The Utah Beginnings of John Held, Jr.
BY NOEL A. CARMACK
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"OFTE N IN A LIFE TIME ONE LOOKS BACK AND REVIEWS certain decisions with regret. Of the many decisions that I have made, good and bad, there remains one important decision that I have never regretted, that of being born in Zion, Territory of Deseret."1 The feelings of John Held, Jr., for his Utah beginnings were deep and unabashed.2 Even at the height of his fame as an illustrator, he revered his home state Best known for his images of the lettermen, sheiks, and shebas of the Jazz Age, Held was, for a time, the most sought-after illustrator of that generation, but he never shunned his Utah roots. His reminiscences, selectively published below, reveal a nostalgic sentiment for Utah that is as whimsical and lively as his well-loved illustrations.
John Held, Jr., was born in Salt Lake City,January 10, 1889, the first of six children born toJohn and Annie Evans Held. His parents, though both of humble means, were well-schooled in music and the arts Their marriage brought together maternal and paternal talents in performance, drama, dance, instrumental music, and visual art. With his parents' prominence to goad him along, it was difficult for youngJohn to avoid a life in the limelight.3
In 1870, Held's father and aunt were brought as children to the United States from Geneva, Switzerland, byJohn R. Park, president of the University of Deseret; the children were raised in the Park household until their parents,Jacques and Marie Held, arrived in Salt Lake City ten years later.4 During their adoptive life in the Park home, the Held children were known as "Johnnie Park" and "Hortense Park," were baptized into the LDS church (on July 8, 1877), and were raised in an atmosphere of cultural refinement and intellectual growth.5 Later, John Sr. became a beloved bandmaster, musician, and entertainer in Salt Lake City and ran a successful engraving business. 6
Mr Carmack is Preservation Librarian at the Merrill Library, Utah State University
'Joh n Held, Jr., "In My Lovely Deseret," typescript, n.d., p 1, John Held, Jr., papers, MF N721 and N722 [microfilm], Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C All quoted material and artwork ofJohn Held are used by kind permission of Judy Held
2 Salt Lake Herald, December 23, 1918
3 For biographical information on John Held, Jr., see Marc Connelly, et al., The Most ofJohn Held,Jr. (Brattleboro, VT: S Greene Press, 1972), and Shelley Armitage, John Held,Jr.: Illustrator of theJazz Age (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1987) See also, Dorothy and John Tarrant, "It Was the Jazz Age and John Held Jr Drew It and Lived It," Smithsonian 17, no 6 (September 1986): 94—104
4 See written statement of Josephine E Fisher quoted in Ralph V Chamberlin, Memories of John Rockey Park (Salt Lake City: The Emeritus Club, University of Utah Alumni Association, 1949), p 114
5 Joh n R Park, Diary, July 8, 1877, MSS # 638, Manuscripts Division, Harold B Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (hereafter cited BYU); Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1900
See also Joh n Clifton Moffitt, John Rockey Park in Utah's Frontier Culture (Salt Lake City: self-published, 1947), pp 92-93
6 The business was first called the Magazine Printing Co at 19 W South Temple, then Held Engraving Co., located at 60 and 62 S Main See various Salt Lake Polk Directories and Salt Lake Tribune, May 18, 1940
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For many years, his military brass band and the sounds of his famous gold-plated cornet were often heard at Salt Palace bicycle races, Pioneer Day celebrations, parades, and other public gatherings.7
Held's mother, Annie Evans, was correspondingly talented in the dramatic arts In her youth, she was a member of the Twentieth Ward Dramatic Club and was active in other civil and church affairs. Her father, James Evans, after emigrating from England, had served in the Mormon Battalion and later used his wheelwright and carpentry skills to build large sets for the old Grand Theatre.8
Perhaps inspired by his father's illustrations for The Story of the Book of Mormon (1888),9 John Held, Jr., cultivated his interest in the visual arts at an early age. His first drawing was of a horse, done in pencil on the flyleaf of a handsome book from his father's library in 1892. Like most curious little boys, he was apt to wander away from his mother's watchful eyes. On one occasion he toddled into the nearby hills, unbeknownst to his parents. After a frantic search, they found him gleefully playing with clay he had pinched into the shapes of small animals. Years later, it was said that Jack Held drew pictures of everything he liked and could not have and by so doing built a world for himself.10
The Held family lived very modestly, but the children always found ways to amuse themselves and play happily together. If they were not occupied by the neighbor children playing cowboys and Indians, the Held youngsters were often entertained by their large St. Bernard, Barry, who accompanied them everywhere. One of Held's early memories was of occasionally dragging a little express wagon from the Held home on D street below Fourth Avenue to the Tithing House and returning with a load of groceries.11 He also remembered the unwelcome task of carrying his father's music scores on his bicycle to and from performances. To make a little extra spending money,
7 For more information on John Held, Sr., see Men ofAffairs in theState of Utah (Salt Lake City: The Press Club of Salt Lake, 1914), s.v. 'John Held." Also, Deseret News,]\xne 27, August 17, 1936; Salt Lake Telegram, August 18, 1936; Salt Lake Tribune, November 28, 1948
8 See "Annie Evans Held," and 'John's Grandpa Evans," typescripts, John Held, Jr., papers, Archives of American Art; Salt Lake Tribune, October 28, 1949 The Grand Theatre was located at 121 East Second South
9 The book, written by George Reynolds and published by Jos Hyrum Parry, contained "Original Illustrations by G.M. Ottinger, Wm T. Armitage, Joh n Held, W.C. Morris and others."
