Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, Number 1, 1971

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UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD O F STATE H I S T O R Y Division of Department of Development Services M I L T O N c. ABRAMS, L o g a n , 1973

President D E L L O G. DAYTON, O g d e n , 1971

Vice

President

C H A R L E S s . P E T E R S O N , S a l t L a k e City

Secretary DEAN R. B R I M H A L L , F r u i t a , 1973 M R S . J U A N I T A B R O O K S , St. G e o r g e , 1973

J A C K GOODMAN, S a l t L a k e City, 1973 M R S . A. c. J E N S E N , S a n d y , 1971 THERON L U K E , PrOVO, 1 9 7 1 CLYDE L . M I L L E R , S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e

Ex

officio

H O W A R D c. P R I C E , J R . , Price, 1971 MRS. ELIZABETH SKANCHY, M i d v a l e , 1 9 7 3 M R S . NAOMI W O O L L E Y , S a l t L a k e City, 1971

ADVISORY BOARD O F E D I T O R S THOMAS G. ALEXANDER, PrOVO S. GEORGE ELLSWORTH,

Logan

M R S . H E L E N z . P A P A N I K O L A S , Salt Lake City LAMAR P E T E R S E N , S a l t L a k e C i t y

M R S . PEARL J A C O B S O N , Richfield

HAROLD SCHINDLER, Salt Lake City

DAVID E . M I L L E R , Salt L a k e C i t y

JEROME STOFFEL, L o g a n

ADMINISTRATION CHARLES s. P E T E R S O N , Director J O H N J A M E S , J R . , Librarian

T h e U t a h State Historical Society is a n organization devoted t o t h e collection, preservation, a n d publication of U t a h a n d related history. I t was organized by publicspirited U t a h n s in 1897 for this purpose. I n fulfillment of its objectives, t h e Society p u b lishes t h e Utah Historical Quarterly, which is distributed t o its members with p a y m e n t of a $5.00 a n n u a l membership fee. T h e Society also maintains a specialized research library of books, pamphlets, photographs, periodicals, microfilms, newspapers, maps, a n d manuscripts. M a n y of these items have come t o t h e library a s gifts. Donations a r e encouraged, for only t h r o u g h such means can t h e U t a h State Historical Society live u p to its responsibility of preserving the record of U t a h ' s past.

MARGERY w . W A R D , Associate E d i t o r IRIS S C O T T , Business M a n a g e r

T h e primary purpose of t h e Quarterly is t h e publication of manuscripts, p h o t o graphs, a n d documents which relate o r give a new interpretation to U t a h ' s unique story.

Contributions of writers are solicited for t h e consideration of t h e editor. However, t h e editor assumes n o responsibility for t h e r e t u r n of manscripts u n a c c o m p a n i e d by r e t u r n postage. Manuscripts a n d material for publications should b e sent t o the editor.

T h e U t a h State Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinions expressed by contributors.

T h e Utah Historical Quarterly is entered as second-class postage, p a i d a t Salt Lake City, U t a h . Copyright 1971, U t a h State Historical Society, 6 0 3 East South T e m p l e Street, Salt L a k e City, U t a h 84102.

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HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

WINTER 1 9 7 1 / V O L U M E 39 / NUMBER 1

Contents WARREN MARSHALL JOHNSON, FORGOTTEN SAINT

BY P . T . REILLY

3

FUNCTION AND FUN IN UTAH-DANISH NICKNAMES

BY JAMES BOYD CHRISTENSEN

23

UTAH'S SENATORIAL ELECTION OF 1899: THE ELECTION THAT FAILED

BY STEWART L. GROW

30

NEGRO SLAVERY IN UTAH

BY DENNIS L. LYTHGOE

40

GERMAN AND ITALIAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN UTAH AND IDAHO

BY RALPH A. BUSCO AND DOUGLAS D. ALDER

55

REVIEWS AND PUBLICATIONS

EDITOR

CHARLES S. PETERSON

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

THE

COVER

73

Margery W. Ward

The first page of Warren Marshall 1882 Journal

Johnson's

Books Reviewed

CARMER, CARL, The Farm Boy and the Angel,

BY F A W N M . BRODIE

73

GREENWAY, JOHN, ed., Folklore of the Great West: Selections from Eighty-three Years of the Journal of American Folklore,

BY L O U I E W . A T T E B E R Y

74

BURT, OLIVE W., Negroes in the Early West,

BY H O W A R D K A N E T Z K E

75

A M E S , C H A R L E S E D G A R , Pioneering the Union Pacific: A Reappraisal of the Builders of the Railroad,

BY GERALD D. N A S H

76

MATTES, M E R R I L L J., The Great Platte River Road: The Covered Wagon Mainline Via Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie,

BY DAVID E . M I L L E R

TANNER, ANNIE CLARK, A Mormon er, An Autobiography,

77

Moth-

BY MARIA S. E L L S W O R T H

78

AMERICAN WEST E D I T O R S , comp., The American Heritage Book of Great Adventures of the Old West'',

BY R I C H A R D W . SADLER

79

KAROLEVITZ, R O B E R T F., This Was Pioneer Motoring: An Album of Nostalgic Automemorabilia,

BY S T A N F O R D P . DARGER

79

BRUNVAND, JAN HAROLD, The Study of American Folklore, An Introduction,

BY T H O M A S E. C H E N E Y

80

Warren Marshall Johnson, Forgotten Saint

BY P. T. REILLY

1929, Heber J. Grant, president of the Church of IJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addressed a joint session of the Arizona N T H E SPRING OF

Work of this n a t u r e is never a one-man enterprise. Seven of W a r r e n Johnson's children participated in oral discussions which were quite valuable: Mrs. Elizabeth Colvin, Jeremiah Johnson, F r a n k T. Johnson, Mrs. Lydia Spencer, Price W. Johnson, W a r r e n E. Johnson, a n d Joseph S. Johnson. Manuscript material written by Mrs. M a r y E. J u d d , Mrs. Polly A. J u d d ,

4

Utah Historical

Quarterly

legislature regarding a name for the recently completed bridge across the Marble Gorge of the Colorado River. He recommended that the structure not be called the Lee's Ferry Bridge and noted that Lee occupied and operated the Ferry for a short time only, being succeeded by Warren M. Johnson, whose name might much more appropriately be applied than the name of Lee. 1 There was considerable justification for President Grant's statement because during the first half-century of Mormon domination of the historic river crossing Warren Johnson was the proprietor for over forty percent of the period, in contrast to Lee's span of less than six percent. 2 It might be said that Jacob Hamblin explored this gateway for Mormon colonization, John D. Lee settled it, and Warren Johnson made the place bloom. The names of Hamblin and Lee have touched history beyond their life spans, while Johnson was an integral component in the pioneer transportation system which has ended. And yet Johnson's green pastures, his ready hospitality, and his great faith provided material succor and spiritual courage to the pioneer colonists who ventured into the inhospitable Arizona desert across the Colorado River. He was known throughout the far-flung Mormon settlements and his name was recorded with affection in many pioneer journals. The colonization of the nineteenth century has changed and two great bridges with their attendant paved highways now bypass the one place which provided access to the river for pioneer wagons. Today Johnson has been forgotten except by his family, and his labors have been absorbed by passing time.

Warren Marshall Johnson was born July 9, 1838, at Bridgewater, New Hampshire. His branch of the Johnson family is traced from Thomas, one of three brothers who landed in the Boston area about three years after the arrival of the Mayflower. He was raised a Methodist and received his early education at Bridgewater and Boston.

Frank T. Johnson and Jeremiah Johnson was especially helpful. Grandchildren who contributed information and material are Mrs. Eletha Jacobsen, W. Dart Judd, Mrs. Laura Mulliner, Mrs. Abbey Nelson, and Owen Johnson. The author acknowledges his debt to all of these people and thanks them for making this sketch possible.

Archival material was graciously provided by the Historian's Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Utah State Historical Society, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; Brigham Young University, Provo; Dixie College, St. George; University of Arizona, Tucson; and Northern Arizona University and the Recorder's Office of Coconino County, Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mr. Reilly has been researching Lee's Ferry and the Colorado River since 1947. He is writing a book on the Ferry and surrounding area.

1 Arizona, Legislature, Journal, 1929, 9th sess., p. 373. see also the Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 1929.

2 Jacob Hamblin led the first Mormon exploratory party to the mouth of the Paria in November 1858. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and James S. Emett sold the ranch and the ferry to the Grand Canyon Cattle Company on August 18, 1909, and September 11, 1909. Arizona, Coconino County, Recorder, Deeds, Book 355, pp. 285â&#x20AC;&#x201D;86.

Warren Marshall Johnson

5

Delicate and sickly, Warren frequently was under a doctor's care.

He had a bad case of ulcers and nearly succumbed in the winter of 1865-66. The doctor gave him less than a year to live but said he could extend his span somewhat if he moved to a milder climate.

During the spring of 1866 two of Warren's friends yielded to the lure of gold and determined to travel overland to California and try their luck at mining. Young Johnson was asked to join them and he decided that a trip west might benefit his health. The three men left Boston on horseback early in May 1866.

Apparently they followed the Oregon Trail and late in July reached southern Idaho. Here Warren Johnson's ailment flared up, and the attack was so intense he decided to seek a doctor. Qualified medical knowledge was infrequently encountered in the West during this period and the men were advised to head for Salt Lake City.

This leg of the ride was quite an ordeal for the sick man, but he managed to reach Farmington and the home of Dr. Jonathan Smith.

Unable to travel farther and not wishing to delay his companions, he urged them to continue, planning to follow when he felt better. But Johnson never reached California.

As the sick man convalesced in the home of Dr. Smith, the good simple food and devout environment did more for his ailment than the medicines prescribed. Warren and Dr. Smith's oldest daughter, Permelia Jane, were mutually attracted and it is said that when he found Mormons did not have horns he began to study their gospel. Convinced he had found the true religion, he embraced the teachings of Joseph Smith with all the fervor of one who has just made a great discovery. From this time on, life began anew. On the thirtieth of September 1866, Warren M. Johnson was baptized at Farmington by Henry Hatlis. 3 On July 7, 1867, he was ordained an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was sent with others to support the Muddy Mission in southern Nevada. 4 As colonizations went, the Muddy was one of the roughest that confronted the Mormon pioneers. Searing summer heat, sudden floods, constant wind, blowing sand, and tormenting Indians harassed these settlers as in no other place. The only building materials at hand were tule, willows, and adobe. The bottom land had to be cleared and ditches dug 3 M a r y E. J. J u d d , "History of Warren Marshall Johnson and Family" (original, Eletha Jacobsen, O g d e n ; typescript in possession of a u t h o r ) .

4 Ibid.

6

Utah Historical Quarterly

to bring life-giving water long distances in the traditional Mormon manner.

This was the environment confronting Warren Johnson when he arrived at St. Thomas during the late summer of 1867. Being single and comparatively well educated, his talent was recognized and he became the school teacher and a leader in the community. When the authorities of the church were presented at the concluding meeting of the Southern Mission Conference on June 5, 1870, Warren Johnson was listed as "President of Elders on the Muddy." 5 In his spare time the man to whom the Boston doctors gave a year to live worked a small farm.

Warren had some unfinished business in Farmington and returned there in 1869. On October 4 he and Permelia Jane Smith were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. The couple then returned to St. Thomas and the school teacher resumed his classes.

When the Isaac E. James survey in the summer of 1870 determined that the settlements of the Muddy were well inside Nevada, Brigham Young approved their abandonment and in February of 1871 the colonists followed the recommendation of a scouting party and moved nearly en masse to Long Valley, arriving there March 3. 6 Led by Bishop James Leithead the faithful flock settled at a location called "Berryville" and promptly renamed it "Glendale" after the bishop's home in his native Scotland. Warren Johnson and his bride accompanied the colonists and Warren carried on the same duties that he had performed in St. Thomas, except that he added the jobs of bookkeeper and clerk in a store owned by Joseph Asay.

Warren and Permelia had their first child, a girl whom they named Mary Evelette, on May 6, 1872. At last it appeared that they could settle down to raise a family.

One of Warren's older pupils at St. Thomas had been Samantha Nelson. Born at San Bernardino, California, in 1853, she had returned to Utah with her family when Brigham Young recalled that mission during the war scare of 1857. The Price William Nelsons had answered the call to the Muddy Mission in 1865; now they had resettled at Glendale and once more she attended school directed by her former schoolmaster.

5 James G. Bleak, "Annals of the Southern U t a h Mission" (typescript, Brigham Young University), Book B, 45, lists Warren Johnson as president of the elders on the Muddy.

6 L . A. Fleming, " T h e Settlements on the Muddy, 1865 to 1871: 'A Godforsaken Place,' " Utah Historical Quarterly, 35 (Spring, 1967). 147â&#x20AC;&#x201D;72. K a n e County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, comp., History of Kane County (Salt Lake City, 1960), 372.

Warren Marshall Johnson

7

On October 28, 1872, Warren Johnson married his pupil Samantha Nelson in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Daniel H. Wells is said to have performed the ceremony.

The couple returned to Glendale and Johnson acquired a home for his new bride. He had forty acres of ground and soon obtained an interest in the Glendale Co-op. After the first hard year the little settlement began to thrive and the Johnsons viewed the future with optimism.

Unknown to the struggling people at Glendale, events had already taken place in the rocky wilderness about sixty-five miles to the southeast which would affect the lives of the Johnsons for three generations.

John D. Lee and two of his wives, Rachel and Emma, along with their families had settled at the mouth of the Paria during the last days of December 1871, calling the place "Lonely Dell." 7 In carrying out President Young's policy of controlling the land by possessing the water, Lee in April 1872, had filed claims on the fine springs at House Rock and Jacob's Pools; the following month he settled Rachel at the latter place, and from that time on divided his labor between the two ranches. 8 His efforts were exhausting, help was always short, and he literally pulled himself up by his bootstraps in two places at once. An inferior man would have been extended to prevail over the environment of either locality, much less both at the same time.

7 Robert Glass Cleland and J u a n i t a Brooks, eds., A Mormon John D. Lee, 1848-1876 (2 vols., San Marino, 1955), I I , 178-80.

8 Ibid., 195.

Lee's Ferry on the

Colorado.

Chronicle:

The Diaries of

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Utah Historical

Quarterly

Lee needed a man cast in his own mold but it did not seem likely such a man was available. On December 23, 1872, Jacob Hamblin sent young James Jackson and a Paiute to assist with the ferryboat then nearing completion. 9 The young man was the son of Alden A. M. Jackson of St. George; he possessed a fair education, had been on the Muddy Mission, and had voted against its abandonment. Now he was on another mission and Jacob assigned him a plot of about ten acres of sandy, less choice land than Lee's holding but adjoining it on the northwest.

June 16, 1873, was a tragic day for Lee. The Colorado was in flood and its surface was heavy with drift. T h e combination of a rising river and a continuing build-up of driftwood which lodged against the craft finally tore it from its moorage and sent it down the canyon. Lee had been busy at the ranch and his diary gives no indication that he had checked the condition of his ferryboat until it was too late. The loss was a major blow to the colonization effort and it undoubtedly injured him in the eyes of church authorities.

To make matters worse, Lorenzo W. Roundy informed him that a troop of soldiers was expected to arrive at the Ferry in about three days and had threatened to hang Lee and all of his children. So once again he sought an area more remote. Lee swam his horse behind the skiff and headed for the Indian farms on the Moenkopi, some seventy miles on into Arizona. O n the twenty-seventh he met Jacob Hamblin at Willow Spring and it was decided that he would stay at Jacob's recently established farm at "Moweabby" (Moenave).

The rumor regarding the soldiers was a false one but it was an effective means of getting Lee away from the river crossing and deeper into Arizona. In two months he had traded his ranch at the Pools for Jacob's farm at Moenave. 10 John L. Blythe built a replacement ferryboat that fall and ferry service was restored with its launching on October 15. 11 Lee crossed on the Blythe ferry November 6 but characteristically made no comment in his diary since he had not taken part in its construction. He was upset, however, and later addressed a letter to A. F. McDonald inquiring whether the authorities intended to disassociate him with the Ferry. In a reply dated January 28, 1874, Brigham Young and George A. Smith confirmed Lee as the intended ferryman, and he provided ferry service whenever he happened to be at the Colorado crossing during the next eight 9

Ibid., 217.

Ibid., 289.

11 James H. McClintock, Mormon Settlement

10

in Arizona (Phoenix, 1921), 92.

Warren Marshall Johnson

9

months. This was not often because until May 6 his residence was at Moenave.

Up to 1899 all ferries at this crossing were oar-driven and at least two men were required to propel the boat. Proper handling decreed that one man be experienced, and with Lee absent much of the time Jackson's presence was essential.

But on March 10 James Jackson succumbed to the effects of exposure on Buckskin Mountain, and the following day was lowered into a grave on the west edge of his land claim. This was the first burial in what ultimately became a twenty-plot cemetery.12 Today his resting-place is not identified with an engraved headstone but may be recognized as being near the middle of the east row and is covered with large rocks â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the only one so marked. 13 Jackson's death caused a labor problem at Lonely Dell. Emma and her family were without male help when John D. Lee was arrested at Panguitch on November 7, 1874. The oft-repeated Lee family legend of Emma's saving herself and her children by sleeping in the camp of a Navajo band whom she thought had planned to kill them apparently alerted church officials to the danger of her isolated position, and they began to ponder the problem of a capable replacement. Until an official appointment could be made, Jacob Hamblin and his son Lyman occupied the post and tended the ferry for trade-bent natives.

Back in Glendale Warren Johnson had been appointed presiding elder and his second family was enlarged by the birth of a daughter, Elizabeth, on April 26, 1874.

Early in 1875 Warren was chosen first counselor to Bishop Howard O. Spencer of Long Valley, thus becoming the only official of this ward living outside of Orderville. 14 Soon thereafter, Johnson responded affirmatively to Bishop Spencer's request that he take over Lee's Ferry on a temporary basis. Taking his first wife Permelia and baby Mary to Lee's Ferry, he arrived there March 30, 1875.15 He took up the ten-acre land claim of James Jackson and immediately went to work on the little cabin to make it liveable, the front door and table having been used to make the deceased owner's coffin. Then he was initiated into the constant job of repairing the dam across the Paria and bringing water to the dry fields. Even a minor flood 12

Bleak, "Southern U t a h Mission," 239.

This grave was pointed out to the author by Frank T. Johnson in 1965. " D U P , History of Kane County, 3 1 7 - 1 8 .

13 Bleak, "Southern U t a h Mission," 399.

13

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down the long tributary would wash out the flimsy structure, and without water the essential garden withered. There was much work to be done, most of it strenuous and in such quantity that by nightfall he was exhausted. In April alone he crossed fifty-two Indians, who at this time constituted the bulk of traffic since few white men had business across the river.

W h e n W a r r e n Johnson rode out of Boston in 1866 he departed with the spirit of adventure and the hope that a milder climate would improve his health. T h e comfortable, sheltered world he h a d known became a thing of the past, and his response to the new environment proved to be the real measure of his intelligence and true strength. T h e long ride had been rigorous but he h a d toughened progressively with each trial and hardship. A major physical crisis h a d been overcome in Farmington and it was there also that he took a great spiritual step. T h e ordeal on the M u d d y and the first bleak year at Glendale required more than physical endurance; without faith and fervor to nourish their morale, survival for the colonists would have been impossible. Now Johnson faced the sternest test of all, and by any standard of measurement his response was an excellent example of h u m a n achievement.

W a r r e n did not naturally possess the knowledge, skills, and strength for the jobs he h a d to perform, but he acquired them. Not only did he adapt to the harsh conditions of his new home but he thrived, and provided help and comfort to the less fortunate who passed his door.

It appears that Johnson soon agreed to take the job on a permanent basis, but there is no record to bear this out. T h e best indicator of the length of his first stay at the Ferry is a report m a d e to the authorities at St. George in which Johnson stated he had crossed 522 Indians between April 1 and November l. 16 This is clear evidence that he was on the job when George Q. Cannon read his name in the general conference at Salt Lake City on October 10, 1875. 17 His official notification was dated the following day and it specified he was called to a life's mission at Lee's Ferry, Arizona, to act as ferryman. H e also was to preach the gospel to the Lamanites and administer to them. In recognition of the fact that Johnson was already there, his residence was listed as Lee's Ferry. Interestingly, on October 9 President Brigham Young had added Johnson's 10 Ibid., 428. Of these 497 were Navajos, 24 were Moquis (Hopis), and there was one Paiute. " Card file on Warren M. Johnson and "Journal History," October 10, 1875, both located in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historian's Library, Salt Lake City.

Warren Marshall

Johnson

11

name as a missionary under James S. Brown, then preparing to build a way station at Moenkopi. 1 8 Permelia was expecting another child and she wanted the birth to take place in Glendale where more help was available. Since Warren had to dispose of his holdings and settle his business there, it was expedient to return again early in November. T h e baby was born on December 3, 1875, and named Melinda.

It is evident that Lee, now imprisoned in Salt Lake City, was comforted by the promised presence of Johnson and regarded his maturity as an improvement over the youthful James Jackson.

While Lee was advising E m m a regarding the division of labor at the Ferry, Johnson was winding up his affairs at Glendale and preparing for a total move to the Paria. Only one thing delayed him â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the imminent birth of Samantha's second child. This occurred on February 24, 1876.

Warren Johnson departed Glendale with both his families only four days after the birth of a son, Jeremiah.

A storm front descended when the travelers were between Glendale and K a n a b , and knowing that Buckskin Mountain would be heavy with snow, Johnson rented rooms for his families in the home of Zadok K n a p p J u d d while he went on with his load in company with some wagons of Lot Smith's colonists, then beginning to trail into Arizona. This was a wise precaution because the snow continued and double-teaming was required. Also, he would be busy with the ferry operations and would have more time to settle his families after the emigrants had crossed the river.

Permelia and Samantha remained at the J u d d home most of March before a break appeared in the wagon-stream, allowing Warren's return to K a n a b . Baby Jeremiah was blessed there on M a r c h 23, 1876, and a few days later the ferryman moved his wives and four children into the stone trading post at the Colorado crossing. Here he added the job of Indian trader to his duties of ferryman, farmer, stockman, laborer, and general handyman. By the first of April, Johnson had begun his life's mission at the place which was destined to make his name a household word to all who passed over the long trail to Arizona.

Travelers frequently commented about two controversial features â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ferry fees and the rough road called "Lee's Backbone." Both problems originated with the establishment of the ferry and long continued to chafe emigrants.

18 James S. Brown, "Journal of James S. Brown" (original, Louetta Brown Tanner, Salt Lake City; typescript, George S. T a n n e r ) , October 9, 1875.

