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All Hail! Statehood!
Artwork from the Ogden Standard, fanuary 4, 1896.
All Hail! Statehood!
BY AUDREY M. GODFREY
1896. IT WAS THE YEAR THE U.S. POST OFFICE established rural free delivery Baseball was the national pastime, and Utah residents tried to rid their fields of Chinese pheasants, fearing the imported birds would kill quail and farmyard fowl and ruin grain crops The first modern Olympics was held in Athens, and Harriet Beecher Stowe died. But 1896 also saw Utah brought into the Union as the 45th state.
The people of the new commonwealth—long alienated from the federal government—forgot the Utah War, the pigeon-holing of their requests for statehood, and negative federal legislation. All was forgiven when on January 4, at 10:03 A.M., President Grover Cleveland finally signed the proclamation granting statehood and set off a mammoth celebration throughout the new state.
At 9:13 A.M (Utah time) Superintendent Brown of Western Union rushed from his office armed with a shotgun and fired two shots into the air, signaling the news A small boy in the vicinity dived for cover thinking a robbery was in progress. At this prearranged signal, merrymaking commenced. Bill Bingley and his shotgun brigade gathered near Browning Brothers store in Salt Lake, and boys blew whistles and set off "bombs" felt blocks away At 11:30 the NGU (National Guard of Utah) gathered on Capitol Hill at noon to fire a21gun salute.1
The news spread like wildfire throughout the territory, and frantic committees put into motion planned festivities to mark the event. Two days earlier, acting Governor Charles C. Richards had declared the Monday after the signing day as a public holiday "for thanksgiving and rejoicing." He directed that schools and "all unnecessary business[es]" close so that all might celebrate "in a manner becoming a free, intelligent and patriotic people."2
In big towns and little towns the citizens of Utah mustered all their creativity to celebrate this joyous and welcome occasion. A Monroe poet suggested the script for the day in her lines,
for Utahns awoke that Monday morning to a din surpassing anything they had heard before. Guns, whistles, and bells of every variety challenged anvils, dynamite, yelling, singing, drums, and bands for two hours and then intermittently throughout the day. A. H. Woodruff called the racket "Bedlam," while a reporter labeled it "hilarious pandemonium." When gunpowder ran out the celebrants rattled their weapons. Coalville residents fired up the large steam engine from Grass Creek terminal to add to the commotion. A reporter likened the barrage of noise to a "Fourth ofJuly in the winter time" as people thronged to the streets on a clear, cold, sunny day to join the festivities.4
In Manti citizens ushered in Inauguration day, "Utah's most glorious day," at sunrise as the Ordnance Committee filled the central square. With anvils and dynamiters at the center, cannoneers on the right, musketeers on the left, shotgunners in the front and "promiscuous armeers" at the back, all encircled by "burroears" jingling cow and sheep bells, the resulting din ensured that none of the townspeople would sleep through the occasion. A reporter said of the merrymaking, "young and old America did themselves proud."5
In the heat of the exuberant celebration injuries and property damage occurred. During the revelers' march through Brigham City, Valentine Anderson was accidentally shot in the back with a charge of powder and wadding. The wads penetrated his clothing causing much pain but no serious injury. When questioned, every man in the shotgun brigade denied being the guilty party. The paper summed up the incident by saying, 'Valentine must have dosed himself then."
