Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, Number 1, 1991

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

(ISSN 0042-143X)

EDITORIAL STAFF

MAXJ EVA.NS, Editor

STANFORD J LAYTON, Managing Editor

MIRIAM B. }A\}KVH\, Associate Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS

KENNETH L CANNON II, Salt Lake City, 1992

ARLENE H EAKL£, Woods Cross, 1993

JOE L C JANETSKI, Provo, 1991

ROBERTS MCPHERSON, Blanding, 1992

CAROL A O'CONNOR , Logan, 1991

RICHARD W SADLER, Ogden, 1991

HAROLD SCHINDLER, Salt Lake City, 1993

GENE A SESSIONS, Bountiful, 1992

GREGORY C THOMPSON, Salt Lake City, 1993

Utah Historical Quarterly wasestablished in 1928 to publish anicles, documents, and reviews contribudng to knowledge ofUtah's history The Quarterly is published four times ayear by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 RioGrande, Salt Lake City, Utah84I0I Phone(801) 533-6024 for membership and publications informadoa Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, and the bimonthly Newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $15.00; institution, $20.00; student and senior citizen (age sixty-five orover), $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 atthe end Authors areencouraged tosubmit material in a computer-readable form, on 5V* inch MS-DOS or PCDOS diskettes, standard ASCII text file. Addiuonal information onrequirements is available from the managing editor. Articles represent theviews ofthe author and arenot necessarily those of the Utah State Historical Society.

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T H E C O VE R This year marks the 75 th anniversary of the completion of the Utah State Capitol On October 9, 1916, some 30,000 Utahns participated in aformal program and public reception officially opening the building The legislature actually began meeting in the Capitol on February 11,1915, but construction delaysforced other state officials to wait more than a year for their new offices to be completed Shxplefs photograph, taken in February 1915, shows the last toad of stone to arrive at the site. USHS collections.

© Copyright 1991 Utah State Historical Society

MILTON R MERRILL Reed Smoot: Apostle in Politics B CARMON HARDY87

LARRY V SHUMWAY, ed Frontier Fiddler: The Life of a Northern Arizona Pioneer, Kenner C. Kartchner ... CHARLESS. PETERSON 89

GRACE RAYMOND HEBARD and E A BRININSTOOL The Bozeman Trail ALBERT M COO K 90

JACKSON C THODE George L Beam and the Denver & Rio Grande STEPHEN L. CARR 91

EUGENE P. MOEHRING. Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930-1970

GORDON IRVING 92

Books reviewed

REX EUGENE COOPER Promises Made to the Fathers: Mormon Covenant Organization

KEN DRIGGS 94

JAMES P RONDA Astoria and Empire JOH N D . BARTON 95

In this issue

who actually did what and how significant was it are questions that keep history alive. It is appropriate to pose them concerning woman suffrage. The Utah suffrage story—territorialgranting, federal withdrawal, and regrantingat statehood has been told many times but not from the perspective of the first article in this issue: that of its small-town advocates Using the minutes of suffrage associations in Beaver and Farmington, the author demonstrates that woman's right to vote was as important to females and males in rural areas as to its advocates in Salt Lake City. If rural suffragists have been generally overlooked, so too have individuals like Charlotte Kirby, the subject of the second article. In her correspondence with Wilford Woodruff she attemped to set the record straight concerning her contribution to the suffrage movement and the intense rivalry her efforts appjirently provoked in the heralded Utah suffrage leader Emmeline B. Wells.

Those who fought for suffrage quickly learned that they must overcome intense ridicule if their cause was to prevail The third article looks at the cartoons the suffrage movement (especially in tandem with Mormon polygamy) spawned in national publications from about 1870 on By 1911 the tide had turned, and the andsuffrage forces began to feel the barbs of the visual satirists.

Another burning social issue of the suffrage era was child labor. The fourth article examines the extent of child labor in Utah during 1880-1920 and the various legisladve acts that attempted to regulate it

The final article focuses on a legislative issue of an entirely different kind—the successful campaign by preservation groups to prevent Congress from authorizing construction of two dams in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument The key role of Bernard DeVoto in that fight is revealed by a historian who asked who did what and how significant was it?

Boys employed by Gardiner Lithographers, Salt Lake City, 1905. USHS collections.

A Fresh Perspective? The Woman Suffrage Associations of Beaver and Farmington, Utah

BY LISA BRYNER BOHMAN

WHIL E THE BATTLE FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE wasbrewingthroughout many parts of the world, the foundation of women's rights in Utah Territory was firmly anchored in tradition and heritage The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-daySaintshad traditionally voiced itssupport for giving women therighttovote.^ Moreover, women had participated in church voting and decision-making since the establishment of Mormonism.^ This background in religious matters naturally carried over into the realm of politics amd the support for woman suffrage. The cause of female voting rights was pursued by the People's party, which represented the Mormons in the territory.

The Liberal party members, usually non-Mormons or apostates, supported woman suffrage aswell since they believed Mormon women were unwilling participcmts in polygamy. They maintained that if Mormon women wereallowed tovoteMormon men would face certain poHticaldefeat atthehands ofvengeful wiveswho detested polygamy as much as the rest of the nation. This strategy proved to be futile.

The virtually unanimous support from Utah's main parties aided the cause ofwoman suffrage In 1870 when an act to grant women the franchise came before the territorial government, the measure passed with the support of both the People's party and the Liberal party. However, the latter party's expectations of political victory cifter unification with Mormon women never came to fruition. Rather than turning against the men, Mormon women remained staunch political

Ms. Bohman lives in Provo, Utah.

Thomas G Alexander, "An Experiment in Progressive Legislation: The Granting of Woman Suffrage in Utah in 1870," Utah Historical Quarterly 38 (1970): 25

Joseph Smith, History of the Church ofJesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints, 2d ed., 7 vols (Salt City: Deseret Book Co., 1978), 4:604-7

supporters of their husbands, the Mormon church, and the People's party.^

Together, Mormon men and women created an unbeatable block of voters. Because of this, the non-Mormons turned their backs on woman suffrage. The Salt Lake Tribune, the voice of the Liberal party, reported, "It[woman suffrage] originated with thechurch and the latter must father, or mother it, asthe casemaybe.'"^ The opinions on woman franchise were divided along political and religious lines. For the next seventeen years the Liberal party cursed woman suffrage as a tool to keeptheMormons inpolitical powerwhilethePeople'sparty supported and defended it^

Because of the conflicts between non-Mormons amd Mormons and the practice of polygamy, Utah drew the attention of federcd politicians In response to the polygamy problem Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887 which repealed women's right to vote in Utah and disfranchised polygamous men. Immediately suffrage organizations formed throughout the territory. Mormon women tried to align themselves with non-Mormon women in an effort to establish a territorial branch of the Woman Suffrage Association. Prominent nonMormon women refused toparticipate, however, because they believed that woman suffrage would turn the political reins of the territory back to the Mormon church.^

The leadership for thewoman suffrage movement was centered in Salt Lake City Dynamic women such as Zina D H Young and Emmeline B. Wells not only participated in the national suffrage movement but also organized the territorial leadership for the movement and encouraged women throughout Utah toform branches of the Woman Suffrage Association (WSA) in their own counties and towns. Eventually nineteen Utah counties had branches of the Association within their boundaries.^

These smaller branches supplied the grassroots support for the movement They were just as vital to woman suffrage as the more publicized branches in Salt Lake City and helped the development of

Alexander, "An Experiment," p 29

"Our Lying Old Grandmothers," Salt Lake Tribune, November 14, 1877, p. 3.

B H Roberts,y4 Comprehensive History ofthe Churchofjesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints, 6vols (Provo, UL: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 6:7

RichardD Polletal., eds., Utah's History {Provo, UL: Brigham Young University Press, 1978), p 352

League of Women Voters, The Voice of Womankind {Salt Lake City: League of Women Voters of Utah, 1987), p 3

the movement inmanyways. Financial support oftheterritorial leaders was only one small, but important, result Thewomen in these outlying areas paid dues to join the WSA. The dues helped Utah's territorial suffrage leaders attend national meetings in NewYorkand Washington, D.C.^ Financial assistance was not the only service that these women rendered to the suffrage movement, however.

Perhaps more important than financial support, these county and town associations served to promote education, improve attitudes, and influence politicians concerning thesuffrage movement throughout the territory. Women in towns and counties all over Utah held meetings to inform other women of the purpose of the suffrage movement They improved public relations by participating in parades and other community events.They published details about themovement in local newspapers and monthly publications.^ Finally, thewomen influenced local politicians participating in the territorial legislature and the constitutional convention to vote in favor of granting women the vote.^^

Although this grassroots support for the movement was important, few records survive that indicate what the women in these sm^dler towns and counties specifically said and did to promote the cause of suffrage. Both Beaver County's and Farmington City'sWoman Suffrage Association Minutes have survived. A comparison of these records, whichwerekeptfrom 1892 to 1896, provides information on the nature of the associations outside Salt Lake, the type of women who participated in the suffrage movement, their devotion to suffrage, the influence of the Mormon church, and the personal effects of the movement on the women involved in it

During the 1890s Beaver County was different from other areas in Utah because of the large number ofapostates and non-Mormons who gathered there. One reason for the attraction of non-Mormons was the trialofJohn D. Leewhichtookplacein Beaver. Testimony in 1877 about his part in the Mountain Meadow Massacre focused national attention on the town and stirred animosity towards the Mormon church.^^ Beaver also had a large population of non-Mormons because the U.S

^Minutes of Farmington City Woman Suffrage Association Meetings, 1892-1896, p 17, EDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake City Hereinafter referred to as Farmington Minutes

Minutes of the Beaver County Woman Suffrage Association Meetings, 1892-1896, August 16, 1894, p. 17, and March 16, 1894, p. 12, Special Collections, Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo Hereinafter referred to as Beaver Minutes

Emmeline B Wells to Mary A White, January 14, 1894, in Beaver Minutes

"Wayne Stout, History of Utah, vol 1, 1870-96 (Salt Lake City: Author, 1967), p 68

Army's Eighth Infantry, stationed two miles from Beaver, provided a steady influx of non-Mormons into the community.^^ In addition. Mormon Apostle Amasa Lyman, who resided in Beaver, apostatized This lowered the morale of the Saints in the city. The faith and dedication ofchurch members had already been tried as they practiced the United Order. Because of differences among its members the order was forced into dissolution. Many of the Saints became bitter toward each other and particularly toward those who had held positions of leadership intheorder.John RiggsMurdock, who served asLDS bishop of Beaver in 1872, wrote that his biggest challenge was dealing with the factions of Saints within the city ^^Joseph Fish, a Mormon resident of Beaver, described the situation:

Beaver is full of apostates and the feeling against the Mormons bitter Nothing but the Mormon question is talked of on the streets Oaths are uttered against them on every corner and it is a common saying that they ought to be hung The apostates are the most bitter... Things look as ifa Mormon will not stand a chance of living here, and one would not be allowed to if the apostates had their way

Beaver Citywas the county seat of Beaver County and the center of political, religious, and social matters. In an environment with such overt social tensions and religious divisions, the Woman's Suffrage Association survived but did not thrive. Thewomen in the areamade an effort to attract new members but with little success. The Beaver women advertised their association in the SouthernUtonian, a local newspaper They invited all women in the city to join their society. Even this publicity did not seem to have much of an effect In a town with a population of 1,752 people in 1900, only 18 members were enrolled in the association, and the average attendance was 9.^^

In Farmington, the county seat of Davis County, more favorable conditions greeted the women as they created their own branch of the WSA. Farmington was originally founded in 1848, not because of church callings but asanatural extension of settlements around the Salt Lake Valley. The city was named Farmington because of the ample

'^J M Tanner, A Biographical Sketch ofJohn Riggs Murdock{Sa\t Lake Cirv: Deseret News, 1909), p 171

"ibid., p 172

Joseph Fish, The Pioneers of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regions (Salt Lake City:J F Smith and Seymour P Fish, 1968), p 65

"Equal Suffrage," Southern Utonian, January 17, 1896, p 4; U.S., Department of the Interior, Census Bulletin 50 of the 12th Census of the US (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1902), p 3; Beaver Minutes, October 16, 1893, p 8

yields of produce and grain that were harvested in this primarily agricultural town. Wheat, corn, vegetables, and fruit were all grown in the area The United Order was practiced in this town aswell; however, its dissolution did not have such an adverse effect on the people of Farmington as it did on the residents of Beaver. Apostates and nonMormons also lived in Farmington but in much smaller numbers. Under these more stable and less contentious conditions the WSA flourished. The Farmington group had 49 members on its roll in 1892, over twice as many as Beaver's organization. Farmington's population in 1900 was 1,036 people, approximately 700 fewer than Beaver's population for the same year.^^ Farmington's location may also have influenced the number of women who participated in the movement Salt Lake City, the nucleus of the woman suffrage movement in Utah, was ashort distance away. News ofthe movement's progress, territorial leaders, and suffrage conventions came to Farmington much sooner than to Beaver.

Despite the communities' differences, the role of the Mormon church was central to the development of the association in both cities The Farmington branch wasorginallyfounded onApril 13, 1892, in the Farmington meetinghouse during a combined meeting of the church's Relief Society and itsYoung Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. The purpose of the meeting was to organize a WSA in the ward. Meetings continued tobeheld inthe loccdmeetinghouse and members' homes until the dissolution of the association Unlike Farmington, the origin of the Beaver WSA is unclear However, the meetings in Beaver were also held in the ReHef Society Hall of the local meednghouse.^^

Although the organizations were founded around existing Mormon organizations, each association used its religious influences differently The Farmington branch emphasized the importance of the Mormon church in the woman suffrage movement while Beaver downplayed theMormon influence. TheBeaverminutes do not include any discussion about the Mormon church's approval or disapproval of woman suffrage.^^

In January 1894 Emmeline B. Wells, later general Relief Society president ofthe Mormon church and prominent suffrage leader, wrote aletter to MaryA White, president ofthe BeaverWSA Wells stated that she had asked the Mormon church presidency for advice concerning

''Farmington Minutes, no meeung date, 1892, p 17; Census Bulletin 50, p 3

'^Farmington Minutes, no meeung date, 1892, p 17; Beaver Minutes, May 16, 1892, p. 1. Beaver Minutes, pp 1-2S passim.

woman suffrage; however, she requested that White not make this information public, even to her fellow association members. Wells explained, ". . . you must not make this pubHc—not even in the Association, as I find some in the various associations call that union of church and state "^^ Shewent on to saythat shehoped shewould be allowed toattend the National Council, sincethe FirstPresidency was in favor of several Utah women attending.^^Thus, one of the reasons for not addressing the topic in Beaver may have been a lack of knowledge about church support Other reasons could include indifference towards the matter or deliberate silence regarding the topic.

The Farmington branch confronted this subject in a totally different manner. Zina D. H. Young, president of the Relief Society and another distinguished territorial suffrage leader, was a guest speaker at the first Farmington suffrage meetings She spoke openly of the First Presidency's support for woman suffrage. Young said that she was present when the topic was initially considered by this select group of Mormon leaders. She knew that the First Presidency approved of suffrage for women and could see no reason not tojoin the movement herself^^ Apostle Francis M. Lyman, who spoke following Young, provided further information on thetopic He contended that President Brigham Young had always believed thatwomen werejust as reliable in government participation as men were. Lyman added that President Wilford Woodruff also held this same viewpoint The apostle continued, saying that if President Woodruff had been against woman suffrage, then Zina Young and others would have never supported the movement Lyman gave a final endorsement when he said, "I desire to say here that it is according to the mind and will of the Lord, as manifested by the First Presidency, that the women take hold of this woman suffrage movement as they do in the Relief Society."^^

The large number ofwomen involved in Farmington's association can be partially attributed to Lyman's strong recommendation. During the meeting at which Lyman and Young spoke at least two women declared that their opinion on woman suffrage had changed. Athelia Steed said that"she did not understand it[woman suffrage] at one time but now looked upon itin adifferent light" ASister Leonard also stated that the movement was new to her, but she had decided it was a good

'Veils to White

^"Ibid

^'Farmington Minutes, April 13, 1892, p 4

"ibid., pp 7-8

thing. Furthermore, on the day the Farmington branch was organized, 22 women had their names on the roU.^^ Less than six months later the group's membership had grown to 49 members.^"^ Official church sanction, as expressed by Apostle Lyman, might have changed some women's opinions about the movement and might have convinced some who would have otherwise ignored it to participate. Although these two associations differed in the direct discussion of church approval, their goalswere similar and were aligned with those of the territorial associations. The associations primarily intended women to receive the right to vote, but along with this centrsd goal came other commitments and questions. Women were to use the suffrage movement to become more educated about politics, to use this knowledge to improve their family lives, and to transmit womanly virtues into the realm ofgovernment ^^ Yetwithin theseworthwhile goalswere inherent conflicts How politically involved should women be.^ When did political interests interfere with family interests? If a woman were to extend her virtue into theviceof the political world, then would she not risk becoming contaminated herself? How were women to preserve their "natural virtue".^ The Beaver WSA secretary recorded the following remarks, concerning one of the goals of the association:

Let no man or woman be mistaken as to what this movement for suffrage really means None ofuswant to turn theworld upside down, or to convert women into men We want women, on the contrary, above all things to continue womanly womanly in the highest and best sense and to bring their true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report to bear upon conduct of public affairs

An edition oitheEqual Rights Banner, amonthly, hand written newsletter produced by the Beaver County women, reinforced this idea and referred women to their previous voting record in Utah The Banner claimed thatprior to 1870women had exercised a"purifying influence" on government in the territory and encouraged this practice to begin again.^^ The editors of the Banner continually referred to superior womanly virtues. On April 16, 1894, an editor wrote that those men controlling the nation had been described as lacking sympathy, mercy, charity, and all"ennobling virtues." The editor concluded that women

"ibid., pp 5, 6-7, 1

'•^*Ibid., no meeting date, 1892, p. 17.

"ibid., April 13, 1892, p. 4.

''Beaver Minutes, January 16, 1895, p. 22 Equal Rights Banner, undated, p. 8, in Beaver Minutes.

should beallowed tovotesincewomen, notmen, had dominion overall those characteristics.^^

The question of virtue was used not only by Utah suffragists but also by national suffragists. Antisuffragists had also used "virtue" in their arguments against grantingwomen the right tovote. Supporters of the suffrage movement usurped this discussion of virtue from the antisuffragists, however, and used it to stress the purifying results women would have on politics. The National American Woman Suffrage Association frequently referred to the social evils that women had combatted and defeated in the past The organization stressed that confronting these evils had not caused a decrease in morality, virtue, or femininity.^^ How women could remain virtuous when active in "evil" politics was not explained by the local or national suffrage leaders.

The incongruence continued. Home and religion, not politics, were clearly of ultimate importance, but suffrage was a political question. What combination of interests was acceptable and preferable for women.^ The members in Farmington werereminded that they were not to become so involved in politics that it interfered with their religious duties and beliefs.^° Emmeline B.Wellsaddressed this topic in her letter to Mary A. White. Wells wrote, "I never wish family duties neglected—theyarey^n^, after that other things "^^ Louissajones, editor of the Equal RightsBanner, in September 1893 agreed with Wells cind wrote a description of what she believed was the proper woman's sphere. Awoman was"to conduct her home in such a manner that she gathers happiness and contentment around herself and others, to advance theraceon thepath to civilization and progress byteaching her children.... "^^ The suffrage leaders continually urged women to use theknowledgegained atmeetings toimprove theirfamilies. The women in both Farmington and Beaver constantly expressed the belief that the right to vote would make every woman a better mother, since a child's education would be enhanced byamother who participated in politics. Zina Young encouraged women in Farmington to disseminate information in their association that would make them better wives aind mothers ^^ The content of the Equal RightsBanner is indicative of this

^*Ibid., Henrietta Gentry, ed., April 16, 1894, p. 4.

^^National American Woman Suffrage Association, Woman Suffrage A rguments and Results, 191011 (New York Kraus Reprint Co., 1971), p 47

^"Farmington Minutes, June 15, 1892, p 15

^'Wells to White

^'^Equal Rights Banner, Louissajones, ed., September 16, 1894, p. 19.

^^Farmington Minutes, April 13, 1892, p. 4.

tangle of family, religion, and politics, since scattered among articles addressing the progress of woman suffrage are recipes and hints for raisingchildren and improving spirituality Exactly howwomen were to juggle these differing goals and admonitions was left up to them.

Despite the confusing designs the associations had for women, instructions relating to political parties on the territorial and local level were quite clear. Both branches were explicitly politically neutral. The Utah suffragists' goal was to create a coalition of political parties to support woman suffrage in elections and the constitutional convention in 1895.

Emmeline B. Wells's letter to Mary White addressed this issue. Wells suggested that women exert themselves in areas that were traditional strongholds ofwomanly influence, such as at social gatherings and school meetings Shewarned that therewere"unwise" women who threatened to antagonize the men in the territory by politically uniting with one party. These same alienated men would ultimately decide whether or not women would vote Wells urged White's branch not to unite with either political party, even after the People's and Liberal parties had disbanded toform the national Democratic and Republican parties.^"^ Marriage to one political party had denied women the right to vote in the past, and the Mormon women did not intend to cause the same divisions a second time Political affiliation is never mentioned in the Beaver minutes or the Farmington minutes.

Despite certain similarities, many notable distinctions existed between the two organizations. The topics discussed in the meetings and the ardor for the movement varied a great deal in Farmington and Beaver. Farmington women were quick to participate and to fulfill their responsibilities in the association. Beaver women placed less emphasis on the importance of their association This conclusion is suggested by the minutes ofthemeetings in both towns. Forinstance, in Beaver in the May 16, 1892, meeting, hymnbooks were discussed as well as the purchase of a book for the executive board. One woman who had been assigned a part on the program was not present, and another was not prepared Thewomen heard alecutre on the free coinage of silver, sang a song, listened fo a reading, and then adjourned. On July 18, 1892, therewasno program, and thewomenjust had ashort discussion.Agaiin on September 18,1892, therewasno organized program The president of the association "thought we [the Beaver members] ought to take an

^Vells to White

interest in our meetings and try and get others to attend." The nadir of theBeaverWSAcameonJanuary 16,1894,when thesecretary recorded the following:

Programme next in order. Musick Instrumental by W.G. Bickley. Civil Government Class omitted, PresL Farnsworth not prepared SongbyMrs Fernley,"The Pardon cometoo late" next Readingfrom Womans Suffrage History by Louissajones ladynot present Speech byW.G Bickley The Gentlemen, not being prepared with alecture, he read aselection from W. Tribune [sic].

Atthenextmeeting, onMarch 16,thewomen established aten-cent fine for members who did not fulfill their parts on the program. The only appropriate way to escape the fme was the excuse of illness.

These problems indicate that some of the participants may not have been suffrage enthusiasts. Indeed, an analysis of the duties performed verifies this obseravation. Louissajones, S. C. Maeser, and M. E. Murdock appear to have done most of the work to support the activities of the Beaver association. These women served on more committees, wrote more articles, and participated in more association programs than any ofthe other women.^^Somewomen may have used the WSA as a type of social organization and an excuse to meet with otherwomen Mary Fernley, an editor for the Banner, worried that some women did not care about the political consequences, only the social benefits of the association . She wrote, "In fact, it has been stated that oneofourownmemberswhen asked whatwastheobject ofour meeting together, answered that shedid not know, that sheattended because she liked the meetings, and enjoyed the society of the members."^^

The members of the WSA in Farmington, however, were very active in most of their meetings Rarely did a person not fulfill her responsibility on the scheduled program Only once was the program deemed a total failure because the week had been unusually busy.^^ These women usually met twice a month, rather than once a month as the Beaver women did. The minutes reveal many interesting discussions on avariety oftopics and many women whowere dedicated to the cause of woman suffrage.

On May 8, 1893, the Farmington women heard lectures on the queen of Italy and the U.S. Constitution and then debated the question of what constituted ajust war. OnJune 14 they heard Lucy A. Clark's

^^Beaver Minutes, pp 1-2S passim.

^^Equal Rights Banner, Mary Fernley, ed., August 16, 1894, p. 18.

