Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, Number 2, 1985 by Utah Historical Society

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UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY (ISSN 0042- 143X) EDITORIAL STAFF MELVIN T. SMITH, Editor

STAN FORD J. LAYTON, Ma naging Editor MIRIAM B. MVRPHY, Associate Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS KENNETH L. CANNON II, Salt Lake City, 1986 ARLENE H. EARLE, Woods Cross, 1987

PETER L. Goss, Salt Lake City, 1985 GLEN M. LEONARD, Farmington, 1985

LAMAR PETERSEN, Salt Lake City, 1986 RICHARD W. SADLER, Ogden, 1985

HAROLD SCHINDLER, Salt Lake City, 1987 GENE A. SESSIONS, Bountiful, 1986

GREGORY C. THOMPSON, Salt Lake City, 1987 Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utah's history. T h e Quarterly is published by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. Phone (801) 533-6024 for membership and publications information. Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, and the bimonthly Newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $15.00; institutions, $20.00; student and senior citizen (age sixty-five or over), $10.00; contributing, $20.00; sustaining, $25.00; patron, $50.00; business, $100.00. Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate accompanied by return postage and should be typed double-space with footnotes at the end. Additional information on requirements is available from the managing editor. T h e Society assumes no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion by contributors. Second class postage is paid at Salt Lake City, Utah. Postmaster: Send form 3579 (change of address) to Utah Historical Quarterly, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

mm A i A i n HISTORICAL

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Contents SPRING 1985/VOLUME 53/NUMBER 2

IN T H I S ISSUE

Ill

COMMUNITY DRAMATICS IN EARLY CASTLE VALLEY . . . ELMOG. GEARY and GEORGE CARELESS, PIONEER MUSICIAN

GEARY

112

BRUCE DAVID MAXWELL

131

"SISTERHOOD AND SOCIABILITY": T H E U T A H WOMEN'S PRESS CLUB, 1891-1928 . . . LINDA THATCHER and T H E OLD FOLKS DAY: A UNIQUE UTAH TRADITION U T A H WRIT SMALL: CHALLENGE AND CHANGE IN KANE COUNTY'S PAST

EDWARD

SILLITO

144

JOSEPH HEINERMAN

157

JOHN

DEAN

MAY

170

SMITH

184

IN MEMORIAM: LEROY R. HAFEN, 1893-1985

MELVIN

BOOK REVIEWS

187

BOOK NOTICES

199

T H E COVER Universal Picture's musical Can't Help Singing, 1944, was one of manyfilms thatfound in the colorful scenery of Kanab and Kane County an ideal location. From left: director Frank Ryan, script girl Mary Chaffee, Deanna Durbin, and Robert Paige. USHS collections.

Books reviewed L. STOTT. Search for Sanctuary: Brigham Young and the White Mountain

CLIFFORD

Expedition.

. .WILLIAM P. MACKINNON

J . KENNETH DAVIES.

Mormon

Gold: The Story of California's Mormon Argonauts. . . . DOYCE B .

NUNIS, J R .

188

MELVIN T . SMITH

190

CHARLES KELLY, ed. Journals

John D. Lee: and

1846-47

1859

DAVID C. H U N T a n d GALLAGHER.

187

Karl

MARSHA V.

Bodmer's

America

LORA CROUCH

191

THELMA S. GUILD a n d HARVEY L. CARTER.

A Pattern

Kit Carson: for

Heroes

PAUL L. HEDREN

H U G H A. DEMPSEY. Big

193

Bear:

The End of Freedom

DAVISON

194

WESLEY P. LARSEN

195

STANLEY

Wheels to Adventure: Bill Rishel's Western

VIRGINIA RISHEL.

Routes

SAMUEL W. TAYLOR a n d RAYMOND W. TAYLOR. The John Taylor Papers: Records of the Last Utah Pioneer. Vol. I: The Apostle JEAN R.

PAULSON

197

In this issue Creative tension exists between a community and the culture it develops, expresses, and transmits, for on the cutting edge of culture are individuals who hone their imaginations to razor sharpness to the delight and occasional dismay of the nurturing society. T h e creative elite of Castle Valley, as the first article in this issue illustrates, enjoyed such yeasty growth that towns like Orangeville and Huntington â&#x20AC;&#x201D; far from the cosmopolitan Wasatch Front â&#x20AC;&#x201D; developed a theatrical tradition that flourished from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Dramatic activity continued apace into the 1920s, but as towns became more settled the independent dramatic associations gradually gave way to institutionalized theater under the aegis of the LDS church and the high schools. T h e career of George Careless demonstrates another kind of dynamism. T h e English-born musician sharpened the skills of the Tabernacle Choir and the Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra and expanded the musical horizons of nineteenth-century audiences. In much the same way, Emmeline B. Wells, guiding spirit of the Utah Women's Press Club, sought to give a more professional direction to the literary efforts of a group of female writers. A different kind of creativity is described in the article on Old Folks Day. Initiated largely through the efforts of photographer Charles R. Savage, this annual event involved entire communities in honoring and entertaining the elderly. T h e concluding article presents an insightful view of a community developing over time and the powerful interaction of humans with an awesome landscape. T h e evolution of Kanab (above), animated by the creative energies of its residents, mirrored the growth of community and cultural life throughout the state and may justly be called "Utah writ small."

Community Dramatics in Early Castle Valley BY ELMO G. GEARY AND EDWARD A. GEARY

Huntington High School opera cast preparing to tour the county, ca. 1922. The school, which opened in 1915, had an active drama department that gradually became the town's leading theater group. All photographs are courtesy of the author.

I HE THEATER WAS THE GREAT entertainment medium of nineteenth-century America, despite the opposition of some religious and educational authorities. 1 In early Utah, where M o r m o n l e a d e r s were themselves active playgoers, the theater was largely free from the a u r a of d i s r e p u t e that attached to it elsewhere; but it appears that Utah audiences differed little from their counterparts in other Dr. E. A. Geary is professor of English at Brigham Young University. He notes the following about his co-author: In 1953 my father, Elmo G. Geary, completed a master's thesis at the University of Utah titled "A Study of Dramatics in Castle Valley from 1875 to 1925." T h e thesis, on which he labored for several years, was based on extensive study of newspapers, diaries, and records from the period covered and on scores of interviews with surviving players from the early theatricals. T h e timing of the study was fortunate in that many pioneer performers were still alive, some of them in their nineties, but even then there were evidences of how quickly sources of information about the past can slip away. For example, an interview was scheduled with Don C. Woodward, one of the leading members of the Huntington Dramatic Club, but before it could take place he had slipped into his final illness and was unable to convey any information. Thirty years after its completion this thesis remains one of the most detailed studies of dramatics in Utah. T h e purpose of this essay is to make a representative selection of its findings available to a wider audience. Since the information comes almost entirely from the thesis, it would perhaps be most fitting if I represented myself simply as an editor rather than a co-author. However, I have brought to the task of selection a perspective based on my own studies of the region and have slightly modified some of the conclusions. Moreover, the research for the thesis was to some extent a family project, and I remember evenings spent in poring over the files of the Emery County Progress in search of theatrical notices and reviews. I remember, too, traveling with Dad to some of the interviews. Indeed, I can see in retrospect that my own interest in history had its origin in those experiences. Therefore, I have come to think of this essay as the result of a kind of posthumous collaboration. I don't think Dad would have minded. 1 Arthur Hornblow, A History of the Theatre in America (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1919), 1:23-26. Hornblow quotes an 1824 statement from President Dwight of Yale: "To indulge a taste for playgoing means nothing more or less than the loss of that most valuable treasure the immortal soul."

sections of the country in their dramatic tastes, which ran strongly to melodrama and farce. T h e major national companies included the Salt Lake Theatre on their itineraries, and smaller groups of professional actors made the rounds of small towns and villages into the first two decades of the twentieth century before they were supplanted by the motion picture. 2 If theater in Utah differed from the national trends in any significant way, it was probably in the more widespread community involvement in amateur dramatics. National theater histories usu2 For general treatments of the history of the theater in America, see, in addition to Hornblow, Glenn H u g h e s , ^ History of the American Theatre, 1700-1950 (New York: Samuel French, 1951), and Bernard Hewitt, Theatre U.S.A., 1665 to 1957 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959); for uncritical accounts of the Salt Lake Theater, see George D. Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1937), and Ha Fisher Maughan, Pioneer Theatre in the Desert (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1961).

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ally date the "little theater" movement from the 1890s.3 T h e Salt Lake Social Hall, however, functioned as a little theater from its completion in 1852, with several productions staged each season by the Deseret Dramatic Association. 4 As Mormon communities were established throughout the core region in the 1850s and 1860s, they typically constructed their own multi-purpose social halls and developed local theatrical groups somewhat on the Salt Lake model. 5 Castle Valley, the region east of the Wasatch Plateau that constitutes most of present-day Emery and Carbon counties, was among the last areas in Utah to be settled. Following the conclusion of the Black Hawk War, stockmen began to use the valley for winter grazing in the early 1870s. A land survey u n d e r the direction of A. D. Ferron was completed in 1873, and the Powell surveys of the Green and Colorado river basins reported that the streams in the region could support agriculture. 6 On August 22, 1877, just one week before he died, Brigham Young issued a call for people to colonize Castle Valley; and the first parties of settlers located on the Ferron, Cottonwood, and Huntington creeks in November 1877, followed over the next few years by other settlements on the Price River to the north and on Muddy Creek to the south. 7 T h e 1880 census found 453 people living in the valley, and in the same year Emery County (which then included present-day Carbon and Grand counties) was divided off from Sanpete. 8 T h e completion of the Rio Grande Western Railway in 1883 led to development of the coal deposits in the northern part of the valley, and this industrialization brought about the organization of Carbon County in 1894. T h e Emery County communities retained the character of Mormon farm villages for almost a century before undergoing their own industrial development in the 1970s. Most of the first settlers in Castle Valley were second-generation Utahns who had grown up in older towns in the territory, mainly in 3 Kenneth Macgowan, Footlights across America (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1929), p. 43; Preston R. Gledhill, "Mormon Dramatic Activities" (Ph.D. Diss. University of Wisconsin, 1950), p. 7 1 . 4 Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, p. 53. 5 Maughan, Pioneer Theatre, pp. 56-64. 6 Montell Seely, et al., Emery County 1880-1980 (Emery County, Emery County Historical Society, 1981), pp. 15-16; A. H. Thompson, "Irrigable Lands of T h a t Portion of Utah Drained by the Colorado River and Its Tributaries," in Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, ed. J. W. Powell (Second ed., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1879), pp. 157-59. 7 Seely, Emery County, pp. 23-29. 8 Allan Kent Powell, "Castle Valley at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," inEmery County: Reflections on Its Past and Future, ed. Allan Kent Powell (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1979), p. 4.

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Sanpete Valley. They brought with them the concepts of community life that characterized earlier Mormon towns, including the same ecclesiastical organizations, the institutions for distributing land and developing irrigation supplies (though this process was modified by the fact that Castle Valley, unlike the older regions of Utah, was settled u n d e r the homestead laws), and a tradition of community music and dramatics. In earlier Utah settlements the first major building project was often a fort. By the 1870s, however, there was no need for fortification, and the Castle Valley settlers first built dugouts along the creeks and then cabins or dugouts on their homesteads, where they lived while they constructed irrigation canals. Not until 1880 were the first townsites surveyed and public buildings erected. T h e first public building was a log schoolhouse, eighteen by twenty-four feet in size, built in Orangeville (then called U p p e r Castle Dale). Its opening in time for the Christmas season of 1880 was celebrated by the first recorded dramatic production in Castle Valley, The Lost Ship, with a cast including J o h n K. Reid, Jane Cox, Matilda Boulden, Samuel R. Jewkes, James C. Woodward, and Jasper Robertson. 9 J o h n K. Reid, who had been active as an actor and director in Manti before coming to Castle Valley, was the chief moving force in community dramatics in Orangeville, organizer of the Orangeville Dramatic Association, and director of most of the early plays. Even after he retired from active participation he continued to be called upon to select play casts and give general guidance to theatrical groups. In addition, the talented Jewkes family supplied both actors and musicians for several generations. Other early Orangeville families who played a prominent part in community dramatics included the Van Burens, Moffitts, Foxes, Curtises, Fullmers, Coxes, Bouldens, and Johnsons. 1 0 Sometime between 1886 and 1890, members of the Dramatic Association formed the Social Hall Stock Association for the purpose of erecting a theater. T h e building, constructed of sawed logs with plastered interior and rustic siding on the exterior, seated 160 and served as a meetinghouse for the Orangeville LDS ward as well as a social hall for more than forty years. 11 9

Interview with Alma G. Jewkes, August 30, 1952. Stella McEIprang, ed., Castle Valley: A History of Emery County (Emery County: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949), p. 312. 11 Interviews with Alma G. Jewkes, August 30,1952; A. G. Jewkes, Jr., August 28,1952; Fred W. Reid, August 29, 1952. 10

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T h e Orangeville social hall had a well-equipped stage and good acoustics, according to reports of those who played there, and the extent of its decoration was remarkable for its time and place. T h e Dramatic Association n u m b e r e d a m o n g its members Gavin Jack, a j o u r n e y m a n artist whose later work reportedly included the lions at the east and west entrances of the Utah State Capitol building. 12 Jack painted three large ceiling panels in the social hall, one depicting a dying lion in the desert, the second the harbor of Marseilles, and the third an Egyptian river scene. Along the sides of the hall there were smaller panels representing famous musicians, dramatists, and painters, and on the stage curtain Jack painted Ben Hur's chariot race with Messala. 13 Jack also p r e p a r e d fresh scenery for each production which impressed audiences with its realistic effects. Fred W. Reid recalled an ocean shore scene which was so realistic that the flickering illumination of the kerosene footlights made it a p p e a r as though the waves actually moved. 14 T h e Orangeville Dramatic Association produced an average of three or four plays each season t h r o u g h o u t the 1880s and 1890s. J o h n Taylor, a member of the company and later LDS bishop and mayor of Orangeville, provided this description of the typical theatrical entertainment of the period: Large crowds could always be expected when a play was ready for public presentation. Shows were almost always scheduled for two nights as one performance would not accommodate all those who wished to see the play. T h e first eight rows of seats were always reserved and sold at a higher price than the remaining eight rows. Tickets were obtained at one of the stores in advance of the performance, and many people brought butter, eggs, grain, or other produce to exchange for theater tickets at the store. Proceeds from plays were always devoted to some worthy civic or church project, so everyone believed it a duty as well as a pleasure to attend the show. As you entered the social hall on the night of the performance, a small orchestra, composed of an organ, violins, and one or two brass instruments, was playing. (The orchestra members were hired by the Dramatic Association, and were always paid for playing at the entertainments.) T h e plays were most often serious dramas, and it was not unusual to hear a great deal of crying and sobbing in the audience as the pathetic climaxes were dramatized by the actors and actresses. Between

12 13

Interview with A. G. Jewkes, Jr., August 29, 1952. Letter from William T. Reid, September 23, 1952; interview with Fred W. Reid, August 29,

1952. 14

Interview with Fred W. Reid, August 29, 1952.

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Prominent in the establishment of the very active Emery County dramatic organizations were, left to right, John K. Reid, Orangeville, and Milas E.Johnson and Don C. Woodward, Huntington. acts, specialty numbers were introduced. T h e y were usually comic songs, recitations, or dialogues. T h e play often e n d e d with a tableau, presenting a dramatic scene illuminated by colored light. Sometimes a short farce or comedy followed the serious d r a m a . T h e Dramatic Association often had two or more plays u n d e r way at the same time, and members were capable of repertory playing of several plays in succession. Plays were often taken to other comm u n i t i e s , a n d t h e shows of o t h e r towns w e r e often played at Orangeville in return. 1 5

This general pattern of community dramatics was repeated, with some variations, in neighboring towns. Huntington, the largest community in Castle Valley d u r i n g the nineteenth century, also produced the largest n u m b e r of plays. T h e center of dramatic activity in Huntington during the early years was a forty by sixty foot log meetinghouse erected in November and December of 1880 and completed, evidently, about one week later than the schoolhouse in Orangeville. 16 Plays staged there d u r i n g 1881 and 1882 included Dick Turpin and The Last Loaf.17 By the mid-1880s the Huntington Dramatic Club was in active operation with a sizeable membership that included, a m o n g the most active thespians, brothers Joseph E. and Milas E. J o h n s o n and their half-brother Don C. Woodward, William Howard, William Green, Ernest Grange, Rose Grange, 15

Interview with John Taylor, August 29, 1952. Seely, Emery County, p. 185. "Interview with M. E. Wakefield, August 20, 1952. 16

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Peter J o h n s o n , H a n n a h J o h n s o n , Susan Wakefield, a n d J. K. Engle. Milas E . J o h n s o n served as secretary of the organization t h r o u g h o u t most of its existence, and his records list m o r e than forty different plays that were p r o d u c e d before 1900, m a n y of t h e m staged several times. T h e list reveals the prevailing theatrical tastes and includes such classics of sentimental m e l o d r a m a as Ten Nights in a Barroom, Damon and Pythias, Enoch Arden, East Lynne, a n d Uncle Tom's Cabin. Playbooks were expensive a n d difficult to obtain, so the usual m e a n s of p r o c u r i n g scripts was to borrow o n e from a dramatic company in a n o t h e r community a n d have someone copy it. T h e standard fee for making such a copy, according to Milas E. J o h n s o n ' s records, was t h r e e dollars. I n such remote communities there was evidently little likelihood that the publisher's representatives would show u p a n d d e m a n d royalties. Audiences for the productions were large as a portion of the community population, but cash receipts were small. T h e price of a ticket was normally twenty-five cents, a n d this was usually paid in p r o d u c e o r m e r c h a n t s ' scrip r a t h e r t h a n cash. Moreover, t h e families of the actors and musicians received complimentary tickets, a n d an additional block of free tickets was given to the LDS bishop to distribute a m o n g the widows a n d old folks. H u n t i n g t o n Dramatic Club records indicate the following receipts for one play: Co-op coupons County warrant Price T r a d i n g Co. script A n n Pulsipher Co. script Floyd a n d Co. script T h o m a s Co. script Grain

$9.50 1.20 .25 75 3.25 1.00 1200 lbs.

This may be c o m p a r e d to a typical list of production expenses: License Hall . . . Play scripts Organ rent L a m p chimney Printing bills Red fire Costumes

Total

$1.00 3.00 3.00 1.00 10 1.25 1.50 5.QQ $15.85

Red fire was a p o w d e r used to p r o d u c e a r e d light for the concluding tableau. It gave off p u n g e n t fumes as it b u r n e d , a n d as o n e early

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audience m e m b e r recalled, "After the last curtain, everyone coughed but they were tearful and happy." 18 Providing costumes for the productions required some ingenuity, especially in the first years before the local companies had built up their wardrobes. Items of clothing were often borrowed from townspeople. Louisa Westover Johnson recalled an incident arising from such use of borrowed attire: "One of the actors, Will Green, who usually took the part of the villain, always strode across the stage in long, vigorous steps, especially during an intense situation. During one such act, a man in the audience called out, 'Hi there, don't tear my pants.' "19 Rose Ramsay Grange, together with Mrs. William Hunter, sewed most of the original costumes for the Huntington company, often working with a small picture from a book as their only pattern. On one occasion, several uniforms for colonial soldiers were required, but there was no blue material available in town from which to make them. Mrs. Grange therefore made the uniforms from green canton flannel, trimming the trousers with yellow stripes and the coats with yellow braid and brass buttons. She recalled that they looked very "elegant" upon the stage.20 T h e towns of Price, Cleveland, Castle Dale, Ferron, and Emery all erected multi-use social halls in the 1880s or early 1890s, and the drama constituted an important part of their community entertainment in the pioneer period. Both the plays themselves and the conditions under which they were produced were similar to those in Orangeville and Huntington. However, these other communities did not develop the strong and continuing dramatic companies that gave Orangeville and Huntington their preeminence in community dramatics during the years before 1900.21 By the 1890s a new generation was coming of age in Castle Valley. T h e communities were past the pioneer struggle for survival, and most towns erected new, larger, brick meetinghouses and social halls to replace the earlier log structures. With improved facilities 18

Interview with Grace Wakefield Geary, July 1951. Interview with Louisa Westover Johnson, J u n e 26, 1952. 20 Interview with Rose Ramsay Grange, August 3, 1952. 21 Seely, Emery County, p. 37; Earnest S. Horsley, "Pioneer Dramatics," in Centennial Echoes from Carbon County, ed. Thursey Jessen Reynolds (Carbon County: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1948), pp. 93-96; interviews with Joseph J. Larson, September 25, 1952; Minnie Acord Ungerman, August 27, 1952; Emma Anderson Reynolds, August 27, 1952; Victor Ungerman, December 28, 1952; Isaac Allred, August 3 1 , 1952; Nephi L. Williams, August 27, 1952; Evelyn Lowry Crawford, September 1, 1952; Thomas Worthen, September 1, 1952. 19

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Dramas were performed in these buildings: from the top, Orangeville social hall (built ca. 1888), Huntington meetinghouse (built 1896-99), and Huntington Relief Society hall (built 1900-1905).

and a youthful population that had grown u p on community dramatics, productions improved both in quantity and quality. D u r i n g the period from 1895 to about 1908, the Orangeville and H u n tington companies staged as many as ten or twelve plays each year, with smaller numbers p r o d u c e d in the other communities. Since plays were often taken on tpur to neighboring towns, audiences in fact had many more productions available than just the hometown ones, and it appears that dramatic entertainment was available almost weekly d u r i n g some seasons of the year. T h e coal mining communities of Castle Gate, Sunnyside, and Hiawatha, a n d the railroad town of Helper p r o d u c e d few plays themselves but provided welcoming audiences for touring troupes from the other towns. I n Orangeville the most p r o m i n e n t actor of the second generation was A. G. Jewkes, Jr., who was m u c h in d e m a n d not only in his h o m e town but also for leading roles in the plays produced in other

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communities. Jewkes recalled that he played the role of the villain so often that when he was called on an LDS mission and the Primary children were invited to pray for his success, young Myron Robertson, the son of Bishop Jasper Robertson, declared, "I won't pray for him. He kills women." Jewkes's villainous roles could have a convincing effect on adults as well. On one occasion when the Orangeville troupe was playing in Castle Dale, a man in the audience rose indignantly to his feet during a tense scene and shouted, "He's a lyin' son-of-a-bitch." On another occasion, in Ferron, a performance was interrupted by a woman who gathered u p her children and started for the exit, proclaiming, "I'm not going to stay and see that bloody sight."22 Other recollections of community dramatics at this period similarly testify to the realistic effects achieved. Margaret Johnson Young remembered a play staged in the new brick meetinghouse in Huntington in about 1901 in which Don C. Woodward, as the villain, threw Nellie Crandall into the ocean. He picked the girl up and tossed her off the rear of the stage down a back stairway onto a feather bed, while a stagehand splashed water back onto the stage. T h e whole scene, with the ocean backdrop, the lighting, and the effective acting, was so vividly convincing that young Margaret, eight years old at the time, went home and "cried all night." 23 Performers sometimes went to great lengths in their effort to produce striking effects. On one occasion, J. Fleming Wakefield rode a horse onto the stage of the Huntington Relief Society Hall;24 in ariother play James P. Johnson was buried alive;25 in yet another performance Will Green, Jr., skinned his arms in falling through a trap door on stage.26 Before the coming of electric lights, illumination for dramatic productions was provided by kerosene lamps and the dangerous red fire powder, so it is hardly surprising that accidents sometimes occurred. Hetty Guymon Anderson recalled one exciting moment: One evening, during the most interesting part of the play, Neil Howard (then a small boy), sitting on the front row, knocked over one of the lamps spilling kerosene and spreading fire over the apron of the stage. In the excitement which followed, "Aunt Jane" Woodward, a pioneer who was accustomed to emergencies (being the only nurse and doctor 22

Interview Interview 24 Interview "Interview 26 Interview 23

with with with with with

A. G. Jewkes, Jr., August 28, 1952. Margaret Johnson Young, September 2 1 , 1952. J. Fleming Wakefield, August 25, 1952. Lamont Johnson, February 26, 1952. J. Homer Wakefield, August 25 1952.