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J o h n D. Lee had established a variable ferry fee that depended on the customer and what traffic would bear. A charge of $3.00 per wagon and 75 cents per animal had been more or less set when he crossed the first wagons of Horton D. Haight's ill-fated colonization effort on April 23, 1873. 19 These charges were taken in supplies, although those who were short of food could pay with notions or any item of utility. Fees for Indians and Gentiles bracketed the missionary charge, with one-way native travelers paying a blanket, buckskin, or even piny on nuts. NonM o r m o n prospectors paid the highest fees, usually in gold coin or greenbacks or trade in the form of hand tools and supplies. I n one instance Lee ferried three prospectors and six pack animals for $8.00 in gold. 20 After Lee's imprisonment Johnson continued the same general policy under E m m a Lee's direction except that numerous complaints resulted in Emma's cutting the price to $1.50 for ferrying a wagon and team of two animals, and 50 cents additional for each extra span. President Young stated that this was a reasonable price, but apparently it applied only to missionaries. 21 In 1878 it was reduced to $1.00 for a wagon and team and 25 cents for extra animals.

Lee's Backbone was a rugged, barely passable means of left-bank egress which surmounted the lower formations of the Echo Monocline.

T h e broad cove south of the crossing is surrounded by strata which follow the natural incline of the fold, and any traveler heading south had to climb the ledge, then make an abrupt descent to reach the rolling plateau and continue his course. T h e only alternatives were to bridge the Marble Gorge, cut a new road in the shale between the ledge and river (which would be over a mile and a half long), or blast a short quarter-mile of dugway along two hundred feet of vertical limestone. With the alternatives clearly impractical, Lee, in January of 1873, chose the ledge as the most expedient route under the circumstances. O n April 4 St. George Stake President Joseph W. Young and Bishop Edward Bunker officially backed up this opinion. 22 T h e road, which dismayed strong men and struck dread in the hearts of pioneer women, was about two-and-a-half miles long. It left a flat on the left bank at its westernmost edge and ascended a narrow wash. Just before the tributary became boxed, the track took to the bare 19 Cleland and Brooks, A Mormon Chronicle, 236.

-"Ibid., 317.

21 Letter from Brigham Young to Lot Smith, July 20, 1876, in Lot Smith Letter Box, L.D.S. Church Historian's Library.

22 Cleland and Brooks, A Mormon Chronicle, 232.

Warren Marshall Johnson

13

rock bank to ascend the constantly rising ledge. It crossed several drainage channels gouged wagon-deep into naked bedrock, and here drivers lightened their loads but still had to double-team. Near the crest of the ledge the road was grubbed out of a narrow shelf; the outer rut no more than a foot or two from a precipitous 500-foot plunge to the rim of the gorge. Most women and children walked here, hugging the inner rut.

At the crest the track swung south, then southeast. Abruptly it cut due east to head a rock-strewn alcove, made a hairpin-180 degree turn, and descended a rocky spur sloping west. The descent of 350 feet was made in about four-tenths of a mile. In 1878 the objective Joseph Fish toiled all day to traverse the route and said it was the worst road he ever traveled.23 Its problems not withstanding everyone commuting between Utah and Arizona by this route was forced to use it during early years.

After Lee's execution on March 23, 1877, Emma remained at the ranch in the mouth of Paria Canyon. Through her late husband she held squatter's rights to the farmland and the ferrysite, although the church owned the boats. Warren Johnson remained the responsible power behind all phases of the operation. He lived with both of his families in the fort-trading post, and when Gentiles appeared the diminutive Samantha was passed off as Permelia's oldest daughter. This subterfuge worked until Samantha began to show her pregnancy in the spring of 1878 and Johnson moved her inside the canyon where she would be less conspicuous. There on the banks of Paria Creek on August 3, 1878, was born Frank Tilton Johnson, Samantha's third child and the first white baby, not a Lee, to be born at Lee's Ferry.

Completion of the St. George Temple in April 1877 increased traffic between Arizona and Utah, with many Saints able for the first time to perform their temple work. Solemnizing marriages drew the faithful to St. George in such numbers that the Mormon Road became known as the "Honeymoon Trail." During this period the Lee's Backbone section of the track was castigated as never before, and the protests were not unheeded. A sufficient number of church leaders had traveled the road to know that criticism was valid and when Erastus Snow, Ira N. Hinckley, L. John Nuttall, and Jesse N. Smith visited the Little Colorado settlements in the fall of 1878 the situation received a careful examination.

These authorities decided that a revision was feasible and they selected a location where a quarter-mile long dugway could be built with minimum effort, also a new downstream crossing which could be used 23 Joseph Fish, "Joseph Fish J o u r n a l " (original, H a n n a h Fish Bushar, Enterprise; xerox, University of U t a h ) , December 20, 1878.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

eight or nine months of the year.24 Neither was ideal; the dugway would be steep, narrow, and expensive since blasting would have to be done, while the crossing was at the foot of the long rapid and would not be useable in high water. However, the new crossing's prospects were enhanced by a strong eddy below the fan from the right-bank tributary wash which offered a slight upstream current for about half the width of the river.

Warren Johnson applied for the establishment of a post office at Lee's Ferry and the request was granted on April 23, 1879. The oath was administered and Johnson's bonds signed by Frihoff G. Nielson, justice of the peace at the northeast Arizona town of Sunset.25 Since her husband's death Emma Lee had grown increasingly desirous of leaving Lonely Dell. On May 16, 1879, she sold her interest to John Taylor, trustee for the church, through agent John W. Young.

Warren Johnson was one of the witnesses and affixed his name to the deed. It is significant that Emma sold all of the property except the ten acres claimed by Johnson, which was the old Jackson land claim.28 John W. Young placed the ferry under the nominal responsibility of Joseph L. Foutz, to be assisted by Warren M. Johnson. Foutz was an 1877 settler at Moenkopi and was there more often than at the Ferry.

On November 30 Erastus Snow placed Warren Johnson in complete charge, as he had been acting in that capacity since Emma's departure.

Snow made the major decisions affecting the Ferry, while Howard O. Spencer and James Leithead of Long Valley aided on lesser matters.

When Kanab Stake had been organized on April 8, 1877, Spencer was chosen first counselor to President L. John Nuttall and he directed the brethren at the Ferry during Nuttall's frequent absences.

Feed was short at Lonely Dell in the summer of 1880, so Johnson built a trail up the steep slope to tap virgin range west of the ranch. 27 There was fairly adequate grazing on the sand dunes rising above the bench, also a running spring of good water. But the drive was long and Johnson's work began before daylight and ended after dark. He was never through and rarely had time to clear and level more land for 24 Letter from L. J o h n Nuttall published in Deseret News (Salt Lake C i t y ) , September 14 and October 30, 1878. Jesse N. Smith did not r e t u r n with Snow, Hinckley, and Nuttall for the last examination.

2o Frihoff G. Nielson, " J o u r n a l of Frihoff G. Nielson" (microfilm, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff), J u n e 10, 1879.

88 See W a r r a n t y and Q u i t Claim Deeds Transcribed From Yavapai County, Coconino County, Arizona, Recorder, Book 1, p. 23.

-' T h e promontory to which this trail ascended was named Johnson Point on July 23, 1969. See U.S., D e p a r t m e n t of the Interior, Board on Geographic Names, Decision List 6903.

This was the first commemoration of Johnson's name on the topography.

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15

lucerne. Clearly he had to have help if the ranch were to thrive and travelers be provided with ferry service.

Twenty-one-year-old David Brinkerhoff had become Warren's brother-in-law in October 1876 when he married Samantha's younger sister, Lydia Ann Nelson.

As he was energetic, dependable, a good farmer, and adaptable, he appeared to Johnson as being the man he needed. Consequently, Warren began a campaign to persuade David to join him at the Colorado crossing. Leithead and Spencer lent the weight of their prestige to his arguments, and Brinkerhoff succumbed to the perEmma Batchelder Lee, suasion in the spring of 1881, sold seventeenth wife of John his farm in Glendale, and moved D. Lee, sold her interest his family to Lee's Ferry. By this in Lee's Ferry in 1879. time each of Warren's wives had four children, and David's wife and three children raised the permanent population to six adults and eleven children.

Even the ferryboats which escaped mishap had a rather short life span as the soft, unpainted pine absorbed moisture and became waterlogged after two or three years. The need for a new ferry was apparent before Emma Lee sold out and several discussions had taken place between Snow, Nuttall, and Leithead as to size and improved design. These men understood the economics of moving large loads, but unfortunately knew little about the Colorado River. Moreover they failed to consult the ferryman who would propel the craft with 12-foot sweeps across the sometimes strong current. The officials finally settled on a boat 14 by 40 feet, along with an embryonic plan of hanging a manila rope across the river to prevent downstream drift. Timbers were freighted from John Seaman's sawmill at Upper Kanab, while Bishop Leithead was sent to the crossing in the fall of 1881 to supervise the work.

Construction dragged along until December. After launching it was apparent that the boat was too large and clumsy to be used except at the

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lowest water, and even then only when there was no wind. Obviously with such a large craft rope could not be substituted for a cable, and it was never hung. Consequently, the new boat received little use, forcing Johnson to make most of his crossings with the skiff.

Late that summer the long-delayed plan to install a lower ferry, which would eliminate the difficult pull over the Lee's Backbone road, finally bore fruit and Erastus Snow sent quarryman Archibald McNeil to construct a dugway at the place which had been chosen in 1878. The job was completed in December and the unwieldy craft was run down the river and put in operation at the new site.

Within three months the tricky current-change had torn the sweep from Johnson's grasp, breaking his left arm at the wrist. The accident incapacitated him for the hard physical work at both river and ranch, and the full burden now fell on David Brinkerhoff. Under these circumstances Warren thought it would be wise to take care of a matter which had been on his mind for a number of years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a visit to his parental home in New England. He credited his present health and well-being to his acceptance of the gospel of Joseph Smith and felt obligated to make similar benefits available to his family and friends. He had corresponded with B. F. Cummings regarding his genealogy and he also desired to make some personal research in this field.

Erastus Snow granted him permission to make the trip provided the Ferry was left under the responsibility of David Brinkerhoff. This arrangement was agreeable and Warren departed Lee's Ferry April 12, 1882.

Johnson returned to Salt Lake City from his mission in the East in time to attend the October conference and spent ten days with church authorities discussing his mission and plans for the Ferry. He rejoined his families November 7.

The results of Warren's past labors were in evidence when he returned, as there were five tons of tithing hay on hand. Even so it was planned to increase the planting of lucerne, and after preparing all unused land near the cabins they began clearing a large flat up the canyon. This was the beginning of the Upper Ranch, but the task was large and was not completed for several years. David had rooted a large number of grape cuttings and these made a nice vineyard when they were transplanted in the spring. More fruit trees were obtained to expand the orchard in both variety and quantity.

To overcome the chief objections to the Lee's Backbone road, Johnson laid out a bypass of the roughest part and began construction in

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17

March of 1885. By mid-May it had become too warm for pick and shovel work but he had a good start and his revision would eliminate nearly the entire first mile of the old road where double-teaming was required. This Johnson cut-off was not completed for wagon use until 1888.28 Meanwhile Warren had convinced the authorities of the practicality of a single-wagon ferryboat for the upper crossing; it was constructed and ready for use when the high water of 1888 arrived. 29 As an outgrowth of difficulties between Lot Smith and A. L. Farnsworth, plus the fact that the bishop of Tuba City Ward and some of his polygamous brethren were moving to Mexico, David Brinkerhoff left the Ferry to become bishop at Tuba City early in 1886. His departure was a heavy loss to his brother-in-law, and his replacements, while good men, rarely remained more than a few months.

Warren's families were very close and he longed to gather them under one roof. This desire saw a measure of fulfillment in July of 1886 when he and his hired hands began hauling foundation rocks for a twostory house. He purchased a load of lumber from Seaman's sawmill and engaged a carpenter, William James Frazier McAllister of Kanab. McAllister came to the Ferry that fall after completing some water troughs for the V T Cattle Company in House Rock Valley. He worked until he ran out of lumber, but got the house framed, the siding and roof on, and the doors and windows fitted. He promised to return when additional lumber arrived.

Most of the Johnson children had never been away from Lee's Ferry and their only touch with the outside world came from travelers. They beheld a Negro for the first time when wagons belonging to a Mr. Clevenger arrived early in May 1886. Clevenger's wrangler was John A. Johnson, a black man.

Some time later a traveler arrived from the south with a camel, and the wondrous beast remained a subject of conversation for many days among the awed children.

When Apostle Wilford Woodruff was faced with renouncing polygamy or seizure by federal officers, he announced, "As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will not desert my wives and children and disobey the commandments of God for the sake of accomodating the public clamor of a nation steeped in sin and ripened for the damnation of 28 Warren Johnson Road Account Book (original, J. S. Johnson, Kanab; photocopy in possession of author).

29 Allen Frost recorded in his diary that he crossed on this ferryboat March 26, 1887, en route to Arizona. Allen Frost, "Diary of Allen Frost 1838-1901" (photocopy, Brigham Young University).

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hell!" 30 He then went into the "underground" and traveled surreptitiously to out-of-the-way places. In the spring of 1879 he had paused at Lee's Ferry on his way to the Little Colorado settlements and had been impressed with the intense, earnest man who kept the Ferry and labored for Zion in this isolated location. In 1882 the acquaintance had ripened in Salt Lake City, and subsequently the men exchanged letters in regard to the crossing.

After 1887 John Taylor was dead and Woodruff was president of the church. Following the presentation of the Manifesto on October 6, 1890, the church president remembered the quiet Saint at the Ferry and advised him to separate his two families, preferably keeping one in Utah and the other in Arizona.

In November of 1890 Johnson made inquiry of L. John Nuttall â&#x20AC;&#x201D; now in permanent residence in Salt Lake City â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as to the availability of his Kanab house and lots. After a series of offers and counteroffers Nuttall on January 16, 1891, finally accepted Johnson's bid of $350.00 for his Kanab property. 31 Samantha now had nine children, seven of whom had been born at Lee's Ferry. She departed on April 27, 1891, with twelve-year-old Frank 30

Deseret News, April 1, 1879. 'n L. Tohn Nuttall, " T h e Journals of L. Tohn N u t t a l l " (original, Brigham Young University; typescript, B.Y.U., 3 vols.), I l l , 228, 230, 240, 249.

Lee's Ferry looking for the ferry.

upstream.

The "x" marks one end of the

cable

Warren Marshall Johnson

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driving her wagon and Almon Draper handling the other. Jerry remained behind to work with his father. In a few days disaster â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in the form of diphtheria â&#x20AC;&#x201D; struck the Ferry. Warren Johnson's own words tell the story: Lee's Ferry Ariz July 29/1891 President Wilford Woodruff Dear Brother It has occurred to me that you ought to know how affairs are going at this place, which is my excuse for intruding on your time, which I know is fully occupied with other affairs.

Last spring I divided my family, according to your counsel, a portion of them moving to Kanab for the purpose of schooling my children. In May 1891 a family residing in Tuba City, came here from Richfield Utah, where they had spent the winter visiting friends. At Panguitch they buried a child, and without disinfecting the wagon or themselves, not even stopping to wash the dead child's clothes, they came to our house, and remained overnight, mingling with my little children, and the consequence was in 4 days my oldest boy of my first wife, was taken violently ill with fever and sore throat.

We knew nothing of the nature of the disease, but had faith in God, as we were here on a very hard mission, and had tried as hard as we knew how to obey the word of Wisdom, and attend to the other duties of our religion, such as paying tything, family prayers &c &c, that our children would be spared. But alass, in 4y2 days he choked to death in my arms.

Two more were taken down with the disease and we fasted and prayed as much as we thought it wisdom as we had many duties to perform here.

We fasted some 24 hours and once I fasted 40 hours, but all of no avail for both my little girls died also. About a week after their death my fifteen year old daughter Melinda was stricken down and we did all we could for her but she followed the others, and three of my dear girls and one boy has been taken from us, and the end is not yet. My oldest girl 19 years old is now prostrate with the disease, and we are fasting and praying in her behalf today. We have become better acquainted with the nature of the disease, than at first, and we are strongly in the hopes she will recover, as two already have, that came down with it. I would ask for your faith and prayers in our behalf however. What have we done that the Lord has left us, and what can we do to gain his favor again.

Yours in the gospel Warren M. Johnson 32

Warren constructed the coffins and his wife made the burial clothes for the first three children, but friends arrived from Kanab to help with Melinda. All four children were buried in the same row, south of the James Jackson grave.

32 Letter from Warren M. Johnson to Wilford Woodruff in Warren M. Johnson Letter Folder, L.D.S. Church Historian's Library. Jonathan died May 19, Laura Alice June 11, Millie June 15, and Melinda July 5, 1891.

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Samantha never returned to the Ferry, and at Kanab on September 9, 1895, she gave birth to her tenth and last child, a girl whom they named Elnora.

In the late fall of 1895 it was decided that Warren Johnson's mission had ended and that the remnants of his first family should also have the opportunity for schooling and church activity. Accordingly Warren rode to Kanab to arrange for a property exchange. Land surveys had not been made in this part of the country and property transfers were guided by church authorities.

On December 12 Stake President E. D. Woolley took Warren Johnson to inspect a ranch west of Fredonia which was comparable in value to the one at Lee's Ferry. The property met with Johnson's approval and on the way home they stopped for a load of hay. When they were about a half-mile south of the state line the rack tipped, throwing both men to the ground. Woolley landed on his feet but Johnson came down heavily on the base of his spine. 33 This unfortunate accident marked the beginning of a decline in the fortunes of the Johnson family. Warren's back never healed. For the rest of his life he was paralyzed from the hips down.

President Woolley went to Salt Lake City and placed Johnson's case before the First Presidency on February 5, 1896. An appropriation of '^'Deseret

Evening

News, December 28, 1895.

Looking straight across Lee's Ferry. The two stone cribs are anchorings the steel cable (now removed), and the Ferry cabin is at the right.

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Warren Marshall Johnson

21

$100.00 was made for the injured ferryman, and President Woodruff suggested continued aid. He was taken to Salt Lake City for examination on July 12 but his physical condition was regarded as being too poor to risk an operation. In view of his long and faithful service at the Ferry he was made a ward of the church. 34 Until it became definite that he would remain an invalid, Johnson had postponed making a deal for the Ferry. His twenty-year-old son Jerry attended to the ranch and boats, assisted by Al Huntington and Alex Swapp. Finally on November 8, 1896, Warren and Permelia Johnson sold their interests for $6,500 to Wilford Woodruff, trustee for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The deed conveyed about thirty-two acres of lucerne; six acres of orchards, vineyards, and garden; and one and a half miles of ditch. 35 Dee Woolley had recommended James S. Emett to succeed the injured ferryman, and Johnson acquired Emett's promising Cottonwood Ranch in the complex deal.

Even though he was bedridden, Warren still made the decisions for his families. It is difficult to believe that a man of his judgment, knowing he was crippled for life, would choose to pioneer in the rugged northland, but in January of 1900 he decided to sell all Johnson holdings and migrate to Canada. On May 1 he left Kanab in the bed of a wagon driven by Permelia, while Frank, Samantha, and her four youngest children remained to sell the property and come along later.

After a layover in Salt Lake City and consultation with church authorities, their objective was changed to the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming. They arrived at Camp Shoshone late in July, and in September Apostle Abraham Woodruff directed the drawing of land by lot.

Jerry completed a one-room log cabin in November and the entire family moved in for protection from the sub-zero temperatures.

Early in 1901 Frank began to dispose of the property at giveaway prices. There was little money in the country and exchange was made for stock, wagons, and food. On July 17 the last of the Johnsons with three wagons left Kanab, driving about a hundred head of cattle. Following a hard trip they arrived at Byron, Wyoming, on September 7.

Warren traded part of his stock for a ranch thirty-five miles away near the confluence of the Graybull and Bighorn rivers. The settlement became known as Coburn (now Graybull) and Johnson was presiding elder. On December 17, 1901, he received the appointment of postmaster.

34

C a r d file on Warren M. Johnson in L.D.S. C h u r c h Historian's Library. '' Arizona, Coconino County, Recorder, Deeds, Book 4, p . 228.

3

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The winter of 1901-2 was severe, even for that country, and most of the Johnson cattle failed to survive. It was no less harsh for humans, and they narrowly escaped starvation.

Warren Johnson's health began to fail and after several weeks of intense agony he died at the ranch on March 10, 1902. He was buried at Coburn but in later years reinterred at Byron.

Despite his long contribution in maintaining the key link on the emigrant trail into Arizona, the name of Warren M. Johnson was the last of the Mormon proprietors of the Ferry to be commemorated on the region's topography â&#x20AC;&#x201D; small recognition for the man who did so much for so many during the Mormon settlement of Arizona. 36 86

See footnote 27 for the geographical feature which bears Johnson's name.

"On the 19th [1878] we drove ten miles which brought us to the Colorado River a little below the mouth of the Paria. The next day we went a little above the mouth of the Paria and spent the day in crossing the river. This was what has been known as the Lee ferry. John D. Lee having come to this place when it was first established and lived here for some time to get away from the Marshals. At the time of our crossing Warren Johnson resided here and tended the ferry. He was a good careful hand and did all that he could to assist and accommodate the emigrants, the boat however, was not a very good one and leaked quite bad. One wagon and team Was taken across at a time. The fare of $1 for a wagon and 25^ a head for horses. This was half fare, or what was termed missionary rates. The river at the ferry was 240 feet wide and in the center was quite deep. In later years the ferry was moved some distance up the river and the boat was run on a cable." (John H. Krenkel, ed., The Life and Times of Joseph Fish, Mormon Pioneer [Danville, Illinois, 1970], 184.)

Perty Pete • Hell Roarin Johnson Andrew Ah Ha • Otto by Yingo Absolutely Mortensen • Danish Pete Yo Peep Hole Soren • Alphabet Hansen John Shiner • Hardscrabble Olsen Ray Tight • Rich Hans Toe Paddy Nielsen • Charley Slobberboos Chris Tallerass • Pinchy Chris

Function and Fun in Utah-Danish Nicknames

BY JAMES BOYD C H R I S T E N S E N

is O F T E N expected by editors and colleagues that a theoretical frame of reference be presented with a paper, the writer followed the worst, but all too common, academic tradition of searching for a frameO I N C E IT

Dr. Christensen is chairman of the Department of Anthropology and director of the Social Science Program at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

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work of theory on which to hang this presentation. It was decided it might support the premise that the Swedes were correct in their derogatory comments on the Danes. However, as the writer was reared in the Danish tradition of this particular case of North Sea Tribalism, his cultural blinders made it necessary to reject this hypothesis. It was then decided the paper supported the basic premise that people tend to call other people by names.

Beginning in the middle 1850s, and for approximately two or three decades following, large numbers of converts to the Mormon church came to Utah from Scandinavia, in fact the immigration continued until well into the twentieth century. While they settled throughout the intermountain area, in one section of central Utah, Sanpete County by name, the Scandinavians, and particularly the Danes, were the predominant ethnic group, and in some settlements, the only one.

In these communities the profusion of Christensens was equalled by a comparable abundance of families named Petersen, Jensen, Thompsen, Nielsen, Sorensen, Andersen, Christiansen, Larsen, Olsen, Madsen, Rasmussen, plus a healthy number named Fjelsted, Beck, Tollstrup, Lund, and a few others that escaped the common "sen" or "son" suffix. This was further complicated by the common use of Peter, Nels, Hans, Jens, Christian, or Andrew as given names.