*'Farmington Minutes, June I, 1892, p 12

description of the World's Fair. Later, onJune 26, a lecturer addressed the silver question. In August the life ofa Scottish countess was recited, and a report on the Woman Suffrage Festival in Salt Lake was given. Soon after, themembers began tostudy prominent women oftheBible, such as Sarah, Hagar, Qiaeen Esther, Abigaijl, Judith, and others. The Farmington association was very well orgaiiized and appears to have enjoyed a great deal of support from a number of its members

One of the characteristics shared by both Farmington and Beaver was the type of women involved in the movement Both Woman Suffrage Associations appear to haveconsisted ofaselect segment of the population. Generally thewomen who participated were members ofa political and religiouselitewhowereinvolved inmany other groups and causes in addition towoman suffrage. The private motivations of most ofthesewomen areunclear. Somemayhaveparticipated tofurther their husbands' or their own social interests. Others surely must have been dedicated to achieving the right to vote for all women in the territory. Despite their motivations, thewomen involved formed asmall network connected by family, social, and religious ties An examination of the Beaver CityWSAroll for 1892 shows that thewomen and men involved in this association were very influential in their community.

W G Bickleywasaveryactivemember ofthe Beaver branch of the suffrage movement, even servingas chaplain for atime.^^ His wifeJane was also a member Professor Bickley taught music at the local school and waswell known throughout Beaver Cityfor being an accomplished musician. He led the acclaimed Beaver City Choir that toured southern Utah. Because of its fme reputation, the choir was invited tojoin in the service dedicating the St George Temple and performed a song composed by Bickley for the occasion. Jane Bickley was the first Relief Society president in the East Ward.^^

William and Matilda Fotheringham were another husband and wife team of suffragists. William was voted an honorary member of the Beaver CountyWSA.'^^Hewaselected ascounty clerkand served in that position from 1866 to 1884. Hewas alsoknown inthereligious circlesof the town since he had served as bishop in Beaver in 1877.*^

^'*Beaver Minutes, June 16, 1892, p. 2.

^^Aird G. Merkley, ed.. Monuments to Courage: A History ofBeaver {Beaver, Uc: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1948), pp. 136, 116.

^"Beaver Minutes, May 16, 1894, p 15

*'Susan Easton Black, ed. Membership ofthe Churchofjesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints: 1830-1848, 50 vols. (Provo, Ut.: Religious Studies Center, Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1989), 16:943

Daniel andRuth W Tyler were honorary members aswell.^^ He had been president of the Switzerland mission prior to settling in Beaver His writing abilities were reputed tobeamong the best in the county He displayed his talents inabook entitled The Mormon Battalion. He also published the Beaver Chronicle, the town newspaper, during 1879.^^3

Lucinda Howd joined theTylers asan honorary member of the association. In 1890 sheserved aspresident ofthe Relief Society. Her husband, S G Howd, wasone ofthe original settlers inBeaver and was selected as the first presiding elder of the newly founded town He later served as atown councilman from 1894 to1895 Howd was succeeded by Edward Fernleywho served in the same position from 1896 to1897. His wife, Mary Fernley, was another member ofthe association.'^"^

Sarah Caroline Maeser, whose name alsoappears on the 1892 roll, wasthewifeofoneoftheprominent educators inBeaver City, Reinhard Maeser, thefirstschool principal inthetown. In addition, he, ^dongwith other important citizens, is given the credit for convincing Mormon officials to establish the Beaver StakeAcademy, which was the first such

*^Beaver Minutes, October 16, 1893, p 8

''^Merkley, Monuments to Courage, pp 116,97

"Beaver Minutes, October 16, 1893, p 8; Southern Utonian, February 27, 1890, p 10; Black, Membership of the Church, 14:166; Merkley, Monuments to Courage, p 180

Jane Bickley, left, and Ruth Tyler, right, from Monuments toCourage.

church school south of Provo."^^Their son, .Karl G. Maeser, was famous for his association with the Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University).

The WSA roll also contains J. R Murdock's name. In 1870 Murdock was reported to have a personal wealth of $15,000 In 1898 he bought part of the abandoned military post near Beaver and donated it to the LDS church for the establishment of a branch of the Brigham Young Academy at Pfovo. For this generous donation the school was named the Murdock Academy. Murdock was involved in town and county political matters aswell and held numerous offices. For example, in 1882 he served as selectman and was voted county commissioner in 1903 In 1890 hewas selected to be the president of the Beaver LDS Stake. His wife, Mary, and his daughters-in-law, Caddie and Clara, were members of the suffrage association aswell.'^^

Mary A. White was a very prominent member of the association and served as its president She was invited to give a speech to the citizens ofBeaverwhen Utah became astate in 1896. Charles D.White, her husband, wasthe second president oftheBeaver LDSStake Hewas also involved in community affairs and was a selectman in 1895-96.*^

An examination ofthe Farmington roll shows great similarities. In thistownaswellthecauseofsuffrage appears tohavebeen supported by a group of social, political, and economic elites. Nettie Abbott was the first name on therollfor the Farmington WSAin 1892. Shetaught at the local school and inAugust 1892 became president ofthe Primary in the ward Her husband, Thomas M Abbott, was reputed to have been the first to herd cattle up Ogden Canyon Brigham Young had requested Abbott to carry aletter from him toJoseph Morris during the Morrisite War."^^ Clara Leonard, also a member, was another schoolteacher

''^Merkley, Monuments to Courage, p 76

""^Black, Membership of the Church, 32:36; Merkley, Monuments to Courage, pp. 82, 177; Southern Utonian, September 9, 1890, p 4

'^^Southern Utonian, ]dSi\xaxy 17, 1896, p. 1; Merkley, Monuments to Courage, pp. 113, 17Z.

"Margaret Steed Hess, M^Fa/Twrngton, 7*^ 7-7976 (Salt Lake City, 1976), p 295; George Quincy Knowlton, A History ofFarmington, Utah, ed. Janetta K. Robinson (Farmington, Uc, 1965), p. 40.

Lucinda Morgan Howd, a Beaver County Suffragist, from Monuments to Courage

involved in the suffrage movement Leonard served as an organist and treasurer in the first LDS Primary in Farmington Mary Millard was another WSA member involved in the Primary organization. She was second counselor to Nettie Abbott and became president in 1896.'^^

The record also contains the name ofEmmeline Hess Bourne, wife of John A. Bourne who served two terms in the Farmington City Council. He later served as mayor of Farmington from 1920 to 1922, twenty-four years after Utah women received the vote.

Amasa Lyman Clark was also well known politically in the city of Farmington. He served twoyears ascounty treasurer and in 1882 began an eighteen-year career ascity treasurer. He eventually served as mayor during 1908-11 and as bishop of the Farmington Ward from 1915 to 1930. Mary S. Clark, wife of Ezra Thompson Clark and mother of Amasa Lyman Clark, participated in the suffrage movement, as did her daughter Mary Elizabeth Clark. Mary S. Clark's daughter-in-law, Lucy A. Clark, wasalso prominent in the community and asuffragist Shewas the first president of the LDS Young Women's Association in Farmington, which wasorganized in 1873, and later served in the Davis Stake Primary.^^

*^Hess, My Earmington, pp 346, 295

^'^Knowlton, A History of Earmington, p 67; Black, Membership of the Church, 10:2; Hess, My Farmington, pp 291, 297

Mary Millard, left, from My Farmington, and Lucy A. Clark, right, USHS collections.

Lizzie Coombs, a president of the suffrage association, and her husband were part ofthe economic backbone ofFarmington. Together they operated the first telephone office, the first molasses mill, and the second store in Farmington.^^

One ofCoombs'sfellow members,Julia Hess, wasvery prominent in the community. Hess served with Aurelia Rogers in the Davis Stake Primary. She was the third wife to John W. Hess who was called on March 4, 1894, to be president of the Davis Stake.^^

Author Stayner was a counselor to Bishop Hess and known for raising the first sugar cane in Utah. Stayner*swife, Clara, was a member of the WSA.

The Miller family was another suffrage family. Two wives ofJacob Miller, Helen Mar Cheney and Annie Christenson Miller, were members of the Farmington WSA. Helen was first counselor to Aurelia Rogers in the Primary. Jacob Miller was superintendent of the Davis County School District and an assistant editor for th^: FarmingtonJournal.

Elizabeth Walker Coombs, businesswoman and suffragist, from My Farmingtoa

Hess, My Farmington, pp. 6, 305, 47. "ibid., pp 295, 509

He was also first counselor to Bishops Hess and Secrist^^ Although she spent most of her life inpoverty, Aurelia Rogers was one of the most beloved women in the city of Farmington and in the WSA. Thecommunity's appreciation was demonstrated when she and Eliza R- Snow received the first silk dresses manufactured in Utah. Rogers isgiven credit forfounding theMormon Primary andserved as the president of the Davis Stake Primary for seven years. She accompanied Eliza R- Snow, Emmeline B. Wells, and others to Washington, D.C., in 1895. Rogers also served for twenty-two years as secretary of Farmington's first Relief Society. In 1935 a plaque in her honor was placed in the southwest corner of the Farmington Chapel Her daughter, Leone, wasalso a WSA member.^"^

Monica Secrist, another president of the Farmington WSA branch, was the wife of Bishop Jacob Secrist He was the president of the Farmington Commercial and Mercantile Company and a director of the Davis County BanL In 1890 he was nominated for county commissioner and later ran for office in the legislature.^^

Harriet Staniforth, although not politically or religiously prominent, wasstill well known in the community. She was oneof the first

^^Ibid.,

p 75

"Hess, My Farmington, pp 6, 295, 297, 260

"ibid., p. 154.

Helen Mar Cheney Milter, left, from My Farmington, and Aurelia S. Rogers,right,from the Instructor

p 295; Jacob Miller, Journal ofJacob Miller: Pioneer, 1835-1911, ed Joseph Royal Miller and ElnaMiller(ap., 1968),

midwives in Farmington and aided in the delivery of hundreds of babies.^^

The members of the Farmington WSA and their husbands included four prominent educators, two Relief Society presidents, ten civil servants, three bishops, one stake president, one mission president, five Primary presidents or counselors, and two economic leaders Based on Farmington's 1892 roll, 56 percent of the women could be considered social, religious, economic, or political elites. In addition, sixteen of the twenty-four Beaver women on the 1894 roll could be considered prominent in their community. This is 66 percent of the women involved in the WSA in that city These women were the strength of their communities and the suffrage movement Through their social connections they wielded a great deal of influence in political and religious circles. They helped garner support for the cause of woman suffrage and convinced mamy of their political leaders, who were often their husbands or friends, to embrace the cause as well.

The associations in Beaver and Farmington had many of the same characteristics. They shared similar goals and presented their members with similar challenges as the women sought to discover what degree of political activity was acceptable. The women in both associations were forced to confront other questions that the suffrage movement presented to Mormon women The women and the associations differed according to thedegree ofinvolvement in and dedication to the suffrage movement Yet for all their similarities and differences these two 2issociationsdid their unique parts to expand awareness ofthe existence and importance of the woman suffrage movement

As thewomen sought to extend support for woman suffrage, those suffragists who truly took hold of the cause experienced a transformation in themselves. Their political awareness increased. They became curious and informed themselves about the development of woman suffrage outside Utah. They avidlyawaited news concerning the progress of the suffrage movement in Wyoming, Colorado, and else-

'Ibid., pp 9,17

Harriet Standiforthfrom My Farmingtoa

where. They read the Woman's Exponent and the Woman's Tribune, newspapers that provided coverage of the activities of suffragists everywhere.

The women also learned about great women, both in current events and biblical times. With this knowledge theywereable to develop female role models who were socially, politically, and religiously active. The women adso used the movement as an opportunity to prepare themselves for the time when they would be allowed to vote. They accomplished this through lectures on civil government and current topics, such as the silver and tariff controversies

In addition, the suffrage movement improved the national reputation of Mormon women, which had been severely damaged by the practice of polygamy. Through work in the suffrage movement women discovered common bonds of sisterhood between themselves and women throughout thenation and theworld. Thewomen in Beaver and Farmington supported this common cause of women's rights. For example, when the women of Farmington donated an apron and bonnet to the Woman's Bazaar held in Florida, the Farmington members received a warm thank you from their fellow suffragists.^^ Mormon women and the suffrage organizations in the territory were, at times, even held up as examples to other women in the United States. George Catt, a national suffragist leader, complimented the work of Utah women saying, "Utah was twelve times as organized as Massachusetts, fourteen times aswell as Iowa, and nineteen times aswell as New York."^^ This statement must have provided a feeling of accomplishment for many suffragists whatever their personal motivations for joining the movement were

The Beaver and Farmington women involved in the grassroots support of woman suffrage helped Utah women to receive the right to vote. The movement also helped the women themselves. Those involved in the movement faced questions about themselves and how they were to enter a new sphere of politics while badancing traditional roles Although both the Beaver and Fairmington WSA groups appear havegone out ofexistence after theadoption ofwoman suffrage in Utah, the associations had helped women to become more politically aware and better prepared to take on a portion of the new mantle of political participation.

^^Farmington Minutes, October 14, 1894, p. 36.

^'*" How Women's Suffrage Won," Woman's Exponent, January 31, 1896, p 9

A Feminist among the Mormons: Charlotte Ives Cobb Godbe Kirby

BY BEVERLY BEETON

charlotte Ktrby. USHS Collections.

A Feminist among the Mormons23

CJHARLOTTE IVES COBB GODBE KIRBY, WHO HELD THAT the question of one's sex did not prevent the full amdfree expression ofintelligence, was a feminist of the nineteenth century.^A woman who fought for the rights of allwomen, Charlotte urged women to stand by each other and work unitedly for thewhole ofwomanhood This message of union she delivered to a suffrage meeting at Boston's Fremont Temple and to a congregation of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mormon Tabernacle in Logan, Utah Charlotte was a feminist, a suffragist, a plural wife, a Mormon.

She was one of the first in Utah Territory to speak in favor of the enfranchisement ofwomen; as early as 1869 she was arguing for equal political rights for women While forcefully articulating the case for women's rights, Charlotte remained a member of the Mormon church. As the letters^ addressed to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wilford Woodruff, demonstrate, her religion was important to her.

Both her piety and her close attachment to her mother caused Charlotte to remain close to the church. Her mother, Augusta Adams Cobb Young, was Mormon leader Brigham Young's fifth wife. In the 1840s Augusta, a member of the prominent Adams family, had fled Boston to become one of Young's wives At that time she abandoned her husband and five of their children, taking with her six-year-old Charlotte and an infant who later died. Charlotte was raised as one of Young's daughters and lived for atime in Brigham Young's Lion House with his polygamous wives and their children.

In April 1869 Charlotte was married and according to Mormon practice "sealed for time and all eternity" to William S. Godbe. She was one of Godbe's four wives. This marriage, which Charlotte later

Dr Beeton is provost and vice-chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

This article is based on her book. Women Vote in the West: The Woman Suffrage Movement, 18691896, American Legal and Consdtutional History Series, ed Harold Hyman and Stuart Bruchey (New York: Garlantf Publishing, 1986) See her article "I Am an American Woman: Charlotte Ives Cobb Godbe Kirby" mjoumalofthe West, April 1988

Throughout my research on woman suffrage in the nineteenth-century American West, I kept encountering radical statements attributed to Charlotte Ives Cobb Godbe, Mrs C Godby, E.I.C.G., C.G. and Mrs Kirby Realizing there was a similarity in this rhetoric, I asked myself, "Could this be one person.^" After considerable piecing together of citations found in local and national archives, I documented that it was one person—Charlotte Ives Cobb Godbe Kirby

These three letters, located in the Wilford Woodruff Papers, LDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake City, are published by permission of the LDS Church Historical Department The author is indebted to Hampton Godbe of Salt Lake City for his notes on the Godbe family historywhich verified archival findings.

described as her "painful domestic experience in polygamy," ended in divorce ten years later after several years of separation Though she did not leave the church when Godbe was excommunicated, shortly after their marriage, Charlotte was never listed by the Mormons as one of their women promoting woman suffrage or protesting antipolygamy legislation even though she did both. The Mormons' refussd to accept her as one of their own may have been as much a result of her involvement in spiritualism as the fact that she was married to Godbe

In 1884, a few years after her divorce from Godbe, Charlotte married awealthy non-Mormon mine owner bythename ofjohn Kirby whowas twentyyearsyounger than shewas. Livingthe remainder of her life in Salt Lake City, until her death in 1908, Charlotte continued her campaign for women's rights, especially woman suffrage. She made speeches, wrote letters to editors, and lobbied politicians on the local and national scene to unite women and gain support for women's political rights.

Charlottewas activelyworking for womam suffrage in Utcdiand on the national scene in 1870 when women in Utah Territory were first granted the right tovoteasaresult oflegislation passed bythe territorial legislature, in 1887 when the United States Congress in an effort to eliminate polygamiy took the vote from women in Utah, and in 1896 when Utah joined the Union with a constitution that once again enfranchised women In 1889, at a time when Utah women were trying to regain theright tovote, Charlotte sought to haveher leadership in the movement recognized by Utah women and LDS church officials. Over the years she had vied for the leadership role on suffrage issues with Emmeline B. Wells, and in 1889 she thought she was a better leader because she was not a polygamous wife as Wells was. The following letters are Charlotte's own account of her suffrage work from 1869 to 1889.

Salt Lake City Feb 5/89

Pres.[Wilford] Woodruff,

I hope you will pardon me, for troubling you with a matter that may be of no interest to you Since it isa matter of history &of importance to me, &I do not know, whom to communicate with unless it be the President of the Church, in which I was reared, & of which I am still a member

A number of years ago as long as when Capt[ain] Hooper^was our Delegate to Congress, I being East at the time, took an active interest in Woman's Suffrage, &

^Wilham Henry Hooper, a Mormon, was the delegate to Congress from Utah Territory, 18591861, then again from 1865 to 1873 A successful merchant and banker, he served the Mormon community in various polidcal offices Prior to his election as the Utah delegate Hooper was the

A Feminist among the Mormons25

th'ro[ugh] a personal influence used among my relatives & friends in Washington, New York, & Boston, also letters I wrote to leading papers, & words I spoke at conventions ofW.[Oman] S.[uffrage] Meetings, Sissistedindirectly perhaps in helpingthe bill to pass which gave to thewomen of Utah the right to Vote. Capt[ain] Hooper wrote to me a note, while sitting in the Gallery of the House, (he^ being on the floor) "Persevere in the spirit you now are & you will not only bless yourself—but the Community among whom you were reared." I persevered &: became a member of the W.[oman] S.[uffrage] A.[ssociation] The bill passed which made me a literal representative of the question that my sister women in the U.[nited] S.[tates] were only theorizing about, hence Iat once assumed a prominence among them, was elected at the next convention to speak before the House Committee on this subject, &claim for all women the right I have had bestowed upon me (Some years later when it was known here). Postmaster General Howe^ & his good wife were my friends, he was chairman of the Committee on Territories. / know my words to him influenced him favorably in his decision on Utah affairs, at this time.

I spoke at a W.[oman] S.[uffrage] Convention in Boston, before thousands of people in Fremont Temple. The evening being given to Wendall Phillips,^ & Mary A. Livermore,^ they insisted that I take half an hour, &speak of Suffrage for all women, I told them Iwould speak twenty minutes for W.[oman] S.[uffrage] ifthey would let me speak ten minutes for the pure & noble women I knew in Utah, they consented, &I never spoke better in my life, for both causes,—

The Boston papers next morning said, in criticism "The Mormon women are fortunate in having so brave a champion as Mrs Charlotte Ives Godbe and they would dowell to send her tothe coming Congress for Women asaDelegate." Thiswas read in

secretary of Utah Territory and later served in the territorial senate Hooper, a supporter of woman suffrage, spokeinfavorof enfranchising the women in Utah in 1869 when Congress was considering the proposal sponsored by Indiana Republican Congressman George Washington Julian Hooper had urged Brigham Young to have the territorial legislature pass a bill enfranchising the women of Utah "to convince the country how utterly without foundation the popular assertions were concerning the women of the Territory." Later, Hooper, working through his colleagues in Washington, D.C., was instrumental in persuading the non-Mormon acdnggovernor, S A Mann, to sign the enfranchising bill See Deseret News, February 14, 1873; "William H Hooper, the Utah Delegate and Female Advocate," PhrenologicalJournal (November 1870): 330-31; James L Harrison, Biographical Directory ofAmerican Congress, 1 774-1949 (Washington: Government Prinung Office, 1950), p 1328

^Timothy Otis Howe served as postmaster general in President Chester A Authur's cabinet from 1881 until his death in 1883 In the two prior decades Howe had served as a Republican senator from Wisconsin; itwas in this capacity that he chaired the Senate Committee on Territories Harrison, Biographical Directory, p. 1338.

^The reformer Wendall Phillips was a friend and supporter of woman suffrage

""At the 1869 organizing meeting of the Atnerican Woman Suffrage Association, Mary A Livermore was elected vice president of the new group, and before long shewas invited to be editor of the organization's Boston-based weekly newspaper, the Woman's Journal. In addition to woman suffrage, Livermore was a supporter of temperance and a devotee of spiritualism. When Charlotte visited Boston in the early 1870s she stayed at Mary Livermore's home where the two women undoubtedly indulged in late-hour discussions on their mutual interests of woman suffrage, temperance, and spiritualism Many years later Charlotte would acknowledge that Livermore had first interested her in temperance

During the final three decades of the nineteenth century, tall, matronly, auburn-haired Livermore was one of the most popular speakers on the Redpath lecture circuit, delivering over 150 lectures annually. In the spring of 1889, when Livermore planned to visit Salt Lake City on a lecture tour, she contacted Charlotte Kirby to arrange a hall and prepare the publicity Charlotte wrote numerous articles for the local newspapers on the upcoming visit of the "Qiteen of the Lecture Bureau." EdwardT James andJanet WilsonJames, Notable Americn Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, Mass.: Belnap, 1971), 2:411-13; Salt Lake City newspaper ardcles spring of 1889; and Kirby to Wilford Woodruff, March 10, 1889, Woodruff Papers

Utah by a little woman Ed.[itor] of a little paper^ pub.[lished] in Salt Lake City, she immediately took her pen in hand to show why I was not eligible to such an office, & cruelty gave to the world thro'[ugh] the same paper—that had kindly criticized me,— my painful domestic experience in polygamy, adding that Iwasnot now an advocate for this principle of the church, hence could not be a representative for the women here. This did much tiarm to the course I was advocating. Woman Suffrage in Utah, & Mrs Livermore said to me "is thisone ofyourgran<iwomen, you spoke so eloquently of at the meeting in Fremont Temple.^" The motive for this I saw a year after when she E.[mmehne] B.[lanche] W.[ells] tried to be—what I was—a representative woman in political circles, it was not, that Iwasnot doingagood work in this way for Utah Prejudice melted before me, & I made many influential friends beat down the b[arr]riers &made it possible for thosewomen who followed me, to speak at these conventions. For ten years she has systematically mwrepresented me, & never has my name appeared in her little paper with credit. Altho[ugh] she would Eulogize, the women I had made friends to Utah's question

1898 in USHS collections.

'The ''little" woman referred to was Emmeline Blanche Woodward Wells, who edited the Woman's Exponent. Anative ofWorcester County, Massachusetts, Emmeline Wells and her family were early converts to the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Emmeline moved to Nauvoo and later to Utah In 1852, after uvo marriages, one of which ended with her being deserted by her husband, the other with the death of her husband, Emmeline became the seventh wife of Daniel Hanmer Wells, a leading official of the church and general of its military arm, the Nauvoo Legion Educated asa teacher, Emmeline was an effective administrator and writer For over forty years she edited the Woman's Exponent, a newspaper initiated to report the works of the Women's Relief Society, the ladies auxiliary ofthe LDS church Emmeline, also a devoted worker for woman suffrage, did not hesitate to use the Relief Society organization or its journal to promote the suffrage cause.

