Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, Number 1, 1996

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY (ISSN 0042-143X)

EDITORIAL STAFF

MAX J. EVANS, Editor

STANFORD J LAYTON, Managing Editor

MIRIAM B MURPHY, Associate Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS

MAUREEN URSENBACH BEECHER, Salt Lake City,1997

JANICE P DAWSON, Layton, 1996

AUDREY M GODFREY, Logan, 1997

JOEL C. JANETSKI, Provo,1997

ROBERT S. MCPHERSON, Blanding, 1998

ANTONETTE CHAMBERS NOBLE, Cora, WY, 1996

GENE A SESSIONS, Ogden,1998

GARY TOPPING, Salt Lake City, 1996

Richard S. Van Wagoner, Lehi, 1998

Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utah's history. The Quarterly is published four times a year by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Phone (801)533-3500 for membership and publications information. Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, and the bimonthly Newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $20.00; institution, $20.00; student and senior citizen (age sixty-five or over), $15.00; contributing, $25.00; sustaining, $35.00; patron, $50.00; business, $100.00

Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate, typed double-space, with footnotes at the end Authors are encouraged to submit material in a computer-readable form, on 514 or 3V4 inch MS-DOS or PC-DOS diskettes, standard ASCII text file For additional information on requirements contact the managing editor. Articles represent the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Utah State Historical Society

Second class postage is paid at Salt Lake City, Utah

Postmaster: Send form 3579 (chang e of address) to Utah Historical Quarterly, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

WILLIAM WYCKOFF and LARY M DILSAVER, eels The Mountainous West: Explorations in Historical Geography LOWELL C. "BEN" BENNION

96

PHILIP J MELLINGER Race and Labor in Western Copper: The Fight for Equality, 1896-1918 . PHILIP F. NOTARIANNI 97

PAUL W HIRT A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests since World War Two . BRIAN Q. CANNON 99

MARILYN IRVIN HOLT Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930 Jo ANN RUCKMAN 100

PAUL SCHULLERY. Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail ALEXIS KELNER 101

ZEESE PAPANIKOLAS Trickster in the Land ofDreams RUSSELL BURROWS 103

Oakwood, the Silver Queen's summer home in Holladay. Her brother and sister, John and Nellie Bransford, are sitting on the porch. Courtesy ofHarold Lamb.

In this issue

Few personalities in Utah history have held more fascination for historians, have created a greater body of lore, or have eluded a biography longer than Susanna Bransford Emery Holmes Known familiarly as the Silver Queen, she was a classic rags-to-riches persona during a time when that theme dominated U.S. popular literature. Flamboyant, mercurial, and strong-willed, she rode her Park City wealth to entree into the upper crust of Utah, California, New York, and European society, leaving behind a confusing welter of legends, rumors, and suppositions that has never ceased to scintillate the popular imagination. The first selection, based on an exhaustive search of probate and other original sources, tells her amazing story and places her within a larger historiographical context than she has ever known before

The next two articles also deal with personalities, though of a much different sort Denis Julien was a solitary and enigmatic figure—a mountain man who explored the length and breadth of Utah's pre-territorial landscape. Typical of his type, he left virtually no written record of his comings and goings Yet, his fewjottings—autographs on rock—have teased travelers and historians ever since In contrast, George Anton Zamloch drummed his way through Utah with great fanfare, seeking to mystify people in a different way—with feats of magic. His personal reminiscence, penned years later and just recently discovered, is almost as astonishing as his sleight of hand must have seemed The excerpts featured here promise to delight and entertain just as much as his stage show did more than a century ago.

The final piece illuminates the history of one of Utah's oldest ethnic groups, the Chinese. Creating their distinctive enclaves within a half-dozen counties, these energetic immigrants nurtured hopes and pursued dreams within a frequently hostile social environment Though Utah's Chinatowns have long since disappeared, their colorful legacies remain to enrich and enliven our cultural heritage.

Utah's Silver Queen and the "Era of the Great Splurge"

BYJUDYDYKMAN

This photo of the Silver Queen reveals her beauty. USHS collections.

Mrs. Dykman is a history teacher at Churchill Junior High School in Salt Lake City.

HE R ROYAL HIGHNESS SUSANNA Egera Bransford Emery Holmes

Delitch Engalitcheff was one of America's most colorful and unconventional millionaires, and her lifestyle frequently mirrored the excesses of an era As a child shejourneyed to California in a covered wagon; as a teenager she survived a stagecoach holdup; and as an adult, she traveled around the world four times and lived in a palace Married four times, she outlived all of her husbands even though two of the men were many years younger She met kings, queens, presidents and statesmen, conferred with a pope and conversed with Hitler and Mussolini. Affectionately known as Susie to her family and friends and as Utah's Silver Queen to the press, she was loved by some and vilified by others. For decades her social activities, travels, and personal tragedies made headlines. At the turn of the century some speculated that her shares in Park City's fabulous Silver King Mine made her one of the wealthiest women in Utah, if not the United States. Because of this extensive press coverage many have mistakenly assumed that her life resembled an updated version of the Cinderella fairy tale. Recently, two authors have even compared her to Princess Diana or Elizabeth Taylor, while others have accused her of being cold hearted or indifferent to the needs of her daughter, unkind to her husbands, and foolish with her money. Extensive research shows that many stories about her are exaggerations or misrepresentations In reality she was typical of the cosmopolites of the "Gilded Age" who had different values and perceptions than the average American Who then was Susie and which stories about her life and adventures are true and which are merely entertaining folklore?1

The second of four surviving children in the Milford and Sara Ellen Bransford family, Susie was born May 6, 1859, in Richmond, Missouri Prior to the Civil War her parents owned seventy acres of land, several slaves, and a general store When the war broke out her father served as a captain in the Confederate Army Following his release from a prison camp he returned to Missouri to check on his young family and found them impoverished Hoping for a fresh start, several Bransford families in the Richmond areajoined a wagon train

1 "Utah's Own Silver Queen Arrives for Summer Visit in Salt Lake City," Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1938, p 12; "Susanna Emery-Holmes," Biographical Record ofSalt Lake City and Vicinity (Chicago: National Historic Record Company, 1902), pp 211-12; Margaret Godfrey, "The Silver Queen," Salt Lake City, September-Octoher 1993, pp. 33-34; unidentified article in Susie's scrapbook archived in the Utah State Historical Society's Library, Salt Lake City.

bound for the gold fields. Six months later they settled in a number of northern California mining communities such as Crescent Mill.2

Five-year-old Susie and her older brother, John, attended the town's small grammar school; later, their father enrolled them in San Francisco boarding schools. During one of her stagecoach trips to or from Taylorsville, where the family now lived, Susie was involved in a robbery. When the bandits recognized her among the passengers they assured her that they would not harm her, but sixteen-year-old Susie never forgot the ordeal. Possibly the bandits were neighbors of the Bransfords or lumbermen or miners as the men knew her name. 3

As she entered adulthood, Susie blossomed into a very attractive young woman with expressive eyes, flawless skin, a trim figure, and long brown hair. At five feet seven inches she was taller than many women of her day. Her fun-loving personality, self-confidence, and "gift of gab" enabled her to mingle easily with others. She attended many parties and social functions and was a charter member of a Taylorsville, California, girls club, Rescue Lodge #215, organized in 1877. As one admirer put it, she became "the belle of Plumas." The autograph book she kept prior to leaving California includes several romantic entries from numerous suitors and admirers, but she refused all of them.4

During the early 1880s Susie traveled extensively in northern California. It appears she traveled alone, moved to San Francisco and the Oakland area for five months, and then returned to Crescent Mill and Taylorsville where she had family. By the summer of 1884 she had arrived in Park City, Utah, to visit relatives or friends and find work Little information exists about this stage of her life, but an article in Plumas Memories reports she supported herself by working as a seamstress and hairdresser during her twenties. Interestingly, when a New York Herald journalist referred to her in 1902 as a former hatmaker

- Milford Bransford's Bible, courtesy of Dr Harold Lamb, Sr., Salt Lake City; John A Shiver, Bransford Family History (Kentucky: McDowell Publishing Company, 1981), p 35; see also Sara Cooper's undated will, probated in Lexington, Kentucky, copy in possession of Dr Lamb; "Crossing the Plains," a history of the Bransford trip to California, an unpublished account provided by Stella Enge (no author or date); "Milford Bransford," Park Record, May 25, 1894; "Milford Bransford Deceased," Plumas Independent (California), May 26, 1894.

3 "Utah's Own Silver Queen Arrives for Summer"; John Bransford Biographical Sketch, courtesy of Vadney Murray, Quincy, California; interviews with Susanna Hartman, Susie's niece, Laguna Hills, California; interviews with Jean Murray of Quincy, California All interviews cited herein were conducted by the author and are in her possession

4 Plumas County Historical Society, #26 (n.p ,n.d.), p 6; additional information found in unidentified news articles in Susie's scrapbook; Plumas Independent, May 26, 1894; magazine article from Elite in Susie's scrapbook; "from T.M.J.," an entry in Susie's autograph book, 1879-86, in the author's possession

and seamstress in one of Park City's stores, Susie fumed but saved the article in her scrapbook. By 1902 she desperately wanted to be accepted into eastern social circles; the article angered her because it claimed common laborers lacked the breeding to be society leaders.5

Susie was twenty-five when she met Albion Emery, the handsome, likable postmaster of Park City. Some thirteen years older, he was an intelligent and ambitious man from a New England background His numerous Masonic contacts and political activities suggest that he was destined for greater things. After a brief courtship the couple was married in Ogden on November 11, 1884, byJudge T. H. Emerson. They rented a small house in Park City from a Mr. Gulliver and later purchased a home at 721 Woodside Avenue that was destroyed in the town's 1898 fire.

Eager to earn a fortune and make a name for himself, Albion left the post office to work for the Daly Mining Company as a bookkeeper. He also won a seat in the Utah Territorial Legislature and devoted many hours to Masonic activities. During the first years of their marriage Susie helped him to raise $8,000 to invest in the Mayflower Mine by arranging a loan from a family friend, R. C. Chambers. Her father had grubstaked him many years earlier when both lived in Plumas County.11

Meantime, Milford's family prospered in Plumas County for several years With a partner, he operated a general store in Taylorsville, dabbled in two quartz mining operations, held several offices in local

5 Article in Susie's scrapbook; Susie's autograph book; O N Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years: A History of the Salt Lake Tribune, 1871-1971 (Salt Lake City: Uta h State Historical Society, 1971), pp 211-13; Margaret Lester, Brigham Street (Salt Lake City: Utah Historical Society, 1979), pp 110-20; Raye C Ringholz, Diggings and Doings in Park City (Park City: author, 1983), pp 60-64 ; Jan e Rogers, "Rogers Family History," Plumas Memories 51 (June 1986): 27

6 Raye Ringholz to author, July 1993; "Personal Mention," Park Record, November 15, 1884; "Albion Emery," Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine (1902): 502-3; interview with Alan Sprigg, Summit County recorder, July 1993; Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years, pp 211-13

Albion Emery. USHS collections.

Utah Historical Quarterly

government, ran a stage line, and operated a boarding house. His many business ventures may have overextended his credit as he was sued for indebtedness in 1879 byj. D. Goodwin and in 1880 byj. McKinney As his properties and opportunities began to dwindle, stories of fabulous silver strikes in Utah's mountains attracted Milford and his family to Park City. In 1887 they migrated to Utah and he became the bookkeeper for the Ontario Mine and joined Park City's Masonic lodge.

Several myths surround Susie's children The Emerys were childless for three years until Susie's younger sister, Viola, died in 1887 To help her aged mother and brother-in-law, Willis Lamb, Susie volunteered to raise her sister's infant son, Harold Vernon Lamb. Two years later, in 1889, the Emerys adopted a two-year-old girl from a Boston orphanage One account suggested that Louise Grace was actually Albion's illegitimate child Another source speculated that the baby was the unwanted child of a Park City prostitute. No one knows Grace's parentage; a Boston policeman found her on a doorstep in May 1886, took her to a nearby orphanage, and gave her the name of Louise Radford, using his own surname While the Emerys were visiting one of Albion's sisters in the Boston area, the girl came to Susie's attention. Disappointed at not having a child of her own, Susie persuaded Albion to adopt the girl.7

In time the Emerys' fortune dramatically changed as the Mayflower Mine began to pay large dividends Albion and his new partners—David Keith, Thomas Kearns,John Judge, and W. V Rice— used the mine's early profits to purchase all of Park City's Treasure Hill. Then in 1892 Albion and his associates organized the Silver King Mining Company. 8 Newly rich, Susie and Albion radically changed their lifestyle, purchasing fine clothes and other luxuries and traveling extensively. Like other Parkites, they also purchased a large home in a prestigious Salt Lake City neighborhood: 352 East 100 South, a block south of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Albion's prestige grew, andjust before his death in 1894 he was elected Speaker of the House in Utah's Territorial Legislature and became the Worshipful Grand

7 Interview with Dr Harold Lamb, Sr.; Wallace Bransford affidavit, p 2, Probate Hearing for Louise Grace Emery Bransford, #9027, 3d Circuit Court, 3d Judicial District, September 17, 1918, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City; interview with Floralie Millsaps, Salt Lake City, longtime tour guide for the Utah Heritage Foundation; Park Record, May 25, 1894, Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 61; Bransford file, Plumas County Museum

8 "Men and Events Linked with Great Mines of Park City," Park Record, June 5, 1931; George A Thompson and Fraser Buck, Treasure Mountain Home (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1981), p 83

Utah's Silver Queen

Master of Salt Lake City's Masonic Lodge.9

Grace and Harold, who had attended Park City's small grammar school, soon were enrolled in Rowland Hall in Salt Lake City, fashionably attired, and gifted with everything money could buy. Grace, a small, frail, quiet child, did not excel in school and clung to her mother. Before the Emerys began to travel, Susie spent time with her two small charges and carefully supervised their daily activities. Later, however, she hired a governess. Harold did not seem to mind; he could visit his father who had married a second time and lived in Salt Lake City But Grace brooded when her parents left her with the servants

Albion's health began to fail in March 1894. Chest pains and coughing spells made sleeping difficult. On his doctor's advice, he took Susie and her sister Nellie to California and Hawaii for two months When they returned to California he collapsed and was confined to bed in San Francisco's Bella Vista Hotel About five weeks later, onJune 13, 1894, he died of liver and heart failure at the age of forty-eight Apparently he was an alcoholic; nearly four dozen bottles of liquor and club soda were charged to his bill during his five-week stay. Possibly the liquor served as an anesthetic during his final hours. A recent magazine article suggested that Albion died in the arms of another woman, but that is not true. Susie and Nellie were with him when he died, and Susie, who had been at his side for several weeks, tenderly closed his eyes when death finally came. 10

Susie was overwhelmed with grief and stress the summer and fall of 1894, for her father had died of a pneumonia-like illnessjust three weeks before Albion's death. The loss of these two beloved men and, later, the

1,1 Park Record,

The Emerys' adopted daughter Grace. Courtesy of Stella Inge.

9 "Honorable A B Emery" (editorial) and "Death of Honorable A B Emery," Park Record, June 16, 1894; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp 83-84; Millsaps interview; Polk's Sail Lake City Directory, 1894.

June 16, 1894; "Brother Albion B. Emery," Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Utah, 1895, Utah Masonic Lodge, Salt Lake City, pp. 95-98; Albion Emery, Probate Case #102, Summit County records; Godfrey, "The Silver Queen," pp 33-34; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp 83—84; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 61; Wallace Bransford affidavit, pp 2-3

death of her mother in 1905, had a major impact on the rest of her life. Thereafter, she avoided funerals, even those of close family members Albion's death also devastated eight-year-old Grace who had been very close to him She experienced a series of illnesses and emotional problems

Of Susie's four marriages, this union seems to have provided the happiest relationship During their ten-year marriage Albion wrote her several touching notes that illustrate how much he loved her and valued their relationship His attitudes and tastes also appear to have profoundly influenced her view of life. He wrote this verse in her autograph book in 1884: "My friend-/Life is too short for any vain regretting;/Let dead delight bury its dead I say./And let us go upon our way forgetting/The joys, and sorrows, of each yesterday." When she later followed this advice, some perceived her as uncaring and cold.

With the help of Albion's friends, Susie arranged an impressive viewing and Masonic funeral in Salt Lake City's Congregational church A chartered mourners' train brought people from Park City Emery was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery."

Fortunately, Albion had a $12,500 insurance policy that took care of her financial needs until his estate was settled. Unfortunately, he died intestate, drawing Susie into a bitter court battle over his assets. Just as the probate process was nearing an end, R C Chambers, superintendent of the Ontario Mine, stunned Susie and Park City's populace by suing her for $176,000 or half of the estate He claimed he had lent Albion the money he had invested in the Mayflower (Silver King) Mine with the understanding that the two men would split the profits and stocks. Before his death Albion had paid Chambers $20,000, but he felt entitled to more. The alleged verbal agreement was not witnessed or recorded. Susie, on the other hand, produced cancelled checks to prove Albion had repaid the $8,000 loan with interest. Her astute attorney, knowing that Chambers had denied any claim to the Silver King properties in the on-going Northland-Mayflower trial, asked if he had previously lied under oath Possibly fearing legal repercussions in the Northland-Mayflower case, Chambers said no. The judge ruled in Susie's favor, but several weeks later Chambers's attorneys appealed to the Utah Supreme Court to overturn the verdict. They felt their client had been tricked into denying his interest in the mine. They also believed critical evidence about Albion's oral agreement with

" Plumas Independent, May 26, 1894; Hartman interviews; Park Record, June 16, 1894; "Mrs Holmes Takes Stand as Witness," Salt Lake Tribune, October 3, 1918; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 62

Chambers had been wrongly ruled inadmissible. After several weeks of deliberation the justices ruled in Susie's favor. Under Utah probate law she and Grace equally shared Albion's assets.

Years later several eastern newspapers reported that Susie's estate in 1900, five years after the trial, was valued at $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 because they believed she had inherited 150,000 shares of Ontario stock. No Ontario stock is mentioned in Albion's probate papers The Silver King Mine may have been valued at $50,000,000 by 1900, but Susie was only one of the original six owners. The stock had split several times since 1892, and there were more investors. It appears that her assets in 1895 probably amounted to only $350,000 when $3,234 in cash, $13,972 in promissory notes, and the Salt Lake City residence were added to the stocks in Albion's portfolio—not the many millions some have claimed.12

Susie's beauty and charm attracted the attention of many men during her widowhood, for she was still a beautiful brunette with the quick wit and intellect of a good conversationalist. She also impressed people with her independent spirit and by capably handling her own money and investments. Sometime in 1895 her business partner Thomas Kearns introduced her to a wealthy Chicago businessman, Col. Edwin F. Holmes, whose lumber leases in Idaho, shipping investments in the Great Lakes area, and stock in the Anchor Mine were worth approximately $8,000,000. Fourteen years Susie's senior, Holmes had been widowed in 1894 also. He would actively pursue Susie during the next four years. 13

Susie's brother, John Bransford, managed her financial affairsfor many years. USHS collections.

' - Emery Probate Records; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp 84, 79; "For a Fortune," Park Record, September 1894; Park Record, June 5, 1931; "Chambers vs Emery," Pacific Reporter, 45: 192-200; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, pp 61-63

13 Elite article in Susie's scrapbook; Lester, Brigham Street, p Ill ; "Mrs Emery Comes Here to Wed," unidentified article from Stella Inge that describes Holmes, now in author's possession.

In the meantime, Susie became concerned about Grace's education The girl was frequently absent from school because of illness or emotional problems. Hoping to improve the situation, she enrolled her in a prestigious San Francisco boarding school in 1898. Susie moved into a hotel apartment nearby but insisted that Grace live in the school dormitory. This forced separation from her mother made the girl hysterical. During one of these tearful sessions Grace met her first cousin Wallace Bransford, John's only son, who was attending the University of California in Berkeley. He arranged for Grace to stay with his family in Quincy, California, for a few months. Susie was grateful Colonel Holmes was courting her, and she did not have the time or energy to deal with Grace's possessiveness and brooding.

Later in 1898John Bransford moved his family and Grace to Salt Lake City where Susie hired him as her financial advisor Their business partnership was mutually beneficial; her investments flourished and he started a floral business and built some real estate holdings for his own family. He also embarked on an impressive political career, eventually serving as Salt Lake City's mayor during 1907-11 Together they built the Emery Holmes, Grace Louise Emery, and Craig apartments and the Semloh Hotel (Holmes spelled backwards)—all excellent rental properties

After seeking Susie's hand for several years, Colonel Holmes tried once more at the fashionable Delmonico Restaurant in NewYork City where they were dining with some wealthy Utah friends One local biographer claims he plucked a red rose from the table's centerpiece, tossed it to Susie, and announced their marriage to the group. Stunned by his cleverness and persistence, she accepted and they were married on October 12, 1899, in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. After a simple ceremony and reception they took a lengthy honeymoon around the world Holmes showered Susie with gifts, beautiful clothes, jewelry, and many collectibles both before and after their marriage. Susie surprised many of her family and friends when she decided to keep her former married name and asked to be called Mrs EmeryHolmes. Entranced by her beauty, wit, and intellect, the colonel catered to her every whim, including this unusual request.

To be near their Park City mining interests and Susie's family, Holmes purchased one of Salt Lake's most impressive mansions, the Gardo House (Amelia's Palace) from the Mormon church for $46,000. This five-story Second Empire home, with a tower and basement, had been built in the 1870s for Brigham Young. Susie hired William

Sinclair, a Chicago interior designer, and his staff of thirty-three decorators from Marshall Field, to remodel and redecorate the forty-plus rooms at a cost of $75,000.'1

The Holmeses staged a lavish open house during the 1901 Christmas season. Over a hundred guests enjoyed an exceptional light display, fresh flowers, and the finest foods and liquors available. The affair, which created a sensation in the local newspapers, was typical of the many wonderful dances, recitals, and banquets Susie hosted there On Sundays and Fridays she also held elaborate "at homes" or teas that entertained as many as two hundred people.15

About six months later Susie decided there was not enough space in the house to display their paintings and statuary or to entertain their many guests. She built a large building west of the Gardo House for an additional $10,000. It had a stage at one end for theatricals and could easily accommodate over a hundred people for dinner and dancing. The lower level of the ballroom/art gallery contained a garage designed to hold several cars. When the new addition was completed she held a second open house that was nearly as impressive as the first.

Susie was more family oriented than civic minded, but she did support some community programs and political campaigns

Theodore Roosevelt personally thanked her for contributing to his election campaign when they met at a Washington party, and years

15 Lester, Brigham Street, pp 112-14; Hartman interviews; articles in Susie's scrapbook

A bejeweled Susanna Emery Holmes. USHS collections.

14 "John Bransford," Salt Lake Tribune, May 24, 1941; Wallace Bransford affidavit, p 3; John Bransford Biographical Sketch; Hartman interviews; "Mrs. Holmes Again on Witness Stand," Salt Lake Tribune, October 4, 1918; Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Bransford probate records; "For Love and Affection," Deseret News, October 11, 1899; Joseph Heinerman, "Brigham Young's Grandest Residence, Amelia's Palace," Montana, the Magazine of Western History (winter 1979): 58, 62; Millsaps interview; Lester, Brigham Street, pp 112, 114

later shesupported hiscousin Franklin Roosevelt. Backers of Charles Evans Hughes sought hersupport, butshe gave it toWoodrow Wilson instead. She staged at least one charity function for the Orphan's Home and DayNursery Association, and a 1902publication commended her generosity to the city's poor and the newspaper boys. Additionally, she gave money to the symphony orchestra. Fora time she also donated to theSalvation Army, butthat probably ended when Gen William Booth, commander in chief ofthe organization, publicly rebuked her in the Salt Lake Theatre for fanning herself during his speech Shefelt humiliated.16

Susie was very generous with her family and helped her mother, sister, andbrother andtheir families on numerous occasions. Sheparticularly adored her mother, Sara, and after herfather died built her mother and heryounger sister, Nellie, a large home at 521 East 100 South.17 When Nellie showed an interest in studying piano Susie sent

The Silver Queen and her second husband, Col. Edwin E Holmes, were photographed in Ogden soon after their marriage. Courtesy of Stella Inge.

"' Millsaps interview; interview with Sandy Brimhall, author of a manuscript on the Gardo House; "Fan Annoyed General," article in Susie's scrapbook; Biographical Record of Salt Lake City, p 211; "Mrs Emery-Holmes's Public Reply to Hughes Supporters," Salt Lake Tribune, September 9, 1916 17 Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1894; Hartman interviews.

her to the Boston School of Music, but modest Nellie refused money to buy fancy clothes and other luxuries and also declined Susie's offer to promote her socially Nellie did allow her sister to give her a lavish wedding in 1900, however; and one source claims she helped the young couple financially with a gift of mining stocks valued at $50,000.18

Susie's relationship with her adopted daughter Grace, on the other hand, often proved stressful. After 1900 Susie enrolled Grace in an exclusive girls' school in Washington, D.C., and found an apartment nearby. News articles from 1902-4 describe Grace as a sweet and pretty girl, but stress in the mother-daughter relationship surfaced when outgoing Susie tried to push shy Grace into social situations. Susie, who had big plans for her daughter, sent her on a trip to Europe to develop her mind and cultivate her manners On more than one occasion she told family members that she hoped to marry Grace into one of Europe's royal families; the Swedish royal family particularly interested her Grace, though, was not interested in traveling, visiting museums, or a possible royal marriage. She kept in touch with her cousin Wallace Bransford by letter, and when they were home from school they were inseparable. Wallace listened sympathetically when she complained about her mother's inattentiveness and efforts to control her life. Susie complained in turn to Nellie that Grace was odd, slow, and unappreciative.

When Grace turned eighteen she openly clashed with her mother over the management of her money. Susie wanted to put it into a trust fund and manage it for her, but Grace wanted control of her own finances. The real break occurred when Grace told Susie that she wanted to marry Wallace. Susie refused to consider it at first because she felt Grace was too young. Wallace was twenty-three, had recently graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and was unemployed Susie did not dislike her nephew, but he was not the son-inlaw she had envisioned She expected her brother to support her in the matter, but he chose not to interfere.19

Finally, after several tense discussions, Susie agreed to a quiet wedding at home on September 4, 1904. She andJohn signed as witnesses on the marriage license. The wedding was announced in the Deseret Nexus and the Salt Lake Tribune the day it occurred, but no one outside

18 Hartman interviews; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 62

19 Hartman interviews; Wallace Bransford affidavit; Salt Lake Tribune, October 4, 1918; Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Bransford probate records

of the family was invited. After the ceremony Susie hosted a wedding breakfast. Her gift to the couple was a large sterling silver tea service made from Park City silver The whole affair was in good taste but very modest compared to Nellie's lavish wedding four years earlier. Wallace decorated his car with thousands of flowers and later took Grace on a honeymoon to the East Coast.