In Fayette, William Smith suffered a fractured right arm when a hammer used by the artillery shattered Just as the militia lit the fuse Smith backed away but was hit as the hammer exploded. And Hyrum Vance, a young man assisting the artillery in Fairview, sustained an "ugly" facial injury when an overloaded gun burst. A Mount Pleasant doctor sewed up the wound, and Vance returned to the celebration.6
A half-hour after dancers left this Inaugural Ball held in Liberty Hall in Fillmore the building burst into flames. Before citizens procured sufficient water, the fire destroyed the property, owned by the Rasmussen brothers. "Where but a short time previous had been joy and mer[r]iment. . . , " now there were ashes. An initial investigation cited an exploding lamp as the cause of the blaze.7
At Corinne revelers rang the courthouse bell so violently that it cracked the $200 gong and rendered it "useless."8
After a gala ball in Coalville "several hats, overshoes, silk handkerchiefs, and an overcoat or two turned up missing." Searchers found one hat cut to pieces. The work of the pranksters dimmed the joy of the occasion.9
In response to a challenge printed in the Deseret News that "every city, town, village and hamlet" decorate their homes in honor of the advent of statehood, much ornamentation was already in place. But now banners and buntings appeared on walls and in windows of businesses, homes, and churches. Sleighs and other vehicles sported banners and costumed passengers. In Tooele and Lehi citizens hung portraits of early pioneers on church walls. Residents hoisted flags on poles or strung them across streets Many of the flags were recently made or purchased for the occasion. Two women in Garden City fastened a new flag with forty-five stars sewn by local resident Amanda Pope at one end of the meetinghouse "surmounted by lovely evergreens . . . hauled from the canyon." Over the front of the stage were evergreen wreaths and flowers surrounding a silver star labeled the "Utah Star." At the opposite end of the room back-lighted mottos of "Inaugural DayJan. 6, 1896," "Liberty, Honesty, Free Silver 16 to 1," and "Utah the Gem of the Mountains" shone. Brigham Young's imposing photographic image gazed down at the display. The silver stars featured in many of the decorations had a double meaning Not only did they represent Utah as the forty-fifth star on the flag but also that Utahjoined the Union as a state that stood on the side of free coinage of silver, a question being debated in Washington, D.C, at the time.10
The Honorable A Wooten of Midway decorated his gateway with an arch featuring the Stars and Stripes intermingled with bunting. On his house he hung the biblical words "The Desert Shall Blossom as the Rose."11
A reporter for the Boston Transcript described the bedecked streets of Salt Lake City: ".. I see lavish decorations on its business blocks, flags floating from hundreds of roofs, and one immense flag stretched between the topmost spires of the temple, visible for miles around."12
Many citizens produced another giant flag that formed a false ceiling in the Tabernacle David Glade marked and cut out the pieces that six women sewed on high-powered machines in the ZCMI clothing factory. The youngest seamstress remembered the flag measured 160 feet by 78 feet with the stripes 6 feet in width and the stars 6 feet from tip to tip. They flat-felled all seams to give them strength She said the workers were not told where the flag would hang, but they knew its size prohibited flying it from a pole. Then she saw it draped in the Tabernacle, and, she said, as the air circulated, the flag rippled, bringing tears to her eyes. She thought this largest flag ever made proclaimed, "Proudly I wave over you, home of the brave and land of the free."13
Creative hands also decorated the LDS stake house in Heber City under the supervision of Mrs O J Call On the west end, behind the rostrum, workers attached an outline of the boundaries of Utah In the center hung a picture of Brigham Young Paper roses spelling out "Utah Queen of the West" filled in the remaining diagram. A very large bell and two smaller ones hung over the auditorium from the ceiling, each covered with artificial roses in red, white, and blue. Bunting, flags, and evergreens completed the decor.14
Salt Lake City businesses competed with each other to get their best decorations in place. Photographer C. R. Savage claimed he first hoisted the Stars and Stripes above his studio. James H. Moyle's office decorators almost obscured their windows with flags. ZCMI placed a "magnificent silver star . . . enshrined with evergreens and backed by the American flag over its door."15