10 The details of his childhood are taken from notes by Margaret Held: 'John Heldjr.'s Early Days," typescript, Joh n Held, Jr., papers, Archives of American Art
11 It was from the Tithing Office that the LDS church distributed food to the needy; here also those employees and workers who had been paid by the church in tithing scrip could redeem their "currency." The building was located near the site of the present Relief Society building on State Street and North Temple
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Held would often take on small jobs such as delivering papers and rounding up cows. With the money he saved, he bought bantams, which he raised in a large piano crate fashioned into a coop. It was not long before these bantams were used as live subjects for countless drawings and sketches.12
When John, or "Jack," as he was called in his youth, got a little older he spent as much time as he could at the Grand Theatre, where his grandfather Evans was employed as carpenter. The boy made watercolors of the stage, the foot-candles, ballet dancers,jugglers, and other performers. Occasionally he and his artist friend Hal Burrows, later an art director at MGM Studios, would, out of fondness for the lively environment, sleep on the floor of the theater.
At least once, he "helped" with a performance in the Salt Lake Theatre. The play was Monte Cristo.
A canvas, painted to represent the sea, covered the great stage and a cyclorama encircled it. A dozen boys stationed aroun d the edge shook the canvas to make the waves and another dozen underneat h poked it to make the ripples
Mr. [James] O'Neil (Monte Cristo) was thrown into the sea, cut himself loose and swam to a rock in the middle of the stage and standing upon it shouted, "The world is mine," then started to wade to the shore When about halfway across a wild sepulchral voice from the depths of the ocean cried, "For hell's sake get off my head; you're breaking my neck!" When the curtain came down there crawled from under the sea cloth a youngster who is now the well known writer and cartoonist, Jack Held.13
Like other Latter-day Saint children, John had been given an infant blessing. T was baptised later," he wrote, "when I was nine by complete submersion in the baptismal tanks in the basement of the Mormon Tabernacle I remember enjoying this, as the water was warm and pleasant and it was the most water that I had ever been in at one time." Although he was always respectful of his Mormon upbringing,
Held,
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303
Performerwith hoops, Salt Lake City, watercolor, c. 1890s.
'John Held Jr.'s Early Days."
George D Pyper, TheRomance of an OldPlayhouse (Reprint ed., Salt Lake: Deseret Book, 1937), p
Held's church membership lost significance for him as he grew older. Later he wrote, "The Mormon religion was no different from any other to me, until early youth, when I came in contact with outside influences and it became different."14
John Sr., having been raised with a penchant for the arts, encouraged young Jack to pursue a course of musicianship But, contrary to his father's wish that he inherit the lead of the band, Jack Held at an early age sought his fortune in the graphic arts and illustration. In 1898, at the age of nine, he made nine dollars on a block print commissioned by the Kolitz candy kitchen on First South. That same year, he made a little extra money working out of the room above his father's shop, engraving initials on heart-shaped friendship bracelets.15 Held made his first big commercial sale to the old Life magazine in 1907.