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Two memorable performers on the stages of Emery County: Luella Guymon of Huntington and Alma G. Jewkes, Jr., of Orangeville, here costumed as Bassanio for a 1917 production of T h e Merchant of Venice staged by the Utah Shakespearean Society at the Salt Lake Theatre. in town), rushed forward a n d smothered the flames with her hand-knit shawl. Everyone then settled down for the r e m a i n d e r of the play, except Neil, who escaped t h r o u g h an o p e n window. 27

James W. J o h n s o n r e p o r t e d a n o t h e r near disaster that h a p p e n e d when the H u n t i n g t o n t r o u p e took The Cuban Spy on tour to Castle Dale: In one place in the second act the building was supposed to b u r n , a n d the h e r o was to carry the leading lady off the stage in flames â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a n d it proved to be just that. Ernest G r a n g e had charge of the redfire, which, when the time came, he lighted behind the wings. Someone accidentally tipped over the tin plate. T h e fire went t h r o u g h the cracks u n d e r the stage where the Relief Society h a d stored cotton, etc. T h e r e was a real fire. When the hero picked u p the frightened leading lady, h e r clothes were actually b u r n i n g . T h e rest of us behind the crowded wings were fighting fire. T h e curtain fell and deafening applause followed. T h e audience said after the show, "that was the most realistic fire we ever saw. My, it was exciting!" O h , they didn't know the half of it. 28 27 28

Interview with Hetty Guymon Anderson, September 21, 1952. Letter from James W.Johnson, September 10, 1952.

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James W. Johnson was one of the most accomplished of the second-generation players in Huntington. He studied drama at Brigham Young University u n d e r Walter Cluff and Byron W. King, a visiting professor from Chicago. When he was called to serve an LDS mission to the Netherlands in 1906, he decided to produce the tragedy Virginius in his home community to raise money for his mission. His account of the experience provides some insights into the character of the plays, the players, and the audiences of the period: I talked it over with all my dramatic friends, who agreed to take part. It wasn't too easy, since some of the men had been used to casting, and I couldn't accept their judgment in this case. I finally succeeded in completing my cast of eighteen characters and gave out the scripts, with instructions to learn them in ten days. I knew it would take longer. I read the play to the group. It sounded too big to some, but they agreed to give it a try, since the cause was just. T h e n the obstacles began to pile u p . These characters had to first learn to think in that pompous air of the Romans. They had to walk in those stiff-measured steps, and learn how to wear tunics. (We used sheets.) I demonstrated the walk, the attitude and bearing of the soldiers. Two or three of the lead characters said it was silly and refused to try to act like that. T h e idea of the lead man having to measure his steps and marking his stage position. Then, I was too short to play the part of Virginius. We were to rehearse on Friday night again. Meantime, I got in touch with Dr. King, who came right out. When he got through with them there was no more mutiny. He stayed three days with us, and we worked. I actually learned how to play tall â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is, in long lines, and people didn't notice my being short any more. T h e cast took on new life and began to work in earnest. Dr. King wired east and had his school send out all the costumes, from the mailed jackets, helmets, feathers, etc., tunics, and everything complete, even to grease paints. In May we played at home to a full house. It was a revelation to our friends, as most of them had never seen a tragedy. If you recall, Virginius loses his mind, breaks into prison and strangles the chief, Decemvre. When the lead brings his daughter's ashes to him, he dies. After the last curtain, people flocked to the stage. One woman was still drying her eyes. She said to me, "James, it was wonderful. You sure played the crazy part; it was so natural." 29

A vital part of this "golden age" of community dramatics was the work of the Emery Stake Academy in Castle Dale. Although Castle Dale was less active in community dramatics than some of its neighboring towns during the pioneer period, it was the first center Ibid.

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of school dramatics in the region. T h e academy was o p e n e d in 1890 but had a rather sporadic existence until its first p e r m a n e n t building was erected in 1899. 30 It was the first regularly established secondary school in the area a n d was designed to serve students from t h r o u g h out Carbon and Emery counties. Community rivalries prevented this goal from being realized, however, a n d the studentbody was composed mainly of y o u n g people from both Castle Dale a n d Orangeville. Dramatics at the academy served public relations a n d fundraising purposes, as well as providing entertainment, a n d involved faculty and townspeople in addition to students. Indeed, the most influential figure d u r i n g the period from 1901 to 1916 was probably Hector T . Evans, who, t h o u g h h e h a d no official connection with t h e academy, served as the stage m a n a g e r of n u m e r o u s plays a n d often played roles in the musical productions that required a strong baritone voice. In addition, since h e worked for the Emery County Progress, Evans was probably responsible for the unsigned d r a m a reviews published there. T h e academy players took their plays on tour t h r o u g h o u t the valley, traveling in a white-topped buggy that they called "the gospel wagon." Louise Kofford Bunnell recalled that often the women as well as the male members of the t r o u p e were required to help push the buggy out of mudholes as they went from town to town over the primitive roads. 3 1 T h e s e barnstorming tours were often r e m e m b e r e d for their amusing misadventures. J a m e s W. J o h n s o n , who taught at the academy for a time a n d , together with his wife, Luella Guymon J o h n s o n , took part in several productions, recalled this incident: This night we were playing in the old log church house in . The climax of the play was where the leading lady held u p a m o b a n d stopped them from destroying the property. This she was to d o by shooting over their heads. . . . Luella Guymon J o h n s o n was leading lady, a n d when I got the g u n for h e r I discovered we had no blank shells. I told Prof. Hickman about it a n d h e said, "Use the loaded ones," jokingly. I took him at his word. I told Luella about the loaded shells and said, "Shoot in the air." W h e n it h a p p e n e d I held my breath. I could imagine seeing the shingles flying off the roof. I daren't tell where this took place for fear, even yet, that I might be m a d e to replace those shingles.

McEIprang, Castle Valley, p . 3 1 . Interview with Louise Kofford Bunnell, October 23, 1952. 32 Letter from James W. J o h n s o n , September 10, 1952. 31

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Dancers in T h e Navajo Princess, an opera by W. King Driggs, produced by the Emery Stake Academy in 1911-12.

T h e most ambitious of the academy's many productions was the 1907 staging of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Thomas M. Dyches, a member of the faculty, played the role of Shylock, and the part of Portia was played by Louise Kofford (Bunnell), then a student, later a lifelong leader in community artistic affairs in Castle Dale and Price. Hector Evans declared that this was the most outstanding amateur drama he ever saw, adding that it was better than anything produced by the Walters Stock Company, a popular professional troupe. 33 T h e popular success of the production is further attested by the fact that it earned a net profit of $ 120, which was used to buy books for the academy library. 34 T h e principal of the academy in 1911-12 was W. King Driggs, patriarch of the performing King Family. T h e major production of that year was his original opera The Navajo Princess, which was elaborately staged in Castle Dale on April 25 and in Price on April 26 and 27, 1912. Hector T. Evans played the leading male role, and Margaret Johnson (Young) was the leading lady. During the dress rehearsal, at the climactic scene, Evans drew a large knife and 33 34

Interview with Hector T. Evans, October 10, 1952.

Emery County Progress, April 20, 1907.

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threatened to plunge it into the princess's heart. Evans was always a dynamic player, even in rehearsal, and Margaret was so frightened by the realism of his action that she fainted. T h e rehearsal was halted, and Milton Olsen r a n down three flights of stairs to get a handful of snow to r u b in the actress's face to revive her. 35 Although professional stock companies are not an aspect of community dramatics as such, they were an important part of the entertainment scene at the t u r n of the century. Most of the professional or semi-professional troupes that toured rural Utah were based in Salt Lake City. T h e s e companies were especially active in the period between 1900 and 1915, as were other traveling entertainments such as minstrel shows. Coming to communities already deeply involved in a m a t e u r theater, these t o u r i n g c o m p a n i e s exerted considerable influence. Local actors attempted to a d o p t the techniques of popular professionals, and the audiences were able to compare the quality of the professional work to that of the local community theater. T h e comparison did not always work to the advantage of the professionals. W h e n the Royal Slave Company, which advertised itself as a New York company, played Castle Valley in October 1906, the Emery County Progress commented, " T h e playing was quite satisfactory but the price of $ 1.00 was too high. N o use to raise prices on country Jakes if it is a New York company." 3 6 O n the other hand, signs that the professionals respected the local amateurs were most gratifying. In 1907 an actress left the Inland Stock Company while they were touring Castle Valley, and Luella Guymon, a popular H u n t i n g t o n community player, was pressed into service to take her place. She performed well e n o u g h that she was invited to remain with the company for the rest of the season. T h e Progress declared that G u y m o n was "a most clever y o u n g lady and one who will make a hit if she chooses the dramatic profession. Miss Guymon has, also, a splendid mezzo-soprano voice. She enters into h e r work with snap a n d vim and has a fine stage presence. She comes from a splendid family and all Emery County wishes h e r success." 37 As the growing popularity of motion pictures increasingly crowded the touring stock companies out of the larger communities, they visited the small towns m o r e a n d more frequently. I n 1917, for 35

Interview with Margaret Johnson Young, August 15, 1952. Emery County Progress, October 27, 1906. 37 Ibid., April 13, 1907. S6

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The Acme Comedy Company of Huntington on tour in 1901: Ernest J. Grange, Peter E. Johnson, Lewis W. Johnson, M. P. Johnson, Jr., Ethel Grange, Estelle Collard, Alonzo N. Leonard, Mae Loveless, James W.Johnson, Albert Collard.

example, the Walters Stock C o m p a n y t o u r e d Castle Valley in J a n u a r y , a Chautauqua troupe in May and again in October, the Crawford Stock Company in October, and the Howard Foster Players in December. 38 Indeed, small communities such as those in Castle Valley were the last stand of the traveling show. Luke Cosgrave, a touring actor t h r o u g h o u t the country for forty years, reported in his memoirs that it was while he was playing an engagement in Price in 1923 that he m a d e the decision to leave the stage for the movies. 39 Some general patterns become a p p a r e n t from a survey of dramatic activity in Castle Valley. In the years before 1900, virtually all local entertainment was community generated. T h e local dramatic companies cut across the lines of age a n d social status to a considerable extent, and particularly in the towns of Orangeville and H u n tington they represented a major, continuing focus of civic life. In 38 39

Ibid., December 30,1916; May 12,1917; J u n e 2, 1917; October 13,1917; December 29,1917. Luke Cosgrave, Theater Tonight (Hollywood: House Warven, Publishers, 1952), p p . 195-99.

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the drama (as also in music) it was recreation by participation, but in addition some of the performers evidently attained a degree of skill. Reviews in the local newspapers provided published criticism, and the audiences, with many productions to compare, were apparently free in assessing the strong and weak points of each production. Although community dramatics remained active after 1900, changes were afoot that would eventually lead to their eclipse. While the touring professional companies provided some stimulus to the local players, they also represented competition for the community's entertainment dollar. Other factors, as well, that at first seemed to stimulate dramatic activity in the end contributed to the decline of community dramatics. In about 1904 in Huntington and 1907 in Orangeville, the LDS wards appointed amusement committees to take charge of entertainments. 4 0 This move, which received churchwide emphasis after 1910,41 led to a centralization of responsibility and had an effect on the established dramatic companies. While the community dramatic associations were made u p almost entirely of members of the LDS church, and while in most instances they performed in church-owned buildings and donated their profits to church projects, they had nonetheless maintained an independence in the selection, casting, and staging of their plays and had governed their activities by artistic principles, as they understood them. This independence was lost to some degree u n d e r the amusement committees and further eroded when the Mutual Improvement Associations were given the primary responsibility for ward activities. T h e growth of school dramatics, first at the Emery Stake Academy and later in the public high schools at Price, Huntington, and Ferron, also contributed to the decline of the community dramatic associations. T h e schools developed dramatic departments that were active in producing plays and other entertainments, and their auditoriums eventually replaced the LDS meetinghouses and social halls as the main setting for dramatic productions. With all of these institutions involved in dramatics, the period from 1900 to 1920 was an active one, but the focus was definitely shifting away from the community associations. Players who had performed actively for thirty or forty years were displaced as the high schools and the MIAs drew mainly on young people as performers. 40 41

Interview with Fred W. Reid, August 29, 1952. Gledhill, "Mormon Dramatic Activities," p. 217.

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In Orangeville the community dramatic association that had been such a vital force for twenty years declined soon after the turn of the century. In 1907 the social hall was deeded over to the LDS church. T h e Gavin Jack paintings had deteriorated by this time, and since the building was now primarily a chapel they were taken down or painted over. By 1910 the dramatic association had dissolved. 42 T h e young people took their talents to the Emery Stake Academy in Castle Dale, and although there were revivals of dramatic activity in 1919 and 1922 interest never again reached the earlier levels.43 T h e Huntington Dramatic Club survived until 1922. T h e period around 1904 was a difficult time, as Bishop J. W. Nixon's attempts to consolidate community activities under church control provoked much resentment among some long-time members of the dramatic club.44 A similar dispute developed again in 1910. T h e activity of the club remained high throughout this period, however, and one member estimated that at least thirty plays were staged between 1915 and 1920.45 Several factors contributed to the persistence of community dramatics in Huntington. Since most Huntington people refused to support the stake academy in Castle Dale, the talented young people tended to remain at home instead of being taken out of the community as was the case in Orangeville. Several members of the second generation, such as James W. Johnson, Evart Johnson, Luella Guymon, and J. Fleming Wakefield, were not only highly talented performers but also deeply committed to keeping alive the community dramatic tradition. In addition, Huntington was the largest community in Castle Valley, larger even than Price until 1910, and therefore had more people to draw upon as performers and more buildings suitable for dramatic performances. T h e brick meetinghouse was the main theater from its completion in 1899 until the Relief Society Hall was opened in 1906. T h e original log meetinghouse remained available as a rehearsal hall until it was destroyed by fire in 1918, and in 1912 J. W. Nixon built the Bonita Theater, which was used for touring companies as well as for movies until it burned down in 1920. (Although Nixon, as bishop, had challenged the prerogatives of the Huntington Dra42

Interviews with A. G. Jewkes, Jr., August 28, 1952; Fred W. Reid, August 29, 1952. Emery County Progress, March 15, 1919; January 28, 1922; February 18, 1922; March 4, 1922; June 24, 1922. 44 Minutes of Huntington Ward Dramatic Association, January 23, 1904 (M. E. Johnson papers); Emery County Progress, April 23, 1904. 45 Interview with Joseph Mendenhall, September 1952. 4Z

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matic Club, he was an active participant in community dramatics himself, and one of his daughters, Grace Nixon Stewart, who began her career playing child parts in local plays, later studied in Boston at the Leland Powers School of Dramatic Art and was for many years a prominent teacher of dramatics in Salt Lake City.)46 Even after the demise of the Huntington Dramatic Club, there were other efforts to revive community dramatics in Huntington. T h e Junior Chamber of Commerce, with G. Rulon Johnson as the chief mover, staged several plays in 1922-23. 47 In 1931 Clifton Howard and Clyde Johnson led another brief dramatic revival. These efforts, however, were overshadowed by the work of the drama department at the Huntington High School, which opened in 1915. T h e general assumption is that the coming of the motion picture sounded the death knell of the drama as the great American entertainment medium. Certainly it is likely that, in Castle Valley as elsewhere, the movies alone would eventually have displaced community dramatics. However, as we have seen, there were other factors at work. In addition to those already discussed, it should be noted that the communities themselves were changing. T h e large second-generation population that had energized community life in the 1890s began to leave the area in the period from 1910 to 1920 in search of better economic opportunities. This population drain of young adults, which continued for many decades, left the Emery County communities largely composed of the old and the very young, with a relatively small proportion of the population in the twenty- to forty-year-old range that had earlier supplied most of the participants in community dramatics. Consequently, entertainments increasingly took the form of performances by the youth with the remainder of the community serving as spectators rather than participants. Essentially by the 1920s the era of participatory arts was over. T h e era of consumerism had arrived.

Emery County Progress, January 20, 1923. Interview with G. R. Johnson, December 10, 1952.

George Careless. USHS collections.

George Careless, Pioneer Musician BY BRUCE DAVID MAXWELL

1865, ACCORDING T O George Pyper, Brigham Young called a young English immigrant into his office. "Brother George," he said, "I have a mission for you. I want you to be the Chief Musician of the Church. I want you to take the Tabernacle Choir and the Theatre Orchestra and lay a foundation for good music." 1 However apocryphal Pyper's anecdote may be, that young Englishman, George Edward Percy Careless, did indeed help lay the foundations of Utah musical culture. During his thirty-year career he fostered Salt Lake's nascent taste for classical music through his pioneer

E A R L Y IN

Mr. Maxwell, a graduate in musical composition from California State University, Northridge, is active as a conductor, composer, and flutist in southern California. 1 George Pyper, "In Intimate Touch with Professor George Careless," Juvenile Instructor 59 (1924): 173.

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efforts as a conductor, editor, and teacher. And, at the same time, he inspired other musicians to follow his example, making Salt Lake an early center of cultural activity in the West. Little is known of Careless's early life. He was born into a lower middle class family in London, England, on September 24, 1839. His conversion to Mormonism in 1850 seems to have had little immediate impact on his family. But two years later he left his family home. Young Careless was interested in music from an early age. Luckily, he was apprenticed to a shoe manufacturer who encouraged his interests. George taught himself violin and in 1859 entered the Royal Academy of Music. By 1862 he had begun a professional career in music. In addition to his professional acitivites he conducted choirs for the LDS church. Public performances with the London Conference Choir in 1863 and 1864 brought him to the attention of the LDS press. 2 Soon after, Elder William Staines convinced George to immigrate to Utah. Leaving England on J u n e 3, 1864, he continued his choral activities on board the immigrant ship Hudson. But the journey between New York and Utah was plagued by delays and hardship. When the Warren Snow company reached Salt Lake on November 3, 1864, the musician was ill from fever and malnutrition. Careless arrived in Salt Lake when Utah's musical culture was still in its infancy. A number of amateur choirs and bands had been active since the 1850s, but professional musicians were rare indeed. Nevertheless, he had already decided on a musical career and within a few months began attracting students. 3 Significantly, by April 1865 Careless had joined the Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra. T h e orchestra boasted the best musical talent in Salt Lake, although few of the musicians had professional experience before coming to Utah. T h e i r conductor, Charles J o h n Thomas (who also conducted the Tabernacle Choir), had molded them into a fine ensemble. By 1865 orchestral music had become a regular intermission feature of theater performances. 4 In the fall of 1865 Brigham Young sent Thomas to St. George to promote musical 2

Millennial Star 25 (1863): 740; 26 (1864): 66. Pyper, "In Intimate Touch," pp. 113-18. 4 Alfred Morris, Jr., "Music History of the Salt Lake Theatre: T h e Formative Years, 1862-1870" (Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1957), pp. 26, 32-33, 124. T h e size of the orchestra varied from twenty-four musicians in 1863 to sixteen in 1865. 3

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Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra: Joshua Midgley, cello; Ebenezer Beesley, viola; David W. Evans, violin; George Careless, director and violin; Mark Croxall, cornet; Horace K. Whitney, flute; Orson Pratt, Jr., piano. USHS collections.

culture there, and Careless was appointed conductor of the theater orchestra in his place. H e soon found, however, that the orchestra did not play to his satisfaction. While T h o m a s , a consummate showman, had favored waltzes, schottisches, and polkas, Careless preferred the m o r e exacting standards of classical music. T h e orchestra was soon cut to seven musicians who were guaranteed a nightly wage. During Thomas's tenure all musicians and actors in the local stock company were expected to donate their time and abilities to the theater. But dissastisfaction festered in the ranks. Still, whether the musicians' wage resulted from Careless's activities or from a threatened actors' strike remains unclear. 5 U n d e r Careless's direction vocal soloists and ensembles performed frequently at the theater. I n addition, by 1868 visiting stars began presenting operatic scenes, using the orchestra for musical 5 Pyper, "In Intimate Touch," p. 174, credits Careless. J o h n S. Lindsay, The Mormons and the Theatre (Salt Lake City, 1905), p p . 64-69, reports on the strike â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but his chronology is confusing.