The difference between Charlotte and Emmeline was that Charlotte advocated woman suffrage from an ideological, feminist base; while Emmeline employed woman suffrage asa means to improve the image of Mormon women and promote the goals of the church, such as statehood From Emmeline's point of view, she was first a polygamous wife and mother, then an advocate of woman suffrage

In 1897 when Emmeline and Zina Williams, daughter of Zina D H Young and Brigham Young, left Salt Lake City by train to go to the national capital to attend the Nationad Woman Suffrage Association convention and present a petition to Mrs Rutherford B Hayes asking that the antipolygamy law of 1862 not be enforced, the Deseret News accl£umed the two Mormon women "as representatives of plural marriage as well as other woman's rights." Deseret News, January 11, 1879; James and James, Notable American Women, 3:561-63; Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols (Salt Lake City, 1901), 1:731-34, 4:199-200

Emmeline B. Wells, editor and suffrage leader in Utah Photograph dated

A Feminist among the Mormons27

Belva Lockwood^ was very much prejudiced, when I first met her, gradually this worked away, & the next year after my return to Utah, shewrote me a letter saying"Get a petition signed by some of your most influential women protesting against the Suffrage beingtaken from you, &: Iwill seethat itis not thrown underthe table.''' Itook ittoa meetinginthe 15th Ward, & asked the privilege ofreading it Sister[Isabella M.] Home &: a few ofthe sisters presiding looked at it, & then invited Zina Young, Aunt Zina's

"Finding herself ayoung widow with a child to support, Belva McNall left her upstate New York home and moved to Washington, D.C., on the eve oftne Civil War, where she opened one ofthe earliest private coeducational schools in the city In 1868 she married a former Baptist minister and dentist, Ezekiel Lockwood, who took over the daily management ofthe school, thus freeing Belva to study law at the National University Law School Though she completed her law courses, she found it necessary to write to President Ulysses S Grant, who served as the school's ex-officio president, demanding her diploma before she could receive her law degree She was admitted to the bar ofthe District of Columbia, the rule prohibiting women to pracdce law in the district having been changed two years earlier; however, it took a special act of Congress, promoted by two prosuffrage senators, Aaron A Sargent of California and George F Hoar of Massachusetts, for her to be permitted to argue cases before the Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Claims The bulk other work as an attorney consisted of pension claims against the government; later in her career, at the age of seventy-five, she argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Eastern Cherokee Indians which resulted in the award of five million dollars to the Indians for purchase of land taken at the time of their 1835 removal

From her early days inWashington, D.C., Belvawasan advocate ofwomen's rights; shewasone ofthe founders of that city's Universal Franchise Association In addition to lobbying for woman suffrage, she campaigned for Victoria WoodhuU in 1872 in her unsuccessful candidacy for the presidency ofthe United States Belva believed in an independent woman's political party In 1884 she herself was nominated by the Equal Rights party as its candidate for the presidency She ran on a platform that promised equality and justice regardless of color, sex, or nationality; voting and property rights for women; uniform marriage and divorce laws; prohibition of the liquor trade; citizenship for Indians; pensions for soldiers; and universal peace In spite of Lockwood's strong feminist platform, woman suffragists such as Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton supported the candidacy of the Republican James G Blaine When the votes were counted, Lockwood came in a slow fifth in the rcice; yet she vowed she would campaign again in 1888

As the Salt Lake Daily Herald o{]uly 5, 1885, phrased it, Belva Lockwood had "ever been a warm and consistent friend of the people of Utah." The summer after her unsuccessful bid for the presidency, Lockwood was in Sail Lake City for a week at the request of Emily S and Franklin S Richards delivering lectures on women and politics

Shortly after her stay in Utah, Lockwood wrote a long letter to President Grover Cleveland defending the Mormons and advising him that there was no need to send troops to Utah to put down a conflict between the Mormons and non-Mormons for no such outbreak was imminent

The following year she would again write to the Utah delegate to Congress, John T Caine, advising him to make a determined move to have Utah admitted asa state. Shewarned," Evidently the polygamy part must be relinquished, and it is better that, that portion should be conceded, before your people, men and women, are disfranchised, and the Church dispoiled."

She also worked closely with Brigham Young's son, John W Young, in an effort to find examples of prominent men in Washington, D C., who had more than one wife so that the EdmundsTucker Act could be enforced in the nation's capital The goal was to create a reaction against the law, but Lockwood was not able to bring charges against prominent men, only "common bigamists and adulterers."

Nonetheless, she continued her lecture campaign in support ofthe Mormons One other bestknown speeches was "The Mormon Question: The Other Side," in which she assured audiences that she did not advocate polygamy and was not herself a Mormon emd then attempted to persuade them that Mormons were sincere in submitting a constitution for admission as a state which forbade polygamy She did criticize the Mormons for failing to include women in the electorate ofthe propsed state oy saying,"ifthere isany substantial reason why the Fiftieth Congress should not admit Utah as a state, it is the fact that they tamely submitted to the disfranchisement of their women, and have entirely left them out of their new State Constitution." Lockwood to Caine, February 14, 1886; broadside in LDS Church Library-Archives; James and James, Notable American Women, 2: 413-16

Zina Diantha Huntington Young, one ofJoseph Smith's wives, married Brigham Young in 1846 after Smith's death. ByYoung she had a child named Zina This daughter, ZinaD. H. Young, was a leader in the Women's Relief Society, and in 1878 she presented a major address before the mass meeting ofwomen assembled to protest pending legislation in the United States Congress designed to eliminate polygamy Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, 1: 697-99

daughter to read it itwas diLawyefs penmanship, & with great difficulty she made out to get at the point ofthe letter; itwas then handed back to me, no comments But there was one who saw the points, she, E[m]meline Wells, immediately set about raising money to buy my friend; & our poor sisterswere czdled upon to donate to this fund five hundred dollars, to pay Belva, for doing that which she had offered me to do for nothing.

It isjust such things asthese that has made me more confident in the decemment of many Mormon women, Ialways seem to know by instinct, whom itwitldo to trust,& people who are true to themselves, will usually be true to everybody else Iwish women could loose themselves, for atime ingreat questions, asmen do,& work for the question at issue, &not all want to be Generals! But up hold the hands of any woman who is doing good work for their side Ihavebeen reading oflatewith interest, The leaves from your Journail, published & the unity that existed between the founders of this Faith, must have been one cause of its establishment then

A movement is now made for a W.[oman] S.[uffrage] A.[ssociation] of Utah,^^ I havebeen invited tojoin, & -whileIda not wish to beaGeneral, Iwould likesome respect shown me, as the first woman, who spoke for W.[oman] S.[uffrage] for Utah, and as an earnest worker in the cause for several years, & the disabihty—Mrs E.[mmeline] B.[lanche] W.[ells] tried to show ten years ago, now forms my ability in working for this cause Had I have been permitted to go on in my good work—it seems to me as if W.[oman] S.[uffrage] in Utah would have been ten years zdiead. "Mais But L'homme Ropose [sic] et Dieu Dispose."

President Woodruff, if I know my own heart, I must be true, to myself & to my fellows, Icome of that stock After my painful experience in plural marriage, it would be strange if I could feet other than I do But upon this subject, I have never had anything to ssy publicly 8c neverwish too[iic]have. Politics& religion won't mix.—& weare now trying, to form a political association for women entirely free from religious ties, intowhich the Methodist &Catholicwoman can come& work, while holding her own consciencious [sic] views.Thewomen ofother religionsarenotwillingtoadmit or work with women as officers who cirein any way connected with polygamy. Hence some of the best workers will have to be left out publicly, but if they will uphold the hands of thosewho can work ^^ Oneyear, willshow God's providence inthis, asinallHisWorks With kind wishes, I am youfs truly

Charlotte Ives Cobb Kirby

Emily S Richards, wife of the Mormon church lawyer, Franklin S Richards, obtained special permission to organize awoman suffrage association for Utah Territory asan auxiliary ofthe National Woman Suffrage Association Special permission was necessary becauseJennie Froiseth, a principal leader ofthe antipolygamy league, was against allowing women in Utah to vote OnJanuary2, 1889, the apostles of the church met with representatives ofthe Relief Society at the church historian's office to lay out a plan for the creation of a territorial woman suffrage association. In attendance at the meeting were Wilford Woodruff, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young,Jr.,John Henry Smith, BathshebaW Smith, Sarah M Kimball, Emmeline B Wells, and Emily S Richards Once the gathering decided that the women should proceed to organize a territorial suffrage association and possibly send one or more delegates to the annual National Woman Suffrage Association conference. President Woodruff suggested that Emily S. Richards be the delegate, if anyone went She was the best choice, he said, because she was "posted in these matters and had previously reported the Labors ofthe Ladies of this Territory at Washington." L John Nuttall Draft Journal and Journal, January 2, 1889; also November 14 and December 31, 1888; Franklin D Richardsjournal, January 2, 10, 14, 1889; and Woodruff to "Jason Mack" [Joseph Fielding Smith], Januarys, 1889, Wilford Woodruff Letterbooks, LDS Church Library-Archives

Polygamous wives were conspicuously absent from the roster of the officers of the new suffrage association One week after tne meeting of church officials, a gathering of predominately Mormon women at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City formed the Woman Suffrage Association for Utah Territory and unanimously elected as their president Margaret T Caine, wife of Utah's delegate to Congress, John T Caine Charlotte Kirby was elected corresponding secretary

February 11, 1889

Mrs Charlotte I C Kirby,

Your favor of Feb 5th, relating to your labors in the cause of Woman's Suffrage for many years past, has been received and perused with much interest

It would seem, from your statement of labors performed, that they should have been appreciated by the ladies of this Territory, and no doubt they were by a great many, but ofwhom we do not hear from. I have not been personally conversant with thesematters inthepast, soIam not ableto saymuch upon that subject Ihave noticed the recent organization ofthe Woman's Suffrage Association in the territory that you have been selected asCorresponding Secretary,'^ inwhich position Itrust you will be able to find scope for your talents, not only in writing, but in speaking upon a subject which has been sofamiliar toyou, and thus be able to assist in bringing thewomen of this fair Territory to that place they should occupy, and be acknowledged by the women of our great nation as worthy of their association and support Itrust that amicable and friendly feelings may becultivated, sothat a harmonious working together may be had and the best of feeling engendered.

Wilford Woodruff

Salt Lake City Feb 16th/89

Pres.[Wilford] Woodruff,

Your kind answer to my personal recital, is rec—[eive]d, thanks. I have always found that "Man's extremity was God's opportunity," & in all my trials of that

'^On March 13, 1889, the Salt Lake Herald published a letter to the editor from "a friend," announcing that with Charlotte I Kirby as the corresponding secretary ofthe Utah Territorial Woman Suffrage Associadon "the subject is not likely to go to sleep." Charlotte probably wrote this letter of self-praise, because itrecited the same version ofthe story of her earlier lecture in Boston that she had written to Wilford Woodruff In this public letter, however, she did not attack Emmeline B Wells

Wilford Woodruff USHS Collections.

character, Ihave been driven more closely to theArm ofGod, & havesolearned to lean upon Him, that itwould seem to me almost sacrilege to now lean on man or look to him for guidance[.] Christ says "give me thine heart"—I feel in my inmost soul that my heart isgiven to Christ; &to the furtherance of His great work upon this Planet, which dawns upon me more fully daybyday Ibelieve thatyou willbeabletounderstand me!

I see thro'[ugh] all your writings an implicit reliance on faith on God, & love for the beautiful in literature& art, &the strong evidencesyou havehad ofGod'sgoodness are only confermations [sic] to me, that^'ow are the right man in the right place. Ifwe could only always know this,& when aman orwoman comes tothefront, theveryfact of their having the courage of conviction, shows that they are called of God.

I know that the present work now opening before me ismywork, my lifeworks [;] fiveyears ago I said to Aunt Zina.—(in answer to her wish that I would work with the women, & throw a useful life in with their's."[).J

"Aunt Zina—when you are at the head of the women here I shall feel very differently, & when thewomen ofUtah touch Suffrage, Ishall come to thefront for that is my worL" This must have been prophetic, for both conditions are now here. Altho'[ugh] Aunt Zina said, at this time, she did not believe shewould take that place. I want the confidence of my sisters &in time shall win it. My heart &interest are both in this cause & I know how to further the worL I wrote an open letter to the women of America as a greeting, on the formation, of our New Society, it was read at our last meeting, & the vote carried that it should be published in Eastern papers.—After the meeting Dr R.[omania B.] Pratt'^ came up to the stand, & said she thought it presumptions [sic] in us to send such a letter, & she would not like to have our organization appear ridiculous I said you should have voted acontrary mind, then.—it is too late now

This litde circumstance was of great value to me—& showed mea.wisdom, in my being placed where Iwas, 1 could write such a letter, &have itwarmly rec—[eive]d by the women towhom itwas addressed for my personal acquaintance with them, made it possible, &a social standing I held in Washington, made Belva Lockwood say, "The lady from Utah has a strong friend at Court in her brother-in[-]law, John W Candler."'^ Mr Candler was a personal friend of Gen Garfield went into office with him,—he is a warm friend of Woman Suffrage, & told me if I needed a friend to call upon him

Lucy Stone,'^ the leader ofthe movement in Mass.[achusetts] knew my blessed mother I havejust written her a longpersonat letter in which I gave her an account of dear mother's last hours, sofull of heavenly beauty & sweet peace I told her how I asked dear mother, if in these long years of privation & suffering, she had never regretted the step she took in leaving a home of luxury &a lovely family. &her reply, ''Never, my Redeemer called & I obeyed, & I know where I am going."

Romania B Pratt was a physician in Salt Lake City specializing in obstetrics Like a number of other Mormon "lady doctors," she was a strong advocate of woman suffrage.

Congressman John Wilson Candler, a Repubhcan from Massachusetts in the Forty-seventh and the Fifty-first Congresses, was defeated in his reelection bid in 1890 Candler was first elected to Congress in the 1880 election whenjames A Garfield was elected president In 1881 the president of the LDS church, John Taylor, commissioned Charlotte to go to Washington, D.C., to present a woman suffrage petition and speech to Congress Harrison, Biographical Directory, p 944

^Educated at Oberlin College, Lucy Stone was an early advocate and speaker for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights After Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony had formed theNationaJ Woman Suffrage Association in 1869, Lucy Stone and her husband, Henry B Blackwell, along with others, such asJulia Ward Howe, formed the American Woman Suffrage Association and

A Feminist among the Mormons31

Lucy Stone asked me the last time I visited Boston if mother was still a firm adherant to the Mormon faith Said she attended that first Mormon meeting in Marlboro Chapel Boston & saw mother there

Itwasdearmother('s] lastwish that Icontinuethework shehad commenced This isnow my own desire & while Imay not alwayspersue [sic] the Modus Opperandi [sic] that another woman differendy consututed may, still, the result may show a fon^ sight on my part, & sothatmy heart iscommitted tothisworkofWoman Suffrage. Imay err injudgement some times, but my zeal will pardon that when the object for which we work is attainedl Ihad alongtalkwith br.[other] Angus Can[n]on Asatisfactory one to me.—& I believe I shall be able to satisfy the brethren, as to my public work past,& present, & my sisters much try to trust me, until they can understand the whys, & wherefores Ihonor& admireabeautiful religiouslife, likemyMother's, Iam myself a prayful woman. Yetunlike my Mother, Ienjoy, a fine spirited argument, the life of a political campaign, the trushing up of old ideas, the introduction of new ones.—

With kindest feelings.—

Yours truly

C.I Kirby

launched the Woman's Journal This Boston-based faction ofthe woman's movement was more conservative than the Stanton-Anthony group For example, Lucy Stone and her lollowers held a states' rights view on the subject ofwoman suffrage, preferring to petition state legislators rather than lobby Congress, as Stanton and Anthony did, for an amendment to the federal Constitution to prohibit denying access to the ballot on the basis oi sex

This schism within the woman's movement persisted until 1890 when the two groups merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association which came to be dominated by the methods and philosophy of Lucy Stone and to be led by a new generadon of suffragists such as Carrie Chapman Catt who, in keeping with the Progressive Era philosophy, stressed what women would do with the vote to improve the world rather than the liberal tradidon arguments ofwomen's inherent natural right to the bidlot James and James, Notable American Women, 3:387-90

Lucy Stone, NA WSA photographfrom Victory: How Women Won It

Woman Suffrage, Popular Art, and Utah

BY GARY L BUNKER and CAROL B BUNKER

Illustration I. Courtesy Library of Congress.

FRO M THE EARLIEST STIRRINGS OF THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE movement in Utah, popular artists represented or misrepresented the partisans of women's rightsup totheadoption ofthe Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution ^ Neither Utah norwoman suffrage wasastranger to social caricature, sinceartists had long feasted ata banquet ofcontroversy that both Mormonism and suffrage advocates served.^ But the half-century tie between Utah and woman suffrage gave illustrators the luxury of maligning or praising Utahns and the proponents of suffrage with strokes from the same brush in a single, usually humorous, print

The illustrations were unevenly distributed over a fifty-year span, which may be subdivided into four logical stages: (1) enfranchisement, (2) disfranchisement, (3) statehood and reenfranchisement, and (4) the quest for nationad suffrage. Although cartoonists depicted adl four phases, most illustrations emerged during the 1880s (stage two) aind from 1911 to 1919 (stage four). The scorn and censure that characterized the popular art ofthe first two stages differed dramatically from the esteem and commendation that typified the final phases.

ENFRANCHISEMENT

Asearlyas 1856WiUiam Hay sawthewomen's rights movement as an antidote to polygamy.^ By 1869 linking woman suffrage and Mormonism asnatural adversaries had become poUticalreality because Rep. George W.Julian had proposed a bill"to discourage polygamy in Utah by granting the right of suffrage to the women of that territory.'"^ But Julian, like many others, had underestimated the religious convictions of Mormon women

To Julian's surprise—perhaps even chagrin—political prognostication had missed the mark By 1870 the women of Utah were voting by mandate of their own territorial legislature Furthermore, Mormon

'This is part of a larger project on "The Popular Print and Woman Suffrage." The research is funded by the Woman's Research Institute and the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University

^For the history ofcaricature and Mormonism see GaryL Bunker and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Graphic Image, 1834-1914 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983) For the beginnings of a history of caricature and women suffrage see Gary L Bunker, "Antebellum Caricature and Woman's Sphere," a paper presented to the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, Dixie College, St George, Utah, May 13, 1987

^Hay's argument follows: "Your convendon ismost opportune, for this condnent is threatened with permanent and peculiar danger, produced by the feudal condidon of women I allude to the increasing curse of Mormonism, a consequence of woman's legalized inferiority or non-endty."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, Matilda J Gage, and Ida H Harper, History of Woman Suffrage, 6 vols (Rochester, N.Y.: Chades Mann, 1881-1922), 1:656

'ibid., 2:325

women were voting contrary to Julian's expectations, namely, in support of polygamy.

Ironicsdly, that same year, politicians then drafted legislation to disfranchise the new voters. To the dismay of these disciples of disfranchisement, opposition surfaced from an unexpected source— Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Nationad Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).The NWSAwas not about to stand idly by asanywomen evenpolygamous women from Utah were threatened with losing their right to the ballot Thus these unforeseen circumstances forged the bond, tenuous at first, between Utah and the suffrage movement^

The earliest editorial cartoon (Illustration I) showing the potential association between Utah and woman suffrage appeared in an October 1869 issue oi Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.^ In the cartoon Brigham Youngleadsaformidable parade ofballot- and baby-carryingwomen to the polling booth A banner held aloft, labeled "Straight Democratic Ticket," humorously conveys the impression that the Democratic party willgain the newvotes. But the rhetorical question posed by the caption drives home the real meaning: "Wouldn't it[female suffrage] putjust a littletoo much power into the hands of Brigham Young, and his tribe.^" While the caricature may have been spawned by skepticism of Representative Julian's proposal to grant Utah women the vote, it adso exhibited the powerful and popular stereotype of Mormon women: gullible, docile, and hoodwinked disciples of their faith.^ In part, this degrading imagery accelerated the adoption ofwoman suffrage in Utah because the Mormons resolved to counter the offensive stereotype.^

Just four months later, February 1870, thehypothetical situation of woman suffrage in the territory of Utah had become polidcal fact Utah women would vote for the next seventeen years, but the reality of

For alternate explanadons ofthe adoption of woman suffrage in Utah Territory see Beverly Beeton, "Woman Suffrage in Territorial Utah," Utah Historical C^arterly 46 {197S): 100-120, or Beverly Beeton, Women in the West: The Woman Suffrage Movement, 1869-1896 (New York; Garland Publishing Co., 1986); Thomas G. Alexander, "An Experiment in Progressive Legislation: The Granting of Woman Suffrage in Utah in 1870," Utah Historical Quarterly 38 (1970): 20-30; and Alan P Grimes, The Puritan Ethic and Woman Suffrage (New York; Oxford, 1967).

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 2, 1869, p 56 Although the initials of the artist appear to be W.D., we have not been able to establish idendty Mormonism and woman suffrage themes were juxtaposed in art as early as I860 Then they were independently rendered as two unpopular groups See the Currier and Ives lithograph "The Republican Party Going to the Right House," I860, in the graphic arts collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts

For an analysis of popular stereotypes regarding Mormon women, see Bunker and Bitton, The Mormon Graphic Image, pp 123-36

On the heels of such negative publicity, the Woman's Exponent emerged (1872) in Utah to challenge the way Mormon women were depicted

suffrage stimulated the politicad thrust for disfranchisement Between 1870 and 1887 popular artwasan effective agent in the campaign to take the ballot away from Utah women

DISFRANCHISEMENT

As noted earher, the threat of disfranchisement mobilized the national women's organizations for suffrage in behalf of their Utah sisters. For example, in 1870 the NWSA remonstrated "against the proposition now pending in the Senate of the United States to disfranchise thewomen ofUtah, asamovement inaid ofpolygamy, against jusdce, and a flagrant violation of a vested right"^ The NWSA also commended the Utah and Wyoming territories as "the friends of woman suffrage." Not to be outdone, Lucy "Stone's Boston-based American Woman Suffrage Assocadon (AWSA) followed suit^^

'Stanton el al. History of Woman Suffrage, 2:780

Illustration 2. Courtesy Harvard University.

In addition, Utah women vigorously denounced the threatening legislation. An 1871 cartoon captured the spirit, though not the essence, of resistance by Mormon women (Illustration 2). Joseph Keppler, cartoonist for the German-language Puck magazine, depicted a chorus of Mormon women in bloomers militantly defending themselves.^^ At that time the bloomer was a telltale symbol ofwomen's rights advocacy usually reserved by the caricaturist for eastern suffragists Here, however, Keppler cleverly and subtly links Utah women with the suffrage cause by means ofthe bloomer.

Five years later, in 1876, the NWSA claimed that the social experiment of woman suffrage in Wyoming and Utah territories was aliveand well."We have not learned that households have been broken up or that babies have ceased to be rocked," noted a chronicler of suffrage history.^^ And the constant effort to disfranchise Utah women continued to netde the proponents ofwomen's rights. Resoludons passed in 1876 and 1879 expressed frustration over the matter "We denounce the proposition about to be again presented to Congress for the disfranchisement for the women of that territory, as an outrage on the freedom of thousands of legal voters."^^ The 1879 version took the issueone step further. After asking the Congress once again to "forbear to exercise federal power to disfranchise the women of Utah," the resolution needled the male legislators by suggesdng that thewomen of Utah "have had a morejust and Hberal spirit shown them by Mormon men than gentile women in the states have yet perceived in their rulers."^*

But the agitation for disfranchisement wasjust warming up as the 1880s emerged. No sooner had the new decade dawned than the sweeping Edmunds legislation, which banned polygamists from voting, wasenacted intolaw.J. A.Wales, artist forjudge magazine, portrayed the suffrage impHcadons of the bill: "One Wife Or No Ballot" and "No Ballot For Slaveowners" were the featured capdons.^^ True to the

For evidence of comparable support from the American Woman Suffrage Associadon (AWSA) see Woman's Exponent, December 15, 1873, p. 108, and February 15, 1874, p. 137.

