine in the district. Contemporary with the discovery of the
Pittsburgh and Miller mines, ore was discovered on Deer Creek,
where several promising locations were made. These claims were
afterward merged into the American Fork District.
Two new mining districts — the Blue Ledge and the Uinta — were
organized in Summit County in 1872. In the Blue Ledge District,
at Park City, the most noted mine was the Ontario. During the ten
years following its discovery it .was developed to a depth of 800 feet,
the ore producing on an average $106 of silver to the ton and the
yield being remarkably uniform. Up to August, 1885, the Ontario
had produced about twenty million dollars' worth of metal and had
disbursed in dividends $6,650,000. The e.xpense of operating this
mine was greatly increased by the flow of water, involving the in-
stallation of powerful and costly pumping machinery. Notwith-
standing this, the Ontario has kept on as a producer and in 1918 paid
out $150,000 in dividends.
The Horn silver mine, about fiften miles west of Milford, Beaver
County, was discovered by accident and this discovery led to the
founding of the Town of Frisco and the organization of the Frisco
District in 1874. The ore in this mine is an argentiferous galena,
258 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the vein being about fifty feet in thickness. Development was slow,
owing to a lack of transportation facilities, but after the Utah
Southern Railroad was completed to Frisco in the latter part of June,
1880, the output of the mine was greatly increased. In 1881 it pro-
duced 1,259,903 ounces of silver and 16,343,995 pounds of lead,
valued at $1,807,092. By the close of 1882 it had produced over
six million dollars' worth of silver and lead and paid out $1,500,000
in dividends to the stockholders.
The Frisco Mining and Smelting Company, operating in this
district, owned the Carbonate mine at Frisco and the Cave, Bigelow
and other claims in the Granite Range. This company played a
conspicuous part in the development of the district.
In the summer of 1878 the Harrisburg or Silver Reef District,
in Washington County, was organized. It derived its name from
a silver-bearing sandstone formation resembling a reef. The entire
reef is about one hundred miles long and the silver-bearing portion
was at least fifteen miles in length, some of the ore yielding $30 or
more to the ton. The first locations in this district were made by
the Leeds Silver Mining Company, a San Francisco corporation,
and within three years ore worth $800,000 was taken from the com-
pany's holdings. The Town of Leeds, about twenty miles northeast
of St. George, was founded by this company. Silver Reef City was
incorporated by the Utah Legislature in 1878 and soon boasted a
newspaper called the Silver Reef Miner. The publication of the
paper long since ceased and the "city" no longer appears on the maps
of Utah.
The Christy Mining and Milling Company owned sixteen loca-
tions in the best part of the reef and by the close of 1882 had taken
out enough ore to make $1,275,000 worth of bullion. Two New
York companies — the Stormont Silver Mining Company and the
Barbee and Walker Mill and Mining Company — operated for some
time in the Silver Reef District, each producing about one mil-
lion dollars in bullion, and the Stormont Company paid $145,000
in dividends. The building or railroads into other mining districts
placed the Silver Reef at a disadvantage and operations ceased,
though there is still much good ore there awaiting transportation
facilities.
Among other gold and silver mining districts organized in Utah
prior to 1885 — some of which are still producers — may be mentioned
the Star, a few miles west of Milford; the Rocky and Beaver Lake
, UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 259
districts, north of the Star; the Pine Grove, about forty miles west
of Frisco; the Oiiio and' Mount Brddj, near Marysvale, Piute
County; the Nebo or Timmons District, in Juab County; the Lucin,
on the boundary line between Utah and Nevada, and the Lincoln,
in Beaver County. Bancroft says the first silver mine in Utah,
called the Rollins, was discovered in the Lincoln District.
IN BINGHAM CANYON
From the time George B. Ogilvie went to Camp Douglas in 1H63
and informed General Connor of his discovery, Bingham Canyon
has been one of the most active and prosperous mining fields of the
West. It has been stated by some writers that gold was found in
the canyon in the late '50s, but if so the discoverer was "able to keep
a secret," as it is certain no mining was attempted there until the
fall of 1863. At the time of Ogilvie's discovery, lumbering was a
much more important industry than mining. It is said that the first
sawmill in Utah was set up near the mouth of the canyon and the
place continued as a lumber camp for the greater part of the placer
mining period, which lasted for about twenty years, during which
about one million dollars' worth of dust and nuggets was produced.
Early in the '70s the largest known body of argentiferous lead
ore in Utah was discovered in the canyon and heavy shipments were
made from half a dozen or more properties. The story of the dis-
covery and development of this ore body has thus been told by one
of the active participants:
"In 1869 George H. Bemis, accompanied by his four sons, located
in Ogden and opened a furniture store. The following spring Mr.
Bemis sent Silas Beebe, an old prospector, to Bingham Canyon to
look over the mining situation. Mr. Beebe made a favorable report
and the four sons of Mr; Bemis went to the canyon. At that time the
camp consisted of a sawmill and a few scattering cabins, the entire
population numbering fewer than one hundred people.
"The only production then was from the gold placer mines up
and down the canyon and over in Bear Gulch. The best recoveries
were in the creek and out on the channel bars. The old style sluice-
bo.x was the method employed. A little later the ground sluice was
used and a little hydraulic plant proved a success on a little more
comprehensive plan. There were no regular mines in the camp in
that day, and the only names used were such as the 'Greek' placers.
There was a lead prospect afterwards called the old Spanish mine.
260 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the Jordan, Utah and Story prospects. These were all located up
the left-hand fork near the present activities in the United States
Smelting mine. None was producing or had shipped anything up
to that time. The old Winnemucca, Telegraph and others came on
successively, all producing lead ore.
"The first operations of the Bemis boys in Bingham were on
placers in the main canyon and later on the old Story mine. This
was up the left-hand fork and was a lead-silver prospect. Mr.
Bemis bought 400 feet — everything went by feet in those days.
Later the brothers secured other holdings and at one time they held
a portion of what is now the great Utah porphyry copper mountain,
giving it up on account of the low values of the ore. Two of the
Bemis brothers, A. H. and George L., built in 1874 the first con-
centrating plant ever erected in Utah for the treatment of sulphide
lead ore."
THE COPPER MOUNTAIN
The story of Utah's wonderful copper mine at Bingham begins
with the observations made by Enos A. Wall upon the occasion of
his visit to the canyon in July, 1887. Mr. Wall noticed a number of
prospecting drifts and inclines that had been driven during the early
days, and his attention was particularly attracted by the discoloration
on the hillside, where the water of a spring had been conducted
to a placer mine near the present railway station. The gravel in the
gulch was also stained green by the coppery solution. Upon ex-
amination, the rock proved to be an outcrop of monzonite impreg-
nated with copper. Making inquiry at the recorder's office, Mr.
Wall learned that a large part of the ground adjacent to the outcrop
had been abandoned and was subject to relocation. He therefore
staked two claims, which he called the "Dick Mackintosh" and
"Charles Read," after two of his friends. These two claims gave
him an area 600 by 3,000 feet, and later he located another claim,
which he named the "Frank Cushing."
Without going into all the details concerning Mr. Wall's early
operations, it is sufficient to state that he sold the Brickyard mine
at Mercur for $60,000 and the Yampa mine for $150,000 and in-
vested the proceeds in the copper-bearing porphyry at Bingham.
Capt. Joseph R. De Lamar, who bought the Brickyard mine from
Mr. Wall in 1894, afterward became interested in the development
of the copper deposits at Bingham. In December, 1896, the first
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 263
copper sulphide ore was taken from the Highland Boy mine, which
proved to be rich in copper and a revival of interest in the porphyry
mountain followed. During the next seven years a number of new
claims were located, and on June 4, 1903, the Utah Copper Com-
pany was incorporated under the laws of Colorado, with a capi^tal
stock of $500,000.
Seven per cent bonds to the amount of $750,000 were issued by
the company on July i, 1903, the bonds to run for three years, and
with the proceeds the company purchased Mr. Wall's holdings. The
Copperton mill at Bingham was completed in April, 1904, and soon
afterward the company was reorganized under a charter from the
State of New Jersey, with a capital stock of $4,500,000, which was
increased to $6,000,000 about' a year later. In July, 1906, the Apex
Tramway was completed and the Bingham & Garfield Railway,
controlled by the Utah Copper Company, was placed in operation
in August, 191 1. A few months before that (in January, 1910), the
capitalization of the company was increased to $25,000,000, and by
the close of 1917 it had paid $75,770,882 in dividends, besides ac-
cumulating a working capital of over thirty millions of dollars.
Some idea of the magnitude of this mining enterprise may be gained
from the following statement, taken from the report of the Utah
Commissioner of Immigration, Labor and Statistics for 1915:
"The railroad winds for miles down the mountain sides, rounding
cliffs, crossing canyons and boring through mountains. The Utah
Copper Company's workings encompass the entire mountain, com-
prising the most wonderful mining operations in the world. Fifty-
one locomotives and twenty-two steam shovels are day and night
engaged in tearing down this great mountain of ore. This wonderful
operation is said to be second in magnitude only to the work per-
formed in the Panama Canal zone. Each day about twenty-four
thousand tons of ore are hauled from this mountain to the com-
pany's mills situated at Garfield, seventeen miles from the mine.
During the year 1913, the company produced 121,779,000 pounds of
copper at an average of 8.13 cents per pound. Up to January i,
191 5, the Utah Copper Company's mines had produced a total of
699,740,543 pounds of copper, 2,805,462 ounces of silver and
278,000 ounces of gold, the total value of which, after smelter de-
ductions, was $98,880,000. Under normal conditions, the company
employs 2,400 men at the mines, 1,450 at the mills and 350 on the
Bingham & Garfield Railroad, making a total of 4,200 men, dis-
264 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
bursing for wages, supplies, fuel, smelting charges and freights
$1,250,000 monthly. The total area of lode mining claims owned
by the company is 736 acres, and development shows that at least
225 acres contain mineralized porphyry of commercial value, of an
estimated tonnage of 361,000,000."
UTAH'S METAL PRODUCTION
The production of gold in 1917 (the latest official figures avail-
able) was 162,306 ounces, a decrease of 10,632 ounces from the
product of the preceding year. Most of the gold came from five
counties. Salt Lake County produced about 90 per cent of the
whole, Juab, Tooele, Beaver and Boxelder counties following in
the order named. No mines in the state, except a few small placers,
are operated exclusively for the gold values, the yellow metal com-
ing as a by-product of silver, lead and copper mines, the copper-
lead camp at Bingham producing more than two-thirds of the gold
of the state.
While gold showed a decrease in quantity, the production of
silver increased from 13,253,037 ounces in 1916 to 13,479,133 ounces
in 1917. This increase was largely due to the advance in the average
price from 65.8 cents an ounce in 1916 to 82.4 cents in 1917, the
higher price making it possible to work deposits that in former years
had been allowed to lie idle.
Although the value of gold produced in 1917 was $3,355,156
and that of silver $11,106,806, the so called precious metals con-
stitute only a comparatively small part of the state's metal produc-
tion during the year. Twenty of the twenty-nine counties of the
state produced either copper, lead or zinc and a few produced all
these metals. The following table shows the production by counties,
the quantities of the metals being given in pounds:
County Copper Lead Zinc
Beaver 3,702,085 5,321,400 4,133,464
Boxelder 1,361,341 839,283 609,037
Cache 4,7i7
Emery 6,063
Garfield 2,749
Grand I4i439
Iron 78 156,243
Juab 9,060,565 30,367,586 992,076
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 265
County Copper Lead Zinc
Millard 16,267 8,322
Morgan 7S,400
Piute 18,770 540,476
Salt Lake 226,774,390 86,863,950 8,863,096
San Juan I4)9i8
Sanpete 5,814
Summit 772,121 25,521,774 1,247,303
Tooele 4,181,231 15,031,521 1,306,974
Uinta 4,098 1,328
Utah 87,758 5,595,070 216,906
Wasatch 513,187 8,193,791 3,954,453
Washington . . . 139,376
Total 246,674,153 178,521,958 21,286,871
The value of the copper was $67,348,045; of the lead, $15,355,890,
and of the zinc, $2,162,258. Add to these values those of the gold
and silver ($14,461,962) and the total value of all metals produced
in 1917 was $99,328,155, exclusive of the values of a few rare metals
not mined in suflficient quantities to become the subject of a statistical
report.
ASSAY OFFICE
On May 30, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt approved an act
of Congress authorizing the establishment of an essay office in Salt
Lake City for the convenience of the Utah mining interests. Several
months were spent in securing suitable quarters, purchasing equip-
ment, etc., and the office was opened for business at No. 52 Postoffice
Place on February i, 1909, with J. U. Eldredge, Jr., in charge. On
June I, 19 13, the office was removed to the fourth floor of the Fed-
eral Building, and on January 13, 1914, Mr. Eldredge was succeeded
by Charles Gammon.
This office has proved to be of great advantage to the mining
industry by offering opportunities for gold miners to dispose of their
product quickly for cash, and receiving for it the highest prices.
Formerly gold produced in the Utah mines had to be shipped to
an assay office or mint in another state, entailing a delay in receiving
returns and the payment of freight or express charges. The Salt Lake
266 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
City office receives gold and silver bullion from most of the mining
districts of Utah, from many of the mines in Arizona, Idaho,
Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming, and occasionally small con-
signments from Montana, Alaska and California.
COAL MINING
Throughout the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountain system,
from about the forty-first parallel southward, the coal measures
form a distinct geological feature. ^So far, the heaviest deposits have
been found in Carbon, Emery, Grand, Sanpete, Summit and Uinta
counties, Utah, but less definitely the indications have been traced
southward through Arizona and into Mexico.
Coal was discovered in Utah in the spring of 1851. About the
first of May an exploring party of the company that settled at Paro-
wan noticed an outcrop of coal on a small stream near Cedar City,
Iron County, and gave to the stream the name of Coal Creek. On
May 12, 1 85 1, the first job of blacksmithing with Utah coal was
done by a man named Bringhurst (Bancroft says the blacksmith's
name was Burr Frost), who made enough nails to shoe a horse in
his shop at Parowan. Coal has also been discovered in Beaver,
Kane, Morgan and Washington counties, but the principal mines
are in the counties named in the preceding paragraph. The United
States Geological Survey has estimated that the Utah coal fields
contain at least two hundred billion tons — enough to supply the civil-
ized countries of the world for a century.
Between the years 185 1 and 1870 the settlers in different parts
of Utah uSed coal in small quantities in their homes, but no report
of the quantity mined was made until 1870, when for the first time
coal became an article of commerce in the state's history. In that
year there were mined 5,800 tons, which sold at the mines for $8,816,
or a little less than $1.18 per ton. From 1870 to 1886 the coal pro-
duction steadily increased, 200,000 tons being mined in the latter
year. In 1887 the production fell to 180,000 tons, the only instance
in the coal mining history of the state showing a decrease. The pro-
duction for 1917 was 3,433,912 tons, and for the first six months of
1918 it was 2,034,380 tons. During the year 1917 the number of men
employed in the mines was 3,649. Of the 1917 product over half was
used in the state, 953,025 tons were exported and 876,582 tons were
used as fuel by the railroad companies.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 267
MINE DISASTER
On May i, 1900, an explosion occurred in the Pleasant Valley
Coal Company's Mine No. 4, at Scofield, Carbon County, which re-
sulted in the death of 200 men and the serious injury of seven others.
Most of the 200 killed were heads of families, which added to the
distress. Governor Wells issued an appeal to the people of Utah for
assistance and appointed a committee, of which James T. Hammond,
secretary of state, was made chairman, to receive and distribute con-
tributions. The other members of the committee were: E.W.Wil-
son, William F. Colton, Ezra Thompson, A. W. Carlson, Arthur
L. Thomas, William Iglehart, Mrs. O. J. Salisbury, Mrs. George
M. Downey, Mrs. A. R. Haywood, Lafayette Holbrook, John Jones,
O. G. Kimball and T. J. Parmely.
On the 5th the governor appealed to the charitable people of the
United States. The total amount of contributions received was
$116,289.81, which was distributed to 113 widows, 306 children and
103 others. In addition to this, the Pleasant Valley Coal Company
gave $500 to the family of each man killed, the total amounting to
$100,000, and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company trans-
ported free of charge friends and relatives of the sufTerers. The
Legislature of 1901 gave a vote of thanks to the relief committee, the
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, the Pleasant Valley Coal
Company and to those who contributed to the relief fund.
Immediately after the explosion the Carbon County grand jury
was called together and spent three days in hearing evidence relat-
ing to the disaster, but adjourned without being able to fix the blame
or responsiiblity for the accident.
Thirty- four miners were killed and four others injured by an
explosion in the Daly-West mine, in Summit County, on July 15,
1902. The state mine inspector went to the scene of the catastrophe
and found that the explosion was caused by some four or five tons
of powder stored on the "1,200- foot level." He recommended the
enactment of a law prohibiting underground magazines, which met
with the unqualified indorsement of the press and public of the state,
and the Legislature of 1903 passed several laws to safeguard the lives
of coal miners.
There have been numerous minor accidents in the state, but the
two explosions above mentioned resulted in the greatest loss of life
and injury to persons. Since that time most of the coal mining inter-
268 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ests have passed into the hands of two great corporations — the Utah
Fuel Company and the United States Fuel Company — though there
are some eight or ten other companies operating on a smaller scale.
Over half a million tons of Utah coal are manufactured into coke
every years, and about twenty thousand dollars are realized from the
by-products, tar, ammonia, etc., of the coke ovens.
IMPROVED CONDITIONS
The concentration of the coal mining interests in the hands of
corporations, with a large working capital, has led to the introduc-
tion of improved mining methods and a general improvement in
the environment of the coal miners. C. J. Allen, Federal inspector
of mines, made a trip through the coal fields of Utah in April, 1919,
and in an interview with one of the Salt Lake City newspapers said :
"More sprinkling is done in the coal mines of Utah in propor-
tion to the number of collieries than in any other state in the Union
and no shots are fired in any colliery in the state until every man
working therein has been hoisted to the surface, thus insuring double
safety, the shots being fired by electricity from the surface. No state
in the Union fires so many shots from the outside as does Utah and
this is why her collieries are so free from accidents.
"Coal camps now, instead of being insanitary and places where
the people are just huddled together, are model villages or towns
with all modern conveniences. At Standardville the town is one of ,
the prettiest and this spring the coal company intends to plant trees
and shrubs, while the employes of the company will improve the
premises about the homes, the latter being modern and having every
modern convenience. The buildings would be a credit to any city
in the country. There is a complete water system there, as in most
of the other towns in the coal regions of the state.
"In one of the towns the coal company has erected an amusement
hall for the employes, the building being 40 by 100 feet and this con-
tains billiard tables, bowling alley, library, card rooms, soft drink
counter and a recreation room for women. This is the way that Utah
collieries are now being run."
RARE MINERALS
Bulletin No. 585 of the United States Geological Survey, com-
piled by Ralph W. Stone and Samuel Sanford, gives a list of nearly
one hundred rare minerals found in Utah. Of the thirtv-nine rare
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 269
minerals and mineral substances designated by the Government in
1917 as necessary to the prosecution of the war, eighteen were found
in Utah and reported to the war board. In the chapters relating
to County History, mention of some of these rare mineral deposits
are made in connection with the county in which they are found,
and in the present chapter a few of the most important will be
noticed.
Alunite — Near Marysvale, Piute County, is a large deposit of
alunite, which contains it; per cent metallic aluminum and 10 per
cent potassium sulphate. The mines are held and worked by the
Aluminum- Potash Company of America. In the treatment of the
alunite it is crushed to a size of about one inch and roasted in a rotary
kiln, pulverized coal being used as fuel. Then the calcined material
is leached with hot water in a closed tank at a temperature equiva-
lent to a steam pressure of sixty pounds, the potassium sulphate going
into solution. One of the large fertilizer manufacturers has pro-
nounced the Utah potassium sulphate superior to the imported prod-
uct. The company completed a new mill in October, 1919, with a
dailv capacitv of 300 tons, the alunite being conveyed from the mines
to the mill by aerial railway.
Antimony — This is one of the eighteen minerals designated as
necessary for war purposes. It has been found in several places
within the state, the most productive deposits being located on Coy-
ote Creek, Garfield County, where it occurs in the form of stibnite
(sulphide of antimony). Some ore has been shipped from this field
and a railroad will no doubt develop the deposits until they play
a prominent part commercially.
Asphalt — In Uinta County asphalt saturated sandstone is ex-
posed in a ridge a few miles southwest of Vernal, where it is mined
by the Gilson Asphaltum Company and the American Asphalt Asso-
ciation. Asphalt has also been found in the Rozel Hills, on the
northwest shore of the Great Salt Lake. In the form of gilsonite
the Uinta County deposits extend eastward into Colorado. Some
gilsonite is also found in Wasatch County and an asphaltic limestone
in Utah County. As nearly as 1887 gilsonite was shipped from the
ridge iiLiir Vernal to St. Louis, where it was used in the manufac-
ture of \ arnish. Kindred substances are nigrite, ozokerite, uintaite
and wurtzilite, all found in the Uinta Basin.
Azurite — (Blue carbonate of copper) occurs in Beaver County,
the mines of the Tintic District in Juab Countv, and in the Park
270 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
City mines in Summit County. The small quantity marketed has
been merely as a by-product.
Bismuth — Small quantities of bismuth have been found at Beaver,
in the silver-lead ores of the Tintic District, in the Deep Creek Moun-
tains, at Lucin, Boxelder County, and it has been recovered from
smelter bullion at Bingham and other smelting concerns. Bismuth
was designated as one of the thirty-nine war minerals.
Chalcopyrite — In the Cactus mine in Beaver County chalcopyrite'
(copper pyrites) is the principal ore. It is the primary ore mineral
of the Tintic District, in the form of gold bearing copper pyrites,
and at Bingham it is mined for the copper, gold and silver it con-
tains. Copper glance (chalcocite) and copper silicate (chrysocolla)
are also found in the Tintic District and in some of the mines in Bing-
ham Canyon, and copper oxide (cuprite) occurs in Juab County
mines.
Cinnabar — In the jVIercur District of Tooele County cinnabar
occurs in a number of mines and was formerly worked to some ex-
tent, but in recent years the deposits have been neglected. Five miles
.southeast of Marysvale, in Piute County, mercury ores (onofrite and
tiemnnnite) have been mined, yielding fair returns in quicksilver.
Hematite — Immense quantities of hematite (red iron ore) have
been found in the Iron Mountain region in Iron and Washington
counties, at the head of the Duchesne River and in the Uinta Range.
Small quantities have been mined for fluxing purposes. Limonite
(brown iron ore) has been found in Iron, Juab, Morgan and Uinta
counties and has been used as a flux in lead smelting.
Manganese — This ore is found chiefly in Juab County, in the man-
ganiferous silver ores of the Tintic District and also near Jov, in the
Thom.is Range, near the southern boundary of the county.
Molybdenite — At several places on the south side of the Little
Cottonwood Canyon, in Salt Lake County, and at a few other points
in the state molybdenite or molybdenum has been found in limited
quaniiies, but these have never been developed sufficiently to be of
commercial value.
Niter — Iron County has several small beds of niter (saltpeter)
near Parowan, and other deposits have been noted in the vicinity of
Fillmore. Millard County.
Ozokerite — This substance, commonly called mineral wax, oc-
curs at Colton and Soldier Summit, in Utah County, and small quan-
tities have been mined.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 271
Pumice Stone — In 1897 ^ Chicago company began the develop-
ment of the pumice stone (volcanic ash) deposits in Millard County.
The s "tme year the company also opened the deposits in Western Ne-
braska, producing the first pumice stone ever mined in the United
States. The company's engineer said: "The Utah beds constitute
the only known deposit of lump pumice stone in the United States.
It is virtually a mountain of 120 acres of lump pumice, entirely free
from intruding crystals or other hard substances."
Sulphur — A small hamlet in Beaver County bears the name of
Sulphurdale on account of the sulphur beds in the vicinity, from
V hich some sulphur has been taken. Sulphur beds also occur in
Emery County along the San Rafael River in the San Rafael Swell
arid on Cedar Mountain. The first sulphur mined in Utah was taken
from the Beaver County beds in 1887 by the Dickert & Myers Sul-
phur Company (no longer in existence) and amounted to 3,000 tons.
Travertine — Although this substance is included in this list of
rare minerals, it is abundant in Utah and is generally referred to as
"Utah onyx." Deposits have been found in Boxelder, Millard and
Utah counties. The stone takes a high polish and has been used for
interior finish in several buildings, among them the Utah state
capitol.
Tungsten — For years the greater portion of the world's supply of
tungsten — an important element in the production of high grade
steel — has come from the Tavoy District in Burmah and from South-
ern China. The interference with transportation caused bv the great
world war led to the development of tungsten deposits in the United
States. In the form of scheelite it has been found in connection with
hubnerite in the mines of the Deep Creek Mountains, where it is
associated with copper, gold, silver, lead and bismuth ores. A news-
paper item from this district on May i, 1919, says: "The little mill is
still treating the tungsten ore from one of the properties near Gold
Hill. It is making a. recovery of about 70 per cent of the tungsten ,
acid values. The expectation is to ship a carload of the, valuable con-
centrates in the near future. Then the mill will be moved down to
Gold Hill."
Uranium — In Wayne County, near the Village of Fruita, uranium
sulphate occurs in a fine-grained sandstone with copper carbonates.
It is closely allied to carnotite, which is mined on the east slope of
the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, in the upper Jurassic sand-
stone, and at several other places in the state. In Grand County it is
272 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
found in the sandstone formation near Richardson, and there are sev-
eral known deposits of uranium near Monticello, San Juan County.
Vanadium — In the form of calcium vanadate this mineral has
been mined in a small way with carnotite in Wild Horse Canyon, in
Emery County; eight miles south of Thompsons and near Cisco, in
Grand County, and deposits are known to exist in other sections of
the state. Vanadium is one of the thirty-nine substances classed as
war minerals. Like tungsten, it is an important element in the pro-
duction of fine steel.
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
According to the report of the Utah Commissioner of Immigra-
tion, Labor and Statistics for 1915, there were then nine producing
oil wells in Utah, located in the San Juan field in the county of that
name; in the Virgin field, in Washington County; and northwest of
Fillmore, in Millard County. Natural gas has been found in the val-
ley of the Jordan River and not far from Salt Lake City.
Gems of different kinds have been found in Utah. In the Topaz
Mountain, eight miles west of Joy, Juab County, fine specimens of
topaz have been found and cut for jewelry. Opals of fair quality
have been obtained near Milford, Beaver County. Agates occur in
various localities and obsidian, found in the tertiary volcanic rocks,
has been polished in small quantities for ornamental purposes Plati-
num occurs sparingly in the black sands at Hite, Garfield County, and
also in Salt Lake County.
Statistics show that between the years 1864 and 191 5 Utah pro-
duced in mineral wealth over seven hundred and fifty million dollars.
Notwithstanding the vast amount of coal and ore that have been taken
from the L^tah mines, the mineral resources of the state have only been
touched. New railroads, that are sure to come some day, will open
new mining fields and the future will show a larger production of
mineral wealth than has the past.
CHAPTER XIV
COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURING
TRADE DISCOURAGED BY CHURCH LEADERS — FIRST MERCHANTS — BAR-
TER AND DUE BILLS — SALE OF GOVERNMENT STORES AT CAMP FLOYD
— ZION'S CO-OPERATIVE MERCANTILE INSTITUTION — ADVENT OF
THE RAILROAD — MANUFACTURING — FIRST MILLS AND INDUSTRIES
—MANUFACTURING PROGRESS— SUGAR— CEMENT AND CLAY PROD-
UCTS — BRICKMAKING — PACKING HOUSES — FLOUR MILLS — IRON
WORKS — SHEET METAL WORKS — CANDY FACTORIES — SALT — KNIT
GOODS — MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES — ELECTRIC POWER.
When the Latter-day Saints first came into the Great Salt Lake
Valley in 1847, their leaders discouraged all traffic with the outside
world, hoping to build up a community that would be able to produce
everything the people needed without being dependent in the least
upon the merchants and manufacturers of the East, or of the Pacific
slope. Among these pioneers there were but few men who had re-
ceived a business training, and practically none was experienced in
the ways of commerce. The entire cash capital of the first settlers
did not exceed $3,000, if indeed it amounted to that sum, and the
people were taught that by the opening of a store in their midst all
the ready cash of the community would quickly find its way into the
coffers of the merchant.
Notwithstanding these teachings and theories, it was not long until
"the logic of events" opened avenues for the exchange of commodi-
ties with outsiders. About the middle of June, 1849, gold seekers
from "The States," enroute to California, reached Salt Lake City.
Many of them were sorely in need of provisions, with which the set-
tlers were well supplied. A few of these argonauts had money and
all were well provided with tools, wagons, farming utensils, etc.,
273
274 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
which they sold to the inhabitants of the valley, in some instances
at less than the original cost, taking in exchange provisions for them-
selves and forage for their horses and oxen. During the rerhainder
of the summer, and all through the fall, these gold seekers continued
to pass through the valley and the traffic went on, though very little
actual money was used in these transactions, the resident supplying
the travelers with provisions and taking in exchange whatever they
had to offer, to the entire satisfaction of both.
It was not the intention of the immigrants to California, when
they left their homes in the older sections of the country, to engage in
trade with any one along the route, the traffic with the people of the
Salt Lake Valley being merely an incident of the journey to the coast.
The first outsider to offer goods for sale in Salt Lake City, as a com-
mercial proposition, was Captain Grant, for many years the agent.of
the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Hall, in what is now the State
of Idaho. Having no competition, he fixed prices to suit himself,
selling sugar and coffee at $i.oo a pound, calico at from 50 cents to 75
cents a yard, and other articles in proportion.
Toward the close of the year 1849 the firm of Livingston & Kin-
kead opened the first regular store in Salt Lake City — also the first
in Utah — with a stock of goods invoicing about twenty thousand dol-
lars. They interfered with Captain Grant's monopoly by reducing
the price of sugar and coffee to 40 cents a pound, calico to 25 cents
a yard, etc. Naturally trade flocked to the new merchants, and a
rumor says they sold nearly one-half their stock the first day.
In the spring of 1850 the firm of Holliday & Warner established
a branch of their business in Salt Lake City, with William H.
Hooper, afterward delegate in Congress from the Territory of Utah,
in charge. The following year E. N. Cook and David Smith, who
were trailing a large herd of cattle through to Oregon, and also tak-
ing with them a stock of goods, stopped for about three weeks in the
Great Salt Lake Valley and exchanged a considerable portion of their
goods for additional cattle.
John & Enoch Reese and J. M. Horner & Company were the next
mercantile firms in Salt Lake City. They were soon followed by
Gilbert & Gerrish and William Nixon. The latter had previously
been in business in St. Louis and has been called the "father of Utah
merchants." Among his proteges were the Walker brothers, who
later became the proprietors of one of the leading mercantile con-
cerns of Utah.
AMERICAN CAN COMPANY. OGDEN
MANUFACTURING DISTRICT. OGDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 277
BARTER AND DUE BILLS
In a new country, before the natural resources have become recog-
nized as private property, and while the process of development offers
employment to all who are able and willing to work, wages are usu-
ally higher than they are in older settled communities. It was so in
Utah. Unskilled laborers received as high as $2.00 per day, domes-
tic servants from $40 to $60 dollars per month, and mechanics, espe-
cially carpenters, bricklayers and others skilled in the building trades,
were in demand at much higher rates. Owing to the scarcity of
money, the wages of these employes were rarely paid in cash, but in
"orders on the store," for which they could obtain such articles as
thev might need, or exchange for other commodities.
Merchants generally divided their stock into two classes, which
they denominated "cash goods" and "shelf goods." In the former
were most of the staple commodities, such as coffee, sugar, flour, the
standard lines of dry-goods, etc. Only limited quantities of the cash
goods could be obtained at a time by a customer, who could increase
the quantity only by agreeing to take shelf goods to a definite amount.
In this way the dealer managed to get rid of wares which otherwise
might remain on his shelves.
For more than a decade after the opening of the first mercantile
establishments, internal trade was carried on mainly by this system
of barter and the issuance of due bills, which answered the purpose
of currency to some extent. Many farmers, while possessing prop-
erty worth hundreds and even thousands of dollars, were often with-
out a dollar of actual money. If the family required clothing, or
some article of furniture was needed, the farmer went to the store,
consulted the proprietor and made his wants known. Perhaps the
merchant would agree to supply the necessary goods for so many
wagon loads of wood. The customer might have no wood to sell and
would ofifer some other product, or he mighrfind some neighbor who
had wood and who stood in need of the product he had to ofifer in
exchange, when by a "double-barreled" transaction the family would
be supplied.
The merchant might have a team, for which he needed feed, and
would purchase so many tons of hay or so many bushels of corn from
a farmer, who just at the time might not need anything in the way of
goods. In such cases the merchant would issue his due bill for the
amount and the farmer could trade this due bill to some one who
278 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
needed something the merchant had in stock. In these roundabout
ways much of the early commerce of Utah was transacted.
Nearly all the Government troops in Utah were ordered to New
Mexico and Arizona in i860 and a few months later the stores at
Camp Floyd, valued at $4,000,000, were ordered to be sold. The
stores consisted of clothing, wagons, live stock, provisions and many
other articles which the people of Utah could use to advantage. At
the sale several of the leading merchants of the territory laid the
foundation of their fortunes by purchasing goods from the Govern-
ment agents far below their original cost or current value. Bancroft
says that flour, which had cost the Government $570 per ton, includ-
ing the freight charges, sold for $11 per ton, and other stores sold
in the same proportion, the United States receiving only $100,000
for the entire stock, which had cost $4,000,000.
About the close of the Civil war there were several mercantile
houses in Salt Lake City that purchased in New York, St. Louis or
Chicago goods to the amount of $250,000 or more each season and
had these goods freighted across the plains in wagons. Among these
firms were William Jennings, Godbe & Mitchell, Walker Brothers
and Kimball & Lawrence. It is said that few merchants in the
United States ranked higher in commercial integrity or sustained a
better credit than those of LTtah.
ZION'S CO-OPERATIVE MERCANTILE INSTITUTION
Finding it impossible to keep commerce out of the territory, the
church leaders decided to embark in trade. Accordingly, on October
16, 1868, the Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution — usually
referred to as the "Z. C. M. I." — was organized, with Brigham
You«g as president. The principal reason for the establishment of
the institution was that it was felt the independent merchants were
charging excessively high prices for all lines of imported goods. The
theory was that by purchasing in large quantities and selling to cus-
tomers at barely sufficient advance to keep the concern going, the
people would be protected from the high prices of avaricious dealers.
This was declared to be the main purpose of the undertaking. The
idea was not a new one, and was the same as that which found expres-
sion a few years later in the establishment of "Granger Stores" in
many cities of the country.
The Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution opened for busi-
ness on March i, 1869, in the building known at that date as the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 279
"Eagle Emporium." It was incorporated on December i, 1870, with
Brigham Young as president; George A. Smith, William Jennings,
George Q. Cannon, William H. Hooper and H. S. Eldredge as the
first board of directors. During the first few years of its existence,
the institution passed through financial difficulties, but it emerged in
good condition and on April i, 1876, it moved into its new building
near the intersection of Main and South Temple streets. When it was
fifteen years old it had an authorized capital stock of $1,000,000,
divided into shares of $100 each, a reserve fund of $125,000 and an
annual trade of $4,000,000.
Branches were opened in Ogden, Logan and some other cities and
the quarters of the parent store in Salt Lake City were greatly en-
larged. The Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution is still one
of the leading mercantile houses of Utah and the Intermountain
country.
ADVENT OF THE R.AILROAD
The active commercial life of Utah dates from the completion of
the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869. The long haul by wagon from
the Missouri River was abolished and through the advantages result-
ing from railroad transportation, new lines of goods found their way
to the shelves of Utah merchants. As new railroads were constructed
and new cities and towns grew up, the commerce was extended into
all parts of the territory. Quite a number of the cities located along
the railroad lines engaged in the jobbing or wholesale trade for the
surrounding country. This trade now runs into millions of dollars
annually. Salt Lake City and Ogden are now two of the most im-
portant wholesale centers of the intermountain region, while Logan,
Provo, Bingham, Park City and a few other Utah cities have a con-
siderable jobbing trade with the merchants within a convenient
radius. The retail houses of all the principal cities and towns com-
pare favorably with those in places of similar size in the older states
of the LInion.
MANUFACTURING
Utah has never achieved prominence as a manufacturing state,
when compared with the more densely populated states, where the
demand for manufactured products is naturally much heavier than
in the sparsely settled regions of the West. Most of the factories of the
state were established mainly for the purpose of supplying a local
280 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
demand for certain products, or for the reduction of food stuffs to a
concentrated form to render them more easily handled for shipment
aod at the same time reduce transportation charges.
When the pioneers of 1847 crossed the plains and began the set-
tlement of the Great Salt Lake Valley, they left all factories of every
kind hundreds of miles behind them. In their new home they were
confronted with the necessity of providing for themselves and fami-
lies food, clothing and shelter — the most primitive wants of the
human race. They brought with them a limited stock of provisions
and sufficient clothing for their immediate needs, so that the first
demand was for lumber for the construction of homes. Under these
conditions the first manufacturing concern was a sawmill, machinery
for which had been brought along by some of that first company of
pioneers.
It is claimed that the first sawmill was set up in Bingham Canyon,
which was a lumber camp for several years before it came into promi-
nence as a mining district. In 1848 two sawmills were built on the
stream afterward known as "Mill Creek" — one by Archibald and
Robert Gardner and the other by John D. Chase. The latter subse-
quently removed his mill to Sanpete County, where it was burned by
Indians on November 6, 1853. Mention of other early sawmills will
be found in connection with the towns in which they were located.
The shelter problem having been provided for, attention was
turned to the questions of food and clothing. A fairly good crop of
grain was raised in 1848, but it had to be ground before it could be
used. The first bands of immigrants in 1848 brought with them mill
irons, mill stones, etc., and Charles Crismon built a small grist mill on
City Creek. A more pretentious mill was soon afterward erected by
John Nefif. Bancroft says that in the fall of 1851 there were four
grist mills and five sawmills in operation in Salt Lake City. Ogden,
Centerville, Provo and a few other settlements were at that time pro-
vided with both saw and grist mills, mill stones having been cut out
of the basalt found in the valley, and in the absence of buhr stones
they answered the purpose very well.
Next came the problem of providing materials for clothing. A
few sheep were brought into the valley by the pioneers and in 1849
Amasa Russell established a carding machine on Mill Creek, near
Gardner's sawmill. The first rolls made by Russell were spun into
yarn by the women and woven into cloth on the old hand loom. In
March, 1851, the Legislature appropriated $2,000 for the benefit of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 281
the woolen mills, which the next year turned out flannels, linseys,
jeans and yarns for knitting. It is said that Russell's mill, the machin-
ery for which was brought to Utah by Brigham Young, was the first
woolen mill on the Pacific slope. Another woolen mill was estab-
lished shortly after Russell's, as the Deseret News of April 19, 1853,
says: "Mr. Gaunt has commenced weaving satinets at his factory
at Western Jordan, and very soon he will full and finish some cloth."
According to the United States census for 1850, there were then
fourteen manufacturing concerns in Utah, with an invested capital of
$44,400, employing fifty-one persons and turning out products valued
at $291,223. The fourteen establishments reporting included, besides
the sawmills, grist and woolen mills above enumerated, the threshing
machine and fanning mill of a Mr. Leffingwell, located on City
Creek, and a tannery.
Although the correctness of the figures presented by the census of
1850 has been questioned by some writers, they are doubtless some-
where near the truth and represent the progress made during the first
three years of Utah's history. Among the pioneers were many
mechanics and artisans, who had learned their trades in Europe,
workers in wood, iron, textile fabrics, leather, etc., hence the colonies
were not without the necessary skill and talent to produce practically
everything needed by the inhabitants. During the years immediately
following the census of 1850, as population increased and the demand
for manufactured goods became greater, the number of sawmills,
flour mills, tanneries, etc., were correspondingly increased and new
lines of manufacture were introduced.
Early in August, 1851, the first kiln of earthenware was "fired"
at the Deseret Pottery, located near the head of Third South Street,
Salt Lake City. While the product turned out might suffer in com-
parison with Dresden or Haviland china, it served to supply the peo-
ple with many needed articles for household use. About the same
time a small factory for making cutlery was established in Salt Lake
City.
On January 5, 1852, Gov. Brigham Young, in a message to the
Legislature, said: "Produce what you consume; draw from the
native elements the necessaries of life; permit no vitiated taste to lead
you into the indulgence of expensive luxuries which can only be
obtained by involving yourselves in debt; let home industrv produce
every article of home consumption."
This seems to have been the policy of the leaders of the Latter-
282 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
day Saints, as similar advice was given to the people on November 6,
1852, in an address by Governor Young. "Buy no article from the
stores," said he, "that you can possibly do without. Stretch our
means, skill and wisdom to the utmost to manufacture what we need,
beginning with a shoestring, if we cannot begin higher."
There is no question that this policy had much to do with building
up the manufacturing industries of Utah. On November 11, 1852,
Franklin D. Richards and Erastus Snow left Salt Lake City for the
purpose of surveying and setting apart a tract of land in Iron County
as a site for an iron works. They returned on the 12th of December,
reported what they had done, and on January 17, 1853, the Deseret
Iron Company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature.
MANUFACTURING PROGRESS
In the evolution of Utah's manufacturing interests there has been
no forced development, no founding of manufacturing enterprises on
insecure foundations. Rarely has a factory been established until
there was a demand for its products, and rarely has one failed after
it was started, except in a few instances due to bad management. Step
by step the factories of the state have grown and multiplied until the
latest reports of the Utah Industrial Commission show that Utah now
manufactures a multiplicity of articles, including automobile bodies
and tops, awnings and tents, baskets, bread, crackers and cakes, boil-
ers, boots and shoes, boxes (paper and wood), brick, butter and
cheese, candy, canned goods, caskets and coffins, cement and clay prod-
ucts, cider, cigars, clothing, coke, condensed milk, firearms, furni-
ture, flour, ice, iron work, jewelry, knit goods, lime, lumber, maca-
roni,, mattresses, meats (packing), plaster, salt, sugar, vinegar and
woolen goods.
Many of the factories are small concerns, emploving only a few
operatives each, and are noticed in connection with the towns in
which they are situated. In this chapter only the leading articles ot
manufacture will be included, and these will be treated in the order
of their importance with regard to the amount of capital invested, the
value of the output, etc.
SUGAR
In March, 1852, John Taylor purchased in England the machin
ery for sugar mill and shipped it on the Rockaway, a vessel plying
betwe^ Liverpool and New York. The machinery arrived at Salt
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 283
Lake City in due time and the mill was set up at what is now known
as Sugarhouse, Salt Lake County, where the first molasses was made
from cane, sugar beets not being introduced until some years later,
on July I, 1855. The mill was not altogether a success, mainly be-
cause the country was not yet ripe for such an enterprise.
The first successful sugar factory in the state was established at
Lehi and began active operations on October 12, 1891. Five days
later the first carload of granulated sugar from this factory arrived
in Salt Lake City, consigned to the firm of Cunnington & Company.
The Lehi factory was regarded by many as an experiment and its
career was watched with interest. It proved to be a money maker
and factories at Ogden, Logan, Payson, Lewiston, Garland and some
other towns followed, the latest factory being the one erected at Gun-
nison in 1919.
Concerning the status of the beet sugar industry in 191:;, the re-
port of the Utah commissioner of immigration, labor and statistics
says: "Utah ranks fourth among the states of the Union in its pro-
duction of sugar and number of factories, Colorado being first, with
fourteen factories, California second in production, with eleven fac-
tories, and Michigan third, with fifteen factories. * * * Only
one-fifth of Utah-made sugar is locally consumed, and about fourteen
million pounds of cane sugar. The balance finds a market in other
states."
When the Lehi factory was started in 1 891, it manufactured about
one million pounds of sugar. It has since been enlarged three times
and in 1917 had a daily capacity of 1,400 tons of beets, the yearly
output of sugar reaching about thirty million pounds. It is operated
by the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, which also operates the factories
at Payson, Sevier and Garland and the factories in Idaho. The fac-
tories at Logan and Ogden, and some others, are operated by the
Amalgamated Sugar Company. The Utah-Idaho Sugar Company
has two cutting plants, one near Provo and one at Spanish Fork,
where beets are cut and the juice, after treatment with lime, is
pumped to the factory at Lehi through twenty-seven miles of pipe,
part of which is four inches in diameter and the remainder is five
inches. These two cutting plants and a smaller one connected with
the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company's mill at Parker, Idaho, where the
pipe line is about five miles long, are the only cutting stations in the
United States.
According to the report of the LTtah Industrial Commission for
284 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
1918, the amount of capital invested in the Utah sugar factories was
$21,189,348. During the season of 1917 these factories employed
1,760 persons and consumed 725,646 tons of beets. The wages paid
amounted to $1,952,646 and the total value of the output was
$10,684,384. This includes the value of the by-products, chief of
which is the beet pulp, which makes excellent stock feed. Beet grow-
ers are given preference in the sale of this pulp.
Inasmuch as the United States produces less than one-fourth of
the sugar consumed in the country, and as Utah has demonstrated that
it is one of the greatest fields for the production of beet sugar, the
future of the industry in the state is considered remarkably bright.
In 1914 — the latest comparative figures available — Utah's beet crop
averaged 13.5 tons to the acre, Colorado's, 11.7 tons, Idaho's, 10.5
tons, and California's, 9.3 tons. Under these favorable conditions
it is only a question of time until more sugar factories will be estab-
lished in Utah and the output of sugar greatly multiplied.
CEMENT AND CLAY PRODUCTS
In the amount of capital invested, the cement mills, brick yards,
etc., represented the second industry of the state. The entire Rocky
Mountain region is rich in the raw materials necessary for the manu-
facture of cement, brick, tile, plaster and other products used so
largely in construction. Not only are the raw materials present
in abundance, but also the local market for cement and clay products
is strong under normal conditions, assuring the permanency and
prosperity of the industry. The intermountain country is passing
through a period of transition. The pioneer log cabins and adobe
dwellings are rapidly disappearing and more substantial buildings
are taking their places. In the construction of these modern build-
ings the products of this industry play a conspicuous part. Cement
is an important factor in the construction of irrigation reservoirs,
dams and canals, and it is a notable fact that frame houses are fewer
in Utah than in some other sections of the country, hence the demand
for brick is steady and general in all parts of the state.
During the great world war building activity was checked in all
parts of the United States, with the result that the cement and clay
industries of Utah have not been running at their full capacity
since 191 5. In 1913 six factories reported capital invested, $4,859,-
932, total value of products, $1,394,250, and the number of em-
ployees, 491. In 1918 five of the same factories reported $2,382,900,
UTAH- SINCE STATEHOOD 285
number of employees, 654, value of output $1,541, 884. Comparing
these two reports it will be seen that, while there has been a reduc-
tion in the invested capital, more people were employed and the
value of the output was greater (due largely to the higher prices
prevailing in 1918). In 1913 less than one-half the product was
sold in the state, but in 1918 two-thirds of the entire output were used
at home, indicating that construction is again assuming its normal
proportions.
Sigurd, Sevier County, has the only Keene cement mill in Utah,
and the only mill of this class west of Kansas. Consequently, the
Utah Keene cement has a wide market through the states of the
Northwest and the Pacific Coast. Thousands of tons of this cement
are shipped annually to San Francisco for use in street improvements
and the construction of fine buildings. The columns in the Hotel
Utah, at Salt Lake City, are finished with the Sigurd Keene cement
and visitors have remarked upon their excellent appearance.
Sigurd also has the Jumbo Plaster Mills, which ship large quan-
tities of plaster to the various cities of Utah, as well as to San Fran-
cisco, Portland, Tacoma and Seattle. Land plaster is also manu-
factured in large quantities at Sigurd and shipped to all parts of
the Northwest and to California. The supply of gypsum owned by
the company is practically unlimited, located conveniently to the fac-
tory, and tests have shown it to be over 99 per cent pure. In the
chapter on Cities and Towns will be found further mention of the
cement and plaster works at Ogden, Nephi and other places in the
state.
BRICKMAKIXG
Clays of almost every texture and quality are found in various
sections of Utah, most of the deposits being located in the valleys,
where they are accessible for the manufacture of brick. There is
probably not a town of any size in the state without its brickyard
within convenient distance and some of the larger cities manufacture
brick for export. The largest plant in the state is that of the Salt
Lake Pressed Brick Company, situated on about ten acres of ground
at Fourteenth South and Eleventh East streets. Salt Lake City.
This company's first plant had a daily capacity of 20,000 brick,
which has been gradually increased until it now turns out about a
quarter of a million every day that it is operated. When the com-
286 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
pany began business in 1891, explorations and tests of clay were
made in several localities in the Great Salt Lake Valley and 150
acres of clay lands were purchased to furnish a supply of raw ma-
terial. Approved kilns of the Kessler and Hoffman types are used
and tlie product is shipped to numerous cities in Nevada, Western
Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Both red and light-colored
pressed brick are made and about two hundred people are employed.
Fire clay deposits have been developed in several localities, turn-
ing out fire brick, sewer pipe, drain tile, crucibles, etc., natural to a
country where mining is an important industry, and the product of
these factories is distributed over a large territory, some of it find-
ing its way to foreign countries.
PACKING HOUSES
According to the report of the Utah Industrial Commission for
the period ending on June 30, 191 8, there were five meat packing
companies in operation, with an investment of $3,075,000 and em-
ploying 482 men. These concerns had a daily capacity of 850 beeves,
3,000 sheep and 3,000 hogs, the total output being valued at $8,320,-
000, of which 70 per cent was consumed in the state and the remainder
exported. The two largest plants are located at Ogden and North
Salt Lake. The report of the commission says:
"The war brought about a wonderful development of the state's
food supply and a proportionate production of these necessities. In-
deed, Utah contributed generously toward feeding United States
soldiers and the armies and navies of the allies in Europe. Among
the products enormously increased, meat is designated as one of the
chief. Growers of cattle, sheep and swine made such progress in
this respect that an opening was seen for enlargement of packing
house facilities. As a consequence two large plants were established
(Ogden and North Salt Lake), added to which the existing food
concerns expended their packing and refrigerating facilities.
* * * Another beneficial effect of packing house activities has
been realized in the establishment of a stabilizing balancer of prices
paid to producers of cattle, sheep and swine in Utah and some of
the contiguous states. Growers now look more toward the local
packing concerns as advantageous markets for their meat products,
rather than to seek more distant marts of trade, as was formerly
the universal custom."
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 287
FLOUR MILLS
From the few scattering little water mills, with their basalt
grinding stones and limited capacity, established by the early settlers
to supply the meager local demand, the flour milling industry of
Utah has grown to proportions of which no state of similar popula-
tion would be ashamed. Between the years 1910 and 1915 the milling
capacity of the state is said to have increased even more rapidly than
did the population, and was supplying not only the people of Utah,
but also those of other intermountain states and Southern California.
Then came the war and the national food administration opened
another opportunity to the millers of Utah, viz.: the shipment of
flour to New Orleans, Galveston and other Gulf ports. This channel
is not likely to become closed and "milling in transit" privileges in
Utah will help the industry to draw on other intermountain and
northwestern states for a supply of wheat.
A few years ago Utah millers, supported by the extension divi-
sion of the Utah Agricultural College, began a campaign for "better
wheat," with the result that Utah Turkey Red and Spring Marquis
varieties have already sold for fancy prices in the Chicago market,
while the demand for Kansas and Missouri flour by the bakers of
Utah has been greatly decreased. This improvement in the quality
of the wheat has no doubt been responsible for the marked increase
in the milling capacity of the state.
In 1917 about one hundred flour mills reported an invested capi-
tal of $2,239,435. During the year these mills ground 2,665,614
bushels of wheat and produced 544,600 barrels of flour, nearly three-
fourths of which were consumed in the state. The labor item in the
modern mill is comparatively small, yet 310 men were employed
and the amount paid in wages was $270,182, an average of nearly
nine hundred per man.
In connection with the flour milling industry, it may be men-
tioned that while Utah has been an e.xporter of flour for years, she
has been an importer of other cereal products in the form of the so-
called "breakfast foods." Within recent years several plants have
been established for the manufacture of these products and in 1917
millions of pounds of "rolled oats," "rolled barley," etc., were turned
out bv the Utah cereal mills.
288 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
IRON WORKS
Reference has been made to the incorporation of the Deseret Iron
Company by an act of the Legislature on January 17, 1853, the pur-
pose of the company being to establish an iron works at Parowan,
Iron County. The works were established, but lack of transporta-
tion facilities prevented the distribution of the products over a wide
territory.
With the building of railroads, iron works, foundries and ma-
chine shops, boiler factories and kindred establishments were located
in several cities and towns along the railroad lines. Salt Lake City
and Ogden leading. Bancroft, writing in 1886, says: "The produc-
tion of iron — not only of pig-iron, but also of iron and steel rails —
and of mill, mining, smelting and railroad machinery, bids fair to
be foremost among the manufactures of Utah. In 1883 the product
of her foundries and machine shops was estimated at over three
hundred and sixty thousand dollars, being second only to that of
her flour and grist mills. With suitable and abundant fuel, there
is probably no state west of the Missouri with better facilities in this
direction, among them being a great variety of rich and pure ores,
labor and supplies at moderate rates, a climate that seldom inter-
feres with out-door work, a central location, a net-work of railroads,
a fair demand and a freight tarifif that almost prohibits the shipment
of crude or manuafctured iron from more distant sources of supply,
whether to Utah or the surrounding states."
In the matter of foundries and machine shops for the manufacture
of iron and steel products, up to a certain extent, the state was fairly
equipped at the beginning of the world war. When the United
States entered that war and began the ship-building program, to
replace the tonnage destroyed by German submarines, iron manu-
facturers were called upon to produce propellers for ocean-going
steamers. The great iron and steel plant at Murray was fitted up
for this class of work and several of these ponderous propellers were
made there and forwarded to the shipbuilding centers. Concerning
this the Utah Industrial Commission says in its report for 1918:
"TJie fact that Utah was called upon to face a new experience
in turning out equipment for ocean steamers has awakened manufac-
turers to the opportunity for development of further opportunity
by preparation for massive work which has been a stranger hitherto
to Utah plants. The raw material for the mightiest iron and steel
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 289
plants known to the world is waiting for conversion into manufac-
tured products of iron and steel that shall enter into the largest
enterprises."
SHEET METAL WORKS
When Utah entered so largely into the business of canning fruits
and vegetables, tin cans were needed in large quantities. To meet
this demand for cans the Ogden can factory was established, as its
projectors saw that enough tin plate could be shipped in one car
to make forty or fifty carloads of the more bulky cans. This factory
has been a profitable undertaking for its founder and a great con-
venience to the canning factories through the more rapid delivery
of cans and a substantial saving in freight rates.
Another concern for the manufacture of tin cans was soon after-
ward started at Salt Lake City by a canning factory, the object be-
ing to make cans for the institution which founded it, but it has since
been enlarged and now makes cans for other establishments, though
in somewhat limited quantities.
Other sheet metal works consist largely of small concerns that
supply tinwork, galvanized iron, etc., for building purposes, and
the heaviest sheet metal working plants, such as boiler factories.
In 1918 eleven factories working in sheet metal reported an in-
vested capital of $2,083,456, employing 821 men and turning out
a finished product valued at $4,135,664.
CANDY FACTORIES
Statistics have been complied to show that the per capita con-
sumption of suger in Utah is larger than in any other state of the
Union. Much of this sugar is consumed in the form of candy, which
is manufactured in the state in considerable quantities. In 1917 nine
wholesale candy manufacturing companies reported $1,424,122 capi-
tal invested, 310 men and 589 women employed, 3,620,645 pounds
of beet sugar and 1,000,100 pounds of cane sugar used, 2,210,045
pounds of glucose consumed, $694,664 paid in wages, and the fin-
ished product sold for $2,991,380.
Of the candy manufactured during the year, 70 per cent was
consumed in the state and 30 per cent was exported. Some candy
is imported into the state, largely specialties, though some grades
come in competition with the candy of the local factories. This is to
be expected with goods that are advertised all over the country and
the Utah candy manufacturers are fast becoming national adver-
290 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
tisers and export more than the quantity imported, the exports in-
creasing every year.
SALT
The water of the Great Salt Lake is at times burdened with salt
to the point of becoming what chemists call a "saturated solution."
Salt is also found in other lakes in the state and "in great, white
crystallized plains, level as a table, hundreds of square miles in area
and many feet deep."
D. C. Adams, in the report of the United States Geological Sur-
vey for 1898, says: "The first salt was taken from the shores of the
Great Salt Lake in 1848. This salt was a natural product, the brine
from the water being thrown back upon the shore by the westerly
winds prevailing in the spring, forming small pools in low places.
The warm, dry weather of July and August evaporated the water
from the pools and deposited the salt, which was scraped up and
used for domestic purposes and for curing meats. The early settlers
were supplied with salt in this way until about i860, when the idea
was conceived of making dams which would hold large quantities
of water in low places for evaporation. These dams were flooded
in the spring and the salt deposited during the summer by solar
evaporation was gathered into piles along the banks and carried over
from one year to another."
Even the "improved" method of i860 was somewhat primitive
in character, being merely an enlarged process practiced by the
first settlers. During the next twenty years, however, many real
improvements were introduced into the system of salt production.
Reservoirs were built for the purpose of keeping the salt cleaner;
mechanical processes of evaporation came in to increase the pro-
duction; machinery was installed for refining and grading the salt,
and in 1880 the production had reached 96,760 barrels, or 17,092,800
pounds.
Since 1880 the number of salt manufacturing plants has increased,
the most approved methods of production have been adopted, and the
quantity of salt produced has been greatly augmented. The quality
has also been improved. In 1917 seven salt works in the state re-
ported an invested capital of $1,000,000 and a total production of
116,226,000 pounds. Of this production 20,594,000 pounds (more
than the entire output of 1880) were classed as "fine dairy and table
salt." But few operatives are required in salt manufacture, the seven
UNION KMTTIXC MILLS, LOGAN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 293
concerns reporting io6 men employed and an annual payroll of
$86,880, an average on nearly $820 per man. The total value of the
product, at the prevailing market prices, was $312,327. In addition
to this, 4,888,000 pounds of rock salt was mined in the great salt
beds of Tooele County and a few other localities. This rock salt
was used chiefly upon the stock ranges.