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accompaniment. It was u n d e r these circumstances that Careless conducted the first full-length light opera in Utah. In 1869, shortly after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the Howson O p e r a T r o u p e presented Offenbach's The Grand Duchess. By the 1869-70 season the m e m b e r s of the orchestra h a d decided to form a u n i o n with Careless as president. But the conductor held strong anti-union sentiments a n d resigned at the e n d of the season in protest. Careless's early c o n n e c t i o n with t h e T a b e r n a c l e C h o i r is obscure. A story, apparently confirmed by the Englishman himself, tells how h e d e m a n d e d â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a n d got â&#x20AC;&#x201D; improvements in the heating a n d lighting of the Old T a b e r n a c l e to aid t h e choir. 6 B u t on November 19, 1865, it was Robert Sands, not Careless, who replaced Charles T h o m a s as director of the choir. 7 Unfortunately, contemporary sources are often sketchy a n d contradictory a n d shed little light on Careless's involvement with the choir. However, h e was definitely conducting the choir by 1869. Although n o individual events stand out over the next eleven years of his t e n u r e , t h e r e is n o d o u b t that he raised the choir's s t a n d a r d of singing. A typical reaction to the choir was published in 1870: The singing during Conference has elicited general and well-merited praise and commendation; and never before, we think, has the Tabernacle Choir been in such a state of efficiency, and the highest credit is due to Professor Careless, the conductor, and to the brethren and sisters of the choir for their excellent rendering of the various compositions sung. 8

T h e choir also began to present public concerts d u r i n g this period. While conductor of the Tabernacle Choir, Careless was also involved with o t h e r projects. In 1871 he conducted the short-lived Deseret Philharmonic Society, dedicated to "the systematic study a n d practice of vocal a n d instrumental music." Later, in 1873, he conducted the interdenominational Salt Lake Choral Society, which lasted t h r o u g h the middle of 1874. T h e n , in J a n u a r y 1875, h e formed a new organization to p r o d u c e Handel's Messiah.9 6 P y p e r , "In Intimate T o u c h , " p . 233; H o w a r d P u t n a m , "George E d w a r d Percy Careless: His Contributions to the Musical Culture of U t a h a n d the Significance of His Life a n d W o r k s " (Master's thesis, Brigham Y o u n g Univiversity, 1945), p p . 90-91. 7 Millicent Cornwall, "Chronological History of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir, 1847-1957," p . 8, cited in letter to a u t h o r from Alice Swensen, exec, secy, M o r m o n T a b e r n a c l e Choir, J u l y 8, 1981. 8 Deseret Evening News, " T h e Singing D u r i n g Conference," May 9, 1870. 9 Deseret Evening News, "Philharmonic Society," March 8, 1871; " T h e Deseret Philharmonic Society," March 24, 1871; Salt Lake Herald, "Choral Society," J a n u a r y 7, 1873; "Handel's O r a t o r i o of the Messiah," J a n u a r y 14, 1875.

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As with the Choral Society, the Messiah membership was open to both Mormon and Gentile, with rehearsals held at St. Mark's School. Interest in the project soon flagged, and finally, in March, the organizing committee published a "Preamble and Resolution" in the Salt Lake Herald, reminding absentees that they were . . . u n d e r moral and indeed pecuniary obligations to themselves, to the society, and in a sense to the public, to stand by and see it through; that in view of these considerations, and also in the name of a common love of the divine art, we now earnestly and respectfully appeal to the habitual absentees to return forthwith to their places in the ranks; to the occasional absentees to be more punctual in their attendance, not only that enthusiasm may be returned . . . but that [the Messiah] may not have to be abandoned. . . .

T h e appeal worked. Amid a flourish of publicity the Salt Lake Handel and Haydn Society performed the Messiah on J u n e 3, 1875. But for a performance in San Francisco the previous November, this would have been the first Messiah west of Chicago. And, indeed, the Salt Lake press did not hesitate to vaunt the home production to San Francisco's loss. In San Francisco, the Herald wrote: . . . the trumpet obligato was played so badly as to nearly compel Madame Anna Bishop to stop singing. Compare with this the excellence of the cornet obligato . . . by Mr. Croxall, and here is a proof of it."11

After a warmly praised repeat performance in December, the Handel and Haydn Society evolved into the Philharmonic Society, which devoted itself to vocal study and gave several public recitals. 12 During this period of Careless's life he was not exclusively involved in performances. Sometime before September 1872 he was hired to supervise the music department of Calder and Sears. David O. Calder had been selling music supplies since 1861, although his business had undergone several changes of partnership. And, indeed, Calder and Sears did not outlast 1872. On November 16 Sears withdrew and a new partnership was formed: Calder and Careless. 13 T h e most significant activity of the Calder and Careless dealership was the publication of the Utah Musical Times. Strictly speaking, the Times was not the first musical publication in Utah. In November 1875 William Grant, a music dealer in American Fork, began a 10

Salt Lake Daily Herald, March 18, 1875. Salt Lake Daily Herald, "The Messiah," J u n e 4, 1875. 12 Edward Tullidge, History of Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City, 1886), p. 774; Deseret Evening News, September 16, 1878. 13 Salt Lake Herald, "Music," September 6, 1872; "Partnership Dissolved," November 16, 1872. 11

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four-page quarterly, the Musical Advertiser.14 T h a t p a p e r may have inspired Calder a n d Careless to publish their m o r e ambitious monthly, which first a p p e a r e d in March 1876. T h e Utah Musical Times feat u r e d general articles on music as well as notices a n d reviews of musical activity in Salt Lake and elsewhere. In addition, each issue published hymns by h o m e composers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; most of which were by Careless himself. T h e s e h y m n s developed out of the style of the o b l o n g t u n e b o o k s of Lowell Mason and Isaac W o o d b u r y a n d c ontrasted with the S u n d a y David 0. Calder was a partner in School style of h y m n favored by Calder and Careless's music store. USHS collections. the Juvenile Instructor d u r i n g the 15 same period. T h e h y m n s in the Times would later influence t h e course of LDS h y m n o d y . In March 1877 Calder a n d Careless's competitor, Daynes a n d Son, began publication of the Utah Musical Bouquet, a m o n t h l y of p o p u l a r sheet music. I n response, Calder a n d Careless b e g a n p u b lication of their q u a r t e r l y , t h e Utah Musical Hours.18 B u t b o t h periodicals quickly folded, a n d by F e b r u a r y 1878 the Utah Musical Times h a d also ceased publication. Soon after, Careless left t h e p a r t n e r s h i p to o p e n his own music store. A l t h o u g h h e r e m a i n e d o n e of Calder's competitors until 1886, h e never published a successor to the Times.11 I n S e p t e m b e r 1878 Careless a n n o u n c e d plans to f o u n d a concert orchestra. T h a t organization, the first of its kind in U t a h , gave 14 Salt Lake Herald, "Musical Advertiser," November 9, 1875. According to the Herald, " T h e n a m e implies its object." 15 T h e t u n e Antioch ("Joy to the World") is a familiar example of how elaborate some settings from the oblong books were. But the M o r m o n s , especially Careless, apparently tried to synthesize that type of tune with the simple a n t h e m , also a feature of the oblong books. 16 Deseret Evening News, "Musical," March 12, 1877; "Musical H o u r s , " J u n e 7, 1877. 17 Deseret Evening News, "Dissolution," July 27, 1878. However, Calder's Musical fournal a p p e a r e d briefly in 187'9: Deseret Evening News, "Calder's Musical J o u r n a l , " August 6, 1879; " F r o m Calder's," December 11, 1879.

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its initial performance on March 24, 1879. T h e program, a varied selection of instrumental and vocal music, was well received and established a pattern continued in the orchestra's concert series of 1880, 1881, and 1882. Typical of the type of program presented was the concert of January 5, 1880. T h e orchestra played overtures by Mozart, Riviere, and Rossini and accompanied violinist Willard Weihe in a concerto by Vieuxtemps. Vocal ensembles and soloists performed popular material by Balfe and Cowan, and the concert concluded with an a p p e a r a n c e by the p o p u l a r Croxall Brass Band. Although a twentieth-century ear might classify such repertoire as "pops" or "light classical," concerts such as this helped educate a musical public that had no other contact with classical music.18 Unfortunately, in 1880 the Careless Orchestra also became the "theater orchestra" of the Home Dramatic Club. It ended its independent career as a concert orchestra by merging with the club in October 1882.19 Shortly after the Careless Orchestra debut in 1879 it was involved in the most significant event of its short career. On April 17 the orchestra combined with the Philharmonic Society to present a fully staged production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. T h e comic opera, the first produced in Utah by home talent, opened to rave reviews from as far away as Ogden. Indeed, the Ogden Junction mirrored the Salt Lake press when it wrote: "The performance of this opera can be considered as a landmark in Utah's musical development, all the actors being amateurs who have coped victoriously with this difficult undertaking." 20 T h e original run of three performances was doubled and the company then took its production to Ogden for one performance. By the following month photographs of the Pinafore company were being sold in Salt Lake and Ogden. 21 A. C. Smyth organized a juvenile Pinafore company and the Deseret News complained: 'Pinafore' seems to have attacked us in a variety of shapes. We'll next have summer hats branded 'Pinafore,' 'Pinafore' syrup at the soda

18 Deseret Evening News, "A First Class Orchestra," September 20, 1878. Also see orchestra's advertisement, January 2, 1880. Significantly, when Theodore Thomas presented a series of exclusively classical concerts at the Tabernacle in 1883, the Deseret News suggested that the inclusion of a "simple ballad in English" might have increased the appreciation of the "untutored" Salt Lake public. Deseret Evening News, "The Thomas Concert," J u n e 16, 1883. 19 Deseret Evening News, Home Dramatic Club advertisement, October 6, 1882. 20 Ogden Junction, "The 'Pinafore,' " April 19, 1879. 21 Ogden Junction, " 'Pinafore' Pictures," May 9, 1879.

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George Careless, USHS collections, and his wife, Lavinia Triplett Careless, a soprano who appeared in local productions, from Juvenile Instructor, May 1924.

fountains, but if O g d e n don't start a newspaper with that title, we'll bear the others in silent misery. 22

Out of deference to the juvenile Pinafore company Careless refrained from further performances of the opera until December. In the meantime the company performed Trial by Jury a n d Flotow's Martha in Salt Lake a n d O g d e n with Amy Sherwin, a traveling "star." Although no other operas were produced by this company, Careless's success inspired others, such as Smyth a n d C. J. T h o m a s , to continue p r o d u c i n g comic opera with h o m e companies t h r o u g h o u t the 1880s. T h e 1880s saw a reduction in Careless's activity. By August 1880 illness had caused him to retire from the Philharmonic Society and 22 Deseret Evening News, "Juvenile Pinafore," May 17, 1879. The Ogden reference is unclear. However, during the summer and fall the Ogden Junction published several humorous "fillers" with a "Pinafore" theme, for example, " 'Pinafore' by Steam," August 1, 1879.

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the Tabernacle Choir. 23 Only the Careless Orchestra and the music store occupied his time until November 1883 when he organized the Choral Society. T h e Choral Society was short lived, however. On J u n e 2, 1884, they performed a varied program that included J o h n Stainer's cantata The Daughter ofJ aims. But despite kudos from the press, the society did not outlive the concert. Equally ephemeral was a "mammoth" orchestra that Careless conducted on March 25, 1885.24 Not until after the death of his first wife, Lavinia, in July 1885,25 did he undertake another project of major proportions. On November 2, 1885, the Careless Amateur Opera Company gave the Salt Lake premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's new opera The Mikado. Uncharacteristically, the performance was given mixed reviews. Early rehearsals had been delayed by Lavinia Careless's death, leaving the company under-rehearsed by opening night. But later performances were well recieved. 26 Ironically, by the end of the year two professional touring companies brought The Mikado to the Salt Lake Theatre. Comparisons with the home company were inevitable. T h e performance . . . by the Thompson Opera Company is not different in most material respects from that of the amateur company who lately presented [The Mikado] here; there was, however, a precision of business, a completeness of detail and a "rush" of things generally such as usually constitute the difference between professionals and tyros. 27

Reading between the lines strongly suggests that the performance standards of the Careless Opera Company were high, considering the talent available in Salt Lake. Such standards, however, had come to be considered the norm for Careless's projects. 28 In February of the following year the opera company again produced a Gilbert and Sullivan work, The Pirates of Penzance, but a revival of Pinafore in September was severely criticized for lack of 23 Deseret Evening News, "The Choir to Professor Careless," August 23, 1880; "The Tabernacle Choir," July 24, 1897; "Honor of Prof. Radcliffe," April 7, 1900; Tullidge, History of Salt Lake City, p. 24 Deseret Evening News, "Daughter of Jairus," May 22, 1884; "Concert and Cantata," J u n e 3, 1884; "The Careless Concert," March 26, 1885. 25 Deseret Evening News, "Death by Morphine," July 16, 1885. Careless remarried in 1888. 26 Deseret Evening News, "The Mikado," November 3,1885; "The Mikado," November 14, 1885. 27 Deseret Evening News, "The Thompson Co.," December 1, 1885. 28 It should be noted that throughout the nineteenth century all Salt Lake performing organizations, whether musical or dramatic, were considered to be amateur â&#x20AC;&#x201D; perhaps not without reason. This is a major reason why few of these groups lasted more than a few seasons.

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vitality and insufficient rehearsal. Although advertised as the "grand o p e n i n g " of the company's season, it proved their final performance. 29 Perhaps one of the reasons for the demise of the Careless Opera Company was the formation of Zion's Choral Union. As early as March 1879 Mormon church president J o h n Taylor had promoted the formation of a church-sponsored musical society.30 T h e resulting organization, Zion's Musical Society, had flourished and died by 1886. Nevertheless, the church hierarchy decided to renew the effort. According to the Deseret News, the union was organized, ". . . to provide its members an opportunity to improve their musical talents, especially with a view to increase the efficiency of our Church choirs. For this purpose the higher classes of sacred music will be studied. . . ."31 Careless was appointed director and a cantata, Belshazzar, was selected as the group's first project. Its performance on J u n e 7, 1887, was greeted warmly by the press. However, no further performances by the union followed, although Careless continued to rehearse the group until the following year. In May 1888 he retired from the Choral Union. 32 Having already retired from business, he was now able to devote his full attention to his private students. Careless's early experiences as an educator are difficult to trace. He never advertised for students in the press until after his retirement from business, although reference has already been made to his tutorial efforts u p o n reaching Salt Lake in 1864. From 1869 to 1871 he taught classes in vocal music at the University of Deseret. 33 Additionally, reference has been made to the tutorial purpose of the early Deseret Philharmonic Society. It is likely that Careless's nonLDS choral societies during the 1870s were founded for didactic purposes, with performance viewed as a reward for a j o b well done. Although various prominent musicians in early Utah, such as B. B. 29 Deseret Evening News, "Pinafore," September 27, 1886. However, the company was revived briefly in November 1887 as the chorus in Edward Tullidge's play Ben Israel. Deseret Evening News, November 4, 1887. 30 Deseret Evening News, "Music Meeting," May 12, 1879. Careless evidently took part in the organization of Zion's Musical Society, although C. J. Thomas was ultimately appointed director. Putnam, "George Edward Percy Careless," pp. 52-53; Deseret Evening News, "Zion's Musical Society," J u n e 17, 1879. 31 Deseret Evening News, "Church Music Society," November 13, 1886. 32 Deseret Evening News, "Belshazzar," J u n e 8, 1887; May 8, 1888. 33 Ralph V. Chamberlin, The University of Utah: A History of Its First Hundred Years, 1850 to 1950 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1960), pp. 68, 572.

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Young and Evan Stephens, have been cited as pupils of Careless, how or when they were taught has yet to be established. In 1886 Careless began teaching in earnest. O n March 8 the Deseret Evening News noted that he had "disposed of his music business . . . [and] opened a school of music . . . where private or class lessons will be given. . . ." But his tutorial efforts d u r i n g this period were overshadowed by younger m e n such as Evan Stephens. In the final analysis, teaching merely served to provide an income on which Careless could retire from public life.34 O n e more major accomplishment remained for Careless. In 1887 he was appointed to a committe charged with compiling a musical supplement to the LDS h y m n book. 35 Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs had been printed without music since its first edition in 1840. Although the Juvenile Instructor had been printing h y m n settings since the 1870s, it had m a d e no attempt to print settings of the hymns in Sacred Hymns. Rather, the Juvenile Instructor specialized in Sunday School hymns, which were being collected in separate Sunday School hymnals from 1884. 36 Only the short-lived Utah Musical Times had m a d e a concerted effort to supply original settings for the official LDS hymnody. T h e assignment of Careless's committee was to provide each h y m n in Sacred Hymns with a musical setting. Each m e m b e r of the committee, which included Careless, Ebenezer Beesley, J o s e p h Daynes, Evan Stephens, and T h o m a s Griggs, was responsible for one-fifth of the musical settings. Although many traditional h y m n settings were included in the final compilation, most of the settings were by Utah composers. Many of the settings from the Utah Musical Times were used in the new hymnal. The new hymnal, The Latter-day Saints' Psalmody, was finally published in 1889. 37 It was modeled after the conservative oblong t u n e books of Mason a n d Woodbury, even to the detail of placing the tenor staff above those for the other voices. 38 But because it was designed only as a supplement to Sacred Hymns, it was d r o p p e d in 34

Salt Lake City directories indicate that he continued to teach until 1929. Deseret Evening News, "L.D.S. Psalmodist," October 25, 1887. T h e committee was organized by J o h n Taylor, who died in July 1887. 36 For a bibliographic survey see Chad Flake, A Mormon Bibliography, 1830-1930 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1978). Although significant, no scholarly study has yet been m a d e of the contributions of the Sunday School to LDS hymnody. Only an unpublished research p a p e r by the author, "Source Book for Hymns (1950)," briefly discusses the topic. 37 'Deseret Evening News, " T h e L.D.S. Psalmody," July 19, 1889. 38 See, for example, American Tune Book (Boston: O. Ditson a n d Co., 1869). 35

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Title page of the LDS Psalmody. USHS collections.

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1927 when a new official hymnal was compiled. Nevertheless, many of the musical settings first published in the Psalmody are still in use. In August 1890 the leader of the Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra, Willard Weihe, left to finish his musical education in Germany. Careless was called out of retirement to replace him. Although this second tenure with the theater orchestra lasted until November 1895,39 Careless was no longer at the hub of Salt Lake c u l t u r e . A new Utah artist Lee Greene Richards's 1928 painting generation of musicians of George Careless in his eighty-ninth year. u n d e r the charismatic USHS collections. leadership of Evan Stephens dominated the local musical scene, building on Careless's achievements of the 1870s and 1880s. As a person Careless was unassuming almost to the point of shyness. He preferred to let his public accomplishments speak for themselves, while shielding his private affairs from view. Nevertheless, the few anecdotes that have entered the public record indicate a forceful yet quiet personality. 40 But his accomplishments speak loudly indeed. He raised the performance standards of the musical organizations of a city hundreds of miles from the centers of American musical culture and educated the musical taste of a pioneer people. He laid the foundations of a musical culture that by the turn of the century was already burgeoning and by the time of his death on December 16, 1932, was coming into full bloom. 39

Deseret Evening News, "The Tabernacle Choir," July 24, 1897. T h e primary source of anecdotes about Careless is Pyper's "In Intimate Touch." For example, when Brigham Young expressed his preference for "soft, beautiful music," Careless asked him if he would be content "to be fed on honey all the time?" T h e musician went on to explain that some hymns "require bold, vigorous, treatment; others, soft sweet strains." He promised to sing the church president's favorite hymns as often as he liked. See ibid., p. 173. 40

"Sisterhood and Sociability": The Utah Women's Press Club, 1891-1928 BY LINDA T H A T C H E R AND J O H N R. S I L L I T O

Writer and editor Emmeline B. Wells founded the Utah Women's Press Club. USHS collections.

31, 1891, eight of Utah's most prominent women met in t h e offices of the Woman's Exponent to organize the Utah Women's Press Club. T h e s e women â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Emmeline B. Wells, Lula Greene Richards, Susa Young Gates, Ellis R. Shipp, Romania B. Pratt, Ruth May Fox, Julia I. MacDonald, a n d Lucy A. Clark â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

O N

T H E EVENING OF O C T O B E R

Ms. Thatcher is a librarian at the Utah State Historical Society and president of the Utah Women's History Association. Mr. Sillito is the archivist at Weber State College, Ogden.

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were active in a wide range of social, civic, political, and religious endeavors. On that October evening, however, they met to further another of their interests â&#x20AC;&#x201D; writing. 1 T h e club they formed, as the records explain, was organized for the benefit of "women engaged in active journalistic or newspaper work in Utah Territory." 2 T h e organization of the Utah Women's Press Club occurred at a time when other similar groups were being created throughout the country. Just two years before a woman's press club had been organized in New York by J a n e C u n n i n g h a m Croly, one of the first women to be employed by a large metropolitan newspaper â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the New York Herald? Over the next thirty years, the Utah Women's Press Club played an important role in Utah's literary and journalistic history. An understanding of that role begins by examining the life of its founder and guiding spirit, Emmeline B. Wells. Emmeline Blanche Woodward Harris Whitney Wells was born on February 29, 1828, in Petersham, Massachusetts. 4 She joined the M o r m o n church in 1842, at the age of fourteen, despite the opposition of friends. Following h e r conversion, Emmeline r e t u r n e d to the boarding school she had been attending and graduated with a teaching certificate. In 1843 she married James Harris and a year later traveled with him and his parents to Nauvoo, Illinois. Soon after arriving in the city tragedy struck the Harris family: an infant son died and Emmeline suffered a serious illness. Shortly thereafter, James Harris left both Emmeline and the Mormon church. In February 1845 the seventeen-year-old divorcee became the plural wife of Newell K. Whitney, a fifty-year-old bishop in the Mormon church. Whitney died six years later, leaving Emmeline with two small children. In 1853, at the age of twenty-four, Emmeline became a plural wife of another older man, Daniel H. Wells, a p r o m i n e n t Utah leader a n d counselor to Brigham Young. 5 Emmeline's third marriage was not as successful as she had h o p e d . But, E m m e l i n e B. Wells, Journals, October 31, 1891, Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo; Mary F. Kelly Pye, "Utah Women's Press Club History," MS, LDS C h u r c h LibraryArchives, Salt Lake City. See also J a n e C u n n i n g h a m Croly, History of Women's Press Club Movement in America (New York: Henry G. Allen, 1898), p p . 1109-10. 2 Pye, "UWPC History." 3 Cynthia E. Harrison, Women in American History: A Bibliography (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Press, 1979), p. 131. 4 For information on Emmeline B. Wells see Patricia Rasmussen Eaton-Gadsby, "Emmeline Blanche Woodward Wells: 'I Have Risen T r i u m p h a n t . ' " in Vicky Burgess-Olson, ed., Sister Saints (Provo: BYU Press, 1978), p p . 455-80. 5 Ibid., p. 461.