Grace and Wallace moved into the Emery-Holmes Apartments which Susie deeded over to Grace as part of her father's estate Grace changed the name to the Bransford Apartments. During the next thirteen years Wallace capably managed the apartments and Grace's mining interests The young couple seemed blissfully happy, but Grace and her mother appeared unable to mend their relationship.20

Sara Bransford's health began to fail after 1900 Susie cared for her with devotion and took her on several trips hoping that her health would improve. The Holmeses also purchased two large vacation homes in 1904 or 1905 to entertain her and make her more comfortable. One was a summer retreat in Holladay, five miles south of Salt Lake City on East Mill Creek. This two-story yellow house with a red roof was secluded among oak and cottonwood trees A stream flowed less than two hundred feet from the house, making it six to eight degrees cooler than the Gardo House Susie affectionately called this favorite summer getaway spot Oakwood. The second home, located in Pasadena, California, had a commanding view of the valley and canyon The previous owners had named it El Roble because of the giant oak growing in the front yard. Holmes, who suffered from arthritis as he aged, particularly loved California's winter climate.

Despite Susie's efforts to prolong her mother's life, Sara died in 1905 Susie was devastated with grief and lapsed into a deep depression. Her mother had been her confidante; her estrangement from Grace intensified her feelings of loss. It was natural, therefore, that she began to focus attention on Nellie and her young family Nellie had named her daughter after Susie and called her Susanna. The bond between the sisters grew stronger even though Susie asked permission to adopt Susanna. Susie found her young namesake charming and spent many hours caring for her. Eventually, Susie would arrange dates for Susanna with Hollywood personalities, buy her beautiful clothes,

20 Salt Lake Tribune, September 7, 1904; Deseret News, September 6, 1904; Wallace Bransford affidavit

and take her to elaborate parties. Meanwhile, Susie's relationship with her brotherJohn grew cooler. Their partnership continued for several years, but she would only communicate with him through their sister Nellie or a third party. Interestingly, in later years she would offer to pay his medical bills when she feared he was seriously ill but cautioned Nellie not to tell him who was paying the expenses. 21

In 1908 Grace contracted rheumatic fever, and its side effects handicapped her for the remainder of her life. Susie, apparently unaware of the seriousness of the disease for some time, did not visit her often. Grace resented her mother's lack of attention, while Susie complained to friends and family that Grace seldom invited her to her home and that she never had a chance to talk with her alone.

By contrast, Susie lavished attention on Harold Lamb, her nephew and foster son. She had sent him to Exeter, a posh boy's school, and later to Cornell University to pursue a degree in architecture. Very indulgent and generous, she may have encouraged him to be too dependent upon her. After a few years he tired of school and

This view of the Gardo House shows the large addition built by Susie to house works of art and provide spacefor entertaining. Courtesy of Anne Bransford Newhall.

Hartman interviews; interviews with Dr Harold Lamb, great-nephew of Susie

returned to Salt Lake City before completing his degree. He was very talented, though, and soon found work with one of Utah's leading architectural firms—Treganza, Ware, and Cannon A short time later, in 1912, he married a Texas beauty, Grizzelle Houston. In 1915 Susie gave him a beautiful Prairie style home on Michigan Avenue in one of Salt Lake City's most desirable neighborhoods.

Grace's health steadily deteriorated, and in September 1917 her doctor advised her to vacation in Los Angeles, hoping a change of climate would help. On October 24, 1917, she suddenly collapsed and died at age thirty-one. Susie, the colonel, his children, and Adele Blood were visiting a hot springs in Virginia when word came that Grace had died. Adele later reported that Susie threw herself onto the bed and wept for several minutes when she read the telegram. However, she cabled Wallace that she would not return for the funeral, using the colonel's need to continue his treatment for pain as an excuse. To John and Wallace's amazement Susie did not send flowers to the funeral. Later she would explain that it was considered bad etiquette to send flowers to a relative's funeral In retaliation for this slight, Wallace arranged to have Grace buried across the street from her father's grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery so that she would not be near her mother's grave in the future.22

Grace left nearly all of her money, properties, and mining stocks to Wallace. Her will left $10,000 to Susie and $10,000 to Albion's surviving sisters. Many were surprised that Susie expected more, but she was livid with anger and frustration She had helped to generate Albion's fortune, had tried to provide her daughter with educational and social opportunities as she grew to maturity and had expected Grace to be more appreciative. In addition, Susie still harbored resentment against Wallace for interfering with her plans for Grace His numerous critical comments about Susie to mutual friends over the years had also irritated her. The Salt Lake Tribune announced on January 21, 1918, that Susie intended to sue for half of Grace's estate which amounted to about $800,000

The trial, which began on September 15, 1918, had a devastating effect on her reputation. The daily media coverage was frequently critical of her and colored many local citizens' perceptions of her Susie alleged that Wallace had coerced Grace into leaving him all of her

22 Wallace Bransford affidavit and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Bransford probate records; Lamb interviews; " Mrs Bransford Dies in California," Salt Lake Tribune, October 25, 1917; "Actress Testifies in Bransford Case," Salt Lake Tribune, October 19, 1918

assets. Her attorneys subpoenaed doctors, teachers, and servants, hoping to show that Grace was incapable of making sound decisions because she was mentally incompetent, poorly educated, and sickly.

Wallace's attorneys countered by subpoenaing all the Bransford friends and associates to show that the couple was happily married and that Grace had been mentally competent. Susie's attorneys also subpoenaed Adele Blood, Wallace's first cousin on his mother's side of the family They hoped she could convince thejudge that Wallace was domineering and inconsiderate of Grace and had prevented the mother and daughter from reconciling their differences. This tactic backfired when unsubstantiated rumors circulated in the city that Susie had adopted Adele or intended to after the trial.

Judge Stevens rejected the stories about Grace's subnormal intelligence and poor judgment because he felt they could not be substantiated Ruling in Wallace's favor, he described Susie as a self-absorbed and flagrantly negligent parent. She was furious and hurt. In particular, she felt that she had been unjustly maligned throughout the trial and that her efforts to educate and care for Grace had not been appreciated. Her attorneys immediately filed an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, but the court refused to hear the case. 23

Susie was nearly sixtyyears old when she sued Wallace. She may have been seeking revenge because he had interfered with her plans for Grace's future More likely, though, she simply needed the money Money was a prerequisite for membership in some prestigious eastern social groups. For decades she had been known throughout the United States and Europe for her elaborate parties, beautiful clothes, and impressive jewelry. As she aged she spent extravagantly on travel and luxuries and did not manage her money aswisely as she once had. Moreover, Holmes planned to leave his entire fortune to his four children.24

After the trial Susie and the colonel returned to El Roble. During the next six years they fully participated in Pasadena's social life, entertaining often and attending parties hosted by many prominent people Susie transformed El Roble from a wood-shingled structure to a Tudor mansion for $37,000 in 1922. During their travels the colonel had added to his extensive collection of paintings, statuary, and other

23 The account of the trial is drawn from court records in Utah State Archives and some two dozen articles that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Fvening News, October 1918 through January 1919; "Mrs Holmes Loses Suit Against Bransford," Deseret Evening News, January 25, 1919; "Florist Testifies in Will Contest," Salt Lake Tribune, October 22, 1918; interviews with Anne Bransford Newhall, granddaughter of Wallace and Edna Bransford, summers of 1993 and 1994

24 Colonel Holmes probate papers, #14129, Utah State Archives; Hartman interviews

El Roble, the Pasadena home of the Holmeses. Inset shoius original Arts and Crafts style house that Susie remodeled into the Tudor mansion shown below. The recent television movieThe Christmas Box wasfilmed there. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Morgan.

mementos from Europe, Asia, and Africa, and El Roble soon resembled an elaborate art museum. By the mid-1920s the home and its contents were valued at more than a million dollars.25 After losing Grace, Susie made a point of staying in touch with Harold Lamb and his young family. On trips to Salt Lake City she invited them to her penthouse in the Hotel Utah or visited them at Oakwood. She gave each child a $50 bill for his birthday and Christmas for many years. Once she invited Harold, Jr., to ride with her in the Rose Bowl Parade. To make the event more memorable she purchased the Prince of Wales' Rolls Royce for the occasion. The two of them looked very regal in their best clothes as they drove down Pasadena's streets in the shiny yellow car.

!5 "Romantic History Adds Glamour to Eleventh Showcase Design," Pasadena Star, April 17, 1975; Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee, Showcase ofInterior Design on El Roble Residence, undated, courtesy of Pasadena City Library

About the time she sold the Gardo House in 1920, Susie deeded Oakwood to Harold and his family. He was overjoyed. With its tall trees, stream, and large garden, the home would make an ideal place to raise his three children. Tragically, Harold died of appendicitis on May 14, 1925, at age thirty-eight His wife was devastated to discover that he had no savings or life insurance. Susie stepped in to provide Grizzelle with $300 a month until she remarried several years later. Then, with a new father in the picture, Susie and her foster grandchildren drifted apart. Of all Susie's relationships those with her husbands have generated the most speculation. One historian reported that Susie once jokingly told Jennie Kearns, wife of Thomas Kearns, that she had a difficult time keeping husbands Unfortunately, this was true Only one of her four marriages lasted more than ten years, and she outlived all of her husbands even though the last two were many years younger. Susie's relatives remembered Colonel Holmes as a kindly gentleman who indulged Susie's eccentricities. 2 6 At first, the couple appeared very happy and Susie seemed content to live and entertain in Utah But as time passed she outgrew Salt Lake City and frequently traveled alone to Washington and Europe. She may have felt that Holmes, with all of his business and social interests, neglected her. Prior to 1910 he was very involved in politics and the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce; he also served as commissioner of the water supply. Socially, he had a wide range of contacts as a Mason, as a member of the Alta Club, the University Club, and the Salt Lake Country Club, and as president of the Commercial Club While Grace was a student in Washington, D.C., Susie had an excuse to go there. Later she continued to spend several months a year in the East. Many of her friends were members of prominent eastern families, including congressmen and their wives She was a frequent guest at parties in Washington and New York and hosted some extravagant events herself.27 Some of her socials were so lavish that they prompted a rebuke from Colorado's Tom Walsh, who liked to think of himself as Washington's king of entertainers Supposedly, Holmes grew impatient with her long absences and ordered her to return to Utah, threatening to sell the Gardo House if she did not.28

Despite the many examples of generosity to her family, Susie

26 Hartman interviews; Lamb interviews; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 64

-' Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 63; Lester, Brigham Street, p 117; Bransford affidavit, Bransford probate records; Hartman interviews; unidentified clippings in Susie's scrapbook.

28 Salt Lake Herald, December 15, 1903, Susie's scrapbook; Lester, Brigham Street, p 117

appeared unkind to her loved ones at times.When Colonel Holmes died September 30, 1925,at age eighty-two, he had been living in Illinois with his two unmarried daughters for two years. Susie, age sixty-six, was traveling when she received a cable notifying her of his death. She told his children to bury him next to their mother,Jennie, as that had been his wish, and not to expect her at the funeral. In reality, she may have feared a confrontaion with his children as he had signed some assets over to her after she lost the lawsuit in 1919 but did not change his will. She and the colonel had both lost money through the years as the value of their mining stocks had depreciated significantly. Perhaps she hoped her lawyers could reconcile the issue with his children so she could avoid dealing with them over the remainder of their father's estate.29

Susie closed El Roble and moved into the Plaza Hotel in NewYork to be near Adele and her daughter Dawn and her eastern friends She also hired a male secretary, Culver Sherrill, to manage her business affairs Time wasvery kind to her during these years At age seventy she was still a very attractive woman. Instead of slowing down, she continued to live life to the fullest measure She was personally acquainted with several presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt whose silverframed picture traveled with her Through the years she had met many famous Europeans such as Nicholas II of Russia, Hitler, Mussolini, Pope Leo, and Queen Victoria She had even attended Edward VII's coronation and danced with the Prince of Wales.

About 1928 Susie caught the eye of two Russian princes— Nicholas Engalitcheff, who claimed to be a descendant of Genghis Khan and a relative of the Romanovs, and David Dadiani, descended from Georgian aristocracy. Both were prominent members of New York society. Eventually, she chose the handsome and charming Engalitcheff as a suitor; possibly he was more exciting. Nicki, as he was affectionately called, and Susie decided to marry in 1928. Much to the prince's surprise and embarrassment, he was denied a marriage license because, the state of NewYork informed him, his second wife, Baroness Danise Melanie de Bertrand, was not legally dead despite her disappearance in Canada six years earlier.30

29 "Former Utahn Answers the Call," Park Record, October 2, 1925; "Col. Holmes, Once of Salt Lake, Dies East," Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1925; Lester, Brigham Street, p 119; Hartman interviews; Col Holmes probate papers; Col Holmes's probate from Illinois, #799; Petition to Holmes probate submitted to Kane County, Illinois, 1926

30 Hartman interviews; "America's 'Silver Queen' Passes Through Adelaide," Deseret News, August 25, 1930; "Silver Queen Ruled Lavishly for Forty Years," Deseret News, July 24, 1979; "Silver Queen Seeks Divorce," Salt Lake Telegram, November 1, 1932

After this disappointment Susie was next romanced by a Yugoslavian doctor, Radovan Nobelkov Delitch, prominent in both American and European social circles. Affiliated with NewYork's Fifth Avenue Hospital, Rada had earned medals from the French and Yugoslav governments for his surgical skills during World War I. After the war he turned to research and became a noted cancer specialist. Surprisingly, the age issue did not trouble Susie or Rada even though he was nearly thirty years younger. They shared friends and a love of travel, parties, nice clothes, and "the good life." They were married in Radovan's Paris home on July 19, 1930; but Yugoslav tradition required a church ceremony, and so a second marriage took place in a Russian Orthodox church in Paris. At Susie's insistence Rada gave up his medical practice She convinced him that he did not need to work and that it would interfere with their travel plans.

The marriage caught most of NewYork society by surprise Even Nellie was stunned when she heard about her sister's latest marriage from newspaper reporters. Susie later tried to make amends by briefly visiting Salt Lake City to introduce Rada to Nellie and her Utah friends.

Between trips around the world the Delitches stayed in the Plaza Hotel, but their main residence was El Roble. Rada tried to adjust to married life, but within a short time it was obvious that he was unhappy He often withdrew to his study to read or sulk and would refuse to speak English Susanna Hartman, Susie's niece, remembered him wandering about the house muttering to himself and refusing to leave his room when company visited.

Delitch became veryjealous of Susie, and she complained that he made public scenes if she talked with other men. When she began attending social functions without him, he hired a detective to report her every move. A servant leaked a story to the newspapers that the couple quarreled about the way she spent her money Rada wanted her to reduce the number of her servants at El Roble to save money during the depression She refused because she worried that some might not find employment elsewhere. He was also concerned that Susie's stock dividends were dwindling. They did not have his former income to rely on, yet she insisted on traveling and entertainingjust the same. 31

31 "Drawing Hidden Fortunes from Earth Finest Method, Avers Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Telegram, September 6, 1932; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; "Utah Woman Back from Honeymoon," Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1930, "Mrs Emery-Holmes Is Bride of Physician at 71," Salt Lake Telegram, July 19, 1930; Hartnrarr interviews

Susie was disappointed with her niece's choice of a husband Gage Hartman, though a nice fellow, did not have money or a promising career. Despite misgivings, she hosted a large wedding in St. Mark's Cathedral and an impressive reception at the Hotel Utah. The wedding resembled a fairy tale event as the church was elegantly decorated with dozens of beautiful flowers, many potted plants, and ribbons. Susie stood by the bride in a stunning red dress, instead of lavender that the bride had preferred, feeling that red better highlighted her coiffured white hair

After Susie asked Rada to leave, he begged Nellie and Susanna Hartman to intervene on his behalf Distraught and penitent, he begged for another chance, but his efforts at a reconciliation were fruitless. In November 1932 Susie sent him on a cruise to Europe; when he returned the divorce would be final.

A month later, while she was lunching with Susanna, Susie received a telegram telling her that on Christmas Eve the ship's crew had discovered Delitch's body and a suicide note bemoaning the fact that he was alone and friendless now that Susie had left him She read it quietly, reflected for a moment, and then carried on as though nothing had happened Some have criticized her for not outwardly grieving and postponing the lunch, but Hartman believed that she acted out of consideration for her Susie realized that her niece had been looking forward to the lunch for many weeks and did not wish to disappoint her. More important perhaps, Susie did not discuss personal problems with her family, possibly fearing they would disapprove of her lifestyle.

Susie and her third husband, Dr. Radovan Delitch. Courtesy ofHarold Lamb.

When she was alone, Susie dealt with her grief and also directed her secretary, Culver Sherrill, to arrange to have the Yugoslavian navy bury Delitch at sea. Years later she told a newspaper reporter that she was sure Rada had not committed suicide and that they would have reconciled their differences and lived happily at El Roble if he had not died unexpectedly.32

Within six weeks of Radovan's death, Susie sold El Roble. A Los Angeles company, George Fischer and Sons, was hired to handle the auction. More than 25,000 people came from southern California and elsewhere to tour the house Such treasures as the Prince of Wales' yellow and black Rolls Royce sold for only $700, while the jeweled goblets Tsar Nicholas II had given her went for $65 apiece The sale raised only $100,000. Later, the auction company acknowledged that the replacement value of the house and its contents in 1933 was over one million dollars, but the depression had undercut the market value Susie secluded herself to avoid publicity while her home and treasures were purchased by Anna C. Newcomb, the widow of James Newcomb of Standard Oil.33

A few months later Susie and Nicki Engalitcheff became engaged a second time She was seventy-four and he was sixty The marriage would be her fourth and his third. This time New York allowed them to proceed with a civil marriage on October 18, 1933, followed by a religious ceremony at the Russian Orthodox church on Houston Street about a month later One source claims the prince's gold crown was too large and fell down onto his nose during the church wedding. No matter, Susie was delighted with the marriage and her new title of princess.

It was not a love match Susie was more interested in a travel companion than an amorous relationship and there is evidence that Nicki openly admired her sister Nellie because she was more of a homemaker No doubt Susie also enjoyed the attention she received as the wife of a Russian prince It established her social legitimacy In public Nicki appeared to be a kind and charming man, but he was also pompous and condescending to women Susie seemed to enjoy catering to his needs, but that may have been a pose. Some have speculated that he was

32 Hartman interviews; Lamb interviews; and unidentified wedding announcement placed about September 1933 in a Salt Lake City newspaper.

33

"'Silver Queen' Seeks Divorce," Salt Lake Telegram, November 1, 1932; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; "'Utah Silver Queen', 74, Weds 60 Year Old Prince," Salt Lake Tribune, October 20, 1933; "Palace of 'Silver Queen' Stripped of Treasures, Salt Lake Tribune, January 29, 1933; Hartman interviews

ill during most of their marriage or that he was an invalid and had a nurse. Susanna Hartman noted that he was a chain smoker and drank heavily.

Nicki died of a stroke on March 25, 1935 The couple were separated when he died; the obituary listed his residence as the Hotel Barclay, not the Plaza Hotel where Susie lived when she was in town. She was not with him when he died and did not attend his funeral. The autobiography of her business manager, Culver Sherrill, explains that Nicki left Susie for a younger woman soon after their honeymoon and that she refused to take him back when the affair ended. Despite the obituary that appeared in the New York Times and in the Salt Lake City newspapers, Susie told her family and western friends an incredible story that has been exaggerated and embellished over the years. She claimed that she and Nicki were traveling with friends when he died on a Mediterranean cruise. Rather than cancel the trip to bury him in the United States, she decided to store his body in a warehouse in one of the Mediterranean ports and take care of his funeral later When news of her plans leaked to the press some Russian nationals insisted that she give him a burial at sea befitting his rank She also claimed to have hired a woman to impersonate her at the funeral by wearing her clothes and a black veil.34 Perhaps she was evening the score for past injuries through her humorous version of his death and funeral.

The fifth man to play a major part in Susie's life was her business manager Culver Sherrill, a little man with dyed red hair and a moustache. Some have suggested that he was her last lover, but others believe that unlikely. He was interested in someone else at that time. In her will Susie fondly described him as her closest friend. He tirelessly cared for her and her business interests. He made all their travel

Prince Nicholas V. Engalitcheff, Susie'sfourth husband. Courtesy of Susanna Hartman and Raye Ringholz.

34 Hartman interviews; Salt Lake Tribune, January 29, 1933; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; Salt Lake Tribune, October 20, 1933; "Prince Weds 'Silver Queen' Second Time," unidentified newspaper clipping courtesy of Dr. Lamb; Ringholz to author; Hartman interviews; Culver Sherrill, Crimes without Punishment (Hicksville, N.Y: Exposition Press, 1977), p 68; telephone interview with Angelo Boncaraglio, Culver Sherrill's companion, Taormina, Sicily, summer 1994

arrangements and packed for both of them. When she died in 1942 he was a fifty-year-old bachelor.

Toward the end of her life Susie gave Sherrill the legal authority to sell her property Some members of her family became alarmed when he began selling many of her properties and stocks in the 1930s. He did not account to anyone except Susie for the money. A few relatives and Culver's companion suggested she may have become senile because her behavior seemed unwise and unpredictable

After the sale of El Roble Susie preferred living in hotels. When she returned to Utah in 1938 to check on her mines, she arrived in the Denver 8c Rio Grande's Pullman suite and checked into a suite of rooms in the Hotel Utah for the summer Many years had passed since her last visit, and she was greeted like royalty by the press and public. She told reporters she would not tour Europe again. At age seventynine she was tired of traveling and wanted to settle down Susie died on August 4, 1942, at the age of eighty-three. She had recently moved from her Plaza Hotel suite in New York to the less expensive Hotel Wendell near Pittsfield, Massachusetts The day she died she was on her way to visit a friend in Virginia and had stopped at the Putnam Inn for the night. That evening she and some friends had planned to attend a party. When she failed to meet them, one of them went up to her room and found her lifeless body lying on the bed with a sleeping mask over her eyes. 35

Throughout the years Susie had many close relationships with her servants. Mary, the head maid in Amelia's Palace, always referred to her as "madam," and other members of the staff also respected and admired her because she treated them well and never chastised them publicly. If necessary she was not above cleaning her own bathroom. When food needed additional seasoning, she typically jumped up from the table and salted it herself instead of reproving the cook A Pasadena home tour script noted that Susie's servants at El Roble were also very loyal and devoted to her. After she left California she maintained a close relationship with J E Feldman and his wife Letitia Feldman had served as El Roble's gardener for several years and lived on the estate with his family. He was also one of her witnesses in the 1918 trial against Wallace Bransford.

In light of these close relationships with her employees, it is easy to

35 Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1938; Hartman interviews; "'Silver Queen' of Utah Closes Famed Career," Park Record, August 6, 1942; all of the obituary notices in Utah newspapers were essentially the same; Hartman and Lamb interviews; Boncaraglio interview

understand why she left her estate to two members of her staff. Her will directed the executor to setup a $4,000 trust fund for Feldman and hiswife. They were to receive $100 a month for life, as a small token for their devotion andloyalty. Culver Sherrill received therest ofher estate and personal property, including several stocks. In 1939, three years before herdeath, Susiehad given him the Richmond Apartments—later renamed the Sherrill Apartments—in Salt Lake City.

Some of Susie's relatives, surprised to find they were not mentioned in herwill, wanted to challenge it, believing shewas mentally incompetent prior to her death. Her magnificent jewelry wasnot part of her estate, and they were further surprised when the executor announced that most of her money was gone. Nellie asked Sherrill for her mother's jewelry—which Susie hadinherited at Sara's death—but he told her itwas also gone. It is hard to explain whySusie chose to leave her relatives nothing, although some of them had been openly critical of her or were cool or indifferent toward her. Sherewrote herwill in 1939, revoking any previous wills that mayhave included them. In this final will she reminded her relatives that shehad been very generous to them during herlifetime andfelt that was enough.36

Even in her grave Susie has remained the subject of speculation by historians andothers, with onewriter suggesting that herdeath was

Even in her mature years the Silver Queen projected an image of beauty and style. USHS collections.

36 Hartman and Lamb interviews; Susanna B Engalitcheff's Will, #24672, pp 1, 2, 5, in probate records, Utah State Archives; Pasadena Home Tour Notes; "Florist Testifies in Will Contest," Salt Lake Tribune, October 22, 1918; Engalitcheff probate records; Ringholz to author.

the result of foul play or suicide. There is insufficient evidence to support either premise, but both are worthy of discussion because it is important to dispel the false rumors this theory spawned. The notion of suicide or foul play probably developed because Susie sent Nellie a strange letter a few weeks before she died She complained of being afraid but did not explain why Since that time people have wondered why Susie wrote such a letter but did not ask for help.

The suicide theory is plausible in light of Susie's financial problems After her death several newspapers reported that she had only $65,000 left of her many millions. By 1942 nearly all of her stocks were worthless. The Silver King Mine had paid few dividends during the depression When the estate was probated in Utah and California, it was discovered that she actually owed Utah's Continental Bank $22,000 and had pledged her remaining stocks against the debt. A NewYork appraiser estimated the value of her clothes, remainingjewelry, and cash on hand at $250 when she died. Susie probably had to sell El Roble and herjewelry to support herself during the depression as she was nearing bankruptcy

The California probate hearing also revealed that she had been ill shortly before she died. Unfortunately, neither Utah nor California probate records provide any details of her illness. Despite her failing health and financial woes, those family members who admired her most feel that suicide was not her style and would never have been an option. As for the note to Nellie, it is risky to try to explain her motive for sending it Many older people frequently worry about their health and money.