Late in 1905, Held and eleven other young students, including Hal Burrows, enrolled in an art class at the YMCA taught by Mahonri Young. The dedicated artists would often sleep in Young's studio at night. Young remembered, T had a bunch of awfully talented fellows. . . . The one that went the farthest of them wasJohn Held, Jr."16 The influence of one of Utah's laureate sculptors was such that Held would later give thanks to his "old man and to 'Hon' Young, my two art teachers" for their instruction and inspiration. This friendship with Young is believed to have been the reason behind Held's longtime aspiration to become a sculptor.17 This was to be a short tutelage under Mahonri Young, however; the class was disrupted when one of the students, Bill Curtis, organized another art club that drew in the rest of the students.18
If Held's artist friends and highly visible family did not provide enough diversion, his encounters with the Salt Lake underworld were an ample source of amusement. From about 1905 to 1909, Held worked as a sports cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune. Harold Wallace Ross, future founding editor of the New Yorker and Held's
14 Held, "Roll, Jordan Roll," typescript, n.d., Held Papers Held's certificate of blessing, dated March 7, 1889, is located among the Held scrapbooks and papers on microfilm in the Archives of American Art
15 DeseretNews, January 12, 1935 See also Carl J Weinhardt, "The Rise of the Mormon Kid," in The Most ofJohn Held Jr. (Battleboro: Stephen Greene Press, 1972), p 16 The Kolitz confectioner's store, located at 78 West First South, was owned by Louis Kolitz and managed by Elias Kohn
16 Mahonri Young, "Reminiscences" (transcript of interview by Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, 1958), pp 72-73, microfiche copy, BYU I would like to thank Dr Thomas E Toone for bringing this to my attention
17 Deseret Evening News, January 12, 1935
18 Young, "Reminiscences." See also Thomas E Toone, Mahonri Young: His Life and Art (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), p 67
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school chum, was employed at the Tribune as a cub reporter.19 By any standard, their stints on the newspaper staff were coming-of-age experiences. Years later, they shared similar tales of adventuring into the Commercial Street district, visiting the gambling dens, and coming into contact with the notorious madams Belle London, Ada Wilson, and Helen Blazes. Though purely naive encounters, these initiations into manhood certainly shaped the minds of the young men, providing ample creative fodder for Held's career in commercial art
An examination of Held's earliest drawings suggests that he was influenced by a number of popular magazine illustrators of the day From about 1907 until about 1910, Held worked as staff artist for the Salt Lake High School yearbook, Red and Black. He also regularly contributed illustrations to the University of Utah's annual Utonian. His early pen and ink vignettes for these publications sometimes resemble Albert Levering's cartoons for Judge and Life magazines. Held's skillfully rendered illustrations of young collegiate women are clearly an attempt to approach the feminine ideals set by Charles Dana Gibson, Howard Chandler Christy, and James Montgomery Flagg His line drawings for the Utonian show the obvious influence of Winsor McCay's pioneering cartoon characters "Little Nemo" and Tmpie," and the awkward, minstrel-like features of other Held subjects seem to echo Patrick O'Sullivan and Otto Messmer's
Coverforced and Black, 1910; Editorial Staff, Red and Black, 1907.
Before the Flapper 297 SALT LAKE HIGH SCHOOL SALT LAKE CfTY UTAH
19 See Dale Kramer, Ross and the New Yorker (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1952), p 7; and James Thurber, The Years with Ross (Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1959), pp 9-10, 223-24
early comic strip characters as well.20 Held may have been acutely aware of William F Marriner's "Sambo and His Funny Noises," which appeared weekly in the Salt Lake Tribune. In fact, a dog that reappears in a number of Held's Utonian and Red and Black illustrations closely resembles Marriner's "Wags" and William Steinigan's "Pup" cartoons.
Later, beginning in about 1912, Held sold several cartoons signed 'Jack Held" or, in a few cases, with the pseudonym 'Johann Hult" to Judge and Vanity Fair. These appeared in the fashionable Vanity Fair style—plump, peglegged, and cylindrical caricatures—similar to those drawn by George McManus. Held's early commissioned work altogether reveals a youthful draftsman experimenting to find a style of his own. 21
In 1908, while on staff at the Tribune, Held met Myrtle Jennings, the society editor, who was also studying to be a nurse at Saint Mark's Hospital "We were both fired," he remembered, "for talking together so much, so we got married and [two years later] went to New York."22 Jack left first, planning to send for Myrtle when he found suitable housing.