KNIT GOODS
In 1917 ten knitting mills reported an invested capital of $627,915
in grounds, buildings, machinery, etc., in addition to a fluctuating
capital for the purchase of raw materials. In these ten mills 136
men and 326 women were employed, 1,095,862 pounds of wool,
199,719 pounds of cotton and 1,230 pounds of silk were used. The
output was valued at $1,251,213 and $237,876 were paid in wages.
From the beginning of the industry, the Utah knitting mills have
devoted their attention to the production of heavy underwear, suited
to the winters of high altitudes, to the needs of the mining and lumber
camps of the intermountain country and the Northwest. "Black
Mormon Underwear" has found a ready sale in all these states, in
the prairie states farther east, and in the lumber camps of Minne-
sota and Wisconsin. But heavy goods do not constitute the entire
product. Cotton and silk knit goods, as well as the lighter grades
of woolen garments, are also turned out, two-thirds of the entire
output of the mills being sold outside of the state.
For many years the Provo Manufacturing Company boasted the
largest woolen mill west of the Missouri River. It was organized as
a co-operative company on June i, 1869, with Brigham Young as
president, and Abraham O. Smoot as vice president and manager.
Nathan Davis was employed as architect to superintend the erec-
tion of buildings and the first woolen goods were made in 1872.
Of late years this mill has given the greater part of its energies to the
manufacture of blankets and mackinaws, following the trend of all
the woolen and knitting mills of the state in the endeavor to produce
goods suited to the needs of the convenient markets.
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES
In 1917, the latest official figures available, the Utah canning
factories produced 592,255 cases of tomatoes, 348,068 cases of peas,
142,000 cases of fruit, 27,032 cases of green beans and 20,000 cases
of pork and beans, a total of 1,129,355 cases, which sold for $3,439,-
294 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
739. The amount of capital invested was $1,366,050 and during the
busy season 746 men and 1,525 women were employed. During the
year 191 8 several new canning factories were built.
Twenty-three creameries and milk condensing plants reported an
invested capital of $647,308, with 300 men and 65 women employed.
During the year 1917 these concerns produced 2,728,766 pounds of
butter, 725,203 pounds of cheese, and 16,571,939 pounds of evaporated
milk.
During the years 1917 to 1918, inclusive, the cigar factories of
Utah were among the few industries that failed to prosper as they
had in previous years, due to the fact that the prohibition law cut olf
a number of saloons that were once large distributers of Utah made
cigars and to the heavy tax imposed upon all forms of tobacco on
account of the war. Some tobacco is grown in the state, but by far
the largest part used in the manufacture of cigars is imported. Only
six factories reported in 1917, with forty employes and a total product
of $123,000, and the business has not increased in the aggregate since.
In almost every town of the state there are small manufacturing
concerns, employing only a few persons each, engaged in turning out
harness, saddles, stock feeds, etc., and in a few of the large cities
trunks, leather goods, automobile accessories, heating apparatus and
other articles are manufactured, but no detailed reports of most of
these concerns were made to the industrial commission.
Utah has an advantage over many communities that some day
will be fully utilized, though at present it is barely touched. That
is in the large amount of electric power that can be generated through
hydro-electric plants. There are now twenty-five of these hydro-
electric plants in operation in Utah and Southern Idaho, generating
100,000 kilowatts, or 133,000 horse power, only a portion of which is
used, and there are numerous sites for such plants in the state, the
utilization of which would increase the amount of power almost
indefinitely. Many of the flour mills have discarded their steam en-
gines and are using electric power.
CHAPTER XV
FINANCIAL HISTORY
COINING MONEY — PUBLIC REVENUES — COMPARATIVE STATEMENTS
1895 AND 1919 — ^TAXATION AND INCOME — THE BONDED DEBT — THE
SECURITY— BANKING, ORIGIN OF— UNITED STATES BANKS— UTAH
BANKS— LIST OF BANKS IN 1919— CAPITAL STOCK— DEPOSITS-
BANK OFFICIALS, ETC.
In July, 1919, seventy-two years had elapsed since the first perma-
nent settlement in Utah was founded, where the City of Salt Lake now
stands, and a little band of pioneers began the arduous task of build-
ing up a state in the "Great American Desert," a region that for many
years had been considered unfit for habitation by civilized people.
There were no weaklings among those pioneers. Most of them were
men of energy and courage, full of hope for the future, but unfortu-
nately they possessed only a limited amount of ready cash.
COINING MONEY
To overcome the difficulties arising from a lack of circulating
medium, John Kay, late in the year 1848 decided to coin the gold
brought to Salt Lake City by members of the Mormon battalion from
California, but it was some time before he could get his "mint" into
active operation. Dies for coins of the denomination of $2.50, $5 and
$20 were engraved by Robert Campbell. On one side was a spread
eagle and beehive, with the inscription: "Deseret Assay Office, Pure
Gold," and the denomination of the coin, and on the other side was a
lion surrounded by the words: "Holiness to the Lord."
On January i, 1849, it was decided by the church authorities to
issue paper currency in denomination of 50 cents and $1. The first
dollar bill of "valley currency" was issued on that date, signed by
295
296 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Thomas Bullock, clerk. The
printing of these bills was the first printing ever done in Utah. While
the Latter-day Saints had their headquarters at Kirtland, Ohio, they
had organized the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, with Sidney Rigdon
as president, and Joseph Smith, cashier. The bank was unable to
obtain a charter and the bills issued by it could not be circulated to
advantage, because of lack of confidence. On January 6, 1849, a reso-
lution was passed by the council to the efYect that the "Kirtland bank
bills be put into circulation for the accommodation of the people, thus
fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph that the Kirtland notes would one
day be as good as gold."
And this prophecy was fulfilled, inasmuch as members of the
church took their gold dust to the presidency and exchanged it freely
for the paper currency, which was resigned by the Kirtland Safety
Fund, on a par with gold. On January 22, 1849, the type was set
for the 50-cent bills. Prior to this time, owing to the absence of small
change, the tax collector was authorized and instructed to issue due
bills for all sums less than $1, and redeem them when they were pre-
sented in amounts convenient for redemption. Both the gold and
paper money issued by the local authorities afterward became gen-
erally known as "Valley Tan," a term applied to articles of home
manufacture. Its origin is explained in the chapter on "The Press
of Utah."
PUBLIC REVENUES
If is the history of every new state that, until the resources are
developed to a point when a sufficient income is yielded, the demands
for public expenditures outstrip the sources of public revenues. In
creating the temporary government for the Territory of Utah in 1850,
Congress helped by making appropriations for certain purposes, and
by granting large tracts of land, though the land was then of com-
paratively little value. In fact the land did not acquire any consid-
erable value until the number of inhabitants increased sufficiently
to create a demand for it for homes or ranches. During these early
years the burden of taxation fell heavily upon the settlers, yet they
never faltered in their determination to overcome all obstacles and
establish their state upon a firm and enduring foundation.
There is little romance in figures and statistics are usually dry
reading, but no doubt the best method of determining the financial
growth of the state is bv a comparison of the assessed valuation of
WALKER BANK BUILDING, SALT LAKE CITY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 299
property taken at different periods. While these valuations in Utah
have been somewhat fluctuating at times, owing to different ideas of
assessment, the general trend has been steadily upward. According
to the report of Caleb W. West, the last territorial governor, for the
year 1895, the population of the territory was then 247.324 and the
assessed valuation of property was $97,942,152, or a little over $350
per capita. Such had been the financial progress of Utah during the
forty-eight years since the settlement of Salt Lake City. In 1895 there
were twenty-seven counties in the territory and the property valuation
was distributed among those counties as follows :
Beaver $1,018,303
Boxelder 3,945,901
Cache 4,939,484
Carbon i ,038,772
Davis 3,063,893
Emery 1,054,084
Garfield 473,698
Grand 837,946
Iron 768,991
Juab 2,223,145
Kane 426,599
Millard 1,306,934
Morgan 762,439
Piute 369,786
Rich 716,832
Salt Lake 40,665,890
San Juan 264,842
Sanpete 3.674.303
Sevier 1.421,108
Summit 3-515)376
Tooele 1,371,000
Uinta 630,941
Utah 9,085,764
Wasatch 849,753
Washington 896,768
Wayne 219,489
Weber 1 2,400, 1 1 5
Total $97.942, 1 52
300 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The state government was inaugurated on January 6, 1896, and
the state board of equalization reported for that year an assessed
valuation of $107,291,083. Now compare these figures with the
valuation for the year 1918, to-wit:
Beaver $8,994,184
Boxelder 31,985,382
Cache 28,2 1 1 ,697
Carbon 20,240,144
Daggett 628,750
Davis 16,234,374
Duchesne 5,860,227
Emery 7775,794
Garfield 2,783,3 10
Grand 5,299,543
Iron 7,763,974
Juab 14,388,022
Kane 2, 199,363
Millard 18,821,780
Morgan 5,066,862
Piute 2,365,627
Rich 3,269,751
Salt Lake 29 1 ,678,407
San Juan 2,729,181
Sanpete 13,132,432
Sevier •. . 11,440,568
Summit 13,033,029
Tooele 20,871,285
Uinta 7,951,170
Utah 42,816,083
Wasatch 4,863,937
Washington 2,841 ,367
Wayne i ,45 1 ,066
Weber 49,506,210
Total $677,165,922
The above total includes an item of 32,962,103 known as the
"occupation tax." Deducting this leaves the actual valuation of
property $644,203,819, nearly seven times as much as the assessment
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 301
in the last year of the territorial regime. A comparison of the two
tables by counties shows that the increase in wealth was uniform all
over the state. The creation of two new counties — Daggett and
Duchesne — since the admission of the state affected in some degree
the valuations in the counties from which they were taken, but with
this exception every county in the state shows a substantial increase
in wealth. Estimating the population of the state in 1918 at 450,000,
the per capita wealth was over fourteen hundred dollars.
TAX.ATION AND INCX)ME
Section 7, Article XHI, of the Constitution adopted in 1895, Pro-
vides: "The rate of taxation on property, for state purposes, shall
never exceed eight mills on each dollar of valuation; and whenever
the taxable property within the state shall amount to $200,000,000,
the rate shall not exceed five mills on each dollar of valuation, and
whenever the taxable property within the state shall amount to
$300,000,000, the rate shall never thereafter exceed four mills on each
dollar of valuation; unless a proposition to increase such rate, speci-
fying the rate proposed and the time during which the same shall be
levied, be first submitted to a vote of such of the qualified electors of
the state as, in the year next preceding such election, shall have paid
a property tax assessed to them within the state, and the majority of
those voting thereon shall vote in favor thereof, in such manner as
may be provided by law."
Under the operation of this section and the revenue laws in force,
the income of the state for the fiscal year ending on November 30,
1918, was $8,838,302.57. Not all of this sum was raised by taxation,
however. The principal sources of income, as shown by the report
of the state auditor, were as follows :
Direct property tax $1,142,323.58
Inheritance tax 306,836.86
State bounty fund tax 1 17,372.37
Temporary loans 450,000.00
Fees from state officers 310,768.75
Interest on state funds 37)356.92
Fines, forfeitures, etc 81,059.22
Loans and refunds from counties 1,458,454.98
Land funds 1,929,598.72
302 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
District school fund 1,620,532.31;
University of Utah fund 295,258.03
Agricultural College fund 139,087.62
U. S. Agricultural College fund 50,000.00
Motor vehicle registration fund 243,429.97
State high school fund 134,419.15
Forest reserve fund 57,306.75
Redemption funds 202,887.87
State war fund 100,000.00
Miscellaneous receipts 161,609.43
Total $8,838,302.57
The disbursements amounted to $8,523,608.78, leaving a balance
on hand at the close of the fiscal year of $314,693.79. The principal
items of expenses were the salaries of state officials, deputies, clerks,
etc., which amounted to $472,515.65; the payment of temporary loans,
interest and other expenses of the state board of loan commissioners,
amounting to $755,371.90; and the appropriations for the support of
the state institutions.
THE BONDED DEBT
Section i. Article XIV, of the Constitution as adopted by the peo-
ple in 1895, contains the following provision regarding the public
debt of the state: "To meet casual deficits or failures in revenue and
for necessary expenditures for public purposes, including the erec-
tion of public buildings, and for the payment of all territorial indebt-
edness assumed by the state, the state may contract debts, not exceed-
ing in the aggregate at any one time the sum of $200,000 over and
above the amount of the territorial indebtedness assumed by the state.
But when the said territorial indebtedness shall have been paid, the
state shall never contract any indebtedness, except as in the next sec-
tion provided, in excess of the sum of $200,000, and all moneys arising
from loans herein authorized shall be applied solely to the purposes
for which they were obtained."
The second section authorizes the state to contract debts for the
purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or to defend
the state in time of war, which constitute the exceptions mentioned in
the preceding section.
In his message to the first State Legislature, in January, 1896.
-Limsmmm^mm^
PINGREE NATIONAL BANK, OGDEN
FIRST NATIONAL BANK. OGDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 305
Governor Heber M. Wells reported the territorial debt as being
$700,000, which was assumed by the state under the above constitu-
tional provision, and then constituted the entire bonded indebtedness.
To enable the state to erect a new capitol building, the constitution
was amended so as to permit the state to issue bonds for a larger
amount than $200,000. According to the report 'if the state auditor,
the bonded indebtedness of the state on November 30, 1918, amounted
to $3,436,000. Of this indebtedness bonds to the amount of $300,000
were issued on July 2, 1900, which were the only bonds outstanding
at the time the constitution was amended to allow an increase in the
state debt. The total amount of capitol building bonds outstanding
was $1,850,000. The remainder of the debt consists of $260,000 state
road bonds, issued on July i, 191 1 ; $300,000 university bonds, issued
July I, 191 1, and $726,000 state road bonds, issued July i, 1917.
Concerning the issue of these bonds and the provisions for their
redemption when they fall due, the auditor says: "During the bien-
nium just closed state bonds, series No. 5, in the amount of $150,000,
were redeemed and state road motor vehicle bonds were issued in the
amount of $726,000, leaving a balance unissued of $1,274,000 of the
authorized issue of $2,000,000. The amounts necessary to be appro-
priated for sinking fund and interest on the last named bonds are to
be paid from the motor vehicle registration fund, and the balance
must be met from the general fund."
The auditor also reported $925,000 temporary loan indebtedness,
which included a loan of $100,000 made to the state war fund. Add-
ing the temporary loans to the bonded debt gives a total indebtedness
of $4,361,000, against which the auditor reported on hand for the
redemption of bonds, in securities deposited with the state treasurer
and cash in the treasury, the sum of $430,000, leaving a net indebted-
ness of $3,931,000 on November 30, 1918.
THE SECURITY
What assurance have the holders of the $3,436,000 of Utah bonds
that the debt will be paid? The outstanding bonds constitute a lien
upon every dollar's worth of property within the limits of the state.
As the assessed valuation of this property in 1918 was $644,203,819,
it may be readily seen that the state has nearly one hundred and
eighty-eight dollars in assets for each dollar of liabilities. Leaving
private property out of thd consideration, the state in its corporate
capacity owns sufficient property to discharge every dollar of the debt.
306 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The state board of land commissioners reported the value of lands
held by the state on November 30, 1918, as being $5,188,025.25.
These lands are constantly increasing in value and are sufficient to
pay the entire bonded debt. In addition to the state lands, the public
buildings belonging to the state — the capitol building, the educa-
tional, penal and charitable institutions — represent several millions
of dollars. Under these conditions it is not surprising that Utah bonds
command a premium in all the financial centers of the country, and
that the state has no difficulty in negotiating loans at low rates of
interest.
In these days, when nearly every village has its bank and bank
checks are almost as common as currency, how many persons stop
to consider the evolution of this great convenience? Modern bank-
ing methods date from the Bank of Florence, which was established
about the middle of the Fourteenth Century, though the Bank of
Venice had been opened some two hundred years earlier as a bank
of deposit, the Government being responsible for the funds deposited
with the bank. It went down with the Venetian Empire in 1797.
The Bank of Genoa was organized soon after the Bank of Flor-
ence and for about two centuries the Italian bankers dominated the
financial transactions of the civilized world. In 1609 the Bank of
Amsterdam was founded and about ten years later the Bank of
Hamburg opened its doors for the transaction of business. At that
time there was not a single banking institution of any kind in Eng-
land and the people who had surplus funds deposited with the mint
in the Tower of London until Charles I appropriated the deposits.
After that English merchants deposited their funds with the gold-
smiths, who became bankers in a limited way, loaning money for
short periods of time and paying interest on money deposited with
them for a specified time.
In 1690 the Bank of Sweden invented and issued the first bank
notes that passed current as money. This action of the Swedish bank
influenced Williarh Patterson to suggest the Bank of England, which
was chartered in 1694. It began business at a time when England
and France were at war and subscribers to the war loan of £1,500,000
became stockholders in the bank to the extent of their subscriptions
to the loan.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 307
UNITED STATES BANKS
The first bank in the United States, known as the Pennsylvania
Bank, was established in Philadelphia in 1780 by Robert Morris,
George Clymer and a few other public spirited citizens of the Quaker
City. Clymer and Morris were signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence and their bank played an important part in establishing
the financial credit of the new American Republic. In 178 1 it was
reorganized as the Bank of North America, under which name it
continued for ten years, when the Bank of the United States was
incorporated by act of Congress, with a capital stock of $10,000,000
and a charter for twenty years. This bank was made the fiscal
agent of the United States Government, but upon the expiration of
its charter in 181 1, Congress failed to renew it and the entire busi-
ness of the institution passed into the hands of Stephen Girard, of
Philadelphia.
The War of 1812 began shortly after the expiration of the bank's
charter and the Government was placed in serious straits for want
of an accredited fiscal agent. The Second Bank of the United States
was therefore chartered soon after the close of the war and began
business in January, 18 17, under a charter for twenty years and an
authorized capital stock of $35,000,000, of which the Government
was entitled to hold 20 per cent. At the expiration of this charier,
President Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill renewing it and in 1840
the bank went into liquidation.
About the time the charter of the Bank of the United States ex-
pired. Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of state
banks and the legislatures of a number of states lost no time in char-
tering such institutions. The creation of state banks was greatly
stimulated by the transfer to them of the deposits of the Bank of
the United States, by order of President Jackson. During the early
'40s the number of state and private banks increased all over the
country. In Michigan, where wildcats were plentiful, so many
banks were started that they came to be known as "wildcat" banks.
Speculation ran rife during the decade following the liquidation
of the Bank of the United States and there were in circulation over
five dollars in bank notes for each dollar of gold or silver for their
redemption. About 1853 the reaction set in and during the next four
years there were 5,123 bank failures in the United States, the period
of financial uncertainty culminating in the "Panic cf 1857."
308 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The present national banking law was enacted by Congress as
a war measure and was approved by President Abraham Lincoln
on June 3, 1864, though a number of amendments have since been
added to the original law. The national banks, organized under this
law, are the only banking institutions in the country having authority
to issue notes that can be used as currency, though in every state
there are banks of discount and deposit that operate under the laws
of the state.
UTAH BANKS
According to the report of Governor Caleb W. West for the year
1895, the year before Utah was admitted into the Union as a state,
there were then in the territory thirty-nine banks, with a capital stock
of $5,011, 890 and deposits of $9,689,267. Of the thirty-nine banks
thus reported, fifteen are no longer in existence, a few having failed,
others wound up their affairs, and still others reorganized under a
new name or consolidated with other banks. There was one bank—
the Bank of American Fork — which for some reason the governor
failed to include in his report, making really forty banks in Utah
at the time the state was admitted into the Union. The banks men-
tioned by Governor West that are no longer in existence, or have
been continued under a different name, were: The Bank of Brigham
City, the private bank of J. W. Guthrie at Corinne, the Lehi Com-
mercial and Savings Bank, the Savings Bank and Trust Company
of Nephi, the Utah Loan and Trust Company of Ogden, the First
National and the Utah County Savings Bank of Provo, the Bank of
Salt Lake, the Bank of Commerce, the Commercial National, the
Salt Lake Valley Loan and Trust Company, the State Bank of Utah,
the Utah Title Insurance Company's Savings Bank and the branch
of the Wells, Fargo & Company Bank, all of Salt Lake City, and the
Bank of Spanish Fork.
The first bank in Utah was established early in 1859 by the
Walker Brothers in connection with their mercantile business, lo-
cated on the west side of Main Street about midway between First
and Second South streets, in a two-story adobe building. One of the
features of the new store was a safe and it was not long until the
settlers began to deposit their cash and gold dust with the firm for
safe keeping. A receipt was always given by the Walkers at the
time of the deposit, but this first bank did not use fine steel-engraved
or lithographed checks for purposes of withdrawal. Whenever a
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STATE BANK OF PAYSON
BANK OF SPRINGVILLE
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 311
depositor wanted to withdraw any portion of it, he wrote an order
on any scrap of paper that might be handy — part of an old envelope
or a piece of wrapping paper — often signing it with a lead pencil.
Thousands of dollars were paid out by this system of checking.
In 1861 the bank was moved across the street from its first loca-
tion, and in 1865 it was removed to the corner of Main and Second
South streets. The present Walker Bank Building, one of the land
marks of Salt Lake City, was completed in 1912. In 1903 Matthew
H. Walker, who had acquired the interests of the other brothers,
incorporated the business as a state bank, which was capitalized at
$250,000. Mr. Walker served as president of the bank until his
death, when he was succeeded by L. H. Farnsworth. Three years
after it was incorporated it absorbed the business of the Salt Lake
City branch of the Wells, Fargo & Company Bank and later in-
creased its capital stock to $500,000.
BANKS IN 1919
According to the American Bankers' Directory for January,
1919, there were then 123 banking institutions in the State of Utah
(twenty-six national banks and ninety-seven operating under the
laws of the state), with a combined capital of $11,347,500 and de-
posits amounting to $105,938,090. Thus, while the number of
baiiks since the admission of the state has increased from 40 to 123
and the capital stock has increased only a little over 100 per cent, the
deposits have increased over 1,000 per cent. The principal reason
for the relatively small increase in the banks capital, when com-
pared to the increase of deposits, is due to the fact that within
recent years a large number of banks with small capital stocks have
been incorporated in the smaller cities and towns of the state, yet
many of these banks carry large deposits, especially in the mining
and stock growing districts.
Following is a list of the Utah banks as given in the Bankers'
Directory for January, 1919, with the date of organization, the
amount of capital stock and deposits, the names of the principal
officers of each bank, with such facts concerning the history of each
as could be gleaned from authentic sources. It is possible that all
the banks of the state were not included in the directory and a few
banks have been organized since the January, 1919, edition was pub-
lished, but as that edition is the latest official authoritv it has been
312 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
used. For the convenience of the reader these banks have been
arranged by cities and towns in alphabetical order.
American Fork — Bank of American Fork; organized in 1891;
capital stock, $50,000; surplus and undivided profits, $73,570; de-
posits, $702,820; James Chipman, president; W. S. Chipman,
cashier. The Peoples State Bank of American Fork was incor-
porated in 1913 with a capital stock of $25,000; surplus, $3,500; de-
posits, $130,000; J. F. Noyes, president; Clifford E. Young, cashier.
Beaver- — The First National Bank of Beaver received its charter
in 1908. The capital stock of this bank is $25,000; surplus, $13,000;
deposits, $155,000; J. F. Jones, president; G. B. Skinner, cashier.
The State Bank of Beaver was incorporated in 1905 with a capital
stock of $29,000; surplus, $12,000; deposits, $175,000; S. O. White,
Jr., president; C. E. Murdock, cashier.
Bingham — The Bingham State Bank began business in 1903 with
a capital stock of $15,000, and in January, 1919, reported a surplus of
$12,000 and deposits of $449,170. Earl Randall, president; R. P.
Unander, cashier. A newspaper item on March 5, 1919, says: "The
articles of incorporation for the rehabilitated Citizens Bank of
Bingham and the Copper State Bank at Copperfield, under the names
Central Banks of Bingham and Copperfield State Bank, were filed
in the Third District Court yesterday. The names of William R.
Wallace, Stephen L. Richards, Henry T. McEwan, Richard W.
Young and John F. Bennett as incorporators for both banks, with
the additional name of N. W. Clayton for the Copperfield State
Bank. Each institution is incorporated for 50,000 shares."
Blanding — The San Juan State Bank was incorporated in 1913;
capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $29,000; deposits, $100,000; L. H.
Redd, president; L. B. Redd, cashier.
Bountiful — The Bountiful State Bank was organized in 1906
with a capital stock of $80,000; surplus, $25,000; deposits, $415,000;
J. A. Eldredge, president; Charles R. Mabey, cashier. In 1913 the
Union State Bank was incorporated. It has a capital stock of
$50,000; surplus, $3,000; deposits, $130,000; L. C. Holbrook, presi-
dent; S. C. Howard, cashier.
Brigham — The City of Brigham has three banks. The First
National was founded in 1901 ; capital stock, $30,000; surplus,
$67,000; deposits, $850,000; L. N. Stohl, president; John D. Peters,
cashier. The State Bank of Brigham was incorporated in 1907;
capital stock, $40,000; deposits, $800,000; surplus and undivided
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 313
profits, $60,000; M. S. Browning, president; W. T. Davis, cashier.
The Security Savings Bank began business in 19 12 with a capital
of $50,000; surplus, $24,000; deposits, $695,000; J. E. Halverson,
president. The office of cashier in this bank was vacant at the time
the directory was published.
Cache Junction — The Farmers Banking Company of Cache Junc-
tion was organized in 1910; capital, $14,000; surplus, $1,200; de-
posits, $42,000; G. C. Rigby, president; M. T. Beck, cashier.
Castle Dale — At Castle Dale the Emery County Bank was opened
in 1906 with a capital of $25,000; surplus, $17,000; deposits, $184,-
000; Samuel Singleton, president; Edmund Crawford, cashier.
Cedar City — The Bank of Southern Utah was organized at
Cedar City in 1904; capital stock, $75,000; surplus, $80,000; de-
posits, $365,000; U. T. Jones, president; S. J. Foster, cashier. The
Iron Commercial and Savings Bank of Cedar City was incorporated
in 1917 with a capital of $50,000; surplus, $2,000; deposits, $150,000;
J. W. Imlay, president; W. R. Palmer, cashier.
Clearfield — The Clearfield State Bank began business in 1917;
capital stock, $25,000; surplus, (not reported) ; deposits, (not re-
ported) ; E. P. Ellison, president; W. W. Steed, Jr., cashier.
Coalville — The First National Bank received its charter in 1905;
capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $22,500; deposits, $424,000; James
Pingree, president; Frank Pingree, cashier.
Copperfield — See Bingham.
Delta — The Delta State Bank was established in 1913; capital
stock, $25,000; surplus, $6,000; deposits, $280,000; J. A. Melville,
president; A. S. Rogers, cashier.
Duchesne — In 191 5 the Bank of Duchesne was incorporated with
a capital stock of $25,000 and in January, 1919, reported a surplus
of $5,400 and deposits of $140,000. W. L. Dean is president, and
G. C. Gray, cashier.
Ephraim — The Bank of Ephraim was organized in 1906; capital
stock, $50,000; surplus, $25,000; deposits, $450,000; A. N. Bjer-
regaard, president; F. H. Rasmuson, cashier.
Eureka — The Eureka Banking Company was incorporated in
1901; capital stock, $30,000; surplus, $35,000; deposits, $429,000;
W. Fitch, president; F. D. Kimball, cashier.
Fairview — The Fairview State Bank began business in 1914;
capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $10,000; deposits, $163,000; Andrew
Lasson, president; Peter Sundwall, cashier.
314 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Farmington — The Davis County Bank began its career in 1892,
four years before Utah was admitted to statehood. It has a capital
stock of $25,000; a surplus of $50,000; and deposits of $332,000; J.
S. Clark, president; A. L. Clark, cashier.
Fillmore — The State Bank of Millard County began business in
1907. It has a capital stock of $25,000; surplus, $3,000; deposits,
$400,000; Joseph Finlinson, president; Rufus Day, cashier.
Fountain Green — The Bank of Fountain Green was incor-
porated in 1916; capital stock, $27,000; deposits, $125,000; G. M.
Whitmore, president; J. T. Oldroyd, cashier.
Garfield — The Garfield Banking Company began business in
1907 with a capital stock of $30,000. In January, 1919, it reported
a surplus of $7,000 and deposits of $176,000. W. S. McCornick is
president, and Gilbert Palmer, cashier.
Garland — The Bank of Garland was incorporated in 1905; capi-
tal stock, $25,000; surplus, $4,000; deposits, $150,000; Masiah
Evans, president; M. D. Evans, cashier.
Grantsville — The Grantsville Deseret Bank was organized in
1910 with a capital stock of $10,000; surplus, $1,400; deposits,
$81,000; E. T. Woolley, president; P. E. Anderson, cashier.
Green River — The Commercial and Savings Bank of Green
River was established in 1908; capital stock, $25,000; no surplus
reported in January, 1919; deposits, $102,000; George E. Thurman,
president; B. J. Silliman, cashier.
Gunnison — In 1909 the Gunnison Valley Bank was incorporated
with a capital stock of $25,000. In January, 1919, O. B. Berglund
was president and J. W. Jones, cashier. The bank then reported
a surplus of $9,000 and deposits of $250,000.
Heber — The Heber City Bank was founded in 1902. It has a
capital stock of $50,000, surplus, $30,000; deposits, $341,000; J. R.
Murdock, president; E. W. Murdock, cashier.
Helper — This is one of the towns that has a bank with small
capital and comparatively large deposits. The Helper State Bank
began business in 1910. The capital stock has since been increased
to $50,000; surplus, $21,000; deposits, $336,000; J. Barboglio, presi-
dent; S. A. Carter, cashier.
Hurricane — The State Bank of Hurricane was organized in
1917; capital stock, $20,000; surplus, $3,800; deposits, $60,000;
David Hirschi, president; E. J. Pickett, cashier.
Hyrum — The Hyrum State Bank dates its corporate existence
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 315
from 1908. It has a capital stock of $25,000; a surplus of $3,500;
deposits of $185,000, with M. S. Browning as president and H. VV.
Oakes as cashier.
Kamas — In 1909 the Kamas State Bank was incorporated with
a capital stock of $20,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 T. A.
Dannenberg was president and M. C. Taylor, cashier. The bank
then reported a surplus of $7,300, and deposits of $153,000.
Kanab — The State Bank of Kanab was incorporated in 19 14, with
a capital stock of $20,000; John R. Findlay, president; A. R. Pax-
man, cashier; surplus, $6,000; deposits, $195,000.
Kaysville — The Barnes Banking Company of Kaysville is one
of the old financial concerns of the state, having been organized in
1891. At the beginning of the year 1919 John R. Barnes was presi-
dent and John R. Gailey, cashier. The capital stock was then
$50,000; surplus, $75,000; deposits, $360,000.
Layton — The First National Bank of Layton was chartered in
1905 with a capital stock of $25,000; surplus, $16,000; deposits,
$334,000; James Pingree, president; L. E. Ellison, cashier.
Lehi — The City of Lehi has two banks — the State Bank of Lehi
and the Peoples Bank. The former was organized in 191 1 with a
capital stock of $25,000. James Chipman was president at the be-
ginning of the year 1919, and W. S. Chipman was cashier. The
surplus at that time was $13,000 and the deposits, $205,000. The
Peoples Bank was incorporated in 191 7; capital stock, $25,000; sur-
plus, $8,000; deposits, $185,000; I. D. Wines, president; Herbert
Taylor, cashier.
Lewiston — The Lewiston State Bank began business in 1905;
capital stock, $30,000; surplus, $15,000; deposits, $440,000; Martin
Pond, president; S. R. Rogers, cashier.
Logan — The oldest bank in Logan is that of the Thatcher
Brothers' Banking Company, which was established in 1883 by
Aaron, John and Moses Thatcher. At the beginning of 1919 H. E.
Hatch was president and O. W. Adams was cashier. The capital
stock was then $150,000; surplus, $66,500; deposits, $1,793,000. In
1892 the First National Bank of Logan was chartered. It now has
a capital stock of $100,000; surplus, $35,000; deposits, $1,200,000;
Thomas Smart, president; H. E. Crockett, cashier. The Cache
Valley Bank was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000;
reported in January, 1919, a surplus of $27,000 and deposits of
$1,341,000; Geo. H. Champ, president; J. E. Shepard, cashier. In
316 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
1 9 13 the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank began business with
a paid up capital of $88,500. At the beginning of the year 1919 J. A.
Hendrickson was president and E. T. Benson, cashier. The bank
then reported a surplus of $9,500 and deposits of $347,500.
Magna — The two banks of Magna are the First National and
the Magna Banking Company, each having an authorized capital
stock of $25,000. The First National was organized in 1918 with
J. E. Cosgriff as president and George E. Marks as cashier. This
bank made no report of deposits in January, 1919. The Magna
Banking Company began business in 1916. In January, 1919, it
reported a surplus of $3,000 and deposits of $180,000, with C. W.
Whitney as president and M. H. Kirk, cashier.
Manti — The Manti Savings Bank was established in 1890; cap-
ital stock, $50,000; surplus, $26,000; deposits, $402,000; Lewis An-
derson, president; P. P. Dyreng, cashier.
Midvale — The Midvale State Bank commenced business in 1909.
It has a capital stock of $35,000; surplus, $9,000; deposits, $395,000;
James Chipman, president; L. L. Olson, cashier.
Milford^In 1907 the Milford State Bank was incorporated with
a capital stock of $25,000. In January, 1919, R. H. Pitchfork was
president and C. A. Arrington, cashier. The bank then reported a
surplus of $5,000 and deposits of $180,000.
Moab — Two banks are located at Moab — the Moab State Bank
and the First National Bank. The former was incorporated in 191 5 ;
capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $15,000; deposits, $180,000; J. P.
Miller, president; J. T. Kephart, cashier. The First National was
chartered in 1916, with D. L. Goudelock as president and V. P.
Martin as cashier. The capital stock of this bank is $50,000; sur-
plus, $8,200; deposits, $141,000.
Monroe — The Monroe State Bank was established in 1910; capi-
tal stock, $25,000; surplus, $11,000; deposits, $140,000; J. H. Lowe,
president; Heber Swindle, cashier.
Monticello — Two banks were established at Monticello in 1918 —
the First National and the Monticello State banks — each with a
capital stock of $25,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 the
First National reported a surplus of $1,870 and deposits of $20,000.
J. F. Barton was then president and F. B. Hammond, Jr., cashier.
George A. Adams was at that time president of the Monticello State
Bank and J. B. Decker, cashier. This bank reported a surplus of
$2,600 and deposits of $50,300.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 317
Morgan — The First National Bank of Morgan received its char-
ter in 1903. It has a capital stock, of $25,000; surplus, $5,000; depos-
its, $190,000; D. Heiner, president; Charles Heiner, cashier.
Moroni — The Bank of Moroni was incorporated in 1905; capi-
tal stock, $25,000; surplus, $15,800; deposits, $176,000; Andrew
Anderson, president; E. D. Anderson, cashier.
Mount Pleasant — The Mount Pleasant Commercial & Savings
Bank was incorporated in 1892 under the territorial laws of Utah.
It has a capital stock of $50,000; surplus, $70,000; deposits, $475,000;
N. S. Nielson, president; E. W. Wall, cashier. The North Sanpete
Bank of Mount Pleasant commenced business in 1906. At the begin-
ning of 1919 W. D. Candland was president and H. C. Beaumann,
cashier. The bank then reported a capital of $50,000; surplus,
$43,700; deposits, $240,000.
Murray — The City of Murray has two banks — the First National
and the Murray State — both organized in 1903. Richard Howe is
president and D. A. McMillan cashier of the First National, which
has a capital stock of $100,000; surplus, $42,000; deposits, $520,000.
The Murray State Bank has a capital stock of $15,000; surplus,
$17,500; deposits, $140,000. The office of president was vacant at
the beginning of the year 1919 and A. Bradford held the position of
cashier.
Myton — The Myton State Bank was established in 1909; capital
stock, $25,000; surplus, $10,000; deposits, $200,000; J. H. Colthorpe,
president; B. L. Dart, cashier.
Nephi — The First National Bank of Nephi was chartered in
1886, with a capital stock of $50,000. On January i, 1919, it reported
a surplus of $60,500 and deposits amounting to $662,000. W. W.
Armstrong was then president and G. M. Whitmore, cashier. In
1907 the Nephi National Bank commenced business. At the begin-
ning of the year 1919 this bank had a capital of $50,000; a surplus
of $25,000; and deposits of $240,000. J. S. Ostler was then president
and J. W. Bond, cashier.
Oasis — The State Bank of Oasis was incorporated in 1908 with
a capital stock of $15,000; surplus, $10,000; deposits, $150,000;
Henry Hufif, president; C. O. W. Pierson, cashier.
Ogden — The City of Ogden has seven banking institutions, the
oldest of which is the First National, which was chartered in 1881.
It has a capital stock of $150,000; a surplus of $178,400; deposits of
$3,750,000; M. S. Browning, president; James F. Burton, cashier.
318 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The Commercial National Bank, commenced business in 1883. It
has a capital stock of $100,000; a surplus of $225,000, and deposits of
$1,750,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 Patrick Healy, Jr.,
was president and R. A. Moyes, cashier. The Utah National was
also chartered in 1883. Its capital stock is $150,000; its surplus,
$60,000; deposits, $1,781,400; David C. Eccles, president; A. V. Mc-
intosh, cashier. In 1889 the Ogden State Bank was incorporated with
a capital stock of $100,000. It has a surplus of $227,000 and deposits
of $3,621,000. H. C. Bigelow was president at the beginning of the
year 1919 and A. P. Bigelow was cashier. The Ogden Savings Bank
was established in 1890; capital stock, $150,000; surplus, $155,600;
deposits, $1,392,000; M. S. Browning, president, C. H. Barton,
cashier. The Pingree National received its charter in 1904. James
Pingree is president and J. H. Riley cashier of this bank, which has
a capital stock of $175,000; a surplus of $80,000, and deposits of
$4,000,000. In 1910 the Security State Bank was incorporated. F. J.
Kiesel was president of this bank until his death in the spring of
1919, at which time F. J. Vicks held the position of cashier. The bank
has a capital stock of $150,000; surplus, $42,400; deposits, $833,600.
Panguitch — The State Bank of Garfield County was organized
at Panguitch in 1906 with a paid up capital of $50,000. At the begin-
ning of the year 19 19 I. W. Hatch was president and Clement Tebbs
was cashier. The bank then reported a surplus of $55,000 and depos-
its of $350,000.
Park City — The First National Bank of Park City was founded
in 1891 and is the oldest bank in Summit County. It has a capital
stock of $50,000; surplus, $6,500; deposits, $600,000; James Farrell.
president; W. W. Armstrong, cashier. The State Bank of Park City
was incorporated in 1917 with a capital stock of $25,000; John C.
Cutler, president; N. P. Nielson, Jr., cashier. In January, 1919, it
reported deposits of $100,000.
Parowan — The Bank of Iron County was opened for business in
1908 with a capital stock of $25,000; surplus, $4,800; deposits,
$80,000; L. N. Marsden, president; J. C. Mitchell, cashier.
Payson — This city has two banks — the Payson Exchange and Sav-
ings Bank and the State Bank of Payson. The former was estab-
lished in 1890; capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $35,000; deposits,
$475,000; H. J. Grant, president; J. C. Ellsworth, cashier. The lat-
ter was incorporated in 1917 with W. W. Armstrong, president; Lee
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 319
R. Taylor, cashier. It has a capital stock of $50,000, a surplus of
$13,000, and deposits of $191,000.
Pleasant Grove — The Bank of Pleasant Grove began business in
1905; capital stock, $20,000; surplus, $8,200; deposits, $255,000;
James Chipman, president; W. S. Chipman, cashier.
Price — The First National Bank of Price was chartered in 1901 ;
capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $60,000; deposits, $600,000; J. M.
Whitmore, president; L. E. Whitmore, cashier. The Price Com-
mercial and Savings Bank was incorporated in 1910. It has a capital
stock of $50,000, a surplus of $58,000, and deposits of $725,000, with
N. S. Nielson as president and W. E. Anderson, cashier. A new
bank called the Carbon County Bank, located at Price, was incor-
porated on April 18, 19 19, with Wallace Lowry as president, and a
capital stock of $100,000.
Provo — The Provo Commercial and Savings Bank began business
in 1890. It has a capital stock of $100,000, a surplus of $103,000, and
deposits of $809,000. Reed Smoot was president at the beginning of
the year 1919 and J. T. Farrar was cashier. The State Bank of Provo
was established in 1902 with a capital stock of $25,000. It has a sur-
plus of $17,000 and deposits of $300,000. W. H. Brereton is presi-
dent and Alva Nelson, cashier. In 1907 the Farmers and Merchants
Bank of Provo was incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000.
T. N. Taylor was president at the beginning of the year 1919 and
J. D. Dixon was cashier. At that time the bank reported a surplus
of $28,000 and deposits of $694,000. The Knight Trust and Savings
Bank, of which Jesse Knight is president and R. E. Allen is cashier,
was established in 1913. Its capital stock is $300,000; surplus,
$50,000; deposits, $1,250,000.
Randolph — The Bank of Randolph, the only bank in Rich
County, was incorporated in 1906 with a capital stock of $25,000. At
the beginning of the year 1919 it reported a surplus of $9,600 and
deposits of $92,900. John Kennedy was then president and Charles
W. Walton, cashier.
Richfield— The first banking house in Richfield was established
in 1883 by James M. Peterson, who is still president and George H.
Ogden holds the position of cashier. The capital of this bank is
$49,000; surplus, $45,000; deposits, $500,000. The Richfield Com-
mercial and Savings Bank was incorporated in 1899; capital stock,
$50,000; surplus, $100,000; deposits, $900,000; Hans Tuft, president;
Guy Lewis, cashier. The State Bank of Sevier was established in
320 _ UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
1906 with a capital stock of $45,000. At the beginning of the year
1919 John Christensen was president and D. P. Jensen, cashier. The
bank at that time reported a surplus of $45,000 and deposits of
$500,000.
Richmond — The State Bank of Richmond was organized in 1908;
capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $8,700; deposits, $202,500; G. G.
Hendricks, cashier. The office of president was vacant at the begin-
ning of the year 1919.
Riverton — The Jordan Valley Bank of Riverton began business
in 1905; capital stock, $15,000; surplus, $2,150; deposits, $104,000;
A. T. Butterfield, president; Seth Pixton, cashier.
Roosevelt — The Roosevelt Banking Company, of which W. A.
Miles is president and H. P. Edwards is cashier, was incorporated
in 1913 with a capital stock of $25,000. In January, 1919, it re-
ported a surplus of $7,200 and deposits of $165,000.
Salina — The First State Bank of Salina was incorporated in
1907; capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $5,000; deposits, $80,000;
James Farrell, president; H. B. Crandall, cashier.
Salt Lake City — According to the Bankers' Directory there
were at the begininng of the year 1919 fourteen banking institu-
tions in the City of Salt Lake. The Walker Bank, already men-
tioned, was established in 1859. It now has a capital stock of
$500,000; a surplus of $200,000; deposits of $8,000,000; L. H. Farns-
worth, president; H. M. Chamberlain, cashier.
In 1869 the banking firm of Eldredge, Hooper & Company,
composed of H. S. Eldredge, William H. Hooper and Lewis S.
Hills, began business. On September i, 1871, the business was in-
corporated as the Bank of Deseret, with Brigham Young, president;
Lewis S. Hills, cashier; Horace S. Eldredge, William H. Hooper,
J. Sharp, Feramorz Little and William Jennings, directors. In
November, 1872, the bank was reorganized as the Deseret National
Bank, under which name it is still doing business on the north-
east corner of Main and First South streets, where a new building
was completed in the spring of 1919. A savings department was
added in 1889. This bank has a capital stock of $500,000; surplus,
$667,000; deposits, $5,960,000; John C. Cutler, president; H. S.
Young, cashier. W. W. Riter is president of the Deseret Savings
Bank and E. A. Smith is cashier. This department reported in
January, 1919, a capital stock of $500,000; surplus, $494,000, and
deposits of $3,914,000.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 321
The banking house of JVIcCornick & Company dates its begin-
ning from 1870, when the private bank of A. W. White & Com-
pany was established. Three years later this firm was succeeded
by that of White &.McCornick and in June, 1875, W. S. McCor-
aick acquired the entire interests of the concern. The bank was
incorporated in 1910 as McCornick & Company, with W. S. Mc-
Cornick as president; M. H. Sowles, vice president and cashier.
The capital stock is $600,000; surplus, $260,000; deposits, $7,100,000.
The Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company began business
in 1873, beginning business on the 5th of July. This bank, located
on the southwest corner of Main and South l^emple streets, has a
capital stock of $500,000; surplus, $389,000; deposits, $7,600,000.
The first president of this bank was Brigham Young. At the be-
ginning of the year 1919 H. J. Grant was president and O. C. Beebe
was cashier.
In 1884 the Tracy Loan and Trust Company was incorporated.
It has a paid up capital of $220,200; a surplus of $109,000; deposits
of $215,000; R. L. Tracy, president; N. C. Ellis, secretary.
The Utah Savings and Trust Bank began business in 1889; cap-
ital stock, $300,000; surplus, $82,000; deposits, $1,100,000; W. S.
McCornick, president; F. M. Michelson, cashier.
On April 23, 1890, the National Bank of the Republic opened
for business in the Progress Building on Main Street. It was organ-
ized by Frank Knox, who remained at the head of the institution
until his death on September 15, 1915. In the meantime the bank
was removed to the southwest corner of Main and Second South
streets. The capital stock of this bank is $300,000; surplus, $388,878 ;
deposits $6,613,000. E. A. Culbertson was elected president in Jan-
uary, 1916, and W. F. Earls is cashier.
Another Salt Lake City bank which began business in 1890 is
the Utah State National, located on the southwest corner of Main
and First South streets. Its capital stock is $600,000; surplus,
$205,000; deposits, $4,200,000; H. J. Grant, president; H. T. Mc-
Ewan, cashier.
The Continental National Bank, located on the north side of
Second South Street just east of Main, was established in 1909 with a
capital stock of $250,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 this
bank reported a surplus of $116,000 and deposits of $3,000,000.
y. E. Cosgriff has been president of the bank since its organization
and W. W. Trimmer has been cashier throughout the bank's history.
322 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The Sugar Banking Company was incorporated in 1909 with a
capital stock of $20,000; N. J. Hanson, president; George A. Goff,
cashier. In January, 1919, the bank reported a surplus of $6,400
and deposits of $177,000.
The National Copper Bank, located at the corner of Main Street
and Exchange Place, was chartered in 1910. It has a capital stock
of $300,000; surplus of $93,000; deposits of $3,365,000; W. W.
Armstrong, president; Eugene Giles, cashier.
In 1913 the National City Bank received its charter and began
business. It is now located in a modern building on State Street;
has a capital stock of $250,000; a surplus of $50,000; deposits of
$2,100,000; James Pingree, president; Frank Pingree, cashier.
The Bankers' Trust Company, which occupies quar^ters with
the National Copper Bank, was incorporated in 1913 with a capital
stock of $100,000; W. W. Armstrong, president; O. P. Hoebel,
secretary. At the beginning of the year 1919 this company reported
a surplus of $20,000, but made no report of its deposits.
The Columbia Trust Company began business in 191 5 with a
capital stock of $250,000. About the beginning of the year 1919
this company took over the "stock, assets and good will" of the
Stockgrowers Bank. It then reported a surplus of $38,500 and
deposits of $621,000, with C. S. Burton as president and F. B. Cook
as secretary.
Sandy — The Sandy City Bank was incorporated in 1907 with
a capital stock of $10,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 W.
W. Wilson was president and A. R. Gardner was cashier. The
bank then carried a surplus of $6,100 and deposits of $172,000.
Smithfield — The Commercial National Bank of Smithfield was
chartered in 1912; capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $12,500; deposits,
$250,000; James Pingree, president; Thomas B. Farr, cashier.
Spanish Fork — Two banks are located in the City of Spanish
Fork. The Commercial Bank was incorporated in 1905; capital
stock, $25,000; surplus, $5,000; deposits, $182,000; Henry Gardner,
president; P. P. Thomas, cashier. The First National Bank re-
ceived its charter in 1908; capital stock, $25,000; surplus, $75,000;
deposits, $300,000; John Jones, president; I. P. Snell, cashier.
Springville — The Springville Banking Company has been in
business since 1891. It has a capital stock of $75,000; surplus,
$30,000; deposits, $300,000; H. T. Reynolds, president; G. R. May-
cock, cashier. In 1908 the Mendenhall Banking Company of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 323
Springville was established; capital, $30,000; surplus, $3,700; de-
posits, $150,000; T. L. Mendenhall, president; G. W. Mendeii-
hall, cashier.
St. George — The Bank of St. George was incorporated in 1906
with a capital stock of $30,000. At the beginning of the year 1919
E. H. Snow was president and A. F. Miles was cashier. The bank
then carried a surplus of $30,000 and deposits of $300,000.
Tooele — The City of Tooele has two banks — the Commercial
and the Tooele County State Bank — both incorporated under the
laws of the state. The former was established in 1909; capital stock,
$25,000; surplus, $6,200; deposits, $40,000; E. D. Woodruff, pres-
ident; Oscar Littlerie, cashier. The latter began business in 1908
with a capital stock of $30,000. In January, 1919, it reported a
surplus of $65,000 and deposits of $675,000. Peter Clegg was then
president and E. M. Orme was cashier.
Trefnonton — The State Bank of Tremonton was incorporated
in 1912; capital stock, $60,000; surplus, $25,000; deposits, $35o,i;oo;
P. AI. Hansen, president; Charles McClure, cashier.
Trenton — The West Cache Bank of Trenton began business in
1917; capital stock, $25,000; surplus (no report) ; deposits, $96,000;
H. E. Hatch, president; George Y. Smith, cashier.
Vernal — The Bank of Vernal was incorporated in 1903; capital
stock, $60,000; surplus, $25,000; deposits, $433,000; J. H. Reader,
president; N. J. Meagher, cashier. The Uinta State Bank of Ver-
nal began business in 1910; capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $13,500;
deposits, $480,000; Enos Bennion, president; L. W. Curry, cashier.
Wellsville — The Wellsville State Bank was incorporated in
1910; capital stock, $20,000; surplus, $1,300; deposits, $100,000;
Joseph E. Wilson, president; R. A. Leishman, cashier.
Woods Cross — The Farmers State Bank of Woods Cross began
business in 1909; capital stock, $50,000; surplus, $33,000; deposits,
$380,000; William Moss, president; J. R. Parrish, cashier.
CHAPTER XVI
TRANSPORTATION— OX TEAM TO RAILROAD
PROGRESS SINCE CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE'S DAY — EARLY TRAILS— THE
OREGON TRAIL — FREIGHTING — STAGE LINES — THE PONY EXPRESS —
BEN HOLLADAY — EDUCATING A TENDERFOOT — PASSING OF THE
STAGE COACH — THE RAILROAD ERA — UNION PACIFIC — UTAH'S
MEMORIAL — FIRST MOVE BY CONGRESS — FINAL ACTION — CREDIT
MOBILIER — CENTRAL PACIFIC — THE GOLDEN SPIKE — MISCELLANE-
OUS FACTS ABOUT THE UNION PACIFIC — GOLDEN SPIKE JUBILEE —
UTAH CENTRAL — UTAH SOUTHERN — UTAH SOUTHERN EXTENSION
— UTAH NORTHERN — OREGON SHORT LINE — DENVER & RIO GRANDE
— LOS ANGELES & SALT LAKE — WESTERN PACIFIC — MINOR RAIL-
ROADS—ELECTRIC LINES — MILEAGE AND VALUATION IN 1918.
The rirst white men in the West^ — the trappers and fur traders —
traveled on fc^ot or on horseback, following the old Indian trails over
the plains or through the forests, or seeking out new ones through the
canyons and along the banks of the streams. In 1832 Capt. Benja-
min Bonneville took the first wagons through the South Pass. Fif-
teen years later came the first of the Utah pioneers with their ox
teams, and during the next decade several hundred crossed the plains
on foot, with their efifects in handcarts, to join the colony at Salt Lake
City. It is a far cry from the lumbering Conestoga wagon or "prairie
schooner" of Captain Bonneville or the handcart of the Mormon
pioneer to the sumptuous passenger coaches of the year 1919, yet
such has been the progress of Utah in transportation methods within
the comparatively short space of four score and seven years.
EARLY TRAILS
During the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century, before the
people of the L^nited States had even dreamed of a trans-continental
32.')
326 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
railway, the pioneers of western civilization sought out lines of
travel, which have been developed into the great avenues of com-
merce between the East and the West. Without any practical knowl-
edge of engineering, actuated in a large majority of cases by the hope
of personal gain, perhaps with no thought of the efifect of his labors
upon succeeding generations, the old trail-maker "followed the line
of least resistance," circling the hills, dodging the marshes, seeking
out the open places in the forests and the best fords on the streams,
but always keeping in view suitable camping places, where he could
be assured of finding grass and water for his oxen or horses.
One of the oldest of the great trails to the West, and one of the
most noted, was the Santa Fe Trail, which was declared a Govern-
ment highway in 1824. through the efiforts of Thomas H. Benton,
then United States senator from Missouri. The Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe Railroad now closely follows the line of this historic
trail from the Missouri River to Santa Fe. From the time this trail
was declared a national highway to the beginning of the Civil war
in 1861, the trade that passed over it amounted to millions of dollars.
The Santa Fe Trail did not touch Utah, but its starting point at In-
dependence, Mo., was also the starting point of another historic route
which led to the Pacific coast, viz.:
THE OREGON TRAIL
Prior to the year 1832, Independence, Mo., about ten miles east
of Kansas City, was the last white settlement of any consequence west
of St. Louis and the outfitting point for emigrant parties bound for
the "Far West." From Independence the Oregon and Santa Fe trails
were one up the valley of the Kansas to about where the City of Law-
rence, Kan., is now situated. There the Santa Fe Trail turned toward
the southwest, while the Oregon Trail continued on up the Kansas
River to the site of the present City of Topeka (then called Papan's
Ferry) . There it left the river and followed a northwest course until
if struck the Platte River, where the City of Grand Island, Neb., now
stands.
About 1833 St. Joseph and Fort Leavenworth came into promi-
nence as outfitting points for emigrant parties and a trail from those
places intersected the main road near the point where it crossed the
present northern boundary of Kansas. A little later Council Bluffs,
Iowa, entered the outfitting business, as a competitor of the towns
farther down the Missouri, and a trail from Council BlufTs followed
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 327
the Platte River until it united with the Oregon trail near Grand
Island. A few miles above Grand Island the main trail crossed
the Platte and followed the north bank, of that stream to Fort Lara-
mie. About fifty miles above Fort Laramie it left the river to strike
it again some sixty miles farther up, and it then followed the Platte
and Sweetwater rivers to the South Pass. Near old Fort Bridget
the trail divided, the northern branch running by way of Fort Hall
and down the Snake River to Oregon, and the southern through
Echo and Emigration canyons to the Great Salt Lake and Sacra-
mento. This branch became the principal thoroughfare to Cali-
fornia, especially after the discovery of gold there in 1848, and be-
came known as the "California Trail," though the early settlers of
Utah spoke of it as the "Mormon Trail" or the "Salt Lake Trail."
Still later it was called the "Overland Trail."
Some writers credit the Wilson Price Hunt expedition of 181 1
with being the first explorers over the Oregon Trail, but this is a
mistake. Hunt ascended the Missouri River into what is now North
Dakota, where he turned west, passed through Northern Wyoming
and did not strike the Oregon Trail until he came into the Green
River Valley. That part of the trail between Independence and
Grand Island was in use at a very early date, perhaps the beginning
of the Nineteenth Century, but no record has been preserved to show
when or by whom it was first used. That portion between Grand
Island and the upper waters of the Green River was no doubt first
traversed by the six Astorians who left the Walla Walla Valley in
June, 1812, to return to St. Louis. Gen. William H. Ashley discov-
ered the route through the South Pass in 1824, and the first published
description of the trail was that of John B. Wyeth in 1833.
Following the settlement of the Oregon dispute in 1846, which
gave the Northwest country to the United States, and the discovery
of gold in California in 1848, there was a rush of emigration from
the older states to the Pacific coast. Thousands of wagons passed
over the Oregon and California trails and scarcely a night passed
that the blaze of camp fires could not be seen at the various camping
places along the route. One argonaut, who afterward returned to
his home east of the Mississippi, said he counted 459 wagons in
going a distance of less than ten miles. In outfitting for the journey
across the plains, many of the wagons were laden with tools, pro-
visions, etc., but when the teams began to show signs of weariness
much of the cargo was thrown away, particularly when the driver
328 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
saw others passing him on the road, the main object being to get to
the gold diggings before all the paying claims were "staked ofif."
Capt. Howard Stansbury, who was then engaged in making explora-
tions in the West for the Government, says in one of his reports:
"The road was literally strewn with articles that had been thrown
away. Bar iron, steel, large blacksmith anvils, bellows, crowbars,
drills, augers, gold washers, chisels, axes, lead, trunks, spades, plows,
grindstones, baking ovens, cooking stoves without number, kegs,
barrels, harness, clothing, bacon and beans were found along the
road in pretty much the order enumerated."
By iBi^o Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Portland, Walla Walla
and Sacramento all were thriving business centers, and Fort Lara-
mie, Fort Bridger and other stations on the line of the Oregon and
California trails were doing a good business in furnishing supplies
to the emigrants.
FREIGHTING
With the migration of the Latter-day Saints to the Great Salt
Lake Valley, the rush to the California gold fields and the settle-
ment of Oregon, numerous settlements and mining camps sprang
into existence. The inhabitants of these pioneer communities needed
supplies. The West was without navigable rivers or railroads, and
while a few settlements near the coast, like San Francisco and Port-
land, could receive supplies by water, by far the greater part of the
provisions, etc., was transported by wagons. Goods were brought
up the Missouri River in light draft steamers to St. Joseph or
Omaha, where they were transferred to wagons for the trip across
the plains.
One of the first to engage in the business of freighting was Abe
Majors, founder of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell. He
had been a "bull whacker" on the old Santa Fe Trail before engag-
ing in the business on his own account; was an experienced ox driver;
knew all the details of the freighting business, and held the record
of having made the round trip from Independence to Santa Fe in
ninety-two days. About 1850 he began freighting on a small scale
and was soon succeeded by the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell.