The foul play theory should also be dismissed; it has no factual foundation It developed because of her sudden and medically unattended death—not in itself a suspicious circumstance. The death certificate lists arteriosclerosis as the cause of death. Sherrill deserves praise for faithfully watching over Susie in her old age. Unfortunately, his boastful statements after Susie's funeral made her heirs suspicious of him. In 1943 he told some reporters in California that he had inherited $4,000,000, whereas a few months earlier he had told Susie's relatives that she had died almost penniless It is highly probable that Susie gave Sherrill some of the money andjewelry in question so that probate would not be a source of contention among her relatives and friends after her death She also may have given Adele and Dawn some of her jewelry because they played an important role in her later life. Furthermore, Susanna Hartman and Harold Lamb,Jr., Susie's niece

and great-nephew, have stated that any gifts Sherrill may have received he deserved for his years of faithful service.37

Sherrill also unconsciously fueled suspicion when he built or leased a villa in Taormina, Sicily, with a staff of six servants. Some wondered how he could afford to live in luxury if Susie's fortune was as depleted as he had claimed. Some relatives were still upset that Susie had given him the Richmond (Sherrill) Apartments and felt the building rightfully belonged to the family. A few years after Susie's death he sold these apartments to the Mormon church for $1,800 a month. During a thirtyyear period the Mormon church paid him over $650,000.38

Susie's burial expenses were paid by her estate, not by her family as some have reported Sherrill took care of the arrangements personally. After seeing Susie dressed to perfection in furs and jewels in life, her niece Susanna Hartman was disappointed when she later saw her in the coffin. The dress was too plain and her hair and makeup did not look right. Susie's funeral was held at the Evans and Early Mortuary at 4:00 P.M on Saturday, August 8, 1942 She was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery next to her first husband, Albion Emery. Hartman chose a headstone some twelve inches square and three inches high and simply had the initials S.B.E. carved on it. With the large stone Bransford-Emery marker, the small stone seemed adequate.39

In the process of sorting the myths from the facts about Susie's life, it is important to put her in historical context. Rather than comparing her to the average Utah woman of her time, with whom she had little in common, it makes more sense to view her among her wealthy associates in Washington and New York. The "old guard" made it difficult for the newly rich to infiltrate their exclusive social circles. To belong, Susie had to play by the rules. Originally, as the New York Herald pointed out, lineage was a prerequisite for membership (The Bransford family had been prominent in the South before the

37 Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p 64; Lamb interviews; "Estate Left by Princess Set at $65,918," Salt Lake Tribune,Junei, 1943; Engalitcheff probate records from Utah and Los Angeles, California; death certificate of Susanna B. Engalitcheff, Vital Statistics Department, Hartford, Connecticut; Hartman interviews; "'Silver Queen' Wills Millions to Manager of Estate," Salt Lake tribune, August 26, 1942

58 Murray interviews; interview with Gene Kellogg, nephew of Culver Sherrill; interviews with Frances Darger, niece of Susie's Salt Lake City lawyer, Frank Johnson; interview with Merna Hansen, LDS Real Estate Department A title search at the Salt Lake County Recorder's Office revealed that Culver Sherrill received the property from Susie on January 31, 1939 The Mormon church purchased the property on February 25, 1950, for $60 a day for the remainder of Sherrill's life This amounted to more than $650,000 by the time of his death in 1981 The church also paid all of Culver's taxes on this income

39 Engalitcheff probate records; "Rites Planned Saturday for 'Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 1942; Hartman interviews.

Civil Wardestroyed their holdings.) Later, family became a minor consideration, and "social prominence . . . was expressed ... in terms of millions rather than in lineage." This could explain whySusie tried to conceal her real networth up until the day she died

Just prior to 1900 social newcomers such as the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers struggled to gain the acceptance of the Astors, Morrises, Cabots, and Lodges bystaging elaborate parties and boasting of their great wealth. They soon discovered it was also important to know the "right people." Forexample, the Tom Walshes of Ouray, Colorado, were not accepted by the elite socialites ofDenver, Washington, or NewYork until they had traveled to Europe. Once they had mingled with European royalty and statesmen in Paris they were given a chance to affiliate with the "right people" in theUnited States.

Having won acceptance, thepeople ofrecent wealth saw toit that their children socialized with and married into the right groups to consolidate or increase family wealth Stephen Birmingham, a chronicler of this era, called theyears between 1890and 1930the "Era of the Great Splurge" because the newly rich aggressively and competitively spent money as never before to impress each other. Another author, Mary Cable, wrote that thenouveau riche, with "nothing really serious or important to do"after amassing their fortunes, kept "an almost frantic schedule of heavy dinners, vast balls and formal calls. Laden with baggage they weekended . ..here andabroad, always with 'people weknow' andavoiding 'people wedon't know.'"40

Culver Sherrill, Susie's private secretary. Courtesy of Frances Darger.

"' Mary Cable, Top Drawer: American High Societyfrom the Cilded Age to the Roaring Twenties (Hanover: McClelland & Stewart, 1984), pp vii-x, 18, 23, 28; Stephen Birmingham, America's Secret Aristocracy (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1987), pp 13, 278, 282; Kathryn A.Jacob, "High Society in Washington during the Gilded Age: Three Distinct Aristocracies" (Ph.D diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p 266

It appears that philanthropic activities were not generally undertaken by many prominent people until a later period. As for family life, the wealthy usually sent their children to boarding schools, as did Susie, and often were too busy to spend much time with them even during holidays or summer vacations. Governesses were expected to nurture the children and teach them manners and discipline.

Finally, it is important to remember that Susie had a good sense of humor and was a great storyteller. She may have inadvertently started some of the myths about her life by making flippant comments Some seemingly insensitive statements, such as the one to her friend Jennie Kearns about hanging her four wedding rings like grapes in the bathroom, were probably intended to be humorous or even self-deprecating. In one of her most outrageous comments she is quoted as saying that she regretted the passing of an era "when rich people could live like they wanted to live, could afford to live, without fear of offending the proletariat." Perhaps some historians have taken her remarks too seriously. One thing is fairly certain, as a member of an exclusive group of Americans in the "Era of the Great Splurge," Susie believed she had a public image to maintain She may also have used it as a shield to help preserve her dignity in good and bad times. One comment published immediately after her death seems to reflect the views of many who knew her during her lifetime: "Famed for a remarkable personality as much as for her extreme wealth, the princess was often described as a blend of grand dame, business woman, cosmopolite and breezy westerner, forming a striking and attractive combination."41

Contemporary observers dubbed Susie Utah's Silver Queen, and the title has remained exclusively hers for almost a century To attempt to label her today as either a cold, unfeeling socialite or as a caring and loving daughter, wife, sister, mother, aunt, and friend would distort her life Her actions clearly reveal a complex personality that exhibited many traits, endearing and otherwise. While Utah's "silver kings" and other mining millionaires opened businesses or bought newspapers, railroads, and political influence, Susie's exuberant spirit seemed to soar when a handsome prince, a good time, or preferably both were at hand. Perhaps the most significant thing to remember about Susie is that she, more than any other individual who gained a fortune from Utah's mines, used her wealth to create a highly visible

" Florida Too Cold, New York Too Hot and California Too Sad, So Globe Trotting Princess Comes Back Home," Salt Lake Telegram, May 11, 1938; Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years, p. 214; Hartman and Lamb interviews; "Death Comes to Utah's Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Tribune, August 5, 1942

place for herself in elite social circles in America and Europe. In doing so she exemplified the "Era of the Great Splurge."42

42 The millionaires mentioned are Thomas Kearns and David Keith, Susie's business partners

The following bit of folklore was taken from an interview with Susanna Hartman and two Mount Olivet Cemetery guides, Mary Dawn Coleman and Floralie Millsaps: Legendary in life, Susie is apparently not allowed to rest in peace even now Local folklorists claim that after the funeral some of her friends filled her coffin with silver dollars out of love and respect for her memory The present Evans and Early Mortuary staff insists the story is false, but over the years members of Susie's family have complained that their family headstones have been moved and are not in the right places After her life of adventures, real and fabricated, it somehow seems fitting that Utah's illustrious Silver Queen, who rose from modest circumstances in Park City to riches and lost most of it in the end, might be resting in a coffin filled with silver dollars. A major water line for the cemetery's sprinkler system runs through the middle of the Emery and Bransford graves, making it necessary to move headstones occasionally to replace or work on the water pipes. Humorously, the current sexton at Mount Olivet, Daniel Valdez, is not sure that Susie's body actually rests beneath her headstone and does not want to discuss the story No doubt Susie would be delighted with this amusing situation She loved to leave people guessing

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation

The Utah Historical Quarterly (ISSN 0042-143X) is published quarterly by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1182. The editor is MaxJ. Evans and 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 or company owns or holds any bonds, mortgages, or other securities of the Society or its magazine

The following figures are the average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 3,328 copies printed; 85 dealer and counter sales; 2,915 mail subscriptions; 3,000 total paid circulation; 42 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,057 total distribution; 271 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total, 3,328

The following figures are the actual number of copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,241 copies printed; 15 dealer and counter sales; 2,975 mail subscriptions; 2,990 total paid circulation; 31 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,031 total distribution; 210 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 3,241.

Hospitality and Gullibility: A Magician's View of Utah's Mormons

BYDAVID L ZOLMAN, SR

BETWEEN 1869 AND 1912, GEORGE ANTON ZAMLOCH, billing himself as The Great Zamloch, took his magic show on the road throughout the West His itinerary included Hawaii, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Utah An Austrian immigrant based in San Francisco, he was a genial and good-natured man who was quick to praise the hospitality he found in Utah's small towns but equally quick to disdain local superstition, stinginess, and uncouth behavior whenever he encountered it.

Zamloch retired in 1912 and wrote an extensive memoir, still in possession of the family, that has never been published or cited in any of the scholarly literature about the West and Mormons. 1 Based primarily on that memoir, this paper recounts his 1882 tour of Utah's small towns and offers personal reflections on the landladies, innkeepers, bishops, and stage managers whom he re-creates so vividly. The mining towns of Park City and Silver Reef stand in cosmopolitan contrast to conservative farming villages such as St. George, Toquerville, and Centerville The Great Zamloch, an illusionist by trade, had a remarkably brisk way of dispelling social illusions in print, and his sleight of hand became a deft touch in his first-person writing

Today's historian must wonder about the reliability of Zamloch's memoir, it having been penned by an acknowledged showman thirty years after the experiences described therein The human memory is fallible Names, places, dates, people, and events can slip out of place over time Yet, this reminiscence has the ring of credibility It is told straightforwardly and with no apparent tendentious edge. Even granting allowances for memory lapses and any storyteller's tendency to portray himself in a heroic light, the reader will still find Zamloch's narrative rich

Mr Zolman is a family historian living in Salt Lake City He encountered the memoir from which this article is taken while working with a genealogical client, Archer W Zamloch II, grandson of George Anton Zamloch Mr Zolman acknowledges with appreciation the excellent editorial assistance received from Lavina Fielding Anderson and Larry L Piatt

1 George Anton Zamloch, "Zamloch Travels," carbon of typescript, 1912, 344 pp. in possession of Archer W. Zamloch II who lives in Los Angeles, California.

"THE GREAT ZAM"

ADMIT ONE Ticket—Three Yen.

THE GREAT ZAMLOCH

"The Great Zamloch"from Genii magazine, November 1940, from a ca. 1885photograph. The magazine called him "one of the better known and more capable of the great stage magicians. " Courtesy of the author.

in description, charm, and imagery It is a document that illuminates the social and cultural values of Utah and the West in the 1880s.

Zamloch's first exposure to magic came in his boyhood when he encountered an illusionist named Ignaz Kaitna in his native village of Raschach, situated on the River Sava in Lower Austria. As Zamloch described it, the Sava divided the province of Krain, a Slavonian-speaking region, from Steiermark, a German-speaking one The magician, a German speaker, needed a Slavonian-speaking assistant, and in one afternoon's rehearsal taught young Anton to hide under the table and hand up items and take others away on cue. Thus, Anton never suffered from the delusion that real magic was involved in any of the illusions, even though his mother, once she found out it was a magic show, was horrified, positive that he had sold his soul to the devil. Young Anton was "so infatuated" with tricks, that he disobeyed his mother, sneaked away from home to help with the next afternoon's performance, and remained "crazy on magic."

Anton was still in his early teens, apparently about fourteen, when he was medically examined for the army. Since he insisted that he would run away, given the first opportunity, his father, to avoid the disgrace to the family, shipped him off to San Francisco to an uncle, accompanied by an older sister whom he does not mention again in his memoir They left home March 10, 1864, and arrived on April 5 aboard the Teutonia of Hamburg.2 He was fifteen; his sister, Marie, was seven years his senior Anton attended school for a few years, then began working for a printer. When he became ill, he went first to Santa Cruz, then to nearby Soquel There a friend began calling him George, a name he used from that point on. When a magician came to town on the vaudeville circuit, the old infatuation reignited and Anton immediately began duplicating the little tricks he had learned from Kaitna. "I intended to start out on the road as a Magician, but kept it secret from everybody," he confessed Before long, however, he found two partners and printed a thousand handbills reading:

Amusing and Mysterious!

ZAMLOC H

The Great Austrian Wizard

From the Imperial Court of Vienna

In a Series of New and Marvelous Wonders, etc

2 Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1991), 15:195 In 1878-79 the San Francisco city directory lists him as a waiter at the New York Bakery

"I will never forget that day when Carter brought them from the printing office," he recalled from a perspective of more than thirty years "I hastily broke the package open to look at them. It was the first time that I saw my name in print To say that I was proud is putting it mildly." He and his partners sketched out an ambitious route for their initial tour: Folsom, then Placerville, Georgetown, and then eastward to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado.

The next several chapters in Zamloch's memoir are packed with hilarious incidents as the magic-making greenhorns set out on their tour, bedeviled by problems of weather, suspicious landlords, lost luggage, and nineteenth-century modes of conveyance that one might expect. Although Zamloch changed partners and assistants several times and was usually short of money, he improved steadily in proficiency and within a few years commanded a respectable—even impressive—repertoire of illusions and sleight of hand In 1883-84 he triumphantly listed his occupation as "magician" in the city directory, although he had become the vaguer "showman" by the next year.

Zamloch's first performances in Utah certainly occurred before 1882, but his first detailed description of the territory relates to Park City of that year Having boomed into existence a decade earlier with the discovery of rich silver veins in Ontario Canyon, Park City was definitely a thriving place by 1882. A local source praised the community's Main Street as a "thoroughfare" with sidewalks "the entire length of the street," noting further that "drunkenness and rowdyism have modified to a great extent, and the firing of pistols in the dead of night is a rare occurrence now."3 Park City was the third town in the state to receive telephone service, an innovation in 1881 with rates of $3.00 a month when a miner's wages were $2.50 a day. The Aschiem general store, a two-story brick and stone structure, had iron window shutters and one of the first fireproof metal roofs in town. Relatively new businesses when Zamloch arrived were the Park City Bank, the Dexter Stables, and Shields' grocery store.

The decision to play Park City was taken on the spur of the moment. After playing for a week in Salt Lake City, Zamloch was about to proceed to Wyoming Territory when an agent advised him that a circus was passing through and to wait a few days. Zamloch chose to spend this week in Park City, presumably because it was "a booming

3 George A Thompson and Fraser Buck, Treasure Mountain Home: Park City Revisited (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1981), p 45

mining town." Without any advance billings and without a theater, he "trusted to luck," hired a Mormon teamster to haul the luggage, and took the stagecoach with his wife Elizabeth, their baby, and Billy Marx, Elizabeth's younger brother who was then Zamloch's assistant. A talkative Irishman on the stagecoach chatted about the entertainment he was going to give of "reading and recitations" but was also "trusting to luck about securing the theatre." Zamloch said nothing but as soon as the coach reached Park City, he immediately went in search of the theater owner, a saloon keeper, and asked to rent the theater It is not clear which theater this would be. Park City's pride, the Society Hall, had the reputation of being "one of the finest show houses in the West," featured "a large orchestra pit, elaborate stage scenery, and a fancy lobby and seating area" but it was not constructed until 1883, the year after Zamloch's tour.4 However, a city history reports that among the "great stars of the day" who played it was "Zinlock [sic] the Magician."5 The following exchange, quoted in full, shows Zamloch's ease with and skill as a raconteur:

"What kind of a show have you got" he asked. I told him it was magic. "What? Slight of hand show?" I told him that itwas

"Well, my friend, go back to where you came from This town isn't partial to that kind of shows.You couldn't take in rent." "Well,what isyour rent" I inquired "The rent is$10,but you won't take in fifty cents." "Well, if that is the case, put your rent at the figure you think Iwill take in," Isaid. "But I'm telling you that no one will come to see you." I told him that I would try it anyway, and if he would make the rent reasonable Iwould pay it in advance.

"Ifyou want to lose your money you can have itfor $5,that isifyou pay in advance." "All right," I said, "but if the case is as bad asyou say, I may not have a good house the first night, but I have a good show, and I know that we could draw a good house the second night. How much will you charge for the second performance?" 'You will be so sick after the first show that you won't want to try another But if you have more money than you know what to do with, you can have it for another $5.""And if I want the theatre for a longer period, willyou let me have it for $5 each night?" 'You can have it for $5 a night ifyou show ayear. Butwhat is the use ofyou talking.Youwill try to show only one night."

"Iwill secure the theatre for four nights, and Iwillpayyou now."I threw a twenty dollar gold piece on the counter and asked for a receipt During this conversation the miners (about forty of them) were listening.

"Now, I'll bet you this twenty dollar gold piece that you won't take in twenty dollars in your four nights." I answered that I didn't want to win his

money, "But," I said, "Iwill bet you the treat of the house that Iwill take in more than twenty dollars the first night." "All right. I'll go you," he said. He called everybody up to the bar. The bill was $4 and I paid it and said to him, "If we take in more money than twenty dollars the first night, you will give me back the four dollars?" "Sure I will, but I'm afraid that you will lose."

The garrulous Irishman, who was eating dinner at the hotel 6 while Zamloch was concluding this arrangement, never forgave the magician. He later managed a chain of theaters in Montana but would never let Zamloch play.

The next day Zamloch and his helpers plastered the town with fliers They opened the next night According to Zamloch's narrative:

We showed in Park City the four nights. Our smallest house was $118. For a small town itwas unusually large business. On our opening night, not having enough seats in the theatre, some miners brought six benches from

'^'^^.

Park City, Utah, in the 1880s. USHS collections.

" Zamloch does not identify the hotel, but Park City in the early 1880s had three prominent ones: the Salt Lake House in the center of town, the Park City Hotel, and the Park Hotel Ibid., p 46

that saloon from whom I rented the theatre The benches remained in the theatre until we got through. On the morning after the last performance, after we got through packing, Billy returned the benches to the saloon. When he brought the last one, the saloon man said to Billy, "Take these four dollars to your boss. He won the bet. But tell him to come here and kick me

Zamloch explained, with a droll sense of deadpan: "It was on account of heavy billing (printers ink is the thing). There is magic in it."

His next appearances in Utah apparently occurred the same season "In Utah the business was good," he recalls "After finishing the larger towns we decided to play the smaller ones." Referring to these smaller towns, he wrote: "We have had some tough experiences in country hotels and stopping places in the last forty years, but that was the hardest deal we ever got That was in 1882, but it is as fresh in my memory as though it happened yesterday."

The magician's team at this point consisted of a young man who was the advance agent and a Mormon teamster with a heavy spring wagon and four horses whom Zamloch hired for $8 a day. He does not name this teamster but says, "This man proved to be very valuable. In many places he was the means of us securing the 'Meeting House' as he was 'a good Mormon' otherwise we would not be able to secure it. The Bishops would (in most cases) not let us have it, as we were 'Gentiles,' and at that time the Mormons had no use for us."

As examples, the theater was already engaged in Cedar City, but the bishop refused them permission to appear. 'Youjoin the Church, then you can show," he said In another town, Zamloch rented the theater for three nights, but the bishop limited him to one night Zamloch apparently did not argue or get angry but simply "turned around and drove out of town. It wouldn't pay us to set up everything for one performance."

Zamloch spurned the usual Mormon system of payment in produce or scrip and insisted strictly on cash, adults fifty cents and children twenty-five:

We refused to take produce for admission except home made socks, which we could dispose of. Home made candles, chickens, eggs, vegetables and "scrip" of any kind we refused Itwas customary in those days in Utah to bring such things to shows for their admission. Most merchants issued "scrip" money This money was made of brass, about the size of a quarter with the name of the merchant and its value stamped on it, and it was only good for goods in the store. A merchant, for example, would buy a farmer's wheat, and give five cents more (on the hundred weight) than the price quoted in

the market But after he had sold his wheat for "scrip" [if he] wanted, say, $40 in cash, he would have to give back to the merchant $100 of his "scrip." The farmers in Utah at that time were composed of the most ignorant European proselytes to the Mormon Church and were easy to be imposed upon both by the Church and by the merchants.

Zamloch, an immigrant himself, makes thisjudgment with no particular scorn but rather with genial regret. Based on his narrative, he had good reason for his conclusion For instance, he was frequently "asked to do some impossible thing. Some asked me to tell them where to locate a mining claim. One man said that his brother was 'possessed' by the spirits, and asked me to drive them away." Then as another example of local gullibility, Zamloch described one trick in considerable detail:

At our last performance I did a trick in which I got a boy to come on the stage and pretend to give him a lesson injuggling. I take a dinner plate and do different stunts with it, and finish by spinning it on the point of my finger, after which I insist for the boy to try it. He attempts to spin it on the point of his finger (same as he saw me do it), and, of course, drops it, and the plate breaks into many pieces. I pretend to be angry at the boy and scold him for his awkwardness. I compel him to pick up the pieces and wrap them in a newspaper I then put the parcel into a box, place the box on the boy's head. Billy takes a picture frame in his hand and stands behind the boy. I shoot the pieces out of the box into the picture frame At the report of the gun the plate appears instantly in the frame. The boy opens the box and finds it empty. But on taking a second look at the plate, Idiscover that there is a piece missing I ask the boy whether he was sure that he picked up all the pieces? He, of course, says that he did. I then accuse him of keeping one piece back and hiding it from me He denies it (by that time the boy is getting angry). Iaccuse him to have a piece in his pocket and tell him to search his pockets. He does (very reluctantly) and to his astonishment finds the missing piece in his pocket. I pretend to scold him more severely for hiding the piece (and by this time he is ready to fight). I next place the piece into the large mouthed pistol and fire at the plate which instantly becomes whole, and perfectly restored. Then Billy takes it out of the frame and laysit on the table At the finish I say to the audience, "If you have any broken glass or crockery ware, send it here tomorrow and Iwill mend it." Of course, anyone with a little intelligence would know that Iwasjoshing. . ..

The next morning while we were packing up three little girls came to the hall One had a dinner plate with a piece missing, another had a yellow bowl with a whole section gone, the third had a milk pitcher with the handle broken off. "What do you want, little girls?"Billyinquired. "Mama said if you would please mend these dishes?" They had evidently taken me at my word. Billy told them that they were too late, the big pistol was packed away. The girls reluctantly went awaywith disappointment

In these entertainment-starved small towns, Zamloch's show was an enormous success. "The people began to congregate in front of the door one hour before it was time to open it," he remarked. "By seven o'clock there was such ajam in front of the door that we had much difficulty in getting into the hall where there wasn't a back door. The same people came back the second and third time and were always pleased with the show."

The first example of inhospitable behavior Zamloch records occurred "at a way side hotel ... on our way to St. George." He does not name the town or the proprietor, so we have no way of identifying who these surly and greedy locals might be:

They gave us for supper carrots, potatoes and bacon. The bacon was so salty that we couldn't eat it. Our bed was in the garret with some straw scattered on the floor, with one thin blanket over the straw and another (just as thin) to cover us,but no pillows Alot of old harness wasscattered in one corner, and the biggest part of the floor was covered with onions about a foot deep drying and cobwebs everywhere. The roof wasslanting and Billy couldn't raise his head without bumping it against the shingles of the roof as he waslying on the inside. They gave us a half inch piece of home made candle to go to bed by,and no apology for the shortness of it Ipulled a saddle from one corner and put it under my head for apillow Billyused his shoes for the same purpose. The driver slept in the stable with the horses, and we wished we did. It was avery cold night, the snow was about three feet deep and still snowing, some of itwasblown on us through the cracks in the shingles.

In the morning I asked the landlord where we could wash. He pointed to a pump. It was frozen. After considerable exertion we managed to get a little water out of it Asfor a towel, the landlord pointed to a roller towel, but itwasnot on a roller Itwasstanding up in a corner like abroom, frozen stiff, andjudging by its color it must have been weeks since it had been washed. Wewiped on our handkerchiefs.

We had the same fare for breakfast we had for supper Billy asked the landlady whether itwasleft from supper She turned up her nose and walked out of the room. I asked the landlord what our bill was.He replied, "Supper, lodging and breakfast, a dollar and a half each."

Those people didn't even treat uswith respect. Wedidn't mind so much about the accommodations, if they had treated us civilly,but wewere treated like tramps The woman had a scowl on her face when she waited on us

Zamloch also recorded watering the horses at a well owned by a Mormon who charged a dollar for each bucket of water

In contrast, Silver Reef was "like getting back to San Francisco." Zamloch commented on the "first class hotels" and the "fresh oysters." His narrative continues:

We received a hearty welcome; they were hungry for a show All the men we did business with were, "Hail fellows well met," and they always met uswith a smile.

There we gave three performances and charged civilized prices: reserved seats $1.50; general admission, $1.00; children. $.50, and no one complained at the prices The theatre wasfull every performance, and itwas a great pleasure to Billy and me to be once more among our own kind of people. Itwasabout Christmas that wewere there and the local paper "Silver Reef Miner," the week following our performance said, "Christmas has past and gone, and like Zamloch's tricks, left nought but pleasant recollections."

Zamloch might well have felt he had spent Christmas among holiday folks. Silver Reef was named for the ledge of light-colored sandstone that "snakes its way" north and west of the little town of Leeds Although nineteenth-century mineralogists "did not believe it possible for silver to be found in unaltered sandstone," Silver Reef yielded over $8.5 million in silver between 1872 when the mining district was organized and 1908 when the mine shut down Its best year had come early—about 1877 when over $1.1 million worth of ore had come out of the ground. 7 It never reached that heyday again; but in 1882 the area was producing about $700,000 a year, certainly enough to buy a few oysters and fete a visiting magician.