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despite her personal problems and disappointments, she contributed greatly to the social and civic life of late nineteenth-century Utah. Emmeline Wells considered herself a person of destiny, which may be one reason she accomplished so much in her lifetime.6 In addition to organizing the Press Club and the Reapers Club, Wells served as the editor of the Woman's Exponent from 1877 until its demise in 1914, was active in politics as president of the Utah Woman's Suffrage Association, served in various capacities in the Republican party, and was a prolific writer whose literary efforts included a volume of poetry, Musings and Memories, as well as numerous articles in magazines and newspapers. Throughout her life, Emmeline B. Wells was an outspoken champion of the rights and status of women. The organization of the Utah Women's Press Club is one of many examples of her commitment to improving the place of women in society. Under Wells's direction the first regularly scheduled meeting of the club was held on November 30, 1891. In her journal she recorded: Letter from Susa [Young Gates] that she could not come to the press club — m a d e ready for twenty or so. Only t h r e e came, b u t we held the meeting. H a d p a p e r s & letters read and had refreshments daintly served. I a m astonished that so few take an interest in these things. Sister Fox, Dr. Shipp, a n d Sister McDonald each did well. Chocolate cakes, apples, bananas, grapes etc. Very dainty repast. 7

Despite this small turnout, the group was undaunted and continued with their efforts to make the club viable. Prior to the end of the year they selected their officers for 1892: Wells, president; Susa Young Gates, first vice-president; Lula Greene Richards, second vice-president; Martha A. Y. Greenhalgh, vice-president at large; Annie Wells Cannon, corresponding secretary; Dr. Ellis R. Shipp, recording secretary; Ruth May Fox, treasurer; and Dr. Romania B. Pratt, auditor. 8 One cannot help but wonder, looking at this long list of officers, if Wells might not have intended this as a strategy not only to spread the work load but to increase attendance at meetings. Three women — Gates, Pratt, and Lucy A. Clark (who was not an officer) — were appointed as a committee to write by-laws. Over 6

Ibid., passim. Wells, Journal, November 10, 1891. 8 Pye, "UWPC History." 7

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The Templeton Building on the southeast corner of Main Street and South Temple housed for a time the offices of the Woman's Exponent where Press Club members held their monthly meetings. USHS collections.

the years these by-laws were periodically changed, but the main points remained intact. Regular meetings of the club were held either once or twice a month. It was stipulated that the meetings would be held in the parlor of the Woman's Exponent office, "unless the date or the place of the meeting be changed by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a regular meeting." 9 After 1914, the year the Woman's Exponent e n d e d publication, the club met in the Salt Lake City Public Library. 10 T h e by-laws also provided that the election of officers would take place at the club's October meeting, which would also serve as the annual business meeting. Applications for membership were presented in writing and approved by the credentials committee. An applicant then had to be voted on by the entire membership. T h e club dues were one dollar per year, but club members were allowed to bring guests so long as they paid ten cents for the guests' refresh9

Woman's Exponent, July 15, 1892, p. 10. Utah Women's Press Club, "Report of the UWPC 1918," MS, LDS Church Library-Archives. This report was presented to the annual meeting of the Utah Federation of Women's Clubs. 10

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ments. No guest, however, could attend more than three times in one year.11 As stated in the by-laws, the Utah Women's Press Club's main purpose was to encourage women's literary efforts. Membership was open to any woman "who wrote for a creditable journal, newspaper or other publication. . . ."12 As the years passed, however, this definition was considerably broadened. As Romania B. Pratt, the club's newly elected president, explained at the meeting held November 30, 1897: "In a strict sense, the name of Press Club in our case is a misnomer, so few of us are regular or special correspondents or contributors to newspaper and periodicals, and only three of our number are bona fide editors." Pratt went on to say that the goal of the club had been expanded so that those "less skilled in journalism" could still participate in the discussion and activities of the organization.13 In examining the lives of those women who over the years affiliated with the Utah Women's Press Club, it is clear that almost all were Mormons. However, those members who were not Mormons were apparently as readily and cordially accepted as the other members. Most club members, regardless of religious affiliation, were active in civic and community work as well as interested in writing and literature. In reconstructing the membership of the club, it appears that the women who affiliated with the organization fell into three categories: a handful of professional writers who later worked for major newspapers outside of the state or whose works were published in national journals; a larger group consisting of women who were active in the local publishing scene as editors of newspapers or journals and as published authors of books, poems, short stories, and nonfiction; and, the largest number, women who had published something in order to join the club but were not primarily writers or editors. In the first category, three women stand out: Nevada V. Davis, who lived in Salt Lake in 1893 while teaching at the city high school and later went to work for the New York Herald', Ada Patterson, a reporter for the Salt Lake Herald in the 1890s who later worked for 11 Utah Women's Press Club, "Minutes 1894-1898," MS., Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City; Woman's Exponent, July 15, 1892, p. 10. 12 Pye, "UWPC History." 13 Woman's Exponent, December 31, 1892, p. 230.

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newspapers in St. Louis and San Francisco and eventually became the drama critic for the New York American and the author of short stories and a biography of Maude Adams, the noted Utahn who became a famous Broadway actress; 14 and Josephine Spencer, author oiThe Senatorfrom Utah, a novel published in 1895, and several articles in national magazines including Pearsons, who ended her career on the staff of the Los Angeles Examiner.

Books by Press Club members included Augusta Joyce Crocheron's T h e Children's Book and Emmeline B. Wells's book ofpoetry, Musings and Memories. USHS collections.

In addition to Emmeline B. Wells, the second category of members included several of Utah's most prominent early twentiethcentury women writers. One of these is Susa Young Gates, a daughter of Brigham Young, who was an important force in fostering "literary appreciation and literary art" in Utah. Gates founded and edited the Young Woman's Journal from 1889 until 1901. Moreover, she authored many articles, short stories, and books, including/o/m 14

Salt Lake Tribune, June 27, 1939, p. 10.

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Steven's Courtship, History of Lydia Knight, The Surname Book and Racial History, a n d The Prince' of Ur, published posthumously in 1945.15 Another important writer and leader in the Press Club was Ellis Reynolds Shipp. In addition to her service as club president, Shipp was an important civic and literary figure in the c o m m u n i t y . She c o m p l e t e d medical school in the East in 1878, despite many obstacles, and returned to Salt Lake City to set u p her practice. Along with her husband and one of his other polygamous wives, Shipp founded the Salt Lake SanitaAugusta Joyce Crockeron. rian, 3. medical publication, in USHS collections. 1888, with all three serving as editors. She contributed many articles on health and medicine during the journal's two-year existence. Today she is best known for her much-read autobiography, The Journal of Ellis Reynolds Shipp.16 Ruth May Fox was a third significant contributor to the Utah literary community. Born in Westbury, England, in 1853, she and her family converted to Mormonism and immigrated to Utah in 1867. Fox served in every office of the Press Club, including president. During those years she was also active as a member of the Reapers Club (basically an organization for women with literary aspirations who could not qualify for the Press Club) and politically involved in the Utah Woman's Suffrage Association, the Salt Lake County Republican party, and the Ladies' Republican Club. Fox is best known, however, for her service as president of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association. 17 Although her formal 15 R. Paul Cracroft, "Susa Young Gates: Her Life and Literary Work" (Masters thesis, University of Utah, 1951), p. 3; Sherilyn Cox Bennion, "Enterprising Ladies: Utah's Nineteenth-century Women Editors," Utah Historical Quarterly 49 (1981): 301. 16 See Gail Farr Casterline, "Dr. Ellis R. Shipp: Pioneer Utah Physician," in Burgess-Olson,Sister Saints, pp. 363-82. 17 Linda Thatcher, " 'I Care Nothing for Polities': Ruth May Fox, Forgotten Suffragist," Utah Historical Quarterly 49 (1981): 240-41.

Utah Women's Press Club

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151

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Editor Lucy A. Clark also wrote song lyrics. USHS collections.

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education ended at an early age, she was a strong advocate of education and lifelong learning. Additionally, she was a prolific writer, composing hundreds of poems, which she often read at Press Club meetings. Many of her poems were collected in a book entitled May Blossoms, published in 1923. A number of other substantial local writers affiliated with the Press Club, including Augusta Joyce Crocheron, the author of Representative Women ofDeseret: A Book ofBiographical Sketches, which even today is an important source for biographies of many of the significant women of that time. Another was Lucy A. Clark, a newspaper writer and editor of the Farmington Flash Light. In 1918 she turned her attention to patriotic endeavors and wrote the lyrics for "The American Army Song of Freedom," which was adopted as the official song of the Fort Douglas Training Corps. 18 Ellen Lee Jake18

Utah Women's Press Club, "Minutes," May 26, 1917, MS, LDS Church Library-Archives.

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man, also a member of this group, worked as a typesetter and publisher. She wrote for local newspapers and magazines and served as a correspondent for national newspapers. 19 Women such as Harriet Badger, Amanda Done, Rebecca H. Doolan, Emma Jenson, and others are examples of women in the third category. They left little record of their literary efforts. Most published a small number of poems or stories, which allowed them to belong to the club as a participating member. For them the club functioned primarily as a place where they could meet socially with other more professional writers and receive advice on improving their literary skills. During the first year of the club's existence a pattern was set for future meetings "characterized by the reading of original poems, short stories, and [articles] from national magazines." 20 T h e latter usually dealt with some aspect of women's clubs, literature, or current events. A typical meeting consisted of opening remarks by the chair, an opening prayer, the reading of minutes from the previous meeting, and a roll call that club members frequently responded to with poetic sentiments. After discussion of current club business, original poems, stories, and papers were presented. T h e gamut of papers presented ran from such topics as "Prophecy Fulfilled" by Ruth May Fox to "A Trip to Alaska" by Nevada V. Davis. After the readings were completed, the evening ended with refreshments and a social chat. A main purpose of the meetings, however, was the opportunity afforded the writers to have their works critiqued by fellow club members. In a report to the Utah State Federation of Women's Clubs in 1918, the president of the Press Club noted that items read at "meetings [were]. . . commented upon and criticized in a spirit of friendliness and helpfulness." 21 This spirit had characterized the club since its earliest days. In January 1892 Susa Young Gates suggested that "all original articles [presented at the club] be put in the hands of a good reader, without signatures, with the object of improvement." 22 During the meeting of July 31, 1896, the membership decided that the club should have an official critic. T h e minutes note: 19

Woman's Exponent, October 15, 1892, p. 72. Ibid., July 15, 1892, p. 72. 21 UWPC, "Report .. . 1918." 22 Woman's Exponent, February 15, 1892, p. 118; May 15, 1892, p. 165. 20

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In accordance with our president's oft repeated wish that our club should have a critic, Mrs. E. J. McVicker was proposed by Miss S. L. Monroe as critic. T h e motion was carried unanimously. T h e nominee very modestly expressed thanks for the honor, and said she would try to excercise discretion in the duty, and desired all to feel free to criticize the critic. 23

As the system evolved, the responsibility of the critic was to evaluate original works the week following their presentation. Ultimately, a different critic was assigned each week. Not all of the club's activities were as formal and serious as the reading and critiquing of papers. At the November 20, 1892, meeting of the club Emmeline B. Wells "called attention to the fact that the UWPC had been organized on Halloween" and hoped that the club members might celebrate anniversary meetings in an "original way" in years ahead. 24 In this spirit club members decided that at the anniversary meeting they would come dressed in costumes representing a literary or historical figure or a famous story or poem. Probably the most memorable of these meetings occurred on October 30, 1894. When called by name, the costumed member rose from her seat to give the others a chance to guess who she was representing. Given the descriptions in the minutes, some of the costumes must have produced applause and perhaps laughter. T h e characters were as follows â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dr. E. R. Shipp, Portia injudicial robes, where she makes her speech before the j u d g e beginning the "quality of mercy is not strained," etc. Mrs. Ruth M. Fox, dressed in various gaudy colors, which is said to be characteristic of Dickens, her author, represented Sergeant Buzfuz. Miss Gladys Woodmansee, Hypatia, in Roman costume. Mrs. Ella W. Hyde adorned with fern leaves and a fern covered fan, represented Fanny Fern. Dr. R. B. Pratt, dressed as a nun, read from Longfellow's magazine; and by coincidence Mrs. Pheobe C. Young and Lizzie S. Wilcox chose to represent Lucile as a nun, even hitting upon the same selection for reading. But the matter was remedied by one of the ladies choosing another selection. . . . Mrs. Lucy A. Clark, with powdered hair, lace cap, and imitation snowflakes represented Mrs. Eliza R. Snow, with appropriate selections. . . . Mrs. E. J. Stevenson, with full blown roses, represented "Rose in Bloom" . . . Miss Ellis Shipp looked picturesque in her creamcolored gown bedecked with birds and feathers of brilliant hue, as she recited Longfellow's "Birds of Ellingsworth." Miss Pearl Russell was very sweet as Little Red Riding Hood and she gave a charming little solo from that opera.

UWPC, "Minute Book, 1894-1898," p. 3 1 . Woman's Exponent, December 15, 1892, p. 95. 25 UWPC, "Minute Book, 1894-1898," p. 3. 24

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In addition to these activities the club often entertained famous guests traveling through the area. One of these was a Countess Wachmeister who visited in 1894 and discussed theosophy. T h e countess's lecture may have been a factor leading one club member, Dr. Ellen Brooke Ferguson, eventually to renounce Mormonism and become associated with theosophy. 26 Another visitor, Phoebe Couzins, the first woman law graduate from Washington University in St. Louis, lectured on women's rights and the "late silver trouble in Colorado." 27 Other prominent people of the time entertained by the club included the Countess of Aberdeen and Elizabeth Upton Yates, both active in the suffrage movement. 28 Indeed, the issue of suffrage and the role of women in politics was clearly of great significance to the members of the UWPC. At the meeting of July 30, 1900, for example, Emmeline B. Wells "by permission made a few remarks regarding women having suitable representation in political matters" and on state political tickets, especially as candidates for offices dealing with education. 29 At an earlier meeting in 1895, Wells had "made a motion that the meeting be resolved into a meeting for the consideration of woman's suffrage" which was seconded and accepted unanimously. At this meeting, which several men attended, the subject of the article then before the state constitutional convention to give women equal civil and political rights was discussed. Those present, including the men, accepted the suggestion of Wells that "we should do all we can individually by writing articles on the subject to the newspaper, signed by full name," and by circulating petitions. 30 As these and other examples demonstrate, Emmeline B. Wells was the dominant influence in the growth of the Utah Women's Press Club. As she began to age and was less able to involve herself actively in the organization, the club began to decline. After a spurt of activity during World War I, when club members became involved with a number of patriotic projects, the club lapsed into dormancy. Wells's death in 1921 was an important factor contributing to this situation. T h e last regular meeting of the club was held that year, and Amanda Done was chosen as president. When Done 26

Olson, Sister Saints, p. 336. Pye, "UWPC History." 28 Ibid. 28 * Woman's Exponent, August 1, 1900, p. 2. 30 UWPC, "Minute Book, 1894-1898," p. 16-18. 27

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These women attended the final meeting of the Press Club on December 6,1928, at the Lion House when the organization was formally dissolved. USHS collections.

was unable to fulfill her commitment because of ill health, Lucy A. Clark, another long-time club stalwart, was asked to visit her to see what might be arranged. Clark failed to do so and the club remained inactive for several years. 31 In October 1928 Lily T. Freese, one of the charter members of the club, suggested that it was not in keeping with the spirit of the club or its founders that the organization simply wither away and recommended that a formal meeting should be held to dissolve the club.32 Susa Young Gates, the first woman to serve as vice-president of the club, was asked to officiate and act as hostess at a meeting in the Lion House on December 6, 1928. That meeting, labeled in the press as an "abandonment party," ended the club's thirty-seven-year involvement in literary, civic, and community affairs.33 In retrospect, the organization of the club came at a time when large numbers of literary clubs were being organized by women throughout America. While the UWPC was initially organized for women engaged in writing for "creditable" journals, newspapers, or other publications, it quickly became, in reality, a literary club as 31

Pye, "UWPC History." Ibid. 33 SaltLake Tribune, December 2, 1928, p. 24.

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opposed to a professional organization. Indeed, in terms of general format, program, composition of membership, and goals, the Utah Women's Press Club closely resembles the women's literary clubs examined by Karen Blair in The Clubwoman as Feminist. As Blair notes, although these literary clubs "did not often produce scholars, career women, social critics or avant-garde aesthetes," they often served as a "first step" for women "determined to improve their status." Moreover, these literary clubs, Blair asserts, gave their members "confidence, and skills in speaking, researching and writing, which gave all a new sense of worth. . . ,"34 T h e Utah Women's Press Club provided members with additional tangible benefits. It served as a forum for the study of both literature and current events and gave many aspiring writers an opportunity to have their works read and critiqued. In addition, because of Emmeline B. Wells's close association with the Woman's Exponent, club members not only had a friendly editor but an accessible vehicle for the publication of their works. Indeed, many of the writings of club members found their way into print in the columns of the Woman's Exponent. At the same time, the club helped members identify other markets for their works and, as in the case of Wells's Musings and Memories, provided funding for publication. In her introduction to The Clubwoman as Feminist, Annette Baxter offers an observation about the importance of nineteenthcentury American women's clubs: If the club served the cause of cultural enlightenment for masses of women, it clearly served another purpose as well; it taught women the value of their own autonomy. Like today's women's clubs, whether as diffuse in character as the National Council of Women, or as concentrated as the women's caucuses of professional societies, clubs strengthened collective confidence and afforded their members a more complete sense of individual identity. And they inevitably had the effect of cultivating in women an appreciation of each other. Sisterhood was the predictable outgrowth of such regular collaboration in sociability.35

Baxter's observation about American women's clubs generally seems equally pertinent to the Utah Women's Press Club. For more than thirty years, the women of the Press Club met not only to promote their literary efforts and discuss the important issues of the day but also to promote sisterhood in an atmosphere of sociability. 34 35

Karen F. Blair, The Clubwoman As Feminist (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1980), p. 58. Ibid., p. xiii.

The Old Folks Day: A Unique Utah Tradition BY JOSEPH HEINERMAN

Old folks gathering at Spanish Fork, June 3,1926. A summer event honoring older members of the community was traditional in Utah. George Edward Anderson Photograph, USHS collections.

O L D FOLKS DAY, A NOT-TOO-WELL-KNOWN facet

of Utah history at the present time, was inaugurated, according to one past Mormon periodical, as "a state institution" in which a special, annual holiday had been designated and set aside to honor the elderly and aged of the region. T h e only "credential" they needed to provide was "that they must have reached a certain mile post in life's highway." If they were old enough to qualify as participants in this great event, they Mr. Heinerman is a writer living in Salt Lake City.

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were given a "badge of ribbon" as a pass for free transportation on railroad trains and streetcars to places of amusement. Although these memorable gatherings were, as a whole, conducted by leaders and lay members of the Mormon faith, it was stipulated that "there are none to be excluded because of their religion, and the oldest guest present is the special guest of the occasion whether they be white or black or whatever the complexion of their religious belief."1 As will be observed later, great preparations and meticulous arrangements were made to make this "state institution" an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all who participated in it: This is Old Folks day at Saltair Beach. . . . Every comfort and convenience has been arranged for the honored guests. . . . Old Folks day is an institution peculiar to this section. It was established years ago by men who felt that the aged deserved some such recognition for their part in reclaiming the barren wastes.

Such was the assessment of the editor of the Deseret News on the forty-seventh celebration of that holiday that honored the "old folks"; and in his expression of appreciation to those who implemented its occurrence, he observed that Many who were instrumental in launching this praiseworthy movement have gone to the other side but they are not forgotten, for on all such occasions their names are spoken in loving remembrance and if they are not present in person, their influence is felt and the part they played in years agone is gratefully referred to. 2

T h e veneration of older citizens in Mormon communities was originally expressed by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founding prophet of the faith, who said in May 1843: " T h e way to get along in any important matter is to gather unto yourselves wise men, experienced and aged men, to assist in council in all times of trouble." 3 Consequently, the idea of honoring the aged people of Utah regardless of race, color, or creed was by no means foreign to those who originated it and eventually brought about its inception. T h e primary idea of assembling together these honored and beloved individuals for a special day of socializing and reminiscing among themselves as well as being shown great respect by the younger generations was conceived by a Mormon pioneer photographer and businessman, Charles R. Savage. Early in his life Savage x

Liahona, the Elders Journal 10 (May 27, 1913): 777-78. Deseret News, July 12, 1923, editorial. ^Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1961), p. 299. 2

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became intensely interested in the aged and poor of his native country, England. After his arrival in Utah in the fall of 1860, he opened a photography business in a dwelling place on Main Street next to the old Salt Lake House. His associates remembered him as a true friend of the elderly and the needy and for the assistance he rendered to many of the poor of the city. It has been observed that while frequently attending socials in Salt Lake he noticed that the old fathers and mothers, especially the mothers, usually were engaged in tending their grandchildren, while the younger parents enjoyed themselves in the dance. Taking in this situa-

Monument honoring photographer Charles R. Savage, the originator of Old Folks Day. USHS collections.