At one time this firm owned 75,000 oxen and over six thousand
wagons of the Conestoga type, commonly called "prairie schooners."
They were built at Pittsburgh, Pa., were equipped with boxes or
beds about sixteen feet long and from four to six feet in depth, and
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 329
were each provided with a heavy white canvas cover. Each wagon
was capable of carrying from two to six tons of freight, owing to the
nature of the cargo, and nearly all were drawn by oxen. These
wagons cost about one thousand dollars each, so it may be seen that
considerable capital was required to engage in the freighting business
on the scale of Russell, Majors & Waddell. For better protection
against the Indians, the wagons usually went in trains of twenty-five or
more, each train being in charge of a "wagon master." Freight
rates were made by the pound and varied from 15 cents for bacon
and flour to 25 cents for trunks and boxed goods. Thus the cost of
freighting a barrel of flour from the Missouri River to Salt Lake
City was about twenty-five dollars. In i860 the number of freight
wagons crossing the Great Plains was about five hundred daily."
STAGE LINES
As early as 1851 John M. Hockaday and William Liggett began
operating a line of stage coaches for carrying passengers, express mat-
ter and the United States mails between St. Joseph, Mo., and Salt
Lake City. At first the stages on this line made monthly trips, but
later ran semi-monthly. About the same time W. F. McGraw, of
Maryland, established a stage line between Salt Lake City and Sacra-
mento, running his coaches on a schedule to connect with those of the
Hockaday & Liggett line. In 1854 Congress passed an act providing
for an annual appropriation of $80,000 for direct mail service be-
tween the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific coast. McGraw re-
ceived .$13,500 of this sum every year, but even with this assistance
from the Government he failed in 1856. Two years later the Hock-
aday & Liggett line was sold to Russell, Majors & Waddell, the
great freighting firm.
On September 15, 1857, the Butterfield Overland Mail Com-
pany entered into a contract with the United States postoffice de-
partment to carry the mails between some point on the Missouri
River and California for a period of six years, service to commence
within one year from the date of contract. St. Joseph was selected
as the eastern terminus of the line and the first Overland stages
started from that city and San Francisco on September 15, 1858.
The principal promoters and largest stockholders of this company
were John Butterfield and William G. Fargo. The route followed
by the stages of the Butterfield Company was known as the "South-
ern Route," through the Indian Territory, New Mexico, Arizona
330 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
and Southern California, some of the stages going by way of El
Paso and others by way of Albuquerque. The time required for
the trip over this route was twenty-five days. Upon the beginning
of the Civil war the line was changed to the "Northern (or Central)
Route," via Forts Kearney, Laramie and Bridger and Salt Lake
City to Placerville, Cal. The first stages over this route left
St. Joseph and Placerville simultaneously on July i, 1861, and the
time was shortened to seventeen days.
The Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company was organ-
ized and placed in operation early in the summer of 1859 by the
firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, and by the close of that year
there were six different mail routes to the Pacific coast, the aggre-
gate cost of which to the Government was about two millions of
dollars annually.
THE PONY EXPRESS
In 1854 William Gwin, one of the United States senators from
California, covered a large part of the journey to Washington on
horseback, passing through Salt Lake City en route. On the way he
fell in with B. F. Ficklin, general manager for Russell, Majors &
Waddell, and the two discussed the feasibility of a fast mail line
from the Missouri River to the coast, the mail to be carried by riders
on horseback. At the succeeding session of Congress, Mr. Gwin
introduced a bill providing for a weekly mail or "letter express"
between St. Louis and San Francisco, to operate on a ten-day schedule,
the cost of each round trip not to exceed five hundred dollars. The
bill was referred to the committee on military afrairs, which never
made a report.
In 1859 there were three recognized lines of mail transit between
the East and the West, to-wit: First, the Panama line, which was
the most popular and received the largest patronage, but which, on
account of its location, was likely to be greatly endangered in the
event the Southern States withdrew from the Union; second, the
"Butterfield Route," which started from St. Louis and ran far to
the southward, entering the State of California near the southeast
corner, almost five hundred miles from San Francisco; third, the
"Central Route," which followed the Platte River and reached Cali-
fornia via Salt Lake Citv. This route was recommended bv the
Gwin bill of 1855.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD :«i
Toward the close of the year 1859, William Russell, senior mem-
ber of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, was in Washington
in connection with some freight contracts with the Government.
While there he met Senator Gwin and with him discussed an over-
land mail route. Mr. Russell thought he saw an opportunity to
secure a profitable contract with the 'Government for carrying the
mail, if he could manage to keep the route open during the winter
months and equal or lower the time schedule of the Panama line.
He even went so far as to commit his firm to the undertaking with-
out first consulting his partners. Upon his return to Leavenworth,
he found Majors and Waddell rather unfavorably inclined, but as
he had agreed to make the trial they joined him in the incorpora-
tion of the "Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express
Company," which was granted a charter by the Territorial Legis-
lature of Kansas, and which was authorized to operate a passenger
and freighting business, as well as a "Pony Express." In the St.
Louis Republic of March 26, i860, appeared the following notice:
"To San Francisco in eight days by the Central Overland Cali-
fornia & Pike's Peak Express Company. The first courier of the
Pony Express will leave the Missouri River on Tuesday, April 3d,
at 5 o'clock P. M., and will run regularly weekly thereafter. * *
The Express passes through Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, Fort
Bridger, Salt Lake City, Camp Floyd, Carson City, Washoe Silver
Mines, Placerville and Sacramento."
Promptly at the hour advertised, Johnny Frey took the first mail
out of St. Joseph by the Pony Express and at the same hour the east-
bound mail left San Francisco on a fast steamer and was sent up the
Sacramento River to Sacramento, where is was taken by Harry Rofif,
the first Pony Express rider out of Sacramento. At the stations along
the route relay riders and steeds were ready, and when the two mails
met the riders set out on the return trip. Each rider received a salary
of from $125 to $150 per month, and was required to abstain from in-
toxicating liquors and profane language while in the employ of Rus-
sell, Majors & Waddell as a courier.
From the Missouri River, the route followed in general the Ore-
gon and California trails, except where time and distance could be
saved by a "short cut" across the prairies. From Fort Kearney the
rider followed the south bank of the Platte River for about two hun-
dred miles. At Cottonwood Springs — the junction of the North and
South forks of the Platte — he took a course almost due west to Jules-
332 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
burg, Colo., where he forded the South Fork of the Platte and then
followed as nearly a direct line as possible to Fort Laramie. From
Fort Laramie the route lay up the North Platte and Sweetwater
rivers, through the South Pass, to Fort Bridger, and thence by the
most direct route to Salt Lake City. A "branch line" ran from Fort
Bridger and followed the Oregon Trail to the Northwest. From
Salt Lake City the main route passed down the Humboldt Valley
through Carson City and Placerville.to Sacramento. Much of this
route traversed the wildest regions of the United States and there
were but four military posts along the line.
The bag in which the mail was carried was called a "mochila"
and contained four pockets — two in front and two behind the rider's
legs. Letters were wrapped in oiled silk to protect them from mois-
ture. The charges for each half-ounce letter were at first $5, but this
rate was afterward reduced to $1. Eighty riders were employed and
they were always on the go, except for the brief periods of rest be-
tween the change from east to west, each man riding eastward half
of his time and westward the other half. They were men who could
be relied on to retain their presence of mind in an emergency, were
expert horsemen and strangers to fear. Each man carried his trusty
"six gun" and well-filled cartridge belt and some of the stories of the
thrilling experiences of the Pony Express riders discount fiction.
.Among the most noted of these men may be mentioned Johnny Frey,
Harry RofT, William F. Cody (better knowns as Buffalo Bill),
"Jim" Moore, "Major" Egan, Robert Haslam (commonly called
"Pony Bob"), Joaquin Miller, who afterward acquired fame as the
"Poet of the Sierras," George Gardner, "Irish Tom," Dan Westcott,
H. J. Faust, Sam Hamilton and J. G. Kelley.
When Edward Creighton completed the Pacific Telegraph in
October, 1861, the Pony Express went out of business. It had been a
iosing venture from the S'tart. The purchase of some four hundred
good horses, the establishment of stations at distances of ten or twelve
miles apart along the route, the wages of riders and station keepers,
the tranportation of supplies, etc., absorbed all the receipts and left a
deficit. But while the Pony Express was in existence it added ro-
mance and adventure to the history of the Great West. During the
sixteen months from April, i860, to October, 1861, the Pony Express
riders traveled over six hundred and fifty thousand miles in the ag-
gregate. AH had their adventures with hostile Indians, road agents
and blizzards, and some of them lost their lives while in the discharge
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 333
of their duty. The history of the West shows no more reliable, cour-
ageous and persistent men than the Pony Express riders.
BEX HOLLADAY
About the time the Pony Express was discontinued, Ben Holladay
succeeded to the business of the Butterfield Overland Company and
Russell, Majors & Waddell. He brought new capital and new energy
to the freighting and stage coaching business and in a short time he
became widely known as the "King of Western Transportation."
Within twelve months after taking possession, Holladay expended
nearly two million dollars in building new stations, purchasing new
coaches and otherwise improving the service. At the height of the
Overland's prosperity, Holladay owned 500 stage coaches, a large
number of freight wagons, over five thousand horses and mules and
a "host of oxen." He also owned sixteen steamers which plied be-
tween San Francisco, Panama, Oregon, China and Japan, and the
Government paid him about one million dollars annually on mail
contracts. The statement has been frequently made that Ben Holla-
day established the Overland Stage Company, but this is incorrect.
He purchased the interests of the founders and succeeded where they
had failed.
The coaches used by the Overland Company were of the type
known as "Concord," so called because they were built at Concord,
N. H., and the harness was made by the Hill Harness
Company of the same city. At the front and rear of each coach was
a "boot." In the front boot was carried the treasure box and in the
rear boot the mail. Passengers rode inside the coach and their light
baggage was piled on the roof. The horses were mostly Kentucky
bred, the six horses composing each team being matched as nearly as
possible with regard to size and color. While Holladay was at the
head of the company, it was his boast that no transportation company
ever owned a better lot of horses.
Soon after coming into possession of the Overland, Holladay put
on a line of stages between Salt Lake City and Helena, Mont., the
route being practically that on which the Utah Northern Railroad
was afterward built. A little later he established a line to the North-
west and early in the year 1864 he was awarded two new mail con-
tracts by the postoflice department — one to carry mails between Salt
Lake City and Helena, a distance of 450 miles, and the other between
Salt Lake City and The Dalles, Ore., a distance of 67; miles.
334 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
There was also a line of Overland stages between Salt Lake City and
Denver, the route following the old "Spanish Trail." It was on this
line that the incident described by Dr. W. R. Thomas, in his "Ro-
mance of the Border," under the caption :
EDLXATIXG A TENDERFOOT
Among the stage drivers on the Denver & Salt Lake line was one
known as "Bishop" West. He received his sobriquet of "Bishop"
through the fact that one of the station keepers on the line was a
bishop of the Latter-day Saints named West, and the other drivers on
the line gave the nickname to thier comrade. His real name has been
apparently forgotten. Between Central City and Idaho Springs,
where West had his "run," the road followed the Virginia Canyon,
"three miles up hill and three miles down." It was one of the best
places of road in the whole Overland system and West was one of the
most expert drivers in the company's employ. On one of his west-
bound trips his only passenger was a man from the East, a compan-
ionable sort of fellow, who rode on the box with the driver. As the
coach ascended the ridge he was constantly complaining of the slow
progress they were making.
"I have heard a good deal about Overland stage driving," he re-
marked to West, just before they reached the summit, "but I haven't
seen any of it yet."
"Maybe you will before you get out of the mountains," replied
the Bishop, with a quizzical glance at his passenger, at the same time
dismounting from the box to see that his brake blocks were properly
adjusted before undertaking the descent. This action did not meet
the approval of the passenger.
"Aren't we going near enough to a snail's pace now," he testily
asked, "without stopping to bother with the brakes?" He failed to
notice the look in the driver's eye, however, which Doctor Thomas
describes as "malicious."
Having satisfied himself that the brakes were in good working
order, West resumed his seat on the box, carefully gathered up the
reins, and a few rods farther the old Concord rolled over the crest of
the divide. Then things began to happen. With a yell like a Co-
manche Indian on the war path. Bishop "threw the silk" into the
flanks of the leaders and away they went at full speed. The passen-
ger at first begged, then stormed and raved, uttering a few "cuss-
words," but the only response was the cracking of the whip like a
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 335
pistol in the horses' ears and the yells of the driver to "Get out of
the way." The coach rocked and skidded, and when only about half
way down the slope the situation looked so desperate to the passen-
ger that, finding supplication and protestation alike in vain, he
leaped from the coach.
Without looking back to see what had happened to the fault-find-
ing tenderfoot, Bishop went on down the hill until he reached Idaho
Springs, having made the descent of three miles in less than twelve
minutes. About an hour later the tenderfoot came limping in,
scratched and bruised, with torn clothing, uttering anathemas against
all stage drivers, and especially against Bishop West. But he was
never again heard to complain of the slowness of the Overland
coaches. His education in that respect was complete.
PASSING OF THE STAGE COACH
About a year after Ben Holladay acquired possession of the Over-
land, hostile Indians began a series of raids upon his stations. The
annoyance from this quarter became so great that late in the summer
of 1862 the route was changed to the South Platte, running by way of
Julesburg, Laramie Plains, Bridger's Pass and Green River to Fort
Bridger, where the old line was struck and followed to Salt Lake
City. Indian raids continued, however, and so crippled the service
that in November, 1866, Holladay sold the Overland to Wells, Fargo
(?c Company.
With the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, the stage
business began to decline. Wells, Fargo & Company began running
their stages from stations on the railroad to the towns in the interior.
As other railroads were built the stage lines were correspondingly
abridged and the Overland is now only a memory. Many people
born and reared in the West never saw a Concord coach. Among the
stage drivers were men who became celebrated in the history and ro-
mance of the frontier. One of these was Hank Monk, who was made
famous by Horace Greeley. Others were Jack Gilmer, "Billy"
Opdike, Enoch Cummings, "Keno" Armstrong, Thomas Rannahan
and "Bishop" West. On one occasion "Keno" Armstrong drove 610
miles in no hours "without a wink of sleep." With few exceptions
the stage driver was a man in every sense of the word and a character
to be reckoned with in all western settlements. They were not more
iiuarrelsome than other men, yet when occasion required most of them
could "hit hard and shoot straight." So noted were the old time stage
336 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
drivers in the annals of the West that a popular song of that period
was entitled "The High Salaried Driver of the Denver Line."
The stage coach and the freight wagon were potent factors in the
development Of the Great West, but the locomotive whistle has taken
the place of the crack of the "bull-whacker's" whip, and the towns
away from the railroad lines are now reached by automobile instead
of the old "Concord coach and- six." Instead of requiring a whole
season to freight a consignment of goods from the Missouri River to
Salt Lake City and make the return trip, the railroad now transacts
the business in a few days. The story of Utah railroads follows, but
it lacks many of the thrilling and romantic features of the old-time
stage coaching and freighing days "when the West was young."
THE RAILROAD ERA
In 1826 a railroad three miles long was constructed from the
granite quarries at Quincy, Mass., to the sea coast — the first rail-
road in the United States. It was built for the purpose of transport-
ing the stone for the Bunker Hill monument from the quarries to the
barges which were to carry it to Boston. The cars on this road were
drawn by horses.
About a year later a railroad nine miles in length was built
from Mauch Chunk, Penn., to some coal mines. In the construc-
tion of this road, as in the one at Quincy, wooden rails were used,
with a strap of iron nailed on the top to prevent wear. A diminutive
engine— about the size of those used by threshermen of the present
day — was used on the Mauch Chunk Railroad, and the cars would
not carry over five tons of coal each. Wrecks were frequent, due to
the nails through the iron strap working loose. Yet a railroad even
of this crude character awakened capitalists to the possibilities of
steam as a means of land transportation, and during the decade fol-
lowing the completion of the Mauch Chunk line charters were
granted to railroad companies by the Legislatures of a number of the
states.
In April, 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company was
chartered by the Maryland Legislature. The first tie was placed in
position on July 4, 1828, by Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and on August 28, 1830,
the first train ran from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, a distance of
thirteen miles. The engine that pulled the one coach was called the
"Tom Thumb" and was built by Peter Cooper. The coach accom-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 337
modated thirty-six passengers. In 1835 Washington and Baltimore
were connected by railroad. Charters were granted to railroad com-
panies by the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois
and in 1857 one could travel by railroad from the Atlantic seaboard
to the .Mississippi River at St. Louis.
THE UNION PACIFIC
As early as 18 19, eight years before the building of the little
Mauch Chunk Railroad, Robert Mills, of Virginia, proposed a
"cross-country" railway. His views were first presented to the gen-
eral public through the columns of the newspapers and later to Con-
gress, to which body he suggested, if found to be practicable, "steam
propelled carriages for quickened service across the continent, to run
from the headwaters of inland navigation over a direct route to the
Pacific."
Mr Mills was several years in advance of the times, and little at-
tention was paid to his suggestions and theories, but it is now gener-
ally conceded that he was the first American to propose a transcon-
tinental railway. About 1830 a few of the leading newspapers of the
country began advocating a railroad from New York to the mouth
of the Columbia River. Five or six years later Asa Whitney, of New
York; Salmon P. Chase, Wade and Hosmer, of Ohio; General Rob-
inson and Butler S. King, of Pennsylvania; Thomas H. Benton, of
Missouri, and a number of other foresighted men, urged the con-
struction of a railroad from some point on the Missouri River to the
Pacific coast. Asa Whitney afterward went to China and upon his
return in 1849 he was enthusiastic on the subject of a railroad to the
Pacific, claiming that it would give the United States a monopoly of
the Chinese trade.
Utah was not a laggard in this agitation for a transcotinental rail-
way. The first Territorial Legislature was convened on September
22, 1851, and on March 3, 1852, Governor Brigham Young approved
the following memorial to Congress:
UTAH'S MEMORIAL
"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled:
"Your memorialists, the Governor and Legislative Assembly of
the Territory of Utah, respectfully pray your honorable body to pro-
vide for the establishment of a national central railroad from some
338 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
eligible point on the Mississippi or Missouri River to San Diego,
San Francisco, Sacramento or Astoria, or such other point on or near
the Pacific coast as the wisdom of your honorable body may dictate.
"Your memorialists respectfully state that the immense emigra-
tion to and from the Pacific requires the immediate attention, guar-
dian care and fostering assistance of the greatest and most liberal gov-
ernment on earth. Your memorialists are of the opinion that not less
than five thousand American citizens have perished on the different
routes within the last three years, for the want of proper means of
transportation. That an eligible route can be obtained, your memo-
rialists have no doubt, being extensively acquainted with the country.
We know that no obstruction exists between this point and San Diego,
and that iron, coal, timber, stone and other materials exist in various
places along the route; and that the settlements of this territory are so
situated as amply to supply the builders of said road with material
and provisions for a considerable portion of the route, and to carry
on an extensive trade after the road is completed.
"Your memorialists are of the opinion that the mineral resources
of Califronia and these mountains can never be fully developed to
the benefit of the United States without the construction of such a
road, and upon its completion the entire trade of China and the East
Indies will pass through the heart of the Union, thereby giving to
our citizens the almost entire control of the Asiatic and Pacific trade;
pouring into the lap of the American states the millions that are now
diverted through other commercial channels; and last, though not
least, the road herein proposed would be a perpetual chain or iron
band, which would effectually hold together our glorious Union with
an imperishable identity of mutual interest, thereby consolidating our
relations with foreign powers in times of peace and insuring our de-
fense from foreign invasion, by the speedy transmission of troops and
supplies in times of war.
"The earnest attention of Congress to this important subject is
solicited by your memorialists, who, in duty bound, will ever pray."
FIRST MOVE BY CONGRESS
In 18153 Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, introduced in the United
State Senate a bill providing for surveys of four routes to the Pacific
coast, to wit: i. A line from some point on the Upper Mississippi
River via the Yellowstone Valley to Puget Sound; 2. A line along
or near the thirty-sixth parallel, through Walker's Pass of the Rocky
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 339
Mountains, to strike the coast somewhere near Los Angeles or San
Diego, Cal.; 3. A line through the Rocky Mountains near the head-
waters of the Rio Del Norte and Huerfano River, via the Great Salt
Lake Basin; 4. A line along the thirty-second parallel, via El Paso
and the Valley of the Colorado River, to strike the coast somewhere
in Southern California. The act was approved by President Fill-
more on March 3, 1853.
Although the act provided for but four surveys, Jefiferson Davis,
then secretary of war, sent five engineering corps into the West to
examine and report upon the feasibility of constructing a transcon-
tinental railway on one or more of the five different routes. One of
these surveys, known as the "Northern Route," passed between the
forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels; the second, called the "Cen-
tral Route," also the Overland or Mormon Route, was made between
the forty-first and forty-third parallels; the third survey followed the
thirty-ninth parallel and was called the "Buffalo Trail;" the fourth
followed the thirty-fifth parallel, starting from the Missouri River
near Kansas City, and the fifth, known as the "Southern Route," ran
via El Paso and the Colorado River.
Under date of January 27, 1855, Mr. Davis made a full report of
what had been done in the way of surveying or reconnoitering the
routes above mentioned. Immediately following the submission of
the report, Stephen A. Douglas, then United States senator from
Illinois, introduced a bill proposing three routes to the Pacific coast
— one via El Paso and the Colorado, to be called the "Southern Pa-
cific;" one from some point on the western border of Iowa, to be
called the "Central Pacific," and a third farther north, to be known
as the "Northern Pacific." It is a fact worthy of note that three great
trunk lines were afterward built upon practically the lines suggested
by the Douglas Bill of 1855, and that they bear the names therein
given.
FINAL ACTION
On July I, 1862, President Lincoln approved the bill creating the
Union Pacific Railroad Company, which was authorized and em-
powered "to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain and enjoy a
continuous railroad and telegraph, with the appurtenances, from a
point on the one-hundredth meridian of longitude west from Green-
wich, between the south margin of the Valley of the Republican
River, and the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, in the
340 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Territory of Nebraska, to the western boundary of Nevada Terri-
tory." etc.
Section 14 of the act required the railroad company to "construct
a single line of railroad and telegraph from a point on the western
boundary of the State of Iowa, to be fixed by the President of the
United States." In accordance with this provision. President Lin-
coln, on November i, 1863, designated the City of Omaha as the east-
ern terminus — about two hundred miles east of the one-hundredth
meridian.
The bill granted to the railroad company a right of way 4(X5
feet wide through the public lands, and also every alternate or odd
numbered section of land to the amount of five alternate sections per
mile on each side of the road within the limit of ten miles, not sold
or otherwise disposed of, mineral lands excepted. It was further pro-
vided that bonds to the amount of $16,000 per mile should be issued
by the United States to aid in the construction of the road, that
amount to be trebled through the Rocky and Sierra Nevada moun-
tains, said bonds to become a first mortgage lien upon the property.
By another provision of the act, the directors of the company were
required to meet in the City of Chicago on the first Tuesday in Sep-
tember, 1862, for the purpose of organization. At the time and place
designated the directors elected William B. Ogden as the first presi-
dent. All the conditions imposed by the act having been complied
with, ground was broken in the "North Omaha Bottoms" on Tuesday,
December 2, 1863. The long talked of Pacific Railroad was actually
begun.
Progress in construction was slow at first, owing to the inflated
prices of materials caused by the Civil war. A contract for the con-
struction of the first 100 miles west from Omaha was awarded to H.
M. Hoxie on October 4, 1864; the first rail was laid on July 10, 1865;
ten miles of road were completed by the 22nd of September follow-
ing, and on January 26, 1866, the first Government inspection was
made by Col. J. H. Simpson, Maj. William White and Gen. Sam-
uel R. Curtis, who reported thirty miles of road completed and sev-
eral miles more ready for the ties and rails. This work had been done
by Mr. Hoxie before he surrendered his contract on account of the
unexpected difficulties encountered.
CREDIT MOBILIER
At a meeting of the directors in New York on October 29, 1863,
Gen. John A. Dix was elected president, to succeed William B.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 341
Ogden, and Dr. Thomas A. Durant was elected vice president. Early
in the year 1867 General Dix, Doctor Durant, Oakes Ames and
others connected with the Union Pacific Company, bought out the
moribund concern known as the "Pennsylvania Fiscal Company,"
which had been chartered by that state in 1859, with power to con-
duct a general loan and contracting business. The new owners reor-
ganized the company as a construction insurance company under the
name of the "Credit Mobilier of America." The Credit Mobilier
took over the unfinished contract of Mr. Hoxie and before the close
of the year 1867 had completed the railroad to Cheyenne, Wyo.
Unfortunately the Credit Mobilier became involved in scandal
and entangled in political intrigue, which destroyed its usefulness as
a railroad builder. Its purposes — much misunderstood and mis-
trustee from the beginning — were discredited by rumors of "graft and
corruption" and it was forced to suspend. In 1872 Congress ordered
an investigation. Several members of Congress and others prominent
in public life were found to be connected with the Credit Mobilier as
stockholders, a fact which relegated most of them to political ob-
livion.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC
The western portion of the great transcontinental railway was
built under the name of the "Central Pacific." Among the men who
were most active in building this section of the road were Collis P.
Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles and Edward
B. Crocker, Cornelius Cole and Theodore D. Judah, the last named
being the chief engineer in charge of the construction. Ground was
broken for the Central Pacific at Sacramento, Cal., February 22,
1863, nearly nine months before ground was broken at Omaha for the
Union Pacific.
By the act of July ist, 1862, chartering the Union Pacific, that
company was authorized to build its line to the western boundary of
Nevada. On July 3, 1866, President Johnson approved a supple-
mentary act giving the Central Pacific authority to build on eastward
until a junction was effected with the Union Pacific. The same act
also gave the Union Pacific Company the privilege of extending
its line beyond the western boundary of Nevada, unless a junction
should sooner be effected. With the passage of this act the race began
in earnest, each company doing its utmost to reach the construction
limit of its charter.
342 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
During the winter of 1867-68 the western terminus of the Union
Pacific was at Cheyenne. As soon as the weather would permit in
the spring of 1868, work was resumed, with Gen. Grenville M.
Dodge in charge as chief engineer, and during the summer and fall
all previous track-laying records were broken. In October the road
was finished and trains were running to Bridger's Pass. West of that
point much of the roadbed was graded, only a gap here and there
not being ready for the ties and rails. Brigham Young took a con-
tract to grade ninety miles of the road from the head of Echo Canyon
westward, and Joseph F. Nounan & Company, of Salt Lake City,
had a large contract immediately east of Young's.
Meanwhile the Central Pacific was by no means idle, pushing
its grade rapidly eastward. Ezra T. Benson, of Logan, Lorin Farr
and Chauncey W. West, of Ogden, took a large grading contract on
the Central Pacific. In the winter of 1868-69 ^^^ grades of the two
roads met and passed in Northern Utah, parallel to each other, until
the Union Pacific had nearly 200 miles graded beyond the most
advanced work of the Central. Fifty-three miles of the Central
grade constructed by Benson, Farr & West between Ogden and
Promontory were not used, though the contractors received full pay
for their work. The first train on the Union Pacific reached Ogden
about 2:30 p. m., March 8, 1869. The city was decorated with flags
and the train was greeted with music by the Old Ogden City Band,
and practically every man, woman and child of the city turned out
to witness the arrival of the first railroad train, which halted at the
marsh lands just east of the Weber River. Congress was called upon
to adjust the difficulties and fix a point of junction, but before that
body could act, the officials of the two companies agreed upon
Promontory Point as the place of union. There, on May 10, 1869,
was driven the last spike that welded together the East and the West
bv a great transcontinental railway.
THE GOLDEN SPIKE
The following description of the ceremonies at Promontory
Point on the occasion of the junction of the Union and Central Pacific
railroads is taken from General Dodge's book,' "How We Built the
Union Pacific Railway."
"Hon. Leland Stanford, governor of California and president of
the Central Pacific, accompanied by Messrs. Huntington, Hopkins,
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 343
Crocker and trainloads of California's distinguished citizens, arrived
from the West. During the forenoon Vice President T. C. Durant,
Directors John R. Duff and Sidney Dillon and Consulting Engineer
Silas A. Seymour, of the Union Pacific, with other prominent men,
including a delegation of Mormons from Salt Lake City, came on a
train from the East. The National Government was represented by
a detachment of regulars from Fort Douglas, Utah, accompanied by
a band, and 600 others, including Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, half-
breeds, negroes and laborers, suggesting an air of cosmopolitanism,
all gathered around the open space where the tracks were to be
joined. The Chinese laid the rails from the west end and the Irish
l.iborers laid them from the east end until they met and joined.
"Telegraphic wires were so connected that each blow of the
descending sledge could be reported instantly to all parts of the Uni-
ted States. Corresponding blows were struck on the bell of the
city hall in San Francisco, and with the last blow of the sledge a
cannon was fired at Fort Point. General Safford presented a spike
of gold, silver and iron as the offering of the Territory of Arizona.
Governor Tuttle of Nevada presented a spike of silver from his state.
The connecting tie was of California laurel, and California presented
the last spike of gold in behalf of that state. A silver sledge had
also been presented for the occasion. A prayer was offered. Gov-
ernor Stanford made a few appropriate remarks on behalf of the
Central Pacific and the chief engineer (General Dodge) responded
for the Union Pacific. Then the telegraphic inquiry from the
Omaha office, from which the circuit was to be started, was answered :
"'To everybody: Keep quiet. When the last spike is driven
at Promontory Point we will say "Done." Don't break the circuit
but watch for the signals of the blows of the hammer. The signal
will be three dots for the commencement of the blows.'
"The magnet tapped one — two — three — then paused — 'Done.'
The spike was given its first blow by President Stanford, and Vice
President Durant followed. Neither hit the spike the first time, but
hit the rail, and was greeted by the lusty cheers of the onlookers,
accompanied by screams of the locomotives and the music of the
military band. Many other spikes were driven on the last rail by
some of the distinguished persons present, but it was seldom they
first hit the spike. The original spike, after being tapped by the
officials, was driven home by the chief engineers of the two roads.
344 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Then the two trains were run together, the two locomotives touching
at the point of junction, and the engineers of the two locomotives
each broke a bottle of champagne on the other's engine. Then it
was declared that the connection 'was made and the Atlantic and
Pacific were joined together, never to be parted."
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS ABOUT THE UXIOX PACIFIC
The first locomotive used by the Union Pacific Company was
named the "General Sherman," with Thomas Jordan as the first
engineer. The second locomotive, the "General McPherson," was
brought up the Missouri River on the steamer Colorado in July,
1865, and was placed in commission on the 3d of August. The loco-
motive at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869, was the "No. 119,"
and the Central Pacific engine there was named the "Jupiter."
The Union Pacific built 1,086 miles westward from Omaha and
the Central Pacific 690 miles eastward from Sacramento. After
the two lines were united at Promontory Point, Congress passed an
act making Ogden the junction point. The Central Pacific Com-
pany then purchased the Union Pacific tracks between Ogden and
Promontory.
Since the transcontinental railway was opened for traffic on May
10, 1869, the main line has been double tracked from Omaha to
Granger, Wyoming, a distance of 844 miles, and from San Francisco
east to Blue Canyon, a distance of 268 miles. It is a question of only
a few more years until the entire main line will be a double-track
railroad.
The Union Pacific was the first railroad west of the Missouri
River to run first class sleeping cars, dining cars and electric lighted
trains, and it is the only transcontinental line that operates two daily
trains carrying mail and express matter exclusively. These trains
constitute the Government's fast mail service to the Pacific coast.
GOLDEN SPIKE JUBILEE
On May 10, 1919, the semicentennial of the completion of the
great transcontinental railway was celebrated in an appropriate
manner at Ogden, with an industrial parade of gorgeous floats illus-
trating the progress of half a century, etc. A large number of
pioneers, who worked on either the Union or Central Pacific, were
present, the State of Utah and the Utah Historical Society providing
transportation for many of them. Among these old-timers was
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 345
Hyrum \^'ilcox, of Sunnyside, Utah, who has preserved all these
years a piece of the tie in which the gold spike was driven, and who
was on the pilot of one of the locomotives when they met that May
day in 1869 at Promontory.
Another old resident who worked on the Union Pacific, was John
W. Gardner, of Pleasant Grove, Utah, foreman of a gang of men
on Brigham Young's contract in Echo Canyon. Mr. Gardner recalled
the words of a little ditty composed and sang by his men, to-wit:
"At the head of Great Echo the railroad begun.
The Mormons are cutting and grading like fun,
They say they'll stick to it till it is complete,
For Friends and relatives we long for to meet.
"Hurrah! Hurrah! the railroad's begun;
Three cheers for contractor — his name, Brigham Young;
Hurrah! Hurrah! we're honest and true,
And if we stick to it, it's bound to go through."'
THE UTAH CENTRAL
On March 8, 1869, the Utah Central Railroad Company was
organized by Brigham Young, Joseph A. Young, George Q. Cannon,
Daniel H. Wells, Christopher Layton, D. O. Calder, 'William Jen-
nings and others, for the purpose of constructing a line of railroad
between Salt Lake City and Ogden, to connect at the latter point with
the Union Pacific. Brigham Young's experience as a contractor on
the Union Pacific had given him a practical knowledge of railroad
building and he was elected president of the company.
Ground was broken at Ogden on May 17, 1869, ^"^ ^^he first
rail was laid at Ogden on the 22d of September following. By
December 6, 1869, trains were running between Ogden and Farm-
ington, the county seat of Davis County. Although it was winter,
the work was carried forward with vigor and on January 10, 1870,
the last spike was driven at Salt Lake City and the first train steamed
into Utah's capital. The ceremonies on that occasion are thus
described by Tullidge, in his History of Salt Lake City:
"The weather was cold; a heavy fog hung over the city of the
Great Salt Lake; but the multitude assembled and by two o'clock
p. m. there was gathered around the depot block not less than 15,000
people. As the train with invited guests from Ogden and other
northern settlements came dashing toward the end of the track,
346 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
shouts arose from the assembled city. A large steel mallet had been
prepared for the occasion, made at the blacksmith shop of public
works of the Church. The 'last spike' was forged of Utah iron,
manufactured ten years previously by the late Nathaniel V. Jones.
The mallet was elegantly chased, bearing on the top an engraved
beehive (the emblem of the State of Deseret) surrounded by the
inscription, 'Holiness to the Lord,' and underneath the beehive
were the letters, 'U. C. R. R.' A similar ornament consecrated the
spike. The mallet and spike were made and ornamented by James
Lawson.
"The sun, which had hid himself behind the clouds during the
whole day, burst forth as in joy to witness the event of laying the
last rail almost at the very instant. It was a glad surprise and the
assembled thousands took it as a happy omen. The honor of driving
the last spike in the first railroad built by the Mormon people was
assigned to President Young."
In the throng which gathered to witness the completion of the
Utah Central were the officials of the company, prominent men
connected with the Union and Central Pacific roads, a detachment
of troops and a military band from Fort Douglas. Prayer was
offered by Wilford Woodruff, after which short speeches were
made by George Q. Cannon, William Jennings and Joseph A. Young,
of the Utah Central; Col. B. O. Carr, of the Union Pacific; T. B.
Morris, chief engineer of the western division of the Union Pacific,
and after President Young drove the last spike the road was declared
opened for traffic.
THE UTAH SOUTH ERX
The Utah Southern Railroad Company was incorporated on
January 17, 1871, by William Jennings (president), John Sharp
(vice president), Feramorz Little (superintendent), Joseph A.
Young, Daniel H. Wells, Le Grand Young, George Swan and
others, to "construct and operate a line of railroad from Salt Lake
City to the southern part of the Territory of Utah."
Ground was broken at Salt Lake City on May i, 1871, and before
the close of the year the road was completed to Draper, in the south-
ern part of Salt Lake County, a distance of seventeen miles. On
September 23, 1872, the first train reached Lehi, and just a year later
it was opened for traffic to American Fork. On November 25, 1873,
the citizens of Provo joined in a celebration over the completion of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 3i7
the road to that city. Work was then suspended for a time, but on
February i6, 1875, the road was completed to York, which place
remained the terminus for about two years. Then the road was
extended to Juab, the first train arriving there on June 13, 1879.
UTAH SOUTHERN EXTENSION
The Utah Southern Extension Railroad Company was organized
on January 11, 1879, for the purpose of continuing the Utah Southern
to the Nevada line. The principal members of the company were:
Sidney Dillon and Jay Gould, of New York; S. H. H. Clark, of
Omaha; John Sharp, William Jennings, W. H. Hooper, L. S. Hills,
J. T. and Feramorz Little, and H. S. Eldredge, of Utah. Sidney
Dillon was elected president.
Work was commenced at Juab and on May 15, 1880, trains were
running to Milford, Beaver County. There the road turned west-
ward, to Frisco, where the Horn silver mine was located, 136 miles
from Juab. On June i, 1881, the Utah Central, the Utah Southern
and the Utah Southern Extension were merged into one corporation
under the name of the Utah Central Railway Company, with a cap-
ital stock of $4,325,000. The new company assumed control of the
three lines on July i, 1881, with Sidney Dillon, president; George
Swan, secretary; Lewis S. Hills, treasurer.
UTAH NORTHERN
About the time the Utah Central was completed, John W. Young,
a son of Brigham Young, conceived the idea of building a railroad
northward from some point on the Union Pacific to the Montana
mining districts. The Utah Northern (later the Utah & Northern)
Railroad Company was organized on August 23, 1871, with John
W. Young as president, and authorized to construct a narrow gauge
railroad from Ogden to some point in Montana to be determined
later.
Ground was broken at Brigham City three days after the company
was organized. Tracklaying was commenced at the same place on
March 25, 1872, and on the 8th of June the first passenger train was
placed on the road. On December 19, 1872, trains were running
between Brigham City and Mendon, Cache County, and on January
31, 1873, the road was completed to Logan.
By an act of Congress, approved on March 3, 1873, the company
was granted a right of way through the public domain, for the pur-
348 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
pose of building a narrow gauge railroad "by way of the Bear River
Valley, Soda Springs, Snake River Valley and through Montana
to a connection with the Northern Pacific Railroad, said road to be
completed within ten years after the passage of this act." This act
was afterward modified so as to permit the company to build via
Marsh Valley andPortneuf, instead of via Bear River Valley and
Soda Springs.
In June, 1873, the branch, four miles long, between Brigham
City and Corinne was completed, and in February, 1874, that part
between Brigham City and Ogden was opened for traffic. Before
the close of that year trains were running regularly to Franklin,
Idaho.
Without attempting to follow the fortunes of the Utah Northern
through all its "ups and downs," it is sufficient to say that in 1880
the road was completed to Silver Bow, Mont. The next year it was
extended to Butte and Garrison. Subsequently that portion between
Butte and Garrison was leased for ninety-nine years to the Northern
Pacific.
In the meantime the road was sold at public auction in Salt Lake
City on April 3, 1878, the Union Pacific Company being the pur-
chaser The name was then changed to the Utah & Northern. It
was operated as part of the Union Pacific system until August i,
1889, when it was consolidated with the Oregon Short Line.
OREGON SHORT LINE
When John W. Young first proposed the Utah Northern, he
considered as a terminal point on the Union Pacific the little station
of Hamsfork, in Western Wyoming, the road to follow the Oregon
Trail in a northwesterly direction to the Montana Trail running
between Corinne, Utah, and the Montana mines. He finally selected
Ogden instead of Hamsfork, but the attention of railroad builders
was thus called to the Oregon Trail as a possible route for a rail-
road to the Northwest.
A company was organized, preliminary surveys were made in
1878, and the following year location maps were filed for a railroad
to run from Granger, Wyoming, through Idaho to Oregon, "on or
near the Oregon Trail." Right of way through the public domain
was secured and in 1880 work was commenced at Granger. About
the middle of June, 1882, the track was laid to the Idaho line and
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 349
in 1884 the road was completed to Huntington, Oregon, where it
connected with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company.
In 1889 the Utah & Northern became a part of the Oregon Short
Line system, and on October 12, 1898, the Union Pacific obtained
control of the Oregon Short Line, with all its branches, having ten
of the fifteen directors. At the head of the new board was E. H.
Harriman, one of the greatest railroad men of modern times. Under
his management the Utah & Northern was raised to standard gauge
in 1899 and the entire system was reorganized. (See also the Los
Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad).
DENVER & RIO GRANDE
The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company was incorporated
on October 27, 1870, with a capital stock of $14,000,000 and Gen.
William J. Palmer as president. During the first eight years of its
existence, the company's operations were confined to Colorado. It
was General Palmer's dream, however, to acquire an outlet to the
Pacific coast and in November, 1882, Grand Junction was made
the terminus of a line of railroad reaching in that direction.
In the meantime a company was incorporated in Utah on July
21, 1881, formed by the consolidation of the Sevier Valley Railway
Company, the Salt Lake & Park City Railway Company and some
minor railroad interest, under the name of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western, General Palmer becoming president of the Utah corpora-
tion. Bancroft's History of Utah says:
"The Denver & Rio Grande Western, the Utah division of the
Denver & Rio Grande, system of railroads, first began work here in
1 88 1, and in 1883 had 386 miles of road in operation, running through
Emery, Utah, Salt Lake, Davis and a portion of Weber counties,
with branch lines named the Little Cottonwood and Bingham Can-
yon, the former running east into the Wasatch Mountains and the
latter west into the Oquirrh Range, both being built solely to facili-
tate mining operations. Ninety miles of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western were built entirely by local enterprise, including fifty miles
of the main line extending through the Spanish Fork Canyon, com-
pleted by citizens of Springville and first known as the Utah &
Pleasant Valley Railroad."
The Little Cottonwood and Bingham Canyon branches were
likewise built by local enterprise, by companies organized as early
350 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
as 1872, afterward becoming a part of the Denver & Rio Grande
system.
In 1882 General Palmer retired from the presidency of the com-
pany and the Utah division soon afterward became so seriously
involved financially that a receiver was appointed. The Salt Lake
Tribune of January i, 1886, says:
"The Denver & Rio Grande Western stretches from Ogden to
Grand Junction, Colorado, a distance of 346 miles, while its Bing-
ham, Aha and Pleasant Valley branches bring the road up to about
400 miles in length. This road is well equipped in every particular.
Built in haste four years ago, it has since been improved from time
to time, until brought up to first class standard. Its early history
was marked with troubles from which it has emerged with wonderful
alacrity, proving that the present management is equal to the situa-
tion. When the road passed into the hands of W. H. Bancroft,
receiver, he found plenty to do. During the past year he has had
erected thirty new Howe truss bridges and spanned Green River
with an iron bridge 1,100 feet long. This four-span bridge alone
cost over $40,000, while the entire cost of new bridges the past year
aggregated $125,000. To the rolling stock two first class passenger
engines were added — all paid for out of the earnings."
The Denver & Rio Grande Western was consolidated with the
Denver & Rio Grande on July 23, 1908, when the stock of the former
company was extinguished. The Denver & Rio Grande now has
over 1,000 miles of railroad in Utah, with branches extending to
Marysvale, Nioche, Hiawatha, Mohrland, Nephi, Sunnyside, Heber,
Eureka, Park City and other points. This system of railroads has
been an important agent in the development of Utah's natural
resources.
LOS ANGELES & SALT LAKE
The Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, commonly called the
"Salt Lake Route," is the outgrowth of several railroad enterprises.
In the report of the state board of equalization for 1896 — the year
Utah was admitted to statehood — one of the railroads enumerated
is the "Salt Lake & Los Angeles," running between Salt Lake City
and Saltair, the summer resort on the shore of Great Salt Lake.
This road, 13.8 miles in length, was then valued at $115, 41^0. It is
now operated as the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western and has no
connection with the "Salt Lake Route."
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 351
On January i, 1897, the Oregon Short Line and the Utah North-
ern were sold under the consolidated mortgage of August i, 1889,
for $5,447,500. At the same time the Utah Southern and the Utah
Southern Extension were sold to the same bidders, the former for
$763,000 and the latter for $975,000. The headquarters of these
reorganized roads were established in Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake, Sevier Valley and Pioche Railroad Company
was organized in 1872 to build a railroad from Salt Lake City to
the Pioche mining district in Nevada. Work was commenced on
May 14, 1873, and about twenty miles were completed that year.
Financial straits caused a suspension of the work for a time, but
the road was finally opened to Stockton, Tooele County, forty-one
miles from Salt Lake City. The name was then changed to the
Utah & Nevada, but the failure of the Pioche mines, and other rea-
sons, caused the original project to be abandoned.
On August 21, 1898, the Utah & Pacific Railroad Company was
incorporated, with a capital stock of $825,000, for the purpose of
building a railroad from the terminus of the Utah Southern Exten-
sion to Los Angeles. About this time William A. Clark, the wealthy
copper mine operator of Montana, became interested in a project
to extend the Utah & Nevada from the western boundary line of
Utah to Los Angeles. He acquired a controlling interest in the
reorganized Utah Southern, Utah Southern Extension, the Utah
& Nevada and the Utah & Pacific. The San Pedro, Los Angeles
& Salt Lake Railroad Company was then organized. In 1900 Thomas
Kearns. of Salt Lake City, was elected one of the directors of this
company, which was then rapidly pushing its construction work in
Nevada and California.
The last spike on the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Rail-
road was driven on January 30, 1905, at a point near the present Town
of Jean, Nevada, about twenty miles from the California line. The
event was accompanied by appropriate and imposing ceremonies
and was hailed with delight by Utah, as the new road shortened the
distance between Salt Lake City and Southern California by several
hundred miles. Regular train service was not commenced, how-
ever, until about five months later, the interim being employed in
improving the track, providing station accommodations, etc. On
June 2, 1905, the first regular passenger trains left Salt Lake City
and Los Angeles at the same hour and since then the "Salt Lake
Route" has received a large share of the travel to Southern California.
352 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
THE WESTERN PACIFIC
In 1 89 1 Edward T. Jefifery, of Denver, became president and
general manager of the Denver & Rio Grande system, with the
Gould interest in control. The same year the arrangement that
the Rio Grande Western should share equally in all freight business
south of Ogden was abrogated by the Union Pacific and Oregon
Short Line. Although the Ogden gateway was reopened by the
reorganization of 1897, the management of the Denver & Rio Grande
began quietly figuring upon a line to the Pacific coast. In his report
for 1905 President Jeffery gave the first intimation of the determina-
tion of the Goulds to build their own Pacific coast outlet. In this
report he says:
"For many years, while the line of railway between Ogden and
San Francisco was uncontrolled by interests competitive with your
system, your company enjoyed a satisfactory share of traffic to and
from California, and one of the reasons moving the management
four or five years ago to acquire the Rio Grande Western, was the
closer relationship that would be established with the San Francisco
line of the Southern Pacific Company and the freer interchange that
it seemed probable would result therefrom. Subsequent events were
in a measure disappointing. The control of Southern Pacific by
Union Pacific interests has led to unexpected restrictions of inter-
change, and more especially unlooked for impediments in the way
of securing traffic in territory reached by the Southern Pacific line."
Mr. Jefifery then goes on to announce the formation of the West-
ern Pacific Railroad Company, with a capital of $75,000,000, and
states that $50,000,000 worth of the 5 per cent thirty-year gold bonds
had already been placed. He also states that he has accepted the presi-
dency of the new company. The bond issue was guaranteed by the
Denver & Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Western, which were
consolidated on July 23, 1908, as has been already stated.
The construction of the Western Pacific proved- to be a more
expensive proposition, than engineers estimated, owing to heavy
floods in the Humboldt Valley and violent storms in Great Salt
Lake Basin. On November 9, 1908, the road was completed between
Salt Lake City and Shafter, Nevada, a distance of 151 miles, and
in the following February regular train service was established
between those points. One through passenger train each way daily
was inaugurated on August 22, 1910, between Salt Lake City and
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 353
San Francisco (927 miles) , and on July i, 191 1, the road was placed
on a full operating basis.
MINOR RAILROADS
The Utah Eastern, a road projected between Salt Lake City
and the coal fields of Summit County, "the main object being to
obtain a supply of coal at cheaper rates than was charged for fuel
taken from the Union Pacific mines in Wyoming," was first talked
of in 1869 and in October of .that year ground was broken for the
road between Coalville and Echo. A bill passed the Legislature
authorizing certain counties to issue bonds to aid in constructing fhe
road, but it was vetoed by Governor Emery. Late in the year the
road was completed between Coalville and Park City, but it was
never finished according to the original plan. It is now a part of
the Union Pacific system.
The Summit Count>' Railway Company was organized on
November 27, 1871, to build the railroad between Coalville and
Echo which had been commenced two years before. The first car-
load of coal was shipped from Coalville on May 14, 1873. This
road is now controlled by the Union Pacific.
The Wasatch & Jordan Valley Railroad Company was incor-
porated on October 14, 1872. Ground was broken on the 4th of
November and on May 3, 1873, the road was opened to the mouth
of Little Cottonwood Canyon. In September of that year the eastern
terminus was at a place called "Fairfield Flat." The road was
finally completed after many delays between Salt Lake City and
Park City and is now operated by the Denver & Rio Grande.
Other early railways that have been absorbed by some of the
great central systems, were: The Salt Lake & Western, built in
1874-75, from Lehi Junction to the Tintic mines, fifty-seven miles
in length, now controlled by the Los Angeles & Salt Lake; and the
Sanpete Valley Railroad, running between Nephi, Juab County,
and Moroni, Sanpete County, thirty miles in length. It was built
in 1880 and has since been extended to Manti, forming a branch of
the Denver & Rio Grande.
On June i, 1893, the Saltair bathing and amusement resort on
the shore of Great Salt Lake, connected with Salt Lake City by
a short railway line called the Salt Lake & Los Angeles, was opened
to the public. On May 14, 1906, both resort and railroad were sold
354 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
to a local syndicate and the name of the railroad was changed to
the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western.
A short railroad of more modern times is the Deep Creek Rail-
road, forty-five miles in length, running between Gold Hill and
Wendover, in the western part of Tooele County. It is operated as
a part of the Western Pacific.
ELECTRIC LINES
Utah is better supplied with electric railway transportation than
any other of the intermountain states. The Salt Lake & Ogden (now
known as the Bamberger) line was built in 1909; the Utah-Idaho
Central connects Ogden, Logan, Plain City and Huntsville, Utah,
with Preston, Idaho; the Salt Lake & Utah connects Salt Lake City
with Magna and Payson; and the Utah Light & Traction Company
has lines connecting Salt Lake City with Centerville, Midvale,
Holliday and Fort Douglas. A short line connects Lark, Salt Lake
County, with the Bingham mines, and the Emigration Canyon line
furnishes communication between Salt Lake City, White and Red
Quarry.
MILEAGE AND VALUATION
In his report as governor of the Territory of Utah in 1895. the
last report of a territorial governor, Caleb W. West gives the number
of miles of railroad then in Utah as 1,386, of which 160 miles were
narrow gauge (3 feet), and 1,226 miles were standard gauge (4 feet
Sy2 inches). To show the improvement in transportation facilities
since that time, the following table, compiled from the report of
the state board of equalization for 1918, giving the number of miles
of main line and side track, is presented:
Road — Mileage Valuation
Denver & Rio Grande 1,064.46 $23,935,116
Los Angeles & Salt Lake 612.77 18,274,901
Oregon Short Line 407.58 11,819,350
Central Pacific 338.21 1 1,292,043
Union Pacific 182.64 7i035,534
Western Pacific 162.47 5,471,150
Utah (operated by D. & R. G.) . . 73.70 2,716,660
Eureka Hill 8.12 106,742
Total Steam Roads 2,849.95 $80,651,496
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 355
Rand & McNally's Railway Atlas mentions a few roads which
for some reason are not enumerated by the state board of equaliza-
tion. Among these are the Ballard & Thompson Railroad, in Grand
County; the Bingham & Garfield; the Tooele Valley, the St. John
& Ophir and the Uinta, which extends from Colorado into Uinta
County, terminating at Watson. It is probable that the mileage and
assessment of these roads are included with some of the central sys-
tems. The board's report also gives the following mileage and
assessment of electric lines:
Road — Mileage Valuation
Bamberger Lines 68. ii $1,485,255
Utah-Idaho Central 152.65 2,811,717
Salt Lake & Utah 92.40 2,175,270
Utah Light & Traction 90.09 4,540,900
Total 403.25 $11,013,142
This gives the state a total railway mileage of 3,253.20 miles,
valued at $91,664,638, an increase of nearly 200 per cent in mileage
since Governor West's report of 1895, ^"^ the increase in valuation
is even greater, owing to better equipment, terminal buildings, etc.
Of the twenty-nine counties in the state at the beginning of the year
1919. seven were without railroads, viz.: Daggett, Duchesne, Gar-
field, Kane, San Juan, Washington and Wayne.
PART IV
EDUCATIONAL
CHAPTER XVII
UTAH'S SCHOOL SYSTEM
FIRST SCHOOL IN UTAH — PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM — SCHOOL LANDS
GRANTED BY CONGRESS— SCHOOL BUILDINGS— VOCATIONAL EDUCA-
TION — COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE — UNIVERSITY OF UTAH — ^DR.
JOHN R. PARK — UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS AND THEIR COST — APPRO-
PRIATIONS — ^AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE — CEDAR CITY BRANCH-—
APPROPRIATIONS — PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
The first school in Utah, of which there is any record, was opened
in October, 1847, in a small round tent in the west side of the old fort
at Salt Lake City. The teacher was Miss Mary J. Dilworth (after-
ward Mrs. F. A. Hammond), then only seventeen years of age.
Blocks of wood, short pieces of logs, etc., were used as seats for the
pupils and the text-books were a motley collection by various authors,
Webster's old "blue-back" spelling book being the one most in evi-
dence. Miss Dilworth's education was no doubt limited, yet under
her instruction the children of the pioneers received their rudimen-
tary education.
Schools were opened in all the early settlements at an early date.
For those sufficiently advanced, classes were organized in Salt Lake
City in the winter of 1848-49 for the study of ancient and modern
languages. Jesse W. Fox taught the first school at Manti in 1850.
The following year witnessed the opening of schools at Nephi and
Ogden. and a few other settlements. The first school house in Utah
County was built in that year at Palmyra and Evan M. Greene
opened a select school at Provo.
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Prior to 1850 the schools in Utah were of the subscription type,
the parents paying a certain tuition fee for each child enrolled, with
359
360 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
some assistance from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The act of September 9, 1850, establishing a territorial government
for Utah, provided that sections 16 and 36 in each congressional
township, when the public lands were surveyed, should be given to
the territory, to be sold or otherwise disposed of and the proceeds
turned into a fund for the support of the common schools, which
should be free to all children of the territory. At that time the land
thus donated had practically no value and it was several years before
the public school system was placed in good working order. Ban-
croft's History of Utah (p. 708), says:
"For many years a great advantage to the Mormon schools was
the fact that they were allowed to use their meeting houses for public
school purposes. In 1880, when the Legislature passed an act creat-
ing school districts and authorized a tax for the erection and repair
of school buildings, these meeting houses were constituted legal
district schools, though retained for religious purposes, the gentiles,
none of whose children, with rare exceptions, attended them, being
also taxed for the purpose. Hence, legal conflicts arose, the decision
of the courts being that Mormon school trustees could not collect
such taxes while the buildings stood on record as church property.
Many of the ward meeting houses, therefore, were transferred to
school trustees."
The Utah Gazetteer of 1884, four years after the school districts
mentioned by Bancroft were created, states that there were then 411
district schools in the territory, of which 11 1 were primary, 60 inter-
mediate and 240 mixed. The value of district school property at
that time was nearly half a million dollars.
In admitting Utah into the Union, Congress was even more
liberal in the matter of an endowment for the common schools than
it had been in the establishment of the territory. Section 6 of the
Enabling Act, approved by President Cleveland on July 16, 1894,
provided: "That upon the admission of said state into the Union,
sections numbered two, sixteen, thirty-two and thirty-six in every
township of said proposed state, and where such sections, or any
parts thereof, have been sold or otherwise disposed of by or under
the authority of any act of Congress, other lands equivalent thereto,
in legal subdivisions of not less than one-quarter section, and as con-
tiguous as may be to the section in lieu of which the same is taken,
are hereby granted to said state for the support of common schools,
such indemnity lands to be selected within said state in such manner
EAST SIDE HIGH SCHOOL, SALT LAKE CITY
HIGH SCHOOL, OGDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 363
as the Legislature may provide, with the approval of the secretary
of the interior: Provided, That the second, sixteenth, thirty-second
and thirty-sixth sections embraced in permanent reservations for
national purposes shall not, at any time, be subject to the grants nor
to the indemnity provisions of this act, nor shall any lands embraced
in Indian, military, or other reservations of any character be subject
to the grants or to the indemnity provisions of this act until the reser-
vation shall have been extinguished and such lands be restored to
and become a part of the public domain."
It was also provided that the proceeds arising from the sale of
the school lands shall constitute a permanent fund, the interest of
which only shall be used for the support of the common schools.
In addition to the four sections of land in each township, the act also
provided "That five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public
lands lying within said state, which shall be sold by the United
States subsequent to the admission of said state into the Union, after
deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the
state, to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only shall
be expended for the support of the common schools within said state."
Under these wise and liberal provisions of the Enabling Act, the
Federal Government laid the foundation for a system of public
schools, which the people of Utah have taken pride in developing
to its present high standard. John R. Park, the first state superin-
tendent of public instruction, in his report for the year ending Decem-
ber 31, 1896, reported 946 district schools in operation, employing
1,185 teachers, with 79,393 pupils enrolled. The average monthly
wages of male teachers was $65.46, and of female teachers, $35.19.
The total value of public school property then was $2,471,338.
The report of E. G. Gowans, superintendent of public instruc-
tion, for the biennial period ending on June 30, 1918, shows 2,705
teachers in the elementary schools, 743 in the high schools, and an
enrollment of 110,193 pupils out of a total- school population of
134,887. The total value of school property owned by the state at
that time was $12,865,451, of which $11,935,838 represented the
value of the school buildings and grounds and $929,613 the value
of personal property, furniture, text-books, etc. The income from
the permanent district school fund was $1,583,900.80 and the receipts
from all sources for educational purposes amounted to $6,099,846.99.
Such has been the progress of the common schools since the admis-
sion of the state in 1896. According to the report of the state auditor
364 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
for 1918, Utah expends forty-eight cents of every dollar received
for education.