Puck, 1871, No 34, p 12 The last line of the German caption was missing on our print Full caption may be translated: "Chorus ofthe Mormon Women: We defend ourselves to the last man." In contrast, an early illustrated Utah publication, KeepAPitchinin, poked fun at senators and congressmen sponsoring bills inimical to the Mormon cause See KeepAPitchinin, July 1, 1870, p 33

Stanton et al.. History of Woman Suffrage, 3:6.

"ibid., 3:5.

"Ibid., 3:128.

Judge, March 4, 1882, pp 8-9 "Disfranchise the Mormons Let no man who has more than one wife have the right of suffrage, and much will be done towards purifying the moral atmosphere of Utah." Ibid., p. 2. Technically, those women pracdcing polygamy were also disfranchised.

popular image, Walesdrew degraded and dejected women, shackled by handcuffs and encircled by the bonds of polygamy. Eastern suffragists did not object to the disfranchisement of polygaimous males, but they did continue to take exception to the constant legislative pressure to disfranchise Utah women. For example, Phoebe Cousins, amember of the NWSA, gave an impassioned argument against Sen. John T. Morgan's 1882 resolution to ban Utah women ft-om voting. She could speak about the situation in Utah from firsthand experience She had been admitted to the Utah bar in 1872, a right then denied by some states.^^ To buttress her case that "suffrage for women in Utah has accomplished great good," she drew on her one-week stay in the territory. "Outside of their religious convictions, " she remarked, "the women are emphatic in condemnation of wrong." She ascribed the banishment of "liquor saloons" and the absence of "poison tobacco smoke" to the votes of women. The litmus test of morality, however, came when she walked the streets of Salt Lake City at midnight

No bacchanalian shout rent the air, no man was seen reeling in maudlin imbecility to his home... no sound awoke the stillness but the purring of the mountain brooks which washed the streets in cleanliness and beauty What other city on this continent can present such a showing.^'^

Despite such rhetoric the disfranchisement crusade escalated

By 1884 the Edmunds-Tucker bill was gathering momentum. Yet eastern proponents of women's rights were undaunted by the opposition. Inaspeech totheannual NWSAconvention, BelvaLockwood, an inveterate defender ofthe underdog and camdidatefor thepresidency of the United States that year, severely criticized the latest effort to disfranchise Utah women.^^ Later, when Lockwood visited Salt Lake City in 1885, she was warmly welcoraed as "champion ofthe oppressed." She modestly "said she had simply done her duty in speaking in defense of the women of Utah."^^ But there were risks of guilt by association affixed to helping Mormon women In the aftermath of Lockwood's visit and in the midst of the growing controversy over polygamy, the San Francisco Wasp cartooned Belva Lockwood, Dr.

""See Woman's Exponent, October 1, 1872, p 68 The Missouri Republican went out of its way to applaud Utah's progressive stance on women when Phoebe Cousins was admitted to the Utah bar Woman's Exponent,, October 15, 1872, p 73

'^Stanton et al.. History of Woman Suffrage, 3:223-25.

'"ibid., 4:18 The NWSA convendon also passed a resolution protesdng against the suffrage portion ofthe Edmunds-Tucker bill (4:26)

^"^Woman's Exponent, ]\x\y 15, 1885, p 29

Mary Walker, and Marietta Stow (Belva Lockwood's vice-presidential running mate) in a caricature of a Mormon home (Illustration 3).^°

Walter, the creator ofthe scene, poked fun at Mormon women in "The Wives' Gallery," which consisted of sixteen portraits of uglywives. This parody ofthe Mormon family also showed over thirty children stuffed into one bed. While the major intent of sardonic caricature was to defame Mormonism, the editorial commentary simultaneously misrepresented these"philanthropic women's-rights women" aswell The editorial pictured them recommending"that the men are to be hung or imprisoned and the wives sequestered."^' Such exaggeration and distortion weresimply pairtofthe generous licenseaccorded humorous illustrated weeklies.^^

By the mid-1880s the practice of polygamy was under siege. As more and more prominent Mormon leaders were convicted and taken

^°San Francisco tVaj;/>, August 29, 1885, p 16 Neither Marietta Stow nor Dr Mary Walker had accompanied Belva Lockwood on her trip to the West, but their potential for controversy and easy recognition kept them in the public eye "ibid., p. 3.

For Belva Lockwood's views on Mormon morals Mormon women, the Edmunds bill, and Mormon children see "Belva A Lockwood and 'Mormon' Mothers," Woman's Exponent, March 1, 1886, p 150

Illustration 3. California State Public Library, Sacramento.

to prison, the women of Mormonism came to their defense ^^ Earlier, but to no avail, the leadership of Mormonism had protested, on constitutional grounds, their treatment under provisions of the Edmunds law. But the plea to the president ofthe United States and the Congress fell upon deaf ears.^"^ As incarceration and- harassment escalated. Mormon women took it upon themselves to formulate their own pedtion. An integral part ofthe women's resolutions dealt with the jeopardized franchise for women

Resolved, By the women of Utah in mass meeting assembled, that the suffrage, originally conferred upon us asapolitical privilege, has become a vested right by possession and usage for fifteen years, and that we protest against being deprived ofthat rightwithout process oflaw, and for no other reason than that we do not vote to suit our political opponents Resoved, That we emphatically deny the charge that we vote otherwise than according to our own free choice, and point to the fact that the ballot is absolutely secret in Utah asproof that we are protected in voting for whom and what we chose with perfect liberty Resolved, That asnowife ofapolygamist, legal or plural, ispennitted to vote under the laws ofthe United States, to deprive non-polygamous women of the suffrage, is high-hand oppression for which no valid excuse can be offered.^^

Other resolutions expressed appreciation for the "morad courage" of certain senators, Belva Lockwood, and the AWSA "who in the face of almost overwhelming prejudice, have defended the constituional rights of the people of Utah."^^

Not onlywasthepetition rejected, but itssourcewasquestioned by the Washington EveningStar. "It is understood that the petition was written by a well-known Mormon attorney, and is a device to gain sympathy for the'Saints.'"^^ Emmeline B. Wells shot offa protest letter to the editor of the EveningStar. "The memorial was drafted by a committee of'Mormon' women," she said, "whose signatures were attached to each . . . copy."^^

For a caricature ofJ Q Cannon and other Mormons being taken to prison see the New York Daily Graphic, February 19, 1886, front cover

A cartoon in the New York Daily Grahhic, June 16, 1885, front cover, portrayed Uncle Sam throwing a Mormon representative, bearing tne petition, out of his presence John T Caine delivered the petition to President Grover Cleveland, accompained byJohn Q Cannon and John W Taylor For the origin and gist ofthe declaration of grievances see "We Have the Right to Protest," Woman's Exponent, May 15, 1885, p 188

^ Woman's Exponent, Ma.rch 1, 1886, pp 148-49, Since the mass meetings were held on March 6, 1886, the March 1, 1886, issue was obviously published late. For other articles on the mass meetings speeches and resolutions see ibid., March 15, 1886, pp 157-60, and April 1, 1886, pp 165-67

''For an example of the AWSA's support see"The Utah Women," Woman's Exponent, February 15, 1886, p 138, which reprints an ardcle found in the Woman's Journal, January 16, 1886

27 Washington Evening Star, April 7, 1886

Woman's Exponent, April 15, 1886, p. 175.

Still, voices like Emmeline B. Wells were muted by the roar of derision. For example, Dalrymple, cartoonist for the New York Daily Graphic, embellished and perpetuated the stereotype of Mormon women as inconsequential pawns in the hands of their male leaders (Illustration 4).^^ The cartoonist depicted male church representatives, disguised in female attire, delivering the women's petition A sign next to the White House gate emphatically declares "Notice: The Mormons Must Go." And the capdon distills the cartoon message: "The Last Strategem of the Mormon Church—The 'Women of Utah' Protest Against the Laws ofthe United States." To be sure, the image of males masquerading as females was a clever artistic device and perhaps a powerful persuader of public opinion, yet no image was more repug-

*New YorV. Daily Graphic, March 9, 1886, front cover

Illustration 4, Courtesy Library of Congress.

nant to the Mormon women.^^ Nevertheless, the die was cast the political crusade to disfranchise Utah women was rolling inexorably toward victory

In 1887, when the Edmunds-Tucker Act finally passed, the NWSA expressed its disapproval "for the disfranchisement of the non-polygamous women of Utah," labeling the action "a disregard of individual rights which is dangerous to the liberties of all."^^ That neither women's rights nor Mormonism, protests and petitions notwithstanding, had the kind of credibility to wield sufficient influence to restore the ballot to Utah women was shown by a color lithograph (Illustration 5) drawn by F Victor Gillam in/zi6(g'^magazine Susan B Anthony, Belva Lockwood, and representatives of Mormonism, prohibition, communism, socialism, anarchism, and dynamitism were depicted astailors tryingto mend Uncle Sam's coat—a symbol ofthe United States Constitution.^^ The "Chorus ofTailors" queried: "Hadn'tyou better let us repair that coat^ It's too old-fashioned for these go-ahead times." To which Uncle Sam replied, "The Coat is Good Enough for Me, and Will Last at least

Another Hundred Years!"

By the end of the 1880s the legal strictures imposed by the Edmunds-Tucker Act were taking their toll. Nothing short of substantial accommodation by leaders of the Mormon church would placate a resolute Congress. Phillip Cusachs, artist for the New York Daily Graphic, expressed thegrim realityofthe situation (Illustration6).^^

^""The statement that the women of Utah—and particularly the Mormon women—are coerced, terrorized or in any manner compelled to vote contrary to their inclination or convictioti, isa gross calumny; and as awoman speaking for the women ofthe territory, we so denounce it." Woman's Exponent, ]dinua.vy ?>\, 1873, p 132

^'Stanton et al. History of Woman Suffrage, 4:122

^^Judge, Septembers, 1887, front cover One ofthe ironies ofthe illustration is that Mormon theology reveres the Constitution as a sacred document

^^New York Daily Graphic, July 8, 1887, front cover

Illustration >. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Although Uncle Sam would leave the door of statehood for Utah wide open, "Knocking for Admission" without substantial concessions from the Mormon leaders would be futile. Those concessions began with the church Manifesto that abolished polygamy in 1890 and were fully in place when statehood was sought in 1895 and bestowed in 1896.

STATEHOOD AND REENFRANCHISEMENT

Theyear 1896wasagood one forwoman suffrage. Utah and Idaho joined Wyoming and Colorado as suffi-age states, and the vote for suffrage in California, thought not victorious, was encouraging.^"^

Because of the tangible progress, members of the now consolidated Nadonal American Woman Suffrage Associadon (NAWSA) were in a festive mood at their 28th annual convendon. Ardst George Y. Coffin was commissioned tocreate the program cover(Illustration 7) which he

For background on the inclusion of woman suffrage in the Utah constitution, seeJean B white, "Woman's Place Is in the Consdtution: The Struggle for Equal Rights in Utah in 1895," Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (1974): 344-69, and Carol Cornwall Madsen, "Schism in the Sisterhood: Mormon Women and Partisan Politics, 1890-1900," In Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, New Views of Mormon History (Salt Lake City: University of • 'tah Press, 1987), pp 212-41

Illustration 6. ^ Courtesy Library of Congress.

Woman Suffrage43

entitled "The Apotheosis of Liberty."^^ Flanking George Washington were the trumpet-blowing Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wielding"The Woman's Bible."^^ On each end ofthe print the states of Wyoming and Utah proudly waved their banners of suffrage under the NAWSA convention logo.

Utah was given special honor at the NAWSA convention. Sen. and Mrs. FrankJ. Cannon and Rep. and Mrs. C. E.Allen ofUtah were seated on the platform. Both Susan B.Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw paid tribute to Utah The latter noted:

We expected it ofthe men of Utah. No man there could have stood by the side of his mother and heard her tell of all that the pioneers endured, and then have refused to grant her the same right of liberty he wanted for himself, without being unworthy of such a mother. They are the crown of our Union, those three States [Wyoming, Colorado and Utah] on the crest ofthe Rockies, above all the others In the name ofthe NAWSA we extend our welcome, our thanks, and our congratulations to Utah as one of the three so dear to the heart ofeverywoman who loves liberty in these United States ^^

Senator Cannon, the Aliens, Sarah A. Boyer, and Emily S. Richards all responded to the tributes "Our women had furnished courage., panence, and heroism to our men," observed Senator Cannon," and so we said: Utah shall take another forty-nine years of wandering in the wilderness as a Territory before coming in as a State without her women."^^

Once Utah women regained the ballot artists ceased to associate Utah with the suffrage cause untfl the final stage began. By 1911 the suffrage movement was gathering momentum for the decisive surge toward the fuH enfranchisement of women. The consdtuency for woman suffrage was growing and achieving a broader political base. New suffrage states were joining the cause each year, adding to the critical mass soessendal for areal breakthrough. Anewwoman suffrage organizadon, the Congressional Union, spurred the drive for a federal amendment And in 1915 new leadership in the NAWSA invigorated the movement In short, the dde of public opinion was beginning to turn against the andsuffrage stance Thus all these factors combined to

"Pen and ink drawing by G Y Coffin, "The Apotheosis of Liberty," 1896, Prints Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D C

^''Elizabeth Cady Stanton's edited version of the "The Woman's Bible" deleted or revised passages offensive to women's rights It was repudiated at the NAWSA convention

^'Stanton et al. History of Woman Suffrage, 4:261

^''ibid EmmelineB Wells was"heartily applauded" inabsentia, and acongratulatory telegram was sent to her

place Utah in a favored position. Now, artists began to picture Utah in the vanguard of advancing women's rights

THE QJJEST FOR NATIONAL SUFFRAGE

Between 1911 and 1913 virtually all cartoons involving Utah depicted Utah and the handful ofother suffrage states asmodels worthy ofemulation. In the Woman'sJournal atrio ofunimaginative cartoons by J. W. Beecroft exploited this idea In 1911, when Washington adopted thevoteforwomen, Beecroft sawthe suffrage crusade"Cleaning Up the West"^^ Next, he used a lopsided Uncle Sam emblem to expose the disparity between those states that granted female suffrage, now including California, and the majority that did not"^^ The final Beecroft cartoon showed some ambivalence toward women's rights. While he portrayed Uncle Sam blaming John Bull for stoking the furnace of female suffrage, healsofeatured the sixwestern suffrage statesasstarsin the national firmament"^^ In each case the people of Utah could savor their inclusion in the Beecroft cartoons since thery were now receiving ^Woman's

Illustration 7. Courtesy Library of Congress.

applause for their suffrage position. In the same vein, Ralph Silder placed Utah, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Washington in a reception line greeting suffrage aspirants Oregon, Michigan, Kansas, and Arizona(Illustration 8).'^^ Rounding out the cartoons from the Woman's Journal, Harriet Park progressively magnified a woman's image to create the impression of concrete gain from 1869 to 1912."^^ Finally,ywfi(^^magazine, an early foe of suffrage, was now unabashedly portraying the suffrage states as intrepid "Conquerors" of "Conservatism," "Prejudice," and "And-Suffrage" forces (Illustration 9)."^*

Yet not everything from the artist*s palette was complimentary to Utah's citizens. Lif^ sA. B.Walker could not resistshowing his rendition of feminism's effects in Utah."^^ He drew an indmidated Mormon male fleeing from four attacking feminists who used a rolling pin, broom, frying pan, and eggs asweapons. The caption summarized the alleged effects of extending woman's sphere: "Mormonism is on the wane in Utah." And Harriet M. Olcott {or Puck, drawing tongue-in-cheek, saw "Woman's Rights in Utah" (Illustration 10) tipping the scales of power in favor of polyandry.'^^ Such lighthearted cartoons chided both Mormonism and woman suffrage with good-natured humor

^^Ibid., November 30, 1912, front cover

*^Ibid., May 3, 1913, front cover.

**Judge, November 1, 1913, pp 12-13 Foster was the ardsc

^^Life, June 25, 1914, p 1162

*''Puck, September 2, 1916, p 14

Illustration 8. Courtesy University of Wyoming.

Another ardsdc ardfice that publicized Utah was the map of suffrage haves and have nots. In 1913, when Illinois became thefirst suffrage state east ofthe Mississippi, John T. McCutcheon, cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, acclaimed the breakthrough inthe eastern block of states byrecognizing thesolid support from the West"^^ Two years later thenoted illustrator HyMayer designed forPwd "The Awakening" (Illustradon \\)}^ Although Mayersomehow excluded lUinoisfrom the suffrage states, the moral ofthe cartoon was obvious: Women yearnfor suffrage, andit isonly amatter ofdme before the final conquest The Woman's Journal rendered a more accurate map that included Illinois. The cartoonist depicted the suffrage blossoms growing in the soil of liberty and equality, watered byjustice, pruned byeducation and truth, and sprayed bylogictoeliminatetheandsuffrage pest(Illustration12).^^^ (The andsuffrage caterpillar teeters perilously on the tip of Maine.) "Prune away prejudice," exclaims Uncle Sam, "andthese four states [Pennsylvania, NewYork, Massachusetts, and NewJerseyJ wiU blossom in November." Finally, a "Victory Map" in the 1917 Woman'sCitizen graphically shows the erosion ofantisuffrage backing.^^ Although Utah wasonlyapart ofthe whole in these images, itwas, nevertheless, lauded for itsview.

Cartoons Magazine, August 1913, p 129

^*Puck, February 20, 1915, pp 14-15

'^''Woman's Journal, May 22, 1915, front page Thename ofthe cartoonist is illegible

^^Woman's Citizen, November 24, 1917, pp 494-95

Illustration 9. Courtesy Library of Congress.

• Illustration 12. UM^SWI •*ni»«Bffiw»«««Ni*«i*»i!M«i<**Nw«!t»«r«!*^

Illustration 10. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Illustration II. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Courtesy University of Wyoming.

S ff The uttragist

In 1915 more specific notice for Utah came asthe Congressional Union, the more militant women's rights organization and competitor to the NAWSA, promoted support for a federal amendment Discontented with the snail's pace ofthe state-by-state suffrage strategy, Utahjoined theconstitutional amendment bandwagon. The Suffragist, media arm of the Congressional Union, photographed Sen. Reed Smoot and "some of his constituents" under a sign reading, "We Demand An Amendment to the U.S Constitution Enfranchising Women" (Illustradon 13).^^ Ultimately, the NAWSA also embraced the federal amendment tactic, and both organizations escalated thepressure on a reluctcint Congress.

In addition to the federal effort, women seeking the vote in individual states continued to petition their own legislatures for

^^ Woman's Citizen, September 4, 1915, front cover Although thehistory of Utah's involvement in the Congressional Union and National Woman's Party has not been written, some attention to the issue is contained in Chrisdne A Lunardini, From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights (New York New York University Press, 1986)

Illustration IS. Courtesy University ofIllinois, Urbana.

Illustration 14. Courtesy University ofIndiana, Bloomington

enfranchisement By March 1919 an impressive array of states had opted for suffrage Winner, in a cartoon for the Woman's Citizen, observed that"TheVictories Come SoFastThat NoArdst CanKeep Up With Them" (Illustration 14).^^ Now the hst contained twenty-five suffrage states, with Utah comfortably entrenched in the venerable position ofthird onthehonor roll. Consistent with theballoon caption in thecartoon, "Pretty soon there won't beanyplace [for us] to go," the antisuffrage posidon was becoming increasingly difficult to defend

That same year Utah figured in twoother front cover illustradons in the Woman's Citizen. Both attested to the impending passage of the Nineteenth Amendment Thefirstwasaninformal tallyofthe projected senatorial vote on the question (Illustration 15).^^ Utah's two senators, Smoot and King,were shown infavor oftheamendment The"Sixty-Six To Thirty-Three" margin was not too far off theJune 4, 1919, Senate vote (56-25) which sent the constitutional amendment to the states for ratification

Illustration 15. ^ii/YW^'^'^ Courtesy University of -,V M lu V imm }'iW] ' Indiana, Bloomington.

^"^Woman's Citizen, March 8, 1919, front cover, "ibid., March 22, 1919, front cover.

Six months later, as Utah was about to radfy the amendment, Winner drew the final cartoon Unking the state to woman suffrage (Illustradon 16).^* He illustrated "The Modern Betsy Ross" sewing the starofthe stateofUtah on theflagrepresendng radficadon. Thus ended fifty years of popular ardsdc representadon of Utah associated with woman suffrage

CONCLUSION

All the artisdc images served muldple funcdons of entertainment, norm preservation, and thefacilitation ofsocialchange. Entertainment, the heart and soul ofcaricature, wastheconstant intent ofthe art during allfour periods The norms preserved and socialchangefostered varied with the times. For the first two decades, social and political satire sought to force accommodadon—especi2dly with respect to monogamy. Also, during this period artists did litde to encourage the suffrage movement In contrast to the later period, the cartoons had more venom and sdng, were more pardal and punitive, indulged in more misrepresentadon, and pictured woman suffrage and Mormonism as fundamentally regressive social movements that undermined cherished moral values. The early illustradons also tended to come from a different set of periodicals: the New York Daily Graphic,Puck, Judge, San Francisco Wasp, and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

After 1910 the dominant source for the Utah-woman suffrage connection came from the suffrage periodicals—the Woman's Journal, the Woman's Citizen, and the Suffragist. During this period Utah, along with the other early suffrage states, was complimented as progressive. The cartoons began espousing new social norms and shaping a very different kind ofsocial change. The antisuffragists were now on the run, a posture they were unaccustomed to after so many years of ardsdc approbation But equally unaccustomed were Utahns who, after a steady diet of contemptuous caricature for the better part of a century, were finally enjoying artisdc respectability. For one brief moment in early state history, Utah found itself promodng values for which there was growing social consensus, normative reinforcement, and public recognition.

If, ashistorian Beverly Beeton has argued, one motive for the early alliance between Utah and suffrage was to counter the overwhelmingly *Ibid., September 27, 1919, front cover Additional accolades came in subsequent issues ofthe Woman's Citizen when Utah supported the League of Woman Voters; see December 6, 1919 p 506

Woman Suffrage51

negative imageofMormon women, then onemight conclude that in the short run that function was notachieved However, when evaluated from the long-term perspective the historic tie between Utah and woman suffrage enhanced the view of all of Utah's women and the state they served so well.

nil: MODF.HN HI IS^ Hn>< Sfc« It Stwing on ilah for Scpttmht, ."

Ittustration 16. Courtesy University of Indiana, Bloomington

Protect the Children: Child Labor in Utah, 1880-1920

BY MARTHA S BRADLEY

O N FEBRUARY 19,i903, A SMALL TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY CLIMBED to the top of a ladder and stretched to dust the boxes that lined the top shelf of ZCMI's millinery department He accidentally fell backward, struck his head, and soon sank into unconciousness. After the company doctor briefly examined theboythestore manager took him bycarriage home tohismother Thefamil/ spovertywas immediately obvious to Thomas

Boys and girls working in Whittaker and Dallas cigarfactory, 1905. Shipter photograph, USHS collections.

Dr Bradley teaches history at Brigham Young University, Provo

Webber. Theywereshortofprovisions, fuel, and adequate bedding and clothing. During the next two days the boy condnued to fail and finally died.

Mrs Rosina Mard had depended upon her son's wages since her husband's death Shepetidoned ZCMI for sadsfaction for herlossto the sum of $2,000. She met with the Board of Directors in the insdtudon's third-floor office with an interpreter and her attorney, Daniel B. Richards. Mrs. Mard expressed hergradtudeforwhatthe company had done to help but pointed out that because ofher pidful circumstances it was not enough. Her dead son had been the sole means of support for her and her other children. If ZCMI was not wiUingto pay $2,000, she said, she would accept $1,000

Asaresult, "On modon ofGeorge Romney the$1000was awarded to Mrs. Mard to help her obtain a home and support undl such dme as shecould, withtheaidofher children, makealiving;on condidon offuH release."^

This unnamed boy was part of an anonymous mass of young people whoworked alongside adults in themost tedious, thanklessjobs in the workplace He in many ways typified the experience ofthe child worker his labor was essendal to his family's survival, he prematurely assumed the responsibilides of an adult, and his options were few. He most decidedly was not unique. During the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the next, a dramadc increase in the number of child laborers accompanied the nadon's industrializadon. At the same dme, an increasing number of reformminded Utahns looked toward the exploitation of the energies of the state'syoungest cidzenswith dismay and sawchild labor asablemish on society.