Upon arriving in New York, Held moved into the apartment and studio of his old friends, Mahonri Young and Hal Burrows Joined by Myrtle, Held then began freelance work, beginning with streetcar posters, place cards, and Wanamaker's department store displays. During the next few years, after divorcing Myrtle and marrying Ada
20 Joh n Caremaker, Winsor McCay, His Life and Art (New York: Abbeyville Press, 1987) O n cartooning in America, see Stefan Kanfer, Serious Business: The Art and Commerce ofAnimation in America from Betty Boop to ToyStory (New York: Scribner, 1997), and Donald Crafton's BeforeMickey: The Animated Film 1898-1928 (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1984)
21 Armitage, John Held, Jr., pp 65-66 On the work of McManus, Leverage, and other cartoonists, see William Murrell, A History of American Graphic Humor, 1865-1938 (New York: Macmillan; Whitney Museum of American Art, 1938), and Coulton Waugh, The Comics (New York: Macmillan, 1947)
22 New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 6, 1917
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Cemptatiotus of a $ rat iRan Utonian cartoon, 1908.
"Johnnie" Johnson in 1918, he contributed art regularly to College Humor, Judge, Colliers, Life, and Vanity Fair magazines. Once he gained a footing, his cartoon strips "Oh! Margy!," "Sentimental Sally," "Held's Bells," and "Rah-Rah Rosalie" were popular with the college set. Before long, Held was associating with socialites such as Lucius Beebe, Marc Connelly, Nelson Doubleday, Joe Cook, Rube Goldberg, and Don Marquis at the Algonquin and the Coffee House Club. As a result of his moxie and restless ambition, Held's move to New York City life had been challenging but unexpectedly prosperous. 23
By all accounts, John Held, Jr., experienced a meteoric rise to fame with the advent of the flapper in 1924. But in 1925, when his old friend Harold Ross wanted something different for his magazine, the New Yorker, Held tried the old engraving and printing techniques he had learned from his father. His alternate visual effort, mimicking Gay Nineties primitive woodcuts, was arguably as successful and distinctive as his flapper images; with amusing illustrations, broadsides, and maps he satirically celebrated the style and manners of the "Golden Age" between 1875 and 1900. These old-style woodcuts and linocuts regularly appeared in Ross's magazine and also in other commercial publications and posters.
In 1930, after a long and successful career in New York, Held completed a series of woodcuts illustrating The Saga ofFrankie and Johnny, the tragic ballad of prostitution, rough-edged romance, and forlorn love The images are quaint and hint of his associations with Salt Lake madams on Commercial Street and in the Rio Grande stockade. In the preface to the work he noted that "The knowing of these ladies and the houses that they ran has enabled me to fashion this book of woodcuts from fond memories. ... In doing them I have lived again a wild free existence in an Inter-Rocky Mountain settlement with my friends the whores, the pimps, the gamblers, the hop-heads and the lenient police, who used to know the 'Mormon Kid.'"24
On October 26, 1930, the Salt Lake Telegram published two top ten lists, naming the "Ten Greatest Living Utahns." Listed with Cyrus E Dallin and Mahonri Young was John Held, Jr., ranked ninth on the second list often. "IfJohn Held Jr. were considered an artist rather
23 See, for example, James R Gaines, Wits End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1977), p 234, and Jack Shuttleworth, 'John Held, Jr., and His World," American Heritage 16 (August 1965): 29-30
24 Joh n Held, Jr., "A Short Preface," The Saga ofFrankie andJohnny (Reprint ed., New York: Clarkston N.Potter, Inc, 1972)
Before the Flapper 299
than a cartoonist, he would be a third in the 'Ten Greatest' race," the newspaper stated.25
After the crash of '29, the popularity of Held's work waned, however He also suffered devastating financial and personal losses; his unwise investments in the Swedish Match King fiasco led him to bouts with depression and near-suicide.26 Ultimately, the emotional strain of his career and fast-paced lifestyle contributed to the failure of three of four marriages. Held's third marriage, to Gladys Moore in 1931, resulted in a daughter, Judy, but fizzled within four years. Yet his fourth and final marriage to Margaret SchuylerJanes in 1942 proved a match. By the mid-1940s, Held was seeking contentment in such activities as freelance writing and the illustration of children's stories. Occasionally, he made use of his celebrity status,judging Miss America pageants and beauty contests.
During the course of his career, Held made several visits to Utah, touring and visiting family, but he never made an effort at a permanent return.27 For a number of years, he tried his hand at farming and raising livestock in Connecticut, Georgia, and Florida. Long after the riotousness and frolic of the twenties were over, Held settled into a quieter, more fulfilling course in his life and art, sculpting western subjects and painting landscapes Many of these works clearly convey a love of the West and of his Utah home
After his death on March 2, 1958,John Held, Jr., was hailed for
25 Salt Lake Telegram, October 26, 1930
26 The Swedish Match King was Ivar Kreuger (b