In St George, fourteen dusty miles away, the advance agent said he had not been allowed to "bill the town." A Mr. Harrison, explained: "My dear sir, we cannot let any one have the theatre without references. Have you a letter of recommendation from Bishop Hunter of Salt Lake City?"8 Zamloch describes this Mr. Harrison as "a little Englishman, quite gentlemanly and well educated for a Mormon I found him to be a very decent fellow when I knew him better."9 The bemused magician explained:

7 Paul Dean Proctor and Morris A Shirts, Silver, Sinners, and Saints: A History of Old Silver Reef, Utah (n.p.: Paulmar, Inc., 1991), p 24

* AndrewJenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols (Salt Lake City, 1901), 1:227—32 This Bishop Hunter is almost certainly Edward Hunter, the third presiding bishop, who had considerable oversight of the ward bishops scattered throughout Utah during his term of office, April 7, 1851-October 16, 1883 A prosperous Quaker businessman when hejoin the LDS church in Philadelphia, he was a bishop in both Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, then became bishop of the Thirteenth Ward in Salt Lake City in February 1849 When Newell K Whitney died in 1850, Hunter was appointed to succeed him Although I am not aware of his giving traveling entertainers letters of recommendation, he did have corrsiderable correspondence with the bishops, particular during the exchanges of tithing in kind which involved transferring or crediting herds of cattle and loads of wheat throughout the territory.

9 The identity of this "little Englishman" is not clear The 1880 census of Washington County shows four Harrison men, but none of them lived in St George Peter Harrison, age fifty, was a furniture dealer and lived in Silver Reef. The other three lived in Pine Valley. Richard Harrison had been born in England, the only one of the four who could be said to be an "Englishman," but in addition to living in Pine Valley, he was seventy-two John H Harrison, age forty-four, was a farmer, and Brigham Harrison, age twenty-two, was a freighter

I had no letter of introduction or recommendation from anyone and never before had I been asked to furnish one during all my travels

"How are we to know that your show is respectable?" he asked I told him that we played in Salt Lake Theatre a whole week, and that I could show him the clippings from the "Deseret News." Then he said, "If you can show me a complimentary notice from the 'Deseret News' I will believe it." I went back to the wagon, opened a trunk and took out my scrap book of clippings, among them were several from the "Deseret News" of Salt Lake City That paper was a church organ, and all "Good Mormons" had implicit confidence in its saying as that paper was never known to have a good word for a gentile if it could help it.

I returned with the clippings, handed them to him, and he read them (so did the "rubber necks" over his shoulder). After he finished reading he said, "Yes, these notices are very flattering But how is one to know that it applies to you? Anyone could cut it out of the paper and claim it as his own." Just then a young man joined the group. He must have heard some of the conversation as he said, "Mr Harrison, I will vouch for this man I have seen him play in the Salt Lake Theatre. His show is respectable in every way, and above the average." That man's name was Young He was running a small printing office and was well connected in St. George.10 "Mr. Young, if you will vouch for him then it is all right." Then to me, "What night do you wish to play? The rent is $5 in advance." "I want it for three nights, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday." (This was Sunday afternoon). "No, sir, we cannot permit you to show more than one night," was his answer, and he said it with some heat. "If that is the case, I will trouble you no further. We cannot afford to set up this show for one night We will go back," and I started for the wagon

While I was climbing into the wagon I heard the crowd arguing, someone said, "Rent him the theatre for three nights and make him pay in advance and the Bishop will forbid everybody to attend more than once." That advice was not intended for me to hear, but they were getting excited and talked louder than they thought Just as I was getting settled in my seat, Mr. Harrison called me back and said, "If I rent you the theatre for three nights, will you pay me $15 in advance?" I told him that I would. "What will you charge for admission?" he asked next I told him $.50 for adults and

"' It is possible that this young printer was Lorenzo Dow Young, the sixth child among Brigham Young's and Emmeline Free Young's ten children. St. George, according to the 1880 census, had ttvo printers: Charles Ellis Johnson and Joseph W. Carpenter. Johnson, then age twenty-three and a native of England, had a nineteen-year-old wife, Ruth Young Johnson, the daughter of Brigham Young and Emmeline Free Young She had been born March 4, 1861, and at age seventeen married Charles on January 31, 1878 Living with Ruth and Charles at the time the census was taken was Ardelle (name written by the census-taker as "Adella") Young, Ruth's fifteen-year-old sister; so it is possible that another of Ruth's siblings could have been sharing the household two years later and working with her husband Ruth had three surviving brothers, two of them already married The third was Lorenzo Young, born in 1856; he was five years older than Ruth and thus would have been about twenty-four at the time of Zamloch's visit. He had returned from a two-year mission to Europe in 1878 but waited to marry until age forty (1896). As a side note, Ardelle married a man named Frank Harrison. Could he be the "little Englishman"? If so, then the recommendation of his brother-in-law would have cleared the way for Zamloch's magic show

$.25 for children "We can never permit that You charge $.25 for adults and $.15 for children." I didn't reply to this, but started for the wagon. They began to argue again, but this time I didn't hear what they said Wrhen I reached my seat on the wagon, Mr. Harrison called me back once more. He said, "We have decided to let you charge $.50 and $.25 but, of course, our town 'scrip'" I asked him what the "scrip" was worth, and he answered with some pride, "Our town 'scrip' is worth $.35 on the dollar and is as good as gold, and in a couple of years will be at par."

At this I was really beginning to lose my temper. I hollered to the driver (who was still on the seat and so was Billy), "Turn around, we are going back." I started for the wagon again, but this time I didn't intend to come back in case Harrison changed his mind We were all on the wagon, including the agent. The driver had already turned around and we started off. Harrison was calling after me again, but we paid no attention But on a little piece of raising ground a block from the starting point, the driver slowed up and Harrison caught up to us and was quite out of breath "Stop just a moment," he said. We stopped. He said after recovering his breath, "We have come to the conclusion to let you charge whatever you want, as no one will be compelled to attend against his will."

We turned back, unloaded at the theatre and went to a private hotel which was kept by one of the wives of "Apostle" Snow (one of the twelve apostles of the Mormon Church). There we received good accommodation. The manager of the Co-op store came to me and said that he sold in the store tickets for all the shows that came to St. George. He said he charged five percent, besides he said, 'You can't sell them at the door because the people have no cash. I will have to take produce, but I will pay you cash for every ticket I sell, less five percent commission And furthermore, all your tickets must be numbered to correspond with the seats in the theatre. Positively no one is permitted to stand up."

We didn't have any coupon tickets left, but we had some printed by Mr Young (the man who recommended the show, and he was also the regular usher) Monday morning Billy and the agent began to bill the town Such billing the town had never seen before, and I doubt if it has since. Mr. Young had the tickets printed by ten o'clock I gavejust enough of them to the store manager to cover every seat. At noon all the tickets were sold, and we could not sell any more as there were no more seats, and standing up was prohibited. In the evening when we opened the doors about two hundred people, mostly young men, were standing outside without tickets, but with half dollars in their hands ready to pay. But they knew that it was forbidden to stand up. Still they were ready to try the door keeper when no town official was near Billy, as usual, was at the door, and he was not a man that would refuse money at the door. Mr. Young (the usher) came along, and seeing the big mob around the door, knowing that they had no tickets, and fearing that some of them might try to smuggle in, warned Billy by saying. "Mr. Marx, those men outside have no tickets and you must not let them in."

The first time that Mr. Young left the door to show a couple their seats,

one of the young fellows started to go in and offered Billy half a dollar. It was "a feeler" to see whether Billy would take it while the rest were watching the result. Billy took the money and shoved the man inside. Mr. Young, of course, didn't see it.

From that time on every time Mr. Young's back was turned Billy took half dollars as fast as they were handed to him Finally, Mr Young saw several people standing in different parts of the theatre, rushed over to Billy and asked, "Did everybody have a ticket that came in?" "Certainly," he replied "Then there must be a window open," said Young Just then a large crowd came in with tickets, and while Young was sitting them, Billy let in another big bunch Mr Young noticed that the standing room was being filled more and more, changed his opinion about some window being open and began to suspect the truth He said to Billy somewhat excited,"Mr Marx, that will never do Where is Mr Zamloch?" Billy told him that I was behind the stage He came running in through the stage door and into my dressing room He said with some excitement, "Mr Zamloch, Mr Marx is letting in people without tickets." "Tell Mr Marx that I said that he must not let anybody in without tickets," I answered While Mr Young was behind the stage Billy let in everybody. When Mr. Young returned and saw every available space filled with people standing up, he protested no more. He saw that there was no use. Every night after that the side aisles were filled with people standing, and no more protests were made by anybody.

Every day before noon all the seats were sold. Our last performance was

St. George, Utah, 1876. Will Brooks Collection, USHS.

to be on Thursday About four o'clock Thursday afternoon, Mr Harrison came to the hotel to see me. This is what he had to say, "Mr. Zamloch, all the seats have been sold again for tonight, and tonight is your last performance and not a seat left There are quite a number of our citizens who did not have an opportunity to attend your performance, and they have asked me to try to induce you to give one more performance tomorrow." I told him that we would with pleasure. . . .

Our next town was Toquerville. Our agent wrote that he had made arrangements in a private house for us to stop at as there was no hotel in the place We didn't receive the news very cheerfully for it would be a case of carrots, salty bacon and turnips, same as we got in that way side hotel

They arrived after dark, and it was after nine before they got the horses stabled A local citizen helped them find the home of "the widow Mcintosh" where they were to stay Sister Mcintosh was already in bed but was awakened by the travelers Zamloch remembered the event as follows:

After I told her who we were, she said, "Didn't expect you 'til tomorrow Have you had your supper?" (I thought she was a little cross.) I told her that we didn't, but that we were not hungry (a lie), all we wanted I told her was to be shown to our beds "After I have this fire made I'll tend to you." She started to make a fire in the fire place in the parlor

The fire was most welcome as it was a bitter cold night and my feet were nearly frozen "Warm yourselves by the fire while I get you something to eat." I told her not to put herself out, we would go to bed without supper. "How could you go to sleep without a bite?" [she asked] and left us before a cheerful fire.

The room was unlike other Mormon houses that we had seen with bare floors and home made furniture with the pictures ofJoe Smith and Brigham Young hanging on the wall That room was well furnished, the floor was covered with a thick home made carpet, the furniture was upholstered, a large book case with glass doors and well filled with choice books, a ladies writing desk and a cottage organ.

The lady came in with an arm full of wood. She said, "If I only knew that you were coming tonight, I would [have] got up something fit for you to eat, but as it is, you will have to take what I can scrape together." "Mrs Mcintosh, if you will give us some bread and butter and a cup of tea is all we want," I said. "Sure, you will not get much more," with that she disappeared.

Every time she passed through the room she said, "If I only knew that you were coming tonight," or "I haven't a thing fit for a gentleman to eat," etc. We began to fear that the bacon had given out and that we would get carrots and potatoes only. After waiting about thirty-five minutes the lady called us, "Gentlemen, your little lunch is ready such as it is

The layout before us [in the dining room] was such that it took my breath away The surprise was the greater as we didn't expect anything like it I can't explain that supper to do itjustice. The table, instead of being covered with oilcloth such as we found in most Mormon houses, was covered

with a white linen table cloth and snow white napkins, china dishes and Roger Bros, silverware, a larger platter of fried chicken, another contained a very large omelet, a dish of fried bacon (not too salty),potatoes mashed with cream, hot biscuits, a pitcher of fresh milk, fresh butter and strong coffee with thick cream. "If I only knew that you were coming tonight Iwould have prepared something fit to eat," she repeated.

"Madam, I am extremely sorry that we have put you to so much trouble, and so late at night and you need not apologize for this layout. It is the finest and the most tempting supper that we had in the whole of Utah, and it is fit for a king." I meant every word that I said. She replied, "Tomorrow I will try to cook something decent." That surely was an "Oasis in the desert."

Zamloch refers to her later as "the kind and generous Widow Mcintosh," and the stay in Toquerville remains a kind of reverently remembered high point of his tour of southern Utah. "In Tokerville we enjoyed every minute of our stay. The people were very sociable, and Mrs Mcintosh out did herself in providing for us."

Unfortunately, the identity of this hospitable widow of Toquerville remains a mystery The only woman with a similar name recorded in the 1880 census in southern Utah is Widow Mclntire, age sixty-two, but living in Pine Valley

In complete contrast was their experience with hospitality in Centerville, obviously on another trip, since it would have involved a swing through the northern settlements. Zamloch does not suggest the time of this tour, but it was probably about 1882, the time of his travels through southern Utah as well.

Centerville had been founded in the early spring of 1848, about twelve miles north of Salt Lake City and about half-way between Bountiful and Farmington." Thus, it was more than thirty years old when Zamloch passed through, yet his portrayal of it gives an image of poverty, isolation, and provincialism that seems to belong to a much earlier frontier period.

Centerville had no hotel, and the bishop, whose house functioned as a sort of inn, was absent for several days. This was probably Nathan Cheney, one of the original settlers, who had been bishop since 1877 Zamloch thought they would have to drive straight on But "as we drove into town, both sides of the street were lined with people as though they were watching a circus parade." When the manager of

11 Mabel S Randall, "Centerville," East ofAntelope Island, 4th ed (n.p.: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, North Davis County Company, 1971), pp. 60-73.

the co-op store said there was no place for them to stay, fate intervened

Just then a woman across the street held up her hand for us to stop She came up to the wagon and asked in a shrill voice, "Can't [find a] place t' stop?" She was one of those hatchet face women with a sharp pointed nose. One would imagine that those women who were drowned in Salem for witchcraft resembled her. "No," I replied. "We cannot find accommodations and we have to go away without giving a performance." "If ye kin put up wid what we got ye kin stop wid us," she said I told her that we would be glad to, but I was afraid that it would inconvenience her She said that it would be no trouble. I thanked her, and said that we would accept her invitation. "Alright, that's my house across the way. I'll call you when supper is ready." Then she "scooted" in the snow back to her house

We looked at the house into which she went It was a small one story shack. It didn't seem to have more than three rooms, but we thought that there might be some addition to it at the back. We drove to the theatre and unloaded The teamster drove to the stable and Billy and I started towards the "hotel." I knocked on the front door (which opened into the kitchen) The lady opened and said "Supper will be soon ready, then I'll call ye," and shut the door in my face That meant for us to stand outside in the snow until called Billy and I were walking in front of the rickety gate trying to keep warm. It was very cold, about two feet of snow on the ground It was getting dark and no sign of supper, then the teamsterjoined us, and the three of us were walking up and down in snow in front of that shack. After waiting fully one hour we were called in The supper was laid on the kitchen table which was covered with a red oil cloth The floor was not level, under one of the legs of the table was a brick, so as to make the table stand more level. The floor was of adobe and it had several holes in it. . . . The supper, shared with the family of six children, consisted of mashed potatoes, hot biscuits and tea, no butter, not even beans, and the familiar bacon was missing. "Help yourselves," said the man, and neither of them apologized for the scantiness of the meal That looked ominous They were evidently used to that fare, and we couldn't expect anything better the next day We ate up everything that was on the table and were still hungry at the end. . . .

"I don't know what we're goin' to do about sleepen Have ye got blankets wid ye?" the woman asked. "No," I replied. "We are not prepared for camping out. We stop at hotels and they furnish such things."

"I don't know how we kin fix it. We only have two rooms and two beds. Me and the old man sleep in one bed wid de two boys, and de four girls sleep in de other But we kin take two girls into our bed and ye kin all squeeze into de other bed. (That was a hard proposition.)

"Madam," I said, "I will tell you what we will do. If you will furnish us with plenty of wood to keep this stove going, two of us will sleep on the table and one on the floor, and use our overcoats for blankets "All right Here is the ax and the wood pile is outside, an I'll get ye a lantern," she said.

Outside was the wood pile under two feet of snow which consisted of trees of different sizes,just as theywere chopped down in the woods and the branches trimmed off and dragged over the snow to the house The smallestwas about the size of a telegraph pole.

After Zamloch kept up a roaring fire through the first watch, he fell asleep and woke to find Billy, who had the second watch, warmly wrapped in the curtain from the stage set, sound asleep Zamloch put on his coat and spent the rest of the night walking around town to keep warm. He returned to the house in the morning for breakfast and recalled this scene:

Billy and the driver [were] walking up and down in front of the rusty fence gate waiting for breakfast. ... [Billy] asked, "Doyou think that wewill get anything decent for breakfast?" 'Yes, of course," I replied. 'You see the supper last night was their usual fare, and they didn't expect anybody and didn't prepare anything extra You wait and see the difference this morning."

In about an hour wewere called to breakfast. Mashed potatoes, biscuits and coffee without milk and no butter

Zamloch then went to the grocery store, bought the only dressed chicken to be had, and took it back to his landlady with some butter, a dozen eggs, and a great deal of tact "I was afraid that the lady might be a little sensitive," he explains, "and didn't wish to have her know that we were dissatisfied with the fare." He told the landlady that he had won the chicken in a raffle and was adding it to their dinner fare Billy gloomily predicted that the six children would get it all; and sure enough, at noon dinner, the father served each of the six children a piece, leaving only a wing tip on the plate for Zamloch

Zamloch's party survived supper by eating cheese and crackers and smoked herrings at the theatre12 and made an excuse to leave the next day for Ogden, after paying fifty cents apiece per meal and fifty cents for the privilege of sleeping on the floor Zamloch's arrangement was that the teamster paid his own expenses out of the eight dollars a day, but in this case, Zamloch paid his, too, as "I didn't want him to be imposed upon. . . . He really was a good fellow, even if he was a Mormon."

18 Centerville had no formal theatre during this period; most likely he meant the substantial rock meetinghouse, which had been built a few years earlier in 1879 or, less likely, the stone school/meeting place for the Sunday School and Primary which had been constructed in 1864 Ibid., p 66 The Young Men's Club, organized in 1872, had built themselves a "substantial rock building known as the Young Men's Hall for a meeting place for study and debates and to house a collection of books." Ibid., p. 67. Zamloch's references to "the theatre" and its apparent location near the center of town suggest the meetinghouse

This experience concluded Zamloch's record of his excursions through Mormon country. It did not end his travels, of course; and his adventures in Mexico and Hawaii merit additional attention. When he retired, however, he seems to have done it with no regrets. The 1910 census-taker found Antone F. Zamlich [sic] living contentedly in Oakland, California, at age sixty-one with his wife, Elizabeth, nine years hisjunior. At this point, four children were still apparently contented members of the household: thirty-year-old Antonette, twentysix-year-old Claude, twenty-four-year-old Archie, and Carl, age twenty. Anton died at the age of eighty-three.

Zamloch seems to have been a genial and gentle observer of the Mormon scene. His extensive memoir contains not the slightest hint that he knew anything about Mormon doctrine or cared to learn. He evaluates Mormonism by Mormons and how they behaved, and he seldom indulges in generalizations beyond the individuals he describes. Instead he leaves us memorable portraits—the gouging and inhospitable family at the hotel outside St. George, the gratefully remembered Widow Mcintosh of Toquerville, the poor but hospitable family of Centerville, and his own colorful troupe braving the weather and distances to entertain local audiences with wondrous feats of magic.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

BY JAMES H KNIPMEYER

T o THE STUDENT OF EARLY WESTERN HISTORY, or of the mountain men and fur trade in particular, the name DenisJulien may not be known. But to devotees of Utah history—especially that of the Colorado River region from the 1830s and early '40s—his name will perhaps be very familiar As a trader and trapper Julien was not famous like some of his contemporaries such asJim Bridger, Kit Carson, or even Antoine Leroux and Old Bill Williams However, what is noteworthy about him was his inclination for carving his name or initials and the date on the rocks and canyon walls by which he was traveling

In Utah at least seven known inscriptions are attributed toJulien, while an eighth one is located only about two miles across the state

Charles Kelly photographed this Denis fulien inscription in 1931 when Julian H. Steward took him to the site near the confluence of the Uinta and Duchesne rivers. Note: this and many other historic and prehistoric rock carvings were often enhanced with chalk by photographers, a practice discouraged nowadays. USHS collections.

Mr Knipmeyer lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri

line in Colorado There are also an additional two reliably reported carvings that have evidently not been seen, or at least not brought to the attention of the general public, in recent times.1 Of the ten writings generally given as having been inscribed byJulien, not all are accepted as authentic by historians and other interested parties. At least two of the eight known inscriptions are believed by many to be spurious. Of course, no determination can be made concerning the twoJulien inscriptions not seen in recent times.

The facts known about DenisJulien's life and trading and trapping career are few What is of record concerning him is principally included in two articles. The first was by Utah historian Charles Kelly in a 1933 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. The most complete isby Colorado River historian Otis R. "Dock" Marston and appears in the ten-volume set edited by LeRoy R. Hafen, Mountain Men and the Fur Trade. Therefore, just a brief summary of his background will be given here.2

The first written documentation existent concerningJulien consists of baptismal records from the old Saint Louis Cathedral in Missouri of three children born to him and his wife in 1793, 1798, and 1801. When or where he himself was born and how he came to the Midwest is not known. Based on the baptismal dates of his children, historians estimate thatJulien may have been born somewhere between 1771 and 1775. The Julien family is known to have been French-Canadian, and more than likely he or his immediate ancestors migrated to the predominantly French town of St Louis sometime after its founding in 1764

The few records mentioningJulien during the mid-portion of his life are mainly found in the fur trade archives of the Missouri Historical Society in St Louis and indicate activity in the midwestern part of what is now the United States His name appears in the ledgers of St Louis fur baron Pierre Chouteau in 1803 and 1805, the latter instance to trade with the Indians in present-day Iowa. From 1805 until 1819 he owned property south of Fort Madison. Mention of his trade with the "Ioways" was also made in records for 1807, 1808, and 1810. His name is listed as a witness to the Iowa Treaty of 1815. In 1816Julien was granted a license to trade on the Missouri River,

1 An inscription found in Glen Canyon of the Colorado River and now beneath the waters of Lake Powell is sometimes mentioned as possibly having some connection with Denis Julien because of its evident French wording and date: "Ian ce. 1837 V. Lay." All of the Julien inscriptions, however, contain either his name or initials

2 Unless otherwise noted the biographical information on Julien is based on Charles Kelly, "The Mysterious D Julien," Utah Historical Quarterly 6 (1933): 83-88; and Otis Dock Marston, "Denis Julien," in LeRoy R Hafen, ed., The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H Clark, 1969), 7:177-90

c ' , ,r< - and that same year he is mentioned ^4 as having; sold some furs to Cabanne

L/ * 8c Company. The license was renewed (SL '/*£& in 1817. In 1819 he applied to the American Fur Company for trade , goods The year 1821 found the name Denis Julien as a property

* owner in the village of Prairie du DenisJulien's signature on an 1815 Chien on the Mississippi River in treaty. Courtesy of author. wna t is now Wisconsin In 1822 he again appears in the ledgers of Pierre Chouteau's French Fur Company, this time for the purchase of supplies. Entries in the post sutler'sjournal at Fort Atkinson on the Missouri River in present-day Nebraska mentionJulien in 1824 and 1825

The 1825 entry, made on December 26, noted that Julien had shot and wounded another man. No other mention of Denis Julien appears after this in the Midwest. Sixteen months later his name is listed as a member of a party led by Francois Robidoux from Taos, New Mexico, to recover some furs cached in the land of the Ute Indians. This would have been in what is now western Colorado or eastern Utah. Perhaps Julien's shooting scrape at Fort Atkinson prompted a removal to a new territory in the Southwest. He may have come to the Taos and Santa Fe area with one of the fur-trading Robidoux brothers, who are known to have led parties from Fort Atkinson to Santa Fe in 1826.

The April 1827 mention of Denis Julien ends the "paper trail" that is presently known about him All other information comes from hearsay and his own carved inscriptions. Fortunately for modern historians, he left several of the latter from which can be traced at least some of his movements.

Ute Indian oral traditions from the Uinta Basin area of northeast Utah claim that in 1828 four men, James and William Reed, Auguste Archambeau, and DenisJulien, established a small trading post near the junction of the Whiterocks and Uinta rivers. Lending some support to this story is the presence of the earliest known Julien inscription. It is located ten miles downstream from the Reed trading post, near where the Uinta flows into the present-day Duchesne River. It reads "DenisJulien 1831."

Though undoubtedly seen before, from the several other names and dates around it, in recent times this inscription was first noted by

Julian H Steward in 1931 who had come to the nearby town of Whiterocks to attend the annual Sun Dance of the Ute Indians A few days later he showed it to Charles Kelly, who recognized the name and its significance It was photographed at this time and was first published in the July 1933 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. Afterwards it was Kelly who first contacted the Missouri Historical Society in St Louis and began the accumulation of what little has come to light about the early life of Denis Julien.

In the incised inscription the name Denis is printed in individual capital-style letters. The last name Julien has the first four letters printed with only the "J" capitalized. The "J" has the commonly used hook at the bottom and cross-bar at the top. The last two letters, "en," are carved in script-fashion with the lettersjoined together.

In chronological order the next inscription is one dated in 1832. This is no doubt the least known of the reported Julien inscriptions. Unfortunately, this particular inscription is also one of the two Julien writings that have not been located or seen in recent times. The name and date were first recorded by geologist Grove K. Gilbert in his Field Notebook 1 for 1875 On page 19 of his notes, under the date ofJuly 4, one entry simply says, "DJulien 10 Mai 1832." Gilbert wrote nothing else in connection with it, and the notation lay hidden in his notes until they were published by the Geological Society of America in 1988.5

The probable location of the 1832Julien signature was narrowed to a mile or so stretch of the canyon of Ivie Creek, some eighteen miles southwest of Emery, Utah, by making use of the brief entries in Gilbert's field notes. A good campsite has been found on the south side of Ivie Creek with an outcropping of rock containing several inscriptions, one dating back into the 1870s, but noJulien was located If it was here at one time, it has evidently weathered away as the 1875 one is even now in the process of doing Either the inscription has simply been missed, it has eroded away, or perhaps it was destroyed during road construction of either U.S Highway 50 or its successor, Interstate 70, both of which traverse the canyon. 4

Since the only report of the 1832Julien inscription comes from the 1875 entry of Gilbert, there is no way of knowing anything about its general appearance or style. Significantly, however, one important

3 Charles B Hunt, Geology of the Henry Mountains, Utah, as Recorded in the Notebooks of G. K. Gilbert, 1875-76, Geological Society of America Memoir 167 (Boulder, Colo., 1988), p 27

4 Steven Reneau of Los Alamos, New Mexico, recognized the name "D Eulien" (sic) and contacted the editor of Gilbert's notebooks. Hunt conducted and initiated several searches for the historic inscription without success

detail can be inferred Gilbert's original entry renders the name "D Eulien." This was obviously a misreading of the old style block French "J"which iswritten like a capital "I"with a horizontal line through the center. It is easy to see how this could be mistaken for an "E."