Child labor was not a problem unique to Utah, but rather a problem with nadonal dimensions. When Theodore Roosevelt called for theconservation ofchildren in 1906 hevoiced theprogressivegoalof putting an end to child labor:

Remember, that the human being is the most important of allproducts to turn out Iam eagerlyanxious todo everything Ican towakeup our people to the need of protecting the soil, protecting the forests, protecting the water; but first and foremost, protect the people. If you do not have the right kind of citizens in the future, you cannot make any use ofthe natural resources. Protect the children—protect the boys; still more, protect the

'Minute Book F, March 19, 1903, Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Insdtudon, Salt Lake City, Utah

girls; because the greatest duty ofthis generation isto seeto itthat the next generation is ofthe proper kind to continue the work of this nation.^

Roosevelt recognized that legislation wasnot enough. He knew that the minds ofthe nation's employers had to be changed to eliminate this "blot" on American civilization. Before theCivilWaradllegislativeefforts toregulatechild labor had failed Existing labor lawswere the work of educational reformers who saw the lack of education among working children as a contributing factor to the nation's crime and poverty rate This class of legislation sought to enforce compulsory education laws rather than offering protection against the hazards and exploitation of child labor.

Between 1870and 1900 some8.5 percent to 18.25 percent ofall the nation's children were employed. The percentage rates for boys were substantially higher In 1870, 19percentofall boysworked and in 1900, 26 percent ofthe nation's young men were employed The number of child laborers was lower in the Rocky Mountain section of the United States than in any other part except the Pacific states. Again, in 1920, of the total 393,563 children in the Rocky Mountain region, 15,612 were employed—4 percent ofall children in the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada None of the states in the Mountain region was heavily industriadized. More than half of those children at work were employed in agriculture on a full-time basis.^

Nationally, over a million children (1,060,858) ages ten to fifteen where reported in 1920 as employed in a wage-earning occupation. Of those, only one-fifth were employed in occupations affected by federal child labor laws and only one-third in occupations affected by state legislation. Child farm laborers at 61 percent were the largest group and were, therefore, subject to almost no direct legal regulation.

Child labor was never a major problem in the state of Utah; nevertheless, itwasstillaconcern. Lessthan4percentof Utah's children were reported as being employed in factories or on farms, although agricultural employment was always under-reported Compared to the industrial eastern states that often had as many as 17 percent of their

^Theodore Roosevelt, The Conservation ofChildhood, National Child Labor Committee, Pamphlet No 163 (New York, 1911), pp 2, 4-5, 8, cited in Robert Bremner, Children and Youth in America (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971)

^"Prevalence of Child Labor by Region, 1920," testimony of Grace Abbott at U.S Senate hearings before asubcommittee ofthe Committee on Labor Reform, Child Labor Amendment, 67th Cong., 1st sess (1923), pp 31-32, cited in Bremner, Children ard. Youth in America, 2:607

young cidzens at work, the need for protective legisladon was slight Utah was, however, in the forefront of states creating legislation that regulated employment inminesand smelters.Thefirstlegislature ofthe new state of Utah passed a bill that limited the hours ofwork in mines and prohibited the employment of boys under fourteen and girls and women of any age. After one Bingham businessman failed to obey the law, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Utah statute and described itasavalid exerciseofthe state'spolicepowerover dangerous work. The case, Holden v. Hardy, was considered a landmark of progressivejurisprudence.*^

It is not surprising that employment in mining was oudawed for women and children at the turn of the century. Mining had been tradidonally a male profession Women and children were usually not found in mines Even women from the very lowest classes including immigrants—were not used for such work Not only were the miners predominately male, they were for the most part non-Mormons. The Mormon prejudice against the mining industry was initiated by Brigham Young who, before his death in 1877, had waged a personal war against the mining industry in Utah. He quitevocally exhibited his disgust for thelifestyle and type ofindividual that mining attracted. The church sought toimpose itsvalues on allofthe community and found it virtually impossibletodo sointhewide-open atmosphere ofthe mining camp In addidon to this societal prejudice that prevailed in the Mormon-dominated territory ofUtah, more pracdcal considerations of health and safety dictated prohibitive legisladon as well. Working conditions in the mines were abominable. Health and safety standards were almost nonexistent Wages paid to miners were low and uncertain at best The 1896 prohibition on women and children in Utah's mines met these important issues and resolved them for future generations. Despite this important piece of restrictive legisladon, by 1910, 3,231 children under age sixteen were recorded by the U.S. Census as employed in some way in Utah.

As previously mendoned, Utah was never prominent as a manufacturing state In fact, during the territorial period the Latter-day Saintswerediscouraged bytheir ecclesiasdcal leaders from tradingwith the outside world—self sufficiency w^asthe primary goal ofall church economic planning. Therefore, most factories and industries that were developed served to sadsfy local demands. The number of manu*Holden v Hardy, 159 US 366

facturing establishments located in Utah rose dramatically between 1880 and 1900 In 1880 only 640 businesses with a total value of $2,656,657 employed 2,395 workers. The number of businesses decreased during the next ten years to 531 but the total value rose to $6,583,022. Almost twice as many workers (4,349) were employed by manufacturing firms in the 1890s. By 1900 these figures had doubled again. More than 1,400 businesses were recorded in the census report with atotalvalueof$14,650,948. The6,615 men, women, and children employed in industry profited by that growth.

Many industries in Utah involved the production of foodstuffs Businesses like the American Can Company in Ogden or the Ogden Packing and Provision Company produced thousands of cans of green beans, pork and beans, fruit, and peas. Almost every town had a small manufacturing business that employed local citizens and satisfied local needs.

In addition to agriculture, the economy of Utah at the turn ofthe century was based on certain extractive industries that were related to the availability of natural resources in the area such as the mining of gold, silver, copper, lead, and coal; the beet-sugar industry; raising cattle and sheep; and the manufacture of Scdt In addition to those basic industries, factories for the manufacture of metal products, canneries, breweries, creameries, and flour and grist mills were located in Utah's towns and cities. Although there were upwards offourteen woolen and knitting mills in the state at the end of the century, the garment trades were not an important factor in Utah's economy. This accounts in large part for the low percentage of children who were employed in Utah. Again, few of the major industries of Utah in this early period lent themselves to child labor.

Statistics describing the number of children employed in agriculture present a false enumeration. A large proportion of children working on family farms worked without wages. After 1910a more careful effort was made to assess more accurately the number of child farm workers. In that year alone a national increase of 35 percent was recorded.^

Most children inUtahworked on farms, most likelyalongside their fathers and brothers As mentioned, agricultural work was often heralded asagreat boon to the development ofresponsible citizenship.

Sen. Albert Beveridge of Indiana said in one speech to the Senate on the issue of child-labor , particularly labor in agriculture,

I do not for amoment pretend that working children on the farm isbad for them. I think it is the universad experience that where children are employed within their strength and in the open air there can be no better training.... And I am in favor of and look forward to the time, when as a part of the educational system of the country, children will be taught to worL For, I repeat, there is no training like labor.^

Apparently Beveridge and others like him believed in the redemptive value of good, hard work under the influence of kind and loving parents rather than work in the impersonal, unmonitored environment of the factory. It was commonly thought that "By performing certain light tasks, the country child inculcates a habit of industry which is invaluable to him in later life."^ Like the industrial school philosophy ofwork, or even the tradition ofthe Protestant work ethic, work, particularly farm labor, was often the reformer's cure-all for

""Hazel Youngberg, "Our Child Labor Problems" (Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1907), p. 7.

^George Mangold, Problems of Child Welfare (New Yorlc Macmillan Co., 1918), p 271

50)) anc^ gi'r/ bagging onions. USHS collections.

the problems of society Even to critics of child labor, work on the farmseemed avaluable factor in the development of strong, morally healthy children.^ Perhaps most important to this concept was that children stayed under the influence of their parents on the farm rather than the disinterested supervision of strangers.

Many children began working on the family farm as early as six years of age, working in the fields, picking potatoes, bagging or sorting simple, yet essential chores One young cowboy herded cows and horses each spring from his sixth year until he was twelve. One chdd's attitude toward play typified the attitude ofthe importance of a serious and judicious use of one's time.

I grew up_with the idea firmly impressed into my very being that itwas my duty to be useful; that play or pleasure seeking even to a limited extent, whilepermissable, was not essential; that work, ifsufficiently varied, might furnish all the necessary exercise and recreation for physical development without having to resort to games or calisthenics.^

The fathers of Mormon polygamous families were often gone for long periods of time while attending to other family groups or serving on missions for the church. In one family the fifteen-year old son ran the jewelry store during his father's thre^year stay in the state penitentiary on charges of cohabitation. Girls were kept busy at home knitdng, spinning, weaving, and doing other domesdc chores Mary Ann Bosworth was ten years old when she was first employed, earning fifty cents aweek for housework Another young girl, Eliza Horsepool, was twelve when she established independence from her polygamous family.

I was about twelve years old then and Mrs. Hill was leaving for a trip to England.. so he took me home with him Iwas then old enough to keep house for him.. as soon ashe left for work Iput on the boiler and did that washing by myself I had wanted to do itand hewas afraid itwas too much for me but from then on Ialways did our washing Without father knowing it I went out and washed for other people I would get 50 cents a day for doing a big wash by hand.'^

Child labor was acityproblem in Utah The diverse industries and mercantile establishments that hired young workers were usually

Relief Society Magazine, 8:185.

''George Lambert, "Journal of George Cannon Lambert," quoted in Kate B. Carter, ed., Heart Throbs ofthe West, 12 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters ofthe Utah Pioneers, 1939-50), 9:269-384

Eliza Burdette Horsepool, Historical Records Survey, Biographical Sketches, Utah Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

located in trade centers. Stores, shoe manufacturers, prindng and binding works, bottling and brewing companies, knitting works, the paper trades such as cigar and cigar box manufacturers, pickle, candy, and macaroni factories all employed children for substantially lower wages thanwerepaid toadults In addition, many children, particularly young boys, worked in the street trades as newsboys, messenger boys, office boys, and in service trades. Thesejobs were common to children in cities across the nation.

The report issued each year by the Bureau of Statistics painted an interesting picture of how extensive the child labor problem was in Utah's cities and what types of businesses employed children. During 1903, for example, of 7,365 employees of the state's mercantile institutions, 302 were under the age of sixteen years. This same proportion, one of every twenty-four, remained const2Lnt undl 1905

In response to business growth the number of child workers steadilyincreased Outofa total 19,757 boysbetween theagesoften and fifteen in I9I2, 2,095 or 11 percent were gainfully employed; 6.2 percent, 1,225,worked on farms and 870 inindustry. Of 20,046 girlsof the same agegroup 430 or 2 percent were employed. Only0.1 percent of these girls worked in agriculture.

Asurprising number ofthe boys provided theprimary support for their families. Of8,334 nativeborn v/hite boys between ten and fifteen yearsofage808 or 10percentwerethebreadwinners, 541 in agriculture and 267 in other businesses. The figure was higher for boys with one or both parents born outside ofthe United States. Out ofa total 10,403 such boys 11 percent or 1,108 were the breadwinners of their families. Agriculture was the most common source ofwork for 6 percent ofthe total number of boys in Utah.

Fewer girls provided the primary support for their families Of native-born white girls 1.5 percent (127) were responsible for the finances of their homes. Foreign parentage increased that figure to 2 percent (208).*^ These children collected $1,136 inweeklywages out of the $97,617 total. A child brought home on the average $3.70 a week, whereas a male adult worker would earn almostfivetimes as much. As wages increased over the years the f)roportion remained the same.

In 1895 ZCMfs cash boys earned atotal$2,307. Besides cash boys therewereerrand boys, deliveryboys, and extrahands hired for bargain

"U.S., BuTe2iUohheCen$us,StatisticalAbstractoftheUnitedStates,]9I2CW3ish\ngton, D.C.: GPO, 1912)

sales aswell as messenger boys. In 1896 that figure rose to $4,500 when girls were hired for similarjobs and as wrappers.^^

The attitude toward the number ofhours achild should work each day was very liberal in Salt Lake City. Although an adult male might work as many as eighteen hours in a single day, and a woman seven, children usually worked only four and one-half hours In Weber and Utah counties the difference was not as extreme, but adult males still worked more than four times the hours that children worked. These statistics indicate that the typical child laborer in Utah was helping his family to get by but was rarely the most important element in the family income. Children had only a small influence on total output and that may have made their services more expendable.

In 1906 out of 200 children employed in Salt Lake County in the mercantile industries, 184worked in SaltLakeCity The largest number of children, 47, were involved in general merchandise. Another 34 worked at institutions that sold books, stationery, boots, shoes, clothing, furnishings, jewelry, millinery, and notions Another largegroup of children wereemployed bybusinesses thatfurnished farm implements, hardware, lumber, and other building materials.^^

Many children worked for the same company when they were young that they would as adults.James Maurice Saville first worked at ZCMI in 1883 as a cash boy In 1903 he was department manager of chinaware.*"^ Harold E. Young periodically worked as a cash boy after school and on Saturdays in the shoe or grocery department ^^ George Reed worked in the drug department in the late 1880swhen as aboy"it fell to hislottomake himself generally useful. After graduating from the menial duties that fall to the lot of the average boy. Reed became a salesman'backofthe counter.'" In the 1880saboy slepton the premises to take emergency calls. Reed remembered that several dmes during his years as night attendant how "distracted fathers would awaken him from his slumber at all hours of the night that they might obtain paragoric for their baby with colic, or some other cause about as serious." Reed eventually became a registered pharmacist^^

This sleepy night watchman was no exception. Although men and women were the primary members of the workforce, most industries

"^Minute Book F, April 7, 1895, ZCMI

'^U.S., Bureau of Labor Statistics,

^^ZCMI Advocate, 8:56

^^ZCMI Advocate, 8:75

^*'ZCMI Advocate, 8:106.

child Labor61

and businesses employed a few children for low wages and the most menial jobs. For instance, six aerated water manufacturing establishments reported thatfivechildren under sixteen were employed forfifty cents a day for nine hours of work Adult males averaged five times as much money. The twenty-nine different businesses in the report included a biscuit factory, two broom factories, five candy manufacturers, acarriageworks, aclothingfactory, aglovemakerand tannery, and salt, sugar, ice, and macaroni factories. The report did not specify which businesses used children.

Printing firms in Salt Lake City accepted as apprentices only those young boys who had finished the work of the eighth grade. The apprentice could advance from one grade ofwork tothe next according to his effort In one study ofthe printing trades done in 1906 several boys under age fifteen were found to be working A few boys had permits from the Board of Education that allowed them to work while continuing their studies at school

Boyswerealsohired for errands on atemporary basis. They had no hope of afuture in the business but were simply earning money. Those shops that exploited this class of boys by perpetuadng their ignorance

Youths working in poster department of Gardiner Lithographers, 1905. Shipler photograpti, USHS collections.

and delaying their chance for training in another field were labeled by the local labor union "unfair" shops. The "fair" shops, on the other hand, had predictable and consistent progr2imsofadvancement for the apprentice as he progressed and learned skills.

In her 1906 study of working conditions in Salt Lake City, Hazel Youngberg described apractice ofone paper box company. Boxes were sent home with employees during the Christmas rush, and one family's sweatshop included a child of four who worked through the evenings with her older brothers and sisters during the holiday season.

Younggirlswere employed bythe Salt LakeUmbrellaWorks and a producer of fluff rugs One boy at the rug factory who earned $2.50 a week claimed to have awork permit but actually did not His days were spent ripping up soiled and discarded carpets that were used in the rag rugs. The work was unsanitary, dusty, and tedious. Eventually the probation officer ofthe SaltLakejuvenile Courtcaught upwith this boy, who was only ten years of age, and sent him back to school. The factory hired a boy of sixteen to fill his place.

Manychildren worked in the canneries and fruit processing plants. On a national basis, children accounted for 7 percent of sJlworkers in canneries.^'' Cannery work was seasonal and depended on the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Pickles, relishes,jams, jellies, ketchups, soups, and baked beans were also made. Processing this type of product helped to extend the work year. Extra workers, particularly children, hired for this type ofwork prevented regular employees from collecting overtime.

Mostofthe workofcanning could beconsidered unskilled. PeeHng and slicing vegetables and fruits, labeling and wrapping botdes, washing bottles, or boxing finished products could be done by just about anyone. Speed and a certain amount of dexterity were desirable, but littlemore. This typeoffactory workwasnot particularly dangerous, although standing all day was very tiring. Most of the cooking of the food, what one worker called the "responsible" part ofthe work, was done by men. Women and children did the preparatory work and such final processes as bottling, labeling, and wrapping. In general, sanitary conditions at the canneries were good; certainly the constant handling of food products made cleanliness good business

Most of thejobs that children did in canneries were very simple. Children under sixteen packed bottles, folded circulars, swept the

"U.S., Bureau of the Census, Special Reports of the Census Office, Manufactures, 1905, part 3 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1905), p. 400.

floors, scrubbed walls, and cleaned the bathrooms.^^ The candy factories ofSalt Lake City typically employed the largest number of children in the state:

Young girls were engaged at a very small wage, and when old enough and skillful enough to demand more than the pittance they received for their long hours ofwork, were discharged to make room for younger children, who were exploited in their turn TheJuvenile Court, making effective for the first time the compulsory education law for children under sixteen, greatly interfered with the selfish course ofthe candy manufacturers.'^

In 1900, 62 percent of the nation's femcde candy workers were under twenty-five years old. Work in candy manufacturing could be done bywomen and girlswith no trade experience or education. Candy makingwasprimarily hand workand mvolved agreat deal of machinery for cooking and molding the candy There were two distinctly busy seasons the two months before Christmas and another shorter season before Easter. As was true of the canneries, many children were employed to help during the busy seasons

U.S., Bureau ofthe Census, Report on Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, 71st Cong., 2d sess. Doc 645 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1913) Youngberg, "Our Child Labor Problems," p 8

Girts working inJ. G. McDonald candyfactory, 1911. Shipterphotograph, USHS collections.

Although thefactories weretypically clean, theywereoften hot and humid when the candy was cooking. When the candy, such as chocolates, cooled, the temperature was kept at around 60 to 68 degrees, or even lower. Girls worked as dippers, packers, wrappers, or labelers. In additon to those jobs that required a certain amount of manual dexterity girls were employed as general helpers to carry trays, clean or tend machines, and pack candy in boxes

Factories that manufactured paper boxes, cigars, or cigar boxes also employed children in Salt Lake City. The production of paper boxes was a relatively new endeavor that was in direct response to the growing diversity of manufactured products that needed packaging to be sold. Shoes, hats, clothing of every type, foods, cigarettes, and a variety of other goods were boxed in packages that werejust about as important as the products.

The work at box factories was messy because ofthe glue and paste used, but was not unsanitary; however, most of the work was done in proximity to dangerous machinery Few of the jobs required special skills, and most work was easily done by women and children

The sanitaryand moral environments werenot theonlyfactors that aiffected thechild atwork An environment conducive toheadthy, happy conditions of work was more difficult to regulate. The character ofthe work itself, the peopleworking in the factory, and the importance ofthe job all in turn affected the day-to-day world of the growing child and helped to form the adult he or she would become. One factory that made overalls in Salt Lake City, for instance, had an internal reguladon system that failed to provide the necessary safeguards for the child employee. One small girlwas given thejob of snipping the end threads from a pile of overalls. Her load was placed in a dark, narrow passageway where she bent over her work struggling to seewhile, quite efficiently, wielding her scissors to put the finishing touches on the product of the factory. One observer felt the enormity of the child's plight, saying:

Those visitors who brushed past her in the passageway thought nothing of one littlegirl so employed, but had she been one ofa hundred workers the public would have been aroused to deer}' in indignation an intolerable condition But alone, orwith ninety-nine comrades in misery, her injury is the same.^°

Contradicting that image, according to Annie H Bywater, manager of ZCMFs clothing factory, girls working at ZCMI were

p 9

content, productive, and efficient "Here, happy Utah girls—with the aid of some ofthe most modern machinery and methods—are turning out close to 10,000 garments a month, girls and machinery [are] constantly being added to deep pacewith the increasing demand for the product"^^ In describing ZCMFs female workforce as"girls," Bywater may have meant both women and girls. But it is obvious in one photograph of ZCMFsshoe factory employees that out of53 workers— 13 were men, 15 were boys, and 25 were girls between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.^^At least in the clothing and shoe factories of one of Utah's largest companies a significant amount of the work was done by children.

In 1906 therewereapproximately fifty messenger boys in Salt Lake City, about half under sixteen years of age. The boys received compensation for a percentage of the profit which made decepdon seem advantageous. Reformers considered the messenger service a

school in petty thievery, obscenity, and general moral degradation A boy goes the"pace" down hill, very rapidly after entering the service Here itis

'^^ZCMI Advocate, 5: 164

"photograph in ZCMI fdes

Westem Union messenger boys on strike. Salt Lake City, August 9, 1907. Shiplerphotograpti, USHS collections.

not at all the severity of labor the young boy undertakes, but the bad associations tor him, that makes the messenger boy a most serious problem.^^

No attempt was made to determine the number of girls that were employed as domesdcs. During the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first of the twendeth it was sdll common pracdce for parents to "put out" their young daughters into the service of wealthy families One such girl was interviewed in 1920 by the Relief Society Welfare Department ofthe LDS church. She had worked as a domesdc since she was twelve years of age and by age sixteen was restless and wanted achange In addition to her dissatisfaction, she had agoiter and needed immediate medical care she could not afford. She sdso thought that shewas developing amental disorder. Upon examination, she was diagnosed as suffering from what was then called "melancholia" and needed achange in environment When more careful investigation into her work conditions was conducted, it was found that she had been employed asanursemaid and had not been allowed toassociatewith the family atall. Shehad no friends, no socialcontacts, and infact seemed to have lost the incentive or the ability to make friends. Because of her hmited educadon, her scanty knowledge of the world and how to interactwith otheryoung people, shewasdeprived ofher right toa good and rich life. This was seen to be the the result not only ofthe poverty of her parents (which forced her towork) but also ofthe assumpdon that a child could be put to work at such an early age.^'^

Poverty was the largest single reason children went to work In addition, mainy parents assumed that a child should always contribute to thefamily pot and that their children were"economic assetson which they hope to declare dividends at the first opportunity."^^ Children worked to increase the family income for a variety of different reasons One study done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor established that only 30 percent ofall children employed actually went towork out of necessity. Another 28 percent went to work because help was desired though not necessarily crucial to the family's wellbeing.^^

Although 26.6 percent ofthe children worked because they were dissatisfied with school, only 10 percent of the children questioned actually preferred work over school or play. This was the only time that

'•^Youngberg, "Our Child Labor Problems," p. 11.

'•^Relief Society Magazine, 12:301

"Mangold, Problems of Child Welfare, p 11

'^^Statistical Abstract ofthe United States, 1912.

child Labor67

the atdtude of the child himself appears to have been measured in an early governmental study.^^

In one local instance, C W Snelgrove, who later became a prominent Utah businessman, grew tired of school in the third grade and quit for what he deemed ajob too good to pass up setdng up pins in the local bowling alley. Before his eighteenth birthday Snelgrove had held a series of odd jobs, including cleaning out ditches and delivering groceries.^^

For her 1906 master's thesis for the University of Utah, Hazel Youngberg interviewed several children who had been forced to work by their parents. The first boy, a thirteen-year-old named Edward, worked in aprindng office for four months before haswas apprehended by a truant officer The visit to his home revealed that Edward, his mother, her husband, and the other children were living on the boy's weekly salaryoffour dollars. The mother maintained that theywould be "utterly destitute" if her son could not work The four dollars that the boy earned in a week was used to support both adults and three children.

One ten-year-old newsboy stole bottles and junk to support his father's alcohol habit His parents knew about his theft and did nothing to prevent it Another boy, this one age thirteen, who also had a "worthless" father, earned three dollars working in a barn. His family had been recently evicted from their home and was living in a nearby field.29

In one case of blatant neglect a stepfather refused to support his wife's twelveyear-old dependent son. The boy got awork permit from the school board so that he could work at theaters selling fruit, candy, and popcorn.