The problem derived in part from the Scandinavian pattern of naming. Though patronymic, surnames were not always inherited through successive generations in Denmark. For example, a great-grandfather of the writer was Lars Nielsen, while his grandfather was Jens Larsen. In this pattern the son's last name was his father's first name, with the addition of "sen" (son of).

Thus there was a high duplication of surnames and Christian names, and it was common for two or more individuals in the same town, or contiguous towns, to have identical names. For example it was necessary to differentiate between three Peter Jensens, thus Creamery Pete, Danish Pete, and Sorrel Pete; between two Chris Larsens, thus Chris Staff en and Pinchy Chris. It was required that the writer be identified by nickname on occasion. Prior to military service he was Boyd Christensen, one of two by that name in the high school. Thus the writer was Boyd Nickolai and the other Boyd Tight, both being inherited nicknames. Nicknames had the function of aiding in accurate identification, plus permitting the Danes to indulge in their particular brand of humor.

Comments on Utah Danish nicknames were made by Hector Lee in an article on the phenomena in Ephraim, a town in central Sanpete

Utah-Danish

Nicknames

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County. 1 T h e present p a p e r is based primarily on data from south Sanpete County in an area known as Gunnison Valley. This valley, where the writer was born a n d raised, h a d a population of under 2,500. T h e writer also lived in E p h r a i m for two years, a n d has chosen some nicknames from there because they are more graphic or explicit t h a n those from Gunnison Valley. Some used here a p p e a r in the list from E p h r a i m published by Lee, but were known to the writer prior to that publication.

T h e r e was a great deal of interaction between the south and central section of the county, in fact, some of the nicknames given by Lee's informants as being from E p h r a i m are actually from Gunnison Valley.

While most people accepted their nicknames, it remained a sensitive issue with a few of the targets. T h e incidents and personal idiosyncracies that gave rise to monikers were often unfortunate, as they were frequently based on h u m a n foibles or genetic quirks. Fortunately, time has softened the concern about nicknames, as m a n y of the original bearers are deceased, a n d succeeding generations do not take umbrage at the inherited monikers. New nicknames do not a p p e a r to have gained widespread adoption to the same degree as they did in the past.

Nicknames from central U t a h can be classed into five categories.

These are (1) physical characteristics, (2) personal traits or idiosyncracies, (3) occupations, (4) residence, and (5) of necessity a miscellaneous category. N o attempt is m a d e here to use or list all known nicknames from Gunnison, and only those where the origin is known have been utilized.

U n d e r physical characteristics we find such names as Big John, Little John, Big Chris, Little Chris, and Chris Tallerass. T h e latter was an individual w h o was, in the central U t a h vernacular, "six axhandles across the butt." T h e "taller" is also the local pronunciation of tallow. Big H e a d e d Olsen was so-called because of the size of his cranium r a t h e r t h a n attributed vanity. O n e might also include Peg Leg Nielsen a n d Peggy Jensen, along with Half Bushel Jensen.

Personal traits or idiosyncratic behavior provides some of the most humorous nicknames, but they also indicate a lack of compassion on the p a r t of the populace, a trait often associated with the use of nicknames no m a t t e r w h a t the ethnic group involved. Sorrel Pete Jensen was aptly named, for not only did he always "drive a team of sorrels" but the writer 1

Hector Lee with Royal Madsen, "Nicknames of the Ephraimites," Western Review, III (January, 1949), 12-22.

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recalls him as having a sorrel beard. Squeaky Bill Andersen had a high, penetrating voice. Pinchy Chris Larsen was a bachelor reportedly fond of tweaking the opposite sex. Bottle John acquired his sobriquet because of a reported penchant for drinking.

To continue this category, Jim Dist Nielson received his name because of his difficulty in pronouncing "this" (e.g., "Do it dist way").

Charley Slobberboos reportedly would inadvertently expectorate slightly when speaking as a result of a lip operation. Toe Paddy Nielsen had a peculiar walk, and Tute Nielsen (said to be a modification of "cute") wore his hair long and claimed cutting it would give him headaches.

Lazy Dave was said to be prone to procrastination. Ephraim records Grin Billy, Grinning Moses, and Cross-eyed Mart, all self-explanatory.

Bear Killer spoke of his hunting prowess, John Shiner was bald, Perty Pete was a ladies man, and Hell Roarin Johnson exploded occasionally.

Ephraim had Andrew Ah Ha, Otto by Yingo, Absolutely Mortensen, and

By Frist Hendricksen, while Gunnison Valley added Danish Pete Yo, all nicknames awarded because of the repetitious use of a word or two. The writer has always been curious as to why, in a colony of Danes, one should have been singled out to be called Danish Pete.

Rich Hans in Ephraim and Ray Tight in Gunnison Valley were said to have been accorded their monikers because of penurious behavior, and Flying Hans was always in a hurry. However, research will sometimes bring to light an origin other than one commonly accepted. "Tight" was a modification of "Titus," his father's first name, and Flying Hans was originally accorded the name back in the days of polygamous marriage among the Mormons when he reportedly would ride his horse and buggy at high speed between the houses of his spouses.

Places or area of residence also provided convenient labels. The writer's Aunt Sena was known as Seenie Flat, as she once lived on a flat near the mountains. A canal running into Gunnison was referred to as the city ditch, which gave Teenie City Ditch her name. "Hardscrabble" was a local term used to denote an unfertile area, thus Hardscrabble Olsen got his name from living in such a section. In Ephraim there was "Jensen in the Green House" to differentiate him from "Jensen in the White House." A distant relative of the writer, Chris Cellar Jensen, received his name because his family once lived in a dugout or cellar, a common phenomena for early settlers in the area. Pete Golddigger lived with a prospector in Gunnison, just as Niels Postmaster lived with the postmaster in Ephraim. Residence sometimes gave rise to a new name in

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Utah, thus a Christensen family from Tollstrup, Denmark, eventually became officially known as Tollstrup.

Nicknames deriving from occupation or avocation were common, but not particularly imaginative. However, the list is indicative of a way of life now past. Thus we find Pig Killer Thompsen, Shoemaker Christiansen, Fiddler Christensen, Bootlegger Jensen, Salt Hans (he sold rock salt for cattle), Sheepherder Mortensen, Miller Hermanson, Miller Jensen, Midwife Taylor, Chris Tinker Madsen, and Carpenter Madsen.

However, it was useful to refer to one Chris Nielsen as Little Chris, and another as Chris Blacksmith. Creamery Pete Jensen was differentiated from Sorrel Pete Jensen, for he operated a pick-up station for the farmers who sold cream.

There are many nicknames that do not fit into one of the categories listed, hence the need for a miscellaneous section. Here we can place the pattern of referring to some women by their Christian name combined with that of their spouse, such as Martha Dave, Emmy Hans, and Mary Antone, since their married names of Andersen, Hansen, and Christensen were common. Conversely, we find Sally's Andrew in Ephraim, a case where the distaff side was said to be dominant in the marriage.

A single incident could give rise to an enduring name. While repairing a car a man was heard to address a monkey wrench saying "Take her monk, or Stillson will." "Takermonk" thus became the functional surname for him, his brother, and their families. One nickname from Ephraim that always intrigued the writer was Peep Hole Soren. The name originated during Prohibition when a local druggist was said to mix bath-tub gin in his place of business. Soren Sorensen was reported to have been checking up on this illicit behavior through a small hole in the wall, hence the name. To indicate how thoroughly established these names become, during the Ephraim Centennial parade a float depicted a man peering through a hole at another mixing a container of liquid.

The float carried no explanatory signs, nor were any required for the Ephraimites, as the float brought forth gales of laughter and applause.

Childhood incidents that gave rise to nicknames are exemplified by Sweet William, a term of endearment used by his mother, and Al Soup, who acquired his nickname when as a child he brought his mother a dove he had killed and requested she make soup.

A Christian name and initial sometimes achieved the status of a nickname. With a plethora of Hans Hansens in the community there was a need for nicknames such as Flying Hans, Salt Hans, or Alphabet Hansen.

One Hans Hansen became universally known as Hans K., adopting his

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middle initial as the primary mark of identification. In a similar vein, two Jensens were commonly referred to as James S. and James C , although the latter was also called Alphabet Jensen as his name was James C. E. Jensen. To indicate why this practice was functional, when James C. died at home the undertaker, who was not a member of the community, came to pick up James S. One nickname in Gunnison that had always puzzled the writer was Scrook Knighton, as the Knightons were one of the few families of English derivation in the area, and scruk is Danish for a setting hen.

Apparently Henry Knighton, who first bore the nickname was called "Henny" or "Hen," and it was logically changed by the Danes into Scrook.

Today in Sanpete County nicknames have become lineage labels.

The descendants of the original recipient still bear the nicknames in many cases. They are normally patronymic, and may be used for several generations. For example, Big Chris, Jimmy Big Chris, and Little Jimmy Big Chris are the accepted terms to identify three generations of Petersens. Where a nickname was well established, as in this case, it replaced the surname as a means of identification for the children, thus in addition to Jimmy Big Chris there was Rosa Big Chris, Hazel Big Chris, etc.

Women, though married, may carry their own patronymic nickname for life. If their spouse has a nickname that is more colorful or better established than their own, they may be identified by his alias, or both.

An example of acquiring a nickname through marriage is the daughterin-law of Chris Tallerass. Although she reportedly qualified for the entire nickname, being somewhat steatopygous, out of deference to her sex they dropped the noun from the original and just called her Annie Taller.

The social reality in Sanpete County was that the functional identity was in the nickname. Many were better known by their alias than by their surname, and a significant segment of the community knew them only by their nickname. Newcomers to the valley would have been unlikely to recognize that Mart Stompey, Chris Biddy, Fred Niels Peter, and Will Jensen were siblings.

To illustrate the point, a man once came to town looking for a John Larsen, and requested directions to his house from a resident. He was informed that no such person lived in Centerfield, but a man by that name did live in Hamilton, another part of the valley. Had he asked for John Handy, the sobriquet by which this particular John Larsen was universally known, he would have received a more accurate answer. This John Larsen was also the uncle by marriage of the writer, but he died

Utah-Danish

Nicknames

29

when the writer was an infant. T o illustrate how nicknames were used within the family, the writer was in high school before he knew that the legal name of his aunt was Annie Larsen instead of Annie Handy.

Another story that illustrates that the nickname was the actual or functional cognomen, even to the extent that it is internalized by the bearer, comes from Ephraim. A stranger arrived in town and approached the "spit and whittle" gang, a group of elders occupying what was known locally as the "wise bench." T h e stranger wanted to know if anyone knew Jacob Jensen, and received a negative answer. W h e n the stranger persisted by indicating that Mr. Jensen was reported as living four blocks east of M a i n Street, Jake Butcher, one of the old-timers, scratched his head and said, "Hell, that's m e ! " Exclusive use of a nickname as opposed to the surname for some individuals in the community may prove embarrassing. There was a case of a horrified mother in Gunnison who heard her child address Mr. Beuregard as Mr. Takermonk, as it was generally accepted that he disapproved of his nickname. However, few resent the use of nicknames, and many use them in personal references in preference to the legal name, as it results in more precise identification. In some cases this may be done in a jocular manner. In the case of the writer, his family nickname is Nickolai, which in one sense is not a nickname, as it was the middle n a m e of his grandfather and father. W h e n he returns to Gunnison Valley, where he has not lived permanently since 1940, it is frequently necessary for him to identify himself as Nickolai as well as Christensen, and since Nickolais are also numerous, his minor lineage may be specified by indicating he is the son of Big John Nickolai.

T h e r e is no pattern as to whether nicknames are used with or without the surname in Gunnison Valley, although the Christian name combined with the nickname is most common. For example, the surname of Jensen would be viewed as superfluous when referring to M a r t Stompey or Creamery Pete. However, "Peggy" without Jensen, or "Scrook" without Knighton would sound strange to the residents.

In summary, among the U t a h Danes the duplication of Christian names and surnames, with some people having identical names, makes utilization of nicknames functional, if not necessary. T h e invention and conferral of nicknames provide an outlet for their particular brand of humor and a method of poking fun. Monikers are inherited by succeeding generations, and become lineage labels. Once a nickname gains widespread acceptance, the individual and his descendants may become better known by the sobriquet than the legal name.

Utah's Senatorial Election of 1899: The Election That Failed B Y S T E W A R T L. G R O W

that has cost the Democratic party more heartburnings, more bitterness, and more unforgetable differences than any battle it has ever waged," wrote the Salt Lake Tribune at the close CJO ENDED T H E STRUGGLE

Dr. Grow holds the title of distinguished professor with a joint appointment to the Department of History and Department of Political Science at Brigham Young University. He is the author of a book on the Salt Lake Tabernacle construction and of several articles on the historical development of politics in Utah published in various scholarly journals.

Senatorial Election of 1899

31

of Utah's senatorial election of 1899.1 The Tribune was commenting on the fact that the Democratically controlled 1899 Utah State Legislature, after a dramatic and bitter struggle, had failed to elect a United States senator to succeed Republican Frank J. Cannon. It was the election that failed.

The episode occurred at a time when the United States Constitution required that United States senators be elected by state legislatures, a practice which continued until after the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. Federal law also established the procedure to be followed by a state legislature when it had the responsibility to elect a senator.2 Specifically, the law required that on the second Tuesday after the organization of the legislature the two houses of that body were to meet separately and vote for senator. The following day, the two houses were to meet together, and if any person had received a majority in each house he was declared elected. If no person had such a majority, then the two houses of the legislature were to meet in joint session and take at least one ballot every day until a senator was elected by a majority of the joint assembly.

Utah's 1899 Legislature had the responsibility of choosing a senator to succeed Senator Frank J. Cannon, a Silver Republican. Inasmuch as the Democrats dominated both houses of the legislature, it was anticipated that a Democrat would be elected. The legislature was opened with an address by Republican Governor Heber M. Wells, in which he pointed out that one of the legislature's duties would be "the election of one of your fellow citizens to the exalted position of United States Senator from Utah." 3 He then expressed the hope that this important duty might be performed "without entrenching unreasonably upon the time of the members and without bitterness or unnecessary strife." The governor's request that the election be swift, and without bitterness, probably was voiced in the hope that the legislature would avoid some of the delay and conflict which had developed during the previous senatorial election of 1897, in which Joseph L. Rawlins had defeated Moses Thatcher on the fifty-third ballot, after a bitter fight.4 If such was the governor's hope, he must have been severely disappointed in the legislature's subsequent actions, for although it labored long and hard, it became embroiled in bitter controversy and failed to elect a senator. 'â&#x20AC;˘Salt Lake Tribune, March 10, 1899.

2 U.S., Statutes at Large, vol. 14.

3 U t a h , House of Representatives, Journal, 4 U t a h , Senate, Journal, 1897, 2nd sess.

1899, 3rd sess., p. 12.

32

Utah Historical Quarterly

William H. King

George Sutherland

Aquila

Nebecker

Candidates for the office of United States Senator in 1899

In accordance with proper procedure, the two houses met separately on January 17 and proceeded to vote for senator. The chambers were filled by people who were there to observe the process of "senator making," or to support one of the various candidates. The chaplain's prayer, in the senate, included a petition to the Almighty "that in the choice of a United States senator, such a man might be chosen as would suitably and honorably represent the State in the Halls of Congress." 5 At 2:30 the balloting began, with the following results : Senate

Frank J. Cannon (Silver Republican) William H. King (Democrat) A. W. McCune (Democrat) O. W. Powers (Democrat) Aquilla Nebeker (Democrat) George Sutherland (Republican) Total

House''

2 3 5 3 1 2

5 15 6 5 0 11

16

42

No candidate had received a majority in either house. In accordance with the law, the legislature met in joint session the following day. The galleries were again packed and many people were turned away. Several classes of students, with their teachers, put in an early appearance and stayed throughout the session. The presiding officer called the session to order, the journals of the two houses were read and inasmuch as they showed that no candidate had been elected to the Senate, the joint assem5 u

Deseret News (Salt Lake C i t y ) , J a n u a r y 17, 1899.

Ibid.

Senatorial Election of 1899

33

bly then proceeded to ballot by roll call. That first roll call was the beginning of what must have become a rather tiring routine during the subsequent 163 times that the clerk read the names of the legislators and recorded their votes. At that time, probably no one in the chamber would have predicted that the Democratic majority would remain so divided that during 164 ballots they could not agree on a senator. Even the newspapers were carrying articles indicating that an early election was expected.

Five ballots were taken the first day of the joint session. As shown in the following table, the voting throughout all five ballots held very rigid, with the 5th ballot being exactly the same as the 1st.7 Candidate

Cannon King McCune Nebeker Powers Sutherland E. H. Snow

First

Second

Third

Fourth

7 19 11

7 19 11

7 19 11

7 18 11

1 8 14

1 8 14

1 8 14

1 8 14 1

Fifth Ballots

7 19 11 1 8 14

On the 4th ballot, a complimentary vote was cast for Mr. E. H. Snow by one of King's supporters, Mr. McQuarrie. 8 However, having paid honor to Mr. Snow, McQuarrie returned his support to King on the 5th ballot. The practice of giving complimentary votes was adopted by several legislators during the session. Analysis of the 164 votes taken by the legislature indicates that the rigid pattern of voting of the first day of the joint session largely set the pattern for voting throughout the session.

Frank J. Cannon started with a block of seven votes, which remained loyally with him throughout the entire balloting process. He attracted a high of thirteen votes on the 110th ballot, but finished on the 164th ballot with the same seven votes he had on the first roll call. William H. King started with nineteen votes and reached a high of twenty votes on several ballots; however, he finished with only four votes. Aquilla Nebeker started with one vote and reached a high of ten votes on the 120th ballot, but ended with the one vote he had at first. George Sutherland received the support of the majority of the Republicans and started the race with fourteen votes. He held these solidly until the 6th ballot, when the Republicans shifted their votes to A. L. Thomas. This practice by the non-Cannon Republicans of shifting from one candidate to another, in an 7 8

U t a h , Senate, Journal, 1899, 3rd sess., p. 89.

Deseret News, J a n u a r y 18, 1899.

34

Utah Historical

Quarterly

attempt to find one who would attract Democratic votes, continued throughout the contest. Such prominent names as C. C. Goodwin, Reed Smoot, and Charles Zane were nominated, but none of them drew more than the fourteen Republican votes. The one candidate who seemed to be able to influence a significant number of legislators to switch their support to him was A. W. McCune. He started the contest with eleven votes. On the 6th ballot, he gained three additional votes, which brought his total to fourteen. By the 20th ballot it had climbed to fifteen, by the 40th to twenty-two, and on the 80th ballot he received twenty-eight votes, just five short of the necessary majority of thirty-two. The McCune forces were working diligently; and although they did not receive any additional votes in the public polling, they seemed to be gathering pledges which would shift at the appropriate time when victory could be assured.

By evening of February 17, they seemed confident that on the first roll call of February 18, the 121st ballot, they would win.9 However, before the clerk would call the roll that morning, tragedy struck their cause.

Representative Albert A. Law, a Republican, secured the floor on a point of personal privilege and proceeded to charge that A. W. McCune had attempted to buy his vote for $ 1,500. His speech included a dramatic and detailed account of the alleged bribery attempt. Immediately upon conclusion of Law's speech, supporters of McCune vigorously denied Law's charges and later alleged that what actually happened was that Law had offered to sell his vote for $5,000 and that when his proposition was spurned he had laid a plot to entrap McCune. To dispel any ideas that because Representative Law was a nominal Republican that he was speaking for the Republican party, the Republican leader in the House gained the floor and proceeded to declare that Law had previously disassociated himself from the party and also that he had been disowned by it.10 After the dramatic charges, denials, and disownings had concluded, the joint assembly proceeded to select a seven-man bipartisan committee to hear the charges and ascertain the facts. After three weeks of hearings, they submitted a divided report. Five members of the so-called Bribery Committee held that the charges had not been sustained and a minority of two members held that they had been proven. 11 Throughout the period of the committee's hearings, the joint assembly had continued to vote for senator each day as required by law. How9

Ibid., February 18, 1899.

Ibid.

11 Salt Lake Tribune, M a r c h 7, 1899, 10

Senatorial Election of 1899

35

\ \ Albert

A.

Law

A. W.

McCune

ever, during much of that time, the voting was largely a formality as the legislators waited for the committee's report. When the report was received, there were only three days left in the constitutionally limited sixty day session. During those remaining three days, the activity and tension in the legislature were at a high pitch. Thirty ballots were taken, fourteen of them coming on the sixtieth legislative day.12 In a last minute effort to find an acceptable compromise candidate, President George Q. Cannon, a member of the First Presidency of the L. D. S. church and former delegate to Congress from Utah, was nominated. Immediately, he drew fourteen Republican votes. On the 160th ballot, he drew twentythree votes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; nine short of the needed majority. However, that was the peak of his strength, and on the final ballot he received the same twentythree votes. During the closing hours, Mr. C O Richards was nominated in the hopes that the Democrats could be encouraged to give him a majority vote, but he attracted a maximum of fifteen votes. Democratic 12

Utah, Senate, Journal, 1899, 3rd sess., pp. 443-48, 466-69, 498-500, 537-40.

36

Utah Historical Quarterly

leaders tried desperately to get their party members to compromise, but their efforts were fruitless.

On the evening of the sixtieth and final legislative day, the joint assembly took a recess for dinner and reconvened at 8:00 P.M. An immense throng packed every available space in the legislative chamber and crowded the halls outside. In the next four hours, nine ballots were taken. They were interspersed with dramatic appeals for unity, hurried caucuses, and last minute negotiations â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all to no avail. The final ballot, the 164th, was started at three minutes before midnight and was finished at five minutes after. By the start of that ballot, it had become evident to most of the legislators that the stalemate would not be broken and many of them returned to their first choice. The final totals stood as follows: A. W. McCune (Democrat) W. H. King (Democrat) A. Nebeker (Democrat) O. W. Powers (Democrat) J. H. Moyle (Democrat) George Q. Cannon (Republican) George Sutherland (Republican) F. J. Cannon (Silver Republican) Votes cast Absent

21 4 1 4 5 18 2 7 62 1 Total

Necessary to a choice

63 321J

Immediately following the announcement of the vote, President Nebeker declared that no senator had been elected, and the legislature adjourned. The crowd, which had been held in check during the long hours of the night session, surged onto the legislative floor. Some men shouted, while others threw their hats in the air. Many were sad faced and grim. Women waved their handkerchiefs or used them to wipe tears from their eyes. Some of the crowd seemed to find great pleasure in the outcome and others were equally dispirited.14 The factors which produced such an electoral failure are difficult to identify and weigh. The newspaper reports of the time did not identify any specific forces and neither did the legislative record. The struggle did not seem to be between church and non-church forces, for candidates of both categories were included on both the Republican and Democratic 13 31

Deseret Ibid.

News,

M a r c h 10, 1899.