Unlike the aboveJulien inscription, the next is probably the most often seen and well known. Located near the mouth of Hell Roaring Canyon, a tributary of the Green River in Labyrinth Canyon, this inscription includesJulien's name and the day, month, and year he carved it: "D.Julien 3 Mai 1836." Unlike any of the other inscriptions

Site ofJulien's May 3, 1836, inscription in Hell Roaring Canyon and closeup of it. USHS collections.

attributed to him, however, this one is also accompanied by a crude cutting of what appears to be a boat with a mast and another enigmatic symbol that has been variously interpreted to be a flying sun or a bird in flight

In late March and early April of 1893 the steamboat Major Powell made a trial voyage from near the town of Green River, Utah, down to Spanish Bottom on the Colorado River and then returned. William H. Edwards, who was in charge of the steamer, wrote to Colorado River voyager and historian Robert B. Stanton in 1908 stating that it was on this trip that he first saw theJulien inscription cut on the wall of Hell Roaring Canyon.5 The first published photograph of the inscription was taken by Ralph G. Leonard in 1904 and appeared in the August 1905 issue of Outing Magazine.

Two particular characteristics in the nameJulien should be noted in the Hell Roaring inscription. The capital letter "J" is carved like the old style block letter, looking like a combination capital letter "I" and "E." The letters "J, u, 1,i" are incised separately, while the "e" and "n" arejoined together in script fashion.

Thirteen days laterJulien carved his next inscription, again along the Green River, upstream from Bowknot Bend This one reads "D Julien 16 Mai 1836." After his recognition of the "DenisJulien 1831" inscription near Whiterocks, Charles Kelly had corresponded with Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Colorado River historian and member of Maj John Wesley Powell's second expedition down the Green and Colorado river canyons in 1871-72. Replying to Kelly, Dellenbaugh indicated that the 16 Mai Julien inscription had been found by prospectors.6 This find must have been sometime between April 1893 and March 1895, for, as indicated above, William H. Edwards claimed to have seen the Hell RoaringJulien inscription in 1893 However, in an interview in Denver's Rocky Mountain News on March 10, 1895, he stated that there were three Julien inscriptions found on the cliffs of the Green River, evidently including the one of 16 Mai.

Dock Marston's biography ofJulien includes an illustration of the inscription above Bowknot Bend. The caption indicates that it was sketched by Dellenbaugh from an R. G. Leonard photograph. This

6 Frederick S Dellenbaugh to Charles Kelly, August 23, 1931, Kelly Collection, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City

5 Edwards's statement was made in response to a November 2, 1908, letter from Stanton requesting information on "the two inscriptions of D Julien," and is now located in the Stanton Collection at the New York City Public Library The actual 1908 letter from Edwards is no longer existent, but its contents are quoted in Stanton's unpublished manuscript "The River and the Canyon."

Julien 5 May 16, 1836, inscription. USHS collections.

would seem to indicate that Leonard photographed both the 3 Mai and the 16 MaiJulien inscriptions during his 1904 river trip. A photograph of the 16 Mai inscription is on file at the Utah State Historical Society in Salt Lake City with a notation crediting "J. Stone-1909." However, the diaries andjournals of members ofJulius S Stone's 1909 Green and Colorado river expedition make no mention of this inscription, only the one lower downstream near the mouth of Hell Roaring Canyon.

In the 16 Mai inscription the capital letter "J" has the more common hook at the bottom The "J, u, 1," and "i" appear to be printed letters (although chalk enhancement has created some ambiguity), while the, "e" and the "n" are connected script style

The next inscription may or not be in correct chronological order It is the other carving along with the one reported along Ivie Creek Canyon, that has not been seen, or at least reported, in this century Its exact wording is not known, and even its supposed location has been the subject of much debate.

In the 1908 letter from William H Edwards to Robert B Stanton mentioned earlier, Edwards also stated that it was on the March-April 1893 cruise of the steamboat Major Powell that he first saw the Julien inscription between four and five miles above the head of the Colorado in Stillwater Canyon This then, along with the 3 Mai and 16 Mai inscriptions, would be the third Julien cutting that Edwards said was to be found on the cliffs of the Green River in his Rocky Mountain News interview of 1895.

In neither source, however, does Edwards give an exact rendering as to how this inscription read. In the 1931 letter from Dellen-

baugh to Kelly, Dellenbaugh indicated that the inscription read only "D Julien 1836." He also stated that it had been found by one Lee Valentine, who then told Edwards about it. Valentine was briefly a settler—from August 1892 to September 1893—on what is now known as Valentine Bottom on the Green River As far as recorded information is concerned, the 1893 sighting by the crew of the Major Powell was the last time this inscription was seen. There are no known photographs or sketches of it

Edwards, in a March 11, 1907, letter, gave the location of this inscription as four or five miles up the Green River "on the right shore going down [river]. . . . " In the 1908 letter already cited, he adds that it is "on the west wall. . . . " Therefore, of course, efforts to locate it have concentrated on the west bank of the river in the vicinity of Water Canyon. But in a 1981 letter the acting superintendent of Canyonlands National Park, in which the inscription is purportedly located, related an intriguing point In re-examining the old published report of the sighting, a researcher (not named) realized that the boat was moving upstream and the observer probably meant his right, which would be the east bank Careful searches have now been made on both sides of the river but have not been successful.7

About eight river miles downstream from the above-discussed inscription is another that is often debated by river historians and aficionados. High up the talus slope below the mouth of Lower Red Lake Canyon, scratched very faintly on one side of a huge rock boulder, is the name "DenisJu " with a date of 1836. Denis and the first part of the last name can be made out, but the ending is now illegible Below the names are some other markings that can no longer be deciphered. On a third line, and very readable, however, is the year 1836

This inscription was brought to light in recent times and made public knowledge in the summer of 1973 Mark Lindquist of Oregon, a member of a Student Conservation Aid group that was working on the Lower Red Lake Canyon trail, found the inscription and showed it to National Park Service rangers the following day.8 However, it seems to have been known, at least to a few, long before this time.

8 Ken Mabery, National Park Service, to the author, December 15, 1977

7 A historian from California who researched the history of the Canyonlands area during the 1970s stated unequivocally in a 1980 letter that the Denis Julien inscription had not really been lost, only to historians. He claimed knowledge of one commercial river-running operation that had been showing the inscription to its customers for several years John F Hoffman to the author, February 20, 1980, in author's possession

In his book A Canyon Voyage, published in 1908, Dellenbaugh mentions what is evidently this inscription twice. Speaking of the 3 Mai D.Julien carving, he states that the same inscription was also found just below the mouth of Grand River. Prior to 1921 thejunction of the Green and Grand rivers in southeastern Utah formed the Colorado. After that date the Grand's name was changed to the Colorado and "added" to the original. A few pages later in the book, in telling of his expedition's camp at the junction of the rivers and their passing a "singular canyon" on the left, or east side (present Lower Red Lake Canyon), Dellenbaugh notes that later the name "D.Julien-1836" was found near this point.

River-runner Harry L. Aleson possibly saw the inscription in 1951. In his diary entry for September 6, he says: "I drift down to top of Rapid No. 1 . . . Scout & find shelter rings, Moki campsite. On largest rock—to left of top of Rapid No. 1is faint record ofJulien visit in Mai 1836. . . ."!) This appears to match, in some respects, the location and appearance of the Julien inscription described above. But it is precisely this location and appearance that cause some researchers and historians to question its authenticity.

First of all, each of the other Julien writings along the Green or Colorado rivers is located low down, close to river level. Except for the 1831 inscription near Whiterocks and the 3 Mai inscription at Hell Roaring Canyon, all of them are found near the shore. Even in these two instances they are inscribed on the first good rock surfaces away from the river shore across bottomlands. The inscription below the mouth of Lower Red Lake Canyon is not far back from the river itself but is located close to 600 feet above it, near the top of the talus slope.

Second, unlike all of the otherJulien inscriptions discussed so far, the name here is entirely done in script. Unfortunately, the letters "en" in the last name can no longer be made out, so it cannot be seen if they are in the same style as the other inscriptions. Also, the other Julien inscriptions have been clearly and deeply incised into their respective rock faces, while this one has been but lightly scratched onto the surface of the boulder.

One river historian contends that perhaps Julien climbed up to this spot to have a view downriver.10 From here the first three rapids of

9 Typescript copy of diary entitled "Notes on Green River Trip," Aleson Collection, Utah State Historical Society.

"'John F Hoffman to the author,June 14, 1978, in author's possession

Cataract Canyon can be seen. Unlike the sites of the other inscriptions, whose locations would have made them good campsites with a corresponding availability of time for leisurely engraving,Julien would not have camped here Rather, he would have made his camp down by the river This was simply an observation point for the river downstream. He would not have spent much time here, but perhaps upon seeing the prehistoric petroglyphs carved on one side of the rock boulder he might have hastily added his name and the date.

The next Julien inscription—located the farthest downstream along the Green-Colorado river system of those commonly accepted by most historians—was actually the first to be discovered. It was seen by railroad surveyor Robert B Stanton and two companions on June 20, 1889. It was sketched, somewhat inaccurately, by Stanton in his field notes,11 but evidently was seen only twice after that time, in 1891 and again in 1921. Not until April 3, 1964, was it relocated and first photographed by Dock Marston and the other two members of his party.

ThisJulien inscription was located in the lower part of Cataract Canyon along the east bank of the Colorado River not far below the mouth of Cove Canyon It is now covered by the waters of Lake Powell The rising of the reservoir water behind Glen Canyon Dam prompted the search by the Marston party. From its first sighting during high water in the summer of 1889, it was generally believed that the inscription could only have been carved from a boat But at lower water levels in either spring or fall it could have been easily placed from above a dry sandbar, which in turn would have been a quite adequate campsite.

The Cataract Canyon inscription read simply, "1836 D. Julien." The 1889 Stanton sketch shows the characteristic individual, printed letter style, with the old-fashioned French capital "J." It also shows the concluding "e" and "n" as being separate from one another However, the 1964 photographs taken by the Marston party clearly show the "e" and "n"joined together in the usual script style.

The three remainingJulien inscriptions are all located higher up in the Green-Colorado river system. The carving in Desolation Canyon of the Green River has been cut into a face of a huge talus boulder near the mouth of Chandler Canyon, an eastern tributary. It seems to have first been described in a letter from George E. Stewart of Roosevelt, Utah, to Dock Marston dated August 29, 1967.l2 Stewart had

11 Stanton Collection

12 Marston Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, California

been down to themouth ofChandler Canyon "over thepast weekend" and located the inscription then. Evidently, though, he had first seen it sometime earlier, for he also comments thatJulien had not carved his full name there "asmymemory said it did,"just initials.

The Desolation Canyon inscription, in fact, does consist only of the initials "DJ." There isno date ofany kind Theinscription isattributed toJulien because the style of lettering is characteristic of many of his other carvings; i.e.,the block letter style and the old-fashioned

The highest upstream inscription is located in upper Whirlpool Canyon of the Green River,just a couple of miles below Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument This is the onlyJulien inscription known at thepresent time that islocated outside ofUtah. It is situated in a small alcove that isnow almost completely screened from the river by tamarisk. Before the advent of this exotic shrub, however, the alcove would have provided a good campsite for a river voyager.

A worker on the then-proposed Echo Park damsite in the 1950s noted theinscription, butnotuntil August 1975 did two National Park Service employees, Glade Ross and Steve Petersburg, find the marking byutilizing the 1950 notes.13 Theinscription consists of the initials "DJ" andabout two feet away thedate of "1838." Once again, the"J"is carved in the oldfashioned manner.

Chronologically, thelastJulien inscription islocated in the Devils Garden section ofArches National Park, north of Moab, Utah. This inscription gives the full name "Denis Julien" and a date reading "9 6re 1844." It was seen and reported in recent times byNational Park

1836 D. Julien inscription in lower |£ Cataract Canyon. Courtesy of author.

13 Dennis B Davies, Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, to the author November 11, 1977, in author's possession

Service ranger Jim Stiles in July 1977." However, other names and dates incised into the same rock face show that it was seen several times between 1892 and the mid-1940s But these individuals evidently attached no significance to the inscription and made no report of it.

The Devils Garden of Arches is a ridge topped by row upon row of huge, parallel sandstone fins, bounded on the west by the sunken trough of Salt Valley. It is on a flat, desert-varnished surface near the base of one of these fins that theJulien and other carvings are found The spot is blocked off from Salt Valley by a line of sand hills

Along with the one below Lower Red Lake Canyon, this inscription is perhaps the most hotly debated. One point of contention is that the Arches inscription is located about fifteen miles in a direct line from the Colorado River. Except for the Ivie Creek Canyon signature, all of the other Julien inscriptions are found within two or three hundred yards of a large flowing stream. Even the 1831 Whiterocks carving was very near the Uinta River, a tributary of the

1838 inscription with only initials is located in upper Whirlpool Canyon. Courtesy of author.

Denis Julien in script in Arches National Park is dated 1844. Courtesy of author.

Otis R "Dock" Marston to the author, September 13, 1977, in author's possession

The Denis Julien Inscriptions 65

Green Though the floor of Salt Valley is only a half-mile away, in the Devils Garden area that wash carries running water only after a rainstorm. But the wide, open valley does offer an easy avenue of travel southeast from the Green River-Tavaputs Plateau area to the Colorado by way of either Salt Wash or Cache Valley The inscription site itself would make a good sheltered, but dry, campsite, as attested to by the others who have left their names there.

The Arches inscription is similar to that below Lower Red Lake Canyon, not only in that it gives the full name DenisJulien but also in that it is incised into the rock surface in script rather than printed style Because it is not done in the common fashion of the other signatures and because it is not located in an area similar to that of the other inscriptions, this is thought by some to be a fake made in recent times. There is, however, one very good argument against this assumption: the "desert varnish" into which the Julien and accompanying inscriptions are incised. The formation of the chemical compound manganese dioxide on the surface of the sandstone creates this socalled desert varnish As time passes it becomes progressively darker as more manganese dioxide is deposited. Therefore, on a single, relatively small rock surface, exposed to the same amount of weather and weathering, the darker the desert varnish the older it is.

On the desert varnished surface at the base of the sandstone fin in Devils Garden, a simple comparison can be made between the prehistoric Anasazi petroglyphs, the 1844 DenisJulien inscription, and an inscription dated 1892. Simply put, the Anasazi petroglyphs are darker than the Julien, and the 1892 inscription is lighter The Julien must, therefore, be older than 1892, and thus the possibility of its being placed there spuriously is greatly diminished.

Among the many questions concerning DenisJulien, two are the most intriguing First, are all of the inscriptions attributed to Julien authentic, or are some of them hoaxes? Second, what eventually happened to this little-known individual?

Of the ten signatures accepted by at least some writers and historians, it is probable that any or all of them could have been done by the hand of Denis Julien. Even with their unusual locations, the two most questionable inscriptions, those below Lower Red Lake Canyon and in the Devils Garden area of Arches, could have been done by him

Most of the arguments among Colorado River historians, both professional and amateur, as to the authenticity of the various Julien inscriptions revolve around the style of writing or carving—printed let-

ters as opposed to script. These arguments are in no way conclusive, though, because in the four most accepted inscriptions—in lower Cataract Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, above the Bowknot, and near Whiterocks—Julien was not even consistent in how he made the capital letter "J."The first two were done in the old-fashioned style and the last two with the hooked bottom. Yet the authenticity of these four has not been questioned. All of the inscriptions with the full last name ofJulien are consistent in rendering the last two letters, "en," in script fashion

As for script or printing, it is enlightening to compare the two known written (on paper, as opposed to stone) signatures of Denis Julien with the carvings below Lower Red Lake Canyon and in Arches.

On September 16, 1815,Julien was one of a dozen witnesses to a treaty made with the Iowa tribe of Indians at Portage des Sioux in eastern Missouri His name, while written very small and now faint, is clearly identical in style to the two above carvings.

On December 24, 1821,Julien was one of a number of signees of a petition to the U.S Congress from the inhabitants of the town of Prairie du Chien in what was then Michigan Territory, asking for protection from confiscation of their land titles.Julien's signature on this document is also extremely close to those carved in script fashion on sandstone in present southeastern Utah, the only difference being that the capital "J" is completely different from any of his ten incised signatures. This emphasizes the fact that he was not consistent in his written or incised rendering of the "J" of his surname. 15

Not previously discussed are the characteristic styles of two of the numerals in Julien's dates—the "1" and the "3."In every case where one or both of these numbers was carved, they were done in the same way. The "1" invariably was made with a short stroke affixed to the top of the numeral. The same is true of the "3," where the stroke is always placed at the beginning of the top loop. What is not consistent, even among the "accepted" four, and even occasionally within the same inscription, is the placement or absence of a horizontal foot at the base of the "1." Therefore, on the basis of style, workmanship, and location, none of the tenJulien inscriptions can be proven as genuine or false.

As for what happened toJulien after the carving of his last known inscription in Arches in 1844, there is one intriguing bit of information. In an interview conducted in May 1976 with Dock Marston, one

15 Photostatic copies of the Treaty with the Iowa, 1815, and the Petition to Congress by inhabitants of Prairie du Chien, 1821, were obtained from the National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C

of the interviewers,John F Hoffman, commented that newspaperman LuteJohnson reported thatJulien became a California pioneer, died, and was buried there Johnson even said that he was listed in a directory in California. Hoffman was evidently referring to an October 2, 1938, Denver Post article. In itJohnson mentions a brief record of "de Julien" in biographical dictionaries in which he is called a Canadian voyageur who died in California. Hoffman himself stated he was not able to find Julien listed in any type of directory.16

So what did ultimately become of Denis Julien? From the information known at the present time this question cannot be positively answered However, from what is known about his life, the regions he frequented, his contemporaries, and events that were taking place around him at the time, a possible scenario can be postulated.

Throughout his life, from the baptismal records in St Louis, Missouri, to at least 1844 in eastern Utah, Julien seems to have been in contact with the Robidoux family. Headed by patriarch Joseph Robidoux II, the French-Canadian family had migrated from Quebec to St Louis by 1771 There M Robidoux entered into the burgeoning fur trade. So both the Robidouxs and Julien were engaged in the fur trade; they were in St. Louis at the same time; and in that close-knit French colony of the late 1700s and early 1800s they could not have helped but know of one another.

Joseph Robidoux had six sons, all of whom engaged in the fur trade to one extent or another. Joseph III, in partnership with Pierre Chouteau, traded with the "Ioways"just asJulien did. In 1819 he established a fort or trading post on the west side of the Missouri

DenisJulien's signature on an 1821 petition. Courtesy ofauthor.

"' In an August 20, 1968, letter from George E Stewart of Roosevelt, Utah, to Otis R Marston, Stewart stated that a Mrs. Denver had told him that she had located definite information that Julien was alive after 1836 Unfortunately, no such nraterial was ever forthcoming

River across from present-day Council Bluffs At that time Julien was also trading on the Missouri The post was taken over in 1823 byJean Pierre Cabanne with whom Julien had dealings earlier Fort Robidoux, or Cabanne's Post as it came to be called, wasjust a few miles below Fort Atkinson where Julien transacted business in 1824 and 1825

As mentioned earlier,Julien may have gone to New Mexico sometime in 1826 with one of the Robidoux brothers. Antoine, Michel, and Isidore all are known to have made trips from the Council Bluffs-Fort Atkinson area to Santa Fe in that year. 17 Also, as stated earlier, it is known that Julien accompanied a party led by Francois Robidoux from Taos in 1827 to recover some cached furs.

In 1838 Antoine Robidoux established a trading post usually known as Fort Uintah, near present-day Whiterocks, Utah. According to Ute Indian oral traditions, the basis for this post was the already established Reed trading post, supposedly founded by Denis Julien and three others in 1828. But perhaps Julien continued to stay in the area. In 1842 a missionary on the way from Oregon wrote in his diary of attempting to preach at Fort Uintah to a company including "French."18 Later the same year a traveler stopping over at the post recorded in hisjournal that trade was conducted principally with trappers frequenting the Green, Grand, and Colorado rivers and their tributaries.19 According to his carved inscriptions, this is precisely what Julien was doing.

In late September 1844 another of Robidoux's trading posts, Fort Uncompahgre on the Gunnison River of western Colorado, was attacked by Ute Indians The one American present was spared and sent to Fort Uintah to tell the people there to abandon the post This was promptly done But the trouble with the Utes had actually begun back in the fall of 1843 when a company of New Mexican volunteers, after an unsuccessful raid against Navajos, had evidently vented their frustrations by falling upon and killing ten friendly Utes and taking three others captive.20

This may explain the location ofJulien's September 1844 inscription in Arches. As a veteran frontiersman traveling through territory

17 Marston, "Denis Julien," 7:184

18 Joseph Williams, A Narrative of a Tourfrom the State of Indiana to the Oregon Territory in the Years 1841-42 (Cincinnati, 1843), pp 80-84

19 Rufus B Sage, Scenes in the Rocky Mountains (Philadelphia, 1846), p 182

-'"Janet Lecompte, Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: The Upper Arkansas, 1832-1856 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978), pp 137-38

inhabited by unfriendly Indians he would have trod warily and perhaps chosen to avoid the usual trails crossing the Colorado River at either the present-day sites of Moab, Utah, or Grand Junction, Colorado. Furthermore, when making camp he would have probably taken the precaution of not staying in the open area of Salt Valley but moving instead to the nearby but shielded spot by the sandstone fins of Devils Garden

Soon after the abandonment of Fort Uintah, Antoine Robidoux moved back to his brother's trading post on the Missouri River at what would eventually become St.Joseph. Another brother, Louis, had gone to California in 1843 and purchased land there. In the summer of 1844 he returned to Santa Fe for his family. They left for California for the final time in November of that year.

Based on the baptismal dates of his children, in the fall of 1844 DenisJulien would have very likely been around seventy years of age. Fort Uintah had been abandoned and Antoine Robidoux was preparing to return to Missouri. Louis Robidoux, on the other hand, was moving on to California. It is certainly possible, therefore, based on surrounding circumstances and the single reference to his listing in a biographical dictionary, that DenisJulien could have accompanied the Louis Robidoux family, lived out the remaining span of his life, and died in California.

Utah's Chinatowns: The Development and Decline of Extinct Ethnic Enclaves

BY DANIEL LIESTMAN

TH E LABORS OF THE CHINESE IN CONSTRUCTING the transcontinental railroad are legendary. Too often, though, this is the only context in which the Chinese are mentioned as a component of Utah's history.1

Mr Liestman is the bibliographic specialist for the social sciences at Seattle Pacific University

1 Exceptions include "The Early Chinese of Western United States" in Kate B Carter, ed., Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 10:429-81; Don C Conley, "The Pioneer Chinese of Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, ed Helen Z Papanikolas (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1976), pp 251-77; Don C Conley, "The Pioneer Chinese of Utah" (MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1976)—all subsequent references to Conley's work are to this thesis; Lester A Hubbard, "John Chinaman in the West," Western Humanities Review A (1950): 311-21; Dean L May, Utah: A People's History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987), pp. 141-55; Leslie G. Kelen and Sandra T Fuller, eds., The Other Utahns: A Photographic Portfolio (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988), pp 48-61

Plum Alley in downtown Salt Lake City was the heart of Chinatoxon in Utah's capital. This photograph by Shipler was taken August 24, 1907. USHS collections.