Poverty was not the only factor in each situation. Unusual home arrangements caused by divorce, death, or deserdon were also important elements that determined whether or not a child worked.

In the early years of the twentieth century three basic pieces of legislation were passed that sought to resolve these and other problems associated with child labor. As a group, these laws indicate the status of Utah on the child labor quesdon. Each was protecdve and environmental in intent The first restricted the employment of children in

'^U.S., Bureau ofthe Census, Report on Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, p 46

^'judy Richins, "C W Snelgrove," 1987, manuscript in possession ofthe author

'^Youngberg, "Our Child Labor Problems," p 9

mines, the second estabKshed thejuvenile court system, and the third was the compulsory education law of 1905.

The compulsory education law included a variety of devices that restricted employment, such as simple literacy tests or compulsory education during certain periods of the school year Later legislation required completion of specified school grades.

Eventually, a similar grading system was used to assess developmental stages in health and physical growth prior to employment The earliest such regulation was generally ineffective because it left enforcement to the discretion ofthe employer. Often factory inspectors or physicians employed by the factory examined children to ensure their physical fitness The most effective approach specified that each child who desired to enter a new position be examined by a public medicad officer who would sign a certificate verifying his sound health and normal development

The compulsory education lawrequired that every child be sent by his legadguardian to school atleast twentyweeks in each school year, ten weeks of which would be consecutive In cities ofthe first and second class children were required to attend school at least thirty weeks ofthe year. The only exceptions to this rule were based on the ability of the parent to provide viable alternatives to public or private education.^°

Compulsory education kept many children from working during the school year but did nothing to prevent seasonal or summer employment Another serious drawback to the dependence on education laws for regulating the employment ofchildren was the difficulty ofenforcement The Board ofEducation in SaltLakeCityina singleyear issued between 500 and 600 work permits. Most of them were temporary for periods averaging from four to six weeks. Thousands of children continued to work without permits.

Bythe end ofthe nineteenth century most ofthe basic elements of protective legislation were contained in state statutes During the first decades of the twentieth century these provisions were defined more specifiC2dly and strengthened to translate principles into appropriate action. These included laws that more closelyprotected the rights ofthe individual child in determining his own future. They included provisions setting out (1) minimum ageatwhich children could go to work or could choose aparticular trade, (2) hour limits that reflected realistic assessments of the child's ability to endure without threatening his health or welfare, (3) educational guarantees that ensured that every ^"State of Utah, Code of Laws (1907), 643.

child would have a chance at a good education, and (4) exclusions of children from certain occupations that would be either dangerous physically or that would subject thera to immoral influences. Another important development was the growing systemization of official supervision over children who did work, especially industrial inspection, the employment certificate system, amd compulsory school attendance

The principles underlying this t)^peoflegislation reflected support in the community for the idea that every child had the right to a reasonable opportunity for both physicaland mental development and, as one reformer described it, that "it is in harmony with the welfare of society that these rights should be protected."^^ Because ofthe peculiar social and economic conditions in the Rocky Mountain region, it was acknowledged that child labor was a less complicated problem here than in the East However, when children were out of school for long periods of time, were allowed to roam the streets and other public places, and had no structure in theiryounglivesthesocial consequences were similar. , ^,, ^ ,

The 1911 General Child Employment Act was the single most important piece of legislation that affected children after the Juvenile Court Act of 1907. Among other provisions regulating the work conditions and hours ofchildren it prohibited the hiring of children under fourteen in occupations that might be considered dangerous to their health or morals. Children were excluded as well from night work On March

9,1911, two separate billswere passed. OnewrittenbyCarlA. Badger, a member ofthe committee on labor, provided for theinvestigation ofthe conditions of child labor in the state. The second. Senate bill 147, written by Rudolph Kuchler of Ogden, dealt with the broad scope of child labor issues. Surprisingly, for a bill that included such a wide varietyofissues, itpassed the Senatewith aunanimous vote. Apparently

Rudolph Kuchler, left, and Cart A. Badger, right,USHS collections.

the time was right, for support was mustered from every part of the community to limit the labor of children in Utah.

In 1911 laws were passed to protect children from the incidental influences of certain o^cupJitions. These included the production of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products or employment where these products were sold. Children could not work around dangerous processes, such as the preparation of paint, colors, or white lead or the manufacture ofdynamite, nitroglycerin compounds, orfuses.^^ Itwasa misdemeanor offense to neglect to provide chairs, stools, or other furniture for the rest periods of female employees.^^

Boysyounger than twelveand girlsyounger than sixteen could not, after 1911, sell newspapers, magazines, periodicals, or other merchandise in cities of the first and second class, nor could young boys shine shoes on the streets.^"^ After 1912 children under fourteen could not work in mills, factories, quarries, or workshops with more than ten employees. Work on the farm, with the exception of domestic service and fruit or vegetable packing, was limited to no more than fifty-four hours in any one week^^

The effort was also made to limit theworkweek to fifty-four hours for women and children. One labor act passed in 1912 prohibited the employment of children under sixteen years during school hours. Children who did work did so by presendng a certificate issued by the school board. The certificate allowed achild towork no more than nine hours a day and did not permit night work

The labor bureau ofthe state government monitored violations of these laws. The commissioner was responsible for investigadng and reporting all violations of the law as well as making recommendations about how the best interests of employees could be safeguarded. One method thatproved tobeveryhelpful wasthepermit system mentioned above In order to be hired by afactory or any type ofinsdtution a child had first to obtain awork permit from his school superintendent This permit verified the ageofthe child, stating that hewas developmentally normal and in good physical condition.

By 1920 Utah had a much more definitive and specialized body of legisladon to regulate the working condidons, hours, and wages of

children than it did at the end of the nineteenth centry. It reflected general community support for the ideals of child protection and the effort to improve thelivesofthe children ofthe poor. Itmet many ofthe standards set by the National Child Labor Committee in 1907.

Child labor was not simply a problem that could be solved by takingchildren out ofthe factory. Itbegan inbroken families, in families plagued by poverty, and where ethnicity sometimes created barriers. It fostered delinquency and the abuse of children and prevented children from forming asolid basis in intellectual and moral principles essential to the formation of character and good citizenship.

W. D. P. Bliss wrote in 1898 in the Encyclopedia ofSocial Reform that "there is scarcely one subject in the whole range of social reform, more important than that of child labor."^^ If that was in fact true, social reform met with marked success in Utah. Although Utah never had a problem ofsizeable proportions with child labor, hundreds of children didworkonaregularbasistohelp support theirfamilies The legislation passed between 1896and 1920 exhibited aconscious effort todefine the workchildren might do and setcertain standards for theenvironment in which the children worked. These acts did not prohibit child labor altogether—and in this Utah was at the same point as the rest ofthe nation—but they did attempt to prevent the exploitation of this class of citizens unable to speak for themselves

Newsboys in Salt Lake City, December 14, 1907. Shipler photograph, USHS collections.

W p p Bliss, Encyclopedia ofSocial Reform {New York, 1898), quoted in Bremner, Children and Youth in America, 2:601

steamboat Rock on the Green River would have been two-thirds under water had Echo Park Dam been built USHS collections.

Bernard DeVoto and His Forgotten Contribution to Echo Park

BYGLENN SANDIFORD

Bernard DeVoto and Echo Park73

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIANS REMEMBER THE ECHO PARK controversy of the early 1950s as a major turning point for natural resource policies. The successful campaign to prevent construction oftwo dams in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument brought together assorted preservationist groups for thefirsttime indecades and climaxed with the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act Much of the credit was given to David Brower and the Sierra Club, and rightly so. But Brower himself is the first to admit that there was another figure just as important to Echo Park, someone whose contribution has so far gone unrecognized— Bernard DeVoto.^

DeVoto was a writer best known for his "Easy Chair" column in Harpefs Magazine, aperiodical"addressed tothebesteducated audience in the United States.. [such that] this audience gives itpublic influence altogether disproportionate to the size of its circulation." The "Easy Chair" was almost as old as Harpefs itself, dating back to October 1851. DeVoto described it as "a column of personal comment," and he certainly lived up to that tradition. An instinctive desire to go against the grain and support the minority, coupled with complete editorial freedom, elicited opinionated commentaries on awide variety of issues that included the FBI, book censors in Maine, and his native Utah But DeVoto also won a 1948 Pulitzer Prize for his history ofthe West, and thus he was more than just a social critic.^

Conservation had become his favorite cause following a summer tripoutWestin 1946. Thetour had given him first-hand experience with the "landgrab" that western livestock interests were attempting against the Forest Service and sparked off a whole series of "Easy Chair" columns and other articleson thesubject Twoyears later, having forced the stockmen to retreat, DeVoto had accepted an honorary position on the National Parks Advisory Board, a civilian group advising the

Dr Sandiford lives in South Glens Falls, N.Y He wishes to acknowledge the help of several individuals in researching and drafting this manuscript; Samuel V Kennedy III, chair Newspaper Department, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University; Douglas Challenger, assistant director Project Legal, Syracuse University; and Margaret J Kimball, archives and manuscripts librarian Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Library

'Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind {New Hdiwen: Yale University Press, 1967), pp. 209-19; Dyan Zaslowsky and the Wilderness Society These American Lands {New YovV: Henry Holt and Co., 1986), pp. 303-4; David Brower to author, December 10, 1987.

^Bernard DeVoto, The Easy C/wj'r (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1955), pp viii, ix DeVoto's Across the Wide Missouri {G?t.rden C'xty, N.Y.: DoubledaySc Co., 1947) won the Pulitzer Prize for history The book is part ofa trilogy, the other two being The Year of Decision (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1943) and The Course of Empire {^osion: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1952)

secretary ofthe Interior on conservation matters.^ This merely enhanced

^ - ^ ^ _- , his abilities as one of the most well

» *^S informed conservationists of the pe-

"^B riod and gave him access to some of the highest levels of decision-making in natural resource policy.

It also brought DeVoto into the Echo Park controversy His fellow members of the board were among the many conservationists closely monitoring the Bureau of Reclamation and, in particular, recent efforts by the agency to win support for a proposed series of dams in the Upper Colorado River Basin. For decades bureau engineers had quietly admired the Colorado's deep, narrow canyons that would yield dams with smaller surface areas than those inwide, shallowvalleys ^ In 1943, after several hydrological studies, they had decided toclaim three ofthe sites aspart ofthe Upper Colorado River Basin Storage Project that was to providewaterfor thefour statesofUtah, Colorado, NewMexico, and Wyoming.^ The move came asacomplete surprise to the Nadonal Park Service, whose own mission was to manage the country s nadonal parks and monuments so as to"leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generadons." Since two of the sites. Echo Park and Split Mountain, were located within Dinosaur Nationad Monument, NPS staff had understandably thought their sister agency in the Department ofthe Interior might have at least consulted with them before making a move Bylate 1949 amajor rift had appeared between the two agencies Reladons condnued to worsen when Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman announced his support for the project onJune 27, 1950.

The Nadonal Parks Advisory Board had correctly predicted Chapman's decision at a meeting two months earlier. Hoping to rouse some public concern the board had suggested DeVoto attempt to publish an ardcle before Chapman made his announcement DeVoto

^Federal Register, 8:146 (July 24, 1943):

Bernard DeVoto. USHS collections.

^Wallace Stegner, The Uneasy Chair {Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1974), p. 297. Small surface areaswerean important requisite for dams in thewestern stateswhere significant volumes of water were lost to evaporation during the hot, dry summers

10370-71

Bernard DeVoto and Echo Park75

tried his best but it was too close a deadline, and when the Saturday Evening Post finally printed his piece on July 22, 1950, Chapman had beaten him by almost four weeks.^

It didn't matter, though. "Shall We Let Them Ruin Our Nation2d Parks.^" immediately sparked an entire movement to unite and fight the proposal The piece drew national attention not only to the Dinosaur dams but also to the larger issue ofa declining national park system,^ and when Readefs Digest carried a reprint in November 1951, his battle cry resounded even more loudly across the nation:

If it is able to force the Echo Park project through, the Bureau of Reclamation will build some fine highways along the reservoirs Anyone who travels the 2000 miles from New York City—or 1200 from Galveston or 1000 from Seattle—will no doubt enjoy driving along those roads. He can also do still-water fishing where, before the bureau took benevolent thought of him, he could only do white-water fishing, and he can go boating or sailing on the reservoirs that have obliterated the scenery. But the New Yorker can go motormg along the Palisades, boating in Central Park sailing at Larchmont and fishing at many places within an hour of George Washington Bridge ... . The only reason why anyone would evergo to Dinosaur National Monument istoseewhat the Bureau of Reclamation proposes to destroy.*

DeVoto proceeded to dissect one-by-one the arguments put forward by proponents of construction projects like Echo Park In each analysis he displayed his intimate understanding of how the issues affected both the nation and those communities more immediate to the proposed dams. An effective information network developed over many years in the"Easy Chair" had kept his finger firmly on the pulse of the nation and was now proving very useful for this campaign.^

DeVoto'sjournalistic abilities, coupled with a national readership, proved to be of enormous benefit to the conservationists. The Saturday Evening Post article brought Echo Park right into the homes ofmillions of people who annually enjoyed a visit to the national parks and thus emphasized that the controversy affected everybody, not just those in Utah and the surrounding states Presumably this was one reason why DeVoto had written for the Saturday Evening Post, which enjoyed a larger

""Owen Stratton and Phillip Sirotkin, The Echo Park Controversy, Cases in Public Administration and Policy Formation No 46 (University, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1959), p 48; DeVoto "Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks?" Saturday Evening Post, July 22, 1950, pp 17-19

^At that time Echo Park was only one of several prospective dam sites within national parks Glacier View Dam in Montana and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky were two others, as DeVoto noted in his article Information on these proposals can be found in John Ise, Our National Park Policy (Bakimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961), pp. 171-82, 262-67.

"DeVoto, "Shall We Let Them," p 42

^Stegner, The Uneasy Chair, p 307

circulation than Harpefs. He could write similar articles for the "Easy Chair" anytime, but it was important to open the controversy with as large an audience as possible The SEP's four million-plus circulation had allowed him to do sowithout compromising his desire towrite only for quality periodicals. It had also taken Echo Parkfrom arelatively lowlevel issue confined principally within the conservationist groups and turned it into ahot public debate around the country. Horace Albright, a former National Park Service director, described the piece as"one of the finest national-park articles that has ever appeared."*°

Other writers followed DeVoto's lead. In-depth articles began appearing regularly in National Parks Magazine, Audubon^Nature, and the SierraClub Bulletin.^^ But these were read mostly by those already "converted," and DeVoto was one of the few writers with access to a national audience largely ignorant of, or disinterested in, conservation

In addition to caimpaigning through the magazines, conservation group leaders urged their members to get person2dly involved. The most common reaction was to send letters to Congress—hundreds of them. Over the summer of 1950 mail poured into Washington, nearly all protesting the inclusion of Echo Park. DeVoto knew that "genuine public opinion" was needed more than anything else, but even he did not foresee just how large and vocal this opinion would become.^^

Westerners did not take kindly to the assault on their desperately needed water supply and launched a series of counterattacks. Utah's Democratic Congresswoman Reva BeckBosone questioned the logicof the public's reaction by pointing out that Dinosaur was inaccessible. DeVoto acknowledged the accuracy of this statement but then added thatallwestern parks and monuments sinceYellowstone had started out inaccessible. Indeed, remoteness was one ofthe strongest reasons for preserving a resource like Dinosaur He also pointed out that the monument's recreational potential could be fulfilled as soon as Congress appropriated sufficient funds, another jibe on behalf of the National Park Service ^^

""Horace Albright to DeVoto , July 21, 1950, Bernard DeVoto Papers, Stanford University Library Albright congratulated DeVoto for an ardcle that "opens up the fight in a big way and gives strength and encouragement to conservationists everywhere."

"See, for example, John Baker, "Dams for Dinosaur," Audubon (January 1951): 58; Arthur Carghart, "The Menaced Dinosaur Monument," National Parks Magazm^ (January-March 1952): 1930

DeVoto to Harry Frank, July 29, 1950, DeVoto Papers DeVoto ruefully noted how his SEP article had appeared after Secretary ofthe Interior Chapman's decision to approve the Reclamation Bureau's report Now it was up to the public to force a reversal Elmo Richardson, Dams, Parks, and Politics (Lexington: University' Press of Kentucky, 1973), pp. 60-61; DeVoto toJohn Knight, August 28, 1950, DeVoto Papers.

When \h^ Denver Post claimed that theWest should be allowed to do as it pleased with its scenery,^"^ DeVoto responded sharply:

. . . the National parks and monuments happen not to be your scenery. They are our scenery. They do not belong to Colorado or to theWest, they belong to the people of the United States, including the miserable unfortunates who have to live east ofthe Allegheny hillocks. And podner, as one Westerner to another, let me giveyou one small piece of advice before you start shooting again Don't snoot those unfortunates too loudly or obnoxiously You might make them so mad that they would stop paying for your water development^

In Washington, D.C., there was pressure of a different kind. Newton Drury, director ofthe National Park Service, informed DeVoto that Secretary ofthe Interior Chapman had ordered all NPS staff to stay clear of the controversy and stick by the decision. Because no such restriction had been placed upon the activities of the Reclamation Bureau, Druryappreciated theconservationists' efforts tosustain public pressure, and he confided in them ciccordingly. His actions not only helped maintain the long-standing symbiotic relationship between the NPS and its clientele beneficaries but also allowed DeVoto and others access to information they would otherwise have found extremely difficult to obtain.^^

DeVoto continued his own campaign with an "Easy Chair" column in August discussing a recent trip on which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had shown him around some water projects idong the Missouri River. Was he impressed with the corps' engineering feats.^

Yes—but They have done this with regard to flood-control so nearly exclusively that other values, and especially the conservation values, go howling down the wind .... Further projects can—and will—be added .. the way you add rooms to a pre-fabricated house. Others are now only gleams in the engineering eye, but gleams that could add billions to billions for a total that could hardly be expressed in one line of type

Asfall arrived both sides retreated to plan newlines ofattack Most of the activity was kept behind closed doors, and media coverage

^^Denier Post, ]u[y 21, 1950,"There's PlentyofScenery for UsWestern Natives," copy in DeVoto Papers

'^DeVototoPaltnerHoyt, August 1, 1950(appeared in theDenirrPo^^, August 9, 1950), DeVoto Papers A common thread in DeVoto's arguments was that the western economy was subsidized by the East in the shape of direct and indirect federal payments DeVoto to Sen Paul Douglas, April 26, 1955, DeVoto Papers.

"'Newton Drury to DeVoto, July 19, 1950 Cited in Richardson, Dams, Parks, and Politics, p 62.

''"Our Hundred Year Plan," Harper's (August 1950): 61-62

Redrawing by DIGIT Lab, Geography Department, University ofUtati, of 1955 map in pamphlet. Will You Dam the Scenic Wild Canyons of Our National Park System^, showing proposed dam sites

dropped dramatically DeVoto also cased the pressure, turning his attention instead to such concerns as American history^ and female beautification. But public interest in Echo Park soared once again in earlv 1951 when Park Service Director Drur\' quietly announced his resignation, forced, it seemed, by Secretarv' ofthe Interior Chapman.^^ Drur\- had been popular among the conserxation organizations. Unhappv both with the resignation and the manner inwhich ithad been achieved, thev forced a meeting with Chapman in February". In exchange for backing off the Drurs' affair, the conservationists won permission for the Park Service "to aid them in presenting further facts against Echo Park"^*^ Then relative peace returned, and the two sides remained quiet for the rest of 1951. DeVoto'sonly skirmish thatyearwas a November piece on Forest Service firefighters; he compared the huge cost of the Upper Colorado scheme to the small change needed to improve fire fighting units that saved billions each year

Meanwhile, other federal agencies were raising concerns of their own about the project, and Chapman was forced to reconsider. When he made his misgivings public in November 1951 conservationists suddenlv saw a glimmer of hope. The "not verv hopeful chance" of stopping the Echo Park dams that DeVoto had first talked about was now a real possibilitv

Proponents did not receive the news quite sowell. Michael Straus, commissioner of the Reclamation Bureau, lashed out at "the selfconstituted long distance protectors of Dinosaur National Monument . . . [in] their air-conditioned caves overlooking Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago, and Boston Commons in the adopted cin' of a transplanted western writer who has a tendency to forget his heritage . . . ."-^ Despite the rhetoric, the wheels of bureaucracy' continued to turn at their usual slow pace and no decision was made. De\'oto focused on other issues, notably the public lands debate, and found time for areturn visitto Utah in the spring of 1952. Another trip in 1953 fired him up sufficientlv to recommend in a tvpically blunt "Easv Chair" column that some national parks be closed and staff redistributed elsewhere until Congress appropriated enough money to do a proper job.-^

'*The mystery of Drur/s resignation was never fully resolved DeVoto, who unsuccessfully investigated the matter himself, described it as "an ugly situation" orchestrated so that no one could do anything about it DeVoto to Eugene Lee, May 17, 1951, DeVoto Papers

"Stratton and Sirotkin, Tlie Echo Park Controversy, p 51

^"Michael Straus, speech,July 20, 1951, cited inA^fliure(October 1951) in"Let's Be Fair, Mike," p. 425. His references were to John Baker, New York, Nationad Audubon Society; Bill Voight, Chicago, Izaak Walton League; and DeVoto

^'"Let's Close the Nadonal Parks," Harpefs (October 1953): 49-52

While his latest article gave no mention of Echo Park it certainly demonstrated the extent to which DeVoto could arouse public opinion and make his presence felt in the higher echelons of federal government. A flood of letters expressing concern over the decline ofthe park system soon reached President Dwight D Eisenhower, including one from John D. Rockefeller, Jr.^^ The mail prompted Eisenhower, who had only been in office sinceJanuary 1953, to send a memo to the new secretary ofthe Interior, Douglas McKay:

Recently Ihave been gettingcommunications from peoplewho seem to be genuinely concerned with what they believe to be the deterioration in our national parks Imust admit toaveryconsiderable ignorance in this field— but I am ofthe opinion that if we are actually neglecting them merely to save a relatively inconsequential amount of money, then we should take a second look.^^

McKay, a former Chevrolet dealer, had served in two wars before moving on to public office and the governorship of Oregon Conservationists werewary rather than concerned about him, for they knew little about his politics. But any hopes raised by the length of time he took to consider the Upper Colorado report were dashed in December 1953when hefinally recommended that President Eisenhower approve Echo Park and submit the bureau report to Congress.