Senatorial

Election of 1899

37

sides. Nor did the contest seem to be based on sectional or economic factors. All of the strong candidates resided in the central U t a h area and were from the upper-economic, well-educated level. Salt Lake had three major newspapers at the time, the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Salt Lake Herald. T h e Herald supported A. W. McCune, while the Tribune vigorously opposed him but did not promote the candidacy of any other aspirant. T h e Deseret News remained neutral. So it appears that the contest was not a struggle among these newspapers.

If any factors can be charged with bringing about the failure, they would seem to be the large number of candidates, the predeliction of legislators to stick with individual candidates, the inexperience of the legislators in senatorial elections, and the lack of party discipline, especially within the Democratic party. W h e n the election started, there were six candidates and none of them seemed to be in a dominant position. T h e incumbent, Frank J. Cannon, might have been in favorable circumstances h a d it not been that he was a Silver Republican seeking re-election through a dominantly Democratic legislature. His candidacy had also been weakened by the development of a considerable amount of opposition within his own party, as evidenced by the fact that the majority of Republicans failed to support him. William H. King, a Democrat, started with the highest vote total of eighteen, but this was far from the thirtytwo required. However, inasmuch as he was the Democratic candidate with the most votes in a Democratic legislature, it might have been expected that he could win; but, the divisions within the Democratic party were such that King was only able to accumulate two additional votes for a high total of twenty, and never came close to election. Instead of consolidating behind King, the Democrats slowly developed a large enough coalition behind A. W. McCune that on the 121st ballot his election seemed certain until Representative Law accused him of bribery.

T h a t accusation, and the subsequent investigation, seemed to alienate some of McCune's support. Although the Bribery Investigation Committee exonerated him by a five to two vote, he was not able to bring together again the necessary majority. T h e Democrats then failed to agree on any other candidate. Their failure to compromise can, therefore, be charged as the cause of the electoral failure. Historian Orson F. Whitney, who was a member of the Senate during the 1899 election, also lays the blame for the failure on the "division among the Democrats." 1 5 However, the 15 Orson F. Whitney, The Making 1908), 278.

of a State: A School History

of Utah

(Salt Lake City

38

Utah Historical

Quarterly

Republicans also played a significant part in bringing about the failure, for at any time they could have shifted their votes to a Democratic candidate and brought about an election which would have assured Utah its full representation in the U.S. Senate. Evidently, they saw the possibility that a two-year vacancy in the Senate seat being contested would result in a Republican occupying that seat instead of a Democrat and so failed to swing over.

T h e reasons for the failure of the Democrats to compromise and the Republicans to swing over can be found largely in the depth of personal commitment to individual candidates, h u m a n stubborness, and party advantage. However, there were other factors existing on the U t a h political scene at the time that may have h a d significant influence. These were inexperience in senatorial elections and underdevelopment of party discipline. At the time of the 1899 election, U t a h had only been a state for three years, and was, therefore, quite inexperienced in senatorial elections. H e r legislators, particularly the Democrats, h a d not yet developed adequate skills in organizing for an electoral battle of the type they faced in 1899. Furthermore, party discipline was still a developing commodity.

National political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, had only been functioning on the U t a h scene for five or six years. Prior to that time, U t a h politics had been operated through the People's party, which was dominantly Mormon, and the Liberal party, which was principally non-Mormon. W h e n the religious basis of party division was abandoned, during the early 1890s, the population moved into the two national parties. This created a great upheaval in Utah's traditional political patterns and evidently new patterns had not yet developed sufficiently to produce the organization and party discipline, at least among the Democrats, necessary to effect a choice among a number of strong candidates.

This weakness h a d also been demonstrated in the election of 1897 when the legislature went through fifty-three ballots before it finally elected Joseph L. Rawlins to the Senate. However, the struggle of 1897, and the failure of 1899, seemed to be a good teaching experience and Utah's legislature never again failed to elect a senator so long as it had that responsibility. 10 T h e sad sequel to the 1899 failure, so far as the Democrats were concerned, came in the state legislative elections of 1900 when the Republicans won a lopsided victory, due partially to the futile factionalization exhibited by the Democrats in the 1899 senatorial fight. When the 1901 16

U.S., Senate, Rules and Manual.

1959, p. 663.

Senatorial Election of 1899

39

Legislature met, the dominant Republican majority, no doubt having learned a lesson from their Democratic brethren, swiftly proceeded to elect Thomas Kearns on the first ballot of the joint session. The vote gave Kearns thirty-seven and McCune twenty-five.17 Senator Kearns, however, served only four years because two years of the term for which he was elected had already elapsed.

Such was Utah's senatorial election of 1899 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the election that failed.

17

U t a h , Senate, Journal,

1901, 4th sess., p . 68.

S T A T E M E N T OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND C I R C U L A T I O N The Utah Historical Quarterly is published quarterly by the Utah State Historical Society, 603 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102. The editor is Charles S. Peterson and Margery W. Ward is associate editor with offices at the same address as the publisher. The magazine is owned by the Utah State Historical Society and no individual or company owns or holds any bonds, mortgages, or other securities of the Society or its magazine.

The purposes, function, and non-profit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding twelve months.

The following figures are the average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 2,500 copies printed; no paid circulation; 1,948 mail subscriptions; 1,838 total paid circulation; 110 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 1,948 total distribution; 552 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 2,500. The following figures are the actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 2,500 copies printed; no paid circulation; 2,089 mail subscriptions; 1,979 total paid circulation; 110 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 2,089 total distribution; 411 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 2,500.

Negro Slavery in Utah

BY D E N N I S L. LYTHGOE

I

F TRAFFIC DOES N O T deter, one may discover on the Brigham Young M o n u m e n t at the intersection of M a i n and South T e m p l e streets in Salt Lake City these n a m e s : " G r e e n Flake, H a r k Lay, and Oscar Crosby, Colored Servants." This plaque honoring the original pioneers of 1847 thus pays tribute to the three Negro slaves in the vanguard of the Mormon migration. T h o u g h they were the first slaves in U t a h and justly the most famous, they were not the only slaves to reside there. While the institution of slavery was not practiced in U t a h on a grand scale, it was sufficient to require historical interpretation. Oddly enough, U t a h was the only western territory in 1850 in which Negroes were held as slaves.

This was a result of the Compromise of 1850, in which California was admitted into the Union as a free state, and New Mexico a n d U t a h territories ambiguously given popular sovereignty. Since some of the Mormon Dr. Lythgoe is assistant professor of history at Massachusetts State College at Bridgewater.

Negro Slavery in Utah

41

settlers in Utah were Southerners, it is not surprising that slavery would be practiced.

The case of Green Flake, born a slave, is instructive in this respect.

Andrew Jenson, assistant historian of the Mormon church, traced Flake's birthdate to 1825 in Anson County, North Carolina, where he remained until the Mormon exodus West in 1846. Afterward, Flake lived in Union, Utah; then Salt Lake City; and finally died at Idaho Falls, Idaho, in 1903. 1 Evidently, Green Flake was one of many slaves on a large plantation in North Carolina belonging to Jordan Flake, who divided his property among his family as is stated in his will: I, Jordan Flake of the State of North Carolina and County of Anson, being weak in body though sound of mind and memory, thanks be to God for the same and calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, therefore, I do make this my last will and testament in the following manner and form: First: I give and bequeath to my son John M. Flake the three Negro boys that he has in possession, namely, Ned, Daniel, and Isham and two hundred dollars. . . . Fourth: I give to my son James M. Flake, two Negroes Green and Lyse and three hundred dollars. 2

James M. Flake was baptized into the Mormon church in the winter of 1843-44 in Mississippi. Following a visit to Nauvoo, Illinois, in the spring of 1844, he and his family decided they wanted to live with the "Saints." Subsequently, with three other families and three Negro slaves, the Flakes made the move. 3 O. D. Flake, a grandson of James M. Flake, continued the account: . . . When Brigham Young commenced fitting out a train to take the first of the Pioneers across the Great Plains, he needed the very best teams and outfits to be had. James M. Flake, who had put his all upon the altar, sent his slave, Green with the mules and mountain carriage, to help the company to their destination. He told Green to send the outfit back by some of the brethren, who would be returning, and for him to stay and build them a house. Like the old slaves he faithfully carried out his instructions. 4

Interestingly enough, the fact that he was a Negro slave did not prevent Green Flake from being baptized into the church. Attesting to that fact, the Southern pioneer John Brown recorded in his diary in early 1 Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (4 vols., Salt Lake City 1901-1936), IV, 703.

2 Will of Jordan Flake, from film of North Carolina Wills, Anson County, 1751-1942 Call No. F NO 2c (4575), Part 3, 164 (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Genealogical Society Library, Salt Lake City).

3 Osmer D. Flake, Life of William Jordan Flake (N.P., [1948]), 3.

'Ibid., 9.

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Utah Historical

Quarterly

April 1844 he "baptized two black men, Allen and Green, belonging to Brother Flake." 5 Traveling with the Amasa M. Lyman and Willard Richards companies, James M. Flake and his family came West in 1848. Flake was appointed captain of one hundred wagons, most of these containing Southern families. According to the official listing, the company with which they traveled consisted of 502 whites and 24 Negroes. 6 Since no mention is made of the specific status of the Negroes, it is impossible to determine whether they were all slaves; but the Flake family records previously mentioned point to the probability.

According to his son William J., James M. Flake was killed in an accident with a mule in California's San Joaquin Valley in 1850. The next year, William, together with his mother and family, migrated with Charles C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman to San Bernardino. Before leaving, Mrs. Flake gave her "Negro slave Green Flake to the Church as tithing. He then worked two years for President Young and Heber C. Kimball, and then got his liberty and settled near Union." 7 Years later, in 1897, the Deseret News reported that two pioneers called at their offices, one a colored man claiming to be Green Flake who was "in the first wagon through Emigration Canyon, and moved to Idaho after living in Utah 49 years. He is now 70 years of age." 8 In another testimony to the status of Green Flake and the other two Negro members of the original pioneer company, Amasa M. Lyman, Jr., himself a son of a Mormon pioneer, issued the following statement in 1936: I knew all three of those negro servants who were members of President Brigham Young's pioneer company of 1847. Hark Lay belonged to William Lay. Hark was always hard to manage. He died in California.

William Crosby also went to California and took his servant, Oscar Crosby, along with him, where the latter died. . . . After the slaves were freed, Green Flake lived at Union Fort, Salt Lake County. 9

But early Utah slaves were by no means limited to the famed three of the Pioneer party. Amasa Lyman, Jr., provided the following list of masters and respective slaves: 10 ' J o h n Z i m m e r m a n Brown, comp., Autobiography of Pioneer John Brown, 1820â&#x20AC;&#x201D;1896 (Salt Lake City, 1941), 46.

8 Flake, Life of William Flake, 10, 11.

7 Letter of William J. Flake to C h u r c h Historian, February 14, 1894, Flake File, L.D.S. C h u r c h Historian's Library, Salt Lake City.

8 Deseret News (Salt Lake C i t y ) , July 19, 1897.

9 Brown, Autobiography of John Brown, 73.

10 Interview with Amasa M . Lyman, Jr., quoted in Jack Beller, "Negro Slaves in U t a h , " Utah Historical Quarterly, I I (October, 1929), 123-24.

Negro Slavery in Utah Slave Owners: Daniel M. Thomas William Matthews William Lay William Crosby James M. Flake William Smith John H. Bankhead John Brown Jasper N. Perkins Reuben Perkins Monroe Perkins Heber C. Kimball Mr. Sprouse Charles C. Rich

43 Negro Slaves: Toby Uncle Phil Hark, Henderson, and Knelt Oscar and Grief Green and his wife "Liz" (later known as Mrs. Martha Green Flake) Aunt " ," Hanna, and Lawrence Nathan Bankhead 1 1 Betsy Crosby Brown Flewellen 12 Mary Perkins 13 Frank, wife Esther, Ben and other children Ben Martha (later married to Green Flake) Daniel Three pair of slaves 14

Perhaps the most revealing source of information relative to the migration of Southern whites and slaves to Utah is the diary of John Brown. A native of Tennessee, Brown was converted to Mormonism and sent on a mission to the Southern States in 1843. Brown recorded in his journal that in April 1846 he assisted in organizing a company of fourteen families in Mississippi and then headed for the Rocky Mountains. Upon learning that Brigham Young was still at Winter Quarters, Brown returned to Mississippi for his own family. His journal, arranged by his son, yields considerable light on the existence of slavery in the company: After a few days' rest, we commenced to wind up our business and prepare to leave in the spring for Council Bluffs, to go out with the church, when unexpectedly, in came two elders right from the Bluffs, viz: Bryant Nowlin and Charles Crismon, with an epistle from the Council of the Twelve, instructing us to remain another year, to fit out and send all the men we could, to go as pioneers. We called a council to consider the matter. We concluded to send some six pioneers, one of whom was to take charge of the whole, being mostly black servants. It fell to my lot to go and superintend the affair, William Crosby to send one hand, John H. Bankhead one, William Lay one, and John Powell one, his brother David; and I was to take one besides myself. We had to travel to the Bluffs in the winter in order to get there in time. 15

Brown then told of the tremendous hardship which the trip entailed and the effects it had upon the company: 11

Ibid., 124.

Brown, Autobiography of John Brown, 145.

13 Frank Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah . . . (Salt Lake City, 1913), 958.

14 T h e latter portion of this list (from Reuben Perkins) is compiled from information in Beller, "Negro Slaves," U.H.Q., I I , 1 2 4 - 2 5 .

15 Brown, Autobiography of John Brown, 7 1 .

12

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W e p u r c h a s e d o u r wagons a n d teams, etc., at St. Louis. A few days' travel from this point, Brothers Jas. S t r a t t o n a n d Nowlin overtook us, also Brother M a t h e w Ivory. Brother Stratton h a d his family along. T h e y h a d one wagon. T h e m u d was so b a d we were obliged to lay by several days. W e n o w h a d six wagons. I t finally t u r n e d cold a n d we h a d a very severe time of it. T h e negroes suffered most. M y boy, whose n a m e was H e n r y , took cold a n d finally t h e winter fever [Lobar p n e u m o n i a ] set in w h i c h caused his d e a t h on the road. I buried h i m in A n d r e w County, at the lower end of the r o u n d Prairie, eight miles n o r t h of S a v a n n a h , Missouri. . . .

W e reached the Bluffs a few days before t h e Pioneers started a n d while I was lying here, B a n k h e a d ' s negro died w i t h the winter fever. It was the severest trip I h a d u n d e r t a k e n . I left one wagon a n d load with Brother Crismon to bring out with the families. I took the other two wagons, t h e t w o black boys t h a t survived the trip [Oscar Crosby a n d H a r k Lay], D a v i d Powell a n d M a t t h e w Ivory, a n d joined the Pioneer camp. 1 0

In spite of the winter's devastating effects on the Negro members of the group, Oscar Crosby and Hark Lay survived to become, with Green Flake, the first Negro pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley.

In enumerating the specific make-up of the Mississippi company, Brown made the following informative entry: 1 7 Saturday, M a y 27, 1848, I m a d e a report of the Mississippi C o m p a n y as follows: Heads of Families J o h n Powell Moses Powell R o b e r t M . Smith John Lockhart George B a n k h e a d a n d John D. Holladay Frances M c K o w n William H . L a y Elizabeth Crosby J o h n Brown William Crosby Ekles T r u l y Totals:

White

John H. B a n k h e a d

Persons 6 1 9 7 6 1 10 6 1 2 3 1 56

Colored

Persons

10 11 2 2 3 1 5

34

In 1848 seven of these thirteen Southern Mormons were active slaveholders, and the proportion of colored persons to white persons was comparatively great. One of the slaves included in this group was Betsy Crosby Brown Flewellen, the colored servant of Elizabeth Crosby Brown.

As a little girl she was brought from the Crosby plantation in Monroe 10

Ibid., 72. ''Ibid., 96.

Negro Slavery

in Utah

45

County, Mississippi, to U t a h , a n d was a servant in the Brown h o m e from 1848 until the slaves were freed after the Civil W a r . Later, she married a colored barber n a m e d Flewellen, in Salt Lake City. 18 O t h e r records supporting the existence of Southern masters with their Negro slaves include the " J o u r n a l History" of the M o r m o n church, which contains this brief entry: " T h e last company of emigrants to leave W i n t e r Q u a r ters, h a d some Southerners with their colored a t t e n d a n t s . " 1 9 I n connection with some later Mississippi converts to the church, a n Iowa historian told an interesting story. Although the people of Tabor, Iowa, disapproved of theft a n d violence as a means of giving slaves their freedom, the town was nevertheless widely known as a n underground railroad station. M a n y events demonstrating their desire to free slaves have been recorded in the history of Iowa. At least one of the episodes h a d direct reference to some M o r m o n pioneers: On the evening of July 4, 1854, a Mormon elder with his family and six slaves camped overnight in Tabor on their way from Mississippi to Salt Lake City. Two of the negroes got water from a well, near which the first hotel was in the process of erection. The carpenters learned that five of the six colored people, a father, mother, two children, and another man, were anxious to escape bondage. The other slave woman did not wish to leave her master so was not informed of their plans. In the night S. H. Adams, John Hallam, and James K. Gaston took the five negroes east of town across the Nishnabotna River and concealed them in the bushes.20

Noticing the next morning t h a t the c a m p duties h a d not been performed, the slave owner acknowledged that his slaves h a d disappeared.

H e promptly enlisted help from some pro-slavery sympathizers a few miles south of Tabor, and conducted a m a n h u n t into the groves a n d thickets along the Nishnabotna River. . . . But one of the searchers, at heart a friend of the refugees, was careful to do the searching in the area where he knew they were concealed and just as careful not to find them. In a day or two Cephas Case and W. L. Clark conducted the fugitives to a Quaker settlement near Des Moines, from which place they eventually found their way to Canada. 21 INDIVIDUAL SLAVES AND SLAVEHOLDERS

N u m b e r e d among the U t a h slaveholders was J o h n Bankhead, who brought a n u m b e r of slaves with h i m from the South; significantly, these 18

Ibid., 145.

"Journal History" (L.D.S. C h u r c h Historian's Library, Salt Lake C i t y ) , July 15, 1848.

20 Catherine Grace Barbour F a r q u h a r , " T a b o r a n d T a b o r College," Iowa Journal of History and Politics, X L I (October, 1943), 358, 21 Ibid.

19

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slaves remained with the family after their emancipation as free persons of color until M r . Bankhead died in 1884. Mrs. Sina Bankhead of Salt Lake County says that her father-in-law was N a t h a n Bankhead, one of the well-known slaves belonging to John while he lived in Draper, Utah. 2 2 Included among the eleven Bankhead Negro slaves who came into the valley in 1848 were Nathan, his wife Susan, Dan, George, Alex, Sam, Lewis, Ike, John, Nancy, and Rose. When the slaves were freed at the conclusion of the Civil War, Bankhead encouraged each of them to be self-sufficient. H e h a d originally owned his slaves on his plantation in Tennessee and brought them to U t a h when he was converted to the Mormon church. Reportedly, Bankhead was kind and considerate to his slaves. 23 Vilate Crosby, a Negro slave, came to U t a h from Mississippi with the Crosbys in September 1848 in the Heber C. Kimball Company. She h a d two daughters and was also the mother of Hark Lay. Martha, one of her daughters, became the wife of Green Flake. T h e other daughter, Rose, became the wife of Miles Litzford and the mother of Dan Freeman, who was the first freeborn Negro in U t a h in 1850. 24 From Jasper N. Perkins of Salt Lake City, a nephew of Monroe Perkins, and Mrs. Esther Leggroan of Salt Lake County, daughter of M a r y Perkins, one of the Perkins slaves, the following information was derived: Reuben Perkins came to U t a h from North Carolina on October 18, 1848, with the Andrew Perkins Company and settled in Bountiful.

H e brought several Negro slaves with him. Monroe Perkins owned another slave n a m e d Ben, whom he sold to a m a n named Sprouse, a Southerner. While returning to the South with Sprouse, Ben escaped into the mountains near Denver, and returned to Utah. 2 5 Through an interview with Samuel Chambers and his son Peter, both of whom came to U t a h in 1870, Jack Beller learned the following: M a r t h a , who later became the wife of Green Flake, was brought to U t a h

by Heber C. Kimball in 1848; while Daniel Sprouse, a Negro slave, was brought by his master Sprouse from Texas in the 1850s. 26 According to one account, there were some Negro slaves in Spanish Fork, Utah, owned by John J. Redd, a pioneer from North Carolina.

Very little more is known of the Spanish Fork slaves, except that Redd 22

Beller, "Negro Slaves," U.H.Q., I I , 124.

Interview with Lucille Perkins Bankhead, great-granddaughter of Green Flake, Salt Lake City, February 25, 1966.

24 Ibid.

25 Beller, "Negro Slaves," U.H.Q., I I , 125.

20 Ibid.

23

Negro Slavery in Utah

47

brought them with him from the South, and used them in farming operations.27 Attorney Benjamin Rich of Salt Lake City said that his grandfather Charles C. Rich owned three pairs of slaves who were liberated in California when Rich went there in 1851. A native of Kentucky, Charles C. Rich initially arrived in Salt Lake on October 3, 1847.28 In partial support of Benjamin Rich's claim, his grandfather's journal recorded a journey from Salt Lake City to San Bernardino, on May 10, 1855 : In company with Brother George Cannon and wife, Elders Jos. Bull, Matthew T. Wilkie, my son Joseph, David Fairbanks, Henry Clark, Alfred Bennett, Robert Matthews, Charles Davis, and my Negro "Dick" started for San Bernardino, and traveled 80 miles that day . . .29

Although lacking in documentation, Kate B. Carter's The Story Of The Negro Pioneer includes interesting snatches of information pertaining to some of the slaves garnered from records in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum. One of these is taken from Mary Lee Bland Ewell's personal history, in which she told of her appreciation for a Negro slave called Mammy Chloe. Having emerged from the well-founded traditions of the Old South, Mammy Chloe belonged to the Bland family of Cumberland County, Kentucky. She became very attached to the daughter Mary Lee and eventually left Kentucky to follow her when the young girl fell in love with a young Mormon named William Ewell. Sympathizing with Mary Lee's desire to accompany her husband to Utah, Mammy Chloe aided in her escape from the Bland home. Soon Mammy Chloe became a convert to the church and stood by the family for the rest of her years. Mary Lee's personal feelings about her slave are illustrative of the spirit of the Old South: . . . Even after the slaves were freed by President Lincoln, she did not desire her freedom. No one ever knew her grief leaving her son Sammy, but being slaves, both learned never to complain at separations. I am sure I can never know what her great devotion to "Miss. Mary Lee," as she always called me, cost her and how she softened my hardships whenever she could.'50

Reading like an episode from Gone With the Wind, Mrs. Ewell's story strongly resembles the romantic Southern tradition.

Another personal history used by Mrs. Carter is that of Williams Washington Camp, who was converted to the Mormon church in Ten27

Elisha Warner, The History of Spanish Fork (Salt Lake City, 1930), 9.