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The Clinton Hotel on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake was the site of the first Old Folks Day outing in 1875. USHS collections. tion the idea of an Old Folks Day in which the aged might be waited upon by the younger generation and at least on one day of the year be treated as special guests of honor occurred to Mr. Savage. 4

He communicated his views to Edward Hunter, the presiding bishop of the Mormon church. Hunter, then in his eighty-second year of life, enthusiastically accepted the chairmanship of a central committee to arrange such outings. He called George Goddard, who was his clerk for many years, and Charles R. Savage as his assistants. After making necessary arrangements through various aides, the committee with the great generosity of J o h n W. Young, manager of the newly built Utah Western Railroad, conveyed the aged guests on May 14, 1875, to Clinton's Hotel on the shores of the Great Salt Lake for the first Old Folks Day outing. This group of 180 persons of seventy years and older and sixty individuals who were to serve and entertain the former were welcomed by Dr. Clinton. Refreshments were served; and, after several songs and speeches, most of the company boarded the steamer City of Corinne and had a pleasant two-hour trip on the salt water. Upon the return to the hotel, i

Deseret News, J u n e 6, 1925.

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refreshments were again made available, after which music, dancing, and singing concluded the program of the day. After a most delightful time the aged excursionists returned by train to Salt Lake City. This, the first event of its kind, was hailed as a total and complete success by all who were involved in it. Thus, commenced a custom that occurred on an annual basis for ninety-five years with only three interruptions. Concerning its subsequent end as a church wide activity, one writer has observed: "The Old Folks Central Committee was dissolved in 1970 and the responsibility for honoring our 'Senior Citizens' passed to the stake presidents of the church." 5 Some of the favorite spots selected for the excursions were Garfield Beach, Black Rock, Saltair, Lagoon, and Wandamere and Liberty parks. Some of the towns that graciously and generously acted as hosts to the old folks in these annual outings were American Fork, Brigham City, Ogden, Payson, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Spanish Fork, Springville, and Tooele. 6 Since the first celebration in 1875, singers were invited to accompany the aged excursionists and entertain them on the way in the cars and on the grounds where the outing was held. One group that came into existence at an early period was the "Old Folks Choir u n d e r the leadership of William H. Foster, who had become as indispensable in the annual excursions as the Old Folks Committee itself."7 T h e choir became a great favorite with everyone from its first performance on J u n e 22, 1881, and continued performing for many long years thereafter. Both Charles R. Savage and George Goddard were singers of considerable ability. Other performers during the years were Horace S. Ensign, Emma Lucy Gates, Ebenezer Beesley, Heber J. Grant, George B. Margetts, and William C. Clive. Railroad companies were most willing to provide transportaton free of charge. These included the Oregon Shortline, Denver and Rio Grande, Bamberger Line, Salt Lake Route, the Saltair Road, and the streetcars in the various cities. These gatherings each year involved many of the people in the community. T h e cost had to be met by the generous donations of 5 6

William E. Hunter, Edward Hunter, Faithful Servant (Salt Lake City, 1970), p. 196. Old Folks Central Committee Record Book, MS., LDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake

City. 1

Deseret News, July 1, 1903.

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both individuals and institutions. T h e central committee solicited communities for food, funds, and prizes to enable them to carry out their program each year and for the names of those seventy years of age and older. An Old Folks Central Committee circular dated J u n e 26, 1889, mentions some of the information requested by the committee: Bishops of wards, and ministers of every shade of religious belief are respectfully invited to send in the names and ages of all those over seventy who wish to accompany us, to J o h n Kirkman, Tithing Office, who will issue complimentary tickets on receipt of the lists. As a distinguishing feature of our honored guests, all between the age of seventy and eighty will be known by a red badge on the left breast, those between eighty and ninety by a blue badge, and those between ninety and one hundred by a white rosette. T h r o u g h the courtesy of Supt. W. P. Read, these badges will be the signal for a free ride on the street cars to and from the depot. T h e generous hearted public who are in sympathy with the enterprise of Honoring the Aged and lending a helping hand, will please forward their contribution to C. R. Savage, at the Art Bazaar, or to J o h n Kirkman, Tithing Office.8

A few examples of donations given to the committee in 1886:9 Edward Scarce Sister Arnold Clarke, Eldredge 8c Co. David James & Co. Heber J. Grant William Sherman W. Gallagher S. P. Teasdale P. W. Madsen Simon Bros. Brother Dinwoody Co-op Elias Morris Deseret Bank Evans 8c Spencer J o h n W. Cannon

25 lb. cake 25 lb. cake 2 bolts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; dress patterns 1 copper kettle, 1 plated teapot, 2 dishes 5.00 5.00 5.00 12.00 2 granite teapots Ladies bonnet, 50 Fans 1 arm chair 25.00 1 sack flour 10.00 1 walking cane 5.00

During President J o h n Taylor's administration, the Mormon church gave one h u n d r e d dollars to the committee each year.10 8

"Old Folks Excursion," Wednesday, June 26, 1889, an Old Folks Central Committee circular, p. 2, LDS Church Library-Archives. 9 Old Folks Central Committee subscription lists for 1886, MS., LDS Church Library-Archives. 10 Letter, June 4, 1887, in LDS Church Library-Archives.

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Some of the items donated over the years by the merchants for gifts and prizes for the Old Folks Day celebrations were: Kahn Bros. Z.C.M.I. Drug Dept. Godbe Pitts 8c Co. Cutler Bros. Stan Clawson Henry Tyson Johnson, Pratt 8c Co.

5 lbs. of tea 2 gallons of brandy Wine Packages of tea 1 set of teeth 1 box of fruit 1 gallon of brandy 1 1

George Goddard, a member of the Old Folks Central Committee, made some observations on the excursion of July 8, 1880: Boiling water for tea was not ready soon enough. This should be prepared for beforehand. Persons were allowed to get on the train without tickets and consequently without an invitation which we hope to avoid another season. We had 150 lbs. Sugar, we had about 40 lbs. left â&#x20AC;&#x201D; We had 3 lbs. acid + 2lA lbs. Burnetts Ess[ence] We made about 100 Gallons Lemonade and about 50 gals, of T-,

lea â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

A report of the July 1889 excursion to Ogden, Utah, was published in the Millennial Star for the British Saints so that they would know of the activities of the aged on this yearly celebration. Many of the participants were British converts. After C. R. Savage called the meeting to order, speeches were made by Governor A. L. Thomas followed by Mayor F . J . Kiesal [MC] and a short talk by George Goddard, and the following activities took place: "Old Lange Syne" was then sung by the company and they were addressed by President Wilford Woodruff who congratulated the aged on their having reached their present years with so good a degree of health and prosperity, and hoped they would not forget their duty to God and man, so that when they passed to the other side of the vail, they might be satisfied with their experience in this life and the reward in the next. T. J. Lyne, the veteran actor and oldest tragedian in Utah, if not in America recited "The Seven Ages of Man" and was loudly applauded. Bishop W. B. Preston followed with a brief speech, and the prizes were distributed. A gold metal for the oldest man was left in the hands of Bishop Stevens of Ogden. . . . Selina Williams, of Salt Lake aged 92, took the gold metal for the oldest lady. 11 Old Folks Central Committee subscription lists for various years, LDS Church LibraryArchives. 12 Found with the George Goddard Diaries, LDS Church Library-Archives.

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.^m\~

'-\$ifc,

Old Folks Day, July 6, 1898, at Lagoon. USHS collections. J u d g e Aaron F. Farr, the pioneer, 71, was given a silver cake basket. Alex Brown, of Lynne, who turned the first furrow in Weber County, took a gold metal. A watch was given to Wm. Emmett, leader of the Ogden band, which has always enlivened visitors with music on these occasions. A number of prizes were distributed to different aged people amid much laughter at the humorous remarks of Messrs. Savage and Naylor. T h e gifts consisted of dress patterns, bonnets, satchels, hats, pants, handkerchiefs, fans, parasols, purses, canes, clocks, lunch baskets, etc. . . . T h e Old Folks choir sang the "Continental Railroad Chorus." Brother Goddard pronounced the benediction. 13

Some individual Utah Mormon stakes took the initiative to conduct their own regional Old Folks celebrations. For example, the South Sanpete Stake held its Old Folks' Annual Grand Festival of September 18, 1909, at Manti. According to the Improvement Era, "As usual it was a very happy gathering and a success in every way." Among the other activities, C. C. A. Christensen read his poetry. 14 ^Millennial Star 51 (July 22, 1889): 453. 14 Improvement Era 13 (1910): 67.

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T h e central committee in Salt Lake decided to make the 1909 celebration a truly gala and memorable affair. In a letter to President Joseph F. Smith, Charles W. Nibley, the presiding bishop and committee chairman, stated that the elderly might come from Brigham City to the north and from Payson to the south and gather on the Tabernacle grounds in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, J u n e 29, 1909. T h e horseless carriage had a prominent part in the day's activities. Nibley said: We expect to make an automobile parade one of the features on this occasion and in behalf of the Old Folks Committee, I was instructed to invite you to take seats in the first automobile and head the parade together with the Governor of the State, the Mayor of the City, and the Commander at Fort Doublas. T h e parade will occupy less than one hour, say from 10 to 11 a.m. Refreshments will be served about 11:30 on the Temple Square. T h e exercises in the Tabernacle will begin at one o'clock p.m., and we have you on the program for short talks. 15

Sometimes certain distinct problems confronted the participants as a letter to Bishop Charles W. Nibley in 1909 reveals: My Dear Sir and Brother. Will you pardon me for suggesting that ample provision should be made, without fail, for the emptying ofbladders during the visit of the Old Folks to the City, Without this there will be great distress. With love and prayers, Your brother in the Gospel, A. Milton Musser 16

T h e committee expected about 4,000 old folks for the J u n e 29, 1909, excursion. T o aid in transporting the hundreds of celebrants attending from cities north and south of the Salt Lake Valley, a printed request was mailed to automobile owners to show "respect to the aged and assist in gladdening the hearts . . . while they are guests of the city. . . . We enclose postal card which you will please fill out and return promptly. Every auto in town is needed." 17 Preparations for each Old Folks celebration took several days of the central committee's time. T h e preparatory arrangements made for the July 15, 1890, events were detailed by George Goddard: Tues. July 8, 1890. . . . C. R. Savage had supper with us after which we prepared a circular for the Old Folks day in the Exposition building. 15

Letter found in George Goddard Diaries. Letter found in George Goddard Diaries. 17 "We Need Your Auto," an Old Folks Central Committee printed request, dated June 23, 1909, found in George Goddard Diaries and Papers. 16

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Utah Historical Quarterly Wed. July 9, 1890. Spent part of the morning with C. R. Savage and Naylor in inviting Gov. Thomas, O. W. Powers 8c Mayor Scott to give a short address to our Old Folks at their gathering next Tuesday. They all responded. In the afternoon we sent circulars to most of our leading men about the Old Folks. T h u r s . July 10, 1890. Busy with C. R. Savage 8c W. Naylor in the interest of the Old Folks. Fri. July 11, 1890. Out all day gathering means for the Old Folks entertainment. Sat. July 12, 1890. Myself, Bro. Naylor, and C. R. Savage are kept busy and active to make our labors a success. Monday, July 14, 1890. Busy getting things ready for the Old Folks. C. R. Savage, Wm. Naylor and myself went to see Geo. Q. Cannon 8c Jos. F. Smith and talk to them about some who had made objections to our programme having J u d g e Powers 8c other gentiles on it. Tues. July 15th, 1890. Many h u n d r e d s of old people over 70 years of age met in the Exposition building on the fairground in the 10th Ward to partake of the hospitalities provided for them by the Relief Societies of the 22 wards of this city â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it was a grand sight to see near 1000 of the aged people of Salt Lake, Davis & Weber Stakes all eating together at 23 tables. Governor Thomas, Mayor Scott, F. S. Richards, 8c J u d g e Powers were the speakers. Many prizes were given away and every one appeared to enjoy themselves. . . .18

Thomas J o r d a n Stevens, bishop of an Ogden ward, recorded in his diary a meeting with George Goddard and C. R. Savage on July 9, 1893, to prepare for the upcoming Old Folks excursion in his city. He picked them up with his buggy and conveyed them to his ward where they spoke; and the stake president formed a committee to make preparations for that great event prior to the arrival of the elderly participants on July 18. T h e following day Stevens attended a "Meeting at J o h n Watson's office. Committees [on] finance, reception, music, amusements, refreshments, tables and seats, and dishes [were formed]." Each day until the anticipated event he was busily engaged in preparing for the Old Folks celebration. Finally, when that day arrived he wrote: July 18, 1893. . . . I went with my buggy to the depot to meet the Old Folks train. They arrived 10:50 a.m. 23 cars, over 1200 people mostly over 70 years old. . . . Pres. Jos. F. Smith was present. . . . T h e committee pronounced the grandest time the old folks had during the 18 years these excursions have been held. 19

George Goddard Diaries. Diary of Thomas Jordan Stevens, entries from July 9 to July 18, 1893, LDS Church LibraryArchives

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Old Folks Day, October 26,1921. Participants have gathered at a Salt Lake theater for a special program. USHS collections.

One female visitor to the J u n e 28-29, 1882, Old Folks gathering in Liberty Park observed: T h e r e were a thousand and forty-eight old people over seventy. . . . T h e r e were races run by the old men and prizes given to some. One old lady got a dollar for having a bonnet that was twenty years old and in a good state of preservation. A dollar was given to an old man for getting up and making the fire in the morning for his wife for more than sixty years. . . . Brother William Naylor got a dollar for living peacefully with his mother-in-law for twenty-five years. It seems almost incredible, but he is a man of truth.

In a Millennial Star editorial Junius F. Wells referred to the spectacle nowhere else seen, of several thousands of men and women whose ages exceed seventy years, meeting together in festivities, singing and banqueting together, and being happily entertained by younger persons. When Hon. W. H. Taft, President of the United States visited Salt Lake City, upon one occasion [October 5,1911], it was

20 "Journal of Rachel Emma Woolley Simmons" in Kate B. Carter, comp., Heart Throbs of the West, 12 vols. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1939-51), 11:185.

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Utah Historical Quarterly his privilege to address such an assembly of over two thousand souls; and he said it was a sight he had never previously beheld, and an honor to appear before them. 2 1

T h e outstanding event for the old folks was the annual summer excursion, but during the long winter they were not forgotten. Occasionally, they were given free admission to theatrical performances. T h e first free show for the elderly was given in the Salt Lake T h e a t r e on February 12, 1888, when a play was presented by the H o m e Dramatic Company. Others who were invited to attend besides the old folks were newsboys, deaf mutes, widows, and orphans. Thereafter, the Salt Lake T h e a t r e became the scene for regular winter shows; and, after it was razed, other local theaters were used for the free performances. An unusual feature of the J u n e 14, 1958, celebration at Liberty Park was the display of various creations of the talented aged. For example, an old painting of exceptional merit, by Mrs. Artemisia Romney, Utah's "Grandma Moses" . . . Mrs. Fred C. Wolters has d o n e " T h e Last Supper" in needlework and there will be all sorts of other handicraft and skills on exhibition. Prizes will be awarded and j u d g e s will be the "Days of '47" queens of this year and the yesteryears. 2 2

T h e Old Folks Central Committee at their meeting held J u n e 1, 1961, decided to have the annual outing for the elderly take place at Liberty Park. Chairman LeGrande Richards "urged caution in expenditures in order that the treasury be strengthened." And Kenneth E. Bourne reported "that Strong's Military Band will again present the pre-lunch concert. Police and Fire Departments would be present to assist along with the Boy Scouts." 23 In the following year (1962) the Treasurers Report showed: Cash on h a n d at the Beehive State Bank Cash contributions Total Cash Cash expenditures for this celebration Remaining Cash on hand at Beehive Bank

$ 344.68 $1792.00 $2136.68 $1601.50 $ 535.18

T h e largest expense was for 478 dozen j u n i o r ice cream cups and 460 gallons of orangeade which came to $585.80. Other expenditures included clerical work, printing, loudspeaker service, post21

Millennial Star 81 (October 9, 1919): 648. Journal History, J u n e 24, 1958, LDS Church Library-Archives. 23 Minutes of the Meeting of the Old Folks Central Committee held J u n e 1, 1961, LDS Church Library-Archives. 22

Old Folks Day

169 age, drayage (for hauling tables), a n d twenty-four h o u r watchman services.24 At the May 29, 1962, central committee meeting Chairman LeGrande Richards was released and presented with a gift of a p p r e c i a t i o n for his faithful service of twenty-four years; and J o h n H. Vandenberg, presiding bishop of the Mormon church, became his successor. Also at this meeting,

Publicity [agent] Harold H. J e n s e n r e p o r t e d that the annual hobby show display in the Walters Electric Co. window would Hilda Erickson cut a cake celebrating the be identified with the 90th anniversary of Old Folks Day in "Senior Citizens," a name 1965. USHS collections. change suggested for the Old Folks Central Committee. However, no action will be taken on this change without permission of the First Presidency of the Church. 25

T h e Old Folks Day was a memorable occasion greatly anticipated, especially by the elderly who were the honored participants in those annual festivities. There was much social interaction between the older citizens and those of the younger generations who served them on that special occasion; and good and joyous feelings were mutually shared among all in attendance, as bonds of friendship and union were established and/or reinforced. T o honor that social tradition from Utah's past a monument was erected on the northwest corner of South Temple and Main Street on July 23, 1936, by the Public Subscriptions Old Folks Committees and the Cambrian Society of Salt Lake City. It was "in the nature of a drinking fountain" and "for more than an hour after the ceremony was concluded the crowds lingered to read the inscriptions and to take their time in having a drink from the monument on the first day."26 Now the crowds are gone and only fond memories linger. 24

Old Folks Central Committee Treasurer's Report for 1962, LDS Church Library-Archives. Minutes of the Old Folks Central Committee Meeting held May 29, 1962, LDS Church Library-Archives. 26 Deseret News, July 23, 1936. 25

Utah Writ Small: Challenge and Change in Kane County's Past BY D E A N L. M A Y

Kanab, the county seat of Kane County, in the late 1940s. Large building at left is the high school. USHS collections.

r EW VISITORS TO UTAH'S REMOTE KANE COUNTY have come away unmoved. Among many memorable descriptions of that landscape was one offered by Wallace Stegner in 1942: T h e tiny oases huddle in their pockets in the rock, surrounded on all sides by as terrible and beautiful wasteland as the world can show, colored every color of the spectrum even to blue and green, sculptured by sandblast winds, fretted by meandering lines of cliffs hundreds of miles long and often several thousand feet high, carved and broken and split by canyons so deep and narrow that the rivers run in sunless Dr. May is associate professor of history at the University of Utah and a member of the Board of State History. This paper was presented at Utah's eighty-eighth Statehood Day celebration in Kanab January 4, 1984. T h e author wishes to thank Adonis Findlay Robinson whose History of Kane County provided much material important to his interpretation. Especially helpful in providing research materials and documents were Gregory Thompson and the staff of the Western Americana collection of University of Utah's Marriott Library â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly Roy Webb and Walter R. Jones â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and James L. Kimball, Jr., and staff of the LDS Church Historical Department.

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depths and cannot be approached for miles. Man is an interloper in that country.

Stegner reminds us that the history of Kane County is in large measure the history of a people's interaction with a landscape. And just as this is not any landscape, this is not just any people. There is something elemental about the raw exposed pillars and arches of the geological setting and, perhaps in consequence, about the human society that resides there, as well. T h e point of Stegner's observation, after all, was that southern Utah is a region where the landscape is firmly in charge, and the human "interlopers" (one per square mile) maintain a toehold "only on sufferance." T h e present study explores the broad outlines of man's recent experience in Kane County â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly the question of how Anglo-Americans have sustained themselves in so harsh a region. T h e perspective thus gained reveals something about broader Utah as well. T h e first white settlement in Kane County was by three fairly distinct groups who began their occupation in the mid-1860s. T h e first was a hardy band of frontiersmen and missionaries to the Indians led by the legendary Jacob Hamblin. They began building an old fort close to present-day Kanab in the late 1860s. Next was a company from small farming settlements near Salt Lake City, especially the Cottonwood area. They came in 1870 by call from Brigham Young under the leadership of Levi Stewart. T h e last was from the Muddy Mission in Nevada's Moapa Valley, driven from the state by excessive taxation and advised to resettle in Kane County. They arrived in 1871, hard on the heels of the Levi Stewart following.2 All but the frontiersmen were farmers by experience and inclination, having followed the general Mormon practice at the time of concentrating their productive energies on field agriculture â&#x20AC;&#x201D; grain, hay, row crops, and orchards. As the eloquent Kanab diarist Rebecca Howell Mace put it, "These southern settlements was a sort of an experiment station, planted by Pres. B. Young with people from the southern states to demonstrate whether cotton, tobacco and other products of the south could be produced in southern Utah." 3 1

Wallace Stegner, Mormon Country (New York: Hawthorne Books, 1942), p. 45. Accounts of the settling of Kane County are in Dean L. May, "People on the Mormon Frontier: Kanab's Families of 1874," Journal of Family History l(Winter 1976): 171-72; L e o n a r d J . Arrington, Feramorz Y. Fox, and Dean L. May, Building the City of God: Community and Cooperation Among the Mormons (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), pp. 225-63; Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941), pp. 388-89, and Adonis Findlay Robinson, ed., History of Kane County (n.p.: Kane County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1970), pp. 1-46. 3 Rebecca Howell Mace, Journal, p. 70, LDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake City. 2

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T h e people were quickly to find, however, that Kane County's landscape, while awesome to look at, is not an easy place for a farmer to scratch out a living. Water was scarce, and except for two narrow valleys â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that of Kanab Creek and the Paria River â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the spectacular rock surfaces were covered with only a thin integument of dry, reddish topsoil. Almost immediately land that could be put u n d e r the plow was taken u p . T h e 1870 census listed but 1,244 acres of improved land in the whole county (2,798,730 acres) and estimated that there were only 20 acres yet to be improved! T h e improved acres were divided into 115 farms that averaged just u n d e r 11 acres (10.8) in size. Only one farm was m o r e than 50 acres. Yet there were 341 boys and young men in the town at the time between ages five and eighteen, who, as they m a t u r e d and formed households, would p u t impossible burdens on the available land and water. 4 It was thus n o surprise to learn from a study of four southern Utah towns, including Kanab and Glendale, as well as Toquerville and Rockville, that between 1870 and 1910 about 88 percent of the children b o r n in those towns died elsewhere. In the entire southern Utah region, which included Kane, Washington, a n d Iron counties, about 71 percent of those born d u r i n g the same time period moved elsewhere before they died. T h e southern Utah population was the least stable of four other regions considered in the study, especially d u r i n g the first two decades after settlement. 5 T h e s e data make it clear that one frequently used strategem for dealing with the niggardly landscape was to leave it. T h e outmigration at times reached proportions sufficient to provoke local crises. A r o u n d 1876, as settlements along the Little Colorado River in Arizona were being opened, enthusiasm in Kanab for moving on was sufficient to require a visit from Erastus Snow, the M o r m o n leader of southern Utah. As Rebecca Mace put it, "He found there was quite a n u m b e r of families p r e p a r i n g to leave, move away, for like all settlements in southern Utah, it was a h a r d struggle to make a living, and build homes. H e said he did not want this place decimated, but rather built up." 6 4

Data calculated by author from U.S., D e p a r t m e n t of the Interior, The Statistics of the Wealth and Industry of the United States, Ninth Census, Volume III (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1872), p p . 262-63, 364. Also Ninth Census, Volume I, p . 636. 5 Dean L. May, Lee L. Bean, Mark H. Skolnick, a n d J o h n Metcalf, "Once I Lived in Cottonwood: Population Stability in Utah Mormon Towns, 1850-1910," unpublished p a p e r given at annual meeting of Social Science History Association, Rochester, New York, November 6-9, 1980, p p . 12-15, figures 3-6. 6 Mace, J o u r n a l , p. 85.