Conservationists immediately launched a second publicity campaign. This time they focused on economics and also expanded their target to include the entire Upper Colorado project At the back of their minds was a forthcoming congressional election, which they hoped would force candidates to pick sides and either back down orjoin them. Bythe time theWhite House announced presidential backing for the Upper Colorado plan on March 20, 1954, the campaign was well underway with such notables as the New York Times now lending support to the conservationists.^"^

The protests also brought DeVoto back to the forefront after an absence oftwoyears During that period he had restricted his Echo Park campaign to behind-the-scenes activities, writing letters and lobbying on Capitol Hill. His return started off quietly with a February "Easy Chair" that simply informed the public of Secretary of the Interior McKay sdecision to approve the Dinosaur dams. But DeVotowas never

^^Rockefeller to Eisenhower, December 10, 1953, Dwight D Eisenhower Papers, Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas

^^Eisenhower to McKay, January 9, 1954, Eisenhower Papers

^^Stratton and Sirotkin, The Echo Park Controversy, pp 79-85; "No Dam at Dinosaur." New York Times, December 22, 1953, p 30

Bernard DeVoto and Echo Park81

a man to do things by half-measure The following month's column, entitled "Intramural Giveaway," contained a far more in-depth and critical analysis of how the federal government had reduced the Park Service to an agency "too weak to mcike itself felt" He concluded by questioning some recent internal revisions that threatened the job security ofall policy-making staff In hismind thiswasclearlyan attempt to gag NPS protesters.^^

DeVoto never gaveup his defense ot the National Park Service, l^or him, the Echo Park issue appeared to be less about what Dinosaur was and more about what it represented, namely the national parks and monuments. IfDinosaur was threatened, then sowas the entire system; he maintained this standpoint throughout the controversy. Indeed, itis worth noting that while he visited a number of Park Service sites on his 1953 trip there is no record of him ever having visited Dinosaur National Monument

"Intramural Giveaway" and related articles by other journalists with the popular news weeklies prompted a second deluge of midl to Congress. By the beginning of 1955 some ten thousand letters had arrived, even more than when the controversy had first peaked in 1950. The margin was 80:1 against Echo Park an impressive sign of support for the conservationists It must also have strengthened DeVoto's resolve, for despite having once been tarred asaleftist bySen.Joseph R McCarthy, he was an ardent fan ofAmerican democracy and knew full well the influence a fully aroused public could exert on government conservation policies.^^

He also understood the agenda-settingfunction ofthe press News media can playan activerole in sketchingan individual's dailypicture of the world, and, though they may have limited impact on attitudes and values, the media can certainly influence personal views of what is important and what isunimportant This directs public interest toward or away from an issue or event DeVoto chose to lead public attention toward Echo Park and in the process taught conservationists a lesson they never forgot, for themedia has sincebecome an invaluable, though sometimes abused, weapon in their arsen2d.^^

^^"Parks and Pictures," Harper's (February 1954): 12-17; "Intramural Giveaway," Harper's (March 1954): 10-16

^''"Sounds of Anguish from Echo Park," Life, February 22, 1954, pp. 45-56; "Dam and Dinosaurs," Newsiveek, Janwdiy 25, 1954, p 84; "Republican TVA for the West," U.S. News and World Report, April 2, 1954, pp 30-31

^^Maxwell McCombsand Donald Shaw, "The Agenda-setting Function of Mass Media," Public Opinion (fiiarlerly (Summer 1972): 176-87;James McEvoy III, "The American Public's Concern with \heEn\\ronn\eni,'" EnvironmentalC^ality Series No. 4 Davis: Institute of Government Affairs, University of Californiii, Davis, 1971) McEvoy discovered that the number of environment-related articles in periodicals rocketed after 1953

Of course, the publicity was not always in the same vein as "Intramural Giveaway." Working hard at proving DeVoto to be Public Enemy Number One, the Denver Post claimed that hewas being paid by the state of California in exchange for his opposition.^^ This was complete fabrication, for although Californians had joined DeVoto in opposing the dams, their concerns centered on the hkelihood of a shrinking water supply What the Denver Posfs repeated attacks did reveal was grudging respect for the effecdveness of DeVoto's campaign.

Amused by the claim, DeVoto was also disappointed with the newspaper's lack of insight and informed its pubfisher Palmer Hoyt, that Echo Parkwas more thanjust alocal or regional squabble itwas a nationsd emergency. He repeated his concern for the high subsidies that would be paid bytaxpayers in the East and Midwest for the project Sen. John F. Kennedy expressed similar sentiments a few months later, for which DeVoto was extremely grateful.^^

By the summer of 1954 attention had moved to a new topic: evaporation When Secretary ofthe Interior Chapman had first justified Echo Park on the basis ofitsevaporation savings, figures put forward by the Reclamation Bureau claimed that up to 350,000 acr^feet of water would be saved annually In late 1950 these figures were disputed by Ulysses S. Grant III ofthe American Planning and CivicAssociation. By May 1951 a figure of 300,000 acr^feet was being quoted. It then dropped to 114,000 acre-feet in March 1954 when a text error in a statement prepared by another bureau employee was revealed. One month later, it was down to 25,000 acre-feet, lessthan ten percent ofthe originalfigure. The blame once again was placed upon a bureau engineer's hastycalculations. Such consistent inconsistencies offered an irresistible target to DeVoto, who later applauded the critics for "pointing out what must be oversights, faulty slide-rules, or someone's inability to pass the semester exams for the Fourth Grade."^^

With the bureau's humiliation only adding to the controversy Congress wasforced toadjourn for the summerwithout avote. DeVoto, though, stillhad much towriteabout and produced ascathingarticle for Harpefs on the current state of conservation in the country. The title— "Conservation: Down and on theWay Out"—summed up the effects of

Richardson, Dams, Parks, and Politics, p 139

Ibid.; DeVoto to Kennedy, September 15, 1954, DeVoto Papers DeVoto, "And Fractions Drive Me Mad," Harper's (September 1954): 11 Marc Reisner recounts the story of how Olie Larson, the Bureau's regional director in Salt Lake City, was later presented with a rubber slide rule by some of his fellow engineers, for "stretching the truth at Echo Park," Reisner, Cadillac Desert {New Yorh Viking Press, 1986), pp 294-95

Bernard DeVoto and Echo Park83

what he felt was an attempt by the administration to reverse national conservation policies developed over seventy-five years The "business men in office, " he claimed, were only interested in appeasing the industrial corporation, and federal responsibility for the conservation of natural resources had now fallen into the hands of private enterprise.^^

Not surprisingly, he reserved his heaviest criticism for the Interior Department and especially Secretary^ McKay whom DeVoto saw as leading the policy reversal. This role later earned McKay the title of "giveaway emcee" from DeVoto.^^ More recent bones of contention between the pair included McKay's reference to conservationists as "punks" and an announcement that the Reclamation Bureau was to spend $21 mdlion on new roads and recreational facdities for Dinosaur. That decision constituted "a pique of cynicism," wrote DeVoto, when one compared itto the 1955 Park Service appropriations, which totalled less than $30 million. But while the decline ofthe park system was " a natioucd disgrace," it was still

a smaller evil than Mr McKay sapproval of Echo Park Dam Opening the parks to exploitation by the Bureau of Reclamation-—which in the semantics is "co-operation between federal and state governments"— makes only a matter of time their exploitation by any corporations which may want their water, water power, timber, minerals, or grass, and which have sufficient capital to impress a businessman in office.^^

The article was a major statement on American natural resource policies. Well written, up to-date, and wellinformed, it accurately synthesized the previous eight years' problems and issues, and especicdly those raised during the last eighteen months. DeVoto's comments on the "Business Administration" also revealed a president sadly lacking any real direction for or awareness of conservation.^*

September's "Easy Chair" attacked the planning, or lack thereof, for the Upper Colorado project The conservationist in DeVoto was never motivated purely by instinct and emotion —as awesterner he very

^'DeVoto, "Conservation: Down and on the Way Out," Harpefs (August 1954): 66-74.

^^DeVoto, "One-way Partnership Derailed," Harpefs (January 1955): 13.

^^DeVoto, "Conservation: Down and on the Way Out," p. 70.

^''Grahame Smith, Henry Steck, and Gerald Surette, Our Ecological Crisis {New York; Macmillan, 1974), p. 115. The Upper Colorado attracted few words from Eisenhower. Indeed, some believe he was personally unaware of the Echo Park controversy until very late in its development (Stratton and Sirotkin, The Echo Park Controversy, p 69) On the rare occasion when he did offer an opinion it was usually a simple statement supporting" the great dams in the mountains" (Public Papers ofthe Presidents ofthe United States [VJaishington, D.C.: GPO, 1955], p 331) A letter from Eisenhower to Everett Hazlett discusses Dinosaur National monument in terms of visitors—only 500 in 1953—which made the controversy seem ridiculous to the president (Robert Griffith, ed., Ike's Letters to a Friend, 1941-58 [Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1984], pp. 128-29).

well understood the need for a sustainable natural resource base. But technology had grown so powerful that schemes employing such technology were becoming permanent and irreversible. If a dam already constructed and inoperation waslater deemed unnecessary, the affected environment would take decades to return to its former condition, if it ever could Planners must therefore use caution and wisdom. Unfortunately, he argued, the Echo Park planners had not^^

The fall of 1954 was Congressional election time. Conservation proved to be an important political issue, with the Upper Colorado River Basin Project one of many such schemes generating public debate. The performance of the Democrats, who gained majorities in both houses, instilled great hope in DeVoto; and he was especially pleased with thevictories oftwo conservation allies, Richard Neuberger and Adlai E Stevenson His "Easy Chair" ofJanuary 1955 brimmed with confidence. The election results were as complete arepudiation ofthe Administration resources policy as could be achieved at a mid-term election We may reasonably expect that the forays against the national forests by the cowboys and the trade associations ofthe lumber manufacturers will be stopped even colder than they have been up to now, that the Bureau of Reclamation will be kept out of Dinosaur Monument, and that ahalf-dozen other current or planned raids on various national parks will get nowhere.... We know now both where the Administration stands and where the voters stand. It is possible to abandon the defensive policy of merely holding the line and to plan positively.^^

The conservationists took up his challenge. They too could sense victory, despite President Eisenhower's 1955 budget that called for appropriations for the dams. In April every congressman received a copy of This Is Dinosaur,a collection of essays published byAlfred Knopf that described the monument's natural splendors. DeVoto's "Easy Chair" in May responded to criticisms that the conservationists were depriving Navajo Indians ofa livelihood He described the Reclamation Bureau's successful attempts towin Navajo support for the dams in exchange for guaranteeing water for their lands while, in the meantime, another Interior agencywas looking atways to relocate them in order to gain access to uranium recently discovered on the reservation.^^

''^DeVoto to Wallace Bennett, August 15, 1950, DeVoto Papers; DeVoto, "And Fractions Drive Me Mad," pp 10-19

DeVoto, "Oneway Partnership Derailed," pp 13-14

^ Wallace Stegner, This Is Dinosaur (New York; Alfred A. Knopf, 1955). Knopf was another member ofthe National Parks Advisory Board See also DeVoto, "Current Comic Strips," Harpefs (Mav 1955): 9-15

The column continued in the same vein with another reference to the Interior secretary whose "left hand must protect the national parks from invasion while his right hand undermines the law that protects them." DeVoto clearly had no time for McKay, ashis refusal to sitat the same tablewith him confirms.^^ The repeated attacks directed at him by DeVoto and others were in some ways unfair, for, despite the rhetoric, McKay and his team had not inflicted that much damage. Their numerous attempts to resist pressure from the West "was, unfortunately, smothered by the publicity given to the administration's proposals and decisions onwater and power development"^^ But slight exaggeration, supplemented with occasional sarcasm, had always been one of DeVoto's favorite methods of attack and he was hardly likely to change itjust to save McKay's feelings.

In anycase, itseemed the secretary'sleft hand waswinning InJune the House Irrigation and Reclamation Subcomittee removed the Dinosaur dams from its authorization bill. Although Congress failed again to get afinalvote before adjourning for theyear, itmerely delayed the inevitable. On November 1, 1955, a group ofproject leaders met in Denver and agreed to drop Echo Parkfrom any further proposals. After five long years of fighting, the conservationists had won their battle.'^^

They also lost a friend. Bernard DeVoto died of a sudden heart attack less than two weeks after the good news, on November 13, 1955 He was 58 years old. "One of the great periodical influences for conservation," remembered one fellow writer, while another paid tribute to "one ofthe most illustrious conservationist who has lived in modern times.'"^^

Few, however, even acknowledged his role in the fight against the Dinosaur dams, let alone the importance of it Instead, they remembered his campaign against the landgrabbers, which gave him first recognition as a conservation writer and won him an honoray degree from the University ofColorado. Even today, historian Wallace Stegner still regards the landgrab fight as DeVoto's greatest achievement"^^ His

^''Stegner, The Uneasy Chair, p 439 n 12 Stegner describes how DeVoto refused a lunch invitation

^^Richardson, Dams, Parks, and Politics, p 113

'"ibid., p 150

""Howard Zahniser, "Nature in Print," Nature (April 1956): 172; Richard Neuberger, Congressional Record, 84ih Cong., 2d sess., II (February 16, 1956): 2620.

'^Stegner to author, November 2, 1987 Stegnerargued that DeVoto was forced to concentrate on earning money during 1953-55 and had little time to write any major articles on Echo Park Even before that he had preferred to lend support to the Forest Service rather than the NPS. Stegner concluded by saying that the Echo Park light was carried by the Sierra Club and David Brower

only significant contribution to Echo Park argues Stegner, was the Saturday Evening Post piece, which opened the controversy

with the precise arguments that would finally win it: that dams within a national park area would constitute an "impairment" of the kind specifically forbidden by the National Park Act, and that the cost-benefit figures ofthe bureaus, the economic justifications of main-stem dams, were open to the gravest doubt The Sierra Club and other conservation organizations would finally bringthosearguments home tothepublic, and thence to Congress, five years after DeVoto aired them in the PosL*^

It iscertainly true that the article setthe tone for the ensuing battle

It is also true that David Browefs Sierra Club helped take DeVoto's battle cry to the American public at large. But by targeting a different audience, one with education and influence, the "Easy Chair" proved just as effective over the years. A Pulitzer Prize-winning author was far more likely to spark the interest of such readers than a Sierra Club flyer in themail box, especially since DeVoto regularly devoted hiscolumn to the controversy during its most critical periods, with nine "Easy Chair" pieces during 1950-51 and 1954-55 His method succeeded, too, as witnessed by those congressmen who used his articles as part of their debates. Of course, some only presented his articles as evidence ofthe conservationists' supposed ignorance, but even this indicates DeVoto's stature. The Upper Colorado project proponents might not have agreed with him, but they undoubtedly respected him as one of the leading figures in Echo Park"^"^

So would the one hundred and fifty thousand people who visit Dinosaur National Monument today were they to hear the full story about Echo Park Instead, though, historians continue to ignore the contribution of a transplanted western writer who, some thirty years earlier, had mobilized an entire national movement to savethe canyon But anonymity would never have bothered Bernard DeVoto, so long as at least one Dinosaur escaped extinction.

'""Glenn

Miscellaneous Publication No 19 (Syracuse, N.Y.: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1!

""^Stegner, The Uneasy Chair, p 314

Sandiford, Ecfw Park: The Forgotten Contribution of Bernard DeVoto, Faculty of Forestry

Thematically organized, Milton R Merrill's study of Reed Smoot"s senatorial career is an outstanding addition to the growing body of scholarly literature on Utah and Mormon history. It is not a biography Neither is it the narrowly conceived composition one would expect considering it was Merrill's 1950 Columbia University dissertation Confined to Smoot's years in the United States Senate, 1903-33, it is an inquiry into theworkofonewho was both ageneral authority ofthe Mormon church and a national political leader The book isprefaced byan appreciative reminiscence written by M Judd Harmon, acolleague and friend of Merrill's at Utah State University Political and historical perspectives are provided in an introduction by F Ross Peterson, director of the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at USU

The first of Merrill's seven long chapters on Smoot's political years focuses on the famous investigation conducted by the Senate into whether he should be expelled from Congress because of his apostleship in the Mormon church and that organization's alleged misdeeds. Smoot's motives for submitting to the ordeal—his vaunting ambition and belief that he was divinely called to the work—are emphasized byMerrill again and again. Considering the insults endured by the senator and his wife at the time, any-

thing less would not have sustained him Of course, Smoot also received crucial support from LDS President Joseph F Smith and well-placed Republicans like President Theodore Roosevelt Most important, the hearing acted as a furnace in which Smoot's allegiances were given a steel-like temper. Loyalties forged by the experience never faltered and dominated the senator's thinking on every issue confronting him throughout his long career As Merrill put it, they became a trinity never to be questioned: Mormonism, Americanism, and the Republican party

One of the book's most interesting features is its illumination of controversies within the LDS leadership over the church's backing of the senator Somewere strongly opposed to Smoot's views and to the propriety of an apostle attempting to honor political and ecclesiastical commitments at the same time. The question never troubled Smoot who saw both roles as complementary sides of his special mission. The unwavering support given by Joseph F. Smith and Presiding Bishop Charles W Nibley (including financial contributions) was of central importance Even HeberJ Grant, who sometimes criticized the senator (especially in connection with Smoot's scripturebased arguments against the League of Nations) endorsed continuation ofthe

Reed Smoot: Apostle in Politics. By MILTON R MERRILL (Logan: Utah State University Press and Department of Pohtical Science, 1990 xx + 426 pp $37.50.)

apostle in Washington after Smith died and Grant replaced him as head ofthe church. Not only did Smoot, public statements tothe contrary, consider the church and its First Presidency his primary loyalty, but the church's president, especiallyJoseph F. Smith, looked upon Smoot's senatorship asan instrument for furthering the work of the Lord.

Despite a reputation for principle, Smoot was quite capable of political calculation He opposed Prohibition during his first and second terms so as to neutralize claims by the American party that the church dominated Utah politics After 1916,when theAmerican party had faded, heJoined the juggernaut of liquor reform.

Smoot saw no irony in the fact that those supporting censorship provisions in his 1929 tariff billwere in many cases the same groups that stomped and shouted for his dismissal from the Senate because of Mormon polygamy. Neither was there any moral flinching when he opposed bonus payments for World War I soldiers while fiercely seeking benefits for the veterans of Utah's Indian wars, even when only a few days ofservicehad been given And as a member of the World War Debt Funding Commission in the 1920s, Smoot adamantly pressed for repayment by foreign nations of their war debt while, more than anyone else, erecting a tariff program that made repayment nearly impossible

It is doubtful the senator troubled over such contradictions. Merrill's study suggests itisdoubtful hewaseven aware they existed The success that came his way, especially during the years of Republican ascendancy in the 1920s, seemed only to confirm Smoot in his belief that God was on his side. How else could one interpet the pres-

ident of the United States (Harding) summoning the senator at night to administer to and pray for his ailing wife.^ Why elsewould Smoot have been made chairman ofthe powerful Senate Finance Committee in 1923.^ What other reasons accounted for the enormous prestige he acquired both at home and with international leaders and governments.^ As Merrill points out, he had no patience for those who searched for consistency or troubled with moral juxtapositions. For Smoot, all was answered in his allegiances to God, the flag, and protectionism

Smoot spoke before his colleagues in the Senate chamber infrequendy, preferring to direct his energies through committee channels. When he did speak Merrilltells, us, hisremarks were notable for want ofeloquence and were delivered in such whispered tones that he was unlikely to have been heard beyond thenextdesk Atthesame time, none was more regular in attendance, none more ably armed with data and statistics to support his point of view, and none more abstemious in personal lifestyle

It is no surprise that the senator's reputation asboth apolitical power and an exemplar of his church acquired formidable proportions The machine he built, "the federal bunch," atrophied after successful reelection to a third term when his national image rendered political grubbing at the local level unnecessary. And his role as the representative of Mormonism in the nation's capital led him to ask that no Mormon missionaries be sent to the Washington, D.C., area.

When the apostle-senator was defeated byElbertThomas in 1932 hewas stunned Noone hadworked harder for Utah than he Andjoseph F Smith, the Mormon prophet, had once predicted

Book Reviews and Notices89

Smoot would never be "driven" from office

In addition to its splendid scholarship, Merrill's book is rich with quotable observation and careful insight It deserves a place on the shelf of every

student of Mormon culture and Utah's political past

B CARMON HARDY California State University Futterton

FrontierFiddler: TheLife ofa NorthernArizona Pioneer, Kenner C. Kartchner Edited by LARRY V. SHUMWAY (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1990. xxv-b 280 pp. $27.50.)

This is the autobiography of a Mormon country fiddler during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Given its diminishing emphasis on Kartchner's later years and conditions in turn-of-the-century northern Arizona it is appropriately named Its prose is strong and colorful, highlighting Kartchner's self confidence, the verve of his ways, and his love of who and what he was His story is touching, enlightening, and broad gauged. Among other things it deals with Mormon pioneering, railroad subcultures, cattle ranching, shearing circuits, logging camps, Mexican towns, haberdasheries in Salt Lake City, and a distinguished career in forestry and resource management in Arizona and New Mexico as well as with violins, dancing entertainment, and an indigenous folk arc

The book's focus on folk music will give it regional and national significance among folklorists and local historians Born to the fiddle, Kartchner began playing on a patched-up instrument early in childhood in the Mormon town of Snowflake and fiddled his way through his youth, his early maturity, and hisadvanced years From the time he was sixteen his was an adventure carried by musical gifts, melody, rhythm, and hearty good fellowship The scenes ofhis development were Mormon socials, ranchhouse renditions, saloon hoedowns, wed-

dings, pioneer celebrations, and most of all small town dances

Early on he was fortunate in his association with Claude Youngblood, another self-trained Snowflake fiddler. Youngblood inspired the younger man and became his partner in a duet performance that was enthusiastically received by northern Arizona dancers Together they toured by horseback buckboard, and occasionally the Santa Fe Railroad to one- and two-night stands throughout a vast but sparsely populated region. More footloose than his older companion, Kartchner also played at railroad towns along two hundred miles of the Santa Fe, in Mogollon Rim lumber camps, at central Arizona mining towns, and in shearing camps from Phoenix to Montana He also studied formally at Salt Lake City for three years. Altogether, it broadened his preception, tuned his ear, enhanced his skills, and enlarged his repertoire During his middle years his playing lapsed somewhat, except for joyous reunions with Youngblood and family get-togethers with his musically gifted brothers and sisters Late in life he got into fiddle competitions and was discovered by folklorists. Southern influences were strong in the background of his family and in northern Arizona's range and timber lands The southern connection touched Kartchner's fiddling and the dancing habit ofa region until changing times

and radio altered tastes in the years around 1930.

Ifmanywill redidFrontierFiddler {or its contributions to fiddling, some will read itas Mormon and western history As an account of frontier life it compares favorably with classic accounts such as Teddy BlueAbbott's We Pointed Them North- Recollections ofa Cowpunctier (1939); CharlieSiringo's/1 Texas Cowboy; or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Decli ofa Spanish Cow Pony {\%%5)\ and in Kartchner's home regions, Apacties & Longfioms: The Reminiscences of Witt C. Barnes (1936); andjoseph Schmedding's Cowboy and Indian Trader (1951); or in forestry, Paul H. Bailey's HoofPrints on Forest Ranges (1963) In terms of Mormons in Arizona, Kartchner also keeps good company, takingaplacewith such excellent memoirs asJoseph Fish, The Life and Time of Joseph Fish, Mormon Pioneer (1970); James Jennings, The Freight Rotted (1969); and Leora Schuck Leora's Quest- Lakeside and Beyond (1970).

In his moments of rebellion, in his joy in music and roughneck fun, and in his movement from Snowflake's backwaters into resource administration, Kartchner reflects the Americanization

of Mormon society at perhaps a more fundamental levelthan do the abolition of polygamy and the withdrawal ofthe Mormon church from pohtics. In his affinity for fun, in his individualistic response to the social forces around him, and in his tendency to move beyond the mores of Mormon country yet maintain close ties with it, Kartchner was among the earliest of the Mormons who would scatter across the United States in the twentieth century If, asWallaceStegner haswritten, home is the place from which you take the most, Snowflake and its surroundings were home Drawing from the influences he observed as surely as he did the fiddle music he heard, Kartchner reflected the period into which his people moved

FrontierFiddler isagood book worthy for its central figure, for its description ofcultural change aswellasfolk music's regional growth Finally, it is worthy, too, for the able edidng of Kartchner's grandson Larry V Shumway and the University of Arizona Press

The Bozeman Trail was published in 1922, nearly seventy years ago In the intervening years research has added considerably to our knowledge of the subjects covered. However, much of the later research and writing used as its foundadon the informadon contained in this work

This edition has an excellent introduction by John D. McDermott and contains the introduction written by Gen. Charles King for the first edition. McDermott places these books in their

proper perspective He makes the point that the chapters were written as separate essays and were combined to form the books. This explains the somewhat disjointed manner in which the material is presented.

The authors' main theme concerns the events that occurred in the area east ofthe Big Horn Mountains and north of the North Platte River during the years 1865-68

This area, principally in the Powder River drainage, became the main arena

CHARLES S PETERSON St. George

The Bozeman Trail By GRACE RAYMOND HEBARD and E A BRINLNSTOOL 2 vols (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 xx + 650 pp Paper $22.90.)

ofconflict for theSioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians who fought the white man The land abounded in game, especially buffalo The Sioux considered it their prime hunting ground In addition, itwas far from the hated emigrant trail along the North Plattewhere game had become difficult to obtain.

These Indians by both treaty and conquest occupied this last great hunting ground They had been pushed this far and decided to be pushed no farther.