In fact, the driving of the golden spike marks the beginning of a distinctive element in Utah's history. Following events at Promontory in 1869, most Chinese began congregating in Chinatowns that coexisted within a number of Zion's towns and cities. The largest such enclave was in Salt Lake City with others in Ogden, Corinne, Park City, Silver Reef, and elsewhere

The Chinese added an interesting element to Utah's ethnic mix which otherwise consisted largely of those of European descent. Reactions to the Chinese varied Some Euro-American groups took particular exception to the presence of the Chinese while others remained less interested. In particular those who found themselves in the lower echelons of the social-economic hierarchy seemed particularly interested in distancing themselves from the Chinese whom they perceived as rivals The antipathy of the Irish for the Chinese is well known and underscored by the violence that occurred between the two groups during the construction of the transcontinental railroad Other groups, such as Italians and Slavs, often came to Utah as unskilled laborers and sought to be portrayed as superior to and distinct from the Chinese. This did not always occur. Miners at one camp banned both Chinese and Italians from their diggings.2 In spite of their own diversity, most white residents of Utah tended to view the Chinese as a faceless, if not nameless, seemingly indistinguishable group of people who tended to cluster in predominantly white communities. Members of many minority cultures engaged in such behavior As a result, Salt Lake City not only had a Chinatown but a Little Denmark in its Second Ward.3 Across Utah there were Greek Towns, Bohunk Towns for Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and Little Italys among others. Due to obvious racial and cultural differences Chinese enclaves formed a readily identifiable but unassimilable and short-lived presence. Although some 5,000 Chinese currently live in the state, no Chinatowns remain. 1 This paper expands on existing research by examining the development of Utah's Chinatowns, the response to these settlements, and their demise. Implicit in this thesis is an obvious deficiency—the lack of a Chinese perspective Such an admittedly unbalanced approach, however, reflects the nature of extant primary source materials rather than a deliberate oversight or agenda

2 Salt Lake Tribune, May 11, 1882; Ogden Standard, January 19, 1902, September 1, 1891

3 William Mulder, "Scandinavian Saga" in The Peoples of Utah, p 172

' U.S Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census ofPopulation and Housing, Summary Tape File 1 A, Utah

Initially, Chinese in the territory avoided white settlements as they lived in dugouts or tents along rail lines, working as section crews or station cooks. A few entrepreneurial ones operated laundries that followed work crews. 5 Only gradually did they begin to move into predominantly white settlements Although Utah's white residents could not help but be aware of the anti-Chinese attitudes reaching across the nation, local opinion leaders nevertheless did not initially object to the Chinese living among them.James H. Beadle of Corinne's Utah Reporter declared the so called "Chinese problem" to be nothing but "baseless political humbug," declaring, "We need large numbers in this Territory." In the Salt Lake Herald, William C. Dunbar viewed the threat of Chinese labor as "overrated," while the Mormon Deseret Evening News lauded the Chinese as hard working, skillful, and intelligent, adding, "There is probably no people on the continent who are likely to be less disturbed or affected by the introduction of this element [the Chinese] than the people of Utah." Franklin Richards's OgdenJunction was less effusive. He considered the Chinese to be "heathens and barbarians" but cheerfully added that they were no worse so than many European immigrants or Americans for that matter.6

With the completion of the transcontinental line the Chinese and other railroad laborers began settling in Bear River Valley towns such as Corinne and in other railroad towns before moving on to places like Salt Lake City Not until 1882 did the Deseret Evening News first mention a "Chinese quarter" in that city. Prior to that the Salt Lake Tribune had observed that the Chinese were "rather backward about entering Mormondom." Available census information confirms the gradual clustering of Chinese in specific cities. Admittedly, such data are fallible. Nonetheless, by using Box Elder, Salt Lake, Weber, Washington, and Summit counties as examples some general trends can be seen. The 1870 census reported a total of 445 Chinese in Utah

5 John Simpson Ross, Crossing the Continent by Rail in 1869 (Fort Bragg, Calif.: Mendocino County Historical Society, 1969),

Reeder, "This Is Promontory as I Remember It," MS at Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory, Utah, n.p.; Bernice Gibbs Anderson, Oral History Project at University of Utah, interviewed by Phil Notarianni and Greg Thompson, August 15,1975, at Corinne, Utah, transcript in Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah; Mr and Mrs William W Bowe, Ethnic Oral History Collections, interviewed by Ellis LeFevere, August 19, 1974, transcript at Golden Spike National Historic Site; Cincinnati Excursion to California (Indianapolis: Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad, 1870), p. 39; Ogden Daily Herald, June 4, 1881; Utah Tri-Weekly Reporter, January 4, 1870; "Across the Continent, 1877-78," Bulletin of the British Association for American Studies new series 9 (1964): 60-61; Utah Reporter, December 16, 1869, May 28, 1870; Deseret Evening News, May 30, 1870, July 7, 1870

6 Daily Utah Reporter, April 9, August 4, 1870; Salt Lake Herald, September 11, 1870; Deseret Evening News, July 9, May 20, 1869; Journal History of the Church, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, May 26, 1869, pp. 5-6; OgdenJunction, August 6, 1870, May 24, 1873, December 19, 1874.

p 17; Adolph

with more than 90 percent of them located in Box Elder County and most of the rest in Summit County Over the ensuing decades Box Elder showed a steady decline in its Chinese population through 1920 when the census found none living there As one might expect, the Chinese population in Washington County peaked in 1880 with 53 By 1890 there were only 2 and after that none, reflecting the end of the mining boom in Silver Reef. The number of Chinese recorded for Utah as a whole (806) and for the counties of Weber (106), and Summit (121) peaked in 1890. For Salt Lake County 1890 and 1900 were the high points with 269 and 271 Chinese listed, respectively. These figures show the movement of many Chinese to the state's urban centers. By 1920 only 342 Chinese were enumerated by the census, with most of them living in Salt Lake or Weber counties.7

The arrival of the Chinese into urban areas affected both white residents and the Chinese At first contact, residents reflected their Anglo-American values by commenting on the "peculiar" attire of the Chinese and their exotic appearances Gradually, however, hints of anti-Chinese sentiments surfaced.8 The Chinese came together in the Chinatowns not only because they sought to be among their own people but also because many of them shared common family names and traditionally lived near one another. Since most Chinese did not plan to settle permanently in America they wanted to retain their culture by maintaining close contact with one another. The overwhelming number of Chinese were bachelor males or married men whose families had remained in China. Lonely and homesick in a strange land, they sought one another's company. Consequently, they organized Chinatowns on an extended kinship basis to meet their affiliative needs.9 In addition, such living arrangements contributed in some measure to the preservation and continuation of their familiar way of life, particularly through associations like the Bing Kong Tong in Salt Lake City Thus, Chinatowns offered their residents both physical and psychological security

These enclaves did not, however, meet all the psychosocial needs

7 "Utah's Chinese Heritage," typescript, Golden Spike National Historic Site; Deseret Evening News, January 29, 1873; Silver Reef Miner, May 24, 1879; Golden Spike Oral History Project, Bernice Gibbs Anderson manuscript material, MS-95, p 70

H Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 1871, January 29, 1874, June 2, 1878; CorinneDaily Mail, September 25, 1875; Salt Lake, Herald, September 11, 1870; Utah Reporter, November, 14, 1870; Ogden Junction, January 29, 1879

9 Ching Chao Wu, "Chinatowns: A Study of Symbiosis and Assimilation" (Ph.D diss., University of Chicago, 1928), pp 157-58; D Y Yuan, "Voluntary Segregation: A Study of New Chinatowns." Phylon 24 (1963): 255-65; Melford S Weiss, Valley City: A Chinese Community in America (Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1974), pp. 33-34; Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 1898.

of the Chinese. The shortage of females, for example, largely precluded the establishment of nuclear families.10 The few Chinese women had come usually as either spouses or prostitutes. Respectable wives traditionally remained at home and had little contact with whites. When they did emerge publicly their appearance was cause for considerable comment such as occurred when three Chinese women attended a Salt Lake fair in 1873 where their presence caused much comment among the rest of the fairgoers. As there were few eligible Chinese women, weddings were rare The first occurred in 1870 when John Tip married Ma Coy in a civil ceremony performed at the bride's Corinne restaurant. Only a handful of other marriages occurred, and few produced children Utah's miscegenation law forbade Chinese men from marrying Caucasian women, and virtually no other alternatives existed. There were anomalous cases such as a Chinese man and a white woman from Scofield who married.11 Few Chinese children lived in Utah's Chinatowns, and those that did kept to themselves. On rare occasions they would be seen by whites, as in the case of a young Chinese boy who lived as a beggar on Salt Lake City's streets This, too, was an anomaly since children usually belonged to well-to-do Chinese merchants who could afford to bring their families over to America.12

Another factor precluding stable Chinatowns was their transient populations. Chinese often moved wherever they thought they could obtain the best economic opportunities On the heels of the Black Hills gold rush, for example, a number of Chinese merchants left Salt Lake City for Deadwood, Dakota Territory, to open new businesses. Other Chinese engaged in seasonal labor and left Salt Lake City during the winter This seemingly opportunistic attitude contributed to white citizens' prejudice against these overseas Chinese workers whom they perceived to be nothing but sojourners and uninterested in building a stable community.13 In spite of such issues, Chinatowns offered the

10 Angela Chan Conley, "The Social Problems of the Chinese in Salt Lake City" (M.S thesis, University of Utah, 1973), pp 5-6, 25-27

" Corinne Daily Miner, January 7, 1875; Our Pioneer Heritage, 10: 454; Milton Konvitz, The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1946), p 232; Frances Cunningham to author, undated; Deseret Evening News, October 8, 1873

12 Salt Lake Tribune, December 21, 1883; Ogden Standard, December 22, 1904

13 Deseret Evening News, December 8, 1879; Paul C P Siu, "The Sojourner," American Journal of Sociology 8 (1952): 34-44; Franklin Ng, "The Sojourner, Return Migration, and Immigration History," Chinese America: History and Perspectives (1987): 53-71; Annie E Chapman, "Work among the Chinese," The Home Missionary 80 (1886): 284

Chinese security and cultural familiarity as well as economic potential—a factor that largely determined where these enclaves developed.

In Utah, Chinatowns occupied an older section of their host city near the central business district and close to available transportation networks. In Salt Lake City, Chinatown centered around Plum Alley which ran north from Second South to First South between Main and State streets. Corinne's first Chinatown centered near the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Montana Street. Following a major fire on September 25, 1871, the city fathers zoned a new area for the enclave Chinatown then bordered North Front Street and the Bear River between First and Second near the steamboat wharf Ogden's Chinatown was less centralized but was situated along Fifth Avenue north of Main. Silver Reef's Chinese lived on the east end of Centre Street The most unusual Chinatown site was in Park Citywhere Chinese lived in approximately twenty buildings along Silver Creek The site sat so low along the flood plain that a bright red foot bridge crossed over the Chinese buildings from Marsac Avenue on Rossie Hill down toward Main.14

Morphologically, Chinatowns tended to develop in linear patterns In some measure this reflected site topography The ravine created by Silver Creek, for example, confined growth in much of Park City. Similarly, Corinne's was restricted by the Bear River. In Salt Lake City, however, the nascent Chinatown along Plum Alley developed and grew into more of a reticulated pattern incorporating parts of Third South, Commercial Avenue, and East Temple (Main Street).15

Residents of Chinatowns often found employment within the enclave through local Chinese labor brokers."1 Inhabitants saved money by living frugally in the back of stores or in adjacent shared housing. Such arrangements removed the Chinese from residential competition with the dominant society. Chinese usually rented the property they occupied. In part, this reflected their economic and social status. It also underscored their transient lifestyle. Few, save established merchants,

14 Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p 68; Conrad Elliot, "Chinatown," The Lodestar (1978): 9; "List of Laundries for 1911," Immigration and Statistics Letter Books, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, pp 59-60; Sanborn Fire Mapfor Ogden (New York: Sanborn, 1884); Alfred Bleak Stucki, "A Historical Record of Silver Reef: Southern Utah Mining Town" (MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1966), p 44; Sanborn Fire Mapfor Park City (New York: Sanborn, 1889); Raye Carlson Price, Diggings and Doings in Park City, 2d ed (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1972); Daily Corinne Reporter, September 25, 26, October 19, 1871

15 Sanborn Fire Mapfor Salt Lake City (New York; Sanborn Map and Publishing, 1882); Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1896; Richard C. Roberts and Richard W. Sadler, Ogden:Junction City (Northridge, Calif.: Windsor Publications, 1985), pp 94-95; Chuen-yan David Lai, Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988), pp 5-7

16 Utah Record, September 7, 1870.

sought long-term locational commitment. Perhaps the Chinese also feared the loss of real estate should they be expelled as occurred in nearby Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885. Most Chinatowns remained fixed until their extinction and did not usually relocate even though their residents maintained a high degree of mobility. Although Chinatowns remained segregated from the communities within which they existed, they did not live in isolation from one another They formed distinct settlement nodes linked by rail and other overland routes with other Chinatowns across the region, including those in Montana and Idaho The larger Chinatowns also acted as hubs. Salt Lake City's gained ascendancy over others. Chinese from across Utah as well as the western United States considered it a regional center for many activities. Utah's Chinese retained strong links with Chinese officials in the U.S. due to their location on the major eastwest axis across the country from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.17 Chinatowns and other ethnic enclaves did not blend into the local environment. Sunnyside's Ragtown where many poor Italians lived in squalid tents was one example of the conspicuously impoverished conditions faced by many immigrants.18 However, as Chinatowns grew they seemed to be singled out for special attention, and nativists perceived them in darkest terms. The local press often exploited and reinforced the negative views of Chinatowns as unhealthy havens of immoral and illegal activities. Little opportunity existed to alter such misconceptions. Civic leaders thought Chinatowns to be unhealthy due to population congestion, unsanitary conditions, and rare diseases carried by Chinese. Complaints frequently centered around malodorous pig sties or pools of stagnant water near wash houses, particularly during the summer months. Reports of some Chinese with Hansen's disease, or leprosy, further fostered this perception, even though such accounts were often without foundation.19 Whites also saw Chinatowns as centers of immorality. This perception stemmed in large measure from cultural dissonance. Local moral and religious leaders considered opium and gambling nefarious illegal activities, while for the Chinese they were a cultural component of their traditional lifestyle. The Chinese usually gambled among themselves often placing bets with brass coins valued at about

17 Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 1884; Deseret Evening News, February 8,1902.

'" Philip F Notarianni, "Italianta in Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, pp 307-8 "Salt Lake Herald, August 21, 1874, September 29, 1888, June 23, 1886, June 19, 1891,April 14, 1891.

1/10 of a penny in games of fan tan. For higher stakes, Silver Reef's Chinese residents played a lottery which reportedly could pay out up to $10,000. Even though gambling was one of the few recreational activities available to the Chinese, authorities arrested those involved with such games In September 1873 Salt Lake City Police began raiding Chinese gambling "dens." Ogden Police launched their largest gambling crackdown on Chinese in 1887, arresting seventeen in one night's raid In response to enhanced police activity Chinese began posting lookouts Police in turn resorted to stealth and speed in conducting raids, albeit with limited success. 20

Most whites saw opium as a much greater evil In China use of the drug had increased dramatically under British-fostered trade Many Chinese, consequently, brought their addiction to the U.S Possession and use of the drug was not illegal until 1914 with passage of the federal Harrison Act, but it was unlawful to smuggle the black tar-like substance into the country without paying federal duties or taxes. In 1879 the Salt Lake City Council passed an ordinance outlawing opium dens. Police, however, confessed to the difficulty of obtaining evidence because the Chinese tended to be wary of selling to those they did not know. Park City saw a similar law overturned by its municipal court which ruled that the city had no right to pass such an ordinance under its charter. Beyond this, most considered the effects of the drug to be debilitating and immoral. Contemporary accounts frequently describe in vivid terms the dismal conditions of these "dens of infamy" and the "pernicious" effect of the drug. Nonetheless, a number of men and women from all social strata and races smoked opium with the Chinese, leaving some to decry the "Saintly Salt Lakers" who "Hit the Pipe."21 Chinese prostitution, "the meanest of moral ulcers," as one observer saw it, occurred largely because the Chinese lived in "reproductive isolation" with prostitution as the only available outlet Convicted prostitutes, nonetheless, faced stiff sentences A Corinne court fined seven Chinese women $100 each When they could not pay the judge ordered them incarcerated. Even when the court

2(1 John Eldredge to "Denny," March 18, 1985, Golden Spike National Historical Site; Record of Arrests No 2, 1896-97, Utah State Archives; Silver ReefMiner, January 17, 1880; Salt Lake Herald, September 2, 4, 1873, December 14, 1875, May 23, 1882, October 21, 1885; Ogden Morning Herald, August 7, 9, 25, 1887; Park Mining Record, April 6, 1895; Deseret Evening Nexus, October 20, 1885

1 Chinese were not the only ones arrested for keeping opium dens In 1892 U.S Marshal Elias H Parsons was tried for renting a den on Plum Alley to some Chirrese Salt Lake Tribune, December 4, 1880, April 4, 1886, January 10, 1886; Salt Lake Herald, October 15, 1875, October 16, 19, 1878, November 20, 1879, June 14, 1883, September 16, 1881, November 10, 1883, July 17, 1885, June 13, 1880, March 9, April 28, 1892; Deseret Evening News, April 23, September 18, November 20, 21, 22, 1879; Park Mining Record, April 4, 1885; Ogden Herald, October 27, 1887

reduced the fine the women remained jailed. Two Salt Lake Chinese women arrested twice in one week each received fines of $500 Prostitutes who escaped their "owners" were often pursued since they cost their "owners" between $150 and $600. A Chinese in Silver Reef even advertised a $50 reward for the return of one of his missing women This reinforced the belief among Euro-Americans that the Chinese women were little more than slaves.22 In spite of public opposition little was done to curtail prostitution, and few arrests occurred.

To a lesser degree Chinatowns were also perceived as sequestering illegal immigrants Beginning in 1882 a series of federal laws severely restricted Chinese immigration. Many Chinese opposed this racist legislation and sought to circumvent it by continuing to enter the country.

The Deseret Evening News decried the number of "wily and cunning" Chinese who entered the country illegally, while the Salt Lake Herald maintained that it was "very common" among the city's Chinese to have entered the country with fraudulent documents In 1895 a federal investigator came to Salt Lake City searching for illegal immigrants. His assignment proved difficult as the Chinese remained reticent; many "suddenly developed an ignorance of English that was surprising" when queried on such matters One Chinese informant, however, made a startling revelation. He said an unnamed government official in Ogden sold illegal documentation. These fraudulent papers, he said, were supposedly cheaper in Ogden than those available in San Francisco!25

Beyond this level of Chinese and white rancor there existed a history of competition and conflict among the Chinese themselves In 1873 a gang of Chinese on the Utah Railroad hanged one of their own for reasons not revealed to any whites. Theft and violence occurred between Chinese individuals more often than groups, although in 1883 a war between the Hoo Sing and Bing Kong tongs broke out across the United States. In Salt Lake a Hoo Sing member shot his own uncle who belonged to the rival tong The Bing Kong eventually gained supremacy. 21 Most of the time, however, conflict and violence occurred among individual Chinese over scarce resources. 25

22 Utah Reporter, November 14, 1870; Deseret Evening News, January 29, 1873, May 28, 1872; Corinne Daily Journal, May 9, 10, 1871; November 14, 1870; Silver Reef Miner, June 14, 1874; Cottonwood Observer, July 19, 1873; Deseret Evening News, March 19, 1879

23 Deseret Evening News, June 20, 1890; Salt Lake Herald, July 17-20, 1895.

24 Deseret Evening Nexus, September 13, 1873; Florence C Lister and Robert H Lister, "Chinese Sojourners in Territorial Prescott," Journal of the Southwest 31 (1989): 25; Salt Lake Telegram, February 8, 1884; Deseret Evening Nexus, January 5, 1872.

25 Stanford Lyman, Chinatoxun and Little Tokyo: Poxuer, Conflict, and Community among Chinese and Japanese Immigrants in America (Millwood, N.Y: Associated Faculty Press, 1986), pp 69-219

There are numerous reports of Chinese stealing and fighting among themselves Usually such disputes involved minor stolen household items or gambling losses. In some instances the disagreement centered around more significant matters. In 1897YeeYen, a Chinese financial agent, absconded with $8,000 in savings from the Chinese of Salt Lake. Territorial officials captured, tried, and convicted him. The case drew so much attention that the Chinese consul traveled to Utah to attend the trial.26 In some instances, violence occurred For example, in Ogden, ChingYu received three deep hatchet wounds to his head when he attempted to collect a business debt.27 Since women were few, competition for their attention could be intense In one case a Chinese man from Ogden paid a trio of Euro-Americans $300 to abscond with a Chinese woman living with her husband in Sandy. The kidnappers made off with her, but her husband intercepted them and retrieved his wife.28 The most sensational Chinese murder occurred in Alta where two Chinese men stabbed and robbed a woman known as China Mary. The dramatic nature of the case attracted considerable attention across the territory and the lurid details received considerable coverage in the local press which depicted the Chinese as wanton and immoral.29

In spite of discrimination, danger, and difficulties, Chinatowns still offered the Chinese the best circumstances for economic betterment. Initially, employment in Chinatowns centered around what might be considered traditional primary-level occupations After the driving of the golden spike both the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific as well as smaller lines employed Chinese primarily on section crews. 30 In spite of their reputation as being docile and manageable the Chinese proved militant at times. In an extreme case a section crew near Corinne rebelled over the firing of one of their own and attacked Frank Donsure, the section boss, with the iron rods used to repair the track. Donsure escaped and the railroad fired the Chinese. Chinese also worked for mining companies in different capacities. Response to them varied At the Mud Creek Coal Mines eighteen armed guards protected forty Chinese workers from the other dis-

26 Salt Lake Herald, March 19, 1897

27 Deseret Evening News, May 21, 1875; Ogden Standard, March 28, 1900, January 7, 1888; Salt Lake Herald, May 15, 1889; Corinne Daily Mail, January 5, 1875; Park Mining Record, June 10, 1882.

28 Salt Lake Herald, December 1, 2, 1890, April 18, 1884; Corinne Daily Miner, January 5, 1875; Ogden Junction, May 6, 1874; Salt Lake Tribune, May 6, 9, 1899

29 Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1887; Salt Lake Herald, May 5, 1888

30 Salt Lake Herald, April 20, 1883, October 6, 1885; Silver ReefMiner, June 10, 1882

gruntled miners—probably Italians The Samson Mine near Park City, however, fired all of its Chinese after two engaged in a bloody fight.31

Eventually Utah law forbade Chinese and other aliens from working in the mines; however, a loophole allowed those of European ancestry to continue working In lieu of citizenship, the law stipulated that an alien could declare his intention of becoming a naturalized citizen. As most Chinese had no intention of becoming Americans they remained excluded from the mines. Chinese continued to work for mining companies near Park City and Alta in support services such as cooking and serving in the miners' boarding houses In these roles they interacted successfully with other ethnic groups At Bingham Canyon, for example, a Chinese laundry served the Slavic miners of the Highland Boy Gold Mine.32

Chinese railroad and mine workers frequently found themselves in direct economic competition with whites. What fostered particular resentment was the fact that Chinese accepted a much lower standard of living and worked for less than the average laborer. The seeming economic success of the Chinese led whites to fear loss of employment or potential income. Beyond these perceptions, influences outside Utah reinforced growing anti-Chinese attitudes.

Dennis Kearney, the nation's foremost anti-Chinese agitator from San Francisco, stopped at Salt Lake Cityin 1883 long enough to criticize employers of Chinese. Five years later, in an interview with the Salt Lake Herald, Kearney again lashed out at the continued efforts of the white "Chinese slave-dealers" to allow more Chinese to enter the country and undermine the labor market In 1884 Dr Charles Carroll O'Donnell, president of San Francisco's Workingman's Anti-Coolie League, expressed such views much more emphatically. In Salt Lake he vigorously lectured on the evils of Chinese labor. O'Donnell had a particular fixation with Chinese lepers and expended considerable effort expounding on this issue He had reportedly brought two lepers with him to display

51 Ogden Daily Herald, July 30, 1881; Ogden Junction, December 15, 1875; Corinne Daily Miner, September 6, 1875; Deseret Evening Nexus, September 13, 1873

32 Corinne Daily Mail, July 12, 1875; Park Mining Record, September 18, 1886, October 27, 1883, September 13, 1884; Deseret Evening News, September 13, 1873; Salt Lake Herald, June 7, 1871, March 11, 1885, April 20, 1883, October 6, 1885; Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 1883; James Bonwick, Mormons and the Silver Mines (London: Hodder Stoughton, 1872), pp 370-85; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," 84, 144; Konvitz, The Alien and Asiatic in American Law, p 199; Pauli Murray, States' Laws on Race and Color (Nashville: Woman's Division of Christian Service, Board of Missions and Church Extension, Methodist Church, 1950), p. 458; Joseph Stipanovich, "South Slav Settlements in Utah, 1890-1935," Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (1975): 163.

on his nationwide tour with the intent of abandoning the unfortunate pair in Washington, D.C., for the federal government to care for.

Although many regarded O'Donnell as a "crank," Utahns by the early 1880s had become increasingly antagonistic toward the Chinese. The Park Mining Record termed "Chinese cheap labor" to be the "foundation for crime and destitution" and claimed their "presence tends to increase vice and immorality," while the Corinne Daily Mail decried the ongoing "inhuman traffic" of Chinese. 3 3 As anti-Chinese views became increasingly persistent it is not surprising that random acts of violence ranging from vandalism to physical assaults occurred Although Utah experienced less intense anti-Chinese agitation than most places in the West it was by no means exempt from such activities.34 Youths frequently perpetrated vandalism against the Chinese, leading one Salt Lake observer to comment, "The boys who run the

33 Park Mining Record, March 11, 1882; Ogden Daily Herald, November 22, 1884; Corinne Daily Mail, September 12, 1874; Silver ReefMiner, June 14, 1879; Salt Lake Herald, April 11, 1882.

Ogden's Chinatown centered around 25th Street. USHS collections.

31 Governor of Utah, "Report to the Secretary of the Interior," 50th Cong., 1st sess. (1887-88), House Ex. Doc, vol 10, no 1, pt 5, serial #2541, October 10, 1887

streets seem to think they are licensed to abuse Chinamen in every conceivable way," adding, "they break the windows of the Heathens, throw rocks at their doors, take advantage of a solitary Chinaman and pull his que [sic], and attempt violence against him; and always make a liberal use of the vilest, filthiest and most brutal expressions towards them."35 Such actions, though, were not restricted to young offenders; adults also occasionally assaulted Chinese with little or no provocation Robbers often singled out Chinese victims, believing that they carried considerable amounts of cash. At Corinne an extreme example of anti-Chinese activity occurred when a Chinese accused of murder was lynched from a rail trestle by a mob.36

In Ogden the Knights of Labor mounted a systematic effort in the summer of 1885 They and the Ogden Herald advocated a boycott of Chinese vegetable vendors with the call, "Let all unite in a vigorous effort to withdraw support from the creatures who destroy the dignity of labor and who bring upon honest toilers the curse of want and degradation." Not all whites responded favorably. As the scope of the boycott expanded, attorney P.J. Barrett dismissed it, noting that the Chinese did work no one else was willing to do A letter to the Herald cryptically signed by "Vindex" also condemned the Knights' tactics Tensions escalated, and at least one labor faction openly spoke of resorting to "explosives and the rope" to remove the Chinese. In an effort to bolster support for the boycott the Knights published a litany of familiar charges against the Chinese and called on Ogdenites to "expel the vile leper . . . preying upon our country." In an outdoor mass meeting, newly appointed Judge A Heed told those assembled, "There is nothing that can be said in favor of the Chinese. We must get rid of them." Gen. Nathan Kimball also addressed the boisterous crowd but said the Chinese must be protected, adding, "they have as much right here as Irishmen." He urged the Knights to "stick to their avocations and work for themselves and not against another class." Kimball stood his ground in the face of the hostile assembly until finished Judge Heed returned to give what one observer called "a forcible and somewhat profane speech depreciating in strong terms the classing of Irishmen with Chinamen." Afterwards the "noisy and incongruous multitude" dispersed The Chinese remained uncon-

88 Salt Lake Herald, May 24, 1873, January 22, 1891, May 4, 1890, July 7, 1873, April 15, 1874, August 20, 1885, May 9, 1883, August 20, 1885.