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Robert Hildebrand and Charles Kelly at the Jacob Hamblin Monument at Kanab. Hamblin was sent to Kanab by LDS authorities in 1870 to try to improve relations with the Navajos. USHS collections.

In the spirit of building u p Kane County, the people were attracted to another option that was greatly to change the character of the region and ultimately of all Utah. T h a t was to move from farming to ranching; and the people of Kane County did so with alacrity. By 1874, just four years after settlement, 52 percent of all Kanab's farm production was comprised of animals and animal products, while but 14 percent was from field crops such as grains. Seventy-one percent of all the assessed wealth of Kanab was in livestock and moveable goods. 7 Six years later, in 1880, there were 15,371 head of livestock in the county and the region was established as a center for ranching rather than farming, remaining so until tourist a n d other service industries began to predominate d u r i n g the last half of the twentieth century. 8 This says something rather important about Kane County's population in the 1870s. Despite a predisposition to farming, they were quick to see that economic survival required them to find a way of making the thousands of acres of untillable lands a r o u n d them 7

May, "People on the Mormon Frontier," p p . 177, 179. U.S., Department of the Interior, Compendium of the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Part I, (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1883), p p . 912-13. 8

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productive. They perceived that ranching could accomplish that aim and turned to livestock production. Not only did they seize the better opportunity in livestock production, they also anticipated a trend that would shortly be taken up across the territory. By 1890 stock raising was the number one industry in the territory, and in 1900 it was second only to precious metal mining. As late as 1956 two-thirds of agricultural income in the state came from the livestock industries â&#x20AC;&#x201D; principally cattle and sheep raising. 9 Certainly in this instance Kane County was Utah writ small. Its citizens' response to this challenge led to a change in their use of the environment and, as an offshoot of that, to a reorientation of several aspects of their society. Not all of these changes were universally welcomed. Rebecca Mace was obviously not happy with the turn of events when she wrote in March 1895 that T h e General Stake Conference convened on the 2nd and 3rd, March 1895. On the 4th Horse racing took place just out of town about 4 or 5 miles, or as some expressed it, the After Conference. On the 7th the Relief Society met in a general monthly meeting . . . Sister Harriet Brown was called upon and she opened upon the evils of Horse racing, and all the sisters sustained her in the position. 1

Another sign of the changing times was indicated when, according to the town council minutes, in December 1912 officials seized twelve gallons of intoxicating liquor and the marshal emptied out six of them. It may never be known what happened to the other six.11 Kane County's people entered the twentieth century with a reasonably strong economy and stable population, based in large measure on their quickness to adapt production methods to the physical environment of the region. T h e twentieth century began optimistically, with substantial demand for cattle and sheep products until the end of World War I. T h e n the stagnation of the 1920s and the depression of the 1930s caused distress throughout rural Utah. Many young people, unable to make a living at home, moved away. Population growth slowed and in some areas even reversed. Between 1920 and 1930 the number of native Utahns living in other

9 Leonard J. Arrington, " T h e Commercialization of Utah's Economy: T r e n d s and Developments to 1910," in Dean L. May, ed., A Dependent Commonwealth: Utah's Economy from Statehood to the Great Depression, Charles Redd Monographs in Western History (Provo, Ut.: Brigham Young University Press, 1974),p. 14; El Roy Nelson, Utah's Economic Patterns (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1956), pp. 50-66. 10 Mace, Journal, March, 1895. 11 Quoted in Robinson, History of Kane County, p. 97.

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A traveler between Panguitch and Kanab in 1907. USHS collections.

states increased by some 50,000 persons. 12 Kane County held its own, and even experienced modest increases of 11 percent in the 1930s and 15 percent in the 1940s. Part of the reason must surely have been the resourcefulness its people had already demonstrated in finding ways to make the difficult landscape pay off. But livestock values d r o p p e d drastically after the war and remained low until the 1940s, presenting a new challenge to those committed to wresting a livelihood from the plateaus, reefs, and canyons. 13 T h e initiative in reshaping Kane County's economy in the twentieth century was taken by a handful of people who can be clearly identified â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Edwin D. Woolley a n d the three Parry brothers, Whitney, Gronway, and Chauncy. Woolley was a m o n g the first to u n d e r s t a n d that the scenery of southern Utah was an invaluable resource as an attraction to tourists. According to his d a u g h t e r Elizabeth Jensen, he was stunned by his first view from the Grand

Richard D. Poll, T h o m a s G. Alexandar, Eugene E. Campbell, and David E. Miller, Utah's History (Provo, Ut.: Brigham Young University Press, 1978), p. 690. 13 U.S., Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1957 (Washington, D . C : Government Printing Office, 1960), p p . 289-90; 297-98.

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Canyon's N o r t h Rim. "This is one of the Wonders of the World!," h e exulted, "People will come from all quarters of the Globe a n d pay great sums of money to gaze u p o n what we now behold!" In the 1880s he a n d Daniel Seegmiller tried to interest a g r o u p of English aristocrats in the area as a private recreation ground, but after a visit, long to live in local legend, the potential clients decided Kane County was too inaccessible. 14 They were right, as Edwin Woolley well knew. T h e r e were at the time no rail lines or major roads t h r o u g h Kane country. T h o s e roads that existed were virtually impassable much of the year. T w o particularly difficult obstacles existed in the stretch of sand between Kanab and Long Valley to the n o r t h and the formidable cliffs preventing travel west to Zion Canyon. Moreover, the potential of the private automobile as a means of mass transportation was only beginning to be realized. Foreseeing that the new-fangled horseless carriage would o p e n travel opportunities to great masses of common people, Woolley decided to prove that this technology could at the same time open a whole new era for Kane County. H e talked a group of Salt Lake City friends and relations into a daring automobile tour to the N o r t h Rim of the Grand Canyon. Since there was n o access to gasoline after the railhead at Marysvale, some 132 miles to the north, Woolley arranged to cache five-gallon cans of gasoline at nine points along the route from Marysvale to Bright Angel Point south of Kanab. Two cars made the perilous j o u r n e y , crossing sand stretches by laying out canvas tarps in front of the cars, placing straw in washes, and having crews move boulders and rocks in front of them. According to Mary Woolley Chamberlain's account: When the long, loud honk was finally h e a r d (in Kanab) as the party approached the outskirts of town from the east, everyone rushed into the street to get a glimpse of the wonderful contraption. Father sat u p o n the engine, waving his hat in midair and shouting ' H u r r a h ! I told you so!' at the top of his voice. T h e people followed the procession until they arrived at our h o m e where the machine stopped. . . . T h e r e were not a dozen people in town who had even seen an automobile before.

After three days of recuperation and repair in Kanab proceeded on to the Grand Canyon and back. As usually they had underestimated their fuel consumption but were to buy some gasoline en route from the owner of a 14

Quoted in Robinson, History of Kane County, pp. 185-86.

the party happens, fortunate threshing

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Hotel Highway, Kanab, September 1921, from an album of Susa Young Gates. USHS collections.

machine. T h e trip dramatized both the natural wonders of the region and their new accessibility, though it would be another ten years before a passable north-south road was built into the county. 15 As Zion and Bryce were added to the nation's list of national parks in 1919 and 1920 the tourist potential of Kane County became recognized. State roads were gradually built southwards, opening the region's scenic wonders to the rest of the nation. T h e stretch of sand between Kanab and Long Valley had been traversed by a paved road in 1922, an accomplishment requiring a considerable display of local ingenuity. Finally, in 1930, the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was built, a major engineering feat connecting the Kane County settlements for the first time to Washington County towns by a direct westward route and making the long loop southwest to Pipe Springs and northwest to the St. George area unnecessary. These developments connected Kane County's towns to northern Utah and Bryce Canyon through a direct north-south highway, now Highway 89, and to the rest of southern Utah on the west, including Zion Canyon, by way of the tunnel and Highway 15. Such developments had their own ricochet effect, thanks in part to the efforts of the Parry brothers. T h e Parrys had developed a business 'Ibid., pp. 101-3.

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transporting tourists by bus to Zion and Bryce canyons by the time Hollywood companies began to show interest in filming in southern Utah. T h e first film made in Kanab was in 1922, a silent film — Deadwood Gulch — starring T o m Mix. But the Parrys did not begin fully to exploit the opportunity until 1930. In that year the three brothers (known locally as Whit, Chaunce, and Gron) p r e p a r e d a portfolio of scenic photographs that they used to sell major Hollywood studios on Kane County as a location for filming westerns. They then began preparing lodging and supply facilities in Kanab. Their efforts paid off. Over the years more than 200 films were m a d e in the area, bringing h u n d r e d s of thousands of dollars to Kane County's economy. 16 This deliberate development of the scenic potential of Kane County has yielded handsome rewards. Recently amplified by the popularity of Lake Powell, the region has experienced growth and expansion higher than that of the state, much of it sustained by the dollars brought into the county from the outside. In 1982 the population moved to well above the 4,000 mark, and recent statistics show a 15 percent increase in the average non-agricultural wage, compared to a state average of just 6 percent. 17 Just as in the nineteenth century Kane County people profited from a timely change to livestock production, in the twentieth century they did so by providing goods and services to those attracted by the natural wonders of the region — to tourists, movie companies, and, in recent years, to retired people. In both cases the feat was initiated by citizens who had the vision to recognize the potential and promote it. And in both cases they anticipated an economic trend that became of great importance to the state. One suspects that this vision and resourcefulness did not happen just by chance. Historians know that societies do not always adapt in a rational way to change — are not always quick to perceive their altered situation and take action to improve it. T h e change from farming to stockraising a n d from stockraising to service was encouraged and promoted by a few individuals, but effective action ultimately had to be the result of a community decision — supported by a wide base of Kane County's population. It would seem that the local response to the challenges of change demands an explanation. 16

Ibid., pp. 99-108; 177-83. Linda Brinkerhoff, "Selected Business Statistics — Utah Counties," Utah Economic and Business Review 43(March 1983): 3. 17

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T h r e e accounts by people with early experience in Kanab suggest an answer. T h e first is from Frederick Dellenbaugh, a member of the federal survey party working u n d e r J o h n Wesley Powell in the early 1870s. Dellenbaugh wrote: I was much interested to see Kanab of which so much had been said. I decided to take a Sunday trip in that direction. . . . About noon I put a saddle on a white mule named Trigger and was soon on my way. Emerging from the Chocolate Cliffs, the road led along the Vermillion Cliffs, crossing long ridges covered with cedars and pines, and soon joining a road that led from the canyon eastward where there was a very small settlement called Johnson . . . Trigger went along very well and I was in Kanab by 3 o'clock. T h e village, which had been started only a year or two before was laid out in the characteristic Mormon style, with wide streets and regular lots fenced by wattling willows between stakes. . . . Fruit trees, shade trees, and vines had been planted and were already beginning to promise results, while corn, potatoes, etc., gave fine crops. . . . T h e entire settlement had a thrifty air as is the case with the Mormons. Not a grogshop or gambling saloon, or dance hall was to be seen; ordinarily the usual disgraceful accompaniments of the frontier town. A perfectly orderly government existed, headed by a bishop appointed by the church authorities in Salt Lake. 18

Allen Frost, who was probably a resident of Kanab at the time of Dellenbaugh's visit, noted the stream of settlers heading through the county on their way to new Arizona settlements in 1876, concluding that it "looks as though we have ceased to be the frontier settlement." 19 Rebecca Howell Mace confided to her diary her thoughts on church meetings she attended in 1895. "We had a good conference," she wrote. "The speakers were mostly young men, . . . They were Elder Meeks and Elders E. 8c A. Cutler. I was very much surprised and edified. These young men were raised in the Kanab Stake. I had not thought that we had such talent in our Stake but I now believe there are many who if opportunity offered would be bright and valiant for the cause of truth." 20 T h e fact is that Kane County has always been nearer the edge than the center of things. And the passages above suggest some h u m a n consequences of that fact. Dellenbaugh was impressed with Kanab, but that was in large measure because he was surprised to find so "thrifty" a town, as he put it, in so remote a region. Frost observed that already by 1876 the town had lost the distinction of being the outermost Mormon settlement â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was now near the fron18

Quoted in Robinson, History of Kane County, pp. 45-46. Allen Frost Diary, March 1, 1976, typescript, LDS Church Library-Archives. 20 Mace, Journal, March, 1895. 19

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tier rather than at the frontier â&#x20AC;&#x201D; thus suffering a corresponding loss of sense of importance. T h e attentions of the central church leadership had once been focused on Kane County. Now they were directed beyond it to the Little Colorado. By 1895 a clear provincial self-disdain was evident as Rebecca Mace expressed surprise that local boys could do so well. Provinciality, as these passages suggest, had by the 1890s become a principal element in the character of this society. Historians and writers of the twenties, fleeing the closeness of small town life in America, attached to the concept connotations of narrowness, complacency, intolerance, and a stifling mutual watchfulness. 21 T h e s e associations have since p r e d o m i n a t e d in American use of the word, and it has subsequently not been thought a compliment for either an individual or society to be characterized as provincial. But Americans have not always seen it so. I n d e e d , one of the key transformations in the self-image of cosmopolitan Americans at the time of the Revolution was to perceive the rustic character of colonial society n o longer as a sign of a derivative backwardness but rather as evidence of independence, freshness, a n d creativity. 22 Encouraged in this image by leading figures of the French Enlightenment, Americans came to prize the hallmarks of their provinciality. T h e point is delightfully illustrated in the story of the sophisticated Benjamin Franklin deliberately wearing a coonskin cap in October 1776 as he debarked in Paris to negotiate the French alliance. T h e simplicity of Franklin's American garb soon became fashionable t h r o u g h o u t Paris. 23 For perhaps a century thereafter Americans t h o u g h t of their provinciality as a badge of superiority, suggesting an i n d e p e n d e n t society, p r o u d of its distinctiveness, u n h a m p e r e d in its creativity by the stifling weight of ancient traditions. It was from this perspective that H a r v a r d historians J o h n Clive and Bernard Bailyn saw America a n d Scotland as the source of many of the most creative a n d forward-looking ideas of the English Enlightenment. " T h e complexity of the provincial's image of the world and of himself," they wrote, "made demands u p o n him unlike those felt by the equivalent 21 A m o n g the writers espousing this point of view were James Truslow Adams, H. L. Mencken, B e r n a r d DeVoto, and preeminently Sinclair Lewis, especially in his novel Main Street (1920). 22 T h e classic expression of this change is in J. Hector St. J o h n de Crevecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer (1782). 23 Franklin's influence on Paris society is described in J o h n Fiske, The American Revolution, 2 vols. (Boston: H o u g h t o n , Mifflin and Company, 1897), 1: 240-41. T h e account of Franklin's hat is from lecture notes taken by the author in courses on the American Revolution taught by Professor B e r n a r d Bailyn, Harvard University, 1965.

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Englishman. It tended to shake the mind from the roots of habit and tradition. It led m e n to the interstices of common thought where were found new views and new approaches to the old." 24 T h e consequences of provinciality are complex, with both negative and positive ramifications, but it does seem possible that people in areas remote from the center of things are often forced back u p o n their own resources and that this encourages participatory and frequently more creative activities. This is evidenced in Kane County in the steady procession of bands, choirs, and theatrical groups that have been perpetuated over the years. Moreover, provincials are not carefully schooled in the conventional wisdom of their times. T h e i r vision is less limited by what society tells them they ought to see or do. Edwin Woolley had a terrible time convincing his Salt Lake brother of the great opportunities the automobile would bring to southern Utah. And finally, the relative paucity of activities a n d institutions develops a certain d a r i n g and resourcefulness that a m o r e complete urban life does not encourage. Imagine two high school boys from Salt Lake City or Denver founding a newspaper as William T. Dobson and Guernsey Spencer did in 1903 with their Kanab Clipper. With the Deseret News or the Denver Post powerful and long established, such a courageous entrepreneurial act would hardly be imaginable. But it was in Kanab. 25 Surely the remarkable literary accomplishment of this people as evidenced in dozens of sensitive diaries and journals they kept or in the loving preservation of local history by Adonis Findlay Robinson and the many who worked with her â&#x20AC;&#x201D; surely such accomplishment is in part a product of the provincial mind, constantly weighing its place in the b r o a d e r world in a way more u r b a n peoples rarely have to do. Rebecca Mace, for e x a m p l e , described eloquently t h e power with which ann o u n c e m e n t of Utah's final achievement of statehood resonated in remote Kane County. 1896 opened auspiciously for Utah and its inhabitants. O n the 4th of J a n u a r y 1896 President Cleaveland issued a Proclamation admitting Utah into the Sisterhood of States. As soon as the message (2 oc. PM) was received guns were fired, Flag hoisted, Bands played, Shouts of joy arose from the heart and lips of all, with ringing of bells and everything which could be used to sound a note ofjoy was brought into requisition.

24 John Clive and Bernard Bailyn, "England's Cultural Provinces: Scotland and America," William and Mary Quarterly 11 (April 1954): 213. 25 Robinson, History of Kane County, p. 252, 275-85.

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The Kane County Courthouse in Kanab, built in the 1930s with federal relief projectfunds, was demolished in 1983 to make wayfor a new civic structure. USHS collections. Some of our young m e n formed themselves into a military company calling themselves the H o m e Guard, and with the Martial Band, George Mace leader, m a r c h e d a n d c o u n t e r m a r c h e d , s e r e n a d i n g prominent M e n , . . . And thus the day was m a d e one of general rejoicing. From the m o m e n t the telegram arrived, never had all Utah j o i n e d in such hilarious rejoicing. O n the 6th â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Monday, the officers of the new State, who was elected in the previous election held in November 1895 was inaugerated, the day being set apart as a holiday to be r e m e m b e r e d as such forever. It was enjoyed to the utmost. Guns were fired at daybreak. 10:00 a procession was formed, lead by the Band of H o m e Guards â&#x20AC;&#x201D; followed by citizens, also a juvenile corps, or Bell Brigade. At two o'clock the citizens met in the Social Hall and partook of a Pic Nic Dinner, then followed speech and Song, closing the day with a grand Inaugural Ball. T h e day was all that could be desired. T h e weather was pleasant and all enjoyed themselves, there was nothing to mar the occasion, a n d

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it will be a day long to be r e m e m b e r e d by the inhabitants of Kanab both old and young.

It would thus seem that provincial life has something very elemental about it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; much like the landscape that adorns the settlements of Kane County. In such places the cacaphony and buzz of everyday world events is sufficiently attenuated to help one discern what is fundamental. Just as one sees in Kane County the arches and girders that support the physical world, one sees the substructure of h u m a n society itself â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the importance of close association and the power of community. And this observation says something about greater Utah. For as Kanab is a province of Utah, so Salt Lake City is a province of San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York. It is likely that the creativity of such m e n and women as Marriner Eccles, H e n r y Eyring, Juanita Brooks, or Esther Peterson must be attributed in part to the stimulus their provincial origins imposed u p o n them. So long as there are counties like Kane, towns like Kanab, and states like Utah, Americans need not fear that the well of their creative energies, so desperately needed to cope with present world problems, will ever dry u p . A n d in helping us to u n d e r s t a n d this most important fact, Kane County again offers service â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for surely t h r o u g h the years it has informed meaningfully and importantly Utah's broader society, responding admirably to the challenge of change in the m o d e r n world. In this sense as in others it is a Utah writ small.

Mace, Journal, January 1896.