SCHOOL BUILDINGS
The first school houses in Utah were built of logs, lumber or
adobes, without regard to ventilation or sanitary conditions. They
were replaced in the course of a few years by more substantial brick
and frame buildings, in which more attention was paid to the phys-
ical comfort of teachers and pupils, yet even these buildings left
much to be desired. To remedy the defects and obtain a better class
of school houses, the Legislature created the State School Buildings
Commission, which was authorized to employ an architect to examine
all school plans, inspect all school buildings or additions while in
process of construction, and to examine all school buildings of the
state, when called upon to do so, and report their condition to the
commission with recommendations for their improvement. Under
this plan the State of Utah is erecting school buildings of the most
approved type. Dr. E. G. Gowans, in his report for 1918, says:
"From April i, 19 17, to November i, 19 18, fifty-two plans of
school buildings, additions to school buildings and heating plants
were approved by the State School Buildings Commission. With
exception of seven buildings and additions, all of these have been
erected and the major part are completed. The seven buildings
mentioned have been delayed on account of war conditions, but will
no doubt be built in the near future. Thirty of the plans approved
are for buildings of the one-story type, eight of which have base-
ments or ground floors. These ground floors provide space for domes-
tic science and manual training departments, boys' and girls' play
rooms and toilet rooms for each sex. An exhaust system of ventila-
tion is provided for on the ground floor in two of these buildings.
The basements will all be dry, light and airy, -and finished through-
out as completely as the class rooms on the principal floors. Two two-
story and one two-story with basement school buildings have been
erected, all heated and properly ventilated. Two are provided with
natural systems of ventilation and one with a mechanical system."
One of the buildings mentioned by Doctor Gowans is the Parowan
school, a one-story structure containing eleven class rooms, quarters
for manual training and domestic science, principal's office, janitor's
room, store room, toilet rooms, library, a rest room for teachers,
swimming pool and gymnasium. Its cost was $70,000 and it is re-
PETEETNEET SCHOOL, PAYSON
HIGH SCHOOL, MOUNT PLEASANT
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 367
garded as a model of school architecture. With a steadily increasing
income from the permanent school fund, an awakened interest in the
public schools and the administration of educational alYairs by com-
petent men, the public school system of Utah is rapidly forging to
the front. At the beginning of the present century there were but
four high schools in the state included in the public school system,
and in 1918 there were fifty-five. During the school year of 1917-18
the high schools enrolled 1,179 niore pupils than at any previous
year in the school history of the state.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
On February 23, 1917, President Wilson approved what is known
as the Smith-Hughes Act, providing "for the co-operation with
the states in the promotion of vocational education in agriculture
and the trades and industries." State boards of education, consisting
of five or more persons, were required by the act to be given power
to co-operate with the Federal Board of Vocational Education and
to create a special fund, of which the state treasurer should be the
custodian. The provisions of the act were accepted by the Utah
Legislature in a measure approved by Governor Bamberger on
March 17, 1917.
During the first year the Smith-Hughes Act was in force, Utah
qualified more schools under its provisions, according to population,
than any other state in the Union. The Legislature of 1919, in an
act approved on March 21, 1919, reaffirmed the acceptance of the
terms and provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act and appropriated
$100,000 "as a fund to be available in the biennial period beginning
July I. 1919, to be expended by the state board for vocational educa-
tion, for the promotion, aid and maintenance of vocational education
as provided for in the Federal act; and for the promotion, aid and
maintenance of vocational, health and civic education as provided
for in that act of the State of Utah."
The state board was given power by the act to administer the
funds provided by the Federal Government, as well as the state
appropriation, for the promotion, aid and maintenance of vocational
education in the subjects above mentioned, "continuing over the
entire year in the school districts of the State of Utah." The board
appointed Francis W. Kirkham state director of vocational educa-
tion; L B. Ball, supervisor of agricultural education; Miss Jean
Cox, supervisor of home economics; and Lon J. Haddock, super-
368 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
visor of trades and industries. The state board of education has desig-
nated the University of Utah as the institution for teacher training
in accordance with the Smith-Hughes law. By accepting the terms
of the law and complying with its requirements, Utah is entitled to
receive from the Federal Government $15,000 for the first and second
years, $20,000 for each of the next two years, and after that an annual
increase based upon population, which will reach an approximate
maximum of $34,500 in 1925.
COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
For a number of years the laws of Utah have required "every
boy and girl in the state to attend school until they have finished the
work of the eighth grade or have reached the age of sixteen years."
School superintendents were authorized to issue permits exempting
pupils from attendance under certain conditions. Concerning the
operation of this law, the superintendent of public instruction says
in his report for the year 1918:
"Of course parents generally, as well as teachers, look, forward
to the time when all the youth of the state will receive at least a high
.school education. Until such time comes, it is highly desirable that
all who for any reason must go into industry and arc therefore not
attending school regularly, shall have opportunities for continuing
their education in a limited way at least up to the age of eighteen
years. Our attendance law, therefore, should be amended to require
at least 144 hours (equivalent to twenty-four school days) per year
beyond our present requirements up to the age of eighteen years."
Pursuant to this recommendation of the superintendent, the
Legislature of 1919 passed an act establishing "part-time" schools,
the act requiring parents and guardians to send all children between
the ages of sixteen and eighteen, or under sixteen years of age, ro
school at least thirty weeks each year, "unless such minor is legally
excused to enter employment; and if so excused, the said parent
or guardian shall be required to send such minor to a part-time or
continuation school at least 144 hours each year." It is estimated
that this law will add to the enrollment 10,000 children between
the ages of fourteen and eighteen years of age who did not attend
school during the year 1918-19.
Another important act of the Legislature of 1919 was the adop-
tion of an amendment to Section 7, Article XIII, of the state consti-
tution, to be submitted to the people of the state for ratification or
LOWELL SCHOOL, LOGAN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 371
rejection at the general election in 1920. The proposed amend-
ment, relating to tax rates for state purposes, authorizes "such levy
for district school purposes as will raise annually an amount, which
added to any other state funds available for district school purposes,
equals $25 for each person of school age in the state shown by the
last preceding school census."
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
The University of Utah, which stands at the head of the state
educational system, is one of the oldest universities west of the
Mississippi River. It dates its corporate existence from February 28,
1850, when Brigham Young, as governor of the provisional State
of Deseret, approved an act of the Legislature establishing the Uni-
versity of Deseret. This act was ratified by the first Territorial Legis-
lature of Utah on October 4, 185 1. The institution is therefore ten
years older than the University of California, nineteen years older
than the University of Nebraska, twenty-six years older than the
University of Colorado, and thirty-nine years older than the Univer-
sity of Idaho.
The act creating the university provided that it should be gov-
erned by a chancellor and board of twelve regents, to be elected
annually by the two houses of the Legislature in joint session. Orson
Spencer was elected the first chancellor and the first board of regents
was composed of John M. Bernhisel, Albert Carrington, William
P.Appleby, Robert L. Campbell, Orson Pratt, Samuel W. Richards,
W. W. Phelps, Elias Smith, Hosea Stout, Zerubbabel Snow and
Daniel H. Wells. The first meeting of this board was held on
March 13, 1850, when James Lewis was elected secretary and three
of the regents were appointed a committee to select a suitable site for
the institution.
On Monday, November 11, 1850, the first term was opened in
the house of a Mrs. Pack, under the name of the "Parent School,"
with Dr. Cyrus Collins in charge. Bancroft says it was called the
Parent School because it was "for the heads of families and for the
training of teachers, among the students being Brigham Young."
The second term began on February 17, 1851, in an upper room
of the Council House, with Orson Spencer and W. W. Phelps as
instructors. The tuition fees were $8 per quarter.
Owing to a lack of funds to carry on the work, the Parent School
was closed in 1852. However, the act of October 4, 1851, ratifying
372 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the establishment of the university, authorized the board of regents
to appoint a superintendent of common schools. This had the effect
of holding the board of regents together. Elias Smith was appointed
the first superintendent and served until July i, 1856, when he was
succeeded by William Willis, who in turn was succeeded by Robert
L. Campbell in 1862.
On November 27, 1867, David O. Calder was chosen by the
board of regents to reorganize the university. The following month
Mr. Calder reopened the school in the Council House and conducted
it chiefly as a commercial college until February, 1869, when he
resigned and John R. Park was called to take charge of the institu-
tion. Doctor Park then established the school on a scientific basis
with five departments: Preparatory, commercial, normal, scientific
and classical. The charges were $20 per term in the classical and
scientific courses, $15 for the commercial and normal, and $8 for
the preparatory.
Dr. John R. Park, first president of the University of Utah, was
born in Tiffin, Ohio, May 7, 1833; attended the public school in
his native town ; entered the Presbyterian seminary known as "Heidel-
berg College" when he was fourteen years old, and graduated at
the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1853. Four years later he gradu-
ated at the University of New York with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine and began the practice of that profession in Tiffin, where
he was born. Soon afterward he became the head of the grammar
school in Tiffin and from 1858 to i860 he was an instructor in physiol-
ogy and zoology at the Ohio Wesleyan University.
On the last day of September, 1861, he arrived in Salt Lake City
with a party of emigrants bound for California and camped on
Emigration Square,- where the City and County Building now
stands. Here Doctor Park separated from the emigrant party and
cast his lot with the people of Utah. He was made principal of the
district school at Draper and it was not long until that school came
to have a high reputation. Students from Salt Lake City, Nephi,
Provo, American Fork and other towns attended the school and
many interested in education traveled there on horseback or in
wagons to study the teacher and his methods.
The first catalogue ever issued by the university was in 1869,
the year Doctor Park took charge. Daniel H. Wells was then
chancellor and the board of regents was composed of David O.
Calder, Robert L. Campbell, George Q. Cannon, Henry I. Doremus,
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, SALT LAKE CITY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 375
Isaac Groo, David McKenzie, Henry W. Naisbitt, Samuel W.
Richards, George Reynolds, George L. Taylor, Brigham Young,
Jr., and Joseph A. Young.
The first faculty consisted of ten instructors, viz. : John R. Park,
M. D., professor of natural history and chemistry; Orson Pratt,
A. M., professor of mathematics, astronomy and moral science; Bern-
hard H. Bergman, A.M., professor of ancient and modern languages
and literature; William Riess, Ph. D., professor of analytical chemis-
try and metallurgy; Louis F. Monch, professor of German, drawing
and penmanship ; Harmal Pratt, professor of instrumental music ; W.
D. Johnson, assistant instructor in commercial department; Joseph
L. Rawlins, assistant instructor in preparatroy department and mathe-
matics; Volney King, instructor in telegraphy; M. H. Hardy, in-
structor in phonography.
Doctor Park resigned the presidency of the university in the
spring of 1892, and upon his death, which occurred on September 29,
1900, he left the greater part of his property and his private library
of several thousand volumes to the institution of which he had so
long been the executive head. In the collection were a number of rare
volumes of the ancient classics, a copy of the Latin Vulgate published
in the Sixteenth Century, and valuable works on philosophy, history
and scientific subjects. The library as a whole was regarded as one
of the best collections ever made by a single individual in the State
of Utah.
Upon retiring from the presidency of the university, Doctor Park
did not retire to an inactive life. In 1895 he was elected the first state
superintendent of public instruction and during the four years he
held that office he visited the schools in all parts of the state, giving
valuable instruction to the teachers and the pupils under their charge.
He encouraged the holding of county institutes and the erection of
better school houses. He was one of the first to advocate the consoli-
dation plan, whereby the schools should be united into larger units,
making the more effective. Scattered over the State of LItah are
many who attended the university while Doctor Park was president,
and who remember him as a capable, virile and resourceful educator.
Dr. Joseph T. Kingsbury became acting president when Doctor
Park resigned. In 1897 he was elected president and remained at
the head of the" institution until 1915. During the administration of
these two men the University of Utah grew from a struggling school
376 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
to one of the strong institutions of higher learning, loved and re-
spected by thousands of its graduates.
In 1884 the charter of the university was amended and it was
given definite power to confer degrees. In 1891 the university library
was enlarged by the addition of the old territorial library, containing
some thirty-five hundred volumes, and in 1892 a new charter was
granted to the institution, changing the name to the University of
Utah. In that same year United States Senator George L. Shoup, of
Idaho, at the request of the Utah Legislature, introduced a bill in
Congress to grant the university sixty acres of the west side of the
Fort Douglas reservation for a state university. John T. Caine, then
Utah's delegate in Congress, introduced a similar bill in the House,
but the measure failed to pass at that session. At the following ses-
sion Joseph L. Rawlins, then delegate, succeeded in securing the pas-
sage of the bill and in 1904 the Government added thirty-two acres
adjoining the former grant, giving the university a campus of ninety-
two acres.
The Legislature of 1899 provided for the removal of the univer-
sity to the new site and appropriated $200,000 for the erection of suit-
able buildings. The buildings were completed in October, 1900, and
were inimedintely occupied by the university for all its educational,
work. The old site was sold to the Salt Lake City board of education
in 1902 for $100,000, the state allowing a credit of $12,500 on account
of improvements made by the boyrd of education. It is now the site
of the West Side High School. In 191 1 the State Legislature passed
a law authorizing a bond issue of $300,000 for the erection of an ad-
ministration building, known as the "John R. Park Memorial," and
at the same time provided a fund for the permanent maintenance of
the university. Following is a list of the principal university build-
ings and their cost, up to September i, 1919:
Administration building $320,000
Liberal Arts building S5,8oo
Industrial Educational building 100,000
Physical Science building 65,300
Museum building 55)300
Dining hall 40,000
Normal building 66,000
Gymnasium 32,500
Metallurgy building 55,7oo
William M. Stewart hall , 140,000
UTAH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, LOGAN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 379
Hydraulic building i4)50o
Heating Plant building 38,850
Shops and foundry 25,550
Total $1,009,500
In addition to the above mentioned buildings there is the astrono-
mical observatory, the athletic field equipment for seating some six
thousand spectators and a few minor buildings, so that the state has
expended approximately a million and a half of dollars in support
of the university, and the Legislature of 1919 appropriated $75,000
for the erection of an assembly hall.
During the year 1918-19 the number of students enrolled was
4,100 and the enrollment for the year 1919-20 was expected to reach
five thousand or more. The catalogue for 1919-20 shows a faculty of
144 members, at the head of which is Dr. John A. Widtsoe as presi-
dent, and a stafif of sixty-six instructors in the various departments in
addition to the regular professors and assistant professors. The de-
partments of the university are: The school of arts and sciences, the
school of education, the school of mines and engineering, the school
of medicine, the school of law, the school of commerce and finance,
the extension division, the university high school and a department
of western history which has recently been added. The course of
study includes all the subjects taught in accredited universities and
the degrees conferred are: Master of Arts, Master of Science, Mas-
ter of Science in Engineering, etc.
APPROPRIATIONS
Following is a list of the appropriations made by the Legislature
of 1919 for the benefits of the university. These appropriations do
not include the permanent maintenance fund provided for by the act
of 191 1, nor the income from the land grant, "to the extent of two
townships in quantity," provided for in Section 8 of the Enabling Act
of July 16, 1894, for the support of the University:
Assembly hall $75,000
Extension work 10,000
Finishing training school 27,000
Finishing industrial education building 20,000
Metallurgical research 25,000
380 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Archaeological research 4,000
State health laboratory 5,ooo
Miscellaneous appropriations 21,700
Total $187,700
The miscellaneous appropriations included improvements in the
heating plant, sewer connections, pavements, electrical work, etc. The
act providing for the erection of an assembly hall authorized the gov-
ernor to withhold the appropriation, "if in his opinion the condition
of the treasury will not warrant the expenditure of any such sum and
such sum shall not be available until such time as the governor shall
notify the state auditor in writing."
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
The Utah Agricultural College was established in accordance
with the act of Congress, approved by President Abraham Lincoln on
February 18, 1862, granting lands to certain states for the purpose of
founding educational institutions to study and teach better methods
of agriculture. In 1888 the Territorial Legislature took, the first
steps toward establishing such a school in Utah. Logan was chosen
as the site, buildings were erected and the college was opened for the
reception of students in the fall of 1890. The institution was con-
firmed by the state constitution of 1895, Section 4, Article X, of which
reads as follows :
"The location and establishment by existing laws of the Univer-
sity of Utah and the Agricultural College are hereby confirmed, and
all the rights, immunities, franchises and endowments heretofore
granted or conferred are hereby perpetuated unto said University and
Agricultural College respectively."
The Enabling Act of July 16, 1894, granted to the State of Utah
200,000 acres of land for the use of the Agricultural College, the pro-
ceeds of the sale of such lands, or any portion thereof, to constitute a
permanent fund, to be safely invested and held by the state and the
income thereof to be used exclusively for the purpose of such college.
In 1901 the curriculum was enlarged and an extra year's work
required for entrance to the collegiate courses leading to a degree.
Two years later the course was divided into five schools or depart-
ments, viz. : I. The school of agriculture; 2. The school of domestic
science and arts; 3. The school of commerce; 4. The school of engi-
UTAH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, LOGAN
MECHANIC ARTS BUILDING, UTAH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, LOGAN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 383
neering and mechanic arts; 5. The school of general science. A school
of music was added in 1904. Although this institution is usually
spoken of as the Utah Agricultural College, the above arrangement
suggests that a better name for it would be the "Utah College of Ag-
riculture, Domestic Science, Mechanic Arts and Commerce."
In 1903 the Legislature provided for the establishment of six ex-
perimental farms in different parts of the state, said farms to be con-
ducted by direction of the Agricultural College. The farms are lo-
cated in Iron, Juab, San Juan, Sevier, Tooele and Washington coun-
ties. (See chapter on Agricultural Interests.) Through these experi-
mental farms and the central experiment station at Logan, the prob-
lems of soil, plants and water have been solved to a large extent, and
when the solution is-fully understood it will form the basis of rational
irrigation. The chemistry department of the college has made an
exhaustive investigation of the state's water supply to determine the
alkali content. In cooperation with the United States department
of agriculture, the college and the experiment stations have worked
for the extermination of crop pests, with the result that crops valued
at $275,000 were saved from the ravages of these pests in 19 18. The
breeds of cattle, horses, hogs and other domestic animals are constant-
ly being improved through the work of the agricultural college,
which is essentially a democratic institution, established for the pri-
mary purpose of spreading education on practical subjects among the
people of the state.
Prof. F. D. Daines, of the Agricultural College faculty, writing
in 1915 of the work the institution has accomplished, says: "Since
the great majority of those who attend the grades and high schools
cannot, because of economical pressure, attend other institutions
where what is usually called higher learning is taught, this great
majority must forever be deprived of the benefits of organized en-
deavor in education unless such organized endeavor be connected
with and seeks to promote their economic needs. Industrial educa-
tion is thus the logical outcome of a condition that is likely always to
exist. The Agricultural College seeks to promote this well recog-
nized need in two ways. i. By means of a central institution of learn-
ing where students in regular class work pursue their various lines
of investigation in an intensive way. 2. By the work of the extension
division, which, by means of farmers' roundups, housekeepers' con-
ferences, lectures, demonstration work, club work, correspondence
384 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
work, etc., extends the sphere of activity of the school practically to
all parts of the state.
"It is said at the college that the college campus extends through-
out the entire state. This is fast becoming literally true. At the
farmers' roundups and housekeepers' conferences held in various
parts of the state far more people attend in proportion to population
than at similar gatherings in other states. At these two-week schools
for farmers and their wives, lectures and demonstrations are given
on the various topics of interest to those who attend. By means oi
farm demonstrators and home demonstrators in each county, farm and
home problems are brought even closer home to the people of the
state. Club work among the boys and girls of grade school age has
reached a very successful stage of development, and club work among
the boys and girls of high school age just beginning promises to be as
successful. All these activities, together with a well organized corre-
spondence school, public lectures and the holding of classes by mem-
bers of the college faculty in settlements outside of Logan, give evi-
dence that the people's college is seeking to fulfill its mission of tak-
ing education to the people."
At (he time Utah was admitted into the Union in 1896, the sum of
$211,947 had been expended for buildings and grounds. Since ad-
mission the State Legislature has been liberal in its appropriations for
the Agricultural College until the state has approximately one mil-
lion dollars invested in this practical and useful school. The princi-
pal buildings are the administration (or main) building, the plant in-
dustry building, the live stock building and the agricultural engineer-
ing building. The college library contains about twenty thousand
volumes.
CEDAR CITY BRANCH
A branch of the agricultural college is maintained at Cedar City,
Iron County. The history of this school is as follows: On October
28, 1898. the people of Iron County gave to the state fifteen acres of
ground and a building that cost $25,000 for a southern branch of the
Utah State Normal School. Gov. Heber M. Wells and Prof. Wil-
liam M. Stewart of the State Normal were present, the governor re-
ceiving the deeds and abstracts on behalf of the state, accepting the
condition that the state would maintain a school there. A large num-
ber of people gathered to celebrate the event. Dr. George W. Mid-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 385
dleton presided and the presentation was made by John Parry, Iron
County's representative in the State Legislature.
The Cedar City institution was never a pronounced success as a
normal school. After the University of Utah was removed to its new
location in 1900 and the normal department was improved, the school
at Cedar City became of even less importance than before. A few
years later it was made a branch of the agricultural college, which is
working hard for the development of Southern Utah and is well
attended.
APPROPRIATIONS
Every Legislature since Utah was admitted into the Union has
been liberal in giving support to the Agricultural College. An in-
stance of this liberality is seen in the appropriations made by the Leg-
islature of 1919, to-wit:
Extension division $ioo,i;24
Experiment station 80,000
Barracks, laboratory, etc 1 10,000
Farm land for experiment 25,000
Addition to heating plant 25,000
State power plant 26,4 (;o
Cedar City branch 26,120
New buildings (barn, seed house, etc.) 9, 500
Miscellaneous appropriations 24,060
Total $426,654
In the appropriation to the Cedar City branch $8,750 was for new
buildings, $1,600 for a farm tractor, $1,500 for laboratory equipment
and $1,000 for live stock. The miscellaneous appropriations included
$13,000 for an improvement of the water system and the balance was
chiefly to be used for repairs and improvements of buildings already
erected. In making such liberal appropriations the state probably
proceeds on the theory that it is better to educate the people than to
punish them for crimes and misdemeanors committed through igno-
rance. •
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
As a factor in the educational system of the state the public library
must be considered. The first library in Utah was established in ac-
386 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
cordance with the Oi'ganic Act of September 9, 1850, which appro-
priated $5,000 for books, the money "to be expended by and under
the direction of the delegate in Congress from Utah." Dr. John M.
Bernhisel was then the delegate. He selected the volumes and the
library was opened on February i, 1852, in the Council House at
Salt Lake City. After-several changes and removals this library was
consolidated with that of the University of Utah.
The years 1864 to 1867 inclusive witnessed the incorporation of
library associations at Alpine City, American Fork, Beaver City,
Coalville, Fillmore, Manti, Moroni, Nephi, Ogden, Frovo, St.
George, Salt Lake City and Tooele, leading citizens taking part in
their organization and incorporation. Others followed, but the work
of maintaining a free library through associations proved to be un-
successful and only a few survived.
Then came an act of the Legislature authorizing cities and towns
to levy taxes for the support of public libraries and the cause made
better headway. From the report of Miss Mary E. Downey, library
secretary and organizer for the State of Utah, for the biennial period
ending on June 30, 1918, it is learned that there were then thirty-six
towns and cities in the state that levied a library tax, viz. : American
Fork, Beaver, Brigham, Cedar City, Duchesne, Ephraim, Eureka,
Garland, Kanab, Lehi, Logan, Manti, Moab, Monticello, Mount
Pleasant, Murray, Myton, Nephi, Ogden, Panguitch, Park City,
Parowan, Payson, Pleasant Grove, Price, Provo, Richfield, Rich-
mond, Roosevelt, St. George, Salt Lake City, Smithfield, Springville,
Tooele, Tremonton and Vernal. Sixteen other places then had col-
lections of books and magazines and maintained libraries and read-
ing rooms, but had levied no library tax. Only eight counties in the
state were without tax-supported libraries, to-wit: Davis, Emery,
Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Wasatch and Wayne. Twenty of the
thirty-six cities and towns maintaining their libraries by public taxa-
tion had Carnegie buildings, and eleven others were asking for dona-
tions for the purpose of erecting buildings.
The largest, best assorted and most important public library in
the state is the one at Salt Lake City, a history of which is given in
the chapter devoted to that city. The libraries in most of the other
places are in keeping with the population and general demand for
reading matter. As the population grows, wealth increases, the
library tax yields more revenue and the library will naturally keep
pace with the general advancement of the municipality. Many of the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 387
smaller libraries contain from one to three thousand volumes, the
estimated number in all the tax-supported libraries of the state being
155,000 volumes.
In addition to the pubic libraries of the state, each of the leading
educational institutions, high schools and academies maintains a
library for the use of the students and for general reference. In
the latter sense they are open to the public. The library of the Uni-
versity numbered 56,418 bound volumes and 21,253 pamphlets at the
beginning of the year 1919. The Agricultural College library and
that of the branch at Cedar City contained about twenty-five thou-
sand volumes.
Says Miss Downey in her report: "An arrangement to be re-
gretted is the grating, separating the students from free access to the
books, as at the Brigham Young College at Logan. The new public
library and high school, soon to be full fledged there, will no doubt
change the closed shelf idea, both at the Brigham Young College and
the Agricultural College libraries and soon increase their service
many fold, as has resulted from giving free access to the shelves at
the Brigham Young University at Provo. * * * There are yet
so many denominational academies in the state, supposed to be doing
work equivalent to the high school, that any consideration of library
work as a whole must include them. For the most part, these libra-
ries (except the one in the Latter-day Saints University at Salt Lake
City), of all denominations, are miserable affairs in selection, organi-
zation, supervision and use, most of the books being motley collections
coming from old or deceased ministers or laymen's families, not
wanted by their families, and of no account whatever to the purpose
they are supposed to serve."
CHAPTER XVIII
PRIVATE AND DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS
FEW PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN UTAH — BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY—
BRIGHAM YOUNG COLLEGE — LATTER-DAY SAINTS UNIVERSITY-
ACADEMIES — KARL G. MAESER — CATHOLIC SCHOOLS — ST. MARY'S
ACADEMY— SACRED HEART ACADEMY — ALL HALLOWS COLLEGE —
ST. ANN'S ORPHANAGE — PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS — PROTESTANT
SCHOOLS^WASATCH ACADEMY^MISSION SCHOOLS — WESTMIN-
STER COLLEGE — YOUNG MEN's ACADEMY.
Private schools, that is schools founded and maintained by indi-
viduals and financed by private capital, have never cut much of a fig-
ure in Utah. A few of the early schools, such as the select school
opened by Evan M. Greene in Provo in 1851 were of this class, and
at the present time in a few of the larger cities of the state there are
business or commercial colleges maintained by private enterprise.
None of these schools has its own building, all occupying rented quar-
ters, yet they are well conducted as a rule and equip young men and
women for positions as bookkeepers, stenographers, etc.
On the other hand, the denominational schools have been an im-
portant factor in the educational development of the state, from the
time the first settlement was planted at Salt Lake City in 1847. Fore-
most among the institutions of this class are the schools maintained by
the Latter-day Saints. This church maintains twenty-one colleges
and academies, ten of which are in the State of Utah. H. H. Cum-
mings, who resigned the position of superintendent of the church
schools in July, 1919, says: "The reason for the maintenance of an
expensive system of church schools, when the state schools are so free
and efficient, is a widespread feeling that religious education, to be
389
390 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
of force and value, must be given the same care and efficiency and at
the same stage of the child's development as secular education."
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
This institution, located at Provo, Utah, stands at the head of the
Latter-day Saints educational system. It was founded by a deed of
trust executed by Brigham Young on October i6, 1875, and was at
first known as the "Brigham Young Academy." On December 4,
1875, Warren N. Dusenberry was elected principal by the board of
trustees and the school opened on January 3, 1876. On April 15th of
the same year, Mr. Dusenberry resigned his position as principal to
engage in the practice of law, and at the suggestion of Brigham
Young Prof. Karl G. Maeser was elected to the vacancy. The spring
term opened on April 24, 1876.
The first board of trustees, to carry out the provisions of the trust
deed, was composed of Abraham O. Smoot, William Bringhurst,
Leonard Harrington, Wilson H. Dusenberry, Martha J. Coray, My-
ron Tanner and Harvey Cluff. On August 21, 1876, the first com-
plete academic year commenced with a faculty of three members —
Karl G. Maeser, Milton H. Hardy and Anna C. Smoot.
The first home of the school was "Lewis Hall," located at the
corner of Center and Third West streets, the building having been
purchased by Brigham Young and remodeled to meet the needs of
the school. Additions to the building were made later. On the night
of January 24, 1884, the entire structure was destroyed by fire, but
only one day's school was lost. The basement of the old tabernacle,
S. S. Jones' store and the newly completed First National Bank build-
ing were generously donated for the use of the institution for the re-
mainder of the school year. The following year the upper floor of
the Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution was leased and the
school was conducted there until the completion of the new building,
which was first used on January 3, 1892.
About that time Dr. Karl G. Maeser resigned the principalship
and was succeeded by Dr. Benjamin Cluff, Jr., who remained at the
head of the institution until December 22, 1903. In the meantime,
when regular heads or principals of departments were introduced in
1894, the title of the executive was changed to president. Upon the
resignation of Doctor Clufif Dr. George H. Brimhall became acting
president and in 1901; was elected to the position by the board.
A movement to acquire a campus on Temple Hill began in 1904
Courtesy of George Taylor. Sr.
MAIN BUILDING, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, PROVO
DR. MAESER MEMORIAL BUILDIXG, BKIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, PROVO
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 393
and culminated in the purchase of forty acres, where the university is
now located. Eight buildings have been erected on the new site and
for the last decade the average number of students has been 1,400.
The faculty now numbers sixty instructors. On July 18, 1896, the
university was incorporated under the laws of Utah and is recognized
as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the state.
BRIGHAM YOUNG COLLEGE
On July 24, 1877, Brigham Young deeded to a board of trustees
9,642 acres of land lying just south of Logan, the rents and profits of
which were to be used for the support of an educational institution to
be known as Brigham Young College and to be located at Logan. The
deed of trust provided that: "The beneficiaries of the college shall
be members in good standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, or the children of such members, and the students who
shall take a full course shall be taught, if their physical ability per-
mit, some branch of mechanism, that shall be suitable to their taste
and capacity, and all pupils shall be instructed in reading, penman-
ship, orthography, grammar and mathematics, together with such
other branches as are usually taught in an institution of learning; and
the Old and New Testaments, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and
Covenants shall be standard text-books in the college; and further,
no book shall be used that misrepresents or speaks lightly of the divine
mission of our Savior, or of the prophet Joseph Smith, or in any man-
ner advances ideas antagonistic to the Gospel as it is taught in the
Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants."
The board of trustees named in the deed met on August 7, 1877,
accepted the responsibility and organized by electing Brigham
Young, Jr., president; Ida lone Cook, secretary; and M. D. Ham-
mond, treasurer. Arrangements were made at that meeting for open-
ing the school in September, but several influences worked to cause
a delay. In the first place, the death of Brigham Young, who donated
the land, occurred August 29, 1877, three weeks after the board or-
ganized, and out of respect to the founder of the college it was de-
cided to postpone the opening. Then there was some delay in leas-
ing the land, which was intended to be the principal source of income,
and some difficulty was experienced in obtaining suitable rooms for
school purposes, so that the college did not open until September 9,
1878, in rooms in the Logan City hall, with Ida lone Cook in charge
and an enrollment of seventy-one students.
394 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The second year the enroHment was 198, including forty-nine pu-
pils in the primary grade for the purpose of giving students in the
normal department practical experience in teaching. This year alge-
bra, ancient and United States history, natural philosophy, physiol-
ogy, rhetoric and bookkeeping were added to the course of study and
W. H. x'\pperly succeeded Miss Cook as the executive head of the col-
lege. In 1880 he was succeeded by Horace H. Cummings and the en-
rollment for that year was 160.
In 1882 the trustees purchased the estate known as the "Thatcher
property," located on First Street, and containing about seven acres.
Upon this tract were two residences (one of which had been used as a
boarding house for students) and a large stone barn. The two resi-
dences were fitted up for school purposes and used during the school
year of 1882-83, when the enrollment was 167. In that winter the
board adopted plans for a building 36 by 70 ft., four stories in height,
with modern basement, in which were placed the kitchen, dining hall
and bath rooms. The first and second floors were to be used for school
rooms and the top floor for laboratory and gymnasium. This build-
ing is still in use, though others have been erected upon the campus
and the enrollment in 1918-19 was nearly one thousand students.
LATTER-DAY SAIXTS UXIVERSITY
This institution, located in Salt Lake City, dates its beginning
from the fall of 1886, when it was opened as the Salt Lake State
Academy. Karl G. Maeser, in his "History of Utah Schools," says':
"The object of the movement was to provide opportunity for educa-
tion in secular branches, co-ordinately with a study of the principles
of theology belonging to the religious profession of the Latter-day
Saints, and a training in the duties pertaining to membership in the
church."
During the work of the first two years, the school confined its at-
tention to preparatory and intermediate grades, but at the beginning
of the third year, in September, 1888, an academic department was
added, including advance work in language, mathematics and the
sciences. Until 1891 the school was conducted in the Social Hall, but
at the close of that year the institution was removed to larger and bet-
ter equipped quarters on First North Street, between First and Sec-
ond west. Subsequently it was removed to its present location on
North Main Street, opposite the temple, where the university owns
LATTER-DAY SAINTS UNIVERSITY, SALT LAKE CITY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 397
property valued at $500,000 and enrolls nearly two thousand students
annually.
ACADEMIES
The Weber Normal College, located at Ogden, was established
as the Weber Stake Academy in 1888, though the first building
erected for the institution was not dedicated until August 29, 1892.
The annual enrollment since 1915 has been about five hundred. An-
other school established in 1888 is the Snow Normal College, located
at Ephraim, in which the enrollment is from four hundred to five
hundred annually.
Two academies were established by the Latter-day Saints in Utah
in 1890 — the Emery Academy at Castle Dale and the Millard
Academy at Hinckley, Millard County. The Uinta Academy, which
had been established two years before, was placed on a firmer footing
in 1890 by the completion of a new school building. It is located at
Vernal. The enrollment in these three schools runs from one hun-
dred and fifty to two hundred each.
In 1897 '^he Murdock Academy, located at Beaver, was opened
for the reception of students. It was named for John R. Murdock,
who was one of the first county commissioners of Beaver County, and
occupies the buildings erected by the United States Government for
Fort Cameron, which was evacuated in April, 1883. The enrollment
is about three hundred annually.
The youngest of the Latter-day Saints academies in Utah is the
Dixie Normal College, which was established in 19 10 and was at
first called the St. George Academy, from the town in which it is lo-
cated. This school has a good corps of instructors and enrolls about
three hundred students.
Besides the ten schools and colleges in Utah, the church main-
tains one academy in Wyoming, four in Idaho, three in Arizona, one
in Colorado, one at Raymond, Alberta, and one at Juarez, Mexico.
The total value of school property owned by the Latter-day Saints is,
in round figures, $3,500,000.
KARL G. MAESER
Dr. Karl G. Maeser, one of the most prominent educators of the
State of Utah for many years, was born in Saxony, Germany, January
16, 1828. His father was an artist in the Dresden China Works.
After attending the schools in his native town, Karl graduated at the
398 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Dresden Normal School in May, 1848. In October, 1855, he was
converted to the faith of the Latter-day Saints by missionaries and
the next year came to the United States. For some time he taught
music in the family of ex-President John Tyler at Richmond, Va.,
and in i860 came to Utah. In the fall of that year he opened a school
in Salt Lake City, also teaching in various families and acting as or-
ganist for the tabernacle choir. The character of his work, as an edu-
cator attracted the attention of the church authorities and in 1876, at
the suggestion of Brigham Young, he was placed at the head of the
university at Prove. He was the first general superintendent of the
church schools.
In 1892 he resigned his position at the Brigham Young Univer-
sity and in 1895 was nominated by the democratic state convention as
the candidate for superintendent of public instruction, having previ-
ously served as a delegate to the constitutional convention. He was
defeated by John R. Park. In 1898 the students of Brigham Young
University gave Doctor Maeser a jubilee in commemoration of his
fifty years' service as an educator. One of the buildings of that insti-
tution is called the Maeser Memorial in his honor. Doctor Maeser
died at his home in Salt Lake City on February 15, 1901.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
When Rev. Lawrence Scanlan came to Salt Lake City in August,
1873, he immediately began a movement for the establishment of
schools for the Catholic children of Utah. Although beset by many
difficulties he persisted in his work and two years later he opened the
first Catholic school in the state. That school is still in existence, and
has grown stronger every year since it was founded.
ST. MARY'S ACADEMY
When the time came for Father Scanlan to call to his assistance
one of the religious organizations, he selected the sisterhood of the
Holy Cross and invited some of the sisters at the convent of Our Lady
of the Lake in Indiana to come to Utah and open a school for girls.
On June 6, 1875, two sisters from that institution arrived in Salt Lake
City and in the fall of that year St. Mary's Academy was opened.
The school proved to be popular, many girls belonging to non-
Catholic families being among the students. After a few years a
large addition w^as built to the original structure, thus providing a
fine study hall and chapel, with additional class room facilities. In
SACRED HEART ACADEMY. OGDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 401
1899 an Alumnae Association, composed of graduates of the academy,
was organized, and it now numbers over one hundred members. The
academy is centrally located on First West Street, between First and
Second South streets, only a few blocks from the business district of
the city and where perfect sanitary conditions can be easily main-
tained. The enrollment at the opening of the school in 1919 was over
three hundred, students coming from Arizona, Colorado, Montana,
New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
SACRED HEART ACADEMY *
As soon as the school at Salt Lake City was in working order,
Father Scanlan turned his attention to the educational needs of the
Catholics of Ogden. Again he called on the Sisters of the Holy
Cross and in response to his request seven sisters of that order left the
mother house at St. Mary's, Notre Dame, Ind., and came to Utah.
The school was opened on September 16, 1879, with Sister Frances
as superior. A building had previously been prepared and here the
academy was conducted until 1882, when St. Joseph's School was
built on the grounds adjoining the academy. The upper rooms in
the new building were occupied as a dormitory for the boys and the
main floor as class rooms.
On September 24, 1890, ground was broken for the present mag-
nificent four-story building of the academy. The corner-stone was
laid on May 24, 1891, and school opened in the new structure in Sep-
tember, 1892. The buildings are of red brick with stone trimmings,
the main building being 80 by 250 ft., four stories high, with all
modern equipment, heated by hot water, with bath rooms, toilets, etc.
Beautifully situated at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, the
Sacred Heart Academy offers opportunities for physical develop-
ment, as well as the moral and mental training that characterize Cath-
olic educational institutions. An Alumnae Association was organized
in 1904.
ALL HALLOWS COLLEGE
This institution, located on East Second South Street, Salt Lake
City, was the third Catholic educational institution established in
the State of Utah. It was founded by Father Scanlan in 1885, the
number of Catholics in Utah having grown to such an extent that
better opportunities were needed for higher education. For a few
years the college was under the efficient presidency of • Father Scan-
^02 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Ian, but when he was elevated to the position of bishop of the new
diocese, composed of Utah and Eastern Nevada, he turned the insti-
tution over to the Marist Fathers.
While All Hallows is strictly a Catholic school, the Marist Fath-
ers make no distinction as to creed and all denominations are received
on an equal footing. The course of study includes the classics, sci-
ences, language, higher mathematics and music. There is also a well
equipped commercial department, which was established soon after
the college was founded and has been well patronized from the first.
ST. ANN'S ORPHANAGE
The accidents and deaths resulting from the hazardous occupa-
tion of mining necessarily threw upon the hands of the charitably in-
clined people helpless orphans. Touched by the spectacle of these
fatherless children. Bishop Scanlan determined to establish a home
for them, which should be an educational as well as a charitable insti-
tution. Once more he appealed to the Sisters of the Holy Cross at St.
Mary's, Indiana, and again the sisterhood answered his call. On Oc-
tober 15. 1 89 1, three sisters of that order arrived in Salt Lake City
and soon afterward the home was opened in the residence formerly-
occupied by the bishop and his assistants.
During the next few years the demand for admission necessitated
the erection of two additions to the building, and as the number of
those needing care continued to increase it was decided to establish
the home in a new location, with buildings adequate to the demand.
In June, 1898, Bishop Scanlan secured an option on fifteen acres of
ground on Twelfth South Street, but the initial payment exhausted
his resources. While debating what to do, help came from an unex-
pected quarter.
One day Thomas Kearns quietly looked over the ground pur-
chased by the bishop, after which he consulted his wife regarding the
merits of the institution, and the next day Mrs. Kearns called on the
bishop and offered him the necessary funds to complete his plans.
The result is the present building known as the Kearns-St. Ann's Or-
phanage, which was erected at a cost of $55,000.
The women of the cathedral parish furnished the new home,
which provides accommodations for nearly two hundred children. It
is in charge of eleven Sisters of the Holy Cross. Among the studies
taught are short-hand and typewriting, and quite a number of the
stenographers 'in Salt Lake City owe their education to St. Ann's.
HUNGERFORD HALL, WASATCH ACADEMY, MOUNT PLEASANT
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 405
The Sisters of the Holy Cross also conduct schools at Park City
and Eureka, and wherever a Catholic Church has been established, if
the number of children is sufficient, a parochial school is maintained
under the auspices of the church. The total value of Catholic school
property in Utah is considerably over one million dollars.
PROTESTANT SCHOOLS
Before the public school system was established in Utah the lead-
ing Protestant denominations opened day schools and academies to
provide the educational facilities the times demanded. Says Ban-
croft: "Upon the establishment of schools belonging to other religious
denominations, or as they were usually termed of Utah, mission
schools, educational results were much more satisfactory, and if much
was professed, much was actually taught. The Saint Mark's gram-
mar school, founded in 1867 in connection with the Episcopal
Church, the Salt Lake Seminary, established by the Methodists in
1870, and others founded later by various denominations, received so
much patronage that it became necessary for the Mormons to bestir
themselves in the matter and there was afterward more efficiency in
the school system, private institutions being also founded by the
Saints, among them the academy at Provo and the Brigham Young
College at Logan."
WASATCH ACADEMY
In 1875 Dr. Duncan J. McMillan, a Presbyterian minister,
preached the first Presbyterian sermon in the Town of Mount Pleas-
ant. The support he received encouraged him to establish a school.
At that time there was no public school in Mount Pleasant, and after
talking the matter over with some of the citizens an old dance hall
was obtained for school purposes. The building was repaired and
furnished with "home-made" desks, Doctor Duncan turning carpen-
ter and assisting in the work.
The school was given the name of the Wasatch Academy and was
opened in the fall of 1875. It soon became popular, pupils from a
distance coming to Mount Pleasant to attend the academy. Although
nominally a Presbyterian institution, children of parents belonging
to all religious sects were enrolled among the pupils. The popularity
of the school led to the building of a dormitory and in 1891 Hunger-
ford Hall, the main building of the academy, was completed. The
academy now has six buildings and in the year 1918-19 enrolled 250
406 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
students, with nineteen members in the faculty. The curriculum in-
cludes preparatory, academic, high school and commercial courses,
special attention being given to oratory, music and athletics.
MISSION SCHOOLS
In 1880 mission schools were established by Dr. Duncan J. Mc-
Millan at Spring City and Moroni, under the auspices of the Presby-
terian Board of Missions. At Spring City property was purchased
and Alice Young was installed as the first teacher. The school at
Moroni occupied rented quarters and was at first taught by Miss
Sarah A. McMillan. Later Miss Sadie E. Brown was the teacher.
These were among the first mission schools established by the Pres-
byterians, though others were afterward opened in a number of towns,
especially in Central and Southern Utah.
The Methodists were not far behind the Presbyterians in the
establishment of mission schools. In fact the Salt Lake Seminary
mentioned by Bancroft was opened before the Presbyterians entered
the field. In 1883 Methodist mission schools were opened at Moroni,
Mount Pleasant, Spring City and several other places in the central
part of the state. Among the early teachers were Rev. P. A. H.
Franklin, at Mount Pleasant; Miss Mary Iverson, at Moroni, and
Miss Tenie Winters, at Spring City.
In his report for the year 1896, John R. Park, the first state super-
intendent of public instruction, gives the following list of denomina-
tional schools in Utah: Congregational — Proctor Academy, Provo;
Bliss Hall, Bountiful; New West School, Coalville; and the kinder-
garten at Salt Lake City. Presbyterian — Benjamin, Utah County;
Hyrum, Cache County; St. George, Washington County; Pleasant
Grove, Utah County; Ephraim, Sanpete County; Kaysville, Davis
County; Monroe, Sevier County; and the Wasatch Academy at
Mount Pleasant. Methodist — Mission School, Spring City; McGur-
rin School, Moroni; and the Nephi Seminary, at Nephi. The list
also included the Latter-day Saints and Catholic schools then in exis-
tence.
With the development of the public school system, the necessity
for mission schools grew less and less and many of them were finally
abandoned. The leading Protestant denominational schools at the
present time are: Proctor Academy, at Provo, conducted by the Con-
gregationalists; Rowland Hall, the Episcopal school for girls at Salt
Lake City; Price Academy, at Price, conducted by the Methodists;
TOUNG MEN'S ACADEMY, SPANISH FORK
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD -too
New Jersey Academy, at Logan, a Presbyterian school for girls;
Wasatch Academy, at Mount Pleasant, also a Presbyterian institu-
tion.
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE
l^his is the only Protestant College in the state. It is located on
Thirteenth East Street, Salt Lake City, and was established in 1897.
Founded and fostered by the Presbyterian Church, it has in recent
years adopted the policy of interdenominational work. Its govern-
ment and support lies with all the Protestant denominations at work
in Utah and the various denominational academies mentioned above
are tributary to it as preparatory schools. The college property is
valued at $250,000, the student enrollment over one hundred an-
nually, and the faculty consists of eleven instructors in the various
branches usually taught in colleges of its class.
During its twenty years of active work, Westminster College has
received students from all the intermountain states and Canada. Its
graduates now occupy high positions in the professions and in educa-
tional work. In July, 1919, Dr. Frank L. Riale, of New York, asso-
ciate secretary of the Presbyterian board of education, came to Salt
Lake City to assist Dr. Herbert W. Reherd, president of the college,
in raising $3,500, the remainder of a $16,000 deficit incurred in oper-
ating the college during the preceding year, and to prepare plans for
a campaign to raise $60,000 for a new building.
YOUNG men's ACADEMY
Among the educational institutions of Utah there is (or was) one
that deserves more than passing mention. In 1872 a group of forty-
two young men at Spanish Fork, believing that the town needed bet-
ter educational facilities, formed an organization for the purpose of
establishing an academy. Their supply of ready cash was somewhat
limited, but what they lacked in funds they more than made up in
energy and determination. They went into the woods, felled trees,
hauled the logs to the sawmill to be converted into lumber, obtained
a lot and erected the building in sixty days. Even the desks in the
school room were made by the young men, and while they were not
works of art they answered the purpose. The "Young Men's
Academy." as the school was called, opened in the fall of 1872, with
the seating capacity of fifty-two students all taken. For several years
410 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
this academy offered educational advantages to the young people that
they had not previously enjoyed.
With the evolution of the public school system and the establish-
ment of a high school at Spanish Fork, the Young Men's Academy
passed into history. The old building is still standing and the ac-
companying illustration was made from a photograph taken in 19 17.
Although the young men who established this school were nearly all
Latter-day Saints, the school was conducted on a non-sectarian basis
and there are now many persons living in the vicinity who obtained
the major part of their education in the Young Men's Academy.
CHAPTER XIX
THE PRESS OF UTAH
I
ORIGIN OF THE NEWSPAPER — FIRST NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES
^UTAH'S FIRST NEWSPAPER — ^THE SECOND VENTURE — OTHER EAR-
LY NEWSPAPERS — LIST OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS IN 1919 —
CHARACTER OF THE UTAH PRESS.
In almost every office or household in the United States the daily
newspaper has come to be regarded as a necessity. But as the average
man culls the news from his favorite sheet, does he ever consider the
long process of evolution that has given him the opportunity of learn-
ing what is going on in all parts of the world? To the civilization of
ancient Rome the nations of modern times are indebted for the crude
idea that has step by step been developed into the daily or weekly
newspaper.
The Roman "Acta Diurna" were manuscript publications — writ-
ten or engraved upon wax tablets with an instrument called the
stylus. As the method of production was somewhat tedious, the edi-
tion was necessarily limited and the few copies issued were displayed
in the most public places in the city, in order that the people might
acquaint themselves with current events and the political trend of the
times. The "Acta Diurna" were not issued at regular intervals, but
only upon the occurrence of some event of more than ordinary inter-
est. When a new one appeared, each place where it was exhibited
would be surrounded by people, who listened eagerly while some one
read the contents.
The first publication really worthy of the name of "newspaper"
made its appearance in London in 1622, nearly a century and three-
quarters after Guttenberg invented the process of printing with type.
It was called the "Weekly News from Italic and Germanic." Prior
411
412 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
to its appearance the wealthier classes of Europeans had been accus-
tomed to receiving their news of the world's doings through the
medium of the weekly "news-letter," but this form of manuscript lit-
erature was too expensive for any but the rich to afford. The "Week-
ly News from Italic and Germanic" was printed upon a crude and
clumsy press operated by hand power — the invention of Nathaniel
Butler— yet this primitive and imperfect machine occupies a place in
history as the progenitor of the modern printing press with a capacity
of several thousand newspapers hourly. The contents of this first
small newspaper consisted mainly of social items and satirical essays
until about 1641, when the parliamentary reports were published in
its columns. This was the first notice given to political affairs by the
"press." The first advertisement ever published in a newspaper ap-
peared in this little publication in 1648. It was written in rhyme and
was intended to call the attention of the public to the merits of a Bel-
gravia merchant tailor.
In 1709 the "London Courant," the first daily morning newspa-
per ever published, was established. It consisted of a single page and
its contents were largely translations from foreign journals. With the
inauguration of the daily newspaper, the press gained rapidly in pop-
ularity and importance and the Courant was not long without compe-
titors. By 1760 over seven million copies of daily newspapers were
sold annually in England.
IN THE UNITED STATES
The first newspaper in the United States was the "Boston Public
Occurrences," a small quarto sheet, established in 1690. Later it was
suppressed by the colonial authorities of Massachusetts because of its
radical utterances. Ne.xt came the "Boston News-Letter," which was
started in 1704 by John Campbell, then postmaster at Boston. In
172 1 James Franklin established the "New England Courant" and
conducted it for five or six years, when it was suspended "for want of
adequate support." Soon after this paper suspended, Benjamin
Franklin established the "Pennsylvania Gazette" at Philadelphia and
published it as a weekly until 1765, when it was merged with the
"North American." The "Evening Post," of New York City, was
founded in 1801 and is still published. With the irnprovements in
methods of printing the cost of producing newspapers was reduced,
until now there is scarcely a town of any consequence in the country
without its daily or weekly newspaper.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^i^
UTAH'S FIRST NEWSPAPER
The first Utah newspaper — The Deseret News — made its bow to
the public on Saturday, June 15, 1850, with Willard Richards as edi-
tor. It was established as the organ of the Latter-day Saints and in
his announcement Mr. Richards says the aim of the News will be "to
record the passing events of our state, and in connection refer to the
arts and sciences, embracing general education, medicine, law, divin-
ity, domestic and political economy, and everything that may fall un-
der our observation which may tend to promote the best interest, wel-
fare, pleasure and amusement of our fellow-citizens."
At that time Utah was without telegraphic communication, or
even a reliable mail service, hence most of the matter published in
the early issues of the News would be regarded as "stale" by jour-
nalists of the present day. For example: The first number contained
an account of the great fire in San Francisco on December 24, 1849,
nearly six months before, and a synopsis of President Zachary Tay-
lor's message to Congress relative to the admission of California as
a state. It also contained the following poetical contribution ad-
dressed "To my Friends in the Valley:"
"Let all who would have a good paper.
Their talents and time ne'er abuse;
Since 'tis said by the wise and humored.
That the best in the world is the News.
"Then ye who so long have been thinking
What paper this year you will choose.
Come trip gayly up to the office
And subscribe for the Deseret News.
"And now, dearest friends, I will leave you;
This counsel, I pray you, don't lose;
The best of advice I can give you
Is, pay in advance for the News."
As all paper, ink and other printing material had to be brought
from the Missouri River in freight wagons, the News was frequently
hampered, and with the issue of August 19, 1851, it was suspended
"for lack of paper." Up to that time it had been issued semi-monthly
as an eight-page quarto, the pages being about 7 by 10 inches in size.
414 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The subscription price was $5 per year, single copies selling for fif-
teen cents.
On November 15, 1851, the publication of the paper was re-
sumed, being then issued as a folio and greatly improved in appear-
ance. It seems that the poetic effusion in the first number had not
been closely observed by the patrons of the paper, and that the editor
had experienced some difficulty in collecting subscriptions, for in the
issue of November 15, 1851, he says: "Payment will be due at the
office upon the receipt of this first number, and no one need expect
the second number until these terms are complied with, as credit
will not create the paper, ink, press, or hands to labor."
Early in January, 1854, the News was changed from a semi-
monthly to a weekly. Mr. Richards died on March 11, 1854, and
for the next five years the News was edited by Albert Carrington.
During this period the paper was published from May 5th to Sep-
tember 22, 1858, at Fillmore, which was then the capital of the ter-
ritory. After Mr. Carrington, Elias Smith served as editor until
some time in 1863, when Carrington was again called to the editorial
management and remained in charge until 1867, when he was suc-
ceeded by George Q. Cannon. David O. Calder was editor from
August, 1873, to 1877, when Charles W. Penrose took charge. He
resigned on September 30, 1892, and the next day the plant was leased
to the Deseret News Publishing Company. On January i, 1899, ^^^^
property was returned to the Church and Mr. Penrose again assumed
editorial control.
The News now occupies a commodious building on the south-
west corner of Main and South Temple Streets, where it is equipped
with the most modern newspaper machinery and is published every
afternoon except Sunday, with John Q. Cannon as editor. Besides
being the oldest, it is one of the most popular newspapers in Utah.
THE SECOND VENTURE
Among the United States troops at Camp Floyd were several
practical printers, who formed an association for the publication of
a newspaper, of which Kirk Anderson was editor. The name "Val-
ley Tan" was selected for the publication and in the first issue in
1858, the editor explains the reasons for the choice thus:
"Valley Tan was first applied to the leather made in this terri-
tory in contradistinction to the imported article from the states; it
gradually began to apply to every article made or manufactured, or
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 415
produced in the territory, and means in the strictest sense 'home man-
ufactures', until it has entered and become an indispensable word in
Utah vernacular, and it will add a new word to the English language.
Circumstances and localities form the mint from which our language
is coined, and we therefore stamp the name and put it in circulation."
The paper was published weekly until the latter part of August,
1859, when Mr. Anderson was succeeded by James Ferguson and
Seth M. Blair, who changed the name to "The Mountaineer." Blair
had served as one of Gen. Sam Houston's Texas Rangers and as the
first United States district attorney of Utah Territory. Ferguson was
a fine writer and the paper had a fair circulation until Camp Floyd
was vacated, when the "Mountaineer" was suspended.
OTHER EARLY NEWSPAPERS
The first issue of the Salt Lake City Daily Telegraph appeared
on July 4, 1864, with the name of Thomas B. H. Stenhouse at the
head of the editorial columns. On October 8, 1864, the publication
of a semi-weekly edition was commenced. Early in 1869 the Tele-
graph was removed to Ogden, where a few issues were published,
when it expired.
In the spring of 1870 William C. Dunbar and Edward L. Sloan
purchased the type and press of the Telegraph, removed them to Salt
Lake City, and on Sunday, June 5, 1870, issued the first number of
the Salt Lake Daily Herald, with Mr. Sloan as editor and Mr. Dun-
bar as business manager. Soon after the Herald was started John
T. Caine purchased a one-third interest and was made managing
editor. About this time C. M. Hawley, one of the associate justices
of the Territory of Utah, brought suit against the Herald for crim-
inal libel. Mr. Caine made a trip to Chicago for the purpose of look-
ing up Judge Hawley's record and upon his return to Salt Lake City
the case was dismissed, or at least was never brought to trial.
The publication of a semi-weekly edition of the Herald began
on September 2, 1874, J"st a month after the death of Mr. Sloan, the
first editor, and the first weekly edition was issued from the press on
March 4, 1880. After the death of Mr. Sloan various changes were
made during the next few years in the editorial management. Brig-
ham H. Roberts was editor for a time during the '80s, and in 1892
Charles W. Penrose became managing editor, retiring from the edi-
torial management of the Deseret News on the last day of Septem-
ber, and beginning his duties with the Herald the following day.
416 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
The Herald Publishing Company was incorporated on January
I, 1886, with a capital stock of $100,000. At one time this company
was controlled by Heber J. Grant, later by R. C. Chambers and A.
W. McCune, mining magnates. Subsequently the control passed to
Senator W. A. Clark, of Montana, and his associates engaged in
building the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. The plant was sold
by them to the company operating the Inter-Mountain Republican,
when the name was changed to the Herald-Republican Publishing
Company. For a while the Herald-Republican was taken over and
issued by the Telegram Publishing Company, but was later sur-
rendered to the owners, who changed the name to the Salt Lake Her-
ald, which appears every morning.
On January i, 1870, the first number of the Mormon Tribune,
a weekly publication opposing some of the policies of the Latter-day
Saints Church, was issued in Salt Lake City. It continued under that
name until April 15, 1871, when the name was changed to the "Salt
Lake Tribune" and the paper was issued daily instead of weekly.
The Tribune, like all newspapers, has witnessed frequent changes in
ownership and editorial management, but it is still issued every morn-
ing by the Tribune Publishing Company and is one of the leading
dailies of Utah.
The suspension of the Telegraph in 1869 left the City of Ogden
without a newspaper. On New Year's Day, 1870, the Ogden Junc-
tion was launched, with Franklin D. Richards as editor and Charles
W. Penrose as associate editor. Mr. Richards resigned after a short
service, leaving Mr. Penrose in charge. Later editors were John
Nicholson, Joseph Hall, Leo Haefli and William Glassman. The
paper was first published as a semi-weekly, but in a short time was
made a daily. About 1881 the name was changed to the Ogden Daily
Herald and still later to the Standard, under which name it is still
issued every afternoon except Sunday by A. L. Glassman.