36 Utah Mining Gazette, April 18, 1874; Ogden Herald, October 30, 1887, November 22, 1887, April 26, 1882; Vernal Express, April 28, 1898; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:431

cerned about all the activity. Ty Kee of Ogden reported that during the boycott the Chinese sold more vegetables than ever, and laundries maintained the same amount of business. The Chinese met among themselves, Ty said, and decided to stay in Ogden rather than be run off.37

The boycott continued into fall. In October the Troy Laundry in Ogden guaranteed that Chinese laundries would be out of business within sixty days if no one patronized the Chinese wash houses and instead took their laundry to the larger, white-owned establishment The Knights meanwhile sought to intensify the boycott by publishing the names of firms and individuals continuing to do business and sympathizing with the Chinese. The union recommended that these businesses be boycotted too The plan backfired when several of the thirty-two names appearing on the list, including the Troy Laundry, turned out to be solidly anti-Chinese. Many in Ogden strongly denounced the Knights' ineptness, and the labor organization seemed unable to decide if it should call off the whole boycott and lose face or go through their list and decide whom to exempt. Complicating the issue was a report in the Salt Lake Tribune claiming that the Mormon church was behind the boycott since most of the businesses on the list belonged to gentiles. The Ogden Herald quickly denounced the Tribune report, calling it "consummate bosh." The Knights issued a statement saying that many of the names on the infamous list appeared there by mistake and withdrew many of them. They added that the Mormons were not behind the boycott Some Ogdenites, still indignant at the action of the Knights, publicly denounced the boycott while urging that more constructive approaches be considered. By the end of October the Ogden Herald declared the boycott to have been "a total failure in every respect" and reported the Knights to be bitterly divided among themselves.38

Events in Ogden caught the attention of the rest of the territory. The Park Mining Record tried unsuccessfully to garner similar support against Park City's Chinese. The Deseret Evening News credited the Knights for not resorting to violence but said the boycott would not be effective. The Salt Lake Herald, however, thought the boycott "proper" to the point of reprinting the infamous list and predicting

success for the Knights. The abortive Ogden boycott did not end organized labor's antipathy toward the Chinese In 1893 the Federated Trades and Labor Council of Utah passed a resolution supporting the rigorous enforcement of the Geary law which continued the 1882 Exclusion Act.39

Even in the face of violence and recrimination, the Chinese did not respond in kind. Though there are occasional reports of Chinese taking on or even shooting at assailants, overall they realized the futility of retaliating in a concerted effort as they were too weak to possibly succeed.10 Economically dependent upon white employers and customers, they did not want to do anything that might endanger their economic status, lead to deportation, or escalate into further violence. In essence, they resorted to the traditional wisdom of their culture which counseled, "recompence injury with kindness" and "lack of forbearance in small matters upsets great plans."41

Given their experience in competing directly with Euro-American labor at the primary and secondary levels of economic activity, the Chinese defined for themselves new economic niches at the tertiary level with minimal direct competition. Chinatowns saw laundries become the most common business enterprise. By 1886 there were at least fifteen Chinese laundries in Salt Lake City alone. Even as late as 1911 Chinese laundries existed in the smaller communities of Mercur, Eureka, and Milford Such work was labor intensive, but it represented an attractive business opportunity for the Chinese. Most operations were modest, employing no more than a handful of Chinese, often in small, two-room buildings, although in Salt Lake City some Chinese converted a large home on West Temple into a wash house. The laundry industry was also open to the Chinese due in no small part to the relative lack of non-Mormon women. Gentiles patronized the laundry services offered by the Chinese as most preferred not to conduct business with the Mormons. As a result, Mormon women who took in laundry lost business, leaving one Saint to complain, "Gentiles prefer taking their soiled linen to Confucian [sic] Mongolians" rather than to "Christian Caucasians." At least one Mormon elder patronized a

39 Park Mining Record, August 15, 1885; Deseret Evening News, October 20, 1885, June 10, 1893; Salt Lake Herald, October 20, 1885

40 Salt Lake Herald, February 4, 1895, May 9, 1893, May 24, 1873, October 2, 1888; Park Mining Record, August 7, 1880.

41 Chia-Lin, "Gold Dreams in Blue Mountains" (M.A thesis, Portland State University, 1967), pp 112-13; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p 64

Chinese establishment and complained that his endowment garment was returned with the openings sewed up!42

Even though laundries were the most frequent enterprise in Utah Chinatowns, the dominant business was the Chinese merchant house or store, which exerted considerable influence among the Chinese In 1880 Salt Lake had just three such stores. By the turn of the century that number had increased only to seven. But by locating within Chinatown, these merchants effectively controlled the market to the Chinese Some of the larger stores also attracted white customers since they sold American goods as well as novelty items from China and Japan. Beyond their economic status Chinese merchants exercised considerable influence and control over the residents of Chinatown Merchants often assumed positions of leadership within the local Chinese community. In 1874 Sam Lee was regarded as the chief spokesperson for the Salt Lake Chinese. It was unclear to white observers if he was a political boss or a clan leader As the local society grew and developed, Chin Quan Chan, or Chin Chin as he was commonly called by whites, became recognized as the "mayor" of Salt Lake City's Chinatown, and Dave Hing was noted as "deputy mayor." Little is known of Hing, but he is described as being well educated and able to speak English fluently. Chin moved to Salt Lake from Ogden and as "mayor" assumed positions of community leadership and social responsibility He owned much of the Chinese-occupied property in Salt Lake City and had extensive business interests among the Chinese, including a labor brokerage. In 1912 he announced plans to return to Hong Kong permanently but estimated it would take him a year to close out his business affairs in Utah. He often adjudicated disputes among the Chinese. Whites, too, held him in special esteem, and his opinions on a variety of topics appeared in the local press He also acted as an intermediary between his people and local authorities. In 1912 he complained that police harassed Chinese for playing games that did not involve gambling but were simply unfamiliar to whites. He said officers broke down the doors to his home and entered with revolvers drawn to arrest fifteen Chinese playing there. Chin reported that not only were the charges false, but such action

42 Kate Carter, ed., Heart Throbs of the West, 12 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1939-51), 5:368-70; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:446-47; "List of Laundries for 1911"; Salt Lake Herald, July 2, 1873, December 4, 1880; Salt Lake Tribune, December 3, 1880, April 19, 1891, December 18, 1881, October 15, 1883; Deseret Evening News, July 19, 1873, August 21, 1874, August 14, 1874, June 21, 1882; Utah Reporter, August 11, 12, 1870; St. George Union, February 1881; Ogden Herald, June 18, 1881; Ogden Standard, October 18, 1889

was bad for business and projected a negative image of the Chinese Evidently his words had some effect for the court dismissed all but two of the cases

Chin's tenure as "mayor" was not always smooth. After visiting China and remarrying following the death of his first wife, he discovered that some of Salt Lake's Chinese sought to keep him from returning to the U.S. Then customs officials in Port Townsend, Washington, received word that Chin was smuggling prostitutes. False affidavits also said he had sold his business interests and therefore could not legally return as a merchant under federal law. Only after an extended legal struggle did Chin and his family secure entrance. Upon returning to Utah he regained his lost prestige and authority. Possibly the effort to usurp him was part of a larger struggle between rival tongs.43 Chinese engaged in other occupations that did not compete directly with whites. To enumerate all of these would go beyond the scope of this essay; however, a few are worthy of particular mention Chinese cooks received praise for being both economical and skillful Most Chinatowns had at least one Chinese restaurant that catered to both whites and Chinese, and some were quite elaborate Charley Ong Lung's in Park City, for example, was described as "first class" and served "choice meals." Others were less polished, and, of some, whites complained that cooks spat on both food and utensils For the Chinese, restaurants were more than a place to eat; they served as a meeting and lodging place where they could share and maintain their culture and heritage among their fellow countrymen.

In particular, restaurants that were service points for both whites and Chinese prospered By 1902 two Ogden establishments had moved into newly refurbished buildings. The city's four restaurants were so successful that some whites speculated that a Chinese restaurant syndicate existed to drive white-owned establishments out of business. Although the charge was unsubstantiated, members of the local labor federation talked of boycotting the restaurants. Two years later the city passed an ordinance banning booths, a common seating arrangement in Chinese restaurants. A municipal court convicted Tom Sing and "Jim" under the new law. They appealed and the ordi-

43 Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1900, 804; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp. 42, 66; Silver ReefMiner, May 6, 1882; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 62; Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 1898; Port Townsend Weekly Leader (Washington), October 14, 1903; Deseret Evening News, July 13, 1907, June 25, 1912, January 3, 1903, February 8,1902

nance was overturned after a district court ruled the law "arbitrary" and acquitted the pair

Groups of Chinese made a livelihood as greengrocers. A number tilled a garden in Salt Lake's Eighth Ward. Their spread included ditches that led to collection pools, fruit trees, and means for spreading manure. The farmers watered their crops with hand-held sprinklers filled at the collection pools The Chinese replanted their land two to three times per season and consequently had larger annual yields per acre than their white counterparts These farmers also lived on their land in small shanties shared with pigs and chickens. As early as April, gardeners began peddling their produce in the city's streets to white customers. Some carried their goods in baskets suspended from a yoke, while those with more prosperous operations used horsedrawn wagons. Some whites objected to the stench of the manure the Chinese used on the soil. In Ogden the odor became so offensive to some citizens that the city banned the use of the fertilizer.44

Chinese filled other occupational positions Some worked in white households as domestic servants where they received particular praise for being neat and clean They also earned high praise as baby sitters. Others operated or worked on ranches.45 Chinese herbalists or physicians lived in a number of Chinatowns and saw patients of all races suffering from illness or injury. A Chinese living in Terrace, Box Elder County, for example, used dried rattlesnake venom as a poultice to draw a steel fragment out of a white man's hand. Sometimes treating whites caused problems as in the case of Soo Lung Kee who was arrested for prescribing opium It is unclear how many Chinese health practitioners there were, but a report in the Ogden Standard indicated that there was a Chinese hospital in that city. Chinese physicians apparently had some standing in their communities, too, as a "Dr. Sam" was regarded as a leader among the Chinese in Mercur.46 Other Chinese occupations operated outside the

44 Salt Lake Herald, April 28, 1878, June 18, 1893; Salt Lake Tribune, May 18, 1882, April 2, 1881, November 14, 1954; Ogden Standard, April 14, 1892.

45 Millard County Blade, April 25, 1896; "About the Chinese," Juvenile Instructor 17 (1882): 209; Park Mining Record, June 5, August 7, 1880, September 23, 1893; Li Li, "Toward a Cultural Interpretation of the Chinese Restaurant in the Mountain West" (M.A thesis, Utah State University, 1990); Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp 41-42, 59, 97, 99; Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, June 12, 1891, March 11, 1880, April 2, 1899; Deseret Evening News, July 12, 1872; Ogden Daily Herald, May 14, 1885; Ogden Standard, April 4, 1902, March 4, 1904; Brigham Bugler, May 30, 1891; Silver ReefMiner, May 17, 1879

46 Salt Lake Herald, July 22, 1885; K E Covington "Two Years on the Desert," True West 14 (JanuaryFebruary 1967): 68; Ogden Standard, July 28, 1897; Lillian Wood, "Lucy Lee: A Family History," graduate seminar paper, University of Utah, 1977, copy at Utah State Historical Society; Ogden Daily Herald, May 14, 1885

law In the mid 1870s a number of Chinese engaged in making cigars. The practice was not illegal per se; however, they failed to pay a special tax on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. The courts considered such infractions seriously Moushu, Ah Tong, and Wah Hing each received one-year prison sentences for making cigars.47

Overall, the Chinese moved successfully to tertiary level economic activity The Chinese and Euro-Americans interacted primarily at the economic level, and only moderate social interaction occurred. Occasionally, whites commented on Chinese social activities, celebrations, and other festivals or funerals A few visited open houses hosted by Chinese to celebrate the New Year, for example.48 Other forms of social interaction, such as gambling and opium smoking, violated the social conventions of the dominant society but included members of both races Beyond such activities, little social interaction occurred, with one notable exception.

Some Protestant churches in Utah initiated contact with Chinese as a means of converting them. The standard approach was to offer English classes and once the Chinese grasped the language teach them the gospel. The Congregational church in Salt Lake City began classes in September 1881 with just five students under the direction of Lena Wakefield of Reading, Massachusetts, who was affiliated with the American Home Missionary Society (AHMS). Before taking on the Chinese mission she taught at the Salt Lake Academy. The mission grew rapidly under Annie E Chapman who started as a tutor and became director in 1883 after Wakefield left on account of her health. One of Chapman's first actions was to start an evening school where English was taught By 1895 over one hundred were enrolled in the classes and sixty-two were in the Sunday School program. The school's Chinese hosted a number of interracial banquets and concerts that were quite popular. Several Chinese Christians became active in the missionary work Jung O Loy, a Chinese convert from Sacramento, proved a particularly adept student and often volunteered to serve as a translator and teacher. He was a close friend of Wakefield, and she continued to pay him his full salary of twenty dollars a month until the AHMS assumed half of the obligation. Even then she continued to

47 Deseret Evening News, April 13, 1877.

48 Ogden Standard, January 13, 1888; Ogden Daily Herald, August 17, 1886, September 1, 1884; Salt Lake Tribune, September 27, 1889, January 21, 1880, January 22, 1898; Salt Lake Herald, February 8, 1872; Deseret Evening Nexus, October 22, 1875, February 8, 1902; Corinne Daily Mail, April 5, 1875

support him with ten dollars a month out of her own pocket Jung served for many years as an assistant in the evening school. Other Chinese also became active in the mission. The AHMS commissioned Wong Gee Lee, a local convert, to assist in reaching his countrymen. Another Chinese wrote to the society that he conducted Bible studies and taught evening language classes and that demand was increasing. Evening classes usually opened with hymns, prayer, and scripture reading Students then paired off with a tutor to study their lessons The Chinese used Lippincott's First Reader or Loomis's English and Chinese Lessons, which had biblical selections in it, as well as the Bible for texts. Closing exercises consisted of singing and recitation of the Lord's Prayer Attendance in 1886 ranged from seventeen to thirty students The Methodists held their own services for the Chinese and found music to be particularly effective in increasing attendance. An observer noted that as soon as the organ began the Chinese started singing enthusiastically

Some Mormons and gentiles complained the schools were a poor vehicle for converting Chinese. The Deseret Evening Nexus said it was nearly impossible to obtain a genuine conversion from a Chinese person. The Ogden Standard maintained that Chinese converts were "neither Christians nor heathens" and that missionary efforts would be better spent on the needy in large cities.49

The Protestants countered with arguments of their own. Chapman reported the school to be an effective means of reaching the Chinese whom she described as attentive students coming from as far away as Rock Springs, Wyoming, to study. A Chinese leader in the mission reported that several men had expressed interest in uniting with the local Congregational church but that their application for membership was put on hold because he and other church leaders did not want them to rush into a decision "until they understand just what they are doing, and have knowledge of the way to remain faithful."50 Some Chinese did join; in 1884 nine Chinese united with the local church The Salt Lake Methodists reported that Chinese Christians remained true to their new faith and sought to evangelize other Chinese. The Ogden Baptist church, which also operated a Chinese Sunday School, had thirty-five in attendance in 1892 and reported two converts Such programs assisted the Chinese in other

49 Deseret Evening News, April 14, 1882; Ogden Standard, February 15, 1896.

50 "Chinese Missionary, Utah," The Home Missionary 58 (June 1886): 51

ways, too, as kidnapped Chinese women or prostitutes who escaped sometimes found refuge in church missions. In a 1900 case a woman left "her supposed husband" and ultimately went to a Christian mission home in California The Deseret Evening News, while dubious of the couple's marriage, nevertheless complained of Protestant work that "enters families and severs ties that should be sacred."51

The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in spite of its active missionary program, had virtually nothing to do with the Chinese in Utah even though Mormon missionaries worked among the Chinese in California and Hong Kong. The Deseret Evening News dismissed gentile efforts by intimating that the Chinese were not sincere in their conversion testimonies A California Mormon, Locke Melone, reported a conversation with Brigham Young in which the prophet stated that if one Chinese Mormon could be obtained others would follow. That did not occur. Ah Sin, the second wife of a Salt Lake merchant, and some of her children became Mormons, but there was no conversion movement even though Plum Alley was less than two blocks from Temple Square. Overall, the Chinese seemed uninterested in Mormonism. Chen Lanbin, the Chinese government's first minister to the U.S., traveled through Utah on his way to Washington D.C He commented on the practice of polygamy, noting, "this religion permits the taking of concubines," but saw little else worth mentioning regarding Mormonism.52 Beyond such impressionistic encounters little contact of a religious nature occurred between the Chinese and the Saints.

Traditional Chinese belief practices centered around the Joss House as a locus of worship One such tabernacle is said to have accompanied the Chinese working on the Central Pacific. Another reportedly existed in Corinne. In Salt Lake there was one above Ah Woo's store on the corner of Commercial and Plum Alley which

51 "Congregational Chinese Sunday School and Evening School," The Church Review 4 (December 29, 1895): 5; Mrs Marcus Jones, "The Congregational Chinese Mission, Salt Lake City, Utah," American Missionary 51 (1857): 238-39; Chapman, "Work among the Chinese," pp. 281-85; Salt Lake Herald, February 19, 1888; Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1886, February 12, 1892, March 26, June 12, August 8, December 27, 1883; "Utah Letter," Pacific Baptist, October 1892, p 12; Annie E Chapman, "O Loy and Gee, The Home Missionary 65 (1887): 227; Ambrose B Carlton, The Wonderlands of the Wild West (n.p.: Author, 1891), pp 95-97; Deseret Evening Nexus, April 24, 1900

52 Deseret Evening Nexus, May 20, July 16, 1869, March 16, 1879, October 15, 1892; Journal History, September 25, 1894, June 3, 1854, January 12, March 14, 1855, March 26, 1910; Hosea M Stout, On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea M. Stout (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press and Utah State Historical Society, 1964), pp 156-57, 164-65; Salt Lake Tribune, July 11, 1876; Xi Feng, "The Chinese through the Utah Press," seminar paper in author's possession, April 1990, pp. 13—14, 17-18; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:436-40, 448; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp 75-76; Chen Lanbin, "Travel in the Interior" in Land xuithout Ghosts, ed and trans R David Arkush and Leo O Lee (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p 51

opened in 1895. It contained a likeness of Quon Kong, a god of war. The Chinese made food offerings, particularly during holidays such as the NewYear. The offering table before the god's image was illuminated with candles and scented with incense. The walls along the table contained characters in gilded frames describing the god's virtues.53

Despite varied economic and social roles, Utah's Chinatowns were short lived. A combination of factors led to their extinction. Fires wreaked particular havoc. Several fires in Salt Lake destroyed some Chinese homes and businesses but never threatened the enclave as a whole. More severe conflagrations occurred elsewhere. At Corinne in September 1871 a fire destroyed most of Chinatown and killed a Chinese woman. Authorities charged two Chinese men with arson. The Chinese residents remained, but the city forced them to rebuild in a less desirable part of town near the Bear River.54 In May 1879 a fire destroyed part of Silver Reef, leaving Chinatown untouched—but only temporarily. Six weeks later much of Chinatown went up in flames. The second blaze began in a Chinese-occupied building and quickly spread Firefighters tore down a number of small Chinese buildings to create a fire break to save "the property of white citizens." The Chinese, nevertheless, set out to rebuild In 1898 a fire destroyed much of Park City, including its Chinatown Although the Chinese rebuilt some of their structures, including the famous bridge, the losses destroyed much of the city's Chinatown.55 The other enclaves survived their fires and continued. However, the cost of rebuilding doubtless put a drag on further economic growth.

Other factors contributed even more to the demise of the Chinatowns. Anti-Chinese laws and ordinances at the national and local levels sought either to discourage the prosperity of the Chinese or to simply harass them. Beginning in 1882 a series of federal exclusion laws severely curtailed the number of Chinese allowed to enter the country. Support for the legislation was not universal. The Salt Lake Herald called the bill "wicked" and "un-American." Nevertheless, ten years later the Geary Act continued the exclusion period for another ten years and sought to register all Chinese in the country

53 Dennis Bingham, "The Chinese in the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad," May 18, 1969, p 11, MS, LDS Church Archives; Utah Reporter, September 27, 1870; Deseret Evening Nexus, February 8, 1902, July 13, 1907, December 14, 1895; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 106.

54 Salt Lake Herald, February 12, 1890, June 4, 1889, September 27, 1871; Salt Lake Tribune, October 30, 1879, August 14, 1883; Daily Corinne Reporter, September 25, 1871, October 13, 19, 1871, September 27 1875

55 Silver Reef Miner, May 31, 1879, July 12, 1879; Park Mining Record, June 25, 1898; Katherine Reynolds, Park City (Los Angeles: Weller Institute, 1984); Elliot, "Chinatown," p. 9.

with a photo-identification system. The Deseret Evening News saw this bill as a better alternative to expulsion and hypothesized that it would have the same effect since "the race would in course of time dwindle away." All across the country the Chinese refused to register The Deseret Evening News even feared the Chinese would resort to reprisals. None occurred and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional most of Utah's Chinese complied with the law.56

Local laws also sought to restrict the Chinese In 1874 Salt Lake City declared Chinese laundries to be public nuisances and fined several Chinese for operating them Later that year the council passed a statute aimed at the Chinese to keep them from butchering pigs within the city limits. Another ordinance forbade the Chinese to let off fireworks to celebrate their NewYear They also had to pay the poll tax even though they were not citizens.57

Both Ogden and Salt Lake City considered zoning to restrict the Chinese. The Ogden City Council received a petition to forbid the establishment of any Chinese laundries along major thoroughfares but did not enact such a law In 1874 the Salt Lake City Council received a petition to create a Chinese ghetto by requiring Chinese wash houses to relocate in a particular zone The council passed the matter on to the city marshal who presumably found it unenforceable since he did not follow through on it. Eight years later support again grew to have the city declare the Chinese to be a "common nuisance" and restricted to a certain area. In 1883Jim Lung asked the city to designate an area where wash houses could locate and drain off their wash water The council debated an ordinance to place all Chinese wash houses outside the city limits. Other Salt Lake Chinese soon made it quite clear that Jim Lung did not speak for them and protested any effort to move them out of the city, fearing it would drive them out of business. Jack Fong told authorities that an unidentified white man had paid Jim to submit the petition and that some Chinese were so incensed they wanted to kill him. Given that information the city dropped the idea.58

The federal laws proved particularly effective in contributing to

56 Park Mining Record, March 3, 1894; Deseret Evening Nexus, April 22, September 12, 1892; Salt Lake Herald, April 19, 1882, April 11, 1893

57 Deseret Evening News, August 21, 1874; Salt Lake Herald, November 25, August 17, 1874, January 28, 1887; Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1899.

58 Ogden Junction, February 1, 1879; Salt Lake Herald, August 21, 1874, September 8, 1882, November 11, 1883; Salt Lake City Council Minutes, August 18, 1874; Deseret Evening News, June 21, 1882; Salt Lake Tribune, September 19, October 14, 1883

the demise of Utah's Chinatowns by placing restrictions on continued Chinese immigration. Local statutes, on the other hand, did little to directly impede the movements of Chinese Equally, important, though, they did nothing to encourage growth of the Chinese enclaves. Rather, they articulated an anti-Chinese attitude that continued to remind the Chinese they were not welcome. A 1901 article in the Deseret Evening News maintained that the Chinese contributed very little to the American economy either as producers or consumers A second article, a year later, urged continued exclusion of the Chinese as there was "no reason why the United States should be opened to them."59

The population of the Chinese enclaves diminished for several reasons: The Chinese came as sojourners—as did many immigrants from southern Europe, seeking financial opportunities in the United States and returning home to live out their years in an improved economic and social position. As many of the Chinese who came in the late nineteenth century advanced in years they did return to China. This voluntary out-migration depleted the population of Utah's Chinatowns Occasionally, forced migration occurred According to one source, a vigilante committee in 1886 forced the Chinese in Corinne aboard a Central Pacific train and warned them that if they returned they would be killed. Bingham, with a population of largely Slavic miners, reportedly ran its Chinese out in 1880 due to a rumored case of leprosy in that city's Chinatown At other times migration was voluntary As early as the 1870s Chinese began leaving Utah for the gold fields of Montana and Idaho.

The Chinese continued to come and go as opportunities became available. By the turn of the century, the remaining Chinese consisted mostly of older men Surprisingly, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-96 did little to draw Chinese home to support their country's occupation of Korea. A white observer noted that Salt Lake Chinese showed little interest in the course of the war and no interest in fighting the Japanese. In 1906 the Jing Dynasty, in an apparent attempt to regain the popular support of the people, assumed the responsibility of transporting all Chinese laborers back to China without charge provided they had some form of disability or were elderly. Many Chinese left, but some like Ding Ling Ho of Park City

m Deseret Evening Nexus, December 31, 1901, January 17, 1902.

remained in Utah to live out their lives. Ding died in 1926 at the age of seventy-two.60

Chinese communities were also vulnerable to the changing socioeconomic patterns of the host society. Although Salt Lake City and Ogden grew and continue to prosper, Park City and Silver Reef failed when their boom economies foundered during periods of economic retrenchment. Corinne lost its viability after the railroad bypassed the town. Chinese in all of these locations experienced occupational succession. For example, the demand for traditional Chinese enterprises like laundries gradually diminished with the arrival of more white women and the establishment of family life in mining towns. By creating and developing their own niches and continuing to interact with the host society largely at the economic level only, the Chinese soon found themselves identified with certain roles and unable to find different occupational opportunities. Other ethnic groups also displaced the Chinese. In particular,Japanese immigrants assumed many of the positions formerly held by the Chinese railroad workers who quit following the Rock Springs massacre. Later,Japanese laborers worked for mining firms and became farm laborers, further displacing the Chinese.61

Encroachment also affected the Chinatowns as the host society gradually moved within the boundaries of the Chinese enclaves.As early as 1883 Salt Lake City began tearing down Chinese-occupied buildings. By the late 1880s a number of Chinese structures in both Salt Lake City and Ogden had been demolished to make way for new buildings. So extensive was this destruc-tion that some Salt Lake residents declared, "China-town is doomed." Its reported death was premature. The Chinese enclaves continued into the twentieth century; however, by 1914 the population had begun to decline dramatically. The Great Depression forced most of the remaining Chinese stores to close, and many Utah Chinese moved to California in search of better economic opportunities In 1940 Chinese vacated the last large tenement in Plum Alley as crews prepared to demolish it Many of the displaced Chinese left Utah The last remnants of Plum Alley came down in 1952 when

"" Lucius Beebe, The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads (Berkelev, Calif.: Howell-North, 1963), pp 152-53; Salt Lake Tribune, April 27, 1880; Utah Reporter, April 16, 1870; Corinne Daily Reporter, July 22, 1871; Corinne Daily Journal, July 14, 1871; Deseret Evening News, August 6, 1894; Chen, "Gold Dream." p 118; Elliott, "Chinatown," p 9

61 Covington, "Two Years in the Desert," p 68; Anderson interview, pp 3-4; Journal History, July 26, 1901; R D McKenzie, "The Oriental Finds a Job: Changing Roles of Chinese and Japanese Workers," The Survey 56 (1926): 151; Helen Z Papanikolas and Alice Kasai, "Japanese Life in Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, pp. 336-39; Ogden Standard, February 28, 1902; Richard O. Ulibarri, "Utah's Ethnic Minorities: A Survey," Utah Historical Quarterly 40 (1973): 222; Allan Kent Powell, "The 'Foreign Element' and the 1903-4 Carbon County Coal Miner's Strike," Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (1975): 145

Utah's Chinatowns 95

workers razed the area to make way for a parking lot. A social vestige ofthe period remains in the form of the Bing Kong Tong. This benevolent association continues asa social organization for Chinese people, but it is no longer located at the site of the city's historic Chinatown.62

Unlike some ethnic enclaves that have tended to decay over several generations, Utah's Chinatowns became virtually extinct within one generation. Although the Chinese suffered many deprivations and much discrimination as a result of their clustering in Chinatowns, they lived in these enclaves because of the value they placed on economic opportunities, familial relations, and culture TheChinatowns lost j)opulation to attrition rather than assimilation, for these enclaves did not serve as transition points for Chinese seeking to acculturate themselves into thehost society. Nordidwhites seek to secure thesocial participation of the Chinese. Indeed, some even sought to remove the Chinese from participating economically in the community. Despite their early demise, it is important to remember that Chinatowns nevertheless contributed a unique element to Utah's colorful past.