In Memoriam: LeRoy R. Hafen, 1893-1985 age 91 years, marks the end of an era in western American historiography. Hafen must be classified with Herbert E. Bolton, mentor; with George H a m m o n d , Larry Hill, Ralph Kuykendall, and Abe Nasatir, fellow students and distinguished colleagues; and with Reuben Thwaites, Milo M. Quaife, and Archer B. Hulbert, predecessors as authors and editors of western American and fur trade histories. While Hafen has scores of grateful students, many who are distinguished historians in their own right, still none is his successor; for it would take several to replace him as author, as editor, as state historian, and as teacher. He was all of these at one time during his remarkable career as Colorado historian from 1924 to 1954 and as professor of history at Brigham Young University, 1954 to 1972. Those nearly five decades became LeRoy Hafen's "Joyous Journey" in history. Born to first-generation, polygamous Mormon pioneers in frontier Bunkerville, Nevada, he had, through his keen T H E PASSING OF L E R O Y REUBEN HAFEN,

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intellect and family values of disciplined dedication and h a r d work, moved from a rural one-room school in his home town to high school in Cedar City, then to St. George Academy, being a member of the first graduating class (1913); on to Brigham Young University where he graduated in 1915; back to teaching in Bunkerville, a masters degree in history from the University of Utah in 1918, and finally a Ph.D. in history from the University of California in 1924. Roy Hafen met Ann Woodbury while at St. George, married h e r while at Brigham Young University, and took her and daughter Norma (1916) to the University of Utah where son Karl was born in 1918; then the four of them traveled to Berkeley in 1920. Those school years also produced the manuscripts for two of LeRoy Hafen's major publications,Handcarts to Zion and The Overland Mails, his thesis and dissertation respectively. It also began the remarkable research and writing partnership between Roy and Ann that would continue for more than fifty years and produce numerous publications of joint authorship and editorial effort. Still both produced their own significant works. Hafen must be ranked as one of Utah's most prestigious historians, and certainly one of its most prolific, having written and published h u n d r e d s of articles on Colorado, the mountain men and fur trade, and Mormon and Utah histories. Some fifty volumes carry his name as author, co-author, and editor. Perhaps best known are his Far West and the Rockies Series (15 volumes) and Mountain Men and the Fur Trade Series (10 volumes). Hafen was an extremely careful scholar, a stickler for facts and details, a researcher who went into the field as often as he could, a historian who immersed himself in the history of the area he was visiting or living in. He worried about inaccuracies; he lamented his mistakes, few though they were. His students and his readers need n o elaboration of these qualities. H e has left us all a remarkable record of publications, high standards of research, deliberate, careful methodologies, and above all a passionate love of western American history. He received many prestigious awards: an Honorary Litt. D. from the University of Colorado (1935); Award of Merit, American Association for State and Local History (1947); National Phi Alpha Theta Honorary Member (1954); Distinguished Citizen of Denver (1958); Fellow, Utah State Historical Society (1960); Distinguished Service Award, Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (1961);

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Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters, Geneva (1961); David O. McKay Award of Merit from Brigham Young University (1971); and an Honorary Life Membership in the Western History Association of which he was a charter member. H e was also a charter member of the Denver Westerners Corral and a member of Utah Westerners. After Ann's death, Roy married Mary Woodbury, her younger sister. We have witnessed her kind care and love for Roy d u r i n g his last years. They were living in Palm Desert, California, when h e died. We mourn his passing; we honor his genius and productivity; we are grateful heirs in Utah and western history to a truly remarkable man whose outstanding career in history has become our "Joyous Journey" as well. MELVIN T. S M I T H

Book Reviews Searchfor Sanctuary: Brigham Young and the White Mountain Expedition. By CLIFFORD L. STOTT. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1984. xiv + 297 pp. $19.95.) Last year in UHQ, this reviewer argued that despite more than 125 years of attention to the Utah Expedition of 1857-58 the campaign still deserves further exploration through untapped sources. Coincidentally, but fortuitously, Clifford L. Stott, a historian from Orem, Utah, has added Search for Sanctuary to that body of material dealing with the Utah Expedition. Working extensively with previously unexploited maps a n d journals in the LDS church archives as well as his own field examinations, Stott has meticulously pieced together the story of Brigham Young's 1858 decision to o r d e r a mass civilian exodus from Utah Territory's eastern settlements before federal troops reached Salt Lake City. Stott's main thrust is to examine Young's concept of the Mormons' destination and the work of the exploring parties by which he sought it out. That there was a southerly exodus from Salt Lake City by thousands of people is well known. What has not been clear is the reason for this flight and its ultimate destination. As a result, since 1858 speculation has focused on a M o r m o n migration to places like Mexico, Alaska, and Vancouver Island. Missed in the process has been Young's real objective â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what he believed to be a series of oases in the deserts of what is now eastcentral Nevada, separated from the Wasatch Front by a vast barrier of mountains and wastelands impassable to large bodies of federal troops.

In Stott's view the plan for the migration was rooted in Young's growing awareness during January and February 1858 of his people's vulnerability to Gentile thrusts from the south, west, and north as well as from the federal brigade then in winter quarters at Fort Bridger to the east. Specifically, alarm over ascent of the Colorado River by Lt. Joseph C. Ives's detachment, rumors of a mob moving east from California, and the Indian attack on the mission at Fort Lemhi in present-day Idaho prompted Young in March to switch from a military strategy to what had theretofore been a secondary option, the Sebastopol Plan â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a concept that started as a vague "burn up and flee" notion and evolved into the idea of a tactical withdrawal into the desert fastness of the White M o u n t a i n r e g i o n with t h e Nauvoo Legion as rear guard. Brigham Young believed that oases capable of sustaining agriculture for a scattered b u t sizable p o p u l a t i o n existed in this region because of wishful thinking compounded by ten years of inaccurate reports from travelers and mountain men. In a fascinating chapter entitled "The Myth and the Sanctuary" Stott describes the manner in which the oasis theory was tragically wrong and delineates the contributions of people like Barney Ward, Dick Wootton, Kit Carson, and even John C. Fremont and his maps to what Stott calls "a popular geographical misconception" about the interior of the Great Basin.

188 T h e White Mountain Expedition itself consisted of two companies commissioned separately by Young to explore the region and to plant crops. T h e first party, designated the White Mountain Company, comprised 104 men from Utah's northern and central counties and was led by George W. Bean, a twenty-six-year-old Mormon experienced in exploration and Indian languages. Bean set out in early April 1858 once Young had decided to evacuate Salt Lake City and to move to the Sebastopol Plan. T h e second party, the Southern Exploring Company, was activated in late April to supplement Bean's efforts as Young grew more anxious. It was led by Col. William H. Dame of the Nauvoo Legion, who drew most of his 60 men from Utah's s o u t h e r n settlements. Many of these explorers, like Dame himself, had been involved in some way in the Mountain Meadow tragedy of the previous September, and Stott speculates that this experience may have motivated them to volunteer. Much of Search for Sanctuary is devoted to a detailed account of the daily movements of these two companies which explored independently until they finally met in late May. In total they covered more than 2,000 miles, thoroughly mapped the area, located a few springs and placed u n d e r cultivation about 150 acres of land. By J u n e 1858, when both companies had returned and reported to Young, it was clear that the Great Basin had no interior oases and valleys suitable for large-scale f a r m i n g . H o w e v e r , by J u n e events had moved on; Young was busy negotiating a political settlement with the Buchanan adminis-

Utah Historical Quarterly tration, the exodus was halted, and the Sebastopol Plan abandoned. T h r o u g h Search for Sanctuary, Stott not only provides a missing chapter on the Utah Expedition but sheds light on the tremendous discipline and loyalty of Brigham Young's followers. He also illustrates the impact on human events of inaccurate charts and reports; and through Stott's own excellent maps as well as those of James H. Martineau of Dame's company, one also acquires a better appreciation of Utah Territory's original size. Among other mysteries associated with the White Mountain Expedition is that of its obscurity. For example, neither the expedition nor Bean and Dame are mentioned in Gloria Griffen Cline's 1963 study Exploring the Great Basin. T o pierce that veil, one needs to understand that the work of the expedition was never really used a n d that its participants were extremely c l o s e - m o u t h e d , especially vis-a-vis the federal establishment. In 1859 George W. Bean was engaged by Capt. James H. Simpson of the army's topographical engineers to guide him in his search for a wagon route from Camp Floyd to Carson Valley. Typically, it was only later that Bean admitted to an enraged Simpson that he had been through this area a year earlier. For that matter, readers will wish to know more about Clifford L. Stott and whether he is a descendant of Edwin Stott, a Millard C o u n t y member of Bean's White Mountain Company.

WILLIAM P. MACKINNON

Birmingham,

Michigan

Mormon Gold: The Story of California's Mormon Argonauts. By J. KENNETH DAVIES. (Salt Lake City: Olympus Publishing Co., 1984. xvi + 429 pp. Paper, $12.95.) T h i s splendid book details a n d graphically documents the history of Mormon involvement in the Califor-

nia gold rush, 1848-57. It restates with precision what was previously known and greatly illuminates the subject in

Book Reviews and Notices respect to the extent of Mormon participation long hidden from historical view. T h e book also provides a close examination of the ambivalent attit u d e of B r i g h a m Y o u n g a n d the church toward Mormon goldseekers, fearful on the one hand of a major manpower drain on fledgling Deseret and, on the other, dread of the effect of the lust for gold on the morals of the Saints involved. At the same time, Young's public o p p o s i t i o n was modified privately by the leader's pragmatism: Deseret's t h r e a d b a r e economy needed the bolstering gold afforded it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a source of domestic and "foreign" exchange sorely lacking in the Salt Lake Valley. In the end, that awareness prevailed. Mormon participation was permitted, directly and indirectly, on a limited and approved basis; practicality overcame doctrinal r e s e r v a t i o n s . T h u s , a substantial number of "good" Mormons were involved in California mining activities, contrary to previous opinion, which provided "the first successful export industry." Indeed, California "gold played a significant role in Deseret, a crucial element in the survival of the colony" (p. 394). On the eve of the California gold rush, Mormon presence in California had already been established, first by the late July 1846 ship arrival of Samuel Brannan and his Brooklyn Saints at Yerba Buena (San Francisco), followed by the Mormon Battalion, Mexican War volunteers, who reached San Diego January 29, 1847, after an epic 2,000 mile trek from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Precise figures for these two Mormon vanguards are not known, but it appears safe to conclude that Brannan's contingent totaled about 225, the Battalion 271 men and a few women. T h e Brannanites settled in the San Francisco Bay Area and thus were well positioned for the rush to the Sierra foothills when gold was discovered

189 January 24, 1848, in a sawmill tail race being built for J o h n A. Sutter at Coloma. Indeed, of the ten men present on the site that memorable morn, at least six were Mormons, discharged Battalion veterans. As the news of the find was quickly broadcast, the first stampede to the discovery region included some 250 Mormon veterans and a large number of Brannanites. Their participation is attested to by new place names that dotted the burgeoning mining areas, some dozen alone using the word Mormon (e.g., bar, gulch, island, etc.), some still in use. In the eight years that followed the discovery, M o r m o n i n v o l v e m e n t centered in four types of activity. First was the specially recruited and sponsored argonaut trains and trading companies, intent either on mining or business operations in California gold fields, a dimension previously little known. Second was the sending forth of special missions, notably those of Apostles Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, and visitation by a goodly body of elders as well as important visits by such Mormon luminaries as Orrin Porter Rockwell. These church officials were dispatched for a variety of reasons: intelligence gathering, collection of tithe income (desperately needed in Deseret), ministry to the faithful and fallen, as well as proselytizing. A third important dimension was logistic support to overlandb o u n d , n o n - M o r m o n goldseekers ranging from the publication of two important guidebooks to operating ferries, building and maintaining way stations (e.g., M o r m o n Station in Nevada), and supplying experienced guides. F o u r t h was f o u n d i n g t h e Mormon settlement in San Bernardino in southern California as a terminus and conduit for commerce and trade between the new state and Utah Saints. These activities form the core of the book's exposition, culminating

190 in the "gathering" of Saints to a reduced Zion â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Utah â&#x20AC;&#x201D; d u r i n g the summer and fall of 1857 to face the i m p e n d i n g a r r i v a l of J o h n s t o n ' s Army. Likely no more than 50 percent of California Mormons heeded B r i g h a m Y o u n g ' s call; t h o s e w h o remained were cut adrift, not to be united to the fold until the 1890s w h e n t h e c h u r c h ' s p r e s e n c e was reestablished. T h e book is well illustrated, with excellent c a p t i o n s , c o n t a i n s a g e o g r a p h i c a l d i c t i o n a r y of M o r m o n

Utah Historical Quarterly places and place names, and includes indices to subject, personal names, and appendices. In respect to the latter, the publisher, no doubt for reasons of economy, did not publish 63 pages of appendices, but these are offered for separate purchase by the author. T h e y are worth adding, for this is an i m p o r t a n t study that enriches the history of the California gold experience. D O Y C E B . NUNIS, J R .

University of Southern California

Journals of John D. Lee: 1846-47 and 1859. Edited by CHARLES KELLY. Introduction by CHARLES S. PETERSON. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1984. xxviii + 251 p p . $17.95.) This 1984 reprint of Charles Kelley's publication of the J o h n D. Lee " J o u r n a l s " is a timely c o m p a n i o n publication to the University of Utah Press's 1983 reprint of the Cleland and Brooks "Lee Journals." Lee was indeed an unusual man, a chronicler of his life and times rare in Mormon and western history. All serious students of this time period in Utah history must review his journals. T h i s r e p r i n t is s t r e n g t h e n e d by Charles S. Peterson's excellent introduction. His biographical sketch of Kelly is one of the best available. But it goes beyond mere biography, in that he classifies Kelly as a historian among o t h e r U t a h historians, seeing him both as a pioneer of "New M o r m o n " history and as a moving force in Utah and western historical scholarship and writing between 1930 and his death in 1971. Peterson also prepares readers for Kelly's obvious biases as seen in footnotes and margin synopses. Kelly recognized the value of the Lee "1846-47, and 1859 Journals," t h o u g h they are not c o m p l e t e for those years. His publishing of them in 1938 opened u p a new resource for s t u d e n t s of M o r m o n h i s t o r y . His footnoting, t h o u g h laced with anti-

Mormon sentiments, is generally accurate and useful to readers. T h e s e Lee J o u r n a l s can be seen from three perspectives at least. T h e 1846-47 J o u r n a l especially is a history of the M o r m o n c h u r c h d u r i n g its Winter Q u a r t e r s / S u m m e r Q u a r t e r s months in western Iowa, where Lee functioned part of the time as an official recorder for church and q u o r u m meetings. O n e sees from his J o u r n a l the struggles of the M o r m o n pioneers to marshall their resources, to consolidate the scattered Saints and develop some kind of coherent movement that would be led by the Council of the Twelve and Brigham Young. O n e also discerns the dynamics of their peculiar social mores and standards as they related to marriage, divorce, social responsibility and political authority. T h e cohesiveness that historians generally associate with the Mormon movement was at best only beginning at Winter Quarters. T h e second element in the record is really Lee's biography of B r i g h a m Young. Lee loved Young, believed h i m , a n d r e c o r d e d his activities, preachments, and directives as he observed t h e m . Lee r e c o r d s Young's anger at those who refused to accept

Book Reviews and Notices his counsel and who were still dealing kindly with less-than-staunch supporters. "This principle . . . is damnable. . . . Those characters will steal old spaven horses, wagon wheels, quilts, etc. Let such men go to hell, and if you do not understand what this means, cut their infernal throats. Never steal till the Lord tells you, and never steal that that should not be stolen. And when you hear of Brigham Young stealing you may know it should be stolen" (p. 128). Readers quickly discover a double irony. While Lee wrote, as he saw it, in praise of Brigham Young, Kelly uses Lee's words to verify his own biases that Young was indeed an unscrupulous tyrant. Kelly summarized these "subtle" issues in the margin with "cut their infernal throats" and "instructions on stealing." On p. 81 Kelly notes also "Man is woman's God"; and p. 87 "Brigham as 'Ruler' "; with "whores of the Twelve," p. 108.

191 Lee's record shows Young's efforts to consolidate his authority and power were a trial and error struggle that did not go unchallenged, nor did it have the kind of loyal support from all Saints that Brigham wanted and Lee gave. Finally, the Journals are Lee's autobiography. T h e 1846-47 accounts help one understand the making of the loyal, believing zealot J o h n D. Lee who, because of his 1857 involvement at Mountain Meadow, was hiding out from federal officers while writing his 1859 Journal. A few letters, written shortly before Lee's death in 1877, are also included. The University of Utah Press has served Utah and Mormon historians well in making these Lee Journals again readily available.

MELVIN T. SMITH

Utah State Historical Society

Karl Bodmer's America. Annotated by DAVID C. H U N T and MARSHA V. GALLAGHER. (Omaha and Lincoln: Joslyn Art Museum and University of Nebraska Press, 1984. xii + 367 pp. $65.00.) In 1832 Prince Maximilian of W i e d - N e u w i e d , an a c c o m p l i s h e d naturalist, planned to explore the North American western frontier before it was changed by settlement and civilization. He wanted to write a book of his scientific discoveries and travel experiences, so he engaged a young Swiss artist to accompany him to produce sketches and paintings to illustrate the book. T h a t artist was Karl B o d m e r (sometimes called Charles Bodmer), and his work added immeasurably to Prince Maximilian's book Travels in the Interior of America, 1832-4. Here in this volume, for the first time, 150 years after the trip, the Joslyn Art Museum and the University of N e b r a s k a Press have p u b l i s h e d Bodmer's American artwork in a care-

fully prepared set of 359 plates. T h e r e are 257 in full color and 102 in black and white. Added to the plates are notes by David C. Hunt and Marsha V. Gallagher identifying places, persons, or objects and where and when each was painted or sketched. Most of these notes are based on the Prince Maximilian book or his journal kept on the trip. As an added feature the volume contains an introduction by William H. Goetzmann that gives us the historical background of the western frontier at the time. It also contains a life sketch of Karl Bodmer by William J. Orr who describes his career both before the trip with Maximilian and afterward as a landscape painter of the Barbizon School in F r a n c e . O r r says of Bodmer's American work,

192 Faced with countless hardships and exotic subjects he rose to the challenge, creating ethereal landscapes and serene portraiture of delicate and subtle beauty. Yet once this assignment was completed, he reverted to the more conventional themes, largely bereft of daring and inspiration. Never again would his art achieve that novelty and brilliance so abundantly reflected in this brief phase. . . . This notable trip of Prince Maximilian and Karl B o d m e r began in 1832 when they sailed from Holland to Boston. From Boston they went to the Ohio River and down it to St. Louis. Along the way Bodmer painted landscapes and sketched the scientific specimens found by the prince. At St. Louis they started on the 2,500-mile journey u p the Missouri River to Fort McKenzie in what is now western Montana. This is the heart of the trip. T h e plates of the art volume follow the chronology of the complete trip with only a few exceptions. From St. Louis they traveled on the American Fur Company's boats, and they stayed at four of the company's forts or t r a d i n g posts. T h e y first traveled up to Fort Pierre in the Sioux Indian Country on the steamboat Yellow Stone. Here they found themselves in the midst of the Indian tribes that Maximilian had come to study. Probably the finest of Bodmer's works are the wonderful portraits of the Indians, both from his portrayal of the personality of the individuals painted and for his minute detailing of the costumes that they wore. T h e r e are 89 plates of portraits, most in full color, of the many Indians they encountered. Bodmer does a superb job of portraying not only the individuals but a vanishing way of life. Bernard DeVoto, who used 10 of Bodmer's paintings in his book Across the Wide Missouri, considered Bodmer's Indian pictures much superior to those of George Catlin.

Utah Historical Quarterly Second only to his Indian portraits are Bodmer's Missouri River landscapes, especially those in the Badlands area between Fort Union and F o r t McKenzie w h e r e t h e winderoded, weird rock formations fascinated the artist. His picture in Plate 215, " T h e White Castles on the Missouri," is one of his finest. In addition to the stay at Fort Pierre in Sioux Indian country, the trip also included brief stops at Fort Clark near the Mandan villages and a stop at Fort Union among the Assiniboins on the upriver journey to Fort McKenzie in Blackfoot territory. T h e prince had planned to spend the winter at Fort McKenzie, but due to hostile Indian activities he cut the stay to only five weeks and returned downriver to Fort Clark and the Mand a n I n d i a n s . H e r e they spent the winter and here some of Bodmer's finest Indian paintings were made, including Plate 330 called "Interior of a Mandan Earth Lodge" which is often reprinted. It is amazing in its detail of the living quarters of a Mandan chief. In the spring of 1834 the party returned to St. Louis and then back to G e r m a n y . I n E u r o p e Maximilian started work on a lavishly illustrated account of the journey, and he sent Bodmer to Paris to supervise the work of twenty engravers to p r e p a r e 81 aquatints to illustrate it. Bodmer himself hand tinted many of them. Travels in the Interior of North America was published in Germany in 1839 and later in French and English versions. In 1906 Reuben Gold Thwaites included it in his set of Early Western Travels, 1748-1846. Unfortunately, t h e B o d m e r i l l u s t r a t i o n s in t h e Thwaites volumes lost much of their effectiveness in black and white. Following the publication of the work, 400 of Bodmer's original watercolors from America were deposited at Prince Maximilian's family estate where they were rediscovered after

Book Reviews and Notices World War II. In 1962 the estate sold them to a New York art dealer. T h e Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha tried to raise the money to buy them but failed to do so. T h e n InterNorth, Inc., an O m a h a - b a s e d diversified e n e r g y company, bought the collection for half a million dollars and placed it on p e r m a n e n t loan at the Joslyn Art Museum. In addition to the Bodmer paintings, the collection includes the journals and letters of Prince Maximilian pertaining to the American trip. It was a tremendously valuable donation to western history for a business corporation to make. T h e prince's book and the Bodmer paint-

193 ings have been recognized as the most accurate and definitive portrayal of the Plains I n d i a n s of t h e early nineteenth century available. An exhibit of a part of the collection of the Joslyn Art Museum has been t o u r i n g A m e r i c a n m u s e u m s in 1984-85. This book does a very fine job of reproducing the watercolors in true color. T h e illustrations are large, for the book is about a foot square. This volume is a wonderful addition to a collection for it is both excellent art and exceptional history. LORA CROUCH

Salt Lake City

Kit Carson: A Pattern for Heroes. By THELMA S. GUILD and HARVEY L. CARTER. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. xiv + 367 pp. $18.95.) Few American frontiersmen have gained or rightfully deserved the lasting respect accorded Christopher "Kit" Carson (1809-68). In successive careers as mountain man, scout and guide for government explorations, Indian agent, and army officer, Carson u n i q u e l y p a r t i c i p a t e d in key stages of America's westward movement up to 1865. He is compared to Daniel Boone, another universally recognized symbol of an earlier era. Both men became legendary heroes, yet in each case legend was based solidly on fact. Each had adventures of epic quality, but both were "simple, modest, and genuine and remained unspoiled by the wide publicity and tremendous acclaim accorded them." Using Carson's own autobiography as a base for the present work, authors Thelma S. Guild and Harvey L. Carter carefully weave a lively good story about an otherwise common man. C a r s o n was a fairly typical frontiersman: well traveled as they all were, suitably versed in Indian lore, content in an Indian marriage, never a leader but a survivor. When Carson could no longer make a living in the

mountains he chanced onto government service as a scout, guide, and hunter for three of Fremont's expeditions. Fremont counted on him for service "over and above the call of duty," but this phase too had its passing, leading to a third vocation as an I n d i a n agent. As with earlier endeavors, Carson was again well suited. He knew the languages and customs of his charges â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Plains Utes and Jicarilla Apaches. H e was honest, sympathetic, innovative, and respected by these Indians. Ultimately, however, the American Civil War took him to a fourth and final career as a soldier. Leading New Mexican volunteers, Carson defeated Confederates in battle. But b r o a d e r lasting fame came as an Indian fighter in the Navajo campaign and elsewhere. Carson's role in the Navajo saga is usually linked with a "scorched earth" policy and the costly "Long Walk," and even to this day Navajos evince hatred for the man. Guild and Carter carefully dissect this episode and rightfully point out that he only carried out policy established by others, was not in charge of the "Long Walk," and was