All sorts of processions led the new state's populace to Inauguration Day programs In Salt Lake City police and marshals joined the U.S. 16th Infantry in leading groups of bands, government officials, Indian War veterans, fire department personnel, male brotherhoods, German and Scandinavian societies, and a proud unit of the Grand Army of the Republic. In Kamas a line of sleighs pulled by two or four horses was interspersed with cutters carrying a full load of happy passengers, some 400 in number. Nephi, too, had "a grand sleigh ride, a mile long"; twenty-seven ladies representing the then twenty-seven counties of Utah rode in a sleigh at the head of this procession.16 Women also led parades in Coalville and Brigham City as forty-five young women, representing each state with Utah in the forefront, were escorted by local bands.17 Uncle Sam on a burro marshalled Manti's rowdy noisemakers of forty-five gunners under a banner with the inscription, "Utah! One more strong arm for Uncle Sam."18
In Beaver City "the societies vied with each other in their efforts to decorate their vehicles, particularly the W.S.A. [Woman Suffrage Association] and the R.S. [LDS women's Relief Society]." Not to be outdone were the LDS Primary youth organization and the church's Sunday School group. Bands and a bicycle club joined townspeople who marched to the meetinghouse in "a beautiful artistic manner."19
When local authorities failed to organize a civic celebration in Park City, a disgruntled reporter wrote, "Almost every town in Utah has made arrangements to celebrate the admission of Utah to Statehood. Why not Park City?" But 150 youth formed their own parade and marched through the streets of the mining town making "more noise than has been seen or heard here in many a day." Along the way they serenaded the larger business houses and received nuts and confections for their efforts.20
Entrepreneurs and various groups took advantage of the momentous occasion to fatten their coffers The Woman's Exchange in Salt Lake City advertised that those attending the inaugural services at the Tabernacle could procure hot coffee and sandwiches at their establishment. The Union Pacific offered round-trip tickets from outlying areas to Salt Lake City for one fare on Inauguration Day. Those who attended the great ball in the evening in Manti received a commemorative ribbon with the likeness of Gov. Heber M. Wells and the inscription "State of Utah Inaugural Ball, Manti, January 6th, 1896" on it Another souvenir badge featured an eight-inch blue satin ribbon topped by a "neat little red and white bow" and a photo of a beautiful sailing ship labeled 'Utah" floating "peacefully over the waters in the background." In the foreground, "standing boldly upon the waves was the legend 'Sail on Thou, too, Oh Ship of State.'"21
Those who sponsored a dance held at the Family Theater in Ogden charged gentlemen 25£ each with ladies admitted free. Flags and decorations not created by volunteers also brought income to their makers. An Ogden entrepreneur, S. J. Griffin, advertised in state newspapers his expertise in changing territorial seals to state seals, and an American Fork paper gave personal testimonial of his abilities.22
Always promoting its newspaper with various contests, the Salt Lake Herald announced two competitions. The first offered a prize to the person who guessed closest to this minute and day the time when President Cleveland would sign the statehood proclamation. Nonnie Bond of Ogden came within two minutes of the actual time to win. The paper also offered a sterling silver cup, gold lined with "equitable ratio of 16 parts silver to 1 of gold," to the first boy and girl baby born after 8:03 A.M.,January 4.23
Each town and city featured its own unique approach in commemorating Utah's statehood Programs usually included bands, singers, and speakers in decorated halls and chapels But each program incorporated some specialty that reflected the town's talent pool. A famous Mexican War veteran, Daniel Henrie, spoke in Manti, while Professor R. Maeser addressed the people of Beaver City and gave a "masterful oration." In his speech he used the number seven as his theme. He said officials had applied six times for statehood, but the seventh was the charm. Then he elaborated on the "God-given" number, saying there were seven days in the week, seven colors of the rainbow, seven stars of the pleiades, seven epochs of history, seven wonders of the world, seven ages of man, seven prominent features of the human face, and on and on. He closed by saying what a privilege it was for Utah to join this "grand catalogue of circumstances surrounding this mystic number." On the same program in Beaver, Professor George Woodhouse "fairly out did himself in his rendition of Solos." In an effort towards ecumenism organizers asked leaders of various denominations to offer prayers of invocation and benediction on proceedings.24
The chosen setting of Kamas's program and events showed disregard for the cold weather. The parade of sleighs drew up outdoors in a semicircle to view the proceedings. The male population took advantage of the celebration to pit married men against single men in a game of ball, with the single men victorious. Taking advantage of the sunny winter day, the men of Huntington also played ball on the town square. And children of the Kamas and North Kamas schools were given a free sleigh ride accompanied by the Kamas Brass band.25
Snowville closed its afternoon proceedings with a picnic and coffee. In Ephraim famous Mormon artist C. C. A. Christensen recited an original poem called "The Utah Boys."And Utah composer Evan Stephens's song, "Utah, We Love Thee," written especially for the occasion, highlighted numerous programs Also called "The Inauguration Song," one verse declared,