62 Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1883, September 6, 1888, September 28, 1889; Salt Lake Herald, September 12, 1889, October 2, 1889; Ogden Standard, May 11, 1888; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p 74; Salt Lake Telegram, March 21, 1938, February 8, 1940; Deseret Evening News, March 1, 1952; Elliott, "Chinatown," p 9; Ulibarri, "Utah's Ethnic Minorities," p 227

Chinese man moving from Plum Alley on February 8, 1940. Salt Lake Tribune photograph in USHS collections.

The Mountainous West: Explorations in Historical Geography. Edited by WILLIAM WYCKOFF and LARY M. DILSAVER. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. x + 420 pp. Paper, $25.00.)

When I first saw the title of this volume I thought it must refer to the Rocky Mountain West or possibly the Intermountain West between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada/ Cascades To my surprise, the editors define their "Mountainous West" as "a distinctive American subregion" that embraces all of the mountain ranges within the eleven western states (They make a valid case for their decision to exclude Canada and Mexico but do not even mention mountainous Alaska and Hawaii.) They maintain that "both the physical and human geographies of these mountain zones have conspired to create a very different West than that encountered in the coastal lowlands, desert valleys, and arid plains below" (p. 1).

In the eyes of the editors these seemingly disparate mountain zones have five common features that justify treating them as a single region in spite of their physical separation Wyckoff and Dilsaver describe these five characteristics in detail in a long introductory chapter They then group the remaining thirteen essays under one of these five themes or under a final section added to consider "The MountainValley Interface." Three of the sections rate only one article while each of the others has three or four, making the overall balance of the book somewhat uneven. All of the essays' fifteen authors, except for historian Duane A Smith, are professional geographers with a strong historical bent

The first two themes treat the mountains as physical barriers to human interaction and as forested islands of moisture. The second, and probably most provocative one of all, challenges the common notion that aridity defines the American West Its author, Thomas R Vale, makes a persuasive case—by means of maps—for viewing "the quintessence of the West" as "a juxtaposition of dry lowland and moist mountain" (p. 141).

The third section considers the highland as storehouses of concentrated (but contested) resources—minerals, furs, forests, and forage—while the fourth focuses on the mountains as an area of government control. As the primary land owner of the region (90 percent), the U.S. government has become an embattled manager of public versus private disputes The fifth theme looks at the uplands as a restorative sanctuary for the increasing numbers of people seeking relief from the more crowded lowlands

The sixth and final section acknowledges the complex interdependence of mountains and valleys and features four case studies Many readers of Utah Historical Quarterly may find the last two essays of particular interest The one on "Colorado's San Luis Valley" is informative, but two of the authors' claims seem suspect to a native Utahn First, they liken the rural landscape of the Sanford-Manassa area, long settled by Latter-day Saints, to the suburbanizedJordan Valley of Utah. Then they

assert that the LDS church originally planned to build its Colorado temple in little Manassa rather than along the Front Range where most of the state's Mormons now live.

The final essay, by Jeanne Kay, applies the volume's five themes to "Mormons and Mountains" in Utah— where the Rockies, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau converge She adds an extra dimension by viewing them through the eyes of Juanita Brooks, local historian of "Utah's Dixie" (tied to St George) Kay concludes by exploring too briefly the meaning of mountains to Mormons as Zion, home, and metaphor

I view all of these "Explorations in Historical Geography" as valuable contributions to the burgeoning literature of the American West Some impress me more than others, but that probably reflects my own regional and topical interests more than significant differences in the quality of the writing

The Mountainous West represents a splendid sample of the research that historical geographers have engaged in since D. W. Meinig wrote his seminal essay on the "American Wests" in 1972. The editors have done a superb job of integrating the six sections with short introductions and of insisting that the authors adhere to the book's five organizing themes

For two reasons I have decided to adopt the volume as a text in my

"Amer/Can" West class to complement historian Richard White's It's Your Misfortune and None ofMy Own." First, it adds to the historian's approach the distinctive spatial, regional, and landscape perspectives of geographers Second, I consider most of The Mountainous Wesfs maps—even though drawn at a smaller scale—superior to those in White's history (taken from the Historical Atlas of the American West, which was published by the same press as his text)

Recent issues of the Western Historical Quarterly have featured articles that attempt to delineate the American West. Major disagreements among the authors underscore the need to foster closer collaboration between historians and historical geographers I can envision two promising outcomes of such cooperation: (1) better atlases of the American West and its regions or states (produced jointly by the University of Oklahoma and Nebraska presses?); and (2) new histories that treat the mountainous and arid Wests as sets of dynamic regions—each with its distinctive cultures and economies and each tied in different ways to one another and to the controlling eastern United States and world economy.

Race and Labor in Western Copper: The Fight for Equality, 1896-1918.

By PHILIP J. MELLINGER (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995 xiv + 269 pp $40.00.)

Issues of race, ethnicity, and labor continue to intrigue historians of the western mining experience. Launching from the interpretations of earlier writers, contemporary historians fight to ferret out the meanings of race and ethnicity in the western metal mining

arena Philip J Mellinger enters the fray with a solid study of race and labor in specific western and southwestern copper areas during the critical years of 1896 to 1918

In the introduction Mellinger states succinctly, "This book is a history of sig-

LOWELL C "BEN" BENNION Humboldt Sate University Areata, California

nificant social change among a region of working people." Here, the regional emphasis included key copper mining areas in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah This regional approach proves an effective framework in which to weave together complete strands of labor activism and experience gained by ethnic and immigrant groups who formed an incredibly fluid labor force during the period Within this construct Mellinger argues that western mining-camp labor history is basically working-class history, rather than ethnic history, and that no two mining areas were quite alike or typical

For the author the Western Federation of Miners formed the basic cohesive force in welding together malleable, ethnically diverse workers In this regard he maintains that in the early twentieth century "racism and ethnic intolerance were declining in many parts of the mining West. ... A measure of egalitarianism was beginning among working people, at least in the Southwest, Utah, and Nevada, during 1896-1918." He emphasizes the concept of "inclusion," defined as onthe-job change that led to ethnic-racial cooperation and cooperative labor action.

Utah's Bingham Canyon fit well into Mellinger's analysis which also included Clifton-Morenci (Arizona); Bisbee,Jerome, and Globe (Arizona); White Pine County (Nevada); and El Paso (Texas) and Ray (Arizona) Key strike and union organizational periods are discussed and analyzed in order to illustrate a main point of the author—that the "copper companies helped create the racial definitions used throughout the mining West, and in the process, helped unify the copper workers."

For this reviewer the discussion on Bingham Canyon and the strike of 1912 is of particular interest, especially in light of other works on the subject. Mellinger begins by acknowledging

that "ethnic unionization was not gradual, happy, or comfortable at Bingham" and that while each mining district contained a unique mix of ethnic groups, "there was a distinct similarity of response to unionism, ethnic problems, and mining-corporation ethnic policies across the entire Southwest and lower intermountain West." Again, Mellinger rightly places Bingham in a larger, more complete regional context

The role of ethnic miners, especially the Greeks, receives much attention in this work and in that of Gunther Peck, "Padrones and Protest: 'Old' Radicals and 'New' Immigrants in Bingham, Utah, 1905-1912," Western Historical Quarterly 24 (May 1993): 157-78. Mellinger points out specific differences in interpretation between his work and Peck's Interestingly, both authors received inspiration and assistance from the principal writer on the subject, Helen Z Papanikolas Mellinger's main point relevant to the Greeks in 1912 Bingham centers on their "lack of cohesive group social structure." On the other hand, Peck views the Greeks as consciously radical workingmen who demonstrated a seriousness in unionization Here again, Mellinger and Peck differ Mellinger rightly labels the Greeks as the least organized, while Peck views them as the most organized Perhaps "ethnic" motivations hold the key The only ascertainable "ethnic value" that both authors discussed is the hatred for Greek padrone

Leonidas Skliris

In any event, Mellinger senses that the union (WFM) played a key role in recognizing ethnicity and organizing immigrants and Anglo-Irish miners. Peck sees the union as racist for having excluded Japanese workers For Mellinger a key point here is that the immigrants were both the main participants in the 1912 strike as well as part of the leadership In this context, the immigrants had demonstrated their

potential for achieving power. The Bingham strike needed union support and this assisted in the move toward "ethnic cohesion and unionization."

Philip Mellinger uses a wide variety of solid primary and secondary sources to illustrate his interpretation Ironically, he cites Gunther Peck's works as documenting some of his own points The endnotes are concise and include some comprehensive discussions on their works and differing perspectives. They should be read thoroughly In utilizing a regional perspective, the author demonstrates an ability to recognize cultural differences between and within various groups, such as the Mexican-Americans and "native-born Spanish Americans." Certainly, the Greeks and Italians in Bingham Canyon also illustrate differences.

From the outset the author main-

tains that the book is about individuals and not groups He criticizes other studies for looking at mining workers as "collective entities" that "tell us little about individual workingmen"; yet, his own emphasis squares heavily upon group-oriented activity In stressing the "individual" Mellinger often ignores specific cultural behavior, labeled as generally "irrelevant" to the outcomes of the workingman's struggles

In the main, however, Race and Labor in Western Copper should be read by serious students and those interested in western labor history. The work paints a broader picture of western labor, including the roles of Spanish-speaking miners, and continues the debate on the role of race, ethnicity, and labor in western history.

PHILIP F NOTARIANNI Utah State Historical Society

A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management ofthe NationalForests since World War Two. ByPAUL W. HIRT. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994). lvi + 416 pp. $40.00.)

In this intriguing book, Paul W. Hirt, an assistant professor of history at Washington State University, surveys national forest management from 1945 to 1992. He shows that Congress has allocated far more money to the Forest Service for timber harvests and recreational development than for wildlife management or soil and water conservation.

This work supplements more comprehensive treatments of the Forest Service such as Harold Steen's The U.S. Forest Service: A History. Hirt's most important contribution is his focus upon Forest Service budgets and the complex political and social forces that have shaped them.

The author draws upon a rich array of sources including oral histories; investigativejournalism; Forest Service

publications; Congressional hearings; and the archives of the Wilderness Society, the Forest Service, and organizations representing the timber industry.

Hirt warns that his work "is not meant to be . . .disinterested." He documents the environmental casualties and economic costs of timber harvesting. But he does not balance his account with a full discussion of the economic benefits of timber harvesting or the economic dislocation that arises when the Forest Service reduces harvest quotas

Hirt contends that most administrators in the Forest Service through the 1970s believed that the national forests could sustain greater timber harvests if the service intelligently applied technology and capital in managing the

forests. Politicians and timber industry representatives capitalized upon these convictions to increase timber production. Hirt calls this faith in technological fixes and minimization of risks a "conspiracy of optimism."

Conspiracy usually refers to clandestine plotting, but when we say that circumstances conspired to produce a certain result, we refer to a more impersonal, almost natural, intersection of forces. Hirt uses the term in both ways with varying degrees of success

Hirt convincingly shows that many politicians, Forest Service administrators, and industrial leaders praised the abundance and commercial potential of the national forests He convincingly argues that this general faith in technological fixes and "collective if tacit agreement not to question the wisdom of maximization" (p xlix) conspired to produce high timber harvests In the case of most Forest Service employees, "this was not a conscious, manipulative conspiracy" (p xxxii)

Hirt alleges that some politicians, timber industry representatives, and Forest Service employees were more duplicitous, deliberate conspirators

Some viewed rhetoric about sustained yield merely as a "a useful ethical facade over short-term economic objectives" (p xlix) and possessed "only token regard" for the environment (p. xxxvi). Budgetary negotiations were conducted in a "shadowy corner" which remained inaccessible "partly by design" (p. xxxv). The Forest Service "exaggerated" some figures and "underestimated" others to rationalize increased timber harvests, and some of this miscalculation was apparently "deliberate and hidden" (p. xli). Hirt presents scant evidence to support these allegations of deliberate misrepresentation. Certainly the evidence does not demonstrate a well-organized conspiracy of government and industry. His evidence does show that as pessimism regarding the sustainability of high timber harvests increased within the Forest Service and in Congress in the 1980s, politicians representing timber-producing regions stepped up political pressure to obtain favorable timber quotas

Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930. By MARILYN IRVIN HOLT (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995 viii + 250 pp $34.95.)

Marilyn Irvin Holt has taken as her subject "the domestic economy movement" and its attempt to reach out to rural women in the tier of states ranging from the Dakotas to Texas She deals with the efforts of various agencies—the home extension bureaus of the agricultural colleges, the agricultural press, the Children's Bureau, high schools—to encourage improvements in farm living through a sort of women's counterpart to the scientific agriculture movement From the early canning clubs that taught women the

latest methods, the movement branched out to touch almost every aspect of farm wives' existence, bringing them the advice of experts on subjects ranging from poultry raising to home construction. Many women, Holt argues, responded to this "self-help" movement. Even though "a woman might not have indoor plumbing or electricity . . .she found that she could do things to modernize her home, ensure better health and nutrition for her family, and beautify her home and community" (p 200)

BRIAN Q CANNON Brigham Young University

Holt does an excellentjob of situating this movement with the farm economy as a whole and within the larger society, characterizing it as one of the many initiatives for improving American society to come out of the Progressive Era She presents a convincing argument that farm women must be included in any consideration of movements for social change during this period But for all her deft handling of the larger issues raised by her subject, Holt's treatment of "the domestic economy movement" is somewhat disconcerting. The confusion begins on the first page of her introduction where she states that "the domestic economy movement grew out of, and was a reflection of, the era's push for progress and reform. It centered on rural women and their education"(p 3) To me, at least, the term "domestic economy movement" has much larger connotations Holt seems to be appropriating the term to denote a movement aimed only at rural women and fails to provide the reader with any understanding of the historical development of the whole field of domestic economy. Moreover, her

focus is very much on "the movement" with the result that the women involved never really come to life

Holt is aware of the sharply differing depictions of western rural women in recent scholarly writings As she notes, "some writers underscore agrarian subjugation and oppression of women, whereas others see women as partners or see them as part of an egalitarian society." Holt herself is inclined to the "partners" school of thought She agrees with Paula Nelson that "no rigid interpretive framework should be forced on the study" of western women (p. 6). No one would argue with that proposition, but it is time to start trying to explain the sharp contrasts between the women who appear in works such as this one and, say, the women of Deborah Fink's Open Country, Iowa (1986) and Agrarian Women (1992) Holt's farm women and Fink's farm women hardly seem to inhabit the same planet.

Jo ANN RUCKMAN Idaho State University Pocatello

Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail. By PAUL SCHULLERY (Worland, Wyo.: High Plains Publishing Co., Inc 1995 xvi + 158 pp Cloth, $17.95; paper $8.95.)

It is almost an axiom: in contemporary skiing literature the more expert the skier, the more egocentric are his writings With the admission, on the dust jacket of his recently published book, that he has spent "many years skiing poorly in Yellowstone," Paul Schullery confirms the converse in Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers. He demonstrates that the adventure sport of skiing can be described in terms other than self.

In his prologue Schullery states that

this is not a "proper administrative history or wildlife management history or environmental history" of Yellowstone National Park but instead a history of "something that necessarily falls through the cracks" of more formal studies. He intends it to be an "adventure history" that "has always been extraordinarily important to Yellowstone." Readers who select Yelloxvstone's Ski Pioneers will not be disappointed by his approach

The book commences with a brief

stage-setting chapter, "The Winter in Wonderland," describing Yellowstone's pre-park designation visits by trappers such as Osborne Russell, their observations of area wildlife, and the region's winter climate Beginning with Chapter 2 Schullery recounts the adventures— and misadventures—of various individuals who entered early Yellowstone in winter and who lived, worked, and trapped there. Not all were honorable.

At the front of the book, beneath a note stating that "all author's royalties from this book go to the Yellowstone Association, to further educational publication about the park," there is an explanation that only the absolute minimum editing was done on many extended quotations utilized by the author Archaic and incorrect spellings, Schullery states, were left unchanged to preserve the authenticity of language used at the time

I, for one, welcome unaltered archaic spellings and misspellings; even more I value extended extracts. As an ardent cross-country skier I have often wondered how the old-timers made their skis and how they used them. An extract from an 1887 Forest and Stream article details how one of the early Yellowstone ski-riders made his "skees" or "skeys." Later in the book, extracts describe ski techniques used, such as "corduroying" and pacing oneself.

I found the four central chapters especially fascinating. Chapter 3, "Schwatka and Haynes," and Chapter 4, "Uncle Billy," present a study in contrasts. The Schwatka segment of Chapter 3 details the aborted Yellowstone expedition organized and led by the "name-brand" arctic explorer/ adventurer Frederick Schwatka. The Uncle Billy chapter counterpoints by describing winter adventures of Thomas Elwood Hofer, one of Yellowstone's "neglected early heroes" and for a half-century an ardent

defender of the park. Chapter 5, "The Hardships are Inconceivable," details the U.S Army's presence in the park and the travails endured by winter patrols organized to ferret out trophy poachers. The title, "The Capture of the Notorious Poacher Howell," describes the contents of Chapter 6

The Haynes segment of the Schwatka/Haynes chapter traces photographer F.J. Haynes's activities after he took over the failed Schwatka expedition Haynes is believed to be the first photographer to picture Old Faithful during winter. Several of his other photographs illustrate the types of attire and equipment used by Yellowstone's winter travelers during the late 1880s Numerous other illustrations and photographs supplement the well-written text

In these days of potential decommissioning of America's national parks (as espoused by such congressmen as Utah'sJim Hansen) it is commendable that Schullery has not neglected his interest in educating and informing his readers of wildlife management and conservation issues faced by park personnel during Yellowstone's formative years "America had a long way to go in sorting out its attitudes towards wildlife," he reflects on the 1887 Report of the Superintendent. "We still do, for that matter," he concludes

Paul Schullery states his intent of celebrating the time and the individuals "who made such an extraordinary contribution to our understanding and protection of the park." Readers who acquire Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers for their collections will rejoice in his successful effort

ALEXIS KELNER Salt Lake City

Trickster in the Land ofDreams. By ZEESE PAPANIKOLAS. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995 xii + 184 pp $22.50.)

The trickster in this title is Coyote of Shoshonean mythology. And the dream is of Utopia, which was to be of the Machine Age and is yet to be of Space Age. It is given to Coyote to laugh this machine-driven Utopia to scorn And laugh he does, from one era down to another—the chronicle of this book

It's a big undertaking Coyote has appeared in a remarkable number of people. The Gosiute chief Antelope Jake was such a one. But so was Walt Whitman and Mark Twain And the Three Nephites of The Book of Mormon have played Coyote parts, as have Bishop Koyle, the dream miner of Nebo Mountain, and Willie Nelson with his old guitar, and L Frank Baum, who wrote The Wizard ofOz. And these by no means fill out the list. It is almost as if Coyotes have been more common than tax men Tricksters range all the way from hard-nosed Bill Haywood of the old IWW to a bedaubed Liberace on the Vegas stage.

Utopia is just as various in this account. The conquistadors dreamt the torment and sought Cibola. The Mormons dreamt it and drove west for Zion Our scientist/soldiers have dreamt it, too, and tried to lay out the MX missile.

Now, if, in summary, these themes and figures seem a little diffuse—it is because they are. And if such a jampacked volume would seem reductive—well, it is The gloss is, indeed, severe when it comes to figures like Twain, who could have been a great trickster but who managed to be no more than a "pale, counterfeit version of Coyote"(p. 18). One wonders what Twain, the man who wrote the quintes-

sential American novel, would have had to do to measure up?

And one also has to wonder if the indictment of technology is not too sweeping? If our tools have not given us Utopia, as seems to be the author's lament, isn't it the case that with our tools we have nonetheless gotten up out of the dirt, shut out the cold, kept our teeth strong and straight, and in at least a hundred thousand other ways made ourselves live longer and more richly?

You will probably find yourself pitching a question something like this one back at the author, since Papanikolas's account of technology is neither very penetrating nor very fair And Coyote should come to seem a pretty badly worn rug before you reach the last pages. Out of the native context, a totem figure can cover only so much

That Trickster is not more substantial seems to me a matter, first, of the author caring little for authenticity of the Indians' mythology In the appendix Papanikolas frankly excuses his work: "I've made up a story less about the Dust People than about myself. . .. I haven't hesitated to combine elements I haven't hesitated to embellish" (p 157)

Nor has he resisted another authorial temptation, that being the highly mannered, highly affected style of the European post-structuralists. We might share in the author's lament for the loss of the Gosiute culture, but the loss of the little subculture of post-structuralism will be no privation.

RUSSELL BURROWS Weber State University

Book Notices A

Letters from Wupatki: Courtney Reeder Jones. Edited by LISA RAPPAPORT (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995 xxx + 151 pp Cloth, $24.95; paper, $13.95.)

In May of 1938 Courtney Reeder Jones, a newlywed bride of two weeks, moved with her husband to Wupatki National Monument Heworked as the park ranger, sheasa faithful helpmate, while together they experienced various cultural lifestyles of Arizona For part of the time they lived in an800year-old Indian ruin until the Park Service built a larger home. The couple also became close friends with their Navajo neighbors, observed animal and plant life, and traveled tovarious parks and monuments throughout the region. Butprimarily they shared a mutual compatibility and love for the area, captured in these edited letters that provide a feeling for Park Service life in the rural Southwest around the time of World War II.

depression and an eccentric personality, he was destined to run afoul of church leaders eventually. With his final subjugation byBrigham Young in 1844, he relocated to Pittsburgh and then theCumberland Valley, becoming the spiritual ancestor to a Church of Christ sect that still thrives today.

This well-researched, well-written book won the Mormon History Association's 1995 Ella Larsen Turner Award for Best Biography

Kit Carson Days, 1809-1868. ByEDWIN

L SABIN 2 vols (1935; revised ed.; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995 xxx + 996 pp Paper, $16.00 each.)

Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. By RICHARD S VAN WAGONER (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994. x +493 pp. $28.95.)

Although he never spent time in Utah, Sidney Rigdon was an important figure in the early history of Mormonism Asa trained minister he was able to lend structure and substance to much of the church's early theology and influenced Joseph Smith in avariety ofways Troubled by manic

Wrangler, teamster, trapper, soldier, guide, courier, scout, and Indian agent, Kit Carson jammed more activity and excitement into hislife than most men ever dream about His grand adventure did not completely end with his death in 1868at the relatively young ageof fifty-eight; rather, he almost immediately boarded a historiographical rollercoaster that hassince taken him tothe heights of mythic heroism and to the depths of vilification. He presently enjoys a mood of forgiveness among historians; thus the reissue of this friendly biography, handsomely packaged in a Bison Book edition. Marc Simmons's brief but enlightening introduction offers a caveat or two then a welcome assurance that this once standard work, "from whose pages the real Kit Carson shines," isstill aworthy read.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History

BOARD OF STATE HISTORY

PETER L. Goss, Salt Lake City, 1999 Chair

CAROL CORNWALL MADSEN, Salt Lake City, 1997 Vice-Chair

MAX J EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary

MARILYN CONOVER BARKER, Salt Lake City, 1999

DAVID L. BIGLER, Sandy, 1997

BOYD A. BLACKNER, Salt Lake City, 1997

LORI HUNSAKER, Brigham City, 1997

CHRISTIE SMITH NEEDHAM, Logan, 1997

RICHARD W SADLER, Ogden, 1999

PENNY SAMPINOS, Price, 1999

AUGUSTINE TRUJILLO, Salt Lake City, 1999

JERRY WYLIE, Ogden, 1997

ADMINISTRATION

MAX J. EVANS, Director

WILSON G. MARTIN, Associate Director

PATRICIA SMITH-MANSFIELD, Assistant Director STANFORD J LAYTON, Managing Editor

The Utah State Historical Society was organized in 1897 by public-spirited Utahns to collect, preserve, and publish Utah and related history Today, under state sponsorship, the Society fulfills its obligations by publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials; collecting historic Utah artifacts; locating, documenting, and preserving historic and prehistoric buildings and sites; and maintaining a specialized research library. Donations and gifts to the Society's programs, museum, or its library are encouraged, for only through such means can it live up to its responsibility of preserving the record of Utah's past.

This publication has been funded with the assistance of a matching grant-in-aid from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as anrended

This program receives financial assistance for identification and preservation of historic properties under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 The U.S Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted programs If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.