194 considerably more sensitive to Navajo problems than he is given credit for. These arguments are convincing. T h e Carson bibliography is already extraordinarily lengthy. Kit's first biography appeared ten years before his death; perhaps the most scholarly treatise was published as recently as 1968. To the logical question "why another book," the authors quickly point out that Harvey Carter's own 'Dear Old Kit:' The Historical Christopher Carson, with a New Edition of the Carson Memoirs was out of print and apparently not widely referenced in more recent scholarship. Too, a more conventional biography embodying 'Dear Old Kit' reliability but in more read-

Utah Historical Quarterly able form was sorely needed. Lest that sound presumptuous, an affirmation welcoming this new work is appropriate. Indeed, by all measures this is a pleasing volume. T h e authors hoped for an "easily readable and eminently reliable book." It is. T h e documentation is comprehensive. Well-chosen illustrations, a solid bibliography, and an excellent index add to its merits. T h e University of Nebraska deserve praise for a production of sterling quality. P A U L L . HEDREN

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site North Dakota

Big Bear: The End of Freedom. By HUGH A. DEMPSEY. (Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & Mclntyre Ltd.; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. 227 pp. $22.95.) A l t h o u g h p e o p l e in the United States are aware of the Riel Rebellion, we tend to believe that problems of I n d i a n - w h i t e c o n f r o n t a t i o n were handled more wisely in Canada than here. This biography of a Cree chieftain who was involved in events related to the Riel episode suggests that the difference was mainly one of extent and frequency. Canada may not have experienced the decades of battles and massacres, displacements and t r e a t y - b r e a k i n g s t h a t f e a t u r e d in United States history from the Pequot War to the Ghost Dance era, but conflicts north of the b o r d e r were duplicates in miniature of those evils. Here, Big Bear joins a score of Ind i a n l e a d e r s g r o u p e d as P a t r i o t Chiefs, alike in their devotion to their peoples' interests, as they perceived them, and alike in their inability to stop white intrusion. As with Osceola, Pontiac, T e c u m s e h , Black Hawk, Joseph, and as many more, Big Bear was overwhelmed by forces stronger than he was prepared to meet. T h e story contains the elements familiar to students of affairs on this

side of the boundary â&#x20AC;&#x201D; wicked government agents, bigoted missionaries, crooked traders, jealous sub-chiefs, and hot-headed young warriors, along with a few excellent people in each category. T h e good ones were always rolled flat by the intemperate and short-sighted. A special contribution here is the emphasis on language difficulties, the misunderstandings brought about by faulty translations. Interpreters were often marginal in their ability to express concepts and technical terms of treaties or less formal agreements. Often, all parties left a council with a variety of mistaken ideas about what had been decided. Charges of broken promises were inevitable. Although Big Bear is both scholarly and readable, one wonders about the utility of adding another volume to the dozens that already prove that Indian-white contacts led to violence and sorrow. Each new study gives support to advocates of more compensation for descendants of tribesmen, with no pity wasted on white victims of massacres.

Book Reviews and Notices Someday there may be a study of "Indian Problems" that explains how, in the long run, the outcome could have been different. N o w h e r e in h u m a n history has a defenseless population been left in possession of desirable land when stronger groups discovered it and decided to move in. Is it reasonable to think that somewhere along the way, in 1492 or 1607 or 1763, invading Europeans would have decided not to disturb the native Americans who thinly occupied the Western Hemisphere? Should Lewis and Clark have turned back down the Missouri River and reported to President Jefferson that going on to the coast would have involved trespassing

195 on tribal lands? Should the Hudson's Bay Company have abandoned the fur trade for the same reason? Was the Union Pacific wrong in building tracks where bison herds would be disturbed? If whites had not moved in from the East, would the First Americans still be chasing buffalo in Nebraska and Saskatchewan? On foot, presumably. If historians cannot deal with these " W h a t if?" q u e s t i o n s , someone else should.

STANLEY R. DAVISON

Western Montana College Dillon

Wheels to Adventure: BillRishel's Western Routes. By VIRGINIA RISHEL. (Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1983. viii + 133 pp. Cloth, $18.95; paper, $9.95.) T h e book is a biography of W. D. "Bill" Rishel, a pioneer for Intermountain bicycle racing, road development, tourism, and the promotion of automobile racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats. He blazed new trails and recorded them on maps so others could follow. When William Randolph Hearst sponsored the turn-of-the-century transcontinental bicycle race from San Francisco to New York, Bill Rishel was selected to manage that segment of the race from California to Wyoming. T h e race, involving 400 riders, was on a par if not even more publicized than the contemporary Boston Marathon. T h e book's account of the event is gripping and powerful and holds the reader's attention as deeply as a mystery novel. It brings out the great rivalry between Ogden and Salt Lake City â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a small, progressive town and the larger, more celebrated city to the south. The influences that routed the transcontinental railroad t h r o u g h O g d e n , not Salt Lake City, a r e brought into focus and the two-city feud foretold years of lively competi-

tion between the two municipalities for transcontinental traffic. For people born after the turn of the century, a vision of bicycle popularity is created. American manufacturers produced more than two million machines in 1897 with a national population of about sixty-five million people. As "Sporting Editor" of the old Salt Lake Herald, Rishel promoted bicycle racing and popularized such races at the old Salt Palace track, making Salt Lake City one of the most successful tracks in the United States. T h e Salt Palace track drew crowds of 3,000 to 4,000 fans twice a week during the summer months for nearly ten years. Among the racers were such notables as Hardy Downing, Norman Hopper, and Barney Oldfield. T h e bicycle business collapsed in the early 1900s as many bicycle manufacturers t u r n e d to designing and producing the exciting new "horseless carriage," using such bicycledeveloped devices as pneumatic tires, ball bearings on axles, the suspension wheel, speed transmissions, shaft drives, and efficient brakes. Bill Rishel

196 drove the first automobile in Utah, a blue Locomobile owned by Charles S. Wilkes, a bicycle dealer who operated a store on West Second South. T h e automobile business slowly exp a n d e d , a n d Rishel's c a r e e r as a "pathfinder" followed along with it. He drew and designed cross-country road maps, founded the Salt Lake Auto Club, published a tour book, Rishel's Routes, organized an automobile dealers association, and in 1911 became automobile editor for the Salt Lake Tribune and started driving a car that was to become a western institution â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Tribune Pathfinder. T h e first Rishel maps and logs app e a r e d in full-page layout in the sporting section Sunday m o r n i n g , A u g u s t 6, 1 9 1 1 , a n d g u i d e d t h e motorist u p Parley's Canyon east of Salt Lake City and then on to Echo, near the Wyoming border. Until 1915 the automobile was forbidden in Yellowstone, supposedly because cars would frighten the animals. In late August of 1911 Rishel drove the Tribune Pathfinder to the west entrance of Yellowstone and took a photograph of the car with two soldiers blocking the entrance. Such publicity forced the park open to cars and compelled the t r a n s p o r t a t i o n companies to c h a n g e their horsedrawn vehicles for motor buses. T h e Pathfinder was the first car to reach Kanab and the North Rim of Grand Canyon. T h e present highway follows very closely the route taken. Later, on a second trip to Grand Canyon, they planned to return home via Zion Canyon, to demonstrate the possibility of making a loop trip and seeing both canyons at the same time. At that time Bryce Canyon, one of Utah's great scenic wonders, was still unknown. T h e Pathfinder made its way to Bryce, Rishel made a map and a log of the route and published it in the Tribune, and Bryce Canyon was on the tourist map.

Utah Historical Quarterly T h e three stages in the development of the present system of highways in Utah was a pattern generally followed in other states as well. First, county commissions had full control over county roads which, up to about 1910, were little more than trails cut by wagon wheels. Some commissioners w e r e friendly a n d some antagonistic to efforts at road improvement. Second, a plan for a state highway commission was developed pretty generally all over the country. Its objective was to have a continuing highway from one part of the state to another. T h e pressure and votes of automobile drivers and encouragement of city newspapers gave support to the state commission. Road construction u n d e r this system made great headway. Utah issued seven million dollars in bonds for highways, financed by the state license tax and, later, by the gasoline tax. T h e first paved road in Utah was a mile between Tremonton and Garland in Box Elder County. Third, was the introduction of the Federal Aid System in 1920, allowing the making of the connecting links at the state borders with the "main" or "through" highways of each state. To Utah belongs the credit for originating the plan by which the federal government furnished aid in relation to the percentage of public land owned. As public t h o r o u g h f a r e s developed, highway organizations sprang up all over the country. T h e principal ones p r o m o t i n g r o a d s t r a v e r s i n g Utah were the Overland Trail, Midland Trail, Lincoln Highway, Pike's Peak Highway, and Victory Highway associations. Generally, they were in conflict with each o t h e r a n d attempted to influence the priorities of construction with the State Highway Commission. Efforts of loyal Salt Lake boosters such as A. N. McKay, Clem Schramm, S. D. Evans, Charlie Tyng, Ben Redman, C. B. Hawley, Malcom Keyser, George Relf, and the Salt

Book Reviews and Notices Lake Rotary Club influenced the emergence of the Victory Highway (U.S. Highway 40) a n d the Arrowhead Trail (T15) as main arteries passing through the state. Although Rishel spent most of his life mapping and fighting for roads, he was also interested in speed and boosting the now-famous Bonneville Salt Flats. He tried several times to get a car out on the salt beds but did not succeed until 1911. At that time he got Ferg Johnson of Wendover to take his big Packard out on the flats. Johnson opened her up and went fifty-four miles an hour! They knew they were on one of the great race tracks of the world. There followed, through the years, Ab J e n k i n s , Sir Malcolm Campbell, John Cobb, Reed Railton, and Craig Breedlove. Gary Gabelich

197 now holds the mind-boggling salt flats speed record of 622.407 miles per hour. This book is a must for specialists, students, and readers of history. It brings forth a segment of history often neglected and describes the power, popularity, and influence of the bicycle on western road building. It is superbly written by Virginia Rishel, daughter of W. D. Rishel. She competently used logs, maps, newspaper articles and many unpublished notes written by her father during the 1940s. T h e publication is a tribute to the vision a n d p r o m o t i o n of the transportation systems in Utah.

WESLEY P. LARSEN

Southern Utah State College

The John Taylor Papers: Records of the Last Utah Pioneer. Vol. I: The Apostle. By SAMUEL W. TAYLOR and RAYMOND W. TAYLOR. (Redwood City, Calif.: Taylor Trust, 1984. 363 pp. $11.95.) J o h n Taylor, an Englishman, wood turner, and lay Methodist minister, and his wife, Leonora, were baptized May 9, 1836, as m e m b e r s of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were converted and baptized by Parley P. Pratt in Toronto. T h e following year, Taylor was at Kirtland, Ohio, at the time of a wave of apostasy. Even Pratt was writing bitter letters to Joseph Smith about "those three lots you sold me," and the church seemed close to disintegration. Taylor's spirited defense of Joseph in the Kirtland Temple brought him recognition, and for the next fifty-one years he was a leader, unwavering in his defense of the church. Joseph, in a master stroke, saved the church by sending Taylor and other stalwarts on missions to Europe, where they converted thousands. From that time until he became president, Taylor was on missions endlessly called by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

Papers is essentially an autobiography, compiled by two of Taylor's grandsons, and as such is unusual for major church figures. (Exceptions: Joseph Smith, Parley Pratt.) Here, in Taylor's own words is the history of the church in its formative years, from the point of view of one who played a major role. Since Taylor was a prolific writer, the problem of the authors was to compress the material. Samuel relates in the book how his late b r o t h e r , Raymond, with two-fingered tenacity, copied a thousand letters and documents from twenty-six boxes of the Taylor papers in the church archives. (Copies now at the University of Utah Library.) T o keep the material in historical perspective, Samuel Taylor has provided brief interpolations. These, and the end-of-the-chapter footnotes, add depth to the volume. John Taylor's journals create a vivid

198 picture of the ordeals of early Mormons. His chronicle of the martyrdom of Joseph and H y r u m Smith in Carthage Jail â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when he, himself, was shot five times â&#x20AC;&#x201D; has become a classic. In a moving passage Taylor relates how the four imprisoned men awaited their fate "with a remarkable depression of spirits. In consonance with those feelings, I sang a song . . . 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.' . . . Soon afterward . . . I saw a number of m e n with p a i n t e d faces c o m i n g around the corner of the jail, and aiming toward the stairs." Later, on his many missions, Taylor preached and proselytized, although some of his missions were editorships. He edited the Nauvoo Neighbor and Times and Seasons and the Mormon in New York. He traveled to New York in a light wagon and sold the wagon and horses to finance the newspaper. J o h n Taylor comes across in his writings and speeches as forthright, but he was capable of doubletalk when c h u r c h policy (never betray y o u r brothers) demanded it. Debating with three ministers in France he seemingly disavowed the Danite Band and polygamy. T h e authors, in a dry aside, report that Taylor had ten wives at the time. Nevertheless, neither Taylor nor his grandsons dodged negative issues, as shown in chapters such as "The Joint Stock Scandal" and "The Sour Sugar Beet Story." A high point in the book is the account of Taylor's debate with Vicepresident Schuyler Colfax conducted

Utah Historical Quarterly in the nation's press. Historian B. H. Roberts called this "the most important discussion in the history of the Church." Taylor was known as "the champion of rights" because of his inherent regard for individual liberty. In 1856, at a time when women had no rights at all, he spoke u p for them. As president, following the monolithic regime of Young, he abolished the numbered ballot and sponsored a cultural renaissance. Because he was the final man in authority holding fast to the original concepts, he was called "the last Utah pioneer." Refusing to compromise concerning "the principle" (polygamy), he spent the last two and a half years of his ten as president on the u n d e r g r o u n d . H e died in 1887 with a price on his head. T h e authors of Papers have done a herculean job in winnowing this lively autobiography from a mountain of m a t e r i a l . T h e b i b l i o g r a p h y lists seventy-five sources in addition to the voluminous Taylor papers. T h e result is a major contribution to LDS church history and a candid study of the life of a seeker, mystic, dynamic debater and speaker, a self-taught intellectual in the Lincolnian tradition, and (surprise!) a humorist. Volume II, The Prophet, detailing Taylor's ten years as president, will be published soon, Samuel Taylor has announced. JEAN R. PAULSON

Paso Robles, California

Book Reviews and Notices

199

Book Notices Trees of the Great Basin: A Natural History. By RONALD M. LANNER. Illust r a t e d by C H R I S T I N E RASMUSS. (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1984. xvi + 215 pp. Cloth, $19.50; paper, $12.50.) This handsome book is the first in a projected University of Nevada Press series on the natural history of the Great Basin. The author, a field dendrologist for more than twenty years, is an associate professor of forestry at Utah State University. Aimed at the western nature enthusiast, Trees of the Great Basin examines broad ecological themes and presents insights previously available only in technical publications. Although it is not designed as a field guide, it could be used as such because of the drawings, color photographs, and descriptions of species. T h e text is a delight, the most engaging writing on trees since Donald Culross Peattie's Natural History of Western Trees. If the promised volumes on Great Basin birds, geology, mammals, rivers a n d lakes, etc., match this initial p r o d u c t i o n , r e a d e r s will gain a heightened appreciation for a littleknown natural region. Audubon's Western Journal,

1849-1850.

By J O H N WOODHOUSE AUDUBON.

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1984. 254 pp. Paper, $8.50.) A son of the famous ornithologist, the author was a naturalist and artist

xMJ/i /

himself. This account of his travels from New York to the gold fields of California reflects that background. His journal, with its keen observations of social conditions in Mexico, nature, and the chaotic life of the mining camps, was originally published in 1906 by Arthur H. Clark. This is a photographic reproduction of that edition. James C. Malin, History and Ecology: Studies of the Grassland. Edited by ROBERT P. SWIERENGA. (Lincoln:

University of N e b r a s k a Press, 1984. xxix + 376 pp. Cloth, $28.50; paper, $13.95.) James C. Malin was a pioneering historian of the Midwest, trained in ecology, agronomy, and social science methodology. His holistic view of human and natural history produced brilliant and still controversial interpretations. This collection makes accessible a b r o a d selection from a m o n g his e i g h t e e n books a n d numerous articles. Yaqui Resistance and Survival: The Struggle for Land and Autonomy, 1821-1910. By EVELYN H U DEHART. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984. xv + 293 pp. $27.50.) This volume continues the author's study of the Yaqui Indians of northwestern Mexico and their struggle to

200 retain their land and cultural autonomy. Hu-DeHart's earlier work focused on t h e S p a n i s h colonial period, from 1533 to 1820. With the achievement of Mexican i n d e p e n dence, demands from the central gove r n m e n t for Yaqui labor a n d r e sources grew increasingly insistent. Yaqui resistence stiffened and was broken only by massive deportations to other areas of Mexico. Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground. By EARLE R. FORREST. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1984. 385 pp. Paper, $11.95.) T h e 1936 account of the Pleasant Valley war that pitted sheep and cattle r a n c h e r s a g a i n s t each o t h e r in Arizona's T o n t o Basin in the late 1880s has been reprinted. T h e bloody Graham-Tewksbury feud made the entire area unsafe for friend and stranger alike and left a death toll of at least nineteen. Zane Grey's To the Last Man is one fictional account of the range war. Crime Chronology: A World Wide Record, 1900-1983. By JAY ROBERT NASH. (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1984. v + 224. $19.95.) Murder, robbery, organized crime, white-collar crime, and miscellaneous crimes are arranged chronologically under each year. T h e only cheering thing about this collection is that it gives the nightly news some historical perspective. Since even the most horrible crimes have their counterparts in history, the world may not be getting worse after all. Consider, for example, Earle Leonard Nelson, the "Gorilla M u r d e r e r " who d u r i n g 1926-27 strangled and raped at least nineteen women, most of them middle-aged landladies, in a coast-to-coast crime spree.

Utah Historical Quarterly Ranchers, Ramblers, and Renegades: True Tales of Territorial New Mexico. By MARC SIMMONS. (Santa Fe: Ancient City Press, 1984. x + 113 pp. Paper, $5.95.) Simmons has written twenty-nine historical vignettes that give intriguing glimpses into ranching, trading, outlawry, Indian captivity, politics, and other topics during New Mexico's territorial years. Tracy Collins Bank and Trust Company: A Record of Responsibility, 18841984.

LEONARD J.

ARRINGTON.

(Salt Lake City: Tracy Collins Bank and Trust Co., 1984. x + 252 pp.) Since there remains a serious need for good Utah institutional histories, Leonard J. Arrington has, in his fine history of the Tracy Collins Bank and Trust Company, again made a major contribution. H e provides readers good historical context for that business as he traces its developments and evolutions from 1884 to 1984. Young Russel Lord Tracy began modestly in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but moved to Salt Lake City in 1892, where opportunities for his mortgage business seemed better. It proved a good move, as Tracy continued to stress his policy of long-term services to his clients. T h e history of the firm in Utah sees it move from real estate loans primarily to full stature as a commercial bank. These changes occurred over several decades and depended upon personalities such as James W. Collins, Newell B. Dayton, Gilbert Shelton, J o h n A. Dahlstrom, and others. T h e book details the several mergers and subsequent growth that brought the firm to its present status. A l t h o u g h a c e n t e n n i a l commemorative for the bank, the book is still good history. Tracy Collins is to be commended for selecting a scholar of Arrington's stature as author.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History

BOARD OF STATE HISTORY MILTON C. ABRAMS, Logan, 1985

Chairman WAYNE K. H I N T O N , Cedar City, 1985

Vice-chairman MELVIN T. SMITH, Salt Lake City

Secretary THOMAS G. ALEXANDER, Provo, 1987 PHILLIP A. BULLEN, Salt Lake City, 1987 J. ELDON DORMAN, Price, 1987 ELIZABETH GRIFFITH, Ogden, 1985

DEAN L. MAY, Salt Lake City, 1987 WILLIAM D. OWENS, Salt Lake City, 1987 HELEN Z. PAPANIKOLAS, Salt Lake City, 1985 ANAND A. YANG, Salt Lake City, 1985

ADMINISTRATION M E L V I N T. SMITH,Director STANFORD J. LAYTON, Managing Editor JAY M. HAYMOND, Librarian DAVID B. MADSEN, State Archaeologist A. KENT POWELL, Historic Preservation Research WILSON G. MARTIN, Historic Preservation Development P H I L I P F. NOTARIANNI, Museum Services

T h e Utah State Historical Society was organized in 1897 by public-spirited Utahns to collect, preserve, and publish Utah and related history. Today, under state sponsorship, the Society fulfills its obligations by publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials; collecting historic Utah artifacts; locating, documenting, and preserving historic a n d prehistoric buildings and sites; and maintaining a specialized research library. Donations and gifts to the Society's programs, museum, or its library are encouraged, for only through such means can it live u p to its responsibility of preserving the record of Utah s past. This publication has been funded with the assistance of a matching grant-in-aid from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, u n d e r provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended. This program receives financial assistance for identification and preservation of historic properties u n d e r Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a n d Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. T h e U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, Number 2, 1985

Articles inside

Community Dramatics in Early Castle Valley

George Careless, Pioneer Musician

"Sisterhood and Sociability": The Utah Women's Press Club, 1891-1928

The Old Folks Day: A Unique Utah Tradition

Utah Writ Small: Challenge and Change in Kane County's Past