In This Issue

Every time and place has a few saints and scoundrels, and so does this issue of the Quarterly. Of course, nobody is really all one or the other, but according to local memory in Millard County, Dr. Elizabeth Tracy came close. The doctor— well-bred, gentile, and forty years old—came out to the near-empty "North Tract" to marry a crusty Irish judge In short order she made herself indispensable to the entire community, and not only because of her great medical skills.

Near the other end of the spectrum, the brash James Monk used a whole arsenal of creative techniques to build his own fiefdom among the mountains and miners of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Inevitably his audaciously built house of cards collapsed as he lost his mines and what money he had He also lost one last battle: he had to go to church.

As fascinating as such characters are, the past is largely made up of ordinary people figuring out how to live in an uncertain world Too many of these stories go untold, but in this issueJorge Iber unearths some as he describes how the Great Depression affected Utah's Hispanics. Although all of them faced overwhelming challenges, individual experiences varied, and so did responses The article shows, however, that most Hispanics found strength in their common culture as they worked to maintain community.

Starting the issue off is the written report of the man who faced the daunting task of surveying the southern Utah/Colorado boundary. The work certainly didn't resemble a survey job in, say, Kansas, but Rollin Reese and his crew struggled through canyons, rivers, and mountains to get the job done Along the way Rollins recorded his impressions, giving us a clearer sense of a time and place—which, in fact, is what all the stories in this issue do.

We end with a personal tribute to S. George Ellsworth, recently deceased Fellow of the Utah State Historical Society It is a well-deserved accolade to a giant in our profession—a man who, in the eyes of Utah historians, achieved sainthood a long time ago.

Photo: May Procession at the Guadalupe Mission, 1943. Courtesy ofArchives of Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.