Among the leading newspapers established during the terri-
torial days, but which are no longer in existence, at least under their
original names, were: The St. George Cactus, which was published
for a few months in 1862-63; the Corinne Daily Reporter, founded
in 1867 ^^^ published for a short time — succeeded by the Corinne
Journal in 1871 ; the Dixie Times (later the Rio Virgin Times) the
first number of which was issued at St. George on January 22, 1868;
a semi-monthly publication called "Keep-a-pitchin-in," established
at Salt Lake City in 1869 and published for a short time only; the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 417
Provo Daily Times, the first number of which came from the press
on August I, 1873 — later published as the Utah County Advertiser
and the Territorial Inquirer; the Beaver Enterprise, founded by
Joseph Field late in the year 1873 or early in 1874; the Utah Mining
Journal, which began its career in June, 1872, and the Mining Ga-
zette started the next year, both published in Salt Lake City; the
Silver Reef Echo and the Silver Reef Miner, published at Silver
Reef City in the latter '70s; the Northern Light, started at Logan in
May, 1879, later removed to Oxford, Idaho, and the name changed
to the Banner; the Southern Utonian, started in March, 1881, and
the Beaver County Record, established early in June, 1883, both pub-
lished at Beaver City.
Running a newspaper on the frontier of civilization lacks much
of being a sinecure. Without telegraph service, or even the advan-
tages of a regular mail service, it is not surprising that the news con-
tained in the early newspapers of Utah was several days (or even
weeks) old before it reached the editor's sanctum and in other parts
of the country would have been regarded as "stale." On October 18,
1 86 1, the Overland Telegraph line was completed to Salt Lake City.
The newspapers within reach of this line were then able to give their
readers news of a more "up-to-date" character, greatly to the detri-
ment of the newspapers unable to secure telegraph service, which
caused some of them to suspend.
NEWSPAPERS IN 1919
The following list of Utah newspapers and periodicals is taken
from Ayer's Newspaper Annual, which is regarded by publishers as
being the best authority on the subject. Constant changes are taking
place in the newspaper world, new papers are started, old ones change
owners, while some suspend publication altogether. This list, which
is taken from the 1919 annual, shows the condition of the Utah press
at the beginning of that year and is believed to be as nearly complete
and correct as such a list could be made:
Altonah — The Intermountain News, a democratic weekly, was
established at Altonah, Duchesne County, in 1917 and is published
every Friday by Aaron Johnson.
American Fork — The Citizen, established in 1903; an independ-
ent weekly; issued every Saturday by L. W. Gaisford, editor and
publisher. The American Fork Tribune made its appearance on
418 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
July 26, 1919; W. E. Ellsworth, formerly with some of the Salt Lake
City newspapers, editor and manager.
Beaver — The Beaver County Press, devoted to local interests
and independent in politics, was established in 1904; issued every
Friday by Karl S. Carlton, editor and publisher.
Bicknell — The Wayne County Booster, published by the stud-
ents of the Wayne County High School, was established in 1917. It
is devoted mainly to the educational and industrial interests of Wayne
County; Joseph Hickman, editor.
Bingham Canyon — The Press-Bulletin, established in 1891 ; in-
dependent in politics; published every Friday by C. D. McNeeley.
Bountiful — The Davis County Clipper, was established in 1891
and is now published every Friday as an independent weekly by John
Stable.
Brigham — This city, the county seat of Boxelder County, has
three newspapers. The Boxelder News, an independent weekly (now
semi-weekly), was established in 1895; is now published every Tues-
day and Friday; Victor E. Madsen, editor, the Boxelder News Com-
pany, publishers. The Boxelder Journal, a republican weekly, was
established in 1909; published every Thursday; J. F. Erdmann,
editor, Boxelder Journal Company, publishers. The Farm Bureau
News, a monthly publication devoted to the agricultural interests of
the intermountain country, began its career in 1917; Robert H. Stew-
art, editor, Boxelder Farm Bureau, publishers.
Castle Dale — Emery County Progress, an independent weekly,
was established in 1900; published every Saturday by David S. Wil-
liams.
Cedar City — The Iron County Record, established in 1893; in-
dependent in politics; issued every Friday by Charles S. Wilkinson,
editor and publisher. This is one of the oldest newspapers in South-
ern Utah.
Coalville — The Times, established in 1894; non-partisan; pub-
lished every Friday by N. J. Peterson, editor and proprietor.
Delta — The Millard County Chronicle was established in 1910
as an independent weekly; issued every Friday by Charles G. Davis,
editor and publisher.
Duchesne — The Record, established in 1908; independent in
politics; issued every Friday by J. P. May.
Ephraim — The Enterprise, established in 1891; issued every
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 419
Saturday by Nephi Christensen, editor and publisher, as an inde-
pendent weekly newspaper.
Eureka — The Reporter was started in 1894 and is now published
every Friday by C. E. Huish, who is also the editor; independent
in politics.
Fillmore — The Millard County Progress, founded in 1894 as
an independent weekly; now issued every Friday by Joseph Smith.
Garfield — The Magna-Garfield Messenger, established in 1916;
issued every Friday as an independent newspaper by J. S. Barlow.
Garland — The Globe, established in 1906; independent in poli-
tics; issued every Saturday by J. A. Wixom.
Gold Hill — The Standard, established as a newspaper devoted
to local interests in 1916; now edited and published every Friday by
L. G. Schwalenberg.
Grantsville — The News, established in 1917; an independent
weekly; issued every Friday by Robert D. Halladay.
Green River — The Dispatch, published every Thursday by
Helen Spalding, an independent weekly was established in 1907.
Gunnison — The Gazette, established in 1899; neutral in poli-
tics; published every Friday by Camp & Company.
Heber — The Wasatch Wave, established in 1889; the oldest
paper in Wasatch County; issued every Friday as an independent
weekly; Charles N. Broadbent, editor, the Wave Publishing Com-
pany, publishers.
Helper — The Times, founded in 191 1 as an independent news-
paper; issued every Friday by I. A. Lee, editor and proprietor.
Hyrum — The South Cache Courier, established in 1909; J. A.
Wahlen, editor and publisher; issued every Friday as an independ-
ent weekly.
Kaysville — The Reflex, established in 1904; issued every Thurs-
day as an independent newspaper; W. P. Epperson, editor and pub-
lisher.
Lehi — The Sun, a newspaper devoted to local interests, was es-
tablished in 1914; edited and published every Wednesday by A. F.
Gaisford, Sr., and A. F. Gaisford, Jr. The Utah Farmer, published
at Lehi, began its career in 1901 as an agricultural weekly; issued
every Saturday by the Deseret Publishing Company, James M. Kirk-
ham, editor.
Logan — The Logan Journal was started as the Leader in Sep-
tember, 187Q, and continued under that name until August i, 1882,
420 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
during which time it was published weekly. On August i, 1882, it
was made a semi-weekly and the name was changed to the Utah Jour-
nal. Subsequently the word "Utah" was dropped from the name and
the paper was made an afternoon daily. It is democratic in politics
and is issued every afternoon except Sunday by the Earl & England
Publishing Company, A. Gordon, editor. The Logan Republican,
established in 1902, is published on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
of each week; edited by Herschel Bullen and published by the Re-
publican Publishing Company. The students of the Utah Agricul-
tural College issue a weekly every Thursday during the college year.
It is devoted to the interests of the institution and is called "Student
Life."
Mammoth — The Record, established in 1896; republican in
politics; edited and published every Saturday by I. E. Diehl.
Manti — The Messenger, established in 1893; edited and pub-
lished every Friday by M. A. Boyden as a republican weekly.
Marysvale — The Piute Chieftain was established in 1916 as a
democratic weekly; issued every Thursday by H. W. Cheney, editor
and publisher — the only newspaper in Piute County.
Midvale — The Town of Midvale has two weekly newspapers,
both independent politically. The Times was established in 1909
and is issued every Friday; J. S. Barlow, editor, the Eagle Publish-
ing Company, publishers. The Messenger was started in 1914 and
is edited and published every Saturday by D. M. Clark.
Milford — The Beaver County News was established in 1908;
independent in politics; issued every Friday by the Beaver County
News Publishing Company; Karl S. Carlton, editor.
Moab — The Grand Valley Times, established in 1896; inde-
pendent politically; issued every Friday by the Southeastern Utah
Publishing Company, with Loren L. Taylor as editor. The Moab
Independent was started in 1917 as an independent weekly, devoted
chiefly to local interests; edited by F. W. Strong and issued every]
Thursday by the Independent Publishing Company.
Monroe — The Record, established in 1916; edited and pub-
lished by F. A. Eidson; independent in politics; issued every Friday.
Monticello — The San Juan Record was established in 1915;
published every Wednesday as an independent weekly; H. E. Blake,
editor and proprietor.
Morgan — The Morgan County Star, established in 191 2; inde-
pendent in politics ; edited and issued by C. H. Ruble every Saturday.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 421
Mount Pleasant — Two independent weekly newspapers are pub-
lished in Mount Pleasant. The Pyramid, established in 1890, is
edited and published every Friday by Burke McArthur. The Call,
established in 1906 is issued every Saturday by C. N. Lund, editor
and proprietor.
Murray — The American Eagle, started in 1896; edited by J.
S. Barlow and issued every Friday by the Eagle Publishing Com-
pany.
Myton — The Free Press was established in 1915; independent
in politics; C. B. Cook, editor; issued every Thursday by the Uinta
Basin Publishing Company.
Nephi — The Times-News dates its establishment in 1916; Den-
nis Wood, editor; issued every Friday by the Times-News Publish-
ing Company.
Ogden — The Standard (previously mentioned) began its career
in 1870; issued every afternoon except Sunday as an independent
newspaper by A. L. Glassman. The Examiner, an independent daily,
established in 1902, is issued every morning; J. W. Eldredge, editor;
Ogden Examiner Publishing Company, publishers.
Ophir — The Examiner, established in 191 3; devoted to local in-
terests; edited by L. E. Kramer and issued every Saturday by tlie
Tooele County Publishing Company.
Panguitch — The Progress, established in 1897; issued every Fri-
day by F. E. Eldredge, editor and publisher.
Park City — The Park Record, established in 1880; republican
in politics; edited by S. L. Raddon and issued every Friday by the
Park Record Publishing Company.
Parowan — The Times, established in 191 5; independent; Alex-
ander Rollo, editor; issued every Wednesday by the Parowan Pub-
lishing and Printing Company.
Payson — The Paysonian was established in 1888; independent
in politics; edited by Lawrence Jorgenson and issued every Thursday
by the Paysonian Publishing Company.
Pleasant Grove — The Review, established in 1903; issued every
Saturday as an independent weekly by L. W. Gaisford, editor and
publisher.
Price — Two weekly republican newspapers are published in
Price, the county seat of Carbon County. The News Advocate was
established in 1895 and is issued every Thursday by H. W. Cooper,
422 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
editor and proprietor. The Sun, established in 1915, is edited and
published by R. W. Crockett every Friday.
Provo — The Provo Herald began its career in 1885; issued on
Monday and Thursday of each week as a democratic newspaper; Ira
H. Masters, editor; Herald Publishing Company, publishers. The
Post was established in 1909; republican in politics; H. C. Hicks,
editor; issued on Tuesdays and Fridays by the Post Publishing Com-
pany. The White and Blue, a college paper, is published every
Wednesday during the college year by the students of Brigham
Young University.
Randolph — The Rich County News was established in 1896 as
a newspaper devoted to local interests; edited by Chris Christensen
and issued every Saturday by the Rich County News Publishii
Company.
Richfield — The first newspaper in Sevier County was the Sevier
Valley Echo, which was started in Richfield in August, 1884, and
was published for about two years. The Reaper was started in i^
and is now published every Saturday as an independent republican
newspaper by J. L. Ewing, editor and proprietor.
Roosevelt — The Standard was established in 1914; independent
in politics; issued every Wednesday by Arnold Reef, editor and pub-
lisher.
St. George — The Washington County News began its career in
1908; issued every Thursday by John R. Wallis, editor and pub-
lisher, as an independent weekly.
Salina — The Salina Sun was established in 191 8; devoted chiefly
to local interest; issued every Friday by J. L. Ewing, who is also
the editor and publisher of the Richfield Reaper.
Salt Lake City — The publications of Salt Lake City are numer-
ous and varied in character. Mention has already been made of the
Deseret News, the Herald and the Tribune, the three oldest and best
known daily newspapers. The Beobachter, a German newspaper,
was established in 1890; issued every Wednesday; independent po-
litically; Herman Grether, editor; the Beobachter Publishing Com-
pany, publishers. The Bikuben, a Scandinavian publication in the
interests of the Church of Latter-day Saints, was established in 1876;!
issued every Tuesday; John S. Hansen, editor. The Character]
Builder, an educational monthly, was established in 1887; edited by
John T. Miller and published by the Human Culture Publishing
Company. The Chronicle, published by the students of the Uni
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 423
versity of Utah, was established in 1892 and is published during the
college year. A Greek weekly called the Evzonos was established
in 1915 and is edited and published by George N. Photos. The Gaz-
zetta, established in 191 2, is issued every Saturday as an independent
weekly; edited by G. Milano and published by the Italian Publish-
ing Company. The Gold and Blue, a college monthly, was estab-
lished in 1900 and is published by the students of the Latter-day
Saints University. The Good Roads Automobilist, established in
1900 is published monthly by the Good Roads Automobilist Associa-
tion and is edited by Robert Skelton. Goodwin's Weekly was estab-
lished in 1902 and is edited by T. L. Holman; issued every Saturday
by the Gpodwin's Weekly Publishing Company. The Intermountain
Catholic, a weekly publication in the interests of the Catholic
Church, was established in 1899; edited by J. Leo Meehan and issued
every Saturday by the Intermountain Catholic Publishing Company.
The Intermountain Odd Fellow, a monthly magazine, was started
in 1918 to promote the interests of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows; edited and published by Alexander F. Moore. The Inter-
mountain Worker, a labor paper, was established in 19 12 and is is-
sued by the Intermountain Worker Publishing Company. l"he Irri-
gation Age, established in 1885, is published monthly by D. H. An-
derson in the interests of irrigation projects and the solution of irri-
gation problems. The Juvenile Instructor, a Sunday school peri-
odical, made its first appearance on January i, 1866, with George
Q. Cannon as editor. It is now published monthly by the Deseret
Sunday School Union and edited by Joseph F. Smith. Light, a
Greek weekly, was established in 191 1 and is issued every Thursday
by Dr. P. Kassinikos. The Mining Review, established in 1899 to
promote Utah's mining interests, is published semi-monthly by Hig-
gins & Greeson; Will C. Higgins, editor. The National Wool
Grower, a monthly published by the National Wool Growers' Asso-
ciation, was started in 1910 and is edited by S. W. McClure. The
New West Magazine, devoted to the general development of the
West, was established in 1910 and is issued monthly by Robert W.
Spangler, editor and publisher. The Relief Society Magazine, a
monthly publication, is conducted by the Latter-day Saints in the in-
terests of the relief work and is edited by Mrs. Susa Young Gates.
The Retail Merchant, a trade journal, devoted mainly to the inter-
ests of the grocery trade, is published every Saturday by Harper
Brothers, with John H. Harper as editor. The Rocky Mountain
424 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Times, Japanese, was established in 1907; issued on Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays by Shiro lida. The Searchlight, an independent
weekly, established in 1916, is edited and published every Friday by
Jack Borlase. The Story Teller was established as a literary Sun-
day paper in 1910; edited by Hulde P. Jakeman and published by the
Western Publishing Company. The Telegram was established in
1902 and is issued every afternoon except Sunday by the Telegram
Publishing Company. The Universal Free Mason, established in
1908, is published monthly in the interests of the Masonic fraternity
by the American Masonic Federation; edited by M. M. B. Thomp-
son and Robert S. Spence. The University Pen, published monthly
by the students of the University of Utah during the college year, was
established in 1909. The Utah Educational Review was established
in 1907 and is published monthly under the auspices of the Univers-
ity of Utah. The Utah Labor News was established in 1916 as an
organ of organized labor; edited by Henry Sweet and published
every Saturday by the Labor News Publishing Company. The Utah
Nippo, a Japanese daily, is edited and published by U. Terasawa.
The Utah Odd Fellow, a fraternal monthly, established in 1890, is
edited and published by P. A. Simpkin. The Posten, a weekly pub-
lication devoted to the interests of the Latter-day Saints and printed
in the Swedish language, was established in 1900 and is issued every
Wednesday by the Utah Posten Publishing Company. The Western
Poultryman, established in 19 14, is a monthly publication devoted to
the poultry industry; edited and published by Harlow P. Grow.
The Young Woman's Journal, established in 1889, is edited by Mary
E. Connelly and her associates and is published in the interests of
the Latter-day Saints, with certain literary features, every month.
Sandy — The Sandy Star, established in 191 1; independent in
politics; edited by J. S. Barlow and issued every Friday by the Eagle
Publishing Company.
Smithfield — The Sentinel, established in 1907; issued as an in-
dependent weekly every Friday by John W. Harry, editor and pro-
prietor.
Spanish Fork — The Press, established in 1902; independent in
politics; Elisha Warren, editor and publisher; issued every Thurs-
day.
Springville — The Lidependent was established in 1891, and as
its name indicates is independent politically; issued every Thursday
by D. C. Johnson, editor and publisher.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 425
Tooele — The Tooele Transcript was established in 1895; inde-
pendent in politics; issued every Friday by James Dunn, editor and
publisher. The Tooele Bulletin was started in 1915 as an independ-
ent newspaper ; published Wednesdays and Saturdays by the Bulletin
Publishing Company, L. E. Kramer editor. Mr. Kramer is also edi-
tor of the Ophir Examiner.
Tremonton — The Bear River Valley Leader, established in
1 9 14; independent in politics and devoted chiefly to local interests;
issued every Thursday by Alva D. McGuire, editor and proprietor.
Vernal — The Vernal Express was established in 1892; inde-
pendent in politics; issued every Friday by the Vernal Express Pub-
lishing Company and edited by James H. Wallis.
CHARACTER OF THE UTAH PRESS
From the above list it may be noticed that of the 1 1 1 publications
included in the 1919 Annual, thirty-six are published in Salt Lake
City, leaving seventy-five publications distributed among sixty-one
cities and towns of the state. Of these seventy-five newspapers and
periodicals fifty-five are classed as "independent." Outside of a few
of the largest cities, the newspapers appear to be more interested in
building up the community in which they are published than in the
welfare of any political party. The editors and publishers doubtless
have their political opinions, the same as other citizens, but these
opinions are not expressed in the editorial columns at the expense of
the local interests. The Utah newspapers are, as a rule, loyal to Utah
first and to party afterward.
Utah offers a good field to the enterprising journalist. There
are about fifty thriving towns, with a population of five hundred or
more, each located in a prosperous community, and it is safe to pre-
dict that each succeeding Newspaper Annual will contain a larger
list of publications than the one of 1919, as these opportunities will
not long remain neglected.
PART V
MILITARY
CHAPTER XX
UTAH IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN
SPANISH TYRANNY IN CUBA — REVOLT OF 1 829 — THE LOPEZ EXPEDI-
TIONS — THE TEN YEARS' WAR — WEYLER'S CRUELTY — PROTESTS
OF THE UNITED STATES— DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE— CONGRESS
DECL.ARES WAR — CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS — UTAH'S RESPONSE —
BATTERY A — BATTERY B — BATTERY RECRUITS — FIRST CAVALRY
TROOP — ROUGH RIDERS — SECOND ENGINEERS — BATTERY C —
ROSTER OF EACH ORGANIZATION^ — IN THE PHILIPPINES — AGAINSl
THE INSURGENTS — CASUALTIES — THE HOME COMING — ORGAN-
IZATIONS THAT REMAINED IN THE UNITED STATES — RESOLUTION
OF THANKS.
For four centuries after the discovery of America, the Island of
Cuba was a dependency of Spain. While that nation was losing,
one by one, her other American possessions, the people of Cuba re-
mained steadfast in their allegiance to the mother country. In 1808,
when the Spanish dynasty was overthrown by Napoleon, the Cubans
declared war against the French Republic. Their loyalty during all
this period received but a poor recompense, however, as in 1825 King
Ferdinand issued a decree which placed the lives and fortunes of
the Cubans at the absolute disposal of the captains-general, or gov-
ernors of the island, appointed by the crown. The "conquistadores"
were slow in coming, but at last they had arrived.
Ferdinand's decree marked the beginning of Spain's policy of
tyranny, and in some instances actual inhumanity, toward her colonial
subjects. Some excuse for this policy may be found in the unsettled
condition of political affairs in Spain, internal dissensions rendering
the Spanish Government pow-erless to improve the environment of
the colonists in the face of opposition on the part of many leading
citizens. With the death of Ferdinand in 1833, his daughter, Isa-
429
430 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
bella, was proclaimed Queen. Ferdinand's brother, Don Carlos, set
up the claim that he was the legitimate heir to the throne and insisted
that the recognition of Isabella as Queen was a violation of the Salic
law forbidding women to exercise the royal prerogative. He was not
without supporters in his claims, and for many years the "Carlist
Party" was a standing menace to the Spanish Government.
Naturally, while the Spanish authorities were engrossed with
domestic affairs, the people of the colonies were neglected and grew
discontented. As early as 1829 a conspiracy was formed in Cuba for
the purpose of casting of? the Spanish yoke, but this conspiracy was
discovered and crushed before the revolutionists were ready to begin
open hostilities. In 1844 the negroes of the island attempted an in-
surrection, but, like the conspiracy of fifteen years before, it was
checked in its incipiency, and with great cruelty on the part of the
Spaniards. Some five years later (1849-50) Narcisso Lopez, a for-
mer resident of Cuba, fitted out an expedition in New Orleans for
the liberation of the Cubans from Spanish oppression. But Lopez
was too quixotic for a military leader. His expedition failed and
some of his misguided followers perished in Spanish dungeons.
In 1868 the "Ten Years' War" broke out, the revolutionists tak-
ing advantage of internal dissensions in Spain and hoping to estab-
lish the independence of Cuba. About the beginning of the third
year of this war, Amadeus, second son of Victor Emanuel of Italy,
was called to the Spanish throne as "constitutional king" and reigned
until 1873. when the provisional government under Castilla came
into power. Castilla threatened to "make a desert island of Cuba,"
and to make this threat good he sent an army of 257,000 soldiers to
the island. The resistance was so determined, however, that fewer
than fifty thousand of these soldiers returned to Spain. During the
war property valued at $300,000,000 was destroyed and a heavy debt
was incurred by Spain, which debt was thrown upon the Cubans as
a penalty for their revolt. Not only was the debt laid upon the in-
habitants of the island, but the captains-general also became more
tyrannical in their administration of affairs.
The heavy burden of taxation imposed and the unreasonable de-
mands of the captains-general only served to increase the discontent
among the Cubans and to render them more determined than ever
to achieve their independence. Experience had taught them the ne-
cessity of caution and for about fifteen years they carried on their
preparations with the utmost secrecy. In 1895 the insurrection broke
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 431
out at several places on the island simultaneously, under the leader-
ship of Generals Maceo and Gomez. Captain-General Campos, then
governor of the island, carried on his military operations according
to the rules of civilized warfare, but this policy failed to meet the ap-
probation of the authorities at Madrid. Campos was therefore re-
moved and General Weyler was appointed as his successor. Instant-
ly a change could be seen. Upon taking command, Weyler issued his
famous "I order and command" proclamation directing the troops to
gather the inhabitants of the rural districts into the cities, where
they could be kept under the watchful eye of the military authorities.
It was claimed that this was necessary in order to prevent the people
from giving aid to the insurgents. Any persons who failed to obey
the order within eight days were to be regarded as rebels and to be
treated as such. The proclamation also prohibited the transportation
of provisions or supplies from one town to another without permis-
sion from the military authority. The supply of food in the cities
and towns was inadequate to the needs of the "reconcentrados,"' as the
people there confined were called, and many of the unfortunate Cu-
bans actually starved to death. Weyler was no respecter of age or sex
and women and children were the greatest sufferers.
The inhumanity of Weyler's policy soon aroused the indigna-
tion of the civilized world. European nations sent protests to Mad-
rid, but they fell on deaf ears. The people of the United States raised
funds and sent relief to the starving reconcentrados, but in nearly
every case the contributions were diverted into the hands of Weyler
or his subordinates and failed to reach the people for whom they were
intended. Political conventions, irrespective of party, commercial
organizations, several of the State Legislatures and other organiza-
tions in the United States adopted resolutions calling on the Federal
Government to intervene in behalf of the oppressed Cubans. The
platform upon which William McKinley was elected President in
1896 declared that some action must be taken in the interests of hu-
manity. Immediately following Mr. McKinley's election, riots oc-
curred in Havana, friends of Weyler telling the people that any in-
tervention by the United States meant the ultimate annexation of
Cuba to that country.
The year 1897 Passed without the United States taking any de-
cisive action, but about the beginning of 1898 the Atlantic Squadron
of the United States Navy was ordered to the Dry Tortugas, off the
southern extremity of the Florida Peninsula and within six hours
432 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
sail of Havana. On January 25, 1898, the Battleship Maine, one of
the vessels belonging to the squadron, dropped anchor in the Harbor
of Havana, the Spanish authorities having been notified by the Amer-
ican consul-general the previous day of the cruiser's intended arrival.
Prior to this time, the Spanish Government had protested against the
United States sending vessels bearing supplies to the reconcentrados.
It can therefore be easily imagined that the presence of the Maine in
the harbor, while the two nations were supposed to be at peace, was
not pleasing to the Spanish officials, who, as a measure of retaliation,
ordered the cruiser Vizcaya to New York. Thus matters stood until
February 9, 1898, when the Spanish minister at Washington resigned
his position and asked for his passports. His request was granted and
Spain was without an official representative in the United States.
DESTRUCTIOxX OF THE MAINE
About twenty minutes before ten o'clock on the evening of Feb-
ruary 15, 1898, the Maine was blown up, with a total loss of the ves-
sel and 266 of her officers and crew, who were either killed by the
explosion or drowned while trying to reach the shore. A court of
inquiry was convened almost immediately and after a searching in-
vestigation it reported that "There were two explosions of a distinctly
different character, with a short, but distinct interval between them,
and the forward part of the ship was lifted to a marked degree by the
first explosion. * * * In the opinion of the court the Maine was
destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the
partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines."
The destruction of the Maine, with its consequent loss of life,
increased the excitement in the United Sattes and the demands for
intervention became more insistent. Still the administration declined
to respond to these demands, for two reasons. The first of these was
that General Weyler had been superseded by General Blanco, who
had issued a proclamation declaring a cessation of hostilities, and a
public announcement that the reconcentrados would be permitted to
return to their homes. The other reason v\?as that the President was
awaiting the decision of the court of inquiry that was investigating
the causes of the Maine's destruction. On March 8, 1898, Congress
appropriated the sum of $50,000,000 "for the national defense," but
nothing further was done until the 28th, when it became definitely
known that Blanco's promise to release the reconcentrados had been,
and was being, systematically ignored. On that day President Mc-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 433
Kinley submitted the report of the court of inquiry to Congress and in
the message accompanying it he invoked the deliberate consideration
of that body.
The next day Senator Joseph L. Rawlins, of Utah, introduced a
resolution the preamble of which declared that the war waged by
Spain had destroyed the commerce between Cuba and the United
States and American property in Cuba; that American citizens had
been imprisoned and some had been assassinated in their cells; and
that further peaceful protests were in vain. The resolution was as
follows:
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled: That the independence of the
Republic of Cuba be, and the same is hereby, recognized, and that
war against the Kingdom of Spain be, and the same is hereby, de-
clared, and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ
the land and naval forces of the United States to wage such war to
success."
Although this resolution was not adopted. Congress was prompt
with its response to the President's request. On the day following
the receipt of the message bills relating to Cuban affairs were intro-
duced in both the House and Senate, and on April ist a naval ap-
propriation bill was passed. On the nth of April the President sent
to Congress another message, in which he said: "In the name of hu-
manity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American
interests, which give us the right and duty to speak and to act, the
war in Cuba must stop. In view of these facts and these considera-
tions, I ask Congress to authorize and empower the President to take
measures to secure a full and final termination of hostilities between
the Government of Spain and the people of Cuba," etc.
CONGRESS DECLARES WAR
On April 13, 1898, the House of Representatives passed a resolu-
tion directing the President to intervene immediately in Cuban af-
fairs. The resolution was sent to the Senate, where it was amended
by the use of much stronger language, and on the i8th the House con-
curred in the amendments. The resolutions as adopted on that date
were as follows:
"i. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.
434 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
"2. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
Government of the United States does demand, that the Government
of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island
of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and
Cuban waters.
"3. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby
is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of
the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United
States the militia of the several states to such an extent as may be
necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.
"4. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said
island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determina-
tion when that is accomplished to leave the government and control
of the island to its people."
These resolutions did not constitute a formal declaration of war,
but merely gave the President power to intervene in the interests of
humanity. Two days after their adoption, the United States sent its
ultimatum to Spain, demanding the relinquishment of Spanish au-
thority over Cuba before noon of April 23, 1898, and the withdrawal
of the Spanish land and naval forces, in accordance with the second
resolution. Spain refused compliance and Rear Admiral Sampson
was ordered to blockade the Cuban ports. On the 23d President Mc-
Kinley issued his proclamation calling for 125,000 volunteers, "the
same to be apportioned, as far as practicable, among the several states
and territories and the District of Columbia, according to population,
and to serve for two years unless sooner discharged."
This proclamation was issued before an actual declaration of
war had been made by Congress, but on the 25th it was enacted : "That
war be, and the same is hereby declared to exist, and that war has
existed since the 21st day of April, 1898, between the United States
of America and the Kingdom of Spain."
UTAH'S RESPONSE
Under the President's call of April 23, 1898, Utah was asked to
furnish two batteries of light artillery and a troop of cavalry for "spe-
cial mounted service." On the 25th Governor Wells received the
following telegram from the secretary of war: "The President has
authorized the enlistment of -eighty-five men in your state, good shots.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^35
good riders, to form a company in a mounted rifle regiment, company
officers to be taken from your section. Can you give us the men?"
To this message Governor Wells replied : "Utah will be proud
to furnish the eighty-five men for company in mounted rifle regi-
ment, as authorized by the President, in addition to her regular
quota."
On the 26th the Governor issued his proclamation calling for vol-
unteers and the work of raising Utah's quota was commenced. The
response from all sections of the state was instantaneous and on May
ist Governor Wells telegraphed the war department that Utah's men
were ready for mustering into the United States service. Orders
came back to mobilize at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, and by the
4th all were at the rendezvous ready for the mustering officer. It
was then discovered that through a misunderstanding, Utah was ex-
pected to furnish but one troop of cavalry, to be a part of the Second
United States Volunteer Cavalry (Torrey's Rough Riders), though
two troops had been raised. After several days of telegraphic cor-
respondence between the governor and the secretary of war, aided by
the personal appeal of United States Senator Frank J. Cannon, who
was then in Washington, both troops were accepted, one becoming
Troop I in Torrey's regiment and the other the "First Troop, Utah
United States Volunteer Cavalry."
On May i, 1898, the American fleet commanded by Commodore
George Dewey engaged and practically annihilated the Spanish fleet
then lying in Manila Bay, Philippine Islands. News of this signal
victory — the first battle of the war — reached Salt Lake City in due
time and was enthusiastically celebrated on Saturday, May 7, i8q8,
the men who were at Fort Douglas waiting to be mustered in taking
part in the demonstration. The following Monday (May 9th) the
two biitteries, designated Battery A and Battery B, and the First
Troop of Cavalry were mustered in, Utah being one of the first states
in the Union to furnish the full quota of volunteers under the call of
April 23d. Following is the roster of each of the three commands at
the time of muster in, as reported to the Legislture by Governor Wells
in January, 1899:
BATTERY A
Richard W. Young, captain; George W. Gibbs, first lieutenant;
Raymond C. Naylor and W. C. Webb, second lieutenants; Ethan E.
Allen, first sergeant; Harry A. Young, quartermaster sergeant; John
436 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
H. Meredith, veterinary sergeant; Joseph O. Nystrom, Daniel H.
Wells, Emil V. Johnson, Ford Fisher, Emil Lehman and Will F.
Aldrach, sergeants; Arthur W. Brown, William D. Riter, Alfred L.
Robinson, Charles E. Varian, Charles R. Mabey, A. L. Williams,
Lewis P. Hanson, Noble A. McDonald, William Kneass, George
S. Backman, George A. Seaman, Willard Call, Thomas R. Smith,
Mark A. Bezzant and George O. Larson, corporals; Hans P. Hansen
and William M. Clawson, farriers; Buriah Wilkins and Vincent A.
Smith, artificers; Victor E. Marthini, saddler; Elmer G. Thomas
and George R. Fisher, musicians; James W. Allred, wagoner.
Privates — Joseph F. Anderson, Louis P. Anderson, John W. Bee-
mus, John H. Berlin, Robert L. Bostwick, Archibald Bradford, John
W. Campbell, Harold L. Caulkins, P. B. Christensen, Theo. Chris-
tensen, Theo. Cleghorn, Thomas Collins, William F. Denn, George
E. Doty, George Duffin, Leonard Duffin, William Earl, William G.
Ellis, Elfred Eckstrand, William Edwards, Frank W. Emery, Oscar
A. Fenninger, George Frankenfield, P. B. Frederickson, Ezra S.
Funk, Leo N. Gledhill, Frank T. Harmer, W. H. Hennefer, Samuel
H. Hesburg, Joseph J. Holbrook, Chester J. T. Hope, Ephraim B.
Howells, Lindsey Hudson, Thomas J. Hughes, William Jacobson,
Charles G. Jenicke, Peter Jenson, Henry O. Jones, John T. Kennedy,
Ray Kenner, Charles W. Krogh, Warren Larson, William H. Leaver,
John B. Licklederer, Arthur L. Louder, Ernest E. Lowry, August E.
Lyngberg, William F. McLaughlin, Heile M. Madsen, Nelson E.
Margetts, Joseph H. Morgan, David Mortensen, Michael Murray,.
William Nelson, Jr., Niels Nielson, Theo. M. Newman, Charles
Parsons, William E. Perret, Frank E. Peters, Charles Peterson,
Frank C. Peterson, M. C. Phillips, James Quinn, Severn Rasmussen,
E. W. Rauscher, W. J. Robinson, John L. Robison, Wilbur L Row-
land. Isaac Russell, Michael F. Ryan, William A. Ryver, Emil F.
Selmer. Harold E. Sleater, J. W. Sorensen, Stanley Staten, Edgar W.
Stout, Arthur L. Thomas, Jr., Lehi Thomas, John A. Tilson, William
Tipton, Francis B. Tripp, Francis Tuttle, Edward G. Wood, John
R. Woolsey, S. A. Wycherly, Homer W. Wyne, John G. Young, John
F. Zahler.
A majority of the 124 officers and enlisted men constituting the
battery at the'lime it entered the service came from Salt Lake City
and the immediate vicinity, though Bountiful, Ephraim, Gunnison,
Park City and a few other towns contributed to the roster as given
above.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 437
Frank A. Grant, captain; Edgar A. Wedgwood, first lieutenant;
|ohn F. Critchlow and Orrin R. Grow, second lieutenants; Louis B.
Eddy, first sergeant; Don R. Coray, quartermaster sergeant; Felix
Bachman, veterinary sergeant; Frank T. Hines, Louis M. Fehr, Hor-
ace E. Coolidge, Charles G. Forslund, J. A. Anderson and Charles
Asplund, sergeants; Peter Olsen, Richard L. Bush, Robert Stewart,
A. E. St. Morris, John T. Donnellan, Thomas L. Center, W. Q. An-
derson, G. B. Wardlaw, Andrew Peterson, Jr., Nephi Otteson, C. C.
Clapper, Nephi Reese, John U. Buchi, James J. Ryan and John A.
Boshard, corporals; P. J. Blake and Fred D. Sweet, farriers; Frank
Dillingham and Lee A. Curtis, artificers; Louis Miller, saddler;
Fred H. Crager and Joseph F. Grant, musicians; Antone Liljeroth,
wagoner.
Privates — John Abplanalp, M. H. Ackaret, David M. Anderson,
Peter Anderson, Bert W. Austin, John Baker, John W. Beasley, C.
G. Billings, Finer Bjarnson, Stephen Bjarnson, Godfrey J. Bluth,
Arthur Borkman, Fred A. Bumiller, John Braman, Augustus Brans-
corn, John D. Bridgman, James K. Burch, Joseph W. Carr, V. L.
Chamberlain, F. D. Chatterton, Eugene Chatlin, Theodore Christen-
sen, W. J. Collins, R. F. Conover, F. H. Coulter, Jasper D. Curtis,
John Dalgetty, Philip Dallemore, E. V. de Montalvo, Joseph Doyle,
Elmer Duncan, D. A. Dunning, H. H. Dusenberry, W. H. Fames,
J. B. Ferguson, J. E. Flannigan, P. B. Florence, Charles L Fox, M.
T. Goodwin, Loren C. Green, Parker J. Hall, Walter S. Hall, Jacob
A. Heiss. Peter Herbertz, John Hogan, T. A. Hoggan, Parley P.
Holdaway, G. H. Hudson, John W. Hughes, Hans Jansen, M. C.
Jensen, D. C. Johnson, John B. Kell, Samuel King, George Lacey,
G. R. Larson, S. C. Lewis, James McCabe, Leonard McCarty, J. W.
Meranda. A. P. Neilson, Reinhardt Olsen, Marshall Quick, Richard
H. Ralph. George R. Rees, C. W. Robinson, W. H. Savage, P. D.
Schoeber, Hyrum C. Scott, W. H. Shearer, Jerome Smith, Junius C.
Snow, Harry S. Snyder, Henry L. Souther, John P. Tate, Thomas
W. Thornberg, Moroni Turner, S. P. Tyree, Frank J. Utz, John R.
Vance, Benjamin Van Syckle, A. N. Walters, G. H. Wheeler, J. G.
Winkler, W. A. Wright, John D. Zollinger.
Of the 122 officers and enlisted men upon the muster roll of Bat-
tery B. the greater number came from Salt Lake City, Ogden and
Provo, though Eureka, Manti and other towns furnished enough men
438 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
to form a respectable minority. Lieut. Edgar A. Wedg:\vood was
commissioned to enlist enough men to bring both batteries up to a war
footing, and before the two batteries left the state the following names
were added to their muster rolls, the men coming from all parts of
the state. These men were reported by Governor Wells as
BATTERY RECRUITS
Robert Alexander, David G. Archer, John R. Bagge, Harry J.
Bean, Glen Benson, Peter J. Benson, William W. Burnett, Ray S.
Burton, Caleb J. Bywater, Arthur C. Cafifal, Gust Carlson, Millard
Chaffin, Ralph Collett, James W. Connell, William Crooks, Clarence
S. Curtis, David J. Davis, Leo Ducker, Alfred Ellis, George W.
Engler, Willard Evans, Everett B. Ferris, August Fichtner, George
Fowler, Jack Gilroy, Edgar A. Grandpre, George Grantham, Ned
C. Graves, Walter Griffiths, Wilhelm L Goodman, Thomas S. Gunn,
Francis R. Hardie, George Harris, Charles Heatherly, Charles S.
Hill, Thomas Hollberg, Ernest E. Hopkins, Jacob Huber, Wilmer
E. Hubert, John E. Ingoldsby, James C. Ivins, Elmer Johnson, Louis
E. Kahn, Richard Kearsley, Ralph Kidder, Matthew Kleinly, Mur-
ray E. King, Heinrich Klenke, William G. Knauss, James A. Lee,
Thomas Leonard, William G. McConnie, William McCubben, Dan-
iel McKay, Max Madison, Fred S. Martin, Joseph J. Meyers,
George Moir, John W. Morton, Milton Morton, Barr W. Musser,
Don C. W. Musser, Angus Nicholson, James R. Nielson, John D.
Norris, Arthur F. Ohmer, John A. Pender, Louis J. Pennington,
Louis C. Peterson, Ernest M. Pratt, Alexander Rae, William Rae,
August Rademacher, Thomas Redall, Robert Reid, William Rich-
mond, Edward Roberts, Jr., John E. Rogers, George E. Rowland,
Fred W. Schaupp, Frank B. Shelly, Thomas Shull, George Simmons,
Harry Smith, Sidney J. Smith, Bismarck Snyder, Hans Sorenson,
Joseph D. Sorenson, Kund Sorenson, Charles Z. Stout, George Taylor,
O. D. Tompkins, Frank A. Vincent, Chris Wagener, Edward P.
Walker, Charles A. Walquist, George E. Weber, Joseph Wessler,
Frank Wickehsham, Albert R. Williams, George W. Williams,
James E. Wonnacott, James H. Yates, Carlos Young, total, 104.
FIRST CAV^^LRY TROOP
The First Troop, Utah United States Volunteer Cavalry, was
mustered in with Joseph E. Caine, captain; Benner X. Smith, first
lieutenant; Gordon N. Kimball, second lieutenant; John Meteer, first
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 439
sergeant; Samuel S. Porter, quartermaster sergeant; Charles O. Mer-
rill, Ernest de Vigne, Ives E. Cobb, William A. Fortesque, Charles
S. Price and Joseph H. Richards, sergeants; Harry H. Atkinson,
Paul Kimball, Wilford V. Young, John H. Francis, K. B. Ritchie,
Albert W. Lee, Walter S. Clawson and John B. Wheeling, corporals;
Louis Smith and Emron C. Wright, farriers; John C. Crawford and
Otis O. Butcher, musicians; James Payne, saddler; Marion Grundy,
wagoner.
Troopers — William P. Adams, Albert W. Andrews, Jacob
Brandt, Arthur W. Brattain, Oscar H. Breinholdt, Homer Brown,
Joel T. Brown, Roger C. Canters, Enoch J. Cavanaugh, Alexander
Colbath, Arthur F. Conklin, Perry R. Cotner, Samuel Dallin, Roy
W. Daniel, Arthur Dennis, Jr., William B. Dodds, William H. Don-
aldson, Jarvis C. Doud, Rupert A. Dunford, Frank M. Eldredge,
James W. Estes, Peter J. Fairclough, Ellis C. Freed, Walter F. Gan-
non, William H. Gardner, William R. Greenwood, George P. Han-
sen, Frank Harkness, Abner B. Harris, Robert L. Hodgert, J. F.
Howell, Ralph Irvine, Elliott T. Kimball, Greeley C. Ladd, William
D. Loveless, Albert W. Lufi, Martin Lund, Rufus A. Marsh, Fred
H. May, Arthur L. Miller, George C. Morrison, LeRoy Nelson,
Charles B. Neugebauer, Charles A. Nielson, George M. Page,
George E. Paget, Christian Peterson, Clem V. Porter, Ray R. Pratt,
Fred E. Rucker, Lewis Schoppe, Garry N. Searle, Paul Spenst, Wil-
liam J. Stephens, Moroni E. Tervort, George L. Weiler, Delbert W.
Whiting, Joseph T. Woodford, Kleber Worley. Total, 84.
ROUGH RIDERS
The troop of cavalry recruited for the Second United States Vol-
unteer Cavalry, more commonly spoken of as "Torrey's Rough Rid-
ers," left Fort Douglas on Sunday, May 15, 1898, for Cheyenne,
Wyo., and was mustered in the following Wednesday at Fort D. A.
Russell as Troop I, with John Q. Cannon, captain; J. W. Young,
first lieutenant; Andrew J. Burt, second lieutenant.
Non-Commissioned Officers and Troopers — Earl B. Allen, Orson
Allred, Eric C. Anderson, William O. Ash, Charles H. Bates, Jesse
F. Bean, John R. Beck, Jason R. Beebe, Lorenzo Bohm, E. H. Clark,
Edward W. Clarke, A. C. Christensen, William F. Cleghorn, A. L.
Cummings, Frederick S. Dart, Reuben W. Dewitt, Clarence R.
Drake, Charles M. Dull, Axel W. Ekdahl, Samuel C. Elder, Robert
Forrester, Stephen H. Fotheringham, Frederick B. Fowler, William
440 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
H. Goldman, F. C. Goodwin, Samuel E. Hansen, Carl B. Hard, Har-
ry Harris, Joseph A. Harris, Sydney C. Hays, John C. Hilbert, Sid-
ney K. Hooper, Frank Jardine, Charles C. W. Jasperson, Thomas
Jones, James Kidney, Lewis Larson, William H. Leiter, James R.
Lewis. John H. Lundy, Edgar McCarty, W. A. McKay, A. G. Mc-
Kenzie, James McPherson, John H. Manson, Joseph V. E. Marsh,
Robert R. Moody, Burton H. Morris, Albert F. Oakason, Thomas
L. O'Flynn, Newman A. Page, Lars Peterson, F. H. Plaisted, Arthur
H. Prade, R. G. Pratt, John H. Rinley, William C. Ritter, L. Robin-
son, John D. B. Rogers, David Sanderson, D. E. Scales, George C.
Sharp, Francis R. Shepard, Milford B. Shipp, Joseph F. Skinner, J.
C. Smelser, Arthur Smith, Chris S. Sorenson, George R. Sproat,
Luther J. Stewart, Uri Stewart, Jr., John W. Streeper, L. S. Tenney,
E. R. Thompson, Francis M. Walker, Robert C. Wilkerson, James
B. Willison, Joseph A. Young. Total, 8i.
SECOND ENGINEERS
On the last day of May, 1898, President McKinley appointed
Willard Young, a son of Brigham Young, colonel of the Second Regi-
ment, United States Volunteer Engineers, and about two weeks later
the enlistment of members of the company commanded by Capt. Rob-
ert P. Johnston was commenced in Utah. To this company the state
furnished forty men, to-wit: Anton Schneider, William B. Dougall,
William F. Flannigan and James H. Howat, sergeants; Edward C.
Cooper, Frederick Lyon and Fred J. Barnes, corporals; Frank C.
Fisher, musician.
Privates — Alfa W. Beam, Milton T. Benham, John V. Buckle,
Donald Darrah, William H. C. Drake, Jack H. Flynn, Frank Foster,
Charles D. Gilbourne, Daniel T. Gilmore, James A. Graham, Joseph
E. Hall, Charles Harris, Otto H. Hassing, Willard W. Henderson,
Ralph C. Holsclan, Daniel F. Howells, William A. Leatham, Wil-
liam M. Lewis, John F. McCarty, James E. McDonald, James L.
Morris, Walter Y. Mosher, Frank C. Moyle, James O'Day, Pattric
O'Hagan, John B. Powers, William C. Seymour, Frank J. Silver,
William J. Watson, Richard S. Wright, Ray A. Young.
B.ATTERY C
Under the second call for volunteers. Battery C, Utah Light Ar-
tillery, was mustered into the United States service on July 14, 1898.
When this batterv was mustered in the three Utah batteries were or-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 441
ganized into a battalion of artillery and Capt. Richard W. Young
was promoted to the command of the battalion with the rank of major;
Lieut. Edgar A. Wedgwood was promoted to captain of Battery A;
Lieut. John F. Critchlow was made captain of Battery B, and Corp.
George A. Seaman was promoted to second lieutenant of Battery B.
The officers and enlisted men of Battery C at the time of muster in
were as follows :
Frank W. Jennings, captain; John D. Murphy, first lieutenant;
William J. B. Stacey, second lieutenant; Henry Barrett, first ser-
geant; Cyrus L. Hawley, quartermaster sergeant; David Muir, veter-
inary sergeant; Albert C. Allen, Christian Lund, Edgar Stevenson,
Leo Leon, Albert Hulbert and Edgar J. Bonstell, sergeants; Herbert
J. Cushing, Bertie C. Rasmussen, Joseph Z. Dye, John B. Doyle, Per-
cv T. Fisher, Elmer Green, Axel Ongman, Patrick H. Malloy and
Alfred Voyce, corporals; George W. Olson and James S. Manson,
farriers; Rutherford G. Goldman and Joseph Hansen, artificers;
Samuel J. Cardwell, saddler; George A. White and Louis Hebertson,
musicians; James Swenson, wagoner.
Privates — John Ahern, William H. Ash, Thomas Aspden, Ed-
ward W. Bachelor, Frederick C. Benson, Hyrum S. Buckley, James
K. Butters, John H. Callahan, Theodore Candland, Joseph S. Can-
ning, Charles Carlin, Benjamin F. Carter , Wilford Cartwright,
James H. Chisholm, Frederick Christensen, Marshall Cole, Fred
H. Collins, William Crawford, Henry Grossman, Edward Dalton,
Frank R. Daniels, George W. Davis, Cornelius W. Fairbanks, Olof
G. Fallquist, Robert J. Findlay, George W. Frazer, Joshua Gardner,
Robert Glendenning, Tony D. Goldman, Kersey E. Gowin, Eddie J.
Grubcr, Joseph Hanson, Orson P. Hanson, Peter Hanson, Henry
L. Harris, William D. Haymore, Angus Heiner, Charles Heiner,
John S. Herbert, Lucien C. Horr, Christian Jensen, Joseph C.
Loughran, Carl Lundstrom, M. H. McLeod, Carl Madsen, Catonder
T. Martin, John Matthews, Albert Miller, Michael Morrissey, John
Naismith, George E. Nay, Riley Patten, Edmund Peters, Aug. S.
Peterson, Paules Peterson, Ned Price, Wesley Pulver, James Riley,
James F. Robertson, Milo Rogers, Robert W. Rogers, Ray T. Savage,
Alexander Shaw, William ShurtlifT, Henry M. Sinnott, Albert W.
Smith, Carlos E. Smith, John L. Smith, John B. Stevens, Clififord
Stewart, Patrick R. Sullivan, Roy Tribe, Henry A. Van Alstyn, Ed-
Wclrd N. Wadsworth, August Weis, Albert Welch, George A. Wil-
son, Louis Wolz, Henry Young. Total, io8.
442 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
IN THE PHILIPPINES
After Dewey's victory over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on
Sunday, May i, 1898, the United States decided to send a force of
12,000 troops to the Philippine Islands, under command of Maj.-
Gen. Wesley Merritt. This force was sent in three detachments. The
first, under Brig.-Gen. Francis V. Greene, arrived at Manila on
June 30, 1898; the second under Brig.-Gen. T. H. Anderson, arrived
there about two weeks later; the third, commanded by Brig.-Gen.
Arthur McArthur and accompanied by General Merritt, followed
soon after.
Batteries A and B of the Utah Volunteers left Fort Douglas on
May 20, 1898, and arrived in San Francisco on the 22nd. They re-
mained there in camp until June 14th, when they embarked with
General Anderson's expedition, Battery A on board the Colon, one-
half of Battery B on the China and the other half on the Zealandia.
TTie expedition arrived in Manila Bay on July 17, 1898. For a few
days the two Utah batteries remained on board the transports, then
landed and went into camp at Camp Dewey. On the last day of the
month four of the Utah guns were ordered to the firing line and took
an active part in repelling the Spanish assault upon the American
position at Malate.
At 8:30 A. M., August 13, 1898, Dewey's fleet began a bombard-
ment of Manila and continued it for about an hour, when the firing
ceased and the land forces advanced upon the city, which surrendered
in less than an hour. In this action the Utah artillery rendered ef-
fectual service and was complimented by the commanding officers.
In the meantime, on July 26, 1898, more than two weeks before
the fall of Manila, the Spanish Government, through M. Cambon,
the French ambassador to the United States, sued for peace. The
peace protocol, terminating the war, was signed at Washington, D.
C, August 12, 1898, the day before the capitulation of Manila, but
news did not reach the Philippines until after the battle.
AGAINST THE INSURGENTS
When the news that the war was over reached Manila, the troops
were elated at the thought that they would soon be able to return
home. But the Filipinos refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of
the United States and the military forces were ordered to remain in
the islands until order was restored. Active operations against the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 443
insurgents began early in February, 1899, and from that time until
ordered home the Utah batteries were among the most active of the
military organizations in the Philippines. During the month of Feb-
ruary all or a part of their guns were engaged at San Palog, Santa
Mesa, Binondo Cemetery, Santa Ana, the two actions at Caloocan, on
the Maraquina Road, at Pasig Island, in driving out sharpshooters
around La Loma, at Guadalupe, San Pedro Macati, Balig Balig and
a number of minor skirmishes.
Around San Pedro Macati during the first three days of March,
the Utah guns were heard in several engagements. Then followed
the actions at San Juan del Monte on the 7th, San Francisco del
Monte on the loth, Pasig on the 14th, Santa Cruz on the 15th, Mo-
rong on the 17th, Marae^uina Road, Caloocan, Pasig and the Tulia-
han River on the 25th and 26th, at Caloocan River on the 28th, and
at San Mateo and Malolos on the 31st. The fight at the Tuliahan
River on the 26th was the most severe engagement of the month, the
insurgents losing 100 in killed and wounded and a large number cap-
tured, and the Americans losing 39 killed and 277 wounded.
Although a smaller number of engagements were fought in April,
the hostilities were extended over a wider territory. Part of Battery
A, commanded by Lieutenant Naylor, accompanied the expedition
to the Bag Bag and Rio Grande rivers and took part in all the en-
gagements of the campaign. An attack was made on the Americans
near Malolos on the i8th and part of Battery B assisted in driving
back the insurgents with heavy loss. At Guiguinto on the 27th the
infantry became congested in crossing the bridge, the insurgents
found the range and poured a deadly fire into the troops, which were
threatened with a panic, when two of the Utah guns were dragged
across the bridge, shelled the woods in which the enemy lay concealed
and saved the day. The Utah boys assisted materially in the capture
of Calumpit on the 27th, after a brisk fight, and the same day Apalit
surrendered.
Capt. Frank A. Grant, of Battery B, had been placed in command
of the flotilla that patrolled the Pasig River. When a squadron of the
Fourth United States Cavalry made an attack on Santa Cruz on April
9th, they were soon overwhelmed by superior numbers. Captain
Grant, seeing the predicament of the cavalry, brought his "fleet"
within range and turned loose his Gatling guns, giving the cavalry
an opportunity to escape. For his prompt action on this occasion and
his gallantry on other occasions, Captain Grant was brevetted major.
444 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
On the last day of April the command with which the Utah bat-
teries was connected started for Malolos, where it was expected
Aguinaldo would make a stand in force. Early on the morning of
May I St the Utah guns were in position to shell the town at a dis-
tance of about two miles. After a few rounds of artillery, the infantry
advanced and Malolos, thought to be an insurgent stronghold, sur-
rendered almost without offering resistance. Santa Tomas was
shelled on the 4th and the same day San Fernando, where Aguinaldo
had his headquarters a short time before, capitulated after a slight
engagement. From that time until June 22d there were occasional
brushes with the insurgents around San Fernando and San Luis. Then
came the welcome order to return to the United States to be mustered
out.
CASUALTIES
Battery A — Killed, Quartermaster Sergeant Harry A. Young,
February 6, 1899; Sergeant Ford Fisher, at San Luis, May 14, 1899;
Corporal John G. Young, February 5, 1899; Private Wilhelm L
Goodman, February 5, 1899. Wounded, Capt. Edgar A. Wedgwood,
April 23, 1899; David J. Davis, April 23, 1899; Ray Kenner, April
21, 1899; William H. Leaver, July 31, 1898, at Malate.
Battery B — Killed, Emil F. Selmer (wounded and died from the
effect of his wounds) ; Corporal Moritz C. Jensen, April 26, 1899;
Fred Bumiller, April 26, 1899; Max Madison, April 25, 1899;
George H. Hudson, August 24, 1898, at Cavite. Wounded, Second
Lieutenant George A. Seaman, April 11, 1899; Sergt. George B.
Wardlaw, February 4, 1899; Sergt. Andrew Peterson, March 11,
1899; Corporal Henry L. Souther, March 24, 1899; Corporal Wil-
liam Q. Anderson, August 24, 1898; Privates John D. Abplanalp,
April 24, 1899; John Braman, April 26, 1899; Parker J. Hall, March
,25, 1899; Joseph G. Winkler, July 31, 1898.
THE HOME COMING
When the news reached Salt Lake City that the battery boys were
ordered home, some public spirited citizens, anxious to have Utah
follow the example of other states, started a movement to bring them
from San Francisco to Salt Lake City at the public expense. As the
state had no funds available for providing the necessary transporta-
tion, etc., a committee was formed to solicit contributions and in this
way a fund of $13,772.05 was raised in a short time without difficulty.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD «">
A special train was chartered to bring the boys from San Fran-
cisco to Salt Lake City, where they arrived on August 19, 1899. Gov-
ernor Wells, by proclamation, declared the day a holiday, the city
was decorated with flags and bunting, and many people from various
parts of the state joined in the welcome to the Utah soldiers who had
fought so valiantly abroad. The Legislature of 1899 had made pro-
vision for medals for the members of the two batteries and these
medals were distributed at the home coming. "Amid tears and cheers,
praise and patriotism, feasting and thanksgiving, the day passed
a delightful memory in Utah's history."
In his message to the Legislature in 1901, Governor Wells gave an
account of the manner in which the fund was raised and reported a
balance of hand of $2,300. "I recommend," said he in his message,
"that an appropriation be made from the state treasury equal to the
amount of the fund above named {$13,772.05), from which if desired
and deemed advisable, the donors may be reimbursed, or, preferably,
that this constitute the nucleus of a fund for the erection of a monu-
ment, arch or other suitable memorial to our brave sons who marched
forth at the call of duty beneath the national emblem to defend the
national honor."
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
On May 24, 1898, the First Troop of Volunteer Cavalry, Capt.
Joseph E .Caine in command, left Fort Douglas on May 24, 1898, for
San Francisco and upon arriving there went into camp at Camp Mer-
ritt. It was hoped by the members of the troop that they would be
ordered to the Philippines, but when Anderson''s expedition, with the
two Utah batteries, sailed on June 14, 1898, they were left behind.
On the 15th of July they moved to the Presidio and there remained
until August 13th, when they were ordered to Yosemite and Sequoia
parks. Ten days later the troop was divided, thirty-three men under
Lieutenant Smith going to Sequoia, and the remainder of the troop
under Captain Caine moving to Raymond. Some of the men were
engaged in fighting a forest fire and on October 29th the two de-
tachments were ordered to San Francisco. The troop was mustered
out on December 23, 1898.