The discovery of gold in what is now Montana and eastern Idaho and the fact that the shortest and topographically easiest route to the gold fields ran right through this pristine area set the stage for conflict

Three forts were built on the Bozeman TraiL Fort Reno, Fort Phil Kearney, and Fort C. F. Smith.

Many fights occurred The authors give special attendon to the Wagon Box Fight, the Hay Field Fight, and the Fetterman Massacre (Fight)

The Fetterman Fight is better handled in later works that use interviews with the Indian pardcipants. Like the Battle of the Little Big Horn a decade later, controversy continues as to the events that transpired.

These fights, and others, led to withdrawal of the army, the abandonment

of the three forts, and their immediate burning by the Indians

The authors havewritten extensively about the routes of the Oregon, the Overland, and the Bozeman trails with maps ofeach Gen Patrick E Connor's Powder River Expedition is discussed as well as the Platte Bridge Fight

They have chapters devoted to Jim Bridger, John (Portugee) Phillips, and Red Cloud, as well as descriptions of Fort Laramie and the three forts on the Bozeman Trail.

The authors' handling ofthe Indian side of the conflict is almost nonexistent; at best, it is very unsympathedc Only in the discussion of Red Cloud do the authors allow a favorable impression ofthe army's Indian opponents

Thegreat valueofthiswork isthat the authors wrote at a time when participants in many of the events were still alive Many first-hand accounts are included; some of these eyewitness accounts were written at the request of the authors and were published for the first time in this work. Particularly exciting is the story of the Wagon Box Fight by SgL Samuel Gibson Jim Bridger also comes alive in the many descriptions of those who knew him.

The Union Pacific Railroad utilized a number of photographers during its corporate life, especially in its early years, such asAndrewJ. Russell and his associates and Charles R Savage of Salt Lake City, to mention two. This railroad iswell chronicled and its "official" and "semi-official" photographers

have become quitewell known for their work regarding the UP

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad also employed a full-time official photographer from 1898 until 1935, one George L. Beam; yet, outside of his own railroad and some professional photographic circles, his name is

ALBERT M. COOK Salt Lake City

(korge L Beam and the Denver & Rio Grande. Volumes 1 and 2 By JACKSON C THODE (Denver Sundance Publication, Ltd., 1986, 1989 280 pp $27.00.)

virtually unknown Jackson C Thode, a long-time Rio Grande employee and well-recognized historian of the railroad, has done an outstanding service in rescuing Beam from obscurity

Volume 1, published in 1986, contains 280 pages with 275 photos, and deals exclusively with the Colorado end of the line, standard and narrow gauge

Volume 2, published in 1989, displays 250 Beam photos on 280 pages, and begins by describing the narrowgauge lines southwest from Pueblo to the mining districts around Durango and Silverton Inasmuch as most ofthe operations and track mileage ofthe Rio Grande Railroad are located in Colorado, most books written about this railroad place much mor e emphasis on the Colorado end of this orginally twostate regional rail line This work is no exception in that the photographer did spend the great bulk of his time in the area between Denver and Grand Junction, between Denver and Pueblo, and on the narrow-gauge portions of the line in the central and southwestern areas of that state. Chapters 8 through 12 are of particular interest to Utah residents, however, as they show the photos taken ofthe Rio Grande as well as the Western Pacific Railroad in Utah. Chapter 7 cdso discusses the narrowgauge Uintah Railway, a part of which operated in the Uinta Basin of Utah Early construction projects and city scenes including pictures of streetcars in Salt Lake City and Ogden are well documented Beam has recorded many

superb views of trains at Castle Gate, Soldier Summit, Park City, Bingham Canyon, and the Bonneville Salt Flats H e even ventured out to Saltair and photographed the Salt Lake & Los Angeles Railroad, the Saltair line Only Springville photographer George Edward Anderson photographed more Rio Grande Railroad action in Utah

Because these two volumes are essentially photograph albums exhibiting the considerable photographic talents and eye of a master photographer, the historical narrative is in the form of captions to the pictures. Most of the photos fill half or two-thirds of a page, and the extensively researched and well-written captions describe not only each particular photo but also discuss the history surrounding the event depicted and its reladonship with the state or the railroad, etc

Despite the fact that slightly less than half of volume 2 deals with the state of Utah, the distinctive text in the form of photo captions mztkes this volume a worthwhile investment for those who enjoy good photography and an unusual treatment of a segment of Utah railroading And the price of $27.00 for a hardboun d book of 280 pages with some 250 photos is certainly not out of order In addition, one also acquires the railroad photography ofthe scenic beauty of southwestern Colorado Procuring volume 1 would complete the photographic histor\' ofthe Rio Grande

STEPHEN L CARR Hotladay, Utah

Most of the "new urban history" focuses on people and demographic patterns, with quantification frequently being a key lactor in the story. UNLV

Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930-1970. By EUGENE P MOEHRING (Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1989 xxi + 329 pp $26.95.)

Department of History chair Eugene Moehring's study is a more traditional approach to urban history, tracing the historical development of Las Vegas and itssuburbs inalargely institutional sense, with emphasis on economics, politics, and urban infrastructure

Moehring explains that he has no desire to add to the large number of works for a popular audience that either portray Las Vegas zts a "'fun in the sun' tourist mecca" or serve up "searing exposes" ofMafia influence in the community His thesis is that Las Vegas is not so exceptional a place, being economically and politically similar to sunbelt cities such as Phoenix and SanAntonio and toresort citieslike Miami Beach and Honolulu.

Resort City in the Sunbelt focuses on the four decades from the building of Hoover Dam and the legalization of casino gambling in Nevada to the compleuon ofthe MGM Grand Hotel, with a prologue that tells of LasVegas's earlier history asaMormon colony and later as a railroad town, as well as an epilogue that follows some of Moehring's themes into the late 1980s. Professor Moehring offers eight chapters that chronicle the impact of federal spending as a "trigger" for the growth of modern LasVegas, the history ofthe casinoindustry, theestablishment ofan urban infrastructure in an area that became home to several competing municipalities, the trials and accomplishments of local government (including the stubborn refusal of several large tracts to be annexed), the civil rights era ofthe 1960s, and the effort to attract alternative industries to the Las Vegas area

Of particular interest isthe impact ol the gambling industry on efforts to build a solid urban infrastructure and to diversify the local economy. Moeh-

ring describes the casino owners as eager for the blessings of municipal development but reluctant to pay any more than absolutely necessary for the construction of such amenities. While that hardly sets them apart from major property owners in other American cities, Moehring also notes that at least until the establishment of casino gambling inAdantic City, the presence of the gambling industry in Las Vegas led light industry and high-tech businesses to locate in Phoenix and other sunbelt cities instead of Nevada.

Also of interest are how water has been provided for a rapidly growing city in the desert; the efforts to establish a branch ofthe University of Nevada in Las Vegas, both as a service to the local residents and as a lure to attract hightech industr)'; and the development of transporation facilities, particularly the interstate highway system and a modern airport Likewise, the"boomtown" mentality common to Las Vegas developers as well as its residents in general, reminiscent of western patterns of the previous century, is a significant thread in Moehring's tale

Though Moehring notes that the work is not a comprehensive history of Las Vegas, the average reader may well wish that he had discussed in greater detail the roleoforganized crime in the ownership and operation of the Las Vegas casinos, as well as the general challenges facing law-enforcement officers in a gambling town. Moehring often refers to the"alleged" mob tiesof certain developers and then lapses into a discreet silence. He may prefer togive his attention to topics previously ignored by other writers, but the result is likewritingahistoryofCalifornia in the late nineteenth century without considering the influence of the riulroad barons

Asnoted earlier, Eugene Moehring's purpose is to place the history of modern Las Vegas in a comparative context Whether he succeeds in persuading readers that Las Vegas is more like other major southwestern metropolitan areas than not is something each must decide, but certainly Moehring has endeavored to present a balanced, if generally upbeat, picture of

the city where he lives and works Las Vegas residents and students ofwestern American urban life will find his book rewarding; the casual reader will enjoy the sections about casino history but will likely find the discussion of other urban developments a bit heavy going.

GORDON IRVING Bountiful, Utah

This is the fifth dde in the University of Utah's Mormon Studies Series It isa solid and unique contribudon that serious scholars of the Mormon experience willwant to read A reworking of Cooper's University of Chicago doctoral dissertation in anthropology, it is not a narrative history but rather a discussion of the theological and mythological glue that has held the Mormon community sodghdy together. His approach is not one of what happened, but rather how it worked His premise is that the unusual degree of LDS group cohesion can be explained by its system of religious covenants, now primarily found in temple ordinances. This book examines the nineteenth-century conceptual development and applicadon of that covenant system.

Cooper begins with a discussion of the covenant systems of New England Puritans in the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay Colony. His purpose is not to establish any direct historical influences on Mormonism In his own words, he uses analogy rather than genealogy. He then moves to a discussion of the emergence of Mormonism during the Second Great Awakening in rural New York and the forces that created it He compares

these with the English experience which shaped the Puritans In this chapter he traces the Joseph Smith family history and suggests that they may have been aquainted with the New England Puritan covenant system

The discussion ofthe LDS covenant system is viewed in three separate chronological experiences First there was the Christian communalism ofthe law of consecration, with a millennial gathering justification, mosdy in Missouri during 1830-38 With the failure of that economic covenantal system and expulsion from Missouri came the development of a priesthood-based patriarchal order intheNauvoo period

The Old Testament story of Abraham becomes increasingly important as a model Plural marriage becomes a part ofthe LDSbelief system The construcdon of a second temple brought the development ofspecial ordinamces that emphasize family systems and work for the dead. Finally, there is a discussion of the patriarchal order and Mormon group cohesion in the post-Nauvoo period—iniual evolution in the highly organized western migration staging camps and full development in the Great Basin primarily under Brigham YoungandJohn Taylor This chapter is especially interestinginitsdiscussion of

Promises Made to the Fathers: Mormon Covenant Organization By REX EUGENE COOPER (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990. x + 235 pp. $30.00.)

how ecclesiastical authority eclipsed civil authority in the Mormon religious kingdom, the now all-but-extinct second anointings ordinance and the common practice of adoption through ordinance sealings toprominent churchmen where no biological relationship existed. (Wilford Woodruff brought an end to the latter pracdce in the early 1890s.) He also contrasts Great Basin United Order efforts, a purely economic joining, with the earlier law of consecration where the religious implications were much more complete. In the last brief chapter Cooper explains the substantial scaling down of this system to allow the Mormon community to survive the increasing hostility of the secular world He argues that these were substantial modifications but not a wholesale dismantUng

His position is that the Mormon covenant system is very much alive and is sdll the glue that holds the community together

This is a very interesting and provocative book Much of what Cooper uses is available from other readings, but he has integrated that with numerous primary sources in a complete and understandable way A great many things I did not previously understand were made clear bythisvolume Itisnot a work for the beginning student of Mormon history and experience, but serious scholars will find it very good reading He has done an excellent job of putting things in context

KEN DRIGGS Tallahassee, Florida

Since Washington Irving romanticized John Jacob Astofs Pacific Fur Company in Astoria, western historians have been fascinated by the epic journeys and efforts of those fur traders Most professors of western history teach the fur trade's political ramifications in the quest for the Pacific Northwest In Astoria and Empire, James Ronda details Astofs dreams of creadng for the United States an empire in that region that would start with fur trade.

Ronda does an outstanding job of bringing to life the efforts of the politically astute Astor who desired much more than to upstage the Northwest Company by establishing a fur trade post on the Columbia He notes that in meeting with President Jefferson, Albert Gallatin, James Madison, and other key figures, Astor advanced the idea that an empire was there for the

taking. By using fur trade as a foundadon, he hoped national power and frontier peace could be achieved and money be made in the lucrative trade for northwestern furs and subsequent trade in Canton and Russia Undaunted by the enormity of his task Astor doggedly pursued his goal with political intrigue, playing the Canadian "Northwesterns" against their British government and British against Russian interests, and still keeping his financial interests in line with a desire to assist the United States in acquiring a continent

Ronda then outlines the formation of the Pacific Fur Company and the setdng in modon of Astor's dreams with the sailing of the Tonquin for the mouth ofthe Columbia Soon to follow were the overland Astorians and their ill-fated trek across the condnent

Astoria and Empire. ByjAMEsP. RONDA (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. xiv + 400 pp. $25.00.)

headed by Wilson Price Hunt Life at Astoria isdetailed with attention paid to significant Indian relations, outreach posts, and fears of conquest with the outbreak of the War of 1812 Ronda concludes withAstofs several attempts to keep his venture, his vain struggle to recover Astoria once lost to the British, and finally a legacy of the Astorians

Astoria and Empire was written for those familiar with western history. In several ways the style will alienate and possibly confuse those who do not know the Astorians' story There is a breakdown in chronology when Hunt and the overland Astorians arrive at the Columbia and Ronda digresses to detail the building ofthe fort Likewise the destruction of the Tonquin is mentioned three times prior to telling the story, and, finally, in discussing the legacy of Astoria, Ronda mentions the

geographical and natural history contributions of Robert Stuart during his journey eastward from Astoria to St Louis but never chronicles the trip.

Ronda's thesis focuses on the potential for empire. He does asuperb job of unraveling the intriguing shadow world in which Astoria was conceived but then fails to connect Astoria with events that could have further strengthened that argument, such as the Br^ish government's forced merger of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest companies, the Beaver Desert policies ofthe 1820s and 1830s, and finally, the division ofthe Pacific Northwest at the 49th Parallel in 1846

JOHN D BARTON Uintah Basin Education Center Utah State University

Many town histories in Utah were published in the 1940s as projects of local camps of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Although these compilations remain useful as repositories of information not readily available elsewhere, they are dated. Most of them emphasize the pioneer settlement period and provide litde or no context for or interpretation of events.

In the 1980s many new town histories appeared, and the 1990s began auspiciously for local history with this volume. Richard Van Wagoner's history of Lehi looks at the broad sweep of the city's history from Paleo-Indian dmes to the latest plans of the city council in a well written opening section that gives readers an overview of Lehi history The author places events in this Utah Valley community in the larger context of state, national, and even international events such as the Great Depression and the Vietnam

Lehi: Portraits ofa Utah Town By RICHARD S. VAN WAGONER. (Lehi: Lehi City Corporation, 1990 x + 469 pp.)

War, packing a lot of historical data into a highly readable format

Subsequent sections treat such topics as municipal government religion, commerce, industry, entertainmen t etc , but with a difference Van Wagoner uses the topical approach to history skillfully He draws his information from a wide range of sources (appropriately documented) and, again, sets the building of a store or a brickyard into a broader, often interpretive context As a result, the accounts are informative and engaging, full of facts and figures, people and places, and intriguing details such as neighbors might exchange over a backyard fence

The books is beaudfully printed and bound, a reflection ofthe author's and publisher's care Both Van Wagoner and Lehi City should be proud of this excellent community history It could serve as a model for other aspiring town historians

Sagebrush Soldier: Private William Earl Smith's View ofthe Sioux War of1878. By SHERRY L SMITH, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989 xviii + 158 p p $18.95.)

Sagebrush Soldier offers an unusual view of the Indian Wars, that of an enlisted man Earl Smith's diary details daily camp life, battles, and an ordinary soldier's preoccupation with day-today comfort and survival Additionally, to provide a more accurate picture of the Sioux War and pardcularly the Powder River Expedition, the author incorporates many other contemporary accounts in an effort to present a balanced history and a more comprehensive view—one that looks at both military and Indian accounts, officers and enlisted men, Indian allies and enemies

Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak By LAURA COLTELLI (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 x + 211 p p $22.50.)

Ever since the cultural sensitivity of the 1960s, Nadve American authors have received increasing attention for their efforts to help readers understand the significance of the Indian experience Winged Words is one of a number of recent works that focus on these writers Based on a collection of interviews with eleven literary figures, the book includes conversations with people like Scott Momaday, Leslie Silko, Simon Ortiz, and James Welch Sdll in the quesdon/response format of the interview, it explores what makes Indian writers different from other authors, how their cultural experience affects their perception, and the way they view non-Indian critics as evaluators of their labors

The book's strength depends heavily upon the responses ofthe interviewees, some being more articulate than others Readers who are familiar with contemporary Indian literature will enjoy the creadve insights given by writers in the field. The text is particularly helpful to teachers of this topic who want to know how authors view their experiences and works

A TimetoKilL- Reflections on War By DENNY ROY, GRANT P SKABELUND, and RAY C HILLAM. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990 xiii + 288 pp Paper, $12.95.)

This volume chronicles the war experiences of sixty men, almost exclusively Mormon and primarily Utahns. Most of the men are World War 11 and Viet Nam veterans, though representatives of World War I and the Korean

War are included A one-paragraph biographical sketch is provided as a footnote for each informant Organized thematically, the book examines seven areas of the war experience: going to war, combat on the ground, combat in the air, killing and being killed, over there, captivity, and leadership The accounts are often dramatic, moving, and provide an intimate glimpse of war for the individual participant

Cavalier in Buckskin George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier

Waterlity. By ELLA CARA DELORIA (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 xii + 244 pp Paper, $8.95.)

Deloria, a Sioux who translated many old Sioux texts and worked closely with noted anthropologists Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, wrote this novel of Indian life in the 1940s, but it was not published until 1988 when the first hard-cover edition appeared.

An"accomphshed ethnologist, [she] sought to record and preserve traditional Sioux ways through this imaginative re-creation of life in the camp circle. It is of special value because it is told from a woman's perspective—one that is much less well known than the warrior's or the holy man's."

Deloria's delightful and detailed exposition ofthe complex web of Sioux kinship ties, with the rhythms of daily life and the annual cycle of events as counterpoints, tells the reader "more fully and compellingly than any ethnological report" what itwaslike to bea Sioux woman in the period of earliest white contact Deloria is a fine storyteller, and her novelwillengage readers who cannot get past the opening paragraph of an ethnological report

By

ROBERT M UTLEY

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. xvii + 226 pp. $19.95.)

Robert M. Utley, former chief historian and assistant director of the National Park Service, explores Custer the man as well as the myth that surrounds him. Custer first appeared as the "Boy General" of Civil War fame, proving a superlative combat leader despite his youth He is best known, however, as a premier Indian fighter, hunter, plainsman, cavalier, and celebrated author.

Utley paints the general as a man of contradictions who was constantly involved in a struggle between boy and man, a struggle Custer never fully resolved Shown in the biography for the first time are Custer's obsession with money that fueled shady business deals and possibly fraudulent kickback schemes and a solid marriage that nonetheless, after some stormy interludes, accommodated infidelities

One Man's Search- Addresses by Obert C. Tanner (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989 xx + 323 pp $25.00.)

Obert C Tanner is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Utah, founder and chairman of the board ofthe O C Tanner Company, as well an author, civic leader, statesman, and philanthropist This volume is a collection ofaddresses hegavewhile on the faculty at the University of Utah The addresses he selected for this volume deal with contemporary problems: world peace, truth and education, religion, freedom and democracy, and values.

Exploring the Fremont. By DAVID B. MADSEN (Salt Lake City: Utah Museum of Natural History, University of Utah, 1989 xiv + 70 pp Paper, $12.00.)

Produced as an exhibit catalog, Exploring the Fremont is handsomely designed and printed and, more important, provides an excellent introducdon to these enigmatic people who lived in the eastern Great Basin and western Colorado Plateau country from about A.D. 650 to 1250. State archaeologist David B Madsen does a fine job of presenting the Fremont people to a layaudience. Thetextgivesreaders alot of information about but no final jmswersto the Fremont; welearn much about them, but they remain hauntingly illusive. The illustrations of artifacts and sites add to our understanding Anyone interested in Utah's prehistoric peoples will want this book; it is much more than an exhibit catalog.

Blueprint for the Environment: A Plan for Federal Action

Edited by T. ALLAN CoMR (Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1989. xiv, 335 pp. Paper, $13.95.)

Blueprint for the Environment is the result ofa conference held byAmerica's environmental community to develop new approaches to environmental issues Some of the organizations included in the conference were the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Oceanic Society Fearful that Americans were already becoming immune to the cries of impending environmental disaster

and acknowledging the need for positive federal government involvement, these leaders decided to develop a specific new agenda for domestic and international action.

The book contains 511 approaches to national environmental problems, each one targeted toward a specific concern best addressed by the federal government Each blueprint recommendadon is contained on a single sheet of paper and is directed to a specific assistant secretary or administrator within a specific Cabinet office. Included are such issues as Forest Service planning, range mangement, pesticides, pollution, nuclear energy, food safety, watersheds and minerals, greenways and rivers

Geronimo and the End ofthe Apache Wars. Edited byC. L SONNICHSEN.(Lincoln: University ofNebraska Press, 1990 v + 136 pp Paper, $6.95.)

First published in 1986 by the Arizona Historical Society, this paperback reprint commemorates one ofthe most significant events in the history of the southwest—the surrender of Naiche, the hereditary Chiricahua chief, and Geronimo, the Apache shaman and war leader, to Gen. Nelson A. Miles on the Mexican border on September 4, 1886 It was the end of an era for both whites and Indians. The documents and articles included herein shed light on the personalities and events that changed the course ofArizona history Perhaps the most interesting of these is editor Sonnichsen's retrospective piece "From Savage to Saint A New Image for Geronimo."

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION

The Wa/!//w/on(;a/Quar/er/y(ISSN0042-143X) ispublished quarterly bytheUtah StateHistorical Society, 300 RioGrande, Salt LakeCity, Utah, 84101 The editor isMaxJ Evansand the managing editor is Stanford J Layton with offices at the same address as the publisher The magazine is owned by the Utah State Historical Society, and no individual orcompany ownsor holds any bonds, mortgages, orother securities of the Society or its magazine.

The following figures are the average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 3,447 copies printed; 119 paid circulation; 2,732 mail subscriptions; 2,851 total paid circulation; 269 free distribudon including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,120 total distribution; 327 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing, total 3,447

The following figures are the actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,350 copies printed; 78 paid circulation; 2,699 mail subscriptions; 2,777 total paid circulation; 272 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means;3,049 total distribution; 301 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing, total, 3,350

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History

BOARD OF STATE HISTORY

DEAN L MAY, Salt Lake City, 1991 Chairman

MARILYN CONOVER BARKER, Salt Lake City, 1993 Vice-chairman

MAXJ EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary

DOUGLAS D ALDER, SL George, 1993

THOMAS G ALEXANDER, Provo, 1991

LEONARDJ ARRINGTON, Salt Lake City, 1993

BOYD A BLACKNER, Salt Lake City, 1993

J ELDON DORMAN, Price, 1991

HUGH C GARNER, Salt Lake City, 1993

PETER L Goss, Salt Lake City, 1991

AMYALLEN PRICE, Salt Lake City, 1993

JERRY WYLIE, Ogden, 1993

ADMINISTRATION

MAXJ EVANS, Director

WILSON G MARTIN, Associate Director

PATRICIA SMITH-MANSFIELD, y4««tani Director

STANFORDJ LAYTON, Maruiging Editor

DAVID B MADSEN, State Archaeologist

The Utah State Historical Society was organized in 1897 bypublic-spirited Utahns tocollect, preserve, and publish Utah and related history Today, under state sponsorship, theSociety fulfills itsobligationsby publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials: colleaing historic Utah artifacts; locating, documenting, and preserving historic and prehistoric buildings and sites; and maintaining a specialized research library Donadons and gifts to the Society's programs, museum, oritslibrary are encouraged, for only through such means can it live up toits responsibility ofpreserving therecord of Utah's past

This publication has been funded with the assistance ofa matching grant-in-aid from the Department ofthe Interior, National Park Service, under provisions ofthe National Historic Prpservation Actof 1966 as amended.

This program receivesfinancialassistance for identification and preservation ofhistoric propenies under Tide VI ofthe Civil Rights Act of1964 andSection 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of1973 The U.S Department ofthe Interior prohibits discrimination onthe basis ofrace, color, national origin, or handicap initsfederally assisted programs Ifyou believe you have been discriminated against many program, activity, or facility asdescribed above, orifyou desire further information, pleasewrite to: Office ofEqual Opportunity, U.S Department ofthe Interior, Washington, D.C 20240