Spirited shouts marked various celebrations. Gunnison residents closed their program with "deafening and prolonged cheers for the new state of Utah." The little hamlet of Portage in northern Utah ended its event with the whole congregation rising to its feet to yell with "full voices" three cheers and "a tiger" while waving handkerchiefs.27
Many programs featured this unusual shout. Most likely the tiger referred to a great growl at the end of the cheers. This exercise energized an unusual program in Clarkston, Utah, marked by the variety of numbers featured. For instance, "everybody and their cousin" met at the meetinghouse where a "spicy" program began with the congregation rising to its collective feet to sing "Utah Is Free." Ten LDS missionaries sang "as they never did before" an unnamed song. The usual speeches were interspersed with a comic song, a guitar duet, and a talk in German translated for the audience by Dr. Almy Jenson. Capt. John Buttars recited "A Utah Boy," followed by a dance presentation where male participants invented forty-five new steps. Committee chairman Joshua Homer treated the audience to his rendition of "West Virginia Hills," sung "with spirit." John Shumway then took the stage with his violin and imitated "Old Bull," accompanied by Hyrum Larson on the organ This surprised the congregation, for no one knew John could play (He had been taking lessons on the sly.) Songs preceded another violin solo by a young lady who was called back for a second number. Two men recited a dialogue entitled, "The Whole Missionary." The program closed with another congregational song, "Utah Is a State," no doubt written for the occasion.28
In contrast, the dullness of Salt Lake City's program caused a critical listener to label the governor's inaugural address as "too extremely long. There was enough for four addresses." He reported that Joseph L. Rawlins, who read President Cleveland's proclamation and presented Governor Wells with the pen used to sign the bill making Utah a state, received more applause than anyone. 29
Every program commemorated the glad news that the new state's constitution granted female citizens suffrage and other equal rights. Governor Wells recognized the attainment by extending "the hand of greeting to the women of Utah, and congratulate [d] them on their entrance into the full enjoyment of civil and political rights." Other celebrations followed his lead In the village of Newton in Cache County, participants shouted three enthusiastic cheers "for the new citizens of the new State, 'The Ladies.'" The Woman's Temperance Association of Parowan called their meeting "an exultation" and presented yellow ribbon badges to a large crowd. At Beaver City, Mrs. M. A. White told the congregation that woman now "must look up, not down, out, not in, for her horizon can but widen when she rises, and enlarge as she moves onward." Composer J. H. Ward's designation of Utah as "The Queen of the West" was echoed in White's speech She said, "Women will be an important factor in sustaining, maintaining, politically, religiously, socially, morally, intellectually and progressively our proud position—Queen of the west."30
Female speakers touched on such subjects as "The Women of Utah," "Woman's Part in the New State," and "Women Who Won't Vote." One such talk closed with, "Hurrah for the new woman!" In Logan the ladies of the local Relief Society thronged to the front of the room to offer their services, "for with the dawn of Statehood upon Utah the political shackles were stricken from the hands of woman... ." 31
Celebrants at the inaugural program in Huntsville combined marking statehood and women's suffrage with the opening of a new Relief Society hall. The two-story brick edifice, financed by the females of the community, provided a place of their own to conduct meetings and work on projects The "sisters" of the organization served dinner to those in attendance and recognized the monetary contributions of even young children to the building enterprise. Women spoke and performed on the program following the dinner. 32
Individuals expressed their excitement about becoming part of the Union in a variety of ways.Journalist C. C. Goodwin of the Salt Lake Tribune, upon hearing the announcement, ordered a senatorial toga. Two youngsters in Smithfield, Leona and Jim Cantwell, sat on their porch laughing and "having a good time" as they wrote words to a song for the occasion to the tune of "Ta, Rah, Rah, Boom-de-aye." Jim sang it at the community celebration program. AVernal reporter said, "Everybody looked as pleased as they would if they had found two bits." Heber veterans and boys shook each other's hands upon meeting and with smiles on their faces inquired how they felt about being citizens in the sisterhood of states While in Fairview, "Old men, whose lives had been worn out in subduing . . . the barren wastes . . . and old women animated with pride at the thought that their sons and daughters might now enjoy the liberty and freedom for which they had toiled so long" congratulated each other on being spared to "behold this auspicious day." In Parowan a group of young men gathered in front of the co-op store and seized every old settler who passed by, hoisted him upon "an eminence," and demanded a short speech. As each one concluded, they gave him three cheers, lifted him down, and let him go. FrankJ. Cannon sent a telegram from Washington to LDS President Wilford Woodruff that said, "The land where you planted the flag is now a state of the sublime republic. May its career be magnificent."33
Journalists waxed eloquent in recounting events A Provo paper chronicled the feeling of unity statehood brought: "Yesterday there were no Dems. no Pops., no Welch [sic], no Scotch, no English, but all americans [sic] and all rejoicing in the precious boon of statehood."34
A correspondent reporting Castle Gate's celebration indicated that after the mine workers got out enough coal to keep stoves going they shut down: "The rest of the day was given into the hands of the antiques and horribles, who resurrected the remains of the Castle Gate band [and] started a parade. . . . The music was really not up to perfection but thejollification was red hot and lasted long."35
A report from Spring City said events culminated with everybody rejoicing "that the time of wandering in the wilderness is at an end and that we have at last entered the promised land." The Snowville correspondent on the Utah-Idaho border reported, "Everything and everybody, even to the babies, smiled and rejoiced and everything went 'Merry as a bell.'" And an eastern newsman enthused, "Utah is as happy as a boy with a new pair of red-topped boots."36
Diarists also expressed their joy as they chronicled the day's events. Andrew Lund Larson wrote, "The glorious boon we have so long looked for, has at last come. I have been born and reared in these United States and yet never had all the rights of a free born American citizen. God willing I shall now have that privelage in its full sense." George Goddard closed his entry with, ". . . it was a grand affair and the festivities of the day will never be forgotten by those who witnessed them."37
But some individuals were not caught up in the fervor and resisted the urge to mark the occasion because of personal feelings or responsibilities. Jane Hooper Wilkie Blood noted the Salt Lake City festivities and then wrote regarding statehood, "As far as I am concerned I did not want it, but I know God overrules all things."
George Kirkham's work for "the sugar company" prevented him from celebrating And caring for her ill daughter, Effie, interfered with Mary L. Morris's participation. "... I could not feel justified in leaving my patient though she is up and doing a little sewing," she wrote. However, accounts of participation indicate these feelings were in the minority.38
When the gunshots diminished, the music faded away, and the people returned to their homes, reflections upon what the occasion really meant in their lives probably echoed a paragraph written by a Utah correspondent for the Boston Transcript.
As the day drew to a close and night fell, in response to Governor Wells's request, candles and lanterns appeared in windows and businesses to make a "blaze of light" showing that "patriotic Americans" lived and worked in these edifices. The lights also symbolized that Utah citizens had emerged from the "darkness of Territorial conditions to the full light of 'Statehood.'"40
A Richfield reporter wrote that "what Utah desires is Americanism, pure and simple; . . . she desires tranquility, union, prosperity for all the people." But with the attainment of that right, reality set in. It meant new responsibilities as American citizens. It meant, as a Salt Lake Herald reporter wrote, that while change was not presently visible, "if they waited till Oct. 31 when the assessor made the rounds they would see and know where the change comes." Still, most Utahns were grateful for the advantages of being numbered as fullfledged citizens of the United States and carried in their minds the enthusiastic cheer of commemoration, "All Hail Statehood!"41
NOTES
Mrs. Godfrey, Logan, Utah, is a member of the Advisory Board of Editors, Utah Historical Quarterly.
1 Deseret Evening News, January 4, 1896; Ogden Standard, January 4, 1896.
2 Deseret Evening News, January 2, 1896.
3 Richfield Advocate, January 15, 1896. Poem composed and read by Lela Cooper Preston at Moroni's celebration.
4 Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896; Wilford Woodruff to A H Woodruff, January 6, 1896, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden; Coalville Times, January 10, 1896; Vernal Express, January 9, 1896.
5 Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896.
6 Brigham City Bugler, January 11, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 8, 9, 1896.
' Ogden Standard, January 7, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 8, 1896.
8 Park Record, January 18,1896.
9 Coalville Times, January 10, 1896.
10 Brigham City Bugler, January 4, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1896; Tri-Weekly Journal (Logan), January 14, 1896, Utah.
11 Wasatch Wave (Heber City), January 17, 1896.
12 Boston Transcript, January 14, 1896; Deseret Evening News, January 4, 1896, also mentions the flag hanging from the temple.
13 Reminiscence of Margaret Glade Derrick, April 1956, MS A131, Utah State Historical Society Library, Salt Lake City; Inter-Ocean (Chicago), January 7, 1896 Most newspaper reports exaggerated the dimensions of the flag somewhat, reporting it to be 175 feet by 75 feet. The flag stayed in the Tabernacle for one and one-half years after which it was placed on the south outside wall of the Temple, completely covering it, in commemoration of the 1897 semicentennial celebration of the pioneers' arrival in Utah.
14 Wasatch Wow, January 10, 1896.
1' Deseret Evening News, January 4, 1896.
16 Deseret Evening Nexvs, January 4, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1896; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 7, 1896
17 Brigham City Bugler, January 4, 1896 The Coalville Tim*., January 10, 1896.
18 Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896.
19 Utonian (Beaver City), January 10, 1896.
20 Park Record, January 4, 1896; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 8, 1896.
21 Salt Lake Herald, January 8, 1896; Salt Lake Daily Tribune, January 6, 1896; Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896; Wasatch Wow, January 10,1896.
22 Ogden Standard, January 6, 1896; American Fork Item, January 18, 1896.
23 Salt Lake Herald, January 7, 1896.
24 Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896; Utonian (Beaver), January 10, 1896.
25 Salt Lake Herald, January 8, 10, 1896; Deseret Evening News, January 13, 1896; Deseret Nexus Weekly, January 25, 1896.
28 Ogden Standard, January 11, 1896; Salt Lake Tribune, January 8, 1896; Tooele Transcript, January 14, 1896. A portion of Stephens's song first appeared in print in Deseret Evening News, December 21, 1895.
29 Salt Lake Herald, January 7, 9, 1896.
30 Tri-Weekly Journal, January 16, 1896.
29 Andrew Lund Larson, Journal, January 6, 1896, LDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake City.
30 Boston Transcript, January 14,1896; Logan 1^ri-WeeklyJournal, January 11, 1896; "Sixty Years Ago," Relief Society Magazine 43, (January 1956), p 30; Utonian (Beaver), January 17, 1896.
31 Manti Messenger, January 10, 1896; Logan Tri-Weekly Journal, January 7, 1896.
32 Woman's Exponent (Salt Lake City), February 1, 1896.
33 Logan Tri-WeeklyJournal, January 11, 1896; "Smithfield Fires 45 Guns, Buys Flag For Statehood Day," by Theoda Downs, Logan HeraldJournal, Statehood Day Edition, January 4, 1974; Vernal Express, January 9, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 9, 1896; Deseret Evening News, January 13, 1896; Frank J Cannon Papers, dated January 4, 1896, LDS Church Library-Archives The planting of the flag probably refers to the occasion when, soon after arriving in Utah, the pioneer band of which Woodruff was a member, climbed to Ensign Peak and hoisted the Amer can flag. For an analysis of the myths and realities surrounding that historic event see Ronald W Wallker, "A Gauge of the Times: Ensign Peak in the Twentieth Century," Utah Historical Quarterly 62 (1994): •1—25.
34 The Daily Enquirer, January 7, 1896, Provo, Utah.
35 Salt Lake Herald, January 9, 1896.
36 Salt Lake Herald, January 7, 1896; Brigham City Bugler, January 18, 1896; Peoria (Illinois) Journal, January 9, 1896.
37 Larson Journal, Saturday, January 4, 1896; George Goddard, Journal, Monday, January 6, 1896.
38 Jane Hooper Wilkie Blood Autobiography and Abridged Diary, Ivy Hooper Blood Hill, ed. (Logan, Ut., 1966), p 125; George Kirkham, Journal, LDS Church Library-Archives; Mary L Morris, Journal, January 6, 1896, microfilm, Utah State Historical Society Library, Salt Lake City.
39 Transcript, January 14, 1896.
40 Deseret Evening News, December 28, 1895.
41 American Fork Item, January 18, 1896; Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1896; Utonian (Beaver), January 10, 1896.