Captain Johnston's company of engineers left Salt Lake City on
July 10, 1898, for San Francisco, and upon arriving there was quar-
tered at the Presidio. On August 3d the men embarked upon the
transport "Lakme" for Honolulu, where they arrived on the 17th and
446 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
went into camp about four miles from the landing, giving their camp
the name of ."Camp McKinley." Later the men built permanent bar-
racks for themselves about a mile nearer the city. On April 20, 1899,
they were relieved by a detachment of the Sixth United States Artil-
lery and on the 29th embarked for the return voyage to San Francisco.
The company was mustered out on May 16, 1899.
Battery C was recruited under the call of May 25, 1898, and was
mustered in on the 14th of July. On the last day of that month it left
Salt Lake City for San Francisco and was on duty at the Presidio un-
til the 1 8th of October. It was then ordered to Angel Island equipped
as cavalry, being the only military organization on the island, and re-
mained there until ordered back to San Francisco for muster out. It
was mustered out on December 21, 1898.
Captain Cannon's troop of cavalry was mustered into the United
States service at Fort D. A. Russell, Cheyenne, Wyo., May 18, 1898,
as Troop I, Second United States Volunteer Cavalry, which was com-
manded by Col. Jay L. Torrey, a Wyoming man, with whom the idea
originated of having mounted troops composed of "frontiersmen who
are marksmen and horsemen." Through his efiforts the necessary leg-
islation was secured and three organizations of this character were
raised for the army. They were commonly known as Roosevelt's
Rough Riders, Torrey's Rocky Mountain Cavalry and Grigsby's
Cowboys.
The regiment left Cheyenne on June 22, 1898, for Jacksonville,
Fla., and upon arriving there was stationed at Camp Cuba Libra.
The train carrying the second section ran into the first section near
Tupelo, Miss., on June 26th. The collision resulted in three mem-
bers of Troop C being killed and eleven others injured more or less
severely, Colonel Torrey being among the latter. Camp Cuba Libre
was situated so that it was impossible to maintain good sanitary con-
ditions, and in other essentials the location was undesirable, but the
regiment stuck to its post until mustered out on October 24, 1898.
Several changes occurred in the Utah troop during its term of
service. Captain Cannon was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, Lieu-
tenant Young became captain of the troop, and Sidney K. Hooper was
promoted from first sergeant to second lieutenant.
It was a matter of regret to the members of these organizations
that they were not called into the actual duties of war. They had en-
listed to fight, hence the monotony of drill and camp duty became irk-
some at times and they longed for the firing line. When the news of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 447
the victory at San Juan Hill, telling how Roosevelt's Rough Riders
had covered themselves with glory by their daring charge, reached
Jacksonville, one of the Utah boys remarked: "We'd have turned
the trick just as easy as Rosy's boys if we had only been there." This
laconic statement was doubtless true. The record made by the two
batteries in the Philippines demonstrated that the Utah boys made
good soldiers and all that Captain Caine's Cavalry, Battery C, the
engineers and Captain Cannon's men lacked was opportunity.
On February 6, 1899, the Utah Legislature appointed a joint com-
mittee, composed of one senator and two representatives, to draft a
resolution of thanks to Batteries A and B, then in the Philippines.
The resolution was unanimously adopted the same day and a copy
signed by the governor, president of the senate and speaker of the
house of representatives was sent to each of the commanding officers.
A similar resolution regarding the organizations that were kept at
home might have been appropriately adopted, thanking them for
their good intentions in answering their country's call, even though
they "did not fire a shot at the enemy."
Utah also had a part in the reconstruction work in the Philippines.
Gov. Gen. William H. Taft appointed Maj. Richard W. Young
chief justice of the possessions and he served in that capacity for
some time with marked ability.
CHAPTER XXI
NATIONAL GUARD— WAR WITH GERMANY.
TERRITORIAL MILITIA — WHEN THE STATE WAS ADMITTED — MILITIA
LAWS— ON THE MEXICAN BORDER— WAR WITH GERMANY— THE
CAUSES — STATE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE — COUNTY COUNCILS — RAIS-
ING THE ARMY — CONDITIONS IN UTAH— MARINE CORPS — IN
ACTUAL SERVICE — THE FINANCIAL SIDE — LIBERTY LOANS — WAR
SAVINGS STAMPS— women's WORK— FORT DOUGLAS— TWO UTAH
MEN— THE ARMISTICE
During Utah's territorial days the militia consisted chiefly of vol-
unteer organizations recruited from time to time to protect the out-
lying settlements from Indian depredations. In his message to the
first State Legislature on January 8, 1896, Gov. Heber M. Wells said :
"The report of the adjutant-general shows that the National Guard
of Utah consists of sixteen companies of infantry, three troops of cav-
alry, two batteries of light artillery and a signal corps. The strength
of the entire force, as compiled from latest reports, is 1,012, namely:
General field and stafif, 27; infantry, 723 ; cavalry, 138; artillery, 104;
signal corps, 23."
The governor also announced that the National Guard organiza-
tions were well equipped with guns, ammunition, uniforms, etc., ex-
cept overcoats and blankets, and that First Lieut. William A. Lassiter,
of the Sixteenth United States Infantry, had been in Utah since April
8, 1894 instructing the officers and enlisted men of the Guard in
their duties. Such was the condition of Utah's militia at the time
the state was admitted into the Union.
At the opening of the second session of the State Legislature in
1897, the governor reported that parts of the cavalry belonging to
the National Guard had been mustered out, by reason of the expira-
tion of their term of enlistment, and that the term of four companies
449
^50 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
of infantry would expire before another session of the Legislature.
He recommended an appropriation sufficiently large to encourage
young men to enlist in the military service of the state, so that the Na-
tional Guard of Utah might be maintained on a scale that would not
sufifer in comparison with the military establishment of other states.
In response to this recommendation the Legislature passed an act pro-
viding for the reorganization of the militia and appropriating $i6,-
ooo to carry out its provisions.
Early in 1898 Utah was called upon to furnish men for the war
with Spain, an account of which is given in the preceding chapter.
For about ten years after the Spanish-American war, little attention
was given by the state officials and the Legislature to the National
Guard, further than to maintain the office of adjutant-general and
make small appropriations for the benefit of the state's military or-
ganization. The Legislature of 1909 passed a long act of seventy-one
sections providing for the reorganization of the National Guard, pre-
scribing the system of enlistments, the term of service, pay of the mem-
bers of the Guard while on active duty, etc., and made liberal appro-
priation for the purposes of reorganization in harmony with the pro-
visions of the act, $10,000 of the money so appropriated to be used for
the erection of a state arsenal and armory in Salt Lake City, the money
to be expended by a board composed of the governor, secretary ol
state and adjutant-general.
In his message of January 10, 191 1, Governor Spry called the at-
tention of the Legislature to the recent act of Congress known as the
"Dick Bill," which required the states, in order to draw their pro
rata of the funds appropriated by Congress for the support of the Na-
tional Guard, to maintain, "properly armed, equipped and discip-
lined, a force of 100 men for each senator and representative in
Congress." To conform to the provisions of the Dick Bill (so called
because it was introduced in Congress by Senator Dick, of Ohio),
the Utah National Guard again underwent a reorganization which
lasted until the United States Congress declared war against Ger-
many in April, 19 17.
ON THE MEXICAN BORDER
Connected with the internal strife among different factions in
Mexico were frequent raids by Mexican banditti into the United
States. To check these raids Congress passed the National Defense
Act, which was approved by President Woodrow Wilson on June 3,.
J
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^"^i
1916. This act authorized the President to call out the National
Guard of the several states "to prevent the invasion of United States
territory by foreign powers." A few days after the passage and ap-
proval of the act, the President issued his proclamation calling the
National Guard into the service of the United States for the protec-
tion of the international boundary between this country and Mexico.
At the time the National Defense Act was passed by Congress,
the National Guard of Utah consisted of the First Cavalry and the
First Battery of Light Artillery, numbering in all 642 officers and
enlisted men. The First Cavalry, commanded by Maj. W. G. Wil-
liams, was made up of seven troops, the commissioned officers and
strength of which were as follows: Troop A, LeRoy Bourne, cap-
tain ; C. W. Wilson, first lieutenant ; D. G. Richart, second lieutenant ;
72 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. Troop B, W. E.
Kneass. captain; Walter E. Lindquist, first lieutenant; Albert E. Wil-
fong, second lieutenant; 54 non-commissioned officers and enlisted
men. Troop C, Elmer Johnson, captain; Lloyd Garrison, first lieu-
tenant; F. R. Williams, second lieutenant; 57 non-commissioned of-
ficers and privates. Troop E, Soren M. Nielsen, captain; George
Christensen, first lieutenant; Benjamin E. Reynolds, second lieuten-
ant; 49 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. Troop F, Fred
Kameran, captain; Glen A. Jensen, first lieutenant; Jesse Keller, sec-
ond lieutenant; 54 non-commissioned officers and privates. Troop G,
Fred Jorgensen, captain; Charles Rasmussen, first lieutenant; Ernell
Mortenson, second lieutenant; 61 non-commissioned officers and en-
listed men. Troop H, Capt. E. B. Jensen and 64 enlisted men, was
not fully organized.
The First Battery was composed of William C. Webb, captain;
C. Y. Clawson and F. T. Gundry, first lieutenants; A. R. Thomas and
H. C. Mendell, second lieutenants; 152 non-commissioned officers
and enlisted men. This accounts for 587 men. The remainder of the
642 included the band of the First Cavalry with 28 members and a
hospital corps of 27 men under the command of Capf. John F. Sharp.
On June 18, 1916, the secretary of war called on Governor Spry
for one squadron and two separate troops of cavalry, and one battery
of field artillery. Adjt.-Gen. E. A. Wedgwood on the same day is-
sued his orders for all the National Guard except Troop H, of Logan,
to mobilize at Fort Douglas. Three days later the secretary of war
called for two more troops of cavalry and the work of recruiting the
various organizations to war strength was commenced. The batterv
452 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
was the first organization to leave for the border, taking a train on
June 27, 1916, bound for Nogales, Ariz. The cavalry followed a lit-
tle later and the entire National Guard remained on the border until
the following winter, when the troops were ordered home and mus-
tered out of the United States service.
WAR WITH GERMANY
Years must elapse before the true history of the great World war
of 19 14- 19 1 8 can be written, but no history of Utah at this time
would be complete without some account of the part taken by the
state in the great international conflict. The English blockade of
German ports early in the war led the latter nation to inaugurate a
submarine warfare in the attempt to cut off provisions and supplies
f^rom Great Britain and her allies. This submarine warfare soon be-
came both merciless and indiscriminate. German officials and naval
commanders seemed to believe in the truth of the old saying that
''All's fair in love or war," and ships were sunk without regard to
their nationality or the character of their cargoes.
For several months before the United States entered the war,
President Wilson sought by correspondence to obtain some mitigation
of Germany's submarine activities, through which passenger vessels
of neutral nations were torpedoed and sunk and several American
citizens lost their lives. Failing to secure reasonable assurances that
this warfare would be modified, the President addressed Congress on
February 3, 1917, announcing that all diplomatic relations with the
Imperial German Government had been discontinued. After re-
viewing the correspondence and his failure to obtain satisfactory
promises from the German Government that American citizens
should be protected, the President said:
"If American ships and American lives should in fact be sacri-
ficed by their naval commanders, in heedless contravention of the just
and reasonable understandings of international law and the obvious
dictates of humanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before
the Congress to ask that authority be given me to use any means that
may be necessary for the protection of our seamen and our people in
the prosecution of their peaceful and legitimate errands on the high
seas. I can do nothing less. I take it for granted that all neutral
governments will take the same course."
The mere act of severing diplomatic relations failed to bring bet-
ter conditions upon the high seas and on February 26, 1917, the Presi-
I
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^53
dent came before Congress and delivered what is known as his
"Armed Neutrality Message," in which he asked for authority to take
such measures as might be necessary for the protection of merchant
ships, by supplying them "with defensive arms, should that become
necessary, and with the means of using them." Congress granted the
authority asked for and merchant ships going into the "war zone"
were equipped with arms. On April 2, 1917, the President again re-
viewed the situation in a special message to Congress, in which he
said in part:
"The German Government denies, the right of neutrals to use
arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has prescribed, even
in the defense of rights which no modern publicist has ever before
questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that
the armed guards which we have placed upon our merchant ships
will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with
as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is inefifectual enough at best;
in such circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse
than ineffectual ; it is likely only to produce what it was meant to pre-
vent; it is practically certain to draw us into war without either the
rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we
cannot make, we are incapable of making: We will not choose the
path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation
and our people to be ignored or violated. The wrongs against which
we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very
roots of human life.
"T advise that the Congress declare the course of the Imperial
German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the
Government and people of the United States; that it formally ac-
cepts the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and
that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thor-
ough state of defense, but also to exert all its power and employ all
its resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to
terms and end the war."
This address is known as the "Wilson War Message." On the
same day it was delivered to the two houses of Congress in joint ses-
sion, both House and Senate passed the following resolution:
"Whereas, the Imperial German Government has committed re-
peated acts of war against the Government and people of the United
States of America: Therefore be it
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
i-54 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of
war between the United States and the Imperial German Govern-
ment which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby
formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, au-
thorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces
of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry
on war against the Imperial German Goverment; and, to bring the
conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country
are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States."
This resolution, known as Public Resolution No. i, after being
signed by Thomas R. Marshall, Vice president of the United States,
and Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was
submitted to President Wilson, who gave it his approval on April
6, 1917, which date marks the official entrance of the United States
into the great world conflict.
STATE COUNXIL OF DEFENSE
On August 29, 1916, several months prior to the formal declara-
tion of war. President Wilson approved an act of Congress provid-
ing for a Council of National Defense to co-operate with the na-
tional administration in "the creation of relations which will render
possible in time of need the immediate concentration and utilization
of the resources of the nation. Under date of April 10, 1917, the sec-
retary of war wrote to the governor of Utah as follows :
"Hon. Simon Bamberger,
"Governor of Utah.
"Sir: — The Council of National Defense, as empowered by act
of Congress, August 29, 1916, is now engaged in the work of pre-
paration for the war and in the co-ordination of the resources and
energies of the nation. It holds itself in readiness to co-operate with
the states to bring about the most effective co-ordination of activities
and procedure for the general good of the nation and the successful
prosecution of the war and it invites the states to advise with it.
"To further the prompt and energetic organization which the sit-
uation demands, it recommends the creation by the states of commit-
tees with broad powers, to co-operate with the Council — such com-
mittees to be known perhaps as State Councils of Defense — these
committees to be representative of the state's resources.
"Please advise us as promptly as possible of action being taken or
contemplated in Utah in furtherance of the National Defense. Please
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^'-^
send us full information with copies of all laws, proclamations and
forms relating thereto.
"Newton D. Baker.
"Secretary of War and Chairman of
"Council of National Defense."
Governor Bamberger issued a call for citizens who were inter-
ested and willing to co-operate with the Council of National Defense
to meet at the state capitol on April 26, 1917, and at this meeting the
Utah State Council of Defense was organized, with L. H. Farns-
worth, chairman; W. R. Wallace, C. C. Richards and T. N. Taylor,
vice chairmen; W. C. Ebaugh, secretary; J. E. Taylor, assistant sec-
retary. In August, 1918, W. C. Ebaugh was succeeded in the secre-
tary's office by Arch M. Thurman, who continued in that capacity
until the close of the war, when he was elected state war historian,
to work in connection with a committee from each county in the state
in compiling a history of Utah's part in the war. A committee ap-
pointed at this meeting to prepare a plan for permanent organization
reported on May 15th, recommending that the work be divided
among twelve standing committees, viz. : Finance, publicity, legal,
co-ordination of societies, sanitation and medicine, food supply and
conservation, industrial survey, survey of manpower, labor, military
affairs, state protection and transportation. This organization and
system of work was maintained throughout the war.
COUNTY COUNCILS
Soon after the State Council was fully organized it recommended
the organization of county councils "to assume active charge of the
war work in the respective counties, working under the direction of
the State Council." The county councils numbered from eight to
fifteen members each, owing to the size and population, and the work
was divided in much the same manner as that of the State Council.
Following is a list of the chairmen of the county councils: Beaver,
J. F. Tolton; Boxelder, Wynn L. Eddy; Cache, J. W. Funk; Car-
bon, A. W. Horsley; Davis, E. P. Ellison; Duchesne, M. P. Pope;
Emery. Henry Thompson; Garfield, Joseph E. Heywood ; Grand,
J. P. Miller; Iron, Wilford Day; Juab, J. F. Burch; Kane, Heber
J. Meeks; Millard, Daniel Stevens; Morgan, Daniel Heiner; Piute,
A. F. Haycock; Rich, Arch McKinnon; Salt Lake, David McMil-
lan; Salt Lake City, Lee C. Miller; San Juan, George A. Adams;
Sanpete, J. W. Cherry; Sevier, R. D. Young; Summit, W. D. Sut-
456 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ton; Tooele, C. R. McBride; Uinta, L. W. Curry; Utah, A. P. Mer-
rill; Wasatch, J. W. Clyde; Washington, John R. Wallis; Wayne,
Sylvester C. Williams; Weber, Dr. E. M. Conroy.
RAISING THE ARMY
To declare war is one thing — to raise an army to carry on that
war is another. Instead of relying on the old system of calling for
volunteers, Congress passed what is known as the "Selective Draft
Act," which was approved by the President on May i8, 1917. This
act authorized the President to raise all organizations of the regular
army to the maximum enlisted strength authorized by law; to draft
into the military service of the United States any or all members of
the National Guard and the National Guard Reserves; and to raise
by draft, organize and equip a force of 500,000 men, etc., the troops
so raised and mustered into the service of the United States to serve
"for the period of the existing emergency unless sooner discharged."
Section 2 of the act provided "That the enlisted men required
to raise and maintain the organizations of the regular army and to
complete and maintain the organization embodying the members of
the National Guard drafted into the service of the United States, at
the maximum legal strength as by this act provided, shall be raised
by voluntary enlistment, or if and whenever the President decides
that they cannot effectually be so raised and maintained, then by se-
lective draft."
All other forces authorized by the act were to be raised by the
selective draft exclusively, to be composed of men between the ages
of twenty-one and thirty years, inclusive, and all male citizens be-
tween those ages were required to register for military duty. The
first registration was made on June 5, 1917, the second on June 5,
1918, when all young men who had arrived at the age of twenty-one
years since the previous registration were required to register. Early
iii the summer of 1918 the act was amended to include all able-bodied
male- citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and
these men were required to register on August 24 and September 12,
1918.
CONDITIONS IN UTAH
When war was declared there was in Utah one battery of
artillery — the famous Utah battery which had won laurels in the war
with Spain and only a short time before had returned from the Mex-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^57
ican border; a squadron of cavalry in Salt Lake City; Troop E, of
Ogden; Troop F, of Provo; Troop G, of Manti, and Troop H, of
Logan. Under authority of the war department these organizations
were merged into an artillery regiment, the One Hoindred and For-
ty-fifth field artillery, which was first commanded by Brig.-Gen.
Richard W. Young. The organization first went into training camp
at Jordan Narrows and later was transferred to Camp Kearny, Cali-
fornia. There it was joined with the One Hundred and Forty-third,
and One Hundred and Forty-fourth regiments of field artillery to
form the Sixty-fifth brigade. Brigadier-General Young was pro-
moted to the command of the brigade and Col. W. C. Webb, who
was in command of the Utah battery during its service on the Mexi-
can border, was placed in command of the One Hundred and Forty-
fifth regiment.
MARINE CORPS
Although, under the selective conscription act, the Government
depended more upon the draft than upon voluntary enlistments to in-
crease the military forces of the United States to the required strength,
recruiting for volunteers to bring the National Guard units up to
war strength went on until August 9, 1917. Capt. James Watson, of
the regular army, Lieut.-Com. E. Guthrie, of the navy, and Capt.
Alfred M. Robbins were in charge of the recruiting in Utah. The
recruiting offices were thronged with young men who were anxious
to serve their country. This was especially true of the marine corps,
whose traditions run back to the colonial days preceding the Revo-
lutionary war and whose slogan, "First to Fight," caught the fancy
of many of Utah's red-blooded young men. On the first permanent
increase of 7,500 men, the district of Utah exceeded its quota, enlist-
ing a higher percentage than any other district of the western di-
vision.
Prior to the declaration of war, the Utah recruiting district for
the marine corps was in charge of Sergt. Frank R. Busch, but on
April 7, 1917, Capt. Alfred M. Roberts arrived in Salt Lake City as
Sergeant Busch's successor. During the recruiting it was frequently
necessary for the recruiting officers to work all night in the examina-
tion of applicants. Altogether, Utah furnished 857 of her sons ro
the marine corps, and "every man was a volunteer." Many of them
were students attending the various educational institutions. Official
figures show that while Utah ranks forty-fifth in population among
458 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the states of the Union, she stands fifteenth in the actual number of
marines enlisted, and on a per capita basis, she furnished more ma-
rines than any other state, a record of which the people may well
be proud.
IX ACTUAL SERVICE
After the training of the Utah artillery at Jordan Narrows and
Camp Kearny, the gunners were sent to France. They received
further training at Bordeaux and the regiment was under orders to
go into action when the news came that the armistice had been signed,
thus cheating the men of the honors they would certainly have won
had they been permitted to take their places upon the firing line.
The One Hundred and Forty-fifth was one of the early regiments to
be returned to the United States and was demobilized at Logan.
Capt. H. B. Sprague's ambulance corps, after a thorough training
at Fort Douglas and Camp Grant, Rockford, 111., was sent overseas
and was on active duty at the front soon after its arrival in France.
After the armistice was signed, the corps rendered eftective service
in the hospitals, caring both for soldiers and civilians.
The One Hundred and Fifty-ninth field hospital was organized
in Utah and retained its identity while on duty in France. It was
commanded by Capt. George Roberts and cared for many of the
wounded soldiers during the final military operations on the West-
ern Front. After the cessation of hostilities the hospital remained
in France caring for the sick and wounded until the spring of 1919,
when it was ordered home.
The Three Hundred and Sixty-second Infantry of the Ninety-
first or "Wild West" division was made up almost entirely of Utah
men. Other regiments of that division also contained a considerable
percentage of men from the "Beehive State." The Ninety-first di-
vision was the organization that saved the day for the allied forces at
the Argonne Forest. The men of this division were all drafted men,
but their action at Argonne Forest demonstrated that conscripts can
be depended upon as well as volunteers to uphold the honor of their
country. In that engagement the Three Hundred and Sixty-first in-
fantry was commanded by a Salt Lake man, Capt. Charles E. Cheno-
with, who w^as seriously wounded by the explosion of a shell within
a few feet of where he was standing, waiting the lifting of the
enemy's barrage for the order to charge. Although struck by several
fragments of the exploding shell, he remained at his post and directed
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD -Ij9
the movements of his men in a successful attack. After his return
home he received the distinguished service cross, which was pinned
upon his breast at Fort Douglas.
While at Camp Kearny some three hundred men were detached
from the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Artillery and sent overseas,
where they were attached to other artillery organizations. These
men were in several actions in the Somme district. Some of them
sacrificed their positions as non-commissioned officers in the regiment
in order to get into active service at the front.
Utah furnished 20,872 men to the various arms of the land forces
and 3,510 more served in the different branches of the navy. Of the
24,382 men who entered the service, 12,831 were volunteers and
11,551 were called under the selective draft. A list of casualties pre-
pared by the State Council of Defense about July i, 1919, shows 147
killed in action; 70 who died of wounds, including two who died
from the effects of being gassed; 3 reported "missing in action;" 10
were killed in accidents; i was drowned at sea; 4 died on shipboard
while on the way to Europe, and 300 died of disease in the various
camps in this country, France and England. This list is not com-
plete, as all the casualties had not been reported at the time it was
published.
In addition to the soldiers, Utah sent quite a number of women
nurses and ambulance drivers to France, all of whom were engaged
in active service in the fighting zone.
THE FINANCIAL SIDE
When war was declared the United States was lacking in mili-
tary equipment of all kinds. Vast sums of money were needed for
the organization, subsistence and equipment of the army and navy,
the manufacture and transportation of arms, munitions, etc. To raise
these sums four popular loans were authorized by the Government,
apportioned among the states according to population and wealth.
These four loans, known as "Liberty Loan-s," aggregated $16,285,-
283,000. In each state a committee of citizens was organized to assist
in the sale of the bonds, co-operating with the state and county coun-
cils of defense. Clarence Bamberger was chairman of the Utah loan
committee in the first and second Liberty Loans, and the third and
fourth loans were handled under Heber J. Grant as chairman. After
the armistice was signed a fifth loan, called the "Victory Loan," was
460 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
authorized in the spring of 1919. The following figures show how
Utah kept faith with the nation on each occasion.
Loan Quota Subscribed
First Loan $ 6,500,000 $ 9,400,000
Second Loan 10,000,000 16,200,000
Third Loan : 12,315,000 12,531,300
Fourth Loan 18,570,000 19,878,600
Victory Loan 13,890,000 14,500,000
Total $61,275,000 $72,509,900
In the sale of bonds the bankers, councils of defense, commercial
clubs, women's clubs, boy scouts, industrial corporations, etc., all
worked together and the result of their united efforts, as shown by
the above figures, was that Utah "went over the top'' in every loan,
her total subscriptions amounting to $11,234,900 more than the as-
signed quota. "Honor flags" were awarded to many different locali-
ties in the state which were prompt in purchasing their alloted quota
of Liberty Bonds.
WAR S.AVIXGS STAMPS
As a further means of raising money for the successful prosecu-
tion of the war, the Government hit upon the plan of asking the peo-
ple to purchase securities known as "War Savings Stamps" to the
amount of $2,000,000,000, which amount was allotted to the several
states on the same basis as the Liberty Loans. The stamps could be
purchased in sums ranging from a twenty-five cent thrift stamp to
$1,000 worth of war certificates. They differed from the liberty
bonds in that the interest on the savings stamps was made payable
only at maturity.
Utah's quota of the war savings stamps for the year 1918 was $7,-
482,100 and this was the only instance where the state failed to raise
more than the amount allotted, reporting only $5,614,540 worth of
stamps sold. This condition was largely due to the fact that no in-
dividual or corporation was permitted to subscribe for or purchase
more than $1,000 of the securities, which meant that a large number
of small sales was necessary to raise the desired maximum. How-
ever, the state made up in other funds more than the amount it fell
short on the war savings stamps. Utah's total contributions to the
war finances were:
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Liberty and Victory bonds $72,509,900
War savings stamps 5,614,540
Red Cross funds 1,132,000
Soldier's welfare fund 1 10,000
Red Cross mernbership drive 67,000
Y. M. C. A. war fund 10,000
United War Work fund 412,000
Total • $79,855,440
These figures mean nearly one hundred and eighty dollars for
every man, woman and child within the state. In addition to this di-
rect financial aid, when the edict came from the food administration
to conserve food and increase the production of foodstuffs, the people
of Utah cheerfully complied and the production of 1918 showed an
increase of almost 35 per cent over that of the preceding year. In
this work the farmers were aided by the county councils of defense,
the Agricultural College and other agencies working for the final
victory.
women's work
Nearly twenty-four thousand Utah women were actively engaged
in war work. At the very beginning of the war the woman's com-
mittee of the Council of National Defense asked Governor Bam-
berger to appoint a woman's committee for Utah, and he responded
by appointing ten representative women on the state council. These
ten served as a sort of clearing house for all the patriotic activities
of the women of the state. They were active in Red Cross work, in
promoting the sale of liberty bonds and war savings stamps, in plant-
ing and cultivating "war gardens,'' in filling many positions of men
who entered the service, and in many other ways assisting in carry-
ing on enterprises calculated to win the war. Too much credit can-
not be given to the patriotic women of the state for the part they took
in war work.
FORT DOUGLAS
When the United States entered the war Fort Douglas was with-
out a garrison, except a small quartermaster detachment of one officer
and six men. On May 24, 19 17, the Twentieth United States Infan-
try, Col. Alfred Hasbrouck commanding, arrived at the fort from
the Mexican border, where it had been on dutv for about three years.
462 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Colonel Hasbrouck succeeded Capt. W. B. Elliott as commander of
the post. Orders were soon afterward received for the Twentieth to
divide into three parts, two of which were to form the bases of two
new regiments — the Forty-second and Forty-third. This was done
and the work of recruiting the three regiments to war strength was
vigorously pushed forward. On Pioneer Day, July 24, 1917, the
three infantry regiments and the one of artillery, 6,000 men in all
with field equipment, took part in the pageant — the greatest military
display in the history of Utah up to that time. Besides the three in-
fantry regiments, the first battalion of the Seventieth Railway Engi-
neers was organized at Fort Douglas.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the fort's war history was
the establishment of a prison camp there soon after the United States
entered the war. When the camp was first established it was intended
for the custody and care of German sailors belonging on ships in-
terned at Pacific ports. The first company of prisoners, numbering
300, came from the German ship Cormoran interned in the Philip-
pine Islands. They arrived about the middle of June, 1917, and a
little later 200 more were added from the ship Geier interned at
Honolulu. Still later, when the United States department of justice
began gathering in enemy aliens many of them were sent to Fort
Douglas to be held during the war. Some of the most noted Ger-
man spies, agents and propagandists in the country were confined in
the prison camp at the fort, and it is worthy of note that only two
succeeded in making their escape.
TWO UTAH MEN
While hundreds of Utah men worked faithfully in their respec-
tive stations to aid the Government in the prosecution of the war, two
of them are deserving of more than passing mention. They were John
M. Browning, of Ogden, and Daniel C. Jackling, of Salt Lake City.
Mr. Browning was the inventor of the Browning machine gun, of
which there were three types — the heavy water-cooled gun, the light
automatic and the synchronized aircraft gun. Benedict Crowell, as-
sistant secretary of war, in a report entitled "America's Munitions,
1917-1918," says:
"The first of May, 19 17, brought the tests recommended by the
investigation board, these tests continuing throughout the month.
To this competition were brought two newly developed weapons pro-
duced by the inventive genius of that veteran of small arms manu-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^63
facture, John M. Browning. * * ' After the tests the board
pronouiiced these weapons the most effective guns of their type known
to the members. The Browning heavy gun, with its water jackets
filled, weights 36.75 pounds, whereas the Browning automatic rifle
weighs only 15.5 pounds."
Following the test the Government ordered 10,000 machine guns
and 12,000 automatic rifles for immediate delivery, and when the
armistice was signed 48,000 Browning guns had been sent to the army
in Europe and contracts for the manufacture of 186,000 others were
canceled.
Early in the war Daniel C. Jackling was appointed director of
United States Government explosive plants. The huge smokeless
powder plant at Nitro, W. Va., near Charleston, was built under
his supervision. Work on the plant was commenced on Febru-
ary I, 1918. When completed it was operated by the Hercules
Powder Company. The full capacity of the plant was 625,000
pounds of smokeless powder daily, but at the time the armistice was
signed the daily output was 1 10,000 pounds. This plant, by the adop-
tion of improved appliances, reduced the cost of nitro powders p.bout
40 per cent.
THE ARMISTICE
On November 11, 1918, the news flashed over the wires that the
leaders of the contending armies, with the consent of their govern-
ments, had agreed upon the terms of an armistice and that the war
was practically at an end. In all the cities of the country business
was practically suspended, patriotic processions marched through the
streets to the strains of martial music, speeches were made, homes,
public buildings and business houses were decorated with the na-
tional color and the day was one of general rejoicing. No state in
the Union had more cause for rejoicing than Utah, as no state, all
things considered, could show a better war record. Her sons were
among the first to reach the firing line and her people at home
promptly met every demand upon their purses or their patriotism.
PART VI
COUNTIES
CHAPTER XXII
THE COUNTIES OF UTAH
FIRST COUNTIES IX UTAH — ACT OF MARCH 3, 1 85 2 — NEW COUNTIES
CREATED — PRESENT DAY COUNTIES — BEAVER — BOXELDER — CACHE
— CARBON — DAGGETT — DAVIS — DUCHESNE — EMERY — GARFIELD — -
GRAND — IRON — ^JUAB — KANE — HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH —
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — TOPOGRAPHY — DATE OF ORGANIZA-
TION — EARLY SETTLERS — RESOURCES — OCCUPATIONS — TRANSPOR-
TATION AND WEALTH, ETC.
When Utah was organized as a territory in 1850, it included the
present State of Nevada and the rectangle afterward taken from the
northeast corner and added to the State of Wyoming. The first coun-
ties in this vast territory were erected in December, 1849, by the Leg-
islature of the State of Deseret and were six in number, viz.: Juab,
Salt Lake (at first called Great Salt Lake), Sanpete, Tooele, Utah
and Weber. Davis County was created by another act of the Deseret
Legislature, approved on October 5, 1850, hence there were seven
counties established prior to the date when the territorial govern-
ment of Utah went into effect.
On March 3, 1852, Gov. Brigham Young approved an act defin-
ing the boundaries of twelve counties, to wit: Davis, Deseret, Great
Salt Lake, Green River, Iron, Juab, Millard, Sanpete, Tooele, Utah,
Washington and Weber. To assist the student of Utah history in de-
termining the relationship of the original counties to those bearing
the above names at the present time, the act of March 3, 1852, is here
given in full:
"Section i. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative As-
sembly of the Territory of Utah: That all that portion of the terri-
tory bounded north by Oregon; east by the meridian passing through
a point where the Weber River enters a canyon about four miles be-
low the ford on emigration road; south by the parallel of latitude
467
46.S UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
through the junction of the county road and the headwaters of Rocky
Creek, being about two miles south of the mouth of Weber River
Canyon; and west by California, is hereby included within the limits
of Weber County.
"Section 2. All that portion of the country bounded north by
Weber County; east by the dividing range of mountains at the head
of the streams running toward the Salt Lake; south by the parallel
of latitude running through the hot springs; and west by the eastern
shore of Salt Lake, is hereby included within the limits of Davis
County.
"Section 3. All that part of the territory bounded north by Weber
County; east by the western shore of the Salt Lake; south by the
parallel of latitude forming the southern boundary of Davis County;
and west by California, is hereby called Desert (Deseret) County,
and is attached to Weber County for election, revenue and judicial
purposes.
"Section 4. All that portion of the territory bounded north by
Oregon; east by the territorial line; south by the parallel of latitude
forming the southern line of Davis County; and west by Weber and
Davis counties, is hereby called Green River County, and is attached
to Great Salt Lake County for election, revenue and judicial pur-
poses.
"Section 5. All that portion of the territory bounded north by
Davis and Green River counties; east by the territorial line; south
by the parallel of latitude running through the hot spring at the foot
of Utah Mountain; and west by the southeastern shore of the Salt
Lake and the meridian passing through the Black Rock, is hereby
included within the limits of Great Salt Lake County.
"Section 6. All the islands in Great Salt Lake and south of the
Weber County line, are hereby attached to Great Salt Lake County
for election, revenue and judicial purposes.
"Section 7. All that portion of country bounded north by Great
Salt Lake County; east by the territorial line; south by the parallel
of latitude passing along the summit of the dividing ridge between
Juab and Utah valleys, where the state road crosses said summit;
and west by the meridian forming the western boundary of Great Salt
Lake County, is hereby included within the limits of Utah County.
"Section 8. All that portion of the territory bounded on the north
by Desert (Deseret) County and the southern shore of the Salt Lake;
east by Great Salt Lake and Utah counties; south by the parallel
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 469
forming the southern boundary of Utah County; and west by Cali-
fornia, is hereby called Tooele County.
"Section 9. All that portion of the territory bounded north by
Tooele and Utah counties; east by the meridian passing through the
highest summit of Mount Nebo; south by the parallel of latitude
passing through the ford on the Sevier River; and west by California,
is hereby declared to be Juab County.
"Section 10. All that portion of country bounded north by Juab
County; east by the meridian line forming the eastern boundary of
Juab; south by latitude 38" 30'; and west by California, is hereby
called Millard County.
"Section 11. All that portion of the territory bounded north by
Utah County; east by the territorial line; south by latitude 38° 30';
and west by Juab and Millard counties, is hereby declared to be
within the limits of Sanpete County.
"Section 12. All that portion of the territory bounded north by
Millard and Sanpete counties; east by the territorial line; south by
latitude 37° 30'; and west by California, is hereby called Iron
County.
"Section 13. All that portion of the country south of Iron County
and included in the territory, is hereby declared to be Washington
CountV; and is, moreover, attached to Iron County for election, rev-
enue and judicial purposes; and the sherifT of Iron County is hereby
authorized to organize Washington County when the public good
may require it."
NEW COUNTIES CREATED
The third Territorial Legislature, which adjourned on January
20, 1854, created the County of Carson (in what is now Nevada),
provided for the organization of Green River County, erected the
County of Summit, and more clearly defined the boundaries of Davis
County. No county legislation was enacted by the fourth legisla-
ture, but during the fifth session, which was convened at Fillmore
on December 20, 1855, Governor Young approved acts erecting the
counties of Beaver, Boxelder and Cache, within the present limits
of Utah; Cedar, Greasewood, Humboldt, Malad, St. Mary's and
Shambip, in what is now the State of Nevada.
By an act of Congress, approved by President Buchanan on
March 2, 1861, Nevada was cut ofif from Utah and organized as a
territory. On January 17, 1862, the Utah Legislature adjourned
470 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
after passing an act defining the boundaries of seventeen counties — •
Beaver, Boxelder, Cache, Davis, Great Salt Lake, Green River, Iron,
Juab, Millard, Morgan, Sanpete, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wasatch,
Washington and Weber.
A similar act, approved on January lo, 1866, included, in addi-
tion to the above, the counties of Kane, Piute, Richland and Sevier,
and fixed the county seats of the twenty-one counties as follows:
Beaver, Beaver City; Boxelder, Brigham City; Cache, Logan;
Davis, Farmington; Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City; Green River,
Fort Bridger; Iron, Parowan; Juab, Nephi ; Kane, Grafton; Mil-
lard, Fillmore; Morgan, Littleton; Piute, Circleville; Richland
(now Rich), St. Charles; Sanpete, Manti ; Sevier, Richfield; Sum-
mit, Wanship; Tooele, Tooele City; Utah, Provo; Wasatch, Heber
City; Washington, St. George; Weber, Ogden City.
PRESENT DAY COUNTIES
• When the Territory of Wyoming was created by act of Congress,
approved by President Andrew Johnson on July 25, 1868, Green
River County was taken from Utah and added to the new territory.
Since that time the counties of Utah have been divided and new ones
formed until at the beginning of the year 1919 there were twenty-
nine counties in the state, to-wit: Beaver, Boxelder, Cache, Carbon,
Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab,
Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete,
Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uinta, L^tah, Wasatch, Washington, Wayne
and Weber.
In a work of this character it would be impracticable to attempt
a detailed, comprehensive history of each county. It was the writ-
er's desire, however, to include some account of the organization of
each, a list of the first county officers, etc., and to this end letters of
inquiry were written to county clerks and others, early in the prepa-
ration of this history, asking them to furnish the desired information.
Some of these persons failed to respond, and others reported their
early county records too obscure and imperfect to supply the neces-
sary authentic data. From various sources have been gleaned the fol-
lowing facts relating to each of the twenty-nine counties.
BEAVER COUNTY
The County of Beaver is situated in the southwestern part of the
state. If is bounded on the north by Millard County; on the east by
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^Tl
the summit of the Tushar Mountains, which separates it from the
counties of Sevier and Piute; on the south by Iron County; and on
the west by the State of Nevada. It is thirty miles wide from north
to south, its greatest length from east to west is ninety-two miles, and
the area, according to Rand & McNally's Atlas, is 2,660 square miles.
The eastern half of the county is somewhat mountainous, the prin-
cipal ranges being the Mineral Mountains, north of the Beaver
River, the Beaver Lake and San Francisco Mountains near the Mil-
lard County line. The western portion forms part of the floor of
the Great Basin, though near the western boundary there are two iso-
lated elevations known as Sawtooth and Indian peaks. The princi-
pal watercourses are the Beaver River and its branches, Indian, Wild
Cat and Pine creeks and the Big Wash. Pine Creek is the only stream
of consequence in the western half of the county. Agriculture is the
leading occupation and there is a considerable area under irrigation.
One of the early silver mines of Utah was discovered in the San Fran-
cisco Mountains, and in the northern part of that range are rich sul-
phur beds, but the mineral resources of the county have not been ex-
ploited to any great extent.
Beaver County was settled in February, 1856, by Simeon F.
Howd and thirteen others from Parowan. They built the first log
cabin on the banks of the Beaver River, which was so named from
the numerous beaver colonies and dams along the stream, and on
April 17, 1856, laid off the Town of Beaver City. The second set-
tlement in the countv was made where Minersville now stands in
1859.
Although the county was created in 1856, it was not organized
until the passage of the act of January 10, 1866, which declared the
county seat located at Beaver City. The first county officers were:
John R. Murdock, James Low, Simeon Andrews and John Black-
burn, commissioners; William Fotheringham, clerk; John Hunt,
sheriff; H. A. Skinner, assessor, treasurer and county attorney. In
1883 a court-house was erfccted at a cost of $20,000 and it is still in
use.
Indian raids caused the early settlers much trouble and anxiety.
On October 23. 1866, a band of Piute braves attacked the ranch of
John P. Lee, located on South Creek, about eight miles from Beaver
City, set fire to the house and wounded one of the family. On June
14. 1867, another band made a raid on the settlement at Beaver City
and ran off a number of horses A second raid on this settlement was
472 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
made on the i8th of September in the same year, when some two hun-
dred head of horses and cattle were taken. Early in September, 1873,
the United States established Fort Cameron near Beaver City and
stationed a detachment of troops there for the protection of the set-
tlers. The post was abandoned on April 30, 1883, and the buildings
are now used as the Murdock Academy.
Between the years 1866 and 1896 the District Court of the Sec-
ond Judicial District was held in Beaver City. These were the most
prosperous years in the history of the county. In 1873 the first news-
paper — the Beaver Enterprise — was established by Joseph Field. In
May, 1880, the Utah Southern Extension Railroad was completed to
Milford, and in 1900 the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad was fin-
ished through the county, this company having acquired the old Utah
Southern Extension.
Beaver (the word city has been dropped) still remains the county
seat. Other towns and villages of importance are: Adamsville,
Greenville and Minersville on the Beaver River; Milford, at the
junction of the main line of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad
and a branch running to the mines in the San Francisco Mountains;
Newhouse, the terminus of the branch railroad, and Frisco, a min-
ing town on the branch railroad near the south end of the San Fran-
cisco Range.
In 1910 the United States census reported the population of
Beaver County as being 4,717, and in 1919 the population was esti-
mated at 5.500. The assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $8,-
994,184. The county officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were:
George A. Parkinson, Owen Burke and C. C. Sloan, commissioners;
Joseph R. Murdock, clerk and auditor; A. L. Fotheringham, sheriflf;
George B. Skinner, assessor; Electra Dorrity, recorder; Arthur
Smith, treasurer; Russell E. Parsons, attorney; Arnold Low, sur-
veyor.
BOXELDER COl'XTY
Occupying the northwest corner of the state is the Countv of Box-
elder, which was created by act of the Legislature on January 5, 1856,
the name being adopted on account of the boxelder trees growing
along the streams. It is one of the large counties of Utah, having an
area of 5,444 square miles. On the north it is bounded by the State of
Idaho; on the east bv the counties of Cache and Weber; on the south
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^73
by Tooele County; and on the west by the State of Nevada. A large
part of the Great Salt Lake lies within the limits of Boxelder County.
The extreme southern part lies in what is known as the Great Salt
Lake Desert. Around the shores of the Great Salt Lake the surface
is less broken than elsewhere in the county, but in the northern and
western portions there are several small mountain ranges, such as the
Goose Creek, Raft River, Tecoma, Pilot and North Promontory
ranges, the Blue Spring Hills, etc. The most important streams
are the Bear and Malad rivers, in the eastern part, forming a junc-
tion a short distance north of Corinne. In the western part are the
Raft River and Goose Creek, which flow northward to the Snake
River in Idaho, the Grouse, Dove, Birch and Rosebud creeks, which
flow in the opposite direction.
The first settlement was made in the county in the spring of 1851,
while the territory still constituted a part of Weber County. In
March of that year Simeon A. Carter was sent with a small party to
explore the country north of Ogden and founded a settlement on Box-
elder Creek, where the City of Brigham now stands. Others who
settled within the county limits in 185 1 were James Brooks, William
Davis and Thomas Pierce. A number of Welsh and Swedish immi-
grants also joined the little colony by the time it was one year old.
Another settlement was made in 1851 on North Willow Creek, where
the Town of Willard now stands.
As in the case of nearly all the early Utah settlements, the pioneers
of Boxelder were much annoyed by Indians. On April 13, i860, a
band of Shoshone Indians visited Brigham City, taking several horses
and insulting the helpless citizens. This same band had previously
attacked and wounded Thomas Miles on the road between Ogden and
Kaysville. Several forays of this nature followed during the next
three years and on May 8, 1863, a small gang of marauders made a
raid on the settlement in the Boxelder Valley, four miles above Brig-
ham City, killed William Thorpe and ran ofif several head of valuable
horses. This raid called the attention of the authorities to the serious-
ness of the situation, with the result that Governor Doty and Gen.
P. E. Connor got the Shoshone chiefs together at Brigham City on the
30th of July and concluded a treaty of peace. After this treaty was
made the settlements grew more rapidly and new ones were formed
in other parts of the county.
Agriculture and stock raising are the chief occupations. Some
sections are irrigated and in 1918, according to the report of the state
474 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
board of equalization, Boxelder returned the largest assessed acre-
age of any county in the state^i,6i 1,768.65 acres. Only four coun-
ties in the state returned a greater valuation of live stock. — $2,720,870.
The total valuation of property in that year was $31,985,302, the
county being exceeded in this respect only by Salt Lake, Utah and
Weber counties.
Boxelder is well provided with transportation facilities and was
one of the first counties in Utah to get a railroad. On May 10, 1869,
the Union and Central Pacific railroad were joined at Promontory,
in this county, completing the continuous line of railway from coast
to coast. The principal stations on the Union and Central Pacific are
Brigham, Corinne, Kelton and Promontory, though there are num-
erous small shipping stations on both the old line and the Lucin Cut-
ofif. Kelton was formerly a prominent stage and freight center, goods
and passengers arriving at this point over the Union Pacific from the
East being taken to all parts of the surrounding country by stage coach
and freight wagon.
A division of the Oregon Short Line Railroad runs northward
from Salt Lake City, passing through the eastern part of Boxelder
County, and a branch leaves this line at Brigham and runs to Malad
City, Idaho. Along the two branches of the Oregon Short Line sev-
eral towns and villages have grown up, the most important shipping
and trading points being Bear River City, CoUinston, Dewey, Field-
ing, Garland. Honeyville, Plymouth, Portage, Tremonton, Washa-
kie and Willard. Brigham and Corinne are junction points for the
Oregon Short Line and the Central Pacific.
In 1918 the state board of equalization reported 317.58 miles of
main track and 66.44 miles of side track in the county, the valuation
of all railroad property being $11,834,467.
Tn 1910 the population of Boxelder County, according to the
United States census, was 13,894, and in 19 19 it was estimated at
16,000. The county officials at the beginning of the year 1919 were:
Brigham Wright, A. R. Capener and G. G. Sweeton, commission-
ers; John G. Wheatley, clerk and auditor; Job Welling, sherifif; Lo-
renzo Pett, assessor; Alice Eliason, recorder; John J. Ward, treas-
urer; William E. Davis, attorney; K. C. Wright, surveyor.
C.\CHE cor XT V
Cache County is situated in the northern part of the state, being
bounded on the north by the State of Idaho; on the east bv Rich
CACHE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, LOGAN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^77
County; on the south by Weber County, and on the west by Box-
elder. It is irregular in shape and has an area of 1,164 square miles.
The county was created by the act of January 5, 1856, and originally
included the territory now comprising Rich County. It derives its
name from the fact that early trappers were in the habit of caching
their stores or furs in the valley of the Little Bear River, which be-
came known as the "Cache Valley."
No settlement had been made within the limits of the county at
the time the act of January 5, 1856, was passed, though the Cache
Valley had been used prior to that time by the pioneers for haying
and pasturing cattle. Among those who had cut hay or pastured stock
there were Andrew Moffatt, Samuel Roskelley, Joseph and Simon
Baker, Bryant Stringham and Stephen Taylor.
The first actual settlement was made by Peter Maughan and five
others on September i, 1856, on the site of the present Town of Wells-
ville, where a small fort called "Maughan's Fort" was built as a pro-
tection against predatory Indians. Mr. Maughan was soon afterward
appointed probate judge, with instructions to organize the county, and
the county was organized on April 4, 1857. Mr. Maughan remained
identified with the interests and affairs of Cache until his death on
May 24, 1 87 1.
For about three years the settlement at Maughan's Fort was the
only one in the county, but between the years 1859 and 1861 several
new settlements were planted. The first house was built in the City
of Logan in June, 1859; Providence, about two miles south of Logan,
was settled about the same time, or perhaps a little earlier. Early m
October, 1859, John and Robert Thornley, Seth and Robert Langdon,
left Salt Lake City to look for some good farming land in the Cache
Valley. On the loth they selected farms near the present Town of
Smithfield. Others soon joined them and in November the settle-
ment was organized as a ward of the Latter-day Saints Church, with
John G. Smith as bishop. Hyde Park and Hyrum were settled in
April, i860; Millville in June of that year, and Paradise, near the
south end of the valley, in the late summer or early fall. Benson,
Lewiston, Newton and Richmond were settled a little later.
On Sunday, July 22, i860, the Smithfield settlement v/as attacked
by a band of Indians and a fight ensued, in which Ira Merrill and
John Reed, two of the settlers, were killed. The Indians were finally
driven off with a loss of two killed and several wounded. Several
478 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
white men were also wounded. Immediately after this affair a fort
was built and the settlement suffered no more from Indian raids.
The leading industries are agriculture, horticulture and stock
raising. The waters of the Bear and Logan rivers are used e.\ten-
sively for irrigation and some of the most productive and best im-
proved farms in Utah are to be seen in these valleys. In 191 8 there
were nearly four hundred thousand acres taxed as farm lands and the
assessed valuation of these lands was $9,623,329, only one county in
the state (Salt Lake) showing a greater acreage valuation.
In January, 1873, the Utah Northern (now the Oregon Short
Line) Railroad was completed to Logan and during the year it was
extended to Franklin, Ida. Cache County has a number of active
cities and towns. Logan, the county seat, is the fourth city of the
state; Hyrum, Lewiston, Providence, Richmond, Smithfield and
Wellsville each have a population of one thousand or more; Hyde
Park, Mendon, Millville and Trenton are all flourishing business
centers. These towns "are all on the lines of railway, and Avon.
Clarkston, Newton and Paradise are important trading points for
rich agricultural districts away from the railroad.
Ample transportation facilities are furnished by the Oregon Short
Line Railroad and the Utah-Idaho Central, an electric line which
connects the principal towns of Cache County with Ogden, Utah, and
Preston, Ida. In 1918 there were 97.60 miles of steam railroad and
57.22 miles of electric railway in the county, the total valuation of
railroad property being $3,674,519.
At the beginning of the year 1919 the county officers were: E.
Bergesdn, William Murray and Moses Thatcher, commissioners; A.
M. Mathews, clerk and auditor; J. H. Baker, sheriff'; C. F. Olson,
assessor; James H. Stewart, recorder; Leslie W. Hovey, treasurer;
Leon Founesbeck. attorney; T. H. Humphreys, surveyor; R. V. Lar-
sen, superintendent of schools.
According to the United States census of 19 10, Cache was then
the fourth county in the state in population, the number of inhabitants
at that time being 23,062. In 1919 the population was variously esti-
mated from twenty-five to twenty-six thousand.
C.ARBOX COLXTV
By an act of the Utah Legislature', approved by Governor West
on January 17, 1894, the northern part of Emery County was cut off
and erected into the Countv of Carbon, so named because of the rich
OLD THATCHER MILL, BUILT BY HEZEKIAH THATCHER IN 1860
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 481
deposits of coal within its limits. If is bounded on the north by the
counties of Utah, Duchesne and Uinta; on the east by Uinta, from
which it is separated by the Green River; on the south by Emery,
and on the west by the County of Sanpete. From north to south the
county is twenty-four miles wide; its greatest length from east to
west — along the northern boundary is almost seventy miles, and the
area is 1,487 square smiles.
The altitude varies from about four thousand feet in the Price
Valley, near the southern border, to over six thousand feet on the
high plateau in the eastern portion. The Price River is the principal
water-course. Tributary to it are Coal, Gordon, Government, Miller
and Willow creeks and some smaller streams, the system watering the
western half of the county. In the eastern part are several small can-
yon creeks, the most important being Eight-mile and Minnie Maud
creeks and Jack Canyon.
The active settlement dates from the building of the Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad, which was completed through the county in 1883.
Early in March of that year the little settlement of Latter-day Saints
on the Price River (then in Emery County) was organized into a
ward, with George Frandsen as bishop. This is the first record of an
organized settlement in the county.
The first election for county officers was held on Tuesday, May
I, 1894, 3"*^ resulted in the choice of the following: E. C. Lee, E. P.
Gridley and Eugene Santschi, selectmen (commissioners) ; H. A.
Nelson, clerk, auditor and recorder; Thomas Lloyd, sherifif; D. W.
Holdaway, assessor; John Forrester, treasurer; S. J. Harkness, attor-
ney; W. J. Tidwell, surveyor; J. W. Davis, superintendent of schools.
At the same election Price was selected as the county seat by a de-
cisive majority. The present court-house at Price was completed in
19 10, and the new county high school there was opened in January,
i9'3-
After the completion of the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande
(at first known as the Rio Grande Western), coal mines were opened
in various places and branch railroads were built into the mining dis-
tricts. The branch to the Clear Creek mines was built in 1898, that to
Sunnyside two years later, and the Hiawatha branch was opened for
traffic in 1909. The opening of new coal mines and the building of
the branch railroads proved a stimulus to settlement, and in 1910 Car-
bon reported a population of 8,624. In 1919 the population was esti-
mated at more than ten thousand.
482 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Although coal mining is probably the most important industry,
agriculture has not been neglected. The soil in the valleys is gener-
ally fertile and about thirty thousand acres are under irrigation, the
mining towns affording the farmers a convenient market for most of
their products. According to reports of the forestry service, 35,712
acres of the Manti National Forest lie in Carbon County, hence graz-
ing is an important industrial feature, several thousand head of cattle
and sheep being annually pastured on the ranges.
Price, the county seat, with a population of 3,200, is the largest
and most important town. Other towns are Castlegate, Helper, Hia-
watha and Sunnyside. In 1918 the assessed valuation of property in
Carbon County was $20,240,444. Of this $1,059,471 represented the
value of mining claims, and $3,101,864, the value of railroad prop-
erty.
At the beginning of the year 19 19 the county officers of Carbon
were: Albert Boyner, Emil Ostlund and A. E. Gibson, commis-
sioners; H. C. Smith, clerk and auditor; T. F. Kelter, sheriff; Mrs.
Lee S. Thomas, recorder; H. S. Robinett, treasurer; O. K. Clay, at-
torney; Otto Herres, surveyor; Orson Ryan, superintendent of
schools.
DAGGETT COUNTY
Daggett is the youngest of the Utah counties. It was set off from
the northern part of Uinta County under the general law of March
7, 19 1 3, which provided the manner in which new counties might be
organized, to-wit: "Whenever any number of qualified electors of
any portion of any county in this state desire to have the territory
within which they reside created into a new county, they may petition
therefor to the board of county commissioners of the county in which
they reside; said petition must be signed by at least one-fourth of the
qualified electors, as shown by the registration list of the last preced-
ing election, residing in that portion of the county to be created into
a new county," etc.
The act also provided that the petition must be presented on or
before the Monday in May of any year, setting forth the name and
boundaries proposed for the new county, and that the board should
thereupon order an election, to be held some time in July, giving
thirty days notice. When the returns of the election were made, if a
majority favored the erection of the new county, the same should be
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^^3
certified to the governor, who should issue his proclamaticjii dechu'-
ing the new county organized in accordance with law.
Pursuant to these provisions, the legal voters living north of the
Uinta Range petitioned the board of commissioners for a separation
of the county and the erection of Daggett County, with the following
boundaries: "Beginning at the point of intersection of the boun-
daries of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado; thence west to the iioth
meridian of west longitude; thence south to the watershed of the
Uinta Mountains; thence east along said watershed to the Colorado
state line; thence north to the place of beginning."
The commissioners ordered the election as provided by law, a ma-
jority of the votes was found to be in favor of the new county, with
the county seat at Manila, and on November i6, 1917, Governor
Bamberger issued his proclamation declaring Daggett County organ-
ized, with the following officers: Niels Pallesen, George C. Rasmus-
sen and Henry Twitchell, commissioners; John S. Bennett, sherilif
and assessor; F. W. Tinker, clerk and recorder; Daniel M. Nelson,
treasurer; Charles F. Olsen, attorney.
Daggett is one of the seven Utah counties that have no railroad
accommodations, Granger and Green River, Wyo., on the Union
Pacific, being the nearest railroad towns. The first session of the Dis-
trict Court w'as held in Manila in April, 1919.
The first settlements made in Daggett were established while the
territory was included in Uinta County and are located along the
northern boundary or in the Green River Valley. There are no large
towns and the most important villages are: Antelope, Bridgeport,
Greendale, Linforth and Manila.
DAVIS COUNTY
Situated on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake is Davis
County, which was created by an act of the Deseret Legislature on
October 5, 1850, and named in honor of Capt. Daniel C. Davis, of the
Mormon battalion. It is the smallest county in the state, having an
area of only 275 square miles. On the north it is bounded by Weber
County; on the east by Morgan; on the south by Salt Lake County,
and on the west by the Great Salt Lake.
Bancroft's History of Utah (p. 305) says: "In the autumn of
1847 one Thomas Grover arrived with his family on the bank of a
stream twelve miles north of Salt Lake City, and now called Center-
ville Creek. His intention was to pasture stock for the winter; and
484 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
for this purpose a spot was chosen where the stream spreading over
the surface forms plats of meadow land, the soil being a black grav-
elly loam. Here Grover, joined by others in the spring, resolved to
remain, though in the neighborhood were encamped several bands of
Indians, and this notwithstanding that as yet there was no white set-
tlement north of Salt Lake City.''
Bancroft does not give the source of his authority for this state-
ment, which does not agree with that of Whitney, who says that on
September 28, 1847, Peregrine Sessions founded the second settle-
inent in Utah, where the Town of Bountiful now stands. This was
known for some years as the "Sessions Settlement," the name Bounti-
ful having been given to it by an act of the Legislature, approved on
February 27, 1855. Some of Mr. Sessions' descendants still reside
in the county. The first ground was plowed in the spring of 1848
by Mr. Sessions and Jezreel Shoemaker.
According to Whitney, Hector C. Haight was the second actual
settler. He located some six or seven miles north of the Sessions Set-
tlement. The came Thomas Grover, Daniel Wood, A. B. Cherry,
Nathan T. Porter, Christopher Layton, John Stoker, William Kay
and Capt. Daniel C. Davis, for whom the county was named, and
who settled on a little creek south of the present Town of Farming-
ton.
On February 7, 1852, Gov. Brigham Young approved an act ap-
pointing probate judges for the several counties of the territory and
providing for their organization. By that act Joseph Holbrook was
named as the probate judge of Davis, and the county was soon after-
ward organized. At the general conference of the Latter-day Saints
Church in Salt Lake City, in October, 1853, the bishops reported the
number of inhabitants in the various settlements of the territory. This
census showed the population of the Davis County settlements as fol-
lows : Centerville, 194; Kay's Ward, 417; North Canyon. 574;
North Cottonwood, 413; total, 1,598.
The bench lands of Davis County produce excellent fruits. Here
the peach, cherry, apricot, apple, plum and all kinds of berries grow
in profusion. Sugar beets are also raised in large quantities. Much
of the land lying near the lake is too wet for cultivation, but it is only
a question of time when these acres will be reclaimed. When that is
done Davis will be one of the greatest agricultural counties, area con-
sidered, in the state.
Early in the year 1870 the Utah Central Railroad was completed
j,iiifl# li
i0^^^: ■
ORIGINAL HOME OF GEORGE OGDEN CHASE, CHASE PARK, OENTEEVILLE,
DAVIS COUNTY
I
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD -is-
through the county, giving the people railway communication with
Salt Lake City and Ogden. Later the Denver & Rio Grande, the
Union Pacific and the Bamberger electric line were built, thus pro-
viding transportation facilities above the average of the Utah coun-
ties. The principal towns located along these lines of railway are:
Bountiful, Centerville, Clearfield, Farmington (the county seat),
Kaysville, Layton and Woods Cross, all thriving business centers.
Farming, stock raising and fruit growing are the leading occupa-
tions. Although the smallest county in the state, without mining in-
terests, the assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $16,234,374,
only eight of the twenty-nine counties returning a larger valuation.
In 1910 the population was 10,191, and in 1919 it was estimated at
13,000. The county officers at the beginning of the latter year were:
David F. Smith, John W. Gailey and Thomas Parker, commission-
ers; Charles E. Nalder, sheriff; John H. Blood, assessor; Seth C.
Jones, clerk and auditor; Iris Jacobson, recorder; H. S. Welling,
treasurer; Robert J. Barnes, surveyor; L. I. Layton, attorney.
DUCHESNE COUNTY
Duchesne County was organized in 1914 under the general law
(see Daggett County), and is made up almost entirely of the former
Uinta Indian Reservation, which was thrown open to settlement in
1905. It is bounded on the north by the Uinta Mountains, which
separate it from Summit County; on the east by Uinta County; on
the south by Carbon, and on the west by the counties of Utah and
Wasatch. The area of the county is a little over three thousand square
miles.
The Duchesne and Strawberry rivers flow in an easterly direction
through the central part, their waters finally reaching the Green
River. Tributary to these rivers are numerous smaller streams, such
as the Red River, the Lake Fork, Antelope, Cottonwood and Indian
creeks and a score or more of brooks that flow through the canyons
from the Bad Lands Cliffs near the southern boundary. This system
of drainage is the largest in Utah on the west side of the Green River,
watering a basin of about one million acres, most of which lies in
Duchesne County. When the Government opened the LTinta Reser-
vation some of the lands were reserved for the Indians. These lands
were generally selected close to the streams, leaving the bench lands
(probably the best in the basin) for the white man. As there is
aboundant water, these lands can be easilv irrigated. Prior to the
488 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
opening of the Indian reservation, the Government built irrigation
works to irrigate the Indian lands. In a number of cases the white
settlers have enlarged and improved these canals and there are al-
ready about fifty thousand acres under irrigation. On these lands al-
falfa, potatoes and all kinds of fruit are raised.
Two national forests — the Ashley and the Uinta — extend into
Duchesne County. In the former there are 379,743 acres in Duchesne
and in the latter 357,786 acres, giving the county a total area of 737,-
529 acres of forest reserves well adapted to grazing.
The history of the white man's occupation of Duchesne County
dates back only a little more than a decade. Prior to the opening of
the Indian reservation Government officials, stock men, a few Indian
traders and. the soldiers at Fort Duchesne were about the only white
men in the Uinta Basin. Since then a number of thriving towns
and villages have grown up in the county, the most important of
which are Duchesne (the county seat) ; Fruitland, in the western
part; Myton and Roosevelt, near the eastern boundary; Altonah,
Boneta and Lake Fork, in the interior; and Hanna, on the upper
Duchesne River.
The great need of Duchesne County is a railroad. With proper
transportation facilities rich deposits of coal, Gilsonite and other min-
erals could be opened, adding to the wealth of the state and the pros-
perity of the people. According to the United States Geological Sur-
vey, Duchesne County has more of the rare hydro-carbons than all the
rest of the United States.
The county officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were : Thom-
as Rhoades, J. A. Pack and Owen Bennion, commissioners; F. M.
Shelton, clerk and auditor; Joseph Timothy, sheriff; G. S. Bowers,
assessor; Mark S. Woolley, treasurer; Melissa Lance, recorder; E.
H. Burgess, attorney; A. M. Todd, surveyor. Although a young
county, without railroads or manufacturing enterprises, Duchesne in
1918 returned a property valuation of $5,860,227.
EMERY COUNTY
On February 12, 1880, Gov. George B. Emery approved an act
creating a county bearing his name, and including the present coun-
ties of Emery, Carbon and Grand. The act also named Samuel
Jewkes as probate judge, Elias Cox, Jasper Peterson and William
Taylor as selectmen to organize the county court and appoint the offi-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 4S9
cers necessary to complete the county organization. On March 8,
1880, the court met at the house of N. P. Miller, at which time and
place the following officers were appointed : Emanuel Bagley, clerk,
and recorder; E. Curtis, Sr., sherilif; J. K. Reid, treasurer; W. J.
Shelton, prosecuting attorney and surveyor; Oscar Crandall, assessor
and collector.
Grand County was erected in 1892 and Carbon in 1894, thus re-
ducing Emery to its present area of 4,453 square miles. On the east it
is bounded by Carbon County; on the north by Grand, from which it
is separated by the Green River; on the south by Wayne County, and
on the west by the counties of Sanpete and Sevier.
The northern part of the county includes about two-thirds of the
Castle Valley, which extends southward to the San Rafael River.
South of the San Rafael River is the elevation known as the "San
Rafael Swell," one of Utah's most peculiar geological curiosities.
Rising from it are picturesque and fantastic peaks, spires, domes, etc.,
and beneath these freaks of nature lie millions of dollars' worth of
carnotite, uranium ore and other valuable minerals. The northeast-
ern part is watered by the Price River, the San Rafael flows through
tlie central part and the Muddy River crosses the southwest corner.
All these streams flow in a southeasterly direction to the Green River.
The Price Valley is broken by the Red and Beckwith plateaus and
the Wasatch Range forms the western border of the county.
Despite the great altitude (Castle Dale, the county seat, is 5,500
feet above the sea level) farming is carried on successfully in the val-
leys. Along the Cottonwood and Perron creeks, in the western part,
and around Green River, in the eastern part, fruit growing is an im-
portant industry. The Green River apples, peaches, pears and canta-
loupes have been noted for many years for their fine quality and al-
ways command the top price in the markets. Bee culture is carried
fin extensively along the eastern slope of the Wasatch Mountains,
large quantities of honey being shipped from Perron every year. In
the Castle Valley are some of the richest coal deposits of Utah, hence
Emery has large mining interests. In 1918 the valuation of its min-
ing claims was $650,088, Carbon being the only county in the state
returning a larger valuation, and this was due mainly to the better
transportation facilities in the latter county.
The pioneer settler of Emery was James McHatton, a cattleman,
who located in the Huntington. Creek Valley, about three miles west
of the present Town of Huntington, some five years before the county
490 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
was created. In the spring of 1878 William Avery. Elias and }ehu
Cox, Anthony Humbel and Benjamin Jones took up homesteads
along Huntington Creek; a company led by Orange Seely settled on
Cottonwood Creek; William Taylor, Sr., William Taylor, Jr., Mads
and Nick Larsen, Joseph Wrigley and a few others settled on Perron
Creek, and Sylvester Wilson and his brother, with a few other fam-
ilies settled on the Gunnison Trail. A little later a colony led by Cas-
per Christensen and the Lund brothers founded the Town of Emery,
first known as "Muddy," in the western part, on the headwaters of the
Muddy River. The year 1879 large additions were made to the pop-
ulation, which led to the creation of a new county.
Postoffices were established at Castle Dale, Ferron, Huntington,
Blake (now Green River) and Wilsonville, all except the one at
Huntington being on the overland mail route between Ouray, Colo.,
and Salina, in Sevier County, Utah. The Rio Grand Western (now
the Denver & Rio Grande) Railroad was completed through the
county in 1882, when the overland mail route went out of business.
The first saw and grist mill was built in the county in the fall of
1879 by Samuel Jewkes & Sons, who hauled the machinery by ox
teams from Fountain Green. In this mill horses were first used as
motive power. The flour and meal ground at this mill would hardly
be awarded a grand prize at a world's fair, but thev served to sustain
life during the long, severe winter of 1879-80.
With the completion of the railroad up the Price River Valley in
1882, a number of new settlements were established along the line of
railroad. The most important of these are Green River, Woodside,
Cedar, Verde and Mounds. Green River had been settled before the
building of the railroad and was formerly known as Blake. Castle
Dale, Emery, Ferron, Huntington and Orangeville, away from the
railroad, are important trading centers.
In 1910 the population of Emery County was 6,750 and in \qig
it was estimated at 7,500, nearly all being located north of the San
Rafael River or on the headwaters of the Muddy River in the west-
ern part. The assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $7,775,794.
The county officers at that time were: Isaac Allred, O. R. Gillespie
and D. H. Leonard, commissioners; J. B. Jewkes, clerk; Levi How-
ard, sherifY; Peter Talboe, recorder; Louis W. Guyman, treasurer;
Joseph Hansen, assessor; W. G. Peacock, Jr., attorney; E. O. Ander-
son, survevor.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD -I9i
GAKFlKl.l) COIXTV
The County of Garfield was created by the twenty-rtfth Terri-
torial Legislature, Gov. Eli H. Murray giving his approval to the act
on March 9, 1882. The territory comprising the county was taken
from the eastern part of Iron County. The Legislature first proposed
naming the county "Snow," in honor of Erastus Snow, a pioneer of
1847, who had been prominently identified with the early develop-
ment of the resources of Southern Utah. James A. Garfield, Presi-
dent of the United States, had been shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July
2, 1881. and died on the 19th of September following. While Gov-
eror -Murrav did not seriously oppose the name suggested by the Leg-
islature, he recommended the name of Garfield, as a mark of respect
to the martyred President, and his recommendation was accepted.
The act creating the county adjusted the boundaries of Iron, Kane
and Washington counties to meet the new conditions; designated Pan-
guitch as the county seat of Garfield; appointed James Henrie pro-
bate judge; and named Jesse W. Crosby, Ira Elmer and Andrew P.
Schow as selectmen to complete the county organization.
Garfield has the same boundaries today as when it was created in
1882, to-wit: On the north by Piute and Wayne counties; on the
east by the Colorado River, which separates it from San Juan County ;
on the south by Kane County, and on the west by Iron County. Its
width from north to south is about forty-two miles, its average length
from east to west about one hundred and twenty-four miles, and the
area is 5,234 square miles.
The eastern part — the "High Plateau" section — is watered by the
Dirty Devil River and Crescent Creek east of the Henry Mountains;
Pine Alcove Creek between the Henry Mountains and the Circle
Cliffs. In the central part the Escalante River is formed by the junc-
tion of several small streams, and, like the Dirty Devil River, flows
southeasterly to the Colorado River. Between the Escalante Moun-
tains and the western boundary are the Sevier and Panguitch valleys,
the most fertile and populous sections of the county, where there are
several irrigated farming districts. According to the report of the
Utah Industrial Commission, on June 30, 1918, there were 13,828
acres of irrigated land in the county.
The first settlements were made in the Panguitch Valley by Lat-
ter-day Saints colonists, while the territory was still a part of Iron
Countv. Earlv in December, 1850, George A. Smith, with thirty fam-
492 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ilies and a company of over one hundred men, taking loi wagons and
600 head of stock, left Salt Lake City for the purpose of planting col-
onies in Southern Utah. Panguitch was one of the settlements estab-
lished a few years later a* a result of this movement. Very few per-
sons were added to the Panguitch colony during the first decade of
its existence on account of troubles with the natives. The Indians
caused the settlers a great deal of annoyance at all times, and after
the breaking out of what is known as the "Black Hawk war" in 1865,
conditions became so bad that in the spring of 1867 the settlement was
abandoned.
After the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of peace, some
of the settlers returned to their homes, others joined them a little later,
and on April 23, 1877, the Panguitch Stake of Zion was organized
with James Henrie as president, George W. Sevy and Jesse W. Cros-
by as counselors. On August 5, 1877, two new wards were organized
in the county, viz.: Clinton (now Cannonville) , with Jonathan T.
Packer as bishop; and Escalante, on the headwaters of the Escalante
River, with Andrew P. Schow as bishop.
Garfield is one of the seven Utah counties not yet provided with
railroad transportation. This fact has had a tendency to retard settle-
ment and development of the natural resources. The county has the
largest area of forest reserves of any county in Utah, three national
forests — the Powell, Sevier and Fillmore — extending into it, with a
total of 1,085,537 acres. As these lands are well adapted to grazing,
the stock raising industry is growing in importance every year. It is
estimated that the ranges here will furnish forage for 200,000 sheep
and 315.000 cattle, though fewer than half those numbers are now pas-
tured in the county.
In 1910 the population was 3,660 and the increase since that cen-
sus has been comparatively slight. In 1918 the assessed valuation of
property was $2,783,3 10. The county officers at that time were : Vern
Lyman, E. H. Jorgensen and James N. Henderson, commissioners;
Ann Cooper, clerk; James A. Goulding, sheriff; Maggie E. Foy, re-
corder; James S. Passey, treasurer; J. L. Smoot, assessor; G. J.
Goulding, attorney; John H. Clark, surveyor.
Panguitch, the county seat, is the most important town, though
Cannonville, Coyoto, Escalante, Hatch, Henrieville, Spry and
Tropic are postoffices and trading centers for agricultural commu-
nities.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 493
GR.AXD COUXTV
By the act of March 12, 1892, the eastern part of Emery County —
that part lying east of the Green River — was erected into a new coun-
ty called Grand, from the Grand River, which flows through the
eastern part in a southwesterly direction.. It is bounded on the north
by Uinta County; on the east by the State of Colorado; on the south
by San Juan County, and on the west by Emery, from which it is sepa-
rated by the Green River. Its area is 3,692 square miles.
The surface is uneven and the average altitude is about five thou-
sand feet. In the northern part are the Roan or Brown Clififs, north
of which is the East Tavaputs Plateau, in which rise a number of
creeks that flow northward into Uinta County. South of the Roan
Cliffs are the Book. Clififs, which mark the northern limits of the
Grand River Valley. Along the west bank of the Grand River, in the
southern part, are the Dome Plateau and the Orange Clififs, and in
the southeast corner, on the line between Grand and San Juan coun-
ties, are the La Sal Mountains.
The first attempt to form a settlement in what is now Grand Coun-
ty was made in the spring of 1855. On Monday, May 21st, of that
year, a company of some forty men, with a herd of cattle and the
necessary farming utensils, under the leadership of Alfred N. Bill-
ings, left Manti for the purpose of establishing a settlement in the
Grand River Valley, near the Elk (now the La Sal) Mountains. Af-
ter a toilsome march of more than one hundred and twenty miles
through the wilderness, these men arrived on the site of the present
Town of Moab, where on June 15, 1855, they began the construction
of a fort and some log cabins, while some prepared ground for plant-
ing and others cut hay for feeding the cattle during the coming win-
ter. The territory was then a part of Sanpete County.
The Indians, however, resented the presence of the white men in
the country and subjected the little colony to all sorts of petty depre-
dations. On the 23d of September a band made a raid on the settle-
ment, killed William Behunin, Edward Edwards and James W.
Hunt, wounded Mr. Billings, set fire to the haystacks and drove ofif
the cattle. The day following this raid the colonists abandoned their
fort and started for Manti, where they arrived on the last day of the
month.
The fort and cabins were destroyed by the Indians and no further
attempt was made to establish a settlement east of the Wasatch Moun-
494 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
tains for more than twenty years. At a conference of the Sanpete
Stake, held at Mount Pleasant in the fall of 1877, Orange Seely was
appointed bishop of all that portion of Sanpete County lying east of
the Wasatch Range. He led a company into what is now Emery
County and a little later a new Moab was founded. Construction
work on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was pushed vigorously
in 1880-81, and on February i ^, 1881, Moab was organized as award,
with Randolph H. Stewart as bishop. This time the settlement was
permanent
With the completion of the Denver & Rio Grande through the
county, several small settlements grew up along the line of railway,
such as Cisco, Crescent, Thompsons, Westwater and Whitehouse. A
branch line of railroad runs from Thompsons to Neslen, si.\ miles
north. But with all these new settlements. Grand County reported
the smallest population in 1910 of any county in the state, having then
but 1,595 inhabitants.
Farming is carried on to some e.\tent in the valleys, and around
Moab are some fine orchards, fruits from this section having been
awarded prizes wherever they have been exhibited. But the most im-
portant industry is stock raising. In 1918 Grand was the fifth county
of the state in the number and value of its sheep. Of the total assessed
valuation in that year of $5,299,543 the live stock interests repre-
sented $1,299,231 and the railroad property was valued at $2,310,138.
There were then only 3,287 acres of irrigated land in the county.
Following is a list of the county officials at the beginning of the
year 1919: R. J. Thomson, Heber Murphy and J. G. McBride, com-
missioners; H. S. Rutledge, clerk and recorder; W. J. Bliss, sheriff;
Charles Kelley, treasurer; O. H. Newell, assessor; O. A. Tangren,
attorney.
IROX COUNTY
Situated in the southwestern part of the state is Iron County, one
of the old counties of Utah. It was created by the Deseret Legisla-
ture at its third session, which began on December 2, 1850, after Con-
gress had provided for the organization of Utah Territory, the act af-
terward being reaffirmed by joint resolution of the first Utah Terri-
torial Legislature, legalizing all the acts of its predecessor. As orig-
inally established. Iron County extended from the Colorado line to
the eastern boundary of California. The western portion was cut ofif
by the organization of Nevada as a territory in 1861, and by the erec-
UTAH SINCE STx\TEHOOD ^95
tion of Garfield County in 1882, Iron was reduced to its present di-
mensions of 3,256 square miles. It is bounded by Beaver County on
the north; by Garfield on the east; by Kane and Washington on the
south, and by the State of Nevada on the west. Its name was adopted
on account of the rich deposits of iron ore within its limits, the exis-
tence of which was known even at that early date.
The eastern part is somewhat mountainous, the principal ranges
being the Antelope, Harmony, Iron and Parowan, with a number of
isolated peaks or buttes. Between the mountain ranges are fertile val-
leys, watered by such streams as Bear, Castle, Coal and Summit creeks
and their minor tributaries. The western half lies in what is known
as the Escalante Desert and is sparsely settled. In the northwest cor-
ner are several fine springs, the best known being .Mountain, Eight-
mile, Sulphur and Cold Springs.
Parley P. Pratt and others, while exploring Southern Utah in
1849 visited the Little Salt Lake in the Parowan Valley and recom-
mended that a settlement be formed there. Consequently, in Decem-
ber, 1850, George A. Smith led a company of 118 men, thirty of
whom were accompanied by their families, with. 600 head of stock,
loi wagons and a small cannon, left Salt Lake City for the Little Salt
Lake Valley. On January 13, 1851, Smith selected a site for a settle-
ment where the City of Parowan now stands, and on the 9th of Feb-
ruary a branch of the Latter-day Saints was there organized.
By the act of February 7, 1852, Chapman Duncan was appointed
probate judge of Iron County, and under his administration the coun-
ty organization was perfected soon afterward, with Parowan as the
county seat. At the general conference of the church held in Salt
Lake City in October, 1853, the population of Cedar City was re-
ported as being 455, and that of Parowan, 392, a total of 847. Cedar
City was settled by a portion of Smith's company in the spring of
1851.
On February 7, 1854, Lieut. John C. Fremont, with nine white
men and twelve Delaware Indians, arrived at Parowan without pro-
visions and in a famished condition. Just before reaching Parowan
one man fell from his horse exhausted and died before relief could
be obtained. The people of Parowan cared for the wayfarers for
nearly two weeks, then furnished them with a supply of provisions,
and on the 20th the party resumed the journey to California.
Iron County has 54.62 miles of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Rail-
road, which crosses the county from northeast to southwest through
496 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
the Escalante Desert. There are several small stations along the rail-
road, but the principal towns — Cedar City, Kanarraville, Paragonah
and Parowan — are all located in the eastern part of the county.
Farming is the leading occupation. Fifteen thousand acres are
irrigated by the gravity system and 5,000 acres are irrigated by arte-
sian wells. About ten thousand acres are under cultivation by dry
farming methods. Some mining is done, but the mines being situated
so far from the railroad makes it difficult for them to compete with
those supplied with better transportation facilities. Three national
forests — the Dixie, Fillmore and Sevier — extend into Iron County,
giving it a total of 267,353 acres of forest reserves. These larids are
used by stock men for winter grazing, their own lands, aggregating
some one hundred and fifty thousand acres, being used for summer
pastures. In 191 8 the county reported 9,056 cattle and 100,772 sheep
on the ranges. In that year the various interests of the county were
thus represented in the assessed valuation of property:
Farm lands and improvements $2,646,755
Railroad property 2,107,865
Live stock 1,811 ,946
^slining claims 3^,97^
All other property 1,166,430
Total $7,763,974
In 1910 the population was 3,933 and in 1919 it was estimated at
5,000. The county officers at the beginning of 1919 were: H. L.
Adams, H. W. Lund and William Lund, commissioners; John W.
Bentley, clerk; Alfred Froyd, sheriff; Kate Taylor, recorder; Mor-
gan Richards, treasurer; Maeser Dalley, assessor; E. H. Ryan, attor-
ney; R. S. Gardner, surveyor.
JUAB COUNTY
Juab is one of the first five counties created by the Deseret Legis-
lature in December, 1849. As originally erected, it extended from
the highej^t summit of Mount Nebo to the eastern boundary of Cali-
fornia. The western portion was cut off by the organization of the
Territory of Nevada in 1861 and the county now extends from the
San Pitch Mountains to Utah's western boundary. It is bounded on
the north bv Tooele and Utah counties; on the east bv Utah and San-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 497
pete; on the south by Sanpete and Millard, and on the west by the
state of Nevada. The area of the county is 3,410 square miles.
The county was named for an old Indian who was found there by
the first white settlers, and who was a true friend of the pioneers,
often \Aarning them of intended hostile demonstrations on the part of
the Indian bands living in the vicinity, and in other ways showing his
kindness. It seems that this Juab and one other Indian were the last
surviving members of a tribe which had nothing in common with the
other tribes inhabiting the Great Basin. A town in the southeastern
part of the county also bears the name of this old native friend of the
pioneers.
Across the eastern part run the East Tintic and West Tintic moun-
tain ranges, near the north end of which is one of the richest mining
districts of Utah (See chapter on the Mining Industry). According
to the report of the industrial commission, there were in June, 1918,
over thirteen thousand acres of irrigated land in the county. Dry
farming is practiced extensively in the eastern valleys and west of the
Tintic Mountains, though there are still some fifty thousand acres
of land that have never felt the touch of the plow. The Fillmore,
Manti and Uinta national forests extend into Juab, the total area of
forest reserves in the county being 1 17,954 acres. These forest ranges
and the winter ranges in the western part furnish forage for large
numbers of cattle and sheep.
It is generally conceded that the first settlement in Juab was made
in the early part of September, 1851, where the City of Nephi now
stands, by Joseph L. Heywood and a few others from Salt Lake City.
In December following, three families located on Clover Creek,
about seven miles north of the Heywood settlement, where the vil-
lage of Mona is now situated. These two settlements were the only
ones in the county when Governor Young approved the act of Febru-
ary 7, 1852, appointing probate judges for the several counties in the
territory. George W. Bradley was appointed probate judge of Juab,
and under his direction the county organization was perfected on
August I, 1852, by the election or appointment of the following offi-
cers: John Carter, Charles H. Bryan and William Cazier, select-
men (commissioners) ; Israel Hoyt, sherifT; Amos Gustin, clerk of
the county and probate courts; George W. Bradley, probate judge;
Z. H. Baxter, assessor and collector. Amos Gustin also performed
the duties of recorder, and Z. H. Baxter, the duties of county sur-
veyor.
Vol. 1-3 2
498 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
In addition to these officials, others who were prominent in the
affairs of the county at that early date were Charles Sperry, David
Cazier, Jacob G. Bigler, David Udall and Charles Foote. The county
officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were : P. J. Bonner, Oscar
Andrus and George Francom, commissioners; Earl S. Hoyt, clerk;
Daniel Martin, sheriff; Charles Haynes, assessor; Thomas Bailey,
recorder; T. H. G. Parkes, treasurer; W. A. C. Bryan, attorney; R.
A. Wilkins, surveyor.
About the time the first county officers were chosen in 1852, a post-
office was established in the Heywood settlement and was first known
as ''Salt Creek." The name was subsequently changed to Nephi. The
name of the first postmaster could not be learned.
Frequent troubles with the Indians occurred during the years
immediately following the establishment of the first settlements. On
July 19, 1853, a number of horses were driven off, but no one was
hurt. The Indians again appeared at Nephi on Sunday. October 2,
1853, and this time the settlers showed fight. In the skirmish that en-
sued, eight Indians were killed, one squaw and two boys taken pris-
oners. The whites suffered no casualties. A fort was built soon after
this affair, which had a tendency to check the depredations of the
savages.
At the general conference of the Latter-day Saints Church, held
in Salt Lake City in October, 1853, the population of the Nephi set-
tlement was reported as 229. No report was received from the col-
ony at Mona, which numbered at least half as manv inhabitants as
Nephi.
The Utah Southern Railroad — the first railroad in the county —
was completed to Juab, fifteen miles south of Nephi, about the mid-
dle of June, 1879. In 1918 Juab had 140 miles of railroad, all east
of the West Tintic Range. Practically all the towns of the county
are located along the railway lines, the principal ones, in the order
of population, being Eureka, Nephi, Mammoth, Levan, Silver City,
Juab and Mona.
In 1910 the population of the county was 10,702 and in 1919 it
was estimated at 12,500. The assessed valuation of property in 1918
was $14,388, Juab standing tenth in the state in property valuation.
K.AXE COUXTV
Kane County lies along the southern border of the state, extend-
ing from Colorado River on the east to Washington County on the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 499
west. It was created by the thirteenth Territorial Legishiture, Gov-
ernor Doty approving the act on January i6, 1864. It was named for
Col. Thomas L. Kane, who befriended the Latter-day Saints in many
ways about the time of their emigration from the Missouri River to
the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 ^"*^ '^he years immediately following.
The county is bounded on the north by Iron and Garfield counties;
on the east by San Juan, from which it is separated by the Colorado
River; on the south by the State of Arizona, and on the west by Wash-
ington County. The northern boundary is 120 miles long, the south-
ern about forty miles less, the average width from north to south is
nearly forty miles, and the county has an area of 4,373 square miles,
or 2,798,730 acres, being almost as large as the entire State of Con-
necticut.
From 1852 to 1864 the territory comprising Kane County formed
a part of Washington, and the first settlements were made during that
period. One of the early settlers was a man named Maxfield, who
established a ranch on Short Creek, a small tributary of the Virgin
River, not far from the present village of Glendale. T'his neighbor-
hood was raided by Indians on April 2, 1866. Joseph and Robert
Berry, living about four miles from Maxfield's, were killed, as was
Robert Berry's wife, and the cattle and horses belonging to the place
were driven away. This was one of the unpleasant incidents of the so
called Black Hawk war. The depredations were continued during
the following year and in April, 1867, rnost of the settlers abandoned
their homes and fled to the more densely populated districts for pro-
tection.
After the suppression of the Indians, Kane County experienced
something of a "boom." Many of the old settlers returned, accom-
panied by new ones, and several new settlements were formed. Kanab
was founded in 1870; Johnson's Settlement (now Johnson), ten miles
northeast of Kanab, began the same year; Pahreah, on the Pahreah
River, in 1872; Orderville, on the west bank of the Virgin River,
about twenty miles north of Kanab, was settled in 1875, and a num-
ber of farmers located in the Virgin, Kimball and Pahreah valleys.
When the county was first created the county seat was located at
Rockville. By the act of February 19, 1869, the boundary line be-
tween Kane and Washington was readjusted and the county seat of
Kane was removed to "Tokerville." Rockville and Toquerville are
both now in Washington County. When the present boundary line
500 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
between the two counties was established, the county seat of Kane was
fixed at Kanab.
About two-thirds of the county have never been surveyed. Heber
J. Meeks, of Kanab, writing of the county in 1915, says: "While
much of the unsurveyed portions will never amount to a great deal
from an agricultural standpoint, yet other portions of such will ever
be a source of wealth to live stock growers and still other portions
interesting to scientists, for in this county are found many old craters
of extinct volcanoes, vast beds of lava, peculiarities of stratification
of interest to geologists, peaks and cliffs rich in variety of colors, sen-
tinel rocks that are truly named, and broad plateaus with an infinite
variety of flora and fauna."
Among the undeveloped resources of the county are the copper
deposits near Pahreah, samples of which have shown as high as 89
per cent pure metal; the Colob coal fields, which extend into Kane
from Iron County; the Kanab coal fields in the Pink Cliffs; and the
large timber interests, it being estimated that two billion feet of mer-
chantable timber can be taken from the Markagunt and Paunsagunt
plateaus in the northwestern part, where 152,559 acres of the Sevier
National Forest extend into Kane County.
Kane is one of the seven Utah counties without a railroad, which
accounts for the undeveloped resources above mentioned. James W.
Bryan, representative in Congress from the State of Washington, in-
troduced a bill in the Sixty-fourth Congress authorizing the Govern-
ment to build a railroad from Marysvale, the terminus of the San-
pete Valley branch of the Denver & Rio Grande, southward to the
Kaibab National Forest in Arizona, for the purpose of making acces-
sible for commercial purposes the immense timber resources of that
forest. The people of Kane County were elated at the prospect of
thus obtaining a railroad, but the bill failed to become a law.
Farming and stock raising are the principal occupations. The
soil of the valleys in the western part is of unusual fertility and in the
vicinity of Alton forty bushels of wheat and seventy bushels of oats to
the acre are not uncommon yields. The average potato yield in re-
cent years has been 250 bushels to the acre. Most of the farming is
of the dry farming class, very little of the land being irrigated. The
county has about one-third of the goats in the state, 110,000 sheep
and 15,000 cattle on the ranges.
In 1910 the population was 1,652 and it was probably not over,
two thousand in 1919. At the beginning of the latter year the county
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 501
officers were: W. G. Little, Fred G. Carroll and John F. Brown,
commissioners; Dellos McAllister, clerk, recorder and auditor; Wal-
ter E. Hamblin, sheriff; Edward W. Little, assessor; Addie L.
Swapp, treasurer; David E. Pugh, attorney; William M. Cox, sur-
veyor.
I
CHAPTER XXIII
COUNTY HISTORY, CONTINUED
MILLARD COUNTY — ^MORGAX — PIUTE — RICH — SALT LAKE — SAX JUAN
— SANPETE — SEVIER — SUMMIT — TOOELE — UINTA — UTAH — WA-
SATCH — WASHINGTON — WAYNE — WEBER — BRIEF HISTORY OF
EACH — WHEN ORGANIZED — E.^LY SETTLEMENTS — INDIAN WARS
— OCCUPATIONS — RESOURCES — TRANSPORTATION — TOPOGRAPHI-
CAL FEATURES — TOWNS AND VILLAGES — POPULATION AND WEALTH,
ETC.
MILLARD COUNTY
Millard County is situated in the western part of the state, being
bounded on the north by the County of Juab ; on the east by Juab, San-
pete and Sevier; on the south by Beaver, and on the west by the State
of Nevada. It is the third largest of the Utah counties, having an
area of 6,604 square miles, San Juan and Tooele counties being the
only ones exceeding it in size.
Between Millard and Sevier counties are the Pahvant Mountains,
part of the Wasatch system, and west of these mountains lies the Pah-
vant Valley. Through this valley runs the Sevier River, which en-
ters Millard County near the northeast corner and follows a south-
westerly' course until it empties into Sevier Lake, in the central por-
tion of the county. Far back in the geologic past, the Sevier River
was a much larger stream than it is at the present time. For ages and
ages it carried alluvial deposits from the mountains and spread them
over the desert north of Sevier Lake, where tests have shown this allu-
vial soil to be sixty feet or more in depth. This section is known as the
"Delta"' and is one of the richest agricultural districts in Utah. In
this Delta, some fifteen miles northeast of Sevier Lake, are several
smaller lakes, the best known of which are Blue, Clear and Swan
503
504 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
lakes. North and east of these lakes is the most densely populated
section of the county.
The western half of the county consists mainly of sage brush lands,
with small mountain chains here and there, the principal ones being
the Cricket Mountains, east of Sevier Lake, the Antelope, Detroit and
Confusion ranges in the northern part, and the Wah Wah Mountains
on the southern boundary. In the extreme western part the land is
more fertile and better watered, and here several settlements have
grown up in recent years.
The first mention of Millard County found in Utah records is in
the act of February 3, 1852, which created the counties of Deseret,
Green River, Millard and Washington. Millard Fillmore was then
President of the United States and signed the act of Congress creat-
ing the Territory of Utah, which accounts for the county's name. Just
a month later another act of the Legislature defined the boundaries of
all the counties in the territory, Millard extending westward to the
eastern boundary of California. The county was organized soon af-
terward by Anson Call, who was appointed probate judge on Febru-
ary 7, 1852. The first county ofTicers were: Orange Warner, S. P.
Hoyt and N. W. Bartholomew, selectmen or commissioners; Anson
Call, probate judge; Peter Robison, clerk of the probate court; John
Dutson, treasurer; L. H. McCullough, assessor and collector; Josiah
Call, sherilTf.
The following were the county officers at the beginning of the
year 1919; Carl L. Brown, C. O. Warnick and C. F. Christensen,
commissioners; C. H. Day, clerk and auditor; G. W. Cropper, sher-
iff; Bertha Warner, recorder; Harry Anderson, treasurer; A. T.
Rappleye, assessor; Grover A. Giles, attorney.
The first settlement was made on Chalk Creek, where the City of
Fillmore now stands, in the early fall of 1851 by Anson Call and thirty
families from Salt Lake City. About the same time Gov. Brigham
Young appointed a committee of five to select a site for a permanent
seat of government for Utah Territory. The committee consisted of
Orson Pratt, Albert Carrington, Jesse W. Fox, Joseph L. Robinson
and William C. Staines. After looking at several proposed sites,
these commissioners selected the Call Settlement and the Town of
Fillmore was surveyed on October 29, 1851 (See Fillmore).
Early in 1852 the first postoffice in the county was established at
Fillmore, with Levi H. McCullough as postmaster. At the general
conference of the Latter-day Saints Church in Salt Lake City, early
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 505
in October, 1853, the population of Fillmore was reported as being
304. This was the only Millard County settlement to make a report,
probably because it was the only one in the county with sufficient
population to be worthy of notice. The present county court-house
was built in 1869-70 at a cost of $10,000.
The Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad crosses the southern
boundary about twenty-five miles from the southeast corner and fol-
lows a northeasterly course through the county, passing east of the
Sevier Lake and through the Delta country. A branch of the same
system intersects the main line at Lynndyl and another branch, four-
teen miles long, has recently been built from the main line at Delta
to Lucerne, in the northern part of the county. Altogether, Millard
has 126.58 miles of railroad.
Farming and stock raising are the chief occupations. According
to the report of the Utah Industrial Commission of June, 1918, Mil-
lard then had more irrigated land than any other county in the state —
74,442 acres — with new projects under contemplation which will
bring the total irrigated area up to 150,000 acres. In the Delta region
large crops of wheat, oats and barley are grown; more alfalfa seed
is raised in this district than in any other of similar size in the West;
over one thousand tons of sugar beets are raised every year, and in
the vicinity of Oak' City, in the northeastern part of the county, are
many fine orchards. Bee culture flourishes and large quantities of
honey are shipped annually from the older settlements in the Pah-
vant Valley.
In 1918 the state board of equalization found more live stock in
Millard than in any other county in the state. Besides the horses and
other domestic animals on the farms, there were on the ranges 200,031
cattle and 286,576 sheep. The assessed valuation of property for that
year was as follows:
Farm lands and improvements $ 7,447,188
Live stock 5,297,914
Railroad property 3,996, 1 17
Personal property 1,642,380
All other property 438,181
Total $18,821,780
The oldest towns are situated in the eastern part. Fillmore (the
county seat) is about twenty-five miles from the nearest railroad sta-
.506 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
tion. Holden, Kanosh, Meadow, Ork City and Scipio are all active
business centers. The principal towns along the railroad are Clear
Lake, Delta, Desert, Hinckley, Leamington, Lucerne, Lynndyl and
Oasis. In the extreme western part the villages of Burbank, Gandy
and Garrison are trading places for the farmers of that section and
outfitting points for stock men. In 1910 the population was 6,118
and in 1919 it was estimated at over nine thousand.
MORGAN COUNTY
Situated in the northeastern part of the state, hemmed in by moun-
tains, is the County of Morgan. It is a small irregularly shaped
county, bounded on the north by Weber and Rich counties; on the
east by Rich and Summit; on the south by Summit, and on the west
by Salt Lake and Davis. Its area is 626 square miles. The Weber
River flows in a westerly direction through the central portion, re-
ceiving the waters of Cottonwood and Lost creek from the north and
East Canyon Creek from the south.
In the spring of 1855 a small party, led by Jedediah M. Grant
and Thomas Thurston, left Salt Lake City for the purpose of found-
ing a settlement at some suitable point in the Weber Valley. They
selected a location near the present city of Morgan City, began the
erection of some log cabins and began preparing the ground for plant-
ing. During the next five years several new settlements were formed
in what is now Morgan County. The ninth Territorial Legislature,
which convened in Salt Lake City on December 9. 1861, and ad-
journed on January 17, 1862, defined the boundaries of seventeen
counties, one of which was Morgan. It w^as so named for Jedediah
M. Grant, whose middle name was "Morgan," and the county seat
was located at Littleton, a town which no longer appears on the maps
of Utah. After the survey of the Union Pacific Railroad was com-
pleted, the county seat was removed to Morgan City, in order to have
the county capital on the railroad line.
The main line of the Union Pacific Railroad runs through the
central part, following the Weber River, with stations at Devils
Slide, Morgan, Stoddard, Peterson, Strawberry and Gateway. These
are the only towns or villages in the county.
Farming is the leading occupation and as there are only about
eight thousand acres of irrigated land in the county, most of the cul-
tivation is done according to dry farming methods. Potatoes, wheat
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 507
and vegetables adapted for canning constitute the greater portion of
the farm products. Fruit of fine quality is grown in some sections,
and the dairy industry is annually increasing in importance. The
county also has live stock and mining interests of moderate propor-
tions.
-Morgan is a county without any special history. From the time
of the first settlement in 1855 to the present the growth has been "slow
but sure," each census showing an increase in population and wealth.
In 1910 the population was 2,467, and in 1919 it was estimated at
3,000. The assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $5,066,862,
an increase of $391,231 over the assessment of the preceding year.
The county officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were: John S.
Turner, W. E. Criddle and W. A. Bridges, commissioners; B. Y.
Robinson, sherifif; James W. Carrigan, assessor and surveyor; Kate
Littlefield, clerk, auditor and recorder; Charles E. Condie, treasurer
and attorney.
PIUTE COUNTY
South of the geographical center of the state, in the Sevier Valley,
is the County of Piute, which was created by legislative enactment
in January, 1865, and named for the Indian tribe that once inhabited
this section of Utah. By the act of January 10, 1866, the boundaries
were defined more clearly and included all the present County of
Wayne. The same act located the county seat at Circleville, in the
southwestern part. From there it was removed to a place called Bul-
lion, then, through the influence of the settlers living in the northern
part, it was removed to Marysvale, and by the act of February 22,
1878, it was established at Junction, where it has since remained.
Piute is bounded on the north by Sevier County; on the east by
Wayne; on the south by Garfield, and on the west by Beaver. Its
area is 763 square miles. As this area is largely covered by moun-
tains, the tillable land is somewhat limited in extent, being confined
to the Sevier Valley and the valleys of the smaller streams.
The first settlement in Piute, of which any record can be found,
was. made at Circleville in March, 1864, by a colony of some fifty
families from Ephraim, Sanpete County. Kingston, Marysvale and
Junction were settled a little later, and Fort Sanford was built on
the Sevier River. Indian troubles were frequent during the early
years. On Sunday, April 22, 1866, Alfred Lewis was killed and three
others were wounded bv Indians near Marvsvale. The same dav an-
508 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
other hostile band appeared in the neighborhood of Fort Sanford,
killed a Mr. West and seriously wounded a man named Hakes.
These depredations caused the settlements to be abandoned, the peo-
ple gathering at Circleville for mutual protection and defense. Un-
der these conditions the settlement of the county made slow progress
and the United States census of 1870 reported only eighty-two resi-
dent inhabitants. In 1910 the population was 1,734 and in 1919 it
was estimated at 1,950.
Notwithstanding the limited area of agricultural land, farming
and stock raising are the leading industries. About 40 per cent of
the total area (198,474 acres) lies in the Fillmore Fishlake and
Sevier national forests, and most of the land in the forest reserves is
suitable for grazing. The assessed valuation of property in 1918 was
$2,365,627. Of this total $1,063,081 represented the valuation of
farm lands and improvements; $474,446, the live stock interests;
$124,853, railroad property, and $27,363, mining claims. The small
valuation of railroad property is accounted for by the fact that there
are only about five miles of railroad in the county, a branch of the
Denver & Rio Grande system crossing the northern boundary a lit-
tle west of the center and terminating at Marysvale. The mining
claims are largely owned by people of limited means and are to a
great e.xtent undeveloped. A few years ago a vein of alunite, rich
in potash and alumina, was discovered in the northern part and a
tramway about eight miles long has been constructed to connect the
mines with the railroad at Marysvale.
Following is a list of the county officers at the beginning of the
year 1919: Charles R. Dalton, Erastus S. Anderson and Edward H.
Vest, commissioners; Walter S. Price, clerk and auditor; William
F. Carson, sheriff; Josie B. Sprague, recorder; Wiley Dalton,
assessor; Isabelle Luke, treasurer; Edgar R. Larson, attorney.
RICH COUNTY
On January 16, 1864, Gov. James Duane Doty approved an act
cutting off that part of Cache County lying east of the Wasatch
Mountains and erecting it into a new county to be known as "Rich-
land," that name being conferred upon it on account of the fertility
of the soil in the Bear River Valley, in which the greater part of the
county is situated. By the act of January 29, 1869, the last syllable
of the name was dropped and since that time the county has been
known as "Rich."
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 509
From the northern boundary of the state to the Wasatch Moun-
tains on the south is about fifty-five miles, and the average width of
Rich County is about twenty miles, giving if an area of 1,150 square
miles. On the north it is bounded by the State of Idaho; on the east
by the State of Wyoming; on the south by Summit and Morgan coun-
ties, and on the west by Cache and Weber counties. About half of
Bear Lake lies in the northern part, the remainder of the lake being
in Idaho. This is one of the most beautiful of the intermountain
lakes, being about twenty miles long and from three to eight miles
wide. Soundings have been taken to a depth of three hundred feet
or more and the lake is a favorite resort for fishermen. Devotees of
the gun as well as the rod find plenty of sport in the vicinity of the
lake, Rich County claiming to have more sage hens than all the re-
mainder of the state.
Low mountain ranges lie along the western boundary; between
Bear Lake and the Wyoming line are the Black Mountains, or
"Boundary Hills," and on the eastern boundary are the Crawford
Mountains. The central portion is occupied by the upper Bear River
Valley^ the west fork of that stream being formed near the south end
of the Crawford Mountains by the junction of Saleratus and Twelve
Mile creeks.
The first settlements were made at Garden City, on the western
shore of Bear Lake; at Randolph, the present county seat; and at
Woodruff, near the source of the Bear River, all established about'
the time the county was created. These three settlements and Lake-
town, near the head of Bear Lake, now constitute the four largest
towns in the county, most of the inhabitants being engaged in farm-
ing or stock raising and living on their farms or ranches.
There are approximately fifty thousand acres irrigated, upon
which are raised crops of wheat, oats, barley and hay, and from the
yield of these crops may be gained some idea of the fertility of the
soil. Common yields are from forty to sixty bushels per acre for
wheat: fifty to seventy, for barley; fifty to ninety, for oats, and in
some instances over one hundred bushels on the irrigated lands, and
from one-half to two-thirds of these quantities where dry farming
methods are employed. The abundance of hay grown and the fine
grazing lands have contributed to make the live stock business a
profitable one, and the fattening of beef cattle for market is rapidly
increasing in importance.
Numerous deposits of lead, silver and copper ore have been dis-
510 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
covered in the mountain range between Cache and Rich counties,
but as a rule the deposits are small and have not been developed for
want of transportation facilities. Practically all of the great phos-
phate deposits of the Crawford Mountains are in Rich County. The
United States Geological Survey has estimated the quantity of phos-
phate rock here to be ninety million tons, containing 70 per cent or
more of bone phosphate. Some development work has been done in
this phosphate field, several thousand tons of the rock having been
mined and hauled to Sage, Wyo., the nearest railroad point.
The development of the mineral resources only awaits the con-
struction of a railroad to place them within reach of the markets. At
present Rich has only about six miles of railroad, the Union Pacific
just touching the southeast corner, and the little station of Wynta is
the only railroad station in the county.
Rich County has an electric power plant located at Swan Creek,
owned by citizens of the county. This plant furnishes electric light
and power for a large part of the county and the capacity is sufficient
to furnish power far in excess of that now utilized. It is claimed that
this plant is operated at less expanse than any similar one in the State
of Utah.
Following is a list of the county officers at the beginning of the
year 1919: Shelby Huffaker, George A. Peart, Jr., and Clarence E.
Booth, commissioners; Arthur McKinnon, clerk and auditor; Stan-
ley Wilson, sheriff; Mrs. Sara A. McKinnon, recorder; T.J. Tingey,
Jr., treasurer; A. H. Brooker, assessor; James Walton, attorney; Jo-
seph F. Neville, surveyor.
In 1910 the population was 1,883 ^nd in 1919 it was estimated
at 2,000. The assessed valuation of property in 1918, as shown by
the report of the state board of equalization, was $3,269,751.
SALT LAKE COUXTY
Salt Lake County enjoys the distinction of being the site of the
first settlement made by the Latter-day Saints in Utah. As that settle-
ment was made within the present limits of Salt Lake City, and the
history of that city is so interwoven with the history of Salt Lake
County, many of the details concerning those early days of 1847 and
the years immediatelv following will be found in the chapter on Salt
Lake City.
The county is situated in the north central part of the state, is of
irregular shape, and has an area of 756 square miles. Davis County
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD ^n
bounds it on the north; Morgan, Summit and Wasatch on the east;
Utah on the south ; Tooele on the west, and along the northwestern
border lies the Great Salt Lake from which it takes its name.
This county was one of six created in December, 1849, by the
Legislature of the provisional State of Deseret, and when first estab-
lished it contained a much larger area than at present, extending east-
ward to the Colorado line. It was at first known as "Great Salt Lake"
County, but by the act of January 29, 1868, the first word of this
name was dropped and "Salt Lake" adopted as the legal name of the
county. It was organized under the provisions of the act of Febru-
ary 7, 1852, which appointed Elias Smith probate judge, the county
organization being perfected on the fifteenth of March. At the gen-
eral conference of the Latter-day Saints Church in Salt Lake City
on October 6, 1853, the bishops of the several wards reported the
population as follows:
Salt Lake City (nineteen wards) 5,979
Big Cottonwood 161
Butterfield Settlement 71
Little Cottonwood 273
Mill Creek 668
South Cottonwood 517
West Jordan 361
Willow Creek 222
Total 8,252
The settlement in Salt Lake City was made in July, 1847, and the
other settlements mentioned in the above census were all made with-
in the two years following. Canyon Creek (the Butterfield Settle-
ment), afterward known as Sugarhouse; Mill Creek; Holliday (af-
terward Big Cottonwood), and South Cottonwood were organized
as bishops' wards by the church authorities on February 16, 1849. On
November 23, 1849, an exploring party of some fifty men was organ-
ized at the house of Capt. John Brown on the Big Cottonwood and
left the next day to examine the country south of Salt Lake City.
Little Cottonwood was organized as a ward in December, 1849,
with Silas Richards as the first bishop. This locality figured promi-
nently in the early mining operations of Utah. The Little Cotton-
wood Canyon contains large granite deposits, where the Consolidated
Stone Company has three large plants quarrying the stone and pre-
512 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
paring it for buildings. The state capitol is constructed of granite
from these quarries and large quantities of the stone are shipped to
points outside the state.
Salt Lake County is the wealthiest and most populous county in
Utah. In 1910 the population was 131,426 and in 1918 the assessed
valuation of property was $291,678,407. In addition to Salt Lake City,
there are a number of thriving towns in the county, viz.: Bingham,
Brinton, Draper, Forest Dale, Holliday, Lark, Midvale, Murray,
Sandy, Sugarhouse, Taylorsville, Union and Wilford. The county
leads all the others in mineral production, has the largest railroad
interissts of any county in the state, and over half the manufacturing
establishments of Utah are located in Salt Lake City and the sur-
rounding towns.
It must not be concluded, however, that mining and manufac-
turing are the only industries of consequence. Most of the lands lying
east of the Jordan River are irrigated and on these lands are some of
the best managed farms in the state. Sugar beets, celery, vegetables
of all kinds and fruits are raised in profusion, and there are numer-
ous dairies. Salt Lake City affording a convenient and ready market
for the products of the farms, gardens and dairies. In the eastern
part there are 99,720 acres of the Wasatch National Forest used as
stock ranges, and in 19 18 several thousand head of cattle and sheep
here found pasturage.
The county officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were : C. F.
Stillman, J. S. Lindsay, commissioners; J. E. Clark, clerk; M. C.
Iverson, auditor; John S. Corless, sherifif; James E. Lynch, assessor;
Berkley Olson, recorder; W. W. Barton, treasurer; Richard Hart-
ley, attorney; George S. Bywater, surveyor. (See also the chapter
on Salt Lake City.)
SAN JUAN COUNTY
This county, the largest in the state, occupies the southeast corner
of Utah. It was created by an act of the twenty-fourth Territorial
Legislature in February, 1880; is bounded on the north by Grand
County; on the east by the State of Colorado; on the south by the
State of Arizona, and on the west by the counties of Wayne, Garfield
and Kane. Its area is 7,761 square miles, being larger than the com-
bined states of Delaware and Connecticut.
The Green River separates San Juan from Wayne County. Near
the southeast corner of Wayne County the Green and Grand rivers
NATURAL BRIDGE "EDWIX,' XEAR BLUFF
NATURAL BRIDGE IN CEDAR CITY CANYON
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 515
unite to form the Colorado River, which flows between San Juan on
the east and Garfield and Kane counties on the west. The San Juan
River, from which the county takes its name, flows in a westerly di-
rection across the southern part, emptying into the Colorado about
twelve miles from the south line of the state. Tributary to these rivers
are numerous small creeks and "washes." The La Sal Mountains are
situated on the northern boundary, the Abajo Mountains in the cen-
tral part. Elk Ridge a little farther west, the Clay Hills in the point
between the Colorado and San Juan rivers, and the Navajo Mountains
near the southwest corner.
Probably no region of the same size in the United States presents
as great a variety of weird and wonderful scenery as San Juan County.
In 1907 an expedition went out from the University of Utah, under
the direction of the Archaeological Institute of America, to explore
that part of San Juan County lying north of the San Juan River.
From the bulletin issued by the university regarding the work of this
expedition the following extracts are taken :
"The greater part of the surface is a high plateau of from 5,000
to 6,000 feet elevation. From this plateau rises the remnants of a still
more lofty mesa that in places cover large areas, but for the most
part stand out as isolated clififs. All the softer portions have been
washed down and used to help form the plains below, while the
harder parts still remain, worn into mighty monuments, castles,
domes and spires that lift their heads far above the lower mesa upon
which they stand. In some places these clififs are quite alone, as for
instance 'organ rock,' while in others they are grouped near together.
An illustration of the latter is 'Monumental Park,' situated in Utah
and along the Utah-Arizona line fifty miles southwest of Blufif."
Along the canyons that traverse this broad mesa are the famous
natural bridges, first visited by white men in September, 1883, and
which are as yet little known to the world. These great natural won-
ders were known to the ancient clifif and pueblo dwellers, as may be
seen by the ruins of the altars and homes found in the vicinity. To
quote again from the bulletin referred to: "Virginia has long been
known for its great natural bridge. As youths we were fascinated by
the description of it in our readers and the illustrations of its massive
proportions found in our geographies. Yet Utah can boast of four
great natural arches, any one of which is larger than Virginia's won-
der. They are the 'Nonnezoshie,' northwest of Navajo Mountain,
the 'Carolyn' and the 'Augusta,' in White Canyon, and the 'Edwin,'
516 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
in Armstrong Canyon. * * * Under Nonnezoshie, the greatest
of Utah's arches, could be placed two of the Virginia bridge and yet
have some room to spare."
The southeast corner of the county, south of the San Juan River
and east of the meridian of i io° west longitude, is occupied by a part
of the Navajo Indian Reservation. The first settlement was made
atBluf?, on the north bank of the San Juan, opposite the reservation,
early in the year 1880 by a company from Iron County. Among the
pioneers were Silas S. Smith, James Lewis, Jens P. Nielson, Charles
E.Walton, L. H. Redd, Jr., George Seavy, F. I. Jones, Frank Hyde,
Willard and P. R. Butt, H. G. Green, W. E. Gordon and Joseph F.
Barton.
At that time the nearest railroad point was Alamosa, Colo., qoo
miles distant, and Mancos, Colo., 100 miles away, was the nearest
postofiice. There were then quite a number of outlaws and rough
characters from Texas and Arizona, employed by the New Mexico
Land and Cattle Company to take care of some thirty thousand cattle.
They did not like the idea of settlers coming into the country and the
pioneers found the Navajo Indians more friendly than these cow-
boys.
Silas S. Smith was appointed probate judge by the act creating
the county and served until August, 1880, when the following county
officers were elected: James Lewis, probate judge; Jens P. Nielson,
Kuman Jones and George Seavy, selectmen (commissioners) ;
Charles E. Walton, clerk and recorder; L. H. Redd, Jr., assessor and
collector; Willard Butt, sherifif. The clerk's salary was $40 per an-
num, the assessor and collector received 10 per cent of all taxes col-
lected, which the first year amounted to $1,500.
The county officers at the beginning of the year igigwere: J. H.
Wood, George W. Perkins, commissioners (one vacancy) ; J. W.
Palmer, clerk, auditor and recorder; C. R. Christensen, sherifif and
assessor; J. B. Decker, treasurer; O. W. McConkie, attorney;
Peter Allen, surveyor.
When the county was created, Blufif was designated as the county
seat, and the settlers had to build roads to reach the seat of justice.
In 1895 the county seat was removed by vote of the people to Monti-
cello, about forty-five miles north of Blufif and more centrally lo-
cated. The county offices were kept in rented quarters until 1905,
when a building was purchased for the modest sum of $300 and re-
modeled for a court-house.
WINDOW ROCK
CASTLE ROCK
ninjKS AT BLUFF
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 519
Farming and stock raising are the principal occupations. Tiiere
are about nine thousand acres of irrigated land, but dry farming
methods are employed over the greater part of the county. Some
years ago the state established agricultural experiment stations in
various sections, one of the farms being located near Monticello.
Prof. L. A. Merrill, formerly in charge of the extension work of the
Utah Agricultural College, said of this station: "As a result of the
operation of the station, confidence has been established in the dry
farming industry, and without question San Juan County today ranks
as the very best dry farming county in the state, and in my judgment
this is the best dry farming section in the West."
It should be stated, however, that the country around Monticello
has some advantage over other dry farming sections, inasmuch as the
average annual precipitation at Monticello for the last few years has
been 27.5 inches, while other dry farming localities have only about
half that much. With soils of equal fertility, a difiference of ten
inches or more in the annual precipitation counts for much in crop
production.
The greater portion of the La Sal National Forest (472,924 acres)
is situated in San Juan County. Upon these lands and the private
ranges there were in 1918, 19,555 horses, 23,559 cattle and 39,443
sheep, the total value of live stock in the county being $1,671,267.
The assessed valuation of all property for that year was $2,729,181.
San Juan's greatest need is transportation facilities. The nearest
railroad stations to Monticello are Cisco and Whitehouse, on the Den-
ver & Rio Grande, seventy-five miles to the north, and the town of
Blufif is nearly fifty miles from Dolores, Colo., on the same railroad.
The county in 1914 voted a bond issue of $14,500 for road building,
but the wagon and the automobile can scarcely be expected to do the
work of the locomotive.
SANPETE COUNTY
Sanpete was one of the six counties created by the Deseret Leg-
islature in December, 1849, and is therefore one of the oldest coun-
ties in Utah. The name is a corruption of "San Pitch," the name of
an Indian chief who was killed at the mouth of Birch Canyon, be-
tween Fountain Green and Moroni, on April 18, 1866.
As at first established the county included the present counties of
Carbon, Emery, Grand and Sevier and the southern part of Uinta.
520 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
By the erection of these counties Sanpete was reduced to its present
area of 1,564 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Utah Coun-
ty; on the east by Carbon and Emery; on the south by Sevier, and on
the west by Juab and Millard counties.
The county was organized under the provisions of the act of Feb-
ruary 3, 1852, with Manti as the county seat and the following offi-
cers: George Peacock, probate judge; Gardner Lyon, Phineas W.
Cook and James Richey, selectmen (commissioners) ; Cyrenus H.
Taylor, clerk; Nelson Higgins, sheriff; John Lowry, Jr., assessor and
collector; George Pectol, treasurer.
At the beginning of the year 1919 the county officers were: C. J.
Christiansen, Parley Christiansen, commissioners; George H. Fisher,
sheriff; F. R. Lamb, clerk; J. W. Fox, assessor; Marrill Anderson,
recorder; Pratt Allred, treasurer; John A. Hougaard, attorney.
The settlement of the county is due to a request of the Ute chief,
Walker, who, with a delegation of his tribe, visited Salt Lake City
on June 14, 1849, and requested settlers for the Sanpitch Valley, to
teach the Indians how to build houses and cultivate the soil. In re-
sponse to this request Governor Young sent out an exploring party,
consisting of W. W. Phelps, Ira Willes, Joseph Horn and D. B.
Huntington, with Chief Walker as guide. This party arrived on the
site of Manti on August 20, 1849, where they were treated kindly by
the Indians and upon the return to Salt Lake City reported in favor
of founding a colony at that place.
Late in the fall about fifty families left Salt Lake City for the San-
pitch Valley. Among these original pioneers were: Joseph Allen,
John Baker, Titus Billings, G. W. Bradley, James Brown, John But-
terfield, John Cable, Isaac Case, John Carter, O. S. Cox, John Elmer,
Amos Gustin, Sylvester Hulet, William Mendenhall, Gardner and
William Potter, Albert and Azariah Smith, Barney Ward, Abram
Washburn and Edwin Whiting.
On November 22, 1849, these immigrants pitched their camp
where the City of M.anti now stands and for some time lived in houses
made of wagon boxes. As winter approached some dug caves in the
south side of the hill where the temple now stands, for better protec-
tion. The winter was a severe one and when the time came for break-
ing ground in the spring of 1850 there was but one team of horses in
the colony with strength enough to draw a plow, until the grass grew
sufficiently to furnish forage. This team, the property of Jezreel Shoe-
maker, was used to break up small garden patches and the work of
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 521
planting was commenced. The snow was slow in melting and the
crops were not all planted until June.
It seems that Chief Walker soon regretted having made the re-
quest for white settlers, and indicated a desire to drive them out of
the country. He was particularly anxious to obtain the scalp of
Charles Shumway and one day in the early summer of 1853, while
most of the able-bodied men were at work in the fields, he rode into
Manti at the head of a few warriors, demanding the surrender of
Shumway that he might be put to torture. Those in the town pre-
pared to resist the demand, and through the mediation of Chief So-
wiatt the Indians finally withdrew.
This did not end the hostilities, for on July 18, 1853, Alexander
Keel was killed at Payson by Arropine, a brother of Walker. This
was the signal for the beginning of a general warfare against the set-
tlements in Central Utah and inaugurated what is known as the
"Walker War." The day following the killing of Keel, the Indians
fired on the guard at Mount Pleasant, attacks were made on the settle-
ments at Manti and other places and several hundred head of horses
and cattle taken by the savages. A company of fifty militia, com-
manded by Capt. P. W. Conover, was sent out from Provo to assist
the settlers and on July 23d engaged the Indians in a fierce battle east
of Mount Pleasant. Six Indians were killed, several wounded and
the rest fled to the mountins. The settlers at Mount Pleasant then re-
moved to Spring City, where they built a small fort and under the
protection of the militia were able to harvest their crops.
The depredations continued until the death of Walker on January
29, 1855, at Meadow Creek, Millard County, Arropine (sometimes
called Siegnerouch) succeeding to the chieftainship. He made a
treaty of peace with the white people, though it was not faithfully ob-
served by some of the warriors who continued their depredations, and
even Arropine himself found that by playing upon the fears of the
colonists he could compel them to pay tribute in the form of provi-
sions and clothing to keep the peace.
During the latter '50s and early '60s the settlers enjoyed compara-
tive peace. On April 9, 1865, John Lowry and some of the other set-
tlers near Manti got into an altercation with an Indian named Jake,
one of the minor chiefs, over some cattle that had been stolen. Chief
Black Hawk made this an excuse for declaring war and assembling
his braves for the purpose of driving the whites out of the valley.
Some of the citizens went out to collect the cattle and were fired on
522 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
from ambush near Twelve Mile Creek, Peter J. Ludvigsen being
killed. The same day James Anderson and Elijah B. Ward were
killed in Salina Canyon.
These afifairs marked the beginning of the Black Hawk war. Col.
J. T. S. Allred, with eighty-four men of the Sanpete militia, pursued
the Indians and fell into an ambush in Salina Canyon on April 12,
1865. Jens Sorensen and William Kearns were killed and the sudden
attack threw the troops into confusion, resulting in a retreat to Sa-
lina.
Through May and June the depredations continued. On July
15th Col. Warren S. Snow was made a brigadier-general and placed
in command of the militia and minute men. Three days later he fol-
lowed the Indians into Grass Valley and attacked them, killing
twelve and scattering the rest, with the loss of one man slightly
wounded. Frequent skirmishes occurred at intervals until August 19,
1868, when a treaty of peace was concluded at Strawberry Valley, and
though it was not strictly kept by the red men it improved conditions
for the settlers and an era of prosperity opened for the citizens of
Sanpete County. Those who had been compelled to abandon their
homes during the hostilities returned, new colonies were planted and
the work of conquering the wilderness began in earnest.
The county assessor reported 69,644 acres of land under irriga-
tion in 1918, placing Sanpete the third county in the state in the area
of irrigated land. The first farmers depended on the cultivation of
only such lands as could be irrigated, but within recent years a great
deal of bench land has been brought under cultivation by dry farming
methods. The principal crops are grain, alfalfa and alfalfa seed,
oats, rye, potatoes, barley and sugar beets. There are a number of
good orchards and several tons of honey are shipped from Fairview
and Mount Pleasant every year.
The Manti and Uinta national forests extend into Sanpete, giving
the county 406,855 acres of forest reserves, most of which is good
grazing land. In 1918 the county stood seventh in the state in the ex-
tent of its live stock interests, having on the ranges 2,395 horses, 17,778
cattle and 56,677 sheep. Of the total assessment of $13,132,432 in
1918 the live stock values amounted to $2,204,412.
Near Manti and Ephraim are large deposits of an oolitic lime-
stone, from which a number of buildings in the county have been con-
structed, fhe most notable one being the Mormon Temple at Manti.
Much of this stone was used in finishing the interior of the new capi-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 523
tol in Salt Lake City and large quantities are shipped from the state.
In 1852 William Ward, a sculptor, carved a block of this stone three
feet long, two feet wide and about six inches thick for the Washing-
ton Monument. Upon this stone was carved a beehive, with the ''All
Seeing Eye" above and the word "Deseret" below.
Three branches of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad furnish
transportation, the county having a total of 113.72 miles of railway
touching the principal towns, viz.: Axtell, Ephraim, Fairview,
Fountain Green, Gunnison, Manti, Moroni, Mount Pleasant and
Spring City. Away from the railroad the villages of Centerfield,
Fayette, Mayfield and Wales are trading points for farming commu-
nities. In 1910 the population was 16,704 and in 1919 it was esti-
mated at 18,500.
SEVIER COUNTY
Sevier County was created by the fourteenth Territorial Legisla-
ture, which met on December 12, 1864, ^^d adjourned on January
20, 1865. It is situated in the Valley of the Sevier River, from which
it takes its name, a little south of the center of the state; is bounded
on the north by Sanpete County, on the east by Emery; on the south
by Piute and Wayne, and on the west by Millard and Beaver. Its area
is 1,978 square miles. Along the western border are the Pahvant
Mountains, in the eastern part are the Fishlake and Wasatch moun-
tains, and between these ranges lies the Sevier Valley, one of the most
fertile districts of the State of Utah.
The first settlement was made at Richfield in 1863 by a company
of ten men from Manti, led by Albert Lewis, who built the first
house, a combination of cedar posts, cottonwood logs and clay. In
1864 ten acres of wheat was raised and the first irrigating canal was
constructed in 1865. During the twelve months following the settle-
ment of Richfield, colonies were planted at Glenwood, Monroe, Sa-
lina and Vermillion. When the county was created Richfield was
made the county seat.
The early settlers were Latter-day Saints and on May 12, 1864,
Salina Ward was organized with Peter Rasmussen as the first bishop.
In the spring of 186!; the Black Hawk war broke out and the people
of Sevier and the adjoining counties were the greatest sufferers. On
July 14, 1865, Robert Gillespie and Anthony Robinson were killed
near Salina; on the 26th of the same month the Indians attacked Sa-
lina, wounded one man and drove of¥ nearly all the stock belonging
524 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
to the settlement; the depredations continued during the year 1866
and became worse in the spring of 1867; Richfield and Glenwood
were attacked on March 21, 1867, when the Indians killed Jens Pet-
ersen and his wife and a Miss Smith, and ran off a number of cattle
and horses. In April most of the settlements in the county were de-
serted on account of the Indian hostilities and remained in that con-
dition until after the peace treaty was concluded on August 19, 1868.
Farming and stock raising are the leading occupations. There
are about fifty thousand acres of irrigated land in the county, mostly
in the Sevier Valley, though outside of this valley there are large ba-
sins of fertile land where dry farming is carried on with profitable re-
sults. Wheat, sugar beets, alfalfa and other kinds of hay constitute
the principal crops. The county has several good flour mills and the
wheat is shipped in the form of the finished product. Dairying and
poultry raising have made considerable headway in the last few years
and are becoming important industries. Bee culture is also carried
on with profit, as the conditions in the county are more than usually
.favorable.
In proportion to area, Sevier has more forest reserves than any
other county in Utah. Three national forests — the Fillmore, Fish-
lake and Manti^extend into the county, giving it a total of 815,852
acres of excellent grazing lands. On these ranges in 19 18 there were
2,383 horses, 17,157 cattle and 57,396 sheep. The total assessed valu-
ation of property in 1918 was $1 1,440,568, of which $2,209,512 repre-
sented the live stock interests.
The Marysvale branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad
system follows the Sevier River through the county, and another
branch of the same system connects Salina and Nioche, giving Sevier
a total of 78.6 miles of railway. Near Sigurd, about half way be-
tween Richfield and Salina, are rich deposits of gypsum and cement
rock, which are manufactured into plaster and cement by mills at
Sigurd and shipped to all parts of the country west of the Rocky
Mountains.
In 1910 the population of the county was 9,775 and in 1919 it was
estimated at 1 1,000. At the beginning of the year 1919 the following
were the county officials: A. D. Nebeker, A. K. Hansen and Frank
Herbert, commissioners; George M. Jones, clerk and auditor; Mary
J. Bohman, recorder; Mrs. Lou Goldbranson, treasurer; Andrew
Hansen, assessor; O. R. Michelson, attorney; Christian Anderson,
surveyor.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 525
SUMMIT COUNTY
The first mention of Summit County in the annals of Utah is
found in the proceedings of the third Territorial Legislature, which
met in Salt Lake City on December 12, 1853, and adjourned sine die
on January 20, 1854. During this session acts were passed providing
for the organization of Carson, Green River and Summit counties.
The county was soon afterward organized with the county seat at
Wanship, where it remained until February 12, 1869, when E. P.
Higgins, acting governor, approved an act removing it to Coalville.
In 1872 the boundaries \yere readjusted, adding more territory to
Summit County and giving it its present area of 1,862 square miles.
It is bounded on the north by Morgan County and the State of Wyo-
ming; on the east by the State of Wyoming and Daggett Countj; on
the south by the summit of the Uinta Mountains, which separates it
from the counties of Duchesne and Wasatch, and on the west by the
counties of Salt Lake and Morgan.
The east fork of the Bear River rises in the Uinta Mountains in
the southern part of Summit County and flows northward into Wyo-
ming. In the eastern part the streams flow into the Green River. The
county, derives its name from the fact that it occupies the summit of
the watershed between the Green River and the Salt Lake Valley.
The first settler in the county was Samuel Snyder, who in 1853 built
a sawmill in what was then known as "Parley's Park," near the west-
ern boundary. Other early settlers were: Robert Jones, who settled
near Henefer and died there on April 27, 1906; Thomas L. Frazier,
who had served in the Mormon battalion; David Moore, still living
at Castle Rock in the spring of 1919, and Joseph Hufif, first bishop
of the Latter-day Saints Church at Upton.
Early in 1869 the Union Pacific Railroad was built through the
western part of the county. The Summit County Railroad Company
was organized on November 27, 1871, and the first carload of coal
ever shipped from Coalville went out over this road on May 14, 1873.
There are now 112 miles of railroad in the county, all operated by
the LInion Pacific system. Along the railway lines are situated the
principal towns, viz.: Castle Rock, Coalville, Echo City, Henefer,
Hoytsville, Park City and Wanship. The villages of Kamas, Oak-
ley, Peoa and Woodland, all in the western part and away from the
railroad, are neighborhood trading points.
Quartz mining, coal mining, agriculture, stock raising and lum-
526 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
bering are the leading industries. The quartz mining district about
Park City produces large quantities of silver, lead, zinc, gold and
copper, the first extensive quartz mining having been done by the
Ontario Mining Company in this field. (See chapter on the Mining
Industry.)
About forty square miles of coal lands are situated within the lim-
its of Summit County, the veins running from four to twelve feet in
thickness. Coalville, whose name is suggestive of its principal indus-
try, is the center of the coal fields and the annual shipment amounts
to one hundred and fifty thousand tons or more.
Thirty-five miles from Park City are rich deposits of high grade
iron ore which have barely been touched, owing to lack of transpor-
tation facilities. The lumbering industry also languishes for lack of
a railroad. In the eastern part of the county, extending westward
along the slope of the Uinta Mountains, are 487,225 acres of the Ash-
ley and Wasatch national forests, in which the estimated quantity of
timber ready for the sawmill is sixty billion feet. Most of this tim-
ber is white and yellow pine, some Norway pine and red fir, all suit-
able for building material, but so situated that it can be utilized only
at great expense on account of the great distance from the railroads.
There are about twenty-five thousand acres of irrigated land, and
dry farming is carried on over a large part of the county. Much of
the surface lies at such an altitude that irrigation is practically im-
possible. Dairying is rapidly increasing in importance, the proxim-
ity of Ogden, Salt Lake City and Park City assuring markets for the
products, and the native grasses affording abundant forage for cattle.
The natural advantages for stock raising are above the average,
both grass and water existing in sufficient quantities to sustain thou-
sands of animals. For some reason these advantages have never been
utilized to their capacity by stock men, the live stock in 191 8 being
assessed at only $699,920, only five counties in the state returning a
smaller live stock valuation. The total valuation for that year was
$13,033,029.
In 1910 the population was 8,200 and in 1919 it was estimated at
9,000. The county officers at the beginning of the latter year were:
W. W. Evans, Charles H. West and Levi Pearson, commissioners;
Charles L. Frost, clerk; L. P. McGarry, sherifif; George L. Hobson,
assessor; Kate W. Kimball, recorder; W. S. Koran, treasurer; L. B.
Wight, attorney; E. H. Rhead, surveyor.
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 527
TOOELE COUNTY
This was one of the first six counties in Utah, created by the
Deseret Legislature in December, 1849. By the act of March 3,
1852, the boundaries of all the counties in the territory at that time
were defined, Tooele extending westward to the eastern line of Cali-
fornia. Its present area is 6,849 square miles, San Juan being the
only Utah county with a larger area. It is bounded on the north by
Boxelder County ; on the northeast by the Great Salt Lake ; on the east
by Salt Lake artd Utah counties ; on the south by Juab County, and on
the west by the State of Nevada.
John Rowberry is credited with having been the first white man
to settle in what is now Tooele County. Late in the year 1849, while
in charge of a herd of cattle belonging to Ezra T. Benson, he wan-
dered into the Tooele Valley in search of pasturage. Some writers
on Utah state that other employees of Mr. Benson drove a herd of
cattle into the Setlement Creek Valley, a short distance south of
Tooele City, a few weeks before Rowberry's coming, but the state-
ment lacks authenticity. Following Rowberry came five men with
their families, viz.: Phineas R. Wright, Cyrus Call, Samuel
Mecham, Orson Brafett and Cyrus Tolman. They were accompa-
nied by a Mrs. Kelsey, a widow. This little company settled where
the City of Tooele now stands, Cyrus Tolman building the first
house.
By the act of February 7, 1852, Alfred Lee was appointed pro-
bate judge, with instnactions to organize the county. These instruc-
tions were carried out and the county organization was completed
the following April. Different stories have been told as to how the
county received its name. One is that an Englishman came to the first
settlement, before the county was organized, and remained but a short
time, saying that it was "too 'illy" (too hilly), and that the Cockney's
expression was the basis of the name. Another, and what is believed
to be the correct one, is that the name "Tule" was adopted because
of the great quantity of rushes growing there, tule being a Spanish
word signifying a species of bulrush. Thomas Bullock, the pioneer
clerk of the county, misspelled the name "Tooele" in a public docu-
ment, the error was copied by others and the name became fixed.
Although Tooele is situated in close proximity to the most popu-
lous part of the state, it is rather sparsely settled, when the area is
taken into consideration, the population in iqio being 7,924, fewer
than two inhabitants to the square mile. In the western part lies the
528 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
greater portion of the great Salt Lake Desert, which contains vast
beds of salt that have no counterpart anywhere else in the United
States. With the exception of a small settlement in the Deep Creek
Valley, in the southwest corner, and the mining camps at Gold Hill
in the Deep Creek Mountains, the inhabited portions are all east of
the Cedar Mountains.
Among the early settlements was one called Richville, which was
made the county seat by act of the Legislature on January i6, 1855.
It seems that the location was not satisfactory to the inhabitants, for
the ne.xt session of the Legislature repealed the act and authorized
the county court to select the location of the county seat. Tooele City
was the choice of the court and Richville has disappeared from the
map.
The Overland Stage Route ran through Tooele County. On
March 22, 1863, the eastbound mail coach was "held up" by Indians,
near what was known as the Eight Mile Creek Station, and the driver,
Henry Harper, was killed. The coach contained four passengers,
one of whom was wounded. Judge Mott, delegate to Congress from
Nevada Territory, was one of the passengers. When the driver was
killed the judge gathered up the reins, laid whip to the horses and
succeeding in bringing the stage safely to the next station.
Farming, stock raising and mining are the chief industries. With
the development of dry farming, great progress has been made in
agriculture, many farms having been entered in the Tooele, Rush and
Skull valleys. There is very little irrigated land in the county, but
in 1918 the farm lands and improvements were assessed at $4,579,220.
In the number and value of live stock, Tooele is the second county
in the state, Millard County being the only one exceeding it in this
respect. On the ranges in 191 8 there were 1,075 horses, 16,022 cattle
and 229,751 sheep, the total value of live stock being $3,376,332. The
total property valuation for that year was $20,871,285. The mines
of Tooele County yield gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. In 1917
the value of the mineral output was $3,253,492.
Two lines of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad — the main
line and the Fairfield branch — traverse the valleys in the eastern part.
The Western Pacific crosses the northern portion, with a branch from
Wendover to Gold Hill. Altogether there are 248.02 miles of rail-
way in the county. The principal towns are located along the line of
the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, viz. : Ophir, St. John, Stock-
ton, Tooele, Toplifif and some minor stations. Wendover, near the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 529
western boundary, is a supply point for a considerable territory.
Grantsville and Mercur, away from the railroad, are good sized
towns.
At the beginning of the year 19 19 the county officers were: R. N.
Bush, C. H. Barrus and C. A. Orme, commissioners; Fred L. Eng-
land, clerk; D. M. Adamson, sherifif; Ray Hammond, assessor; W.
F. Atkin, recorder; George L. Tate, treasurer; John B. Gordon, at-
torney; Alonzo J. Stookey, surveyor.
UINTA COUNTY
Occupying a large part of the Green River Valley, along the east-
ern border of Utah, is Uinta County, which was created in 1880 by
the same Legislature that created Emery and San Juan counties. As
at first established it included the present County of Daggett and con-
tained an area of 5,235 square miles. That part north of the summit
of the Uinta Mountains was set ofif as Daggett County in 19 17,
leaving Uinta an area of approximately 4,500 square miles. It is
bounded on the north by Daggett County; on the east by the State of
Colorado; on the south by Grand County, and on the west by
Duchesne and Carbon counties.
The county takes its name from the Uinta Mountains, or, going
farther back into the past, from Uinta Indians, who once inhabited
this region. In the act creating the county, and in other state docu-
ments and reports of that period, the name is spelled "Uintah," but
the United States Government and the leading atlas makers drop the
final letter, spelling the name "Uinta," and that form is used in this
history.
At the time the county was organized in 1880, a large part of it
lay within the limits of the Uinta Indian Reservation. Ashley (now
Vernal) immediately south of the Fort Thornburg military reserva-
tion, was the only white settlement of consequence in Northeastern
Utah and it was made the county seat.
The first attempt to found a settlement in what is now Uinta
County was made in the early fall of 1862. On September 2, 1862,
a company left Salt Lake City to locate a site for a colony at some
point in the Green River Valley. Owing to the opposition of the In-
dians and the distance from other settlements, the project resulted in
failure and several years elapsed before a second attempt to establish
a settlement in that quarter was made.
With few exceptions, the early settlers were Latter-day Saints
from Salt Lake City and the older settlements of Utah. They came
530 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
in slowly and not until May 9, 1887, was the Uinta Stake of Zion
organized with Samuel R. Bennion as president; Reuben S. CoUett
and James Hacking, counsellors. The stake was composed of six
wards, which, with their respective bishops, were as follows: Ashley,
(Vernal), George Freestone; Merrill's, Thomas J. Caldwell; Mill,
William Shaffer ; Glines, Peter Abplanalp ; Riverdale, Nathan Hunt-
ing; Mountain Dell, Silas J. Merrill. These bishops and their asso-
ciates were among the pioneers of the county.
Farming and stock raising are the main industries. A great va-
riety of crops is produced, including hay, grain, sugar beets, all sorts
of vegetables, fruits, melons and peanuts. Sweet potatoes, which are
raised in only a few places in Utah, have been grown successfully in
Uinta for years past, with not a single failure recorded. Uinta has
over fifty thousand acres irrigated. On the irrigated lands wheat has
yielded as high as seventy-five bushels to the acre and oats one hun-
dred bushels. The dry farms produce from twenty-five to forty bush-
els of wheat and four tons of alfalfa per acre. Cheese and butter are
sent out by parcels post in considerable quantities and about fifty
thousand dollars are received annually from the sale of honey.
In 1918 Uinta was the third county of Utah in the value of its
live stock. The Ashley National Forest in the northern part and the
the mountain slopes furnish excellent pasturage. On these ranges in
1918 were 2,692 horses, 16,022 cattle and 158,432 sheep, the value
of all live stock being $3,376,332. The assessed valuation of all prop-
erty in that year was $7,951,170. A large part of this development
has been made since the opening of the Uncompahgre Indian Reser-
vation in June, 1897.
In 1890 the population was 2,762 and in 1900 it was 6,458, an in-
crease of 3,696 in ten years, most of which was made during the last
three years of the decade. On August i, 1905, offices were opened at
Price, Provo and Vernal, Utah, and Grand Junction, Colo., for regis-
tration for homestead drawings on certain lands formerly belonging
to the reservation. This resulted in large additions to the population,
which in 1910 was 7,050 and in 1919 it was estimated at 8,500.
The great Uinta Basin is rich in minerals that only await the
building of a railroad to become of benefit to mankind. Coal is found
in abundance in all sections of the basin. Scientists have discovered
more than a score of members of the hydro-carbon group of minerals,
the value of which is estimated in billions of dollars. It is claimed
that two-thirds of the uranium and vanadium ores of theUnited States
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 531
are found in Utah and Colorado, much of them in the Uinta Basin.
Copper ore of high grade has also been found and some of it has
been hauled by team to the railroad, netting the mine owners a profit
after paying the expensive transportation charges. The only railroad
in the county is about fifteen miles in the southeast corner, the road
entering Utah from Colorado and terminating at Watson.
The county officers of Uinta at the beginning of the year 1919
were: George W. Parry, Lynn Ashton and Ashley Bartlett, commis-
sioners; James O'Neil, Jr., clerk and auditor; Lafayette Richardson,
sheriff; William F. Hanson, assessor; Mabel Hacking, recorder;
Reuben A. McConkie, treasurer; Wallace Calder, attorney; Earl
Thompson, superintendent of schools; Nile Hughel, surveyor.
There are no large towns in the county. Vernal, the county seat,
is the most important. Dragon, Fort Duchesne, Independence, Jen-
sen, Lapoint, Moffatt, Ouray, Randlett, Watson and Whiterocks are
trading and outfitting villages. Some of the larger towns are sup-
plied with electric light, waterworks and telephone connections.
Uinta County was once the home of prehistoric giant animals. A
few years ago Professor Douglas, of the Carnegie Institute, visited
the county to examine the prehistoric remains. The following la-
conic account of his discovery of a dinosaur in the clififs is from the
pen of D. L. Whitehurst, of the Salt Lake Herald:
"Professor Douglas had spent much of his life in the past — that
is, he did much studying to find out if man originated from a monkey,
and why. Professor Douglas had heard that residents of Vernal had
discovered rare bones and were even laying the foundations of their
homes on them. So he came straight to the little city, expecting, no
doubt, to establish some relationship between the bones and the pres-
ent residents. He searched long and without much encouragement
from the citizens, except to attain for himself the name of 'Nutty.'
"One day he came face to face with a giant dinosaur, nestled up
in the clifif. Douglas grinned, it is said, a very foolish thing to do
when meeting a dinosaur. Strange, it is related, the prehistoric ani-
mal grinned, too — been grinning, in fact, for millions of years.
"Professor Douglas got a bunch of men to work on the remains —
had to send to Pittsburgh, because none of the local men would fool
with such an absurd thing as digging up the grave of an animal that
had died before the Mormons came to the valley. By and by, the
thing who used to eat monkeys by the gross, if monkeys lived millions
of years ago, was packed in plaster of paris and sent east, where it was
532 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
dismantled and remantled and set up in a glass case. It was forty
feet in length and it stood fourteen feet in the air. Since that time
Professor Douglas has found other members of the same species and
has also sent their remains to Pittsburgh, where thev have been placed
on exhibition.
"It was maintained by the scientific man who found the bones of
the prehistoric creature that it had been washed there by a great
flood, which evidently must have been before mankind knew Utah.
It is further estimated that the bones had been deposited in the sands
for millions of years, which is a long time, sav persons in the basia
who have been waiting twenty years for a railroad to enter the valley."
UTAH COUNTY
Utah County is situated in the north central part of the state and
is irregular in form. It is bounded on the north by Salt Lake County;
on the east by Wasatch and Duchesne; on the south by Carbon, Juab
and Sanpete, and on the west by Juab and Tooele. Utah Lake, the
largest body of fresh water in the state, is situated in the central part;
the Wasatch Mountains lie along the eastern border and the Oquirrh
Mountains on the western. The central portion consists of the Utah
Lake Basin and the fertile valleys of the Provo River, Spanish Fork
and a number of creeks.
This county was one of the six created by the Deseret Legislature
in December, 1849, and derives its name from the Indian tribe which
once inhabited the country. By the act of March 3, 1852, the eastern
boundary was the territorial line. Through the creation of the coun-
ties on the east Utah was reduced to its present area of 2,034 square
miles.
By the act of February 7, 1852, Preston Thomas was appointed
probate judge and the county was organized under his direction by
the election or appointment of the following officers : Dominicus Car-
ter, Alfred Bell and James McLellan, selectmen (commissioners) ;
Lucius N. Scovil, clerk; Absalom P. Dowdel, sheriff; G. W. Bean,
assessor and collector; Edson Whipple, treasurer; William M. Wall,
prosecuting attorney.
The county officers at the beginning of the year 1919 were: Joseph
Reece, H. F. Thomas and Richard D. Wadley, commissioners; L. T.
Epperson, clerk; J. T. Williams, sheriff; Roger W. Creer, assessor;
Genevieve Richardson, recorder; W. L. Openshaw, treasurer; J. W.
Robinson, attorney; John W. Guy, auditor; Benjamin E. Argyle,
surveyor. The present courthouse was built in 1873.
RESIDENCE OF DR. HERBERT S. PYNE, PROVO
ACADEMY AVEXITE. LOOKING NORTH. PROVO
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 535
The first white men to see the region now comprising Utah Coun-
ty were the Spanish explorers, Dominguez and Escalante, who on
September 23, 1776, first beheld the placid waters of Utah Lake. On
August 5, 1847, Jesse C. Little and a party sent out from Salt Lake
City returned and reported that a fine country lay east of the lake.
No attempt to found a settlement there was made at that time, but in
March, 1849, John S. Higbee led a party southward from Salt Lake
City with the intention of planting a colony on the Provo River.
Dimick B. Huntington accompanied the party as Indian mterpreter.
This party was stopped by the Indians, who required every one
of the white men to take an oath that they would not drive the natives
from their lands. After this oath was taken a settlement was started
at what was called "Old Fort Field," now within the city limits of
Provo. A fort was built and crops were planted, over two hundred
acres being plowed the first year for wheat, rye and corn. Ten more
families were soon afterward added to the colony, when the land was
divided into forty lots, one to each family. The Provo branch of the
Latter-day Saints Church was organized on March 18, 1849, with
John S. Higbee as president, Isaac Higbee and Dimick B. Hunting-
ton as counsellors.
In August, 1850, settlements were made at American Fork, Lehi
and Pleasant Grove. Early in October Springville was settled by
Aaron Johnson and others, and on the 20th of that month James Pace
led a party to the southwest and founded the Town of Payson. Pal-
myra and Spanish Fork were settled in 1852. At the general con-
ference of the Latter-day Saints, held in Salt Lake City on October
6, i8t;3, the bishops reported the population of the various settlements
of Utah County as follows:
American Fork 212
Cedar Valley 115
Dry Creek 458
Mountainville (no report)
Palmyra 404
Payson and Summit 427
Pleasant Grove 290
Provo (four wards) i,359
Spanish Fork (no report)
Springville 799
Total 4)064
536 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
In 1 910 the population of the county was 37,942, the county then
standing second in the state. In 1919 it was estimated at 45,000. The
assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $42,816,083. These fig-
ures will give the reader some idea of the progess made since the
spring of 1849, when John S. Higbee led his little band of pioneers
into the Provo Valley.
According to a report made by the county clerk in April, 1919,
the county then had 182,210 acres of irrigated land — a larger area
than any other county in the state. During the past decade the Provo
Reservoir and Utah Lake irrigation companies have added over
thirty thousand acres to the irrigated lands of the county. Under
these conditions, it is not surprising that agriculture flourishes in
Utah County. The horticultural interests are also large, apples,
peaches, cherries and berries being among the important exports.
Provo bench has been pronounced by experts one of the best farming
and fruit growing sections of Utah.
Stock raising and mining are also important industries, and in all
of the larger towns and cities some manufacturing is carried on, hence.
Utah County has not "put all its eggs into one basket." These indus-
tries are all aided by the excellent transportation facilities, lines of
the Denver & Rio Grande and Los Angeles & Salt Lake railway
systems traversing all sections of the county. In 1918 Utah had 291
miles of steam railway, exclusive of side tracks, and 46.64 miles of
electric railway. The first railroad was built into the county in 1875.
The principal cities and towns are located along the railroad lines,
the most important ones being Benjamin, Colton, Fairfield, Goshen,
Mapleton, Payson, Pleasant Grove, Provo (the county seat), Salem,
Santaquin, Spanish Fork, Springville and Thistle. Away from the
railroad, Alpine, Cedar Valley, Lake Shore and Tucker are trading
centers for farming communities, and there are a number of small
hamlets scattered over the county.
WASATCH COUNTY
The Territorial Legislature which adjourned on January 17,
1862, defined the boundaries of seventeen counties, one of which was
Wasatch, which was created at that session from the eastern part of
Utah and named for the range of mountains forming the western bor-
der. When first organized it included the territory now comprising
Duchesne County and part of Uinta. As at present constituted it is
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 537
bounded on the north by Summit County; on the east by Duchesne;
on the south and west by Utah, Salt Lake County forming a little
of the boundary line at the northwest corner. Its area is 1,420 square
miles. The Provo River has its source in the northeastern part, in
the Uinta Mountains, and flows westwardly to Utah Lake, all the
other watercourses flowing to the Green River.
Wasatch County was settled in the fall of 1858 by a company from
Provo and Nephi. Among these pioneers were: Jesse Bond, Rob-
ert Broadhead, Charles M. Carroll, John Carlyle, James Carlyle,
John Crook, the Cummings brothers, Aaron Daniels, William Dav-
idson, James Davis, William Giles, John Jordan, William Meeks,
Thomas Rusband and William M. Wall. The winter was spent in
building cabins and making preparations for planting crops in the
spring Before the close of the year 1859 there were flourishing col-
onies at Heber City, Midway and Charleston.
The mean eleVdtion of the inhabited portion is 5,590 feet above
sea level while some of the surrounding peaks reach a height of 12,000
feet. When the first settlers came into this part of Utah, their prin-
cipal object was to find grazing lands for their stock, and several
years passed before much attention was paid to agriculture, beyond
raising small crops to supply local needs. There are now about
twenty thousand acres irrigated and dry farming is carried on in
various sections of the county. Within recent years orchards have
been set out and fruit culture is becoming more important every year.
The principal farm crops are alfalfa, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes
and sugar beets.
The county has only about seventeen miles of railroad, a branch
line of the Denver & Rio Grande system connecting Heber with
Provo. Transportation is therefore the great need of Wasatch Coun-
ty. With adequate railroad facilities the great coal fields, with over
a billion tons estimated, the timber of the Uinta and Wasatch national
forests, aggregating billions of feet, and the other natural products of
the county could be brought in touch with the markets, adding not
only to the wealth of Wasatch County, but also to the wealth of the
nation and the comfort of the people in all parts of the country.
Near Midway are the famous "hotpots," which are among the
natural curiosities of the state. They are circular basins filled with
hot or warm water, impregnated with lime, which is left in deposits
on the walls. There are more than two score of these "pots," some
of which have become exhausted. Bathing houses have been erected
538 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
and the "pots" are visited. every season by tourists, the number of
visitors increasing with each succeeding summer.
There are three electric power plants in the county, one a munici-
pal plant installed by the towns of Heber, Midway and Charleston
for lighting purposes, and the other two are owned by the Utah Light
and Power Company.
In 1910 the United States census reported a population of 8,920,
but at that time the County of Duchesne was included in Wasatch.
The estimated population in 1919 was 5,200. The county officers at
the beginning of the latter year were: John M. Ritchie, Hugh W.
Harvey and George A. Huntington, commissioners; Alfred Sharp,
clerk, auditor and recorder; Eli G. Durnell, sheriff; J. P. Edwards,
assessor; Millie Witt, treasurer; William G. Willis, attorney; D. A.
Breadbent, superintendent of schools ; James Johnson, surveyor. The
assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $4,863,937.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thirty-one of the forty-eight states of the American Union each
have a county bearing the name of Gen. George Washington, the
first President of the American Republic. Washington County,
Utah, occupies the southwest corner of the state and when created
by the act of February 3, 1852, it extended from the Colorado River
to the California line. The western part was cut off when Nevada
was organized as a territory in 1861, and Kane County was taken off
the east end in 1864, leaving Washington with an area of 2,465 square
miles. It is bounded on the north by Iron County; on the east by
Kane County; on the south by the State of Arizona, and on the west
by the State of Nevada.
Through the eastern and southern portions the Rio Virgin (or
Virgin River) flows in a southwesterly direction. Its principal trib-
utary, the Santa Clara River, has its source in the Pine Valley Moun-
tains, in the northern part of the county and empties into the Virgin
near St. George, the county seat. These rivers and the numerous
small streams flowing into them make Washington one of the best
watered counties in Utah.
When the county was created the county seat was located at Fort
Harmony (now New Harmony) , where it remained until 1859. The
town of Washington was founded in 1857 ^"d two years later the
county seat was located there, because it was more convenient for the
majority of the inhabitants. By the act of January 14, 1863, the
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 539
county seat was established at St. George, where it has since re-
mained.
The first settler of Washington was John D. Lee, who located on
Ash Creek in the spring of 1852 and established a ranch not far from
the present village of New Harmony. He was joined during the
summer by a few others and Fort Harmony was built as a protection
against the Indians. Subsequently this settlement became New Har-
mony.
Joshua T. Willis, accompanied by a few friends, began a settle-
ment in the spring of 1858 where the Town of Toquerville is now sit-
uated, and the same year a company led by Nephi Johnson founded
Virgin City, about five miles south of the Willis settlement. In the
fall of 1861 George A. Smith, Erastus Snow and Horace S. Eldredge
conducted several hundred families from other parts of Utah into the
Virgin and Santa Clara valleys to try the experiment of raising cotton.
This company established headquarters at what is now the City of
St. George and the following spring several cotton fields were
planted. The cotton crop of 1862 amounted to about one hundred
thousand pounds. This gave Washington County the name of Utah's
"Dixie."
Washington claims to have a more agreeable climate than most
of the counties of Utah. Observations for a number of years show
that the mean annual temperature a little below 60° Fahrenheit, and
the annual precipitation is about ten inches. There are less than ten
thousand acres of irrigated land in the county. This is not due to any
scarcity of water, as it is estimated that by storing the surplus waters
of the Virgjn River over one hundred thousand acres could be irri-
gated, but the expense would be more than the citizens of the county
could bear and capitalists have hesitated to invest in such an enter-
prise, owing to the great distance from a railroad.
Dry farming is practiced in several of the valleys with good re-
sults. Five crops of alfalfa are harvested annually, almonds, raisins,
English walnuts, figs and all kinds of fruits grow here and are of finer
quality than many grown in other localities. In September, 1907, an
exhibit of horticultural products from this county was made at the
National Irrigation Congress in Sacramento, Cal. Luther Burbank,
eminent as an authority on horticulture, said: "In all my life, I have
never seen such a magnificent display of peaches."
Gold, silver, lead, copper, coal and iron ore are all found in the
county. In the early '70s several million dollars' worth of silver
540 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
was taken from the Silver Reef mining district, but the business was
abandoned for lack of transportation. A railroad into this "Dixie"
would no doubt open the old mines again and result in the develop-
ment of new deposits.
In the county there are 384,441 acres of the Dixie National For-
est and stock raising is an important industry, the ranges extending
south over the border into Arizona. In this forest there are also sev-
eral billion feet of merchantable timber that would find its way to the
sawmills if a line of transportation was open.
The population according to the census of 19 10 was 5,123 and in
1919 it was estimated at 6,000. At the beginning of the latter year
the county officers were: Alma Nelson, James Judd and George F.
Whitehead, commissioners; John T. Woodbury, clerk; Charles R.
Worthen, sherifif; David Herschi, assessor; Miss Ellen Carter,
recorder; Nephi M. Savage, treasurer; George R. Lund, attorney;
William O. Bentley, Jr., superintendent of schools; I. C. McFar-
lane, surveyor. The assessed valuation in 1918 was $2,841,367.
St. George, the county seat, is the largest town. The most im-
portant villages are: Bloomington, Enterprise, Gunlock, Hurri-
cane, Leeds, Pine Valley, Pinto, Rockville, Santa Clara, Toquerville
and Virgin (formerly called Virgin City). Enterprise enjoys the
distinction of being nearer to the railroad than any other village of
Washington County.
Washington County claims to have some of the grandest scenery
on the American continent,, including the Mukentuweap and the
Parunuweap canyons, both on the Virgin River. The former was
set apart as a national monument by President Taft. In the northern
part, near the source of the Santa Clara River, is a beautiful valley
known as "Mountain Meadows." This valley was the stage upon
which was enacted one of the most gruesome tragedies of early days
in the wild West. A wagon train of families from Arkansas and
Missouri, en route to California, was ambushed at this point in Sep-
tember, 1857, and, after three days of hopeless resistance, all were
massacred except a few small children, who were finally located and
sent back to their relatives. It was later ascertained that some white
men had taken part, one of whom, John D. Lee, after trial and con-
viction, was executed on the scene of the tragedy, March 23, 1877.
WAYNE COUNTY
Situated southeast of the geographical center of the state is the
County of Wayne; bounded on the north by Sevier and Emery coun«
COLONEL HUDSON- lillLI
CITY HALL, OCTDEN
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 543
ties; on the east by San Juan, from which it is separated by the
Green River; on the south by Garfield, and on the west by Piute. Its
area is 2,475 square miles. The Dirty Devil River flows in a south-
easterly direction across the county a little east of the center. Fre-
mont Creek empties into this stream near Hanksville, coming from
the west, so that the drainage of the county is all to the Colorado
River.
Wayne is a comparatively new county. The earliest records date
back to 1 89 1 and show that in the fall of that year the following offi-
cers were elected: Hiett E. Maxfield, Henry Giles and William
Meeks, selectmen (commissioners) ; John T. Lazenby, county clerk;
Matthew W. Mansfield, county attorney. These officials, Hugh J.
McCIellan and Allen Taylor were the original pioneers of the
county.
The county officers at the beginning of the year 19 19 were:
Charles Snow, C. T. Duncan and A. L. Chaffin, commissioners; Zella
Colvin, clerk and auditor; Philip Baker, assessor; Frances G. Cal-
lahan, treasurer; Alfred Ostberg, surveyor. The office of sheriff was
then vacant and the clerk performed the duties of recorder.
The county was named by Willis E. Robison, who was a mem-
ber of the lower house of the Legislature at the time it was created,
in honor of his son "Wayne." In 1910 the population was 1,749 and
there have been but few additions since that census was taken. There
are no large towns in the county. Those of most importance are
Bicknell, Caineville, Hanksville, Lyman, Loa (the county seat),
Fremont, Teasdale, Thurber and Torrey, all west of the Dirty Devil
River. Four of these towns are provided with waterworks and there
is abundant water power for the operation of electric plants, which
will be turned to account at no distant date.
There is not a mile of railroad in the county and the natural re-
sources are practically undeveloped. Several thousands of acres of
coal lands and forests of valuable timber would be brought into mar-
ket as soon as transportation is assured. As it is, farming and stock
raising are the only occupations. In the spring of 1919 the county
clerk reported 12,150 acres irrigated, but most of the farming is done
by dry farming methods. Sites for several reservoirs may be found
in the county for irrigating thousands of acres, but more capital is nec-
essary for their construction than the citizens at present can afiford.
Fine fruits are grown in the southwestern part, but the difficulty of
544 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
getting them to market "eats up the profits." The assessed valuation
of the property in 191 8 was $1,451,066, the smallest valuation of any
county in Utah.
WEBER COUNTY
This was one of the first six counties in Utah, created by the
Deseret Legislature in December, 1849. By the act of March 3, 1852,
defining the boundaries of all the Utah counties, Weber extended
north to Oregon (now Idaho) and westward to the California line.
It is now bounded on the north by Cache and Boxelder counties; on
the east by Rich; on the south by Morgan and Davis, and on the west
by the Great Salt Lake. Its area is 541 square miles, with the county
seat at Ogden. The county was named for the Weber River, which
in turn was named for an early trapper who sought out the haunts of
the fur-bearing animals along the rivers and in the canyons years be-
fore the first white settlement was made in Utah.
The greater part of the land now comprising Weber County was
claimed by Miles M. Goodyear, a protege of Captain Grant of the
Hudson's Bay Company, located for years at Fort Hall, in what is
now the State of Idaho. Goodyear's title was based on a grant made
by the Mexican Government. In 1841 he built a fort and a few log
cabins on a mound about half a mile southwest of the union railroad
station in the City of Ogden. He had an Indian wife and at his fort
gathered half-breeds, trappers and mountaineers who trapped and
traded with the Indians.
In January, 1848, Goodyear sold his claim to Capt. James Brown,
of the Mormon battalion, just arrived from California. The next
month the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican
war, was concluded and all the Mexican possessions in the South-
west, including Utah, were ceded to the United States. The exact
date of this treaty was February 2, 1848. This country declined to
recognize titles based on Mexican grants and required settlers to re-
purchase their lands from the United States.
Captain Brown and his sons brought seed wheat from California
and raised a crop in 1848, as well as some corn, potatoes and other
vegetables. Goodyear's main reason for selling his claim was that his
crops would not mature, but Captain Brown was more successful.
His wife, Mary Brown, made the first cheese in 1848 that was ever
made in Utah. Other pioneers of Weber County were the Richards
and Moore families, the Farrs, the Canfields, the Wests, the Herricks
and the Brownings. Many of the descendants of these families still
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FIRST HOUSE IN UTAH
Built by M. M. Goodyear on the site of Ogden in 1841
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 547
reside in the county and some of them have been prominent in public
affairs.
The county was organized in 1852 by Isaac Clark, who was ap-
pointed probate judge on February 7th of that year,, and at the gen-
eral conference of the Latter-day Saints Church in Salt Lake City in
October, the population of three settlements was reported, to-wit:
Ogden, 1,332; East Weber, 233; Willow Creek, 163; making a total
of 1,728 inhabitants. These were the only settlements at that time.
Plain City was settled in March, 1859, by John Carver, Daniel Col-
lett, Joseph Skeen, the Folkmans and a few others.
Weber has something over twenty-five thousand acres of irrigated
land and is one of the greatest sugar beet growing counties in the en-
tire intermountain country. Wheat, barley, oats, alfalfa, vegetables
and fruits are also grown. Next to Salt Lake, Weber is the weal-
thiest and most populous county of Utah. In 1910 the population
was 35,179 and in 1919 it was estimated at 50,000. The assessed
valuation of property in 1918 was $49,506,210, an increase of $1,567,-
390 over the assessment of the preceding year.
The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Oregan Short Line and the
Denver & Rio Grande railroads center at Ogden, and the Bamber-
ger and Utah-Idaho Central electric lines traverse the county, giving
it transportation facilities unsurpassed by those of any other county
in the state. Along these railway lines are located a number of thriv-
ing towns, viz.: Farwest, Harrisville, Hooper, Huntsville, North
Ogden, Ogden, Plain City, Riverdale, Roy and Uinta. Away from
the railway lines the villages of Eden and Liberty are neighborhood
trading points.
Some of the most picturesque and romantic scenery of Utah is to
be found in Weber county. The famous Ogden Canyon is visited by
great numbers of tourists every year.
In 1915 there were forty-one public school buildings in the coun-
ty, representing a value of $750,000, beside several private and de-
nominational schools in the City of Ogden.
Following is a list of the county officers at the beginning of the
year 1919: Martin P. Brown, John M. Child and Datus H. Ensign,
commissioners; Joseph E. Storey, clerk and auditor; Herbert C.
Peterson, sheriff; Owen M. Sanderson, assessor; Katherine L. Hig-
ginbotham, recorder; David W. Evans, treasurer; Washington Jen-
kins, surveyor. (See also the historical sketch of Ogden in another
chapter.)
CHAPTER XXIV
SALT LAKE CITY
LOCATION — LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE — FIRST SETTLEMENT — THE
BOWERY — SURVEYING THE CITY — THE OLD FORT — PIONEER HOME
LIFE — INCORPORATION — LIST OF MAYORS — THE COUNCIL HOUSE—
THE "SPANISH" WALL — TEMPLE AND TABERNACLE — HOTELS AND
THEATERS — PUBLIC UTILITIES — PUBLIC LIBRARY — THE POSTOFFICE'
— SOME SALT LAKE CLUBS — A FEW FIRST THINGS — SALT LAKE CITY
TODAY.
Salt Lake City, the capital and metropolis of Utah and the county
seat of Salt Lake County, is situated in the Valley of the Great Salt
Lake, from which it derives its name. It is about eighty miles from
the northern boundary, one hundred and ten miles from the western
boundary, and ninety miles in a northwesterly direction from the geo-
graphical center of the state. In 1869 George W. Dean, of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, took observations at the temple
block and determined the latitude as 40° 40' 2" north, the longitude,
111° 26' 34" west from Greenwich.
The arrival of the first band of pioneers and the first cultivation
of the soil on July 23, 1847, have been described in Chapter I of this
history. Brigham Young, President of the Church of Latter-day
Saints, and the main body of immigrants composing the first com-
pany arrived about 2 P. M. on the 24th. The next day was Sunday
and religious services were held for the first time by white men in
the Great Salt Lake Valley, George A. Smith preaching the sermon.
Monday and Tuesday were spent by the leaders of the colony in
exploring the country surrounding the camp, naming the Jordan
River, Ensign Peak and other natural features in the vicinity. On
Wednesday they returned to the camp. That evening Brigham
Young and the twelve apostles went to a spot a little below the forks
551
552 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
of City Creek, where the temple now stands. Near the center of the
temple block Brigham Young struck his cane in the ground and said :
"Here will be the temple of our God. Here are forty acres for the
temple. The city can be laid out perfectly square, north, south, east
and west." John Taylor, one of the twelve apostles, afterward said:
"Some wished for forty acres to be set apart for temple purposes, but
it was finally decided to have ten acres, in order to preserve the sym-
metry of the city. * * * The base line was on the south and
government officials afterward adopted it as the base meridian line."
THE BOWERY
On July 29, 1847, Capt. James Brown and the detachment of the
Mormon battalion which had wintered at Pueblo, on the Arkansas
River, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, accompanied by a number of
Latter-day Saints from Mississippi. Brigham Young and others
went out to meet the party, which was conducted into the camp, ar-
riving about 4 P. M. This increased the number in camp to about
four hundred. Brown's.men, at the request of Brigham Young, built
a "bowery" on the temple block by setting posts in the ground, then
laying long poles across and covering the whole with brush to keep
ofi the heat of the sun. Bancroft says: "For many years these bow-
eries of trees and brush had been constructed when any large number
of people needed a temporary shelter."
The bowery was completed on the 30th and that evening a praise
service was held in it to celebrate the safe arrival of the men of the
battalion and the Mississippi company. It was 28 by 40 feet in di-
mensions. Religious services were held in the bowery on Sunday,
August I, 1847, Heber C. Kimball presiding.
SURVEYING THE CITY
On Monday, August 2, 1847, the work of surveying the city was
commenced. Just before the first company of pioneers left Winter
Quarters (now Florence, Neb.), elders arrived there from England
bringing with them two sextants, two barometers, two artificial hori-
zons, several thermometers and a telescope. With these instruments
Orson Pratt was enabled to fake scientific observations and they aided
materially in the work of the survey. The streets surrounding the
temple block were named respectively North, South, East and West
Temple streets; thence outward they were designated as First North,
First South, First East, First West, etc., to the limits of the survey.
OLD MILL ERECTED BY BRIGHAM YOUNG IN 1852 AND STILL STANDING IN
WHAT IS NOW LIBERTY PARK, SALT LAKE CITY
^^^^^> '^ ""'^'''''Wltt^^K^^n^^^^iisitki
1
DESERET NEWS CORNER AND TITHING OFFICES, MAIN STREET AND EAST
SOUTH TEMPLE STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, WHERE HOTEL UTAH
NOW STANDS. TAKEN IN 1861
TOWNSEND HOUSE ON WEST TEMPLE STREET AND WEST FIRST SOUTH
STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, 1866
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 555
Each block contained ten acres, each lot an acre and a quarter, and
the streets were eight rods (132 feet) in width, with sidewalks twenty-
feet wide.
By the act of January 18, 1867, the western boundary of the city
was removed from the River Jordan to a line running due north and
south about two miles west of the river, and another act passed by the
Legislature of 1872 fixed the southern boundary at Tenth South
Street. This gave the city an area of fifty square miles — ten miles
from east to west and five miles from north to south, including two
square miles of the Fort Douglas military reservation. Several ad-
ditions have been made to the city since that time.
On the afternoon of August 22, 1847, ^ """^^^ meeting was held
for the purpose of selecting a name for the city and it was "Resolved
that the place shall be called the City of the Great Salt Lake." This
soon came to be "Great Salt Lake City" by common usage. When
Salt Lake County was created by the Deseret Legislature in Decem-
ber, 1849, it was given the name of Great Salt Lake County, but by
the act of January 29, 1868, the word "Great" was dropped from the
official designation of both city and county.
THE OLD FORT
On July 27, 1847, a small party of Ute Indians visited the pioneer
camp and manifested considerable curiosity in the work of the white
men. Although they appeared to be peaceable, the settlers decided
to take the precaution of constructing a place of defense. The mem-
bers of the battalion moved their wagons to the ground between the
forks of City Creek and arranged them into a corral, the wagon boxes
serving as habitations until better quarters could be provided.
On August loth work was commenced on the "Old Fort" and for
the next three weeks every one was busy, a few engaged in cultivating
the crops that had been planted, but the majority in cutting and haul-
ing timber, making adobes, etc., anxious to accomplish as much as
possible before the departure of those selected to return to Winter
Quarters to report what had been done in the Salt Lake Valley and
encourage further emigration. The fort stood on what was later
known as "Pioneer Square," in the Sixth Ward. It consisted of log
houses, placed close together, the roofs slanting inward, with all
doors and windows on the inside of the rectangle and a loophole in
each room on the outside wall. The cabins were eight or nine feet
in height, the rooms about fourteen feet wide by sixteen feet long,
556 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
some families having several rooms. Heber C. Kimball and Brig-
ham Young were the first to occupy their quarters in the fort.
Says Bancroft: "As everything indicated a dry climate, the roofs
were made rather flat and great inconvenience resulted. In March
( 1848) the rains were very heavy and umbrellas were used to protect
women and children while cooking, and even in bed. The clay found
in the bottoms near the fort made excellent plaster, but would not
stand exposure to the rain and quickly melted. All breadstufifs were
carefully gathered into the center of the rooms and protected with
buffalo skins obtained from thelndians. The rooms in the outer lines
all adjoined and on the interior cross lines rooms were built on both
sides, the streets being eight rods wide."
PIONEER HOME LIFE
The furniture used by the first settlers of Salt Lake City was lim-
ited in quantity and of the most primitive character. A chest or
common packing case frequently served as a table, the bedstead was
built into a corner of the cabin, the walls forming one side and one
end, poles forming the other two sides. These poles were fastened
to a post extending from floor to ceiling (or rather roof) ; pegs were
then driven into the logs of the walls and the poles and around these
pegs was tightly drawn the "bed cord" upon which was placed the
bedding. There were but few chairs, home-made stools serving for
seats. Chimneys were of adobe and in some of the rooms there was
a fireplace with a clay hearth. A few dishes and cooking utensils
were brought from the Missouri River and when more earthenware
was needed a pottery was established.
As the clothing of the pioneers wore out the hand loom was
brought into requisition, though wool was scarce. Buffalo hair had
been gathered from the sage brush on the way across the plains and
this was woven into blankets and coarse cloth, much of which was
used in exchange with the Indians. Moccasins took the place of
shoes and the skins of animals were made into clothing for both men
and women when other material could not be obtained. The lim-
ited supply of coffee soon gave out and parched barley and wheat
were used as a substitute. When the stock of sugar ran low, attempts
were made to manufacture a new supply from beets, cornstalks and
watermelon. John Taylor and George Q. Cannon rigged up a boiler
with wooden sides and bottom made of sheets of stove pipe for boil-
ing the juice of cornstalks and beets. The sugar manufactured by
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 559
this method was not a success, but a fair quality of molasses was ob-
tained and used for "sweetening." Watermelon rinds were boiled
in the molasses and stored for winter preserves. Wild sago and
parsnips constituted the principal vegetable food of the pioneers and
in the spring of 1848 thistle tops and other plants were cooked for
"greens," becoming important articles of diet.
In the chapter on Commerce and Manufacturing is given an ac-
count of the early saw and grist mills in the vicinity of Salt Lake City.
The land adjoining the city was laid out in five-acre lots for farming
purposes; next to these were ten-acre lots and as the population in-
creased the land farther out was divided into tracts of forty and eighty
acres, where farmers could build homes and till the soil.
INCORP0R.\TI0X
In 1850 the population of the city and its immediate environs
was 6,000 and 16,300 acres of land were under cultivation. The need
of a municipal government was generally recognized and on January
9, 1 85 1, the Legislature of the provisional State of Deseret passed
an act of incorporation, in which the following city officials were
named to inaugurate the new government: Jedediah M. Grant,
mayor; Nathaniel H. Felt, Jesse P. Harmon, Nathaniel V. Jones and
William Snow, aldermen; Harrison Burgess, Benjamin L. Clapp,
Jeter Clinton, John L. Dunyon, William G. Perkins, Zera Pulsipher,
Samuel W. Richards, Lewis Robinson and Vincent Shurtliff, mem-
bers of the council.
These officials were sworn in on Saturday, January 11, 1851, in
the hall of the house of representatives, Thomas Bullock, clerk
of the county court administering the oath of office. The council
itien proceeded to organize and elect Robert Campbell, recorder;
Thomas Rhodes, treasurer; Elam Luddington, marshal. The city
was divided into four wards for political purposes.
The first city election was held on the first Monday in April —
April 7, 1851. Jedediah M. Grant was elected mayor; Jesse P.
Harmon, alderman from the First Ward; Nathaniel V. Jones, from
the Second Ward; Nathaniel H. Felt, from the Third Ward; Wil-
liam Snow, from the Fourth Ward; Harrison Burgess, Jeter Clinton,
Robert Pierce, William G. Perkins, Zera Pulsipher, Enoch Reese,
Samuel W. Richards, Lewis Robinson and Vincent ShurtlifT, council-
men. The first session of the new council was held on April 14th at
the state house.
560 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
SALT lake's mayors
Jedcdiah M. Grant, the first mayor of Salt Lake City, remained
in office until his death on December i, 1856. Abraham O. Smoot
was appointed to the vacancy on January 2, 1857, and held the office
by successive reelections until 1866. Following is a list of the
mayors since that time, with the year when each was elected or as-
sumed the duties of the office and serving until his successor was elec-
ted and qualified: Daniel H. Wells, 1866; Feramorz Little, 1876;
William Jennings, 1882; James Sharp, 1884; Francis Armstrong,