Beller, "Negro Slaves," U.H.Q., II, 125. "'Charles C. Rich, Journal (original, L.D.S. Church Historian's Library, Salt Lake City) May 10, 1855.

30 Kate B. Carter, The Story Of The Negro Pioneer (Salt Lake City, 1965), 39, 28

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nessee. Besides a slave called Charlotte who tended children and did housekeeping, the Camps brought Dan, Ike, and Ben with their family to Utah. In 1855 Camp's daughter Ellen married Thomas Greer, and the two were later called on a mission for the church to Texas. Camp gave two Negro slaves, Ike and Caroline, to the Greers, who apparently took the Negroes with them to Texas. 31 The "Journal History" of the Mormon church includes a small item which apparently related to the incident: June 16, 1856, President Brigham Young returned to Feramorz Little's where he had an interview with Brothers Jesse Little and Robert Burton about Brother Camp taking away his Negroes. 32

Settling in Salem, Utah, in 1855 was Southern convert William Taylor Dennis. Included with his family were the following slaves: Nancy or Mammy Dennis, Jim Valentine, his wife, and their son Jim. Although Dennis freed his slaves when he heard of the Emancipation Proclamation, Mammy Dennis refused her freedom. 33 Verification that William H. Hooper, T. S. Williams, and J. H. Johnson owned Negro slaves is found in the diary of Hosea Stout: Thursday, 21 April 1859. Suit before Jeter Clinton Esq "The people &c vs. Tom Coulbourn negro slave belonging to J. H. Johnson on examination for shooting Shep negro slave belonging to W. H. Hooper. The negros had got into a row about two wenches belonging to T. S. Williams and love and jealousy was the main cause of this fuss.

Like their masters under such circumstances would probably would do they went to shooting each other. Shep is badly wounded and his life is precarious. Dist Attorney Wilson prosecuted and Blair and myself defended. Tom was held to bail for $1000 to appear at the next Dist Court. 34

Suggestion that non-Mormons, too, were slaveholders is found in the Millennial Star's reference to federal Judge W. W. Drummond, who probably owned at least one slave: Some little excitement prevails in town to-day. An affair took place between Judge Drummond and a Jew trader here, which was rather amusing at the time, but may be something more than fun for the Judge before he gets through with it. A grand jury is meeting this evening, which will bring in an indictment against the Judge and his negro, Cato, for assault and battery with intent to murder; and he will be arrested and brought before the Probate Court on Monday morning next, at 9 o'clock, just at 21

Ibid., 39-41.

"Journal History," June 16, 1856.

33 Carter, Negro Pioneer, 48.

34 Juanita Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout (2 vols., Salt Lake City, 1964), II, 695.

32

1844-1861

Negro Slavery in Utah

49

the time he should answer to his n a m e in the Supreme Court, which sits at that hour. . . , 35

Regarding the existence of slavery in U t a h , two officials of the Mormon church m a d e some observations. J o h n Taylor and N. H. Felt were en route to New York in 1855 to establish a paper explaining the doctrines of the church. While in Chicago, they were interviewed by a Chicago paper and the account was recorded in the Millennial Star: As respects slavery in the territory, we were assured there was but little of it there, yet it is there. Some slaves h a d been liberated by their owners since they were taken to U t a h ; others still remain slaves. But the most of those w h o take slaves there pass over w i t h t h e m in a little while to San Bernardino, a M o r m o n settlement in California, some seven h u n d r e d or eight h u n d r e d miles from Salt Lake City. H o w m a n y slaves are now held there they could not say, b u t the n u m b e r relatively was by n o means small. A single person h a d taken between forty a n d fifty, a n d m a n y h a d gone in with smaller numbers. 3 0

T h e n u m b e r cited here is no doubt exaggerated. According to the United States census, there were only twenty-four free persons of color and twenty-six Negro slaves in U t a h in 1850. 37 However, there were slaves who merely passed through U t a h on their way to the coast, and some may have died before reaching California. A few slave owners went with Amasa M. Lyman to San Bernardino, California, in 1851, to establish a M o r m o n colony. Included in this group were Charles C. Rich, William Matthews, Daniel M . Thomas, William Crosby, and William Smith. Since California was then free soil, their slaves were liberated upon arrival. M r . Lyman, Jr., claimed that William Smith's discovery that his slaves would become free in California prompted him to try to take them to Texas; the slaves, however, desired freedom and refused to go with him. 3 8 According to the census of 1860, there were thirty free colored persons and twenty-nine slaves in U t a h . Of this number, eighteen were males and eleven were females; ten resided in Davis County and nineteen in Salt Lake County. 3 9 MORMON ATTITUDES

Apparently, early M o r m o n theology and practice recognized no conflict between true Christianity and slave holding, though slavery was ""The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, X V I I I (Liverpool, England, 1856), 254.

38 Ibid., X V I I ( 1 8 5 5 ) , 63.

37 U.S., Bureau of the Census, The Seventh Census of the United States: 1850 (Washington, D . C , 1853), 993.

38 Beller, "Negro Slaves," U.H.Q., I I , 126.

39 U.S., Bureau of the Census, Eighth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1860 (Washington, D . C , 1 8 6 0 - 1 8 6 6 ) , 135.

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already a religious issue of some consequence throughout the United States. 40 In 1851 Orson Hyde clarified the stand of the Mormon church in an effort to remove widespread controversy: We feel it to be our duty to define our position in relation to the subject of Slavery. There are several men in the Valley of the Salt Lake from the Southern States who have slaves with them. There is no law in Utah to authorize Slavery, neither any to prohibit it. If the slave is disposed to leave his master, no power exists there, either legal or moral, that will prevent him. But if the slave choose to remain with his master, none are allowed to interfere between the master and the slave. All the slaves that are there appear to be perfectly contented and satisfied.

When a man in the Southern States embraces our faith, and is the owner of slaves, the church says to him, if your slaves wish to remain with you, and to go with you, put them not away; but if they choose to leave you, or are not satisfied to remain with you, it is for you to sell them, or to let them go free, as your own conscience may direct. The church, on this point, assumes not the responsibility to direct. The laws of the land recognize slavery, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and we do not wish to oppose the laws of the country.

If there is sin in selling a slave, let the individual who sells him bear that sin, and not the church. Wisdom and prudence dictate to us this position, and we trust that our position will henceforth be understood. 41

Ironically enough, in Jackson County, Missouri, the church was believed to be of an abolitionist temperament, and Mormons received extensive harassment as a result. The rumor had circulated freely that the Mormons were trying to "tamper" with the slaves. Missouri law prevented free Negroes from staying in the state because people feared they would incite slaves to insurrection. Reacting to the heat of the controversy, the Mormons asserted that they not only did not encourage free people of color to enter Missouri, but prevented them from admission into the church as well. 42 Ambivalence significantly colors the attitudes of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Smith, for instance, wrote on one occasion: . . . All men are to be taught to repent; but we have no right to interfere with slaves contrary to the mind and will of their masters. In fact, it would be much better and more prudent not to preach at all to slaves, until after their masters are converted: and then, teach the master to use them with kindness, remembering that they are accountable to God, and the servants are bound to serve their masters, with singleness of heart, without murmuring. 4 3 40 For more complete treatment of the religious issue see the author's "Negro Slavery and Mormon Doctrine," Western Humanities Review, XXI (Autumn, 1967), 327-38, or "Negro Slavery in Utah" (master's thesis, University of Utah, 1966).

41 Orson Hyde, "Slavery Among the Saints," Millennial Star, XIII (1851), 63.

42 Evening and the Morning Star (Independence, Missouri), July 16, 1833 See also "Free People of Color," ibid., July 1, 1833.

43 Messenger and Advocate, II (April, 1836), 291.

Negro Slavery

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51

These were not feelings of a n abolitionist; yet in 1843 he m a d e an optimistic evaluation of the potential of the Negro, saying t h a t the slaves were " m o r e refined t h a n many in high places." 4 4 Finally, in 1844, Smith became an abolitionist through his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. H e called for the abolition of slavery by 1850, with the government paying owners for their slaves through the sale of public lands. 4 5 After Smith's death, the Mormons practiced slavery for a n u m b e r of years, with Brigham Young extending Smith's original support for it.

Young expressed his views effectively: The principle of slavery I understand, at least I have self-confidence enough in God to believe I do. I believe still further that a great many others understand it as I do. A great portion of this community have been instructed, and have applied their minds to it, and as far as they have, they agree precisely in the principles of slavery. Long ago Mama Eve our good old Mother Eve partook of forbidden fruit and this made a slave of her.

Adam hated very much to have her taken out of the garden of Eden, and now our old daddy says I believe I will eat of the fruit and become a slave too. This was the first introduction of slavery upon this earth, and there has been not a son or daughter of Adam from that day to this but what were slaves in the true sense of the word. 40

H e continued by calling it "a great blessing to the seed of A d a m to have the seed of Cain for servants," but counseling utmost kindness. 47 Later, Young told H o r a c e Greeley that slavery was "useless a n d unprofitable" in U t a h , although "of divine institution." 4 8 Even though he deemed it unprofitable in U t a h , he stopped short of recommending its abolition.

TERRITORIAL L A W

Regardless of a generally sympathetic attitude existing in U t a h toward blacks, there can be no question that some were held against their will. Since U t a h was open to slavery after 1850, blacks could be legally held and controlled. I n 1851 the U t a h Territorial Legislature passed a significant act regarding slavery: Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah: That any person or persons coming to this Territory, 44 B. H . Roberts, ed., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . (7 vols., Salt Lake City, 1 9 0 2 - 1 9 3 2 ) , V, 217.

4o Joseph Smith, "Views of the Powers a n d Policy of the Government of the U n i t e d States," Millennial Star, X X I I ( 1 8 6 0 ) , 743.

40 Brigham Young Speech to Joint Session of Legislature on February 5, 1852 ( M S , L D . S . C h u r c h Historian's L i b r a r y ) , 1.

41 Ibid., 5.

18 H o r a c e Greeley, Overland Journey From New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859, ed., Charles T. D u n c a n (New'York, 1 9 6 4 ) , 179, 180.

52

Utah Historical Quarterly and bringing with them servants justly bound to them, arising from special contract or otherwise, said person or persons shall be entitled to such service or labor by the laws of this Territory. . . ,49

While slavery was accepted by the law, the legislature apparently thought that provisions for humane treatment should be endorsed. Additionally, desire to prevent interracial marriage may have been a motivating factor: Sec. 4. That if any master or mistress shall have sexual or carnal intercourse with his or her servant or servants of the African race, he or she shall forfeit all claim to said servant or servants to the commonwealth; and if any white person shall be guilty of sexual intercourse with any of the African race, they shall be subject, on conviction thereof to a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars, nor less than five hundred, to the use of the Territory, and imprisonment not exceeding three years.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of masters or mistresses to provide for his, her, or their servants comfortable habitations, clothing, bedding, sufficient food, and recreation. And it shall be the duty of the servant in return therefor, to labor faithfully all reasonable hours, and do such service with fidelity as may be required by his, or her master or mistress.

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the master to correct and punish his servant in a reasonable manner when it may be necessary, being guided by prudence and humanity; and if he shall be guilty of cruelty or abuse, or neglect to feed, clothe, or shelter his servants in a proper manner, the probate court may declare the contract between master and servant or servants void, according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act.50

Laws were clearly defined for both master and slave to obey, somewhat similar to the practice of the South. If any slave should disregard the laws, the territory could force obedience upon him under the court system. According to Hosea Stout, for instance, the right of a slave owner to hold his slave as legal property was upheld in the Probate Court: Wednesday 18 June 1856. Law Suit before probate on an examination People vs William Camp et al. for kidnapping a Negro Dan. The case commenced Monday evening and lasted yesterday & to day till noon It appears that Camp was the owner of Dan who had ran away and C. had went with three others to bring him back. The court acquitted them Carrington atty Genl for the people & Mr T.S.Williams & self for defts There was a great excitement on the occasion The question naturally involving more or Less the Slavery question and I was surprised to see those latent feeling aroused in our midst which are making so much disturbance in the states. 51 49 U t a h , Legislature, "Act in Relation to Service," Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah (Great Salt Lake City, 1855), 160. â&#x201E;˘Ibid., 161.

51 Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, I I , 597.

of

Negro Slavery in Utah

53

Not only did the court acquit the owner, but there were "latent feelings" about the slavery issue aroused among the people. Though Stout failed to elaborate, it appears that the people were angered at the threatened interference with property, and that they expressed partisan support for the institution of slavery.

If J o h n Brown's journal is a valid indication, a Negro slave was of considerable value, especially an "African Servant G i r l " : 5 2 O n the 8th of J a n u a r y 1857, I consecrated and deeded to the C h u r c h the following: Property and Improvements of real estate _ $775.00 Cattle, Wagon and Pigs $541.00 F a r m i n g Tools and Rifle $105.00 Household Furniture, Bedding, etc $150.00 Twelve Sheep and T w o Pistols $ 72.00 Silver W a t c h and Cooking Stove $ 55.00 Sixty bushels W h e a t $120.00 Corn, Vegetables, etc $145.50 Sundries $ 75.00 African Servant Girl $1,000.00 $3'038.50

Probably a more accurate indication of the worth of slaves is depicted through the sales transactions that were carried on in the valley.

One such bill of sale was recorded in the County of Great Salt Lake in 1859: 5 3 K n o w all men by these presents. T h a t I, T h o m a s S. Williams of Great Salt Lake City in the Territory of U t a h , for and in consideration of the sum of eight h u n d r e d dollars, to me in h a n d , paid at and before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, by William H . H o o p e r of the city and territoy aforesaid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have bargained and sold and by these presents, do grant bargain and sell and convey u n t o the said W m . H . Hooper, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, one negro boy " D a n " ; the said nego boy is twenty-six years of age, was born the property and slave of Williams C a m p on the 15th day of October A.D. 1833, in the town of Dresden, Weakley County, State of Tennessee; and by the said Williams C a m p was sold to me in the year 1858, a bill of sale having been executed to m e by the said Williams C a m p for the said Negro boy " D a n " , to have and to hold the said negro boy " D a n " u n t o the said W m . H . Hooper, his executors, administrators and assigns, against all and every person and persons whomsoever.

Attest â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A.R. J a c k m a n Charles Evans Great Salt Lake City Sept. 7th, 1859 52 Brown, Autobiography of John Brown, 144. "'; Salt Lake County, Recorder, MS.

T.S. Williams Recorded September 8th, 1859 F.B. Woolley, Recorder

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O n file in the Salt Lake County Recorder's Office, this document certifies the existence of a limited slave trade in the valley, as well as providing another witness of Williams C a m p ' s ownership of the slave, " D a n . " T h e Salt Lake Tribune, in reporting the discovery of this document, made the following observations: Although the slave trade never was legal in Utah, the fact that dealing in human bondage took place in the past has been discovered in time-worn documents in the County Recorder's Office. Patrick J. Sullivan, an employee of a Salt Lake Abstract firm, while searching the records for real estate information, came across the copy of a bill of sale for a Negro boy named Dan in a book containing transactions for the year 1859. The slave was sold by Thomas S. Williams of Great Salt Lake City to William H. Hooper, same address, for $800.54

Emerging from the evidence are the following conclusions. Slavery existed in U t a h Territory as a legal, if limited, institution, with Southern Mormons being the chief slave owners. Among some people, at least, the attitudes toward slavery were comparable with those of the South, and were perhaps a cultural carry-over. 5 5 If slavery h a d not been carried to U t a h , M o r m o n attitudes toward it may have developed differently. It was inevitable, however, t h a t Mormons would define it within the framework of their religion. As Brigham Young said, " W e cannot talk about spiritual things without connecting with them temporal things, neither can we talk about temporal things without connecting spiritual things with t h e m . " 5 0 Young's statement m a y suggest why there was seemingly no effort to rid the territory of slavery. Those who owned slaves considered their value high enough to justify bringing them from the South to utilize them in a new home in the mountains. While some were disappointed at the loss of their slaves along the way and in California, others managed to retain their services for several years in the valley. A few slaves preferred to remain with the master in the life to which they h a d become accustomed, but most seemed to desire freedom, and subsequently seized upon any opportunity to achieve it.

51

Salt Lake Tribune, M a y 3 1 , 1939.

For additional evidence of the similarity between Mormon attitudes and Southern attitudes toward slavery, see the author's previously cited article in the Western Humanities Review.

56 Journal of Discourses (26 vols., Liverpool, 1 8 5 4 - 1 8 8 6 ) , X, 329.

55

Prisoners of war working

at Camp Ogden Army Service

Forces.

German and Italian Prisoners of War in Utah and Idaho

BY R A L P H A. B U S C O A N D D O U G L A S D. ALDER

T

H E P L I G H T OF prisoners of w a r has generally been one of the tragic tales of mankind. 1 Recent parading of American pilots in the streets of

Mr. Busco, former teacher at Weber High School, is presently working toward his P h . D . at Brigham Young University, Provo. Dr. Alder is professor of history at U t a h State University, Logan.

1 William E. S. Flory, Prisoners of War: A Study in the Development of International Law (Washington, D . C , 1942), 10.

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Hanoi is reminiscent of ancient triumphs of victorious generals whose prisoners were held as ransom. Mass slaughter of captives to avoid the expense of supporting them or as a terror technique against remaining foes was a common practice among the Assyrians and Egyptians, and is recorded in the Old Testament. 2 Classical and medieval torture practices appear barbaric to modern man, but Andersonville, Dachau, or Bataan suggests a continuity to the history of brutality. Currently, the treatment of prisoners of war is a matter of much concern to the peoples and governments involved in the Vietnam conflict.

The persistence of brutality into modern times is all the more discouraging in light of the concerted international efforts to prevent abuse to prisoners of war. Based on views from the Enlightenment that war is a relation of state to state and not of man to man, various propositions have been suggested to promote basic human rights for prisoners. In 1863 the international Red Cross grew out of attempts to care for the casualties of the Crimean War. A year later an international Red Cross convention in Geneva drew up a treaty concerning prisoners of war. The original convention has been revised periodically. New treaties were adopted extending Red Cross protection to victims of warfare at sea (1907), 3 to prisoners of war (1929) ,4 and to civilians in the time of war (1949). 5 The 1929 treaty was signed by forty-seven nations who agreed that prisoners of war should receive humane treatment, protection of their persons, adequate housing and food, intellectual and physical diversion, and the right to elect spokesmen. Signatory nations agreed not to employ prisoners of war in military work or in the production of war materials, but they were allowed to require the men to work in other vocations.

The Geneva conventions further stipulated that war prisoners be interned away from combat areas. During World War II the American continent offered the advantage of remoteness where captured enemy soldiers could be guarded with minimal effort.

Despite the bitterness of the conflict, the United States appeared to treat prisoners of war humanely in an attempt to impress them with America's democratic life. At least this was the case with those European prisoners who were transported to confinement within the continental 2

I Sam. 1 5 : 3 ; Deut. 20-16-8, 20:13-4.

Jean S. Pictet, "The New Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims," American Journal of International Law, X X X X V (July, 1951).

4 U.S., Statutes at Large, vol. 47.

"U.S., Department of State, Treaties and Other International Agreements, vol. VI, pt. 3, pp. 3114-3695.

3

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United States. Base and branch prisoners of war camps were established in every state of the Union.

T h e states of U t a h and I d a h o were well suited for internment sites because of their inland location, agricultural opportunities, and remoteness from industrial centers. T h e r e were 141 base camps and 313 dependent branches in the nation. Of that total, 9 base camps and 21 branches were located in U t a h and Idaho. T h e greatest number of prisoners at any one time in the United States was 425,806. Of these some 11,660 men were allocated to base camps in U t a h and Idaho. T h e totals for the branch camps are difficult to ascertain because of the transient nature of both camps and men. 8 T h e following pages will attempt to assess the nature of the experience of prisoners while imprisoned in U t a h . W a r Department and c a m p records as well as interviews and letters to participants have been used. Whenever possible the experiences and opinions of former prisoners themselves have been drawn in.

C A M P FACILITIES

T h e Geneva convention of 1929 prescribed that prisoners of war should be lodged in buildings or barracks affording guarantees of hygiene and healthfulness. Captors were to provide the same quality of housing and food as used for their own troops in permanent camps. T h e United States generally located these camps near existing military installations such as Ogden's U t a h General Depot and Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City.

Federal government camps formerly belonging to the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, the F a r m Security Administration, and other governmental agencies including state and local fairground buildings, armories, schools, and auditoriums were adapted to provide for prisoners.

C a m p Ogden Army Service Forces Depot, Utah, which may be said to have been characteristic of the base camps, followed the typical army plan. T h e physical plant contained two separate stockades, twenty- by one hundred-foot barracks located one thousand feet apart. T h e depot c Information on the prisoner of war camps was secured from inspection reports by the Young Men's Christian Association camp inspectors and inspectors from the Provost Marshal's Office. These records are located in the Provost Marshal General Branch in the National Archives, Washington, D.C. Prisoner of war base and branch camps were located throughout Idaho at Blackfoot Franklin, Emmett, Farragut (base c a m p ) , Filer, Fort Hall, I d a h o Falls, Marsing, Payette, Pocatello Army Air Force Base, Preston, Rigby, Rupert (base c a m p ) , Shelley, Sugar City, Thomas U p p e r Deer Flat, and Wilder. They were located in U t a h at Bushnell General Hospital Clearfield (base c a m p ) , Deseret Chemical Warfare Depot (base c a m p ) , Fort Douglas (base camp) Dugway Proving Ground, Hill Field (base c a m p ) , Logan, Orem, Salina, Tooele (base c a m p ) ' Tremonton, and U t a h Army Service Forces Depot (base c a m p ) .

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was capable of housing a thousand prisoners. Camp Tooele, Utah, was located three miles from Tooele at a site called Warner. The camp had only one stockade which housed up to one thousand prisoners. It was situated on level terrain in the northern extreme of the Tooele Ordnance Depot. The prisoners slept on canvas cots in individually heated, oil-stove barracks. Each barracks housed fifty men. There was a guard house at each of the four corners of the stockade. The enclosure had a doublegraduated hog-wire fence with a barbed wire overhang surrounding the entire compound.

The camp at Preston, Idaho, was typical of the branch camps. Like most camps in the Intermountain Region it was hurriedly constructed so that the prisoners could live near a farm area where labor was required.

Because it was temporary, tents were the only housing. The prisoners were nonetheless under guard as evidenced by the hastily constructed guard house and hog-wire fence surrounding the entire tent camp.

German prisoner of war Hans Johann Gruenheit was at Camp Preston. H e was injured in Hungary, November 27, 1944, while fighting the Russians, and was confined in the hospital at Berchtchgarden, Germany.

He was released from the hospital to go home on a pass. While at Gellsenkirchen, his home, American forces invaded the town and discovered he There were nine prisoner of war base camps, such as this one near Ogden, located in Utah and Idaho.

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was a member of the Third Reich Army. He was naturally classified as a prisoner of war.

In America he was first interned in Phoenix, Arizona; then he was moved to the large base camp at Rupert, Idaho. He was soon transferred to the branch camp at Preston to work with supplies. Hans recalled that guards would leave early in the morning to take the prisoners to work in the beet or potato fields. He "jokingly" said he would issue the U.S. Army personnel their guns with which to guard his own fellow prisoners. His stay in Preston was, he said, "the most carefree time in all my life." 7 The food of prisoners of war was supposed to be equal in quantity and quality to that of the U.S. troops. During most of the war this standard was rigorously adhered to in the Utah and Idaho facilities. Strangely a cut in rations corresponded with the end of the war in Germany.

This development occasioned some concern on the part of the Red Cross and of Inspector P. Schnyder de Wartensee of Switzerland, who came to study conditions at Clearfield. According to his report, The food was very satisfactory, in quality and quantity, up to about May 1945, when regulations were issued to all the Camp Commanders to cut 7

Interview with Hans Johann Gruenheit, Logan, Utah, May 14, 1966.

Camp Ogden Army Service Forces was capable of housing a thousand prisoners.

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the rations. This has been found constantly objectionable, because the amount of food allowed to the prisoners of war could not make up for the amount of energy lost due to the increased work required. Some improvement should be made or the work will suffer.8

T h e defeat of G e r m a n y a n d the fact t h a t decreased food rations coincided with this defeat led m a n y prisoners of w a r to believe that measures of reprisal were taken against them. This in t u r n led t h e m to claim t h a t the United States did not recognize the Geneva convention of July 1929. 9 According to the international agreement, the detaining power was required to furnish all necessary medical a n d hospital treatment. Therefore, the prisoners were supposed to receive the same medical and surgical services accorded American A r m y personnel.

Bushnell General Hospital was designated by the U.S. W a r Department to provide for the care a n d treatment of w a r prisoners. It was located on a 640-acre tract of land just south of the city limits of Brigham City, U t a h (presently the Bureau of I n d i a n Affairs Intermountain Indian School). Bushnell was formerly a b r a n c h c a m p of Hill Field, housing Italian prisoners, but h a d been changed into a base c a m p for German prisoners.

Colonel Robert M . H a r d a w a y , a senior medical officer, was supervisor of the hospital. H e told K a r l Gustaf Almquist, Red Cross inspector, that the hospital was intended primarily for American soldiers and they h a d only a few wounded G e r m a n prisoners. T h e r e were about forty beds for the prisoners â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a small n u m b e r w h e n compared to the approximately four thousand beds for American soldiers. 10 R E C R E A T I O N AND E D U C A T I O N

I n most camps the prisoners organized sports activities. Soccer was the favorite sport for the Germans a n d Boccie (an Italian version of bowling) was the most played Italian game. T h e United States government a n d the Y M C A provided motion pictures, musical instruments, equipment for indoor a n d outdoor sports a n d for crafts, a n d theatrical props.

Italian prisoner of w a r Joe Battisti played on the U t a h Depot Italian Service Unit League T e a m , champions of the "District Soccer League."

8 P. Schnyder de Wartensee, Y M C A inspector, " R e p o r t on Visit to C a m p Clearfield Prisoner of W a r C a m p , M a r c h 14, 1946" ( P M G O , National Archives).

9 Guy M e t r a u x , "A R e p o r t on the Activities of the Prisoner of W a r Division, United States of America, July 1943 to M a y 1946" (typescript report compiled for the international Red Cross; copy in possession of the a u t h o r s ) .

10 K a r l Gustaf Almquist, Y M C A inspector, " R e p o r t on Visit to Prisoner of War Camps, July 13, 1945" ( P M G O , National Archives).

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The league consisted of teams from the Ogden Arsenal and Salt Lake City. The ISU Depot Team won the league championship two years in a row. 11 Camp Deseret, in central Utah, was one of the smallest base camps.

It was formerly a branch camp of the Tooele German Prison Station.

Inspectors Paul Schnyder and Louis Hortal reported that aside from the usual education classes the camp highlight was a concert every Sunday performed by its nine-piece orchestra.

Camp Ogden ASF Depot was especially proud of its thirty-piece orchestra. A concert was given at least once a week at the depot or in an adjoining area such as Salt Lake City or Brigham City.

The War Department set up a large-scale adult education program for prisoners of war. However, the program was too late in starting to be very effective. Prisoners themselves set up these educational programs under the supervision of the camp authorities. They were allowed to subscribe to newspapers and periodicals printed within the continental United States in the English, German, and Italian languages. The publications were checked by censors to prevent enemy propaganda. The international YMCA acted as a central agency to help prisoners secure textbooks.

Sture Persson, YMCA camp inspector from Sweden, 12 reported that at Camp Clearfield the educational program was conducted entirely by the Germans themselves. Lectures and discussions were held five nights a week for two hours each night concerning economic and political aspects of other countries.

Karl Gustaf Almquist, another YMCA camp inspector, met the camp spokesman upon his visit to the camp and wrote the following in his report: The spokesman told me that there were many young men among the prisoners of war and he very strongly felt the responsibility of giving them the opportunity for education so that some day they could carry on their work in the Germany of the future. The problem was to hold the interest of the young prisoners of war and find out what they really could do in that direction. As all youth, they preferred to spend their leisure time in playing football or doing nothing. Certainly sport was a good thing, but when it took the interest away from more useful things it is not. This, briefly, was the problem as told me by the men of the camp. Of course they also 11 Victory News (Ogden, U t a h ) , September 15, 1945. This paper was published semimonthly in the interest of the personnel of the Utah Army Service Forces Depot.

12 World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Association, "War Prisoners Aid of the World's Committee of YMCA's" (Geneva, Switzerland, 1945-46). This typescript report is available at Utah State University and is in the authors' possession.

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Camp Ogden Army Service Forces Italian Service Unit Brass Band. h a d older m e n in the c a m p . However, on the whole the problem was to keep a m o n g t h e prisoners of w a r a loving spirit a n d interest in spiritual things.

Concerning the teaching of American History, he frankly gave as his opinion, t h a t it was necessary to give also the G e r m a n a n d E u r o p e a n background of history. I t was impossible to understand American History if they h a d no idea of their own history. D u r i n g the Nazi regime they had been t a u g h t only one side of their own history a n d been deluged with p r o p a g a n d a . Could they but discover the right picture of their own history, it would m e a n everything to them. Therefore, the spokesman asked for books on G e r m a n history written by well-known G e r m a n historians before 1932. T h e teachers of G e r m a n history now were teaching w h a t they remembered a n d learned by heart. T h e most necessary books were books on their own history, authorized by the Office of the Provost Marshall General. 1 3

At Fort Douglas, Utah, a c a m p for hard-case subversives, Second Lieutenant J. L. Kingsley offered a proposal to provide for an intellectual program to be employed within the camp. It was the first indication in the c a m p reports of an attempt to propagandize the prisoners of war to the United States democratic system. It was proposed that the canteen be stocked with better magazines a n d periodicals so that the "right kind" of reading material would be put into the hands of the prisoners. Perhaps the most powerful medium of propaganda available was the use of 13 Karl Gustaf Almquist, Y M C A inspector, "Report on Visit to C a m p Clearfield Prisoner of War C a m p , July 6, 1945" ( P M G O , National Archives).

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motion pictures. It was necessary to have a steady flow of American films circulating throughout the camps. Kingsley recommended that an interested prisoner should be selected as a director of studies to organize a n d promote educational a n d recreational activities.

T h e r e was a genuine problem getting prisoners w h o h a d not gone beyond the elementary school level involved in the education p r o g r a m .

T h e bulk of the subject m a t t e r being t a u g h t was A m e r i c a n history, geography, languages, and mathematics. A problem common to most camps was a shortage of adequate textbooks and novels in the G e r m a n language.

C a m p Hill Field, U t a h , was located five miles south of Ogden, a n d east of Sunset a n d Clearfield. T h e prison c a m p was referred to as O A T S C or the O g d e n Air Technical Service Counsel. Leone G h i r u d a t o a n d Maresciallo Bergongoli were directors of studies for the prisoners within the c a m p . T h e y expressed antagonistic feelings toward Italian officers, but also possessed a h a t r e d for any American p r o p a g a n d a .

Attendance at education classes was optional. T h e American history a n d English language classes were the most popular, as evidenced in C a m p R u p e r t where a large n u m b e r attended. O t h e r classes in different subjects (crafts, arts, painting) were held during spare hours. 1 4 T h e spokesman at Bushnell General Hospital stated t h a t the library needed books. T h e interest was reported as great, but prisoners preferred fiction a n d books of travel. T h e y especially liked richly illustrated books that helped t h e m get a more concrete understanding of the life described.

T h e r e was little possibility at Bushnell to conduct classes because the m e n were there for medical treatment and generally confined to bed. I n most b r a n c h camps the m e n h a d little in the way of recreation or education because the camps were so transient.

LABOR

M a n y citizens of the I n t e r m o u n t a i n Region will remember prisoners of w a r chiefly as p a r t of the w a r t i m e labor force. It was on the farms of the region where they were best known. U n d e r a contract labor arrangement, local farmers, after proving t h a t no native labor was available, could negotiate to use prisoners of war. 1 5 U n d e r the terms of the contract, farmers h a d to pay the m i n i m u m wage for labor received, but the 14 Mr. and Mrs. Lynn O. Pitcher of Ogden, Utah, have in their possession some fine paintings by former German and Italian prisoners of war from Camp Ogden Army Service Forces.

The prisoners presented them as a gift of appreciation while they were interned there. The Pitchers worked with stage plays which provided entertainment for the prisoners.

15 Major Maxwell MacKnight, "The Employment of Prisoners of War in the United States," International Labour Review, L (July, 1944), 54.

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money was paid to the federal government. T h e prisoners received only a portion of the pay (80 cents a d a y ) , which they could spend as they wished. T h e remainder went to the U.S. government to meet housing and food expenses for the prisoners. Following the w a r the United States agreed to pay $1.40 per day back pay to the Italian government for all its prisoners, which m e a n t that $2.20 was accepted as a day's wage.

After September 8, 1943, when Italy capitulated, Italian prisoners were given special privileges if willing to sign the Italian Service Unit parole agreement. T h e prisoners who still favored Mussolini's regime were considered regular prisoners of w a r and were treated accordingly, but those w h o signed were allowed to leave the camps, w e a r special uniforms which eliminated their previous P W status, work on farms and in defense industries, and have other privileges including weekend leaves.

Ruggerio Purin's story is an example of the Italians who came to U t a h after signing the parole agreement. H e was captured near Tunisia, Africa, early in J u n e of 1943. H e was transported to the United States where his first c a m p was Scottsbluff, Nebraska. M r . Purin reported that he was required to work h a r d in Nebraska where he picked sugar beets u p to twelve hours a day. After eight months Ruggerio was transferred to the Black Hills O r d i n a n c e Depot, Iglee, South Dakota. For a year he labored in the ammunition d u m p there. Early in 1945 he was transferred to C a m p Hill Field for a six-month stay. H e spent most of the time working in Salt Lake City at Fairmont Park where he met his future wife seventeen days before his return to Italy. M r . Purin is now an American citizen and evaluated his experience as a prisoner of war in this m a n n e r : I was treated better by the American Army than by my own Italian Army. I suffered while in the Italian Army. There were various times when I even had to beg for food from civilians in order to stay alive.

I remember returning home to Italy after the war was over. It was later that the girl I met in Salt Lake City came over to Italy and our marriage followed. I loved Italy and I wanted to stay there, but my wife wanted to return to live in the United States. I remember how humane my treatment was here as a prisoner of war. Otherwise I would

Prisoners of war working [n a potato field near Camp Preston, Idaho.

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never have returned to live in this country. I think this treatment is a credit to the United States, and as many people that are interested should know about it.16 RELIGION

Religious services were p e r m i t t e d within the individual camps, a n d prisoners enjoyed liberty in the exercise of their own faiths. Services were held by captured chaplains, ministers, a n d priests â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but primarily by American civilian ministers.

C a m p Hill Field's services were conducted by Catholic Priest M o n signor Giovanoni from St. M a r y ' s of the Wasatch. T h e c a m p was largely Italian a n d one h u n d r e d per cent Catholic.

C a m p O g d e n A S F Depot provided weekly Catholic and Protestant services. F a t h e r Giroux of St. Joseph's in O g d e n was in charge of the Catholic services. T h e evangelical services were performed by Pastor Clemens H a r m s of Brigham City. 17 I n 1945 Pastor H a r m s a n d his work were described by K a r l Almquist.

Pastor Harms belongs to the Missouri Synod and is himself a second generation American of German ancestry. I got a very good impression of his serious and industrious work in this and other camps [prisoner of war camps Clearfield and Bushnell General Hospital]. As he had a rather small congregation at Brigham, he was glad to have the opportunity of being useful in this special kind of work. After the service, he was accustomed to spending some time talking with the prisoners of war and they, on their side, seemed eager to grasp the opportunity to talk over their religious problems . . . . His quiet and fine character and his good manner of expressing his Christianity and human feelings were guarantees of nobility of spirit and trustfulness sincerely valued by the prisoners of war. 18

Pastor H a r m s ' s impact on the prisoners was such t h a t they remembered h i m with affection some twenty-two years after their confinement.

Most of the prisoners contacted by the authors mentioned him. But Pastor H a r m s ' s achievement has further m e a n i n g for the historian because he m a d e minimal records of his activity a m o n g U t a h ' s prisoners of war. H e invited the prisoners to sign a register a n d include their h o m e towns. These entries are w h a t the authors used to contact former prisoners of w a r living in Europe w h o told the story of the prisoners detained in U t a h a n d I d a h o . Pastor H a r m s recalled t h a t his first service for the 16

Interview with Ruggerio Purin, Midvale, Utah, February 7, 1965.

Pastor Harms is presently a Lutheran minister, Missouri Synod, South Dakota.

18 Karl Gustaf Almquist, YMCA inspector, "Report on Visit to Prisoner of War Camps, July 10, 1945" (PMGO, National Archives).

17

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prisoners was Christmas at Bushnell Hospital in Brigham City in 1944.

His work gradually expanded to include the ASF Depot in Ogden, the Naval Supply Depot in Clearfield, the compound and Bushnell Hospital in Brigham City, the prisoner of war branch camps at Tremonton and Logan, and for a short time a camp at Preston, Idaho. 19 Of his experience with the prisoners, Pastor Harms wrote: Throughout my work with the German prisoners, I was most cordially received by the American staff in charge. We conducted our services as we saw fit without any interference whatsoever. The camp personnel also was very cooperative in arranging times for worship so that all the camps could be served. The prisoners who attended the services were very appreciative. They were happy that they could receive spiritual ministration. I have very fond memories of the work done among the German prisoners of war. 20 MORALE AND

CONDUCT

The United States held all prisoners subject to its laws, regulations, and orders. All rules and regulations affecting prisoner conduct and activities were posted in their language. The Geneva convention stated that prisoners were not to be exposed to any cruel or inhumane treatment other than for misconduct.

At Fort Douglas guard personnel had particularly low morale, and this led to the recommendation that one hour per week be devoted to indoctrinating American Army personnel in proper conduct toward the prisoners in their charge. Officials stressed that every U.S. officer and enlisted man at a prisoner of war camp was an advertisement for democracy. The army personnel's duties and attitudes toward the prisoners could have a positive or negative effect on the prisoners.

Camp leaders throughout Utah and Idaho discovered that a variety of recreational opportunities, good classes, and frequent weekend leaves (for the Italians) lifted the morale of the prisoners and helped decrease security problems. It was not unusual for Italian prisoners to bribe guards to accompany them on leave to towns such as Ogden. This enabled the Italians to date girls and pursue other entertainment.

The progress of the war also had an adverse effect on the morale of the prisoners. News accounts of German casualties were so depressive to the prisoners that they were often censored by camp officials in an attempt to preserve high spirits.21 19

Letter from Pastor Clemens E. Harms to the author, July 26, 1966.

Ibid.

21 J. L. Kingsley, PMO inspector, "Report on Visit to Camp Fort Douglas Prisoner of War Camp, December 19-21, 1944" (PMGO, National Archives).

20

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Prisoner of war Gene Miconi described the morale and conduct problem. Born in Rome, Italy, in 1919, Gene was first captured at Tobruck, Africa, by the English and remained a prisoner for five years (1941â&#x20AC;&#x201D;46). He was interned in Suez, Egypt, and South Africa before being transferred to the United States.

He was an interpreter for the Ogden ASF Camp because of his knowledge of English. Mr. Miconi expressed his belief that many army personnel were unsympathetic toward the prisoners. He felt the guards preferred the opportunity to fight abroad and capture prisoners, rather than staying at home and doing the tedious job of guarding them.

Gene's morale was affected by his imprisonment when he became aware of the value of freedom. He waited impatiently for the day when he would once again be free.22 On July 10, 1945, a tragic incident occurred at Camp Salina. Private Clarence V. Bertucci, a twenty-three-year old guard at the camp, turned his machine gun into the camp area spraying prisoner tents with bullets. Eight prisoners were killed instantly (a ninth died the following day). Twenty prisoners were seriously wounded. Bertucci was taken immediately to Bushnell General Hospital where he admitted planning the killings but gave no plausible explanation for his action. He was later declared insane and given medical treatment. 23 Graveside services were held at Fort Douglas cemetery the following day for the slain prisoners. They were buried in the southeast corner near other German prisoners of war who died here in World War I. This incident was soon known throughout the entire region and occasioned a serious slip in morale.

As noted previously morale at the camp at Fort Douglas usually lagged behind that in the region generally. In part this was because the camp was a segregation camp for non-cooperative prisoners who evidenced subversive tendencies. Of conditions there Major Paul A. Newland reported: This camp is by its very nature composed to harbor only subversive elements. As such, its main intelligence problem should be to discover those prisoners of war who are not to be classified as subversive and get them to volunteer for unrestricted labor so that they can be transferred to working camps for non-commissioned officers. It was stressed that great care should be taken never to allow any subversive leader to be transferred to a working camp merely because he desires to volunteer for unrestricted 22 23

Interview with Gene Miconi, Ogden, U t a h , November 7, 1965.

Ogden Standard Examiner, July 11, 26, 1945.

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Utah Historical Quarterly labor, b u t t h a t only those w h o are a p p r o v e d as non-subversive by c a m p authorities should be allowed to v o l u n t e e r for such labor. 2 4

Major Newland stated that there was a feeling among the prisoners at Fort Douglas that all in life had failed them. Whatever happened to Germany in the war was divine judgment against them. Hoping to ease such feelings, pastors plead with the prisoners to keep in mind the word of God from Isaiah, stating "God have mercy upon us, forgive us for our sins." 25 At Camp Tooele general morale was good, but even here a guard fired a gun at a prisoner for refusing to obey a no smoking order while working. Tooele was typical of many other camps. A prisoner escaped by cutting holes through a lower portion of the double fence and ran approximately five hundred feet, but returned on his own accord. The camp report at Tooele includes a reflection on this event that such an escape could be attributed to the barbed-wire psychosis that compels a man to break out; yet he usually returns after a brief flirt with freedom.26 Sture Persson noted while visiting Camp Rupert that some prisoners in camp blamed the occupying powers in Germany for the war. The only guilt such prisoners seemed to feel was that Germany had lost.

Persson's answer to them was that hatred and discouragement should not gain a foothold in their minds. "It should be clear by now that hatred never builds up anything better," he said.27 A former Italian war prisoner who presently calls America home is Mario Alfredo Alfonsi. H e was enthusiastic about his imprisonment in America. America made a very favorable impression on him. Mario was taken prisoner while aboard the Italian submarine Glanco in November 1940 when it was torpedoed by the British almost two hundred miles from Gibraltar. From that time through January 14, 1946, he was a prisoner of war. He was sent along with five or six hundred other prisoners to the United States â&#x20AC;&#x201D; first to Tennessee, then Kansas, and finally Utah.

Mario Alfonsi related that while in the custody of Great Britain he was interrogated once every day for information. In the United States he was required only to give his name, rank, and serial number. Mario felt 24 Major Paul A. Newland, P M O inspector, " R e p o r t on Visit to C a m p Fort Douglas Prisoner of W a r C a m p , February 17, 1945" ( P M G O , National Archives).

25

Ibid.

D . L. Schwieger, P M O inspector, "Report on Visit to C a m p Tooele Prisoner of W a r C a m p , J a n u a r y 24, 1944" ( P M G O , National Archives).

27 Sture Persson, Y M C A inspector, "Report on Visit to C a m p R u p e r t Prisoner of W a r C a m p , M a r c h 1946" ( P M G O , National Archives).

26

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that treatment while in the custody of the United States was very fair, which meant good food and clothing with warm, adequate living conditions. His only complaints were that the barracks were overcrowded and that he could never become accustomed to the fence surrounding the prison camp. Although he is now an American citizen, Mario said he will always possess a love for his homeland. Mario felt that the fair treatment he had received while imprisoned in the United States was in large measure responsible for his shift of allegiance to the democratic system.28 Obviously prisoners of war who chose to return to Utah to live must have had favorable impressions of their internment. Those cited in this study are but a portion of the ex-prisoners now living in Utah and Idaho.

The U.S. government and YMCA reports cited were also generally favorable. In order to establish a control by which these findings might be evaluated, an attempt was made to obtain testimonies from prisoners who returned to Europe. They might be more candidly critical. Pastor Harms's roll book was the key to success in this undertaking. The German government, Bureau for Notification of Relatives of Fallen Military Personnel, sifted several hundred names and provided a list of fifty-one addresses which they thought might be the men who were prisoners in Utah and Idaho. A questionnaire was prepared and sent to each. Thirty28

Interview with Mario Alfredo Alfonsi, Ogden, Utah, November 7, 1965.

Italian Service Unit officers and enlisted men say goodbye to friends Ogden ASF Depot as they board the train for the first lap of their journey back to Italy.

at the

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three were returned as unknown. However, ten returned their forms verifying their presence in Utah and Idaho during the war and offering considerable information.

In general the responses from Germany are strongly corraborative of the evidence gathered in this country. Like the documents and interviews collected here, they do not report a clean slate. They all said they were required to work and three stated they were forced to do so. Their work days usually lasted from eight to ten hours. Seven reported laboring six days a week with one reporting a seven-day week. One prisoner reported that he was not paid, while the other nine said they received the 80 cents per day standard allotment. The responding ex-prisoners of war rated living conditions all the way from mediocre to excellent. The general concensus regarding food was that the quality was much better during the war than after it was over. One prisoner reported being brutally handled while in the United States, and two said they saw others handled inhumanely while on European soil. The remaining few did not record any such instances. All but one were interrogated, but only two said they were asked for more than their name, rank, and serial number. Most recalled they were allowed to write and receive mail at least once a month. Six of the ten men said their experience as prisoners of war in the United States influenced their impression of America positively. Three men reported no change in their previous opinion. One felt more negative about America after his imprisonment here.

Gerhard Granit appended this favorable comment: As you can see from my answers to your questions, I can only report positively concerning m y stay as a prisoner of w a r in the U.S.A. I was in Tucson, Arizona, from October 1944 until February 1945, where I was picking cotton a n d then I was transferred to Bushnell, U t a h , where I worked from February 1945 until July 1946. I n both places the treatm e n t was good. I can especially praise the time in the hospital. I worked there as a cook a n d I often forgot t h a t I was actually a prisoner. I had very good contact with the civilians working there and I received the same quality of housing a n d food as the patients and the U . S . Army personnel.

Also, I can well remember the visits of Pastor H a r m s at our worship services. H e m a d e a large contribution toward the comfort and enjoyment of our pleasant stay.

The most critical report stated: While America and G e r m a n y were still at w a r the t r e a t m e n t in the United States was good. T h e original guards were orderly. I attribute this to the fact t h a t these were soldiers from the front. Immediately after the war ended the food became miserable a n d the treatment declined considerably.

Before we gathered in C a m p Schenk for return transportation to Europe the care improved. T h e return trip from C a m p Schenk to Le H a r v e

Prisoners of War in Utah and Idaho

71

was catastrophic. One-third of my comrades arrived undernourished.

M y greatest disappointment after the trip was the c a m p in Bakenhausen

by Aschaffenburg. T h e c o m m a n d e r was a Jewish-American intelligence officer. H e played beastly tricks on the prisoners. Until then my impressions of America a n d Americans were very good, but he completely u n d i d them.

Another prisoner simply stated: President Roosevelt wanted the G e r m a n prisoners of war to be treated as guests of the United States. A n d that is w h a t happened. 2 9

Prisoners began to be sent to their homes with the end of the war, in accordance with War Department plans that every prisoner be returned to his own country. Italian and German prisoners would be replaced with American workers at the earliest possible date.

It should be borne in mind that prisoner of war camps in Utah and Idaho were only a representation of two states out of the forty-eight.

These camps were constructed and supervised to comply with War Department instructions to follow explicitly the regulations of the Geneva convention of 1929.

The base camps were generally able to follow the rules provided.

However, facilities, especially in the branch camps, were not always adequate. The branch camps, as previously stated, were rapidly constructed at locations to provide local citizens a pertinent labor force. Textbooks, teachers, clothing, heating units, recreation equipment, etc., were not always available at these camps.

The United States government used prisoners to alleviate the acute labor shortage on the home front. More prisoners could likely have been utilized in labor projects; however, the savings in time and money to the people in Utah and Idaho were considerable. The German prisoners were not allowed to mingle with the civilian population as much as the Italians who had signed the ISU pledge. Even though prisoners of war, these men made many friends that even remoteness will never erase. The supervision accorded the prisoners by the U.S. Army and Navy personnel was a definite factor in the prisoners' attitude toward the democratic system. It was evident that the German and Italian men had been subjected to much propaganda by the Hitler and Mussolini regimes. No doubt democracy was a surprise to some of these men. The people in Utah and Idaho played a part in presenting the democratic system to these men.

29 All of the responses to the authors questionnaire are in the German-Italian Prisoners Correspondence File in the archives of U t a h State University.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

In general the record of the Utah and Idaho prisoner of war camps was good. They adhered with certain failures to the standards established by international law and the War Department. Most prisoners were humanely and justly dealt with. Work expectations were within limits and spiritual, educational, and recreational opportunities were usually adequate. The conduct of guards, advisers, work directors, and the citizenship at large was, with the exception of the unfortunate and deplorable Camp Salina incident, not marked with undue hostility. A primary objective of the U.S. camps had been to reveal the democratic process in progress. Without question there were failures in this attempt, but these were sufficiently rare that the very men who were imprisoned became sympathetic chroniclers of their sojourn.30 It is the judgment of the authors that the conduct of the camps of Utah and Idaho was in the main, a humane and successful endeavor.

30 U.S., Congress, Congressional Record, 80th Cong., 1st sess., 1947, 4 1 , pt. i. Official records of the United States claim that only 960 of the 435, 788 prisoners of war died while interned in the United States.

I n the southeast corner of the Fort Douglas cemetery is a section for the graves of World W a r I I prisoners of war. H e r e are buried twenty Germans, twelve Italians, a n d one Japanese. Twenty-one G e r m a n prisoners of World W a r I are buried in a n o t h e r p a r t of the cemetery. (Information from the Salt Lake Tribune Home Magazine, M a y 27, 1962.)

REVIEWSAND PUBLICATIONS

The Farm Boy and the Angel. By CARL GARMER. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970.

237 pp. $5.95) Carl Carmer is a professional teller of tales who recreates and embellishes the salty folklore of rural eastern America, occasionally concentrating on a story with the imperishable quality of legend.

It is not surprising that he should finally have elected to write about Joseph Smith, for Carmer was born and raised, as he tells us in the Foreword, in the drumlin country of western New York, the area now regarded by the Mormons as their "Holy Land." The title itself, The Farm Boy and the Angel, suggesting simplicity if not sentimentality, is a clue to Carmer's approach. The difficulty is that the story of Joseph Smith and his church is far too complex and controversial to be confined to a slim box of anecdote.

Carmer tells us that he himself, like Joseph Smith, lay on his back at fourteen in a leafy grove, "listening to voices riding the tremulous air, and felt a sense of supernatural presences about me. Hence I cannot find within me a reason categorically to deny that the man whom more than two millions of his fellows regard as a true prophet received revelations which he said had been offered from a divine source."

Thus in his second paragraph one already senses the ambiguity that permeates this slender, contradictory, and frequently exasperating volume. "Wher-

ever possible," he continues, " I have chosen not to enter the field of controversy over the truth or falsehood of events which have been said to transcend human experience. Since to do otherwise would completely destroy the purpose of this volume, I have decided to present these chronicles, mostly without comment, as Mormons themselves present them."

So we have a non-Mormon telling the story as seen through the eyes of the devout. Unfortunately, Carmer represents the devout as remarkably simple-minded. T h e telling is glib, error-ridden, patronizing in the extreme, and the impressive bibliography is wholly unreflected in the narrative.

Since the book is clearly aimed at the Mormon market, it may sell to those who are happy to read anything by a Gentile that is advertised as sympathetic. But even the most unreflective Mormon will find the episodes hackneyed, superficial, and lacking the grandeur their own writers give to the same slice of history.

The non-Mormon will find Carmer's account no less patronizing. Except for a cautionary note now and then to alert the reader that he is recounting Mormon tradition, not believing it, Carmer wanders from episode to episode like a garrulous grandfather at afiresideembellishing the adventures of his youth.

The infinite complications of Joseph Smith's personality and the remarkable expansion of the sociological empire he generated are never even suggested.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

T h e r e is in this slight volume n o analysis, a n d n o insight; there is also, alas, no history.

F A W N M.

BRODIE

Senior Lecturer in History University of California, Los Angeles Folklore of the Great West: Selections from Eighty-three Years of the Journal of American Folklore.

Edited with extensive commentary by J O H N G R E E N W A Y . (Palo Alto, California: American West Publishing Company, 1969. 453 p p . $10.75) I n Folklore of the Great West, J o h n Greenway, former University of Denver professor of English, wit, raconteur, recording folk singer, traveler-to-the-antipodes, a n d current professor of a n t h r o pology at the University of Colorado, does a lyrically impressive editing job.

T h e r e are a few errors of scholarship, a n d there are a few occasions of cuteness, but these let us w a r m to the m a n a n d book. T h e y d o not alienate.

I n the 1950s J o h n Greenway was an important m e m b e r of one of the three or four very finest folklore faculties in the United States. Indeed, the University of Denver was something of a pioneer in this field of scholarship, and Greenway, A r t h u r C a m p a , a n d the gentle Levette Davidson (whom Greenway acknowledges with a loving tribute in this fine volume) began to attract young folklore scholars to that campus.

Greenway left Denver for Australia a n d a Fulbright, a n d in the course of time became editor of the Journal of American Folklore. I n this capacity he developed a perspective on the evolution of the Journal that m a d e Folklore of the Great West possible.

T h e reader should understand that the subtitle means what it says. T h e book does indeed develop from articles t h a t have appeared throughout the eighty-three-year life of the Journal.

O n e would like to quarrel with the title

on these very grounds, for there are other journals — Western Folklore, Northwest Folklore — that have p u b lished articles about the Great West, some as fine as the best of the J.A.F. However, Greenway's strategy as stated in the subtitle allows h i m to do as he wishes, a n d one can only hope that a good editor will d o for these other journals a similar job of editing and commentary and t h a t a second good book can be done on the Great West.

Nine substantive chapters follow an excellent introductory chapter ( excepting a questionable scholarly asseveration) : " T h e Good O l d Days," " T h e I n d i a n at H o m e , " " T h e I n d i a n and the White M a n , " "Cowboy Songs," "Songs of the Old Country," "Songs of the N e w , " " T h e Days of Gold and the Days of Dross," "Bad M e n a n d Big," " W h i p pers a n d Witches a n d Heavenly Helpers," a n d " H a v i n g F u n . " I t is possible to d o a lyrical editing job. As a m a t t e r of interest, J o h n Greenway and Roger Welsch (A Treasury of Nebraska Pioneer Folklore, University of Nebraska, 1966) have both assembled treasuries of material, demonstrating superbly t h a t collections of lore need not be insipidly done. T u r n to page 410 of the Greenway book a n d read his prose: " O n e is suffused with love for h u m a n beings, the only creature on the earth that has to consider his own inevitable end a n d the hardships of the road in getting there, when one is permitted to see the poor h u m a n being through the chinks in the a r m o r he wears against the world — whether it be the Amish in black suit, hat, a n d beard, or the fat m a n in the dark glasses and the H a waiian shirt. We are all h u m a n beings, God help us, a n d t h a t is both bad enough a n d good enough to say for any of God's creatures."

But it must in fairness be pointed out t h a t Greenway errs occasionally.

Certainly his position that folklore is a product of enclaves of the culturally unique will be challenged by those who

Reviews and

Publications

find folklore even in the organization man's homogenized suburbia. The urban belief tale might be offered as evidence by those who oppose Greenway's claim.

Again he errs in Chapter V, "Cowboy Songs," when he states "Only that narrow and desolate corridor running along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains knew the genuine working cowboy." This is just not accurate. It is true that the cattle industry there has been written about more extensively than elsewhere, but writing and the realities diverge sharply at this point.

One could cite the Miller-Lux operation extending from the central valley of California up through Nevada and into Oregon nearly as far north as the Columbia River â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "a million acres and a million head of cattle," or the FrenchGlenn holdings of Harney County, Oregon, over 120,000 deeded acres and claim to perhaps twice that amount.

Cattle drives from Harney and Malheur counties of Oregon to Oglalla, Nebraska, were most important to eastern Oregon economy. Thousands of Devonshire and Durham cattle made up these drives.

Several of the reviewer's authentic cowboy informants would take sharp issue with Greenway's statement that "the cowboy was technically a hobo, one notch above the tramp." By whose technology? And he seems woefully unaware that under a pair of chaps the working cowboy wore trousers: "Monstrous great chaps with a gap in front that demanded the re-invention of the codpiece for the sake of decency" (p.

180). Indeed! The gap behind was even greater.

But perhaps this cuteness annoys only Idahoans, who know that Woop Woop is not in the Gem State but belongs down under and mildly resent the condescension that ties a nonsense place to their state ("lists of profound sayings . . . from Woop Woop, Idaho" p. 60).

Altogether the book is a happy marriage between Professor Greenway's

75 knowledge and delightful prose and the work of collectors who have enriched the lives of all of us now that their articles have been restored to life.

L O U I E W.

ATTEBERY

Chairman, Department of English The College of Idaho, Caldwell

Negroes in the Early West. By OLIVE W. BURT. Illustrated by LORENCE F. B J O R K L U N D . (New York: Julian Messner, 1969. 96pp. $3.95) A variety of books about American blacks have been published during the past few years. An encouraging number of these books are for young readers, and represent a positive step to broaden the history horizons of the nation's youth. It has been said that the history of a nation is a composite of the stories of her people. Olive Burt has written about people of the early West who were explorers, mountain men, founders of cities, businessmen, soldiers, and cowboys. Some of these men and women came to the West as free people while others arrived as slaves. The biographies in Mrs. Burt's book are representative of other blacks who made the West their home, but who are among the "non-people" of history â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is, they left no written records of their actions, hopes, and accomplishments.

It is unfortunate that chroniclers of the past too often neglected to record the deeds of blacks, or if they did, resorted to rather undescriptive phrases like, "He was a just man." Sometimes we find better descriptions like Washington Irving's comments about mountain man Edward Rose. He called Rose a man "of powerful frame and fearless spirit." All too often, however, the meager records only let us know that the black man existed; they do not tell much about the person. Mrs. Burt has done a fine job of searching out information about her subjects and pre-

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senting this in a readable, interesting way.

The book relates stories of blacks who had different backgrounds. Some had little schooling while others, like William Alexander Liedesdorff, were well educated. The stories of black cowboys and soldiers present a view of the West unknown to many as the mass media have most often portrayed these people as being only white. The story of James P. Beckwourth is an important part of the chapter on mountain men. His biography, it should be noted, has also been presented in book-length form by Mrs. Burt. The final chapter of this useful book tells of women like Mammy Pleasant, Biddy Mason, and Mary Fields who made their special contributions to the development of the western frontier.

Books like Negroes in the Early West are important not only because of the information they contain, but because of the direction they point. Perhaps readers who learn of the contributions of individuals through reading these pages will be led to discover similar stories in their own communities.

Teachers and students alike should appreciate both the helpful index and the believeable illustrations.

HOWARD KANETZKE

Editor Badger History Office of Museum Education The State Historical Society of Wisconsin Pioneering the Union Pacific: A Reappraisal of the Builders of the Railroad.

By

CHARLES

EDGAR

AMES.

(New York: Appleton - Century Crofts, Educational Division, Meredith Corporation, 1969. xvii + 591 pp. $12.00) The centennial of the first transcontinental railroad produced a veritable spate of books about the history of that great project. Now that many of the ceremonies are concluded we can look

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back on the literature which the celebrations stimulated with some satisfaction, for collectively the new publications do expand our knowledge of the vast problems accompanying one of the greatest American transportation projects of the nineteenth century. This volume is one of the dozens that appeared in 1969 which contribute to a deeper understanding of the Union Pacific's early history.

Charles Edgar Ames, the author, is a direct descendant of the Ames brothers who in 1869 were major stockholders in the Union Pacific and who became famous (or infamous) as promoters of the Credit Mobilier the construction company that financed the completion of the Union Pacific. Himself a Wall Street broker and railroad director in addition to being an amateur historian, Mr. Ames understands the intricacies of corporate finance and is extremely sympathetic to management's point of view. It is not surprising, therefore, that in this book Mr. Ames seeks to justify the actions of his relatives, Oakes and Oliver Ames, who have been severely criticized by historians and by their contemporaries for conflicts of interest or even outright corruption. In formulating his defense, Mr. Ames is especially severe on their dynamic business rival, Thomas Durant, clearly the dominant executive in the higher echelons of the Union Pacific during the construction phase. If the author succeeds in clarifying the motives of the Ames brothers in their various decisions, he is not as effective in denigrating the role of Durant who still appears as the major figure for good or ill in the building of the transcontinental railway.

The prime value of this volume is its emphasis on the specific business problems and financial decisions faced by the builders of the Union Pacific. Much of this information is not new and has long been available in scattered sources.

But Mr. Ames has brought it together

Reviews and Publications and so provides a more comprehensive account of the railroad's business problems than has hitherto been available.

This is a rather lengthy study, in part because it consists of long excerpts from a variety of sources, presented in chronological sequence. One wonders whether the author could have presented his major conclusions in a shorter and more concise and analytical format. Perhaps then his presentation would have been more effective, and might have attracted a larger number of readers as well.

It should be noted that Mr. Ames has been very diligent in his search for sources. He has combed manuscripts of the Ames family, of Thomas Durant, and of Grenville Dodge; he has searched newspapers and periodicals; and he has consulted congressional documents and reports. Moreover, he has kept himself abreast of available secondary works so as to assure the soundness of his own. This is not a book for the casual reader. But anyone wishing a clearer and more realistic understanding of the financial issues confronting the Union Pacific's management between 1863 and 1893 will find it useful.

GERALD D. N A S H

Professor of History University of New Mexico The Great Platte River Road: The Covered Wagon Mainline Via Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie. By MERRILL J. MATTES. (Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1969. xv + 583 pp. $7.95) As the title indicates, this volume constitutes a report of a very carefully and thoroughly researched study of that segment of the major overland trail between the Missouri River and Fort Laramie, as that trail was developed and used during the great westward overland migration prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

All scholars of the American West are well aware of the significance of the

77 "Oregon Trail" in the development of our country but most will be happily surprised to realize how many segments of that great trail, at one time or another, crossed portions of present-day Kansas and Nebraska, from various points on the Missouri, to the Platte River before funneling up both sides of that stream to comprise the great transMississippi wagon road.

Source material for the work consists chiefly of personal diaries, journals, and reminiscences of those who actually traversed the route. In the main those migrating people are allowed to tell their own story at various points along the trail. More that eight hundred primary sources and over four pages of secondary sources are listed in the bibliography. Of special value is the fact that the present locations of the primary sources are listed; an invaluable aid for researchers. This feature alone would make the volume worthwhile.

The book contains a great deal of statistical information such as a chronology of the route between the years 1804 to 1866, "the last significant year of civilian travel by wagons up the Platte River." Included in this chronology is a valuable bibliographical report of the major sources dealing with specific years. The total number of persons estimated to have traversed the trail between 1841 and 1866 is given as 350,000 with the year 1850 leading out with 55,000 persons. Description of equipment, organization, provisions, camping, and other aspects of the migration add value to the volume. Special attention is given to important segments of the road such as Ash Hollow, Fort Kearny, Scott's Bluffs, Fort Laramie, etc.

The book is generously illustrated with contemporary sketches as well as modern photographs, several by the author. Of special value is a series of excellent maps showing in detail various portions of the route.

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Utah Historical

At first glance the reader might be disappointed to note that the study terminates at Fort Laramie, but upon further examination it becomes obvious that to give the same type of comprehensive treatment to the various major roads to the west, and especially west of South Pass, would require several additional volumes. O n the other hand interested scholars are challenged to undertake similar studies on those other trails. The present volume provides future scholars with an excellent format and an invaluable bibliography. It is a major contribution to the literature of the West.

DAVID E. MILLER

Director, Western History Center University of Utah Salt Lake City A Mormon Mother, An Autobiography.

By A N N I E CLARK T A N N E R . (Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 1969. xiv4-294 pp. $6.00) Written in her seventy-seventh year, this story of a second wife, who was also a child of a second wife, is remarkable in that it spans the years from the 1860s to the 1940s. Annie is involved in the great changes that took place in Utah and in the L.D.S. church. Though of special interest to Mormon scholars, this book should be read by anyone wishing a better understanding of polygamy and its special problems before and after the Manifesto.

Annie grew up in a happy, prosperous polygamous household, and it was easy for her to defend this institution to classmates and visitors at Brigham Young University where she was a student. In doing so, she came to the attention of Professor Joseph Marion Tanner, and she was honored when he asked her to become his second wife.

Being married to the man who later became president of Utah Agricultural College meant that she had to live a secluded life rearing her eight children.

Quarterly

She did have one exciting year in Cambridge while her husband was a student at Harvard, even though she had to threaten to fast indefinitely before he would provide proper housing and promise to spend every other Sunday with her family.

Almost half of the book is composed of quotations from her diary and letters to and from her husband and children.

They give intimate pictures of the times, the hopes, and the frustrations of Annie and the children and indicate something of the relationship between husband and wife. In looking back on these times Annie commented, "I was undoubtedly a better mother than I was a wife or I could have forsaken all I had and gone to Canada." By this time Mr. Tanner had purchased a large farm in Canada and taken three additional wives. The children took turns working on the farm during the summer, but because of crop failures they always worked for nothing. As time went on Annie could see the farm coming between her children and the educational goals she had set for them. She not only discouraged her children from working in Canada but refused to sell her beautiful home, built with the inheritance from her father, and turn the proceeds into the Canada farm. This was the breaking point in alreadystrained relations. Annie was then cut off from any financial help and left to educate her children alone. She and the children worked and succeeded. Of that time she wrote, "Strange to say, however, we never felt poor. Perhaps because we received no sympathy, as no one ever knew our condition. Then, too, we came and went from a very lovely home . . . . The children's success was my single source of satisfaction. I lived and worked to give them every available opportunity. Their success was all I had."

During the later years of her life, Annie traveled and studied as she visited her children. By the time she wrote her

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79

book, she h a d come to follow reason more than faith. I n her writings she was able to bring her life experience into perspective, revealing the values as well as the problems of polygamy as she knew it.

Anyone interested in reading about the life of a second wife will delight in this autobiography.

M A R I A S.

ELLSWORTH

Logan,

Utah

The American Heritage Book of Great Adventures of the Old West. C o m piled by the Editors of American Heritage. Introduction by ARCHIBALD H A N N A , J R . (New York: American Heritage Press, [1969]. 384pp. $8.95) T h e editors of this volume have selected twenty articles originally p u b lished in American Heritage to describe the old West as it was a n d to "partially correct the false view of the West that is still too widely held." T h e old West as it is described in this book is the trans-Mississippi West of the U n i t e d States during the nineteenth century.

T h e articles cover the frontier experience from Lewis a n d Clark to the last range wars a n d t h e last days of Geronimo. T h e m a n y well-chosen illustrations are helpful in making each article interesting.

T h e selections vary in excellence with "Gold" by R a l p h Andrist a n d " O r d e a l in Hells C a n y o n " by Alvin M . Josephy, Jr., ranking high in both readability a n d historical accuracy. T h e r e are a few points of misinterpretation and fact that should be n o t e d : the W h i t m a n massacre of November 1847 was not the major motivation behind Polk's desire to settle the Oregon b o u n d a r y (p. 169) as the boundary h a d been settled in 1846; the Nauvoo T e m p l e built by the M o r m o n s was burned in 1848 not 1846 (p. 172) ; the American I n d i a n was not originally considered a citizen u n d e r the Fourteenth A m e n d m e n t (p. 329) ; and in comparing the D o n n e r party of 1846

with the Stevens party of 1844, the Donners were also i m p o r t a n t trailbreakers (p. 140).

T h e book provides enjoyable reading a n d is often exciting. T h e cure for a severe snake bite is described as pouring g u n p o w d e r on a bite a n d then lighting it. Childbirth could be eased a n d hastened by administering a spoonful of powdered rattlesnake rattles. T h e editors have m a d e a contribution in placing all of the articles under one cover.

R I C H A R D W.

Assistant

This Was Pioneer Motoring: An of Nostalgic Automemorabilia.

ROBERT

F.

SADLER

Professor of History Weber State College

KAROLEVITZ.

Album By

(Seattle:

Superior Publishing Company, 1968.

192 p p . $12.95) I t m a y be assumed t h a t before World W a r I I there was little interest in the automobile in this country, as few books a n d fewer magazines could be found devoted to the subject. Since 1944, however, the long-smoldering love affair of Americans for the automobile has burst into a passionate romance that has spawned h u n d r e d s of books, several magazines of wide circulation, a n d m o r e t h a n two dozen national clubs dedicated to collecting the history, operation, a n d restoration of automobiles. These clubs have thousands of devoted members a n d local chapters across the country.

M a n y otherwise rational people list " a n t i q u e automobiles" as their hobbies.

Robert F. Karolevitz, a journeyman printer a n d serious farmer, has collected h u n d r e d s of photographs of t h e "olden days," a n d preserved them in entertaining albums. His previous books are Newspapers in the Old West, This Was Trucking, a n d Doctors of the Old West.

His latest volume has to do with a u t o mobiles, a n d begins with a succinct quotation from William F. H a r r a h : "Few material things have been as i m p o r t a n t

80 to America as the automobile. The manufacture of the automobile was the root of our industrial growth, and for decades now it has been the central support of our economy. We are all tied to the automobile by history, by business, by emotion. The automobile deserves to be preserved and remembered."

That Mr. Harrah believes what he preaches is proven by his collection of more than one thousand beautifullyrestored old cars. The Harrah Auto Collection in Reno is open to the public, and is well worth a few hours stopover on the drive from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, even if you have not been stung by the automotive love bug.

Aloof and disinterested wives of seriously afflicted husbands can be found evidencing considerable interest in Mr. Harrah's magnificent collection.

Author Karolevitz, in applying Mr. H a r r a h ' s automobilian philosophy, treats the reader, as well as the casual page-flipper, to a merry trip down memory lane.

He points out that the book is not intended to be an all-encompassing history of motorized transportation, but is simply a book of nostalgia. The main purpose is to preserve some excellent old photographs which epitomize the era of transition from animal to mechanical power. Words can little embellish a picture of a Brush Runabout mired axle-deep in a muddy morass called a highway.

A picture of particular interest to Utahns shows a hard-tired, open-air bus loaded with fans sporting University of Utah penants en route to a football game.

The chapters of the book carry intriguing titles, including: "What On Earth Will We Call It?" "Old Dobbin Gets A Final Horselaugh," "What's Your Hurry, Bud?" and "At Work And At War." Also included is a page of slogans of long gone and nearly forgotten autos.

Utah Historical

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Among them: Severin — "Faithful To The End Of The Road"; Bates — "Buy A Bates And Keep Your Dates"; and Marmon —• "The Easiest Riding Car In The World." In this ecological day the slogan of the Waverly Electric reminds us that we have probably come the full circle: "No Dirt, No Odor, No Grease, No Bother."

The only fault I found in the book is the practice of including the credit line immediately after the copy of each picture. This is rather distracting. The source of the photos could possibly better be listed on one page near the back of the book.

The book is a love letter of interest to all, and especially those whose hearts beat faster when looking at pictures of the first faltering excursions of horseless carriages.

STANFORD P. DARGER

Repesentative Utah State House of Representatives The Study of American Folklore, An Introduction. By JAN HAROLD BRUNVAND. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1968. xiii+ 383 pp. $6.50) In recent years interest in folklore has mushroomed. More and more people, feeling that the best study of mankind is man, seek to save from the experience of the race all that is worth saving. Jan Brunvand's book, The Study of American Folklore, provides for beginning researchers the basic terms, definitions, theories, and functions of the study of folklore. Brunvand has attempted to do in a volume an encyclopedic task reminiscent of Samuel Johnson's in writing the first standard dictionary of the English language. And he has done an eminently successful job. A person embarking on a study of folklore or history should read the book. He will get concepts of the scope of folklore, definitions of terms, and ideas for application of his work — and he will be enlightened.

Reviews and Publications Folklorists will not all agree with Brunvand in his definitions or his emphasis. T h e many actors I have seen present Hamlet rarely please me, for I have my own concept of Hamlet.

In his book Brunvand divides folklore into three basic headings: "Verbal Folklore," "Partial Verbal Folklore," and "Non-Verbal Folklore." This dissection, if followed in folklore collecting may very well kill the victim. In the section on verbal folklore is one chapter "Folksong" and another "Ballads" which separatism gives the impression that ballads are not folksongs. In the section on partial verbal folklore is one chapter on "Folk Dances and Drama" and another "Folk Games," separating again items generically connected. Under nonverbal folklore is a chapter "Folk Music." It is a well-established fact that folksong is a unique combination of lyric, epic, and dramatic elements, that a ballad or folksong of any type should not be separated from its various elements, especially from its music.

In the same vein Brunvand lists superstition as partly verbal. He should not separate the act of not walking under a ladder from verbal expression of the action. Observing this act of divorcement of element from element makes me want to say, "What God has put together let no man put asunder."

This fault of dissection could have been corrected through different organization.

But this fault does not destroy the usefulness of the book. It even serves well to establish the truth that folklore includes all folkways including actions, artifacts, and behavior patterns. T h e book remains the best introduction to folklore available. Well written with definitions and illustrations, with generalizations and details to support them, it is both interesting and informative. Bibliographical supplements provide exceedingly good sources for further reading.

The sample studies in the Appendix show significant ways in which folklore

81 can be applied. This is good; yet, these samples should not be considered the only significant methods of application of folklore studies. Historical, sociological, anthropological, ethnic, artistic, literary, political, behavioristic, and other applications could not all be presented in an introduction.

In this work Brunvand proves himself a m a n of great stature in the field of American folklore.

T H O M A S E. C H E N E Y

Brigham

Professor of English Young University

N E W B O O K S AND P U B L I C A T I O N S The Arapahoes,

Our People.

By VIR(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970)

GINIA C O L E T R E N H O L M .

Birthright of Barbed Wire: The Santa Anita Assembly Center for the Japanese.

By A N T H O N Y

(Los Angeles: 1970)

L.

LEHMAN.

Westernlore

Press,

1894-1964, 75 Years, National Register of Historical Sights [Washington Square, Salt Lake City and County Building]. History furnished by N E W ELL G. K N I G H T . ([Salt Lake City: N.P., 1970]) Happy Day: Life and Times of Edward I. Rich, MD., 1868-1969. By EZRA J. POULSEN. (Salt Lake City: Granite Publishing Company, 1970) John Hunton's Diary, Wyoming Territory, 1885-1889. Volume 6. Edited by the late L. G. ( P A T ) FLANNERY. (Glendale, California: T h e Arthur H. Clark Company, 1970) Western Mining: An Informal Account of Precious-Metals Prospecting, Placering, Lode Mining, and Milling on the American Frontier From Spanish Times

to 1893.

By O T I S E. YOUNG,

JR. With the Technical Assistance of ROBERT L E N O N .

(Norman: Univer-

sity of Oklahoma Press, 1970)

82

Utah Historical

ARTICLES OF INTEREST The American West, The Magazine of Western History — V I I , September 1970: "An Emigrants' Guide for Women Making the Necessary Preparations for the Arduous Five-Month Journey along the Oregon Trail," by TERRY B R O W N , 12ff.; "Song of Man, A Prologue to History," by CHARLES L. CAMP, 19-23; "Spurs and Saddlebags, Ballads of the Cowboy," by A U S T I N and ALTA F I F E , 44-47 — N o v e m b e r 1970: " T h e Morrisite War, Insurrection by a Self-styled Prophet," by M. H A M L I N

CANNON,

4ff.

Annals of Wyoming — 42, October 1970: "Wives, Mothers, Daughters: Women's Life on the Road West," by ROBERT

L.

MUNKRES,

191-224;

"Practical Housekeeping [published in 1886 — portions of two chapters entitled " T h e Laundry" and "The Cellar and Ice-House"]," 243-51 Arizona and the West: A Quarterly Journal of History — 11, Autumn, 1969: "Washoe Territory, Rudimentary Government in Nevada [Mormons and Mormonism in Nevada],"

by K E N T D. RICHARDS, 213-32 — Autumn 1970: "A Dedication to the Memory of Zane Grey, 1872-1939,"

by RICHARD W. ETULAIN, 217-20 Arizona Highways — 7, July 1970: "Navajo Country, Arizona, U.S.A.,"

by J o JEFFERS B R O W N ,

2-47

Buckskin Bulletin — V, Fall 1970: "Another 'First' for Jed Smith [John Vincent Mason oil hung in the Westerner International's Hall of Frontier Fame — No. 1 in W I Hall of Frontier Fame]," 1 The Bulletin — X V I I , October 1970: "Importuning for Redress [Mormons in Missouri]," by WARREN A. J E N NINGS,

15-29

The Chronicles of Oklahoma — X L V I I I , Summer 1970: "Auguste Pierre Chouteau, Merchant Prince

Quarterly

at the Three Forks of the Arkansas,"

by W A Y N E M O R R I S , 155-63 Colorado Magazine-—47, Spring 1970: "Crusade of the Blue Banner in Colorado [Presbyterian church in the West]," by NORMAN J. BENDER, 9 1 -

118; " T h e Impact of the Colorado State Constitution on Rocky Mountain Constitution Making," by GORDON M. B A K K E N , 152-75 Desert Magazine—33, September 1970: "In Memory of 'Mr. Desert' [Randall Henderson]," by JACK PEPPER, 7; "Grafton, U t a h , " by ERNIE COWAN,

10-11; "Gold Lake . . . Fact or Fantasy [Caleb Greenwood]," by H E L E N WALKER,

16-17 — October

1970:

"Sagacious Sage Grouse," by K. L. BOYNTON, 12-15; "Tracing the Trilobites, A Utah Field Trip," by JOLEEN ROBISON, 28-31 — 34, January 1971: "Arches in Navajoland," by BILL KNYVETT, photos by BILL CRAWLEY, 22-24 Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought—V, Summer 1970: "Cache Valley Landscape [photographs]," by DAVID

BIEDERMANN,

34—40;

"Art,

Beauty and Country Life in Utah,"

by ELIZABETH SPRANG, 58-70; "The Conversion of Sidney Rigdon to Mormonism," by F. M A R K

MCKIERNAN,

71-78 The Improvement Era — 73, October 1970: "Kirtland Revisited," by D R .

G. D A L E W E I G H T and D R . EARL

MORTENSEN, 4 - 8 ; "The

M.

Instructor,

A Voice of Truth for 105 Years, 1866-1970," by LORIN F. W H E E L WRIGHT,

16—19 — November

1970:

"The Improvement Era — The Voice of the Church (1897-1970)," by DOYLE L. GREEN, 12ff. — December

1970: "Sixty-nine Years of the Children's Friend," by MARY R. JACK,

10-12 The Intermountain Food Retailer—45, September 1970: "These are the 'Good Old Days' — Transition to

Reviews and Publications Super-Markets,"

by P. A.

83 "PERC"

BALLINGER, 2 Iff.

Intermountain Industry — 72, October 1970: "Capitalizing on 'Character,' Sensitive Remodeling Brings Out C h a r m of Older SLC Business Houses," 6-8 — December 1970: "Mineral Fishing's 1st Big Haul [Great Salt Lake Minerals & Chemicals Corporation]," 6ff.

The Journal of Arizona History—11, Summer 1970: "Fort Mojave: Outpost on the Upper Colorado," by PHILLIP J. AVILLO, JR., 77-100 Journal of the West — IX, July 1970: "California and the Transformation of the Mountain Men," by VIRGIL L. MITCHELL,

413-26

The Masterkey — 44, October—December 1970: 'Hopi Silversmithing [history, technology, overlay process, guild, and form and design economic factors]," by J O H N and JOYCE MORI,

124-42 Millennial Star — 132, June 1970: "It's Goodbye To The Era, Instructor . . .

And The Star, Three New Magazines From 1971," 2-4 National Parks & Conservation Magazine: The Environment Journal — 44, October 1970: "Hubbell Trading Post," by O. F. OLDENDORPH, 6-9

Nevada Highways and Parks — 29, Winter 1969: " T o Tame A Giant, A Collection of Historic Hoover Dam P h o t o g r a p h s , " by M A L C O L M T. THOMPSON,

9ff.

Nevada Historical Society Quarterly — X I I I , Fall 1970: "The Yager Journals: Diary of a Journey Across the Plains [Part T h r e e ] , " by [ J A M E S PRESSLEY YAGER], 26-48 New Mexico Historical Review—XLV, July 1970: "Protestant Missionary Activity Among the Navajo, 18901912," by MICHAEL J. WARNER, 20932

The Pacific Historian — 14, Summer 1970: "Jedediah Smith In Hayward,"

by REGINALD R. STUART, 4 - 9 ;

"Yes

Mr. Lampson, The 'Original Gold Spike' Is Still Alive and Well At Stanford," by R A L P H W. H A N S E N , 79-86 — Fall 1970: "Thanks, Mr. Hansen, For Being the Catalyst Helping to Solve The Mystery of the Genuine Spike [Golden Spike]," by ROBIN LAMPSON,

4-18

Pacific Northwest Quarterly — 61, July 1970: "An Indian Manifesto, An Essay Review," by M E R L E W. W E L L S , 162-64 The Palimpsest — L I , September 1970: "Burlington to Quincey," by WILLARD GLAZIER, Nauvo, Illinois, 402-16 Persimmon Hill, A Quarterly of the West — I, Summer 1970: "The Beginning [Charles M. Russell]," by O. M. MOSIER,

16-23

The Pioneer — 17, September-October 1970: "Brigham City's Pioneer Tannery Built in 1870, Falls to Bulldozer," 18; "The Saga of 'China Polly,' Pawn In Poker Game Becomes 'Angel of Salmon River,' " by CHARLES KELLY, 22-23 — November-December 1970: "Nauvoo, The Beautiful, Soon To Become 'Wiliamsburg of West,' " 10-11; "Historic 21st Ward Chapel Razed, Built in 1877, Has Had 11 Bishops," 1 2 — 1 8 , January-February, 1971: "Grand Old 'Lady Of The Lake' 8th Wonder of the World [Saltair]," by L E S GOATES, 4-5 Plateau: The Quarterly of the Museum of Northern Arizona — 43, Summer 1970: "Navajo Voting Patterns," by STEPHEN J. K U N I T Z and JERROLD E.

LEVY, 1-8; "Basketmaker Artifacts from Moki Canyon, Utah," by N E I L M. JUDD,

16-20

The Pony Express, Stories of Pioneers and Old Trails — X X X V I I , September 1970: "Colorado's Long

84 Haired

Utah Historical Cannibal [Alfred

Packer],"

by H . H A M L I N , 3ff.

Our Public Lands— 20, Summer 1970: "Crossroads of the Pioneers: T h e wagons rolled West through Cassia County [Idaho]," by H. MAX BRUCE, 11-14; "A Day in Crack Canyon, A walk to remmber [San Rafael Reef],"

by J O H N D. CARLSON,

1970's," by RICHARD P. HOWARD, 2 4 -

26 Sierra Club Bulletin—55, August 1970: "The Rape of Black Mesa," by W I L LIAM BROWN, 14-17

The Smoke Signal [Tucson Corral of the Westerners] — No. 20, Fall 1969: "The Discovery of Rainbow Bridge," H. CHIDESTER,

210-30;

"Early Travel on the Green and Colorado MARSTON,

"Missouri Volunteers on the Santa Fe Trail, 1847-1848 [Part Two]," by L E O E. OLIVA,

2-20

Vermont History—XXXVIII, Autumn 1970: "John Wolcott Phelps: The Civil War General Who Became A Forgotten Presidential Candidate In 1880," by J O H N MCCLAUGHRY, 263-

90

20-21

Saints' Herald, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — 117, November 1970: "New Excavations at Nauvoo," by NORMAN R U O F F , 26-27 — December 1970: "Joseph Smith, The Book of Abraham, and The Reorganized Church of the

by O T I S

Quarterly

Rivers," by O T I S

DOCK

231-36

The Trail Guide [Kansas City Posse, The Westerners] —• XV, June 1970: "Misouri Volunteers on the Santa Fe Trail, 1847-1848 [Part One]," by L E O E. OLIVA, 2-20 — September 1970:

Weber State College Alumni News — 7, October 1970: "Ethnic Studies at Weber State, Why and How," by RICHARD O. ULIBARRI, 4-5

Western American Literature — V, Spring 1970: "Vardis Fisher: A Bibliography," by GEORGE KELLOGG, 4 5 64 — Summer 1970: "Vardis Fisher and Wallace Stegner: Teacher and Student," by J O S E P H M. FLORA, 121-

28 The Western Historical Quarterly — I, October 1970: " T h e Many-Sided Frederick Jackson Turner," by WILBUR R. JACOBS, 362-72; "Pattern and Structure In Western Territorial Politics," by K E N N E T H N. O W E N S , 3 7 3 92; " ' A Mighty M a n Was Brother Lot': A Portrait of Lot Smith — Mormon Frontiersman," by CHARLES S. PETERSON, 393-414 Westways — 62, September 1970: "Adrift on the Lower Colorado," by WILLIAM C. ANDERSON,

11-13

30, 1971, Dale L. Morgan died and with his passing the West lost one of its foremost historians. And while he had a most productive career, one of the great tragedies for scholarship is that he was not able to finish some half dozen books in various stages of progress. His staff position at Bancroft Library, which he held since 1954, will not soon be filled.

Dale Lowell Morgan was born in Salt Lake City on December 18, 1914. He was the oldest of four children, three boys and one girl. His father died when Dale was only six years old. His mother (Emily) supported her family as a school teacher serving the public schools of Salt Lake City for over forty years. Dale was well aware of her struggle to support her family and always showed great concern for her. A great bond of love and friendship existed between mother and son, a bond that was strengthened when at fourteen years of age Dale was stricken with spinal meningitis. The disease resulted in a complete loss of hearing for Dale and measurably altered the course of his life.

In high school, Dale was strongly influenced by his art teacher who encouraged him to enter the profession of commercial art. It was with this as a major that he graduated from the University of Utah with a B.A. degree in 1937. However, while there, he demonstrated his talent for writing by having numerous stories and essays published in the student literary magazine. At that early age he wrote sympathetically and understandingly about the problems of the society which reared him.

After graduation, Dale went to San Francisco where he tried his hand at commercial art. But in the Depression years of the late 1930's, work of any kind was hard to find, and especially in art.

Returning to Utah, Dale became involved in the Utah Historical Records Survey under the Works Progress Administration, as he said "in a capacity sometimes called historian, sometimes historical editor."

Luckily for history, Dale had found his true calling.

His first historical efforts resulted in the publication of seven Inventories of County Archives of Utah, and others were left in manuscript when he was "drafted to complete the volume published next year [1941]" by the Utah Writer's project, Utah: A Guide to the State. This was Dale's first full-sized book. Upon reading it to this day, one is amazed at the thoroughness of his youthful research and the skill and beauty of his writing. There are passages of description which portray Dale the artist, and Dale Morgan the young man who though having lost one of his senses had sharpened his sense of sight and smell and put them to good use in his writing, as when he described the geography of Utah: V J N

TUESDAY, M A R C H

Dale L. Morgan

87

The State is immense and varied, almost beyond belief. The band of irrigated green, west of the Wasatch Mountains, extends from north central Utah southward, curving gently west to a corner with Arizona and Nevada. West of this band is the gray-green Great Salt Lake, gray desert, and peaked mountains. Eastward is the red desert country of the Colorado Plateau, yellowing as it approaches the Uinta Mountains on the north, ever reddening as it extends southward and eastward to the Arizona and Colorado lines — a country of flat-topped mountains and violent color. These dessicated gray and red deserts, and these mountains, represent more than 90 per cent of Utah. The tremendous weight of the land lies upon everything. The mountains climb into the skies; the deserts ache with sheer empty immensity. (Utah: A Guide to the State, page 8.)

But while Dale wrote with the feeling and soul of a poet, he researched with a determination, perseverance, and meticulousness possessed by few historians. His writing is marked with an accuracy that has met the challenge of the most severe critic. His editorial work is beyond reproach and a model for others to aim toward (The Pritchard Diary for example). Not infrequently a diary provided the vehicle for Dale to make a major contribution through editorial comment in clarifying some controversial point in history. An example of this is in his Rocky Mountain Journals of William Marshall Anderson . . . . on the founding of Fort Laramie. Many other examples could be cited where Dale clarified points in controversy. His books on Jedediah Smith and William H. Ashley are outstanding examples of his rectifying misinterpretations of earlier writers.

From his first historical writing in 1940 until he laid down his pen on March 30, Dale authored or edited more than forty books — many of them landmarks in their field and some of them the definitive study on a subject. His works in process, A History of the Fur Trade in North America, 1763-1870, and A History of the Mormon Church — to name but two — were bound to be classics in their fields. For long ago Dale became a recognized authority on the fur trade of the Far West and his monumental work in Mormon Bibliography established him as one of the foremost scholars on Mormon history. Furthermore, he authored articles by the dozen, and his book reviews are numbered by the score.

His published writings are not his sole contributions to history.

Dozens of scholars have given their thanks to Dale for helpful suggestions, critical reviews of manuscripts, and even writing or rewriting portions of a book, with little or no public recognition for his efforts.

88

Utah Historical

Quarterly

Some of the awards and recognition given to Dale are: Fellow Award, Utah State Historical Society (1960) Henry R. Wagner Memorial Award, California Historical Society (1961) Fellowship Award, California Historical Society (1962) Distinguished Alumni Award, Utah Alumni Association (1964) Award of Merit, American Association for State and Local History (1965, 1969) Silver Buffalo Award, New York Westerners (1966) John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1945, 1970)

My own memories of Dale are not only those of a great scholar, an associate and strong supporter of the Utah State Historical Society, but of a warm and pleasant friend and companion along a mountain path or tracing out a long, overlooked segment of a pioneer trail. It was here that he could call upon an unbelievable memory and relate minute details that were recorded in not one but several diaries.

My memories are also of Dale Morgan a man of many ideas and more projects for himself and others to do than could be undertaken in a half dozen lifetimes. However, Dale compressed more projects into his too short life than many of us would do were we given a dozen lives.

This day, we are all poorer with the loss of a talented, dedicated scholar, Dale Lowell Morgan.

Some other of his most outstanding books are: The Humboldt, Highroad of the West, Rivers of America Series (New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1943) Letters

by Forty-Niners Written from Dawson's Book Shop, 1949)

Jedediah Smith and the Opening Company, 1953)

Great Salt Lake

City (Los Angeles,

of the West (Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill

California As I Saw It (Los Gatos, Talisman Press, 1960) A Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Bancroft University of California Press, 1963)

Library

Overland in 1846: Diaries and Letters of the California-Oregon Volumes (Los Gatos, Talisman Press, 1963)

(Berkeley, Trail, Two

The West of William H. Ashley (Denver, Fred A. Rosenstock, 1963) In Pursuit of the Golden Dream: Reminiscences of San Francisco and the Northern and Southern Mines, 1849-1857 (Western Hemisphere, Inc., Stoughton, Mass., 1970)

Everett L. Cooley Curator, Western Americana University of Utah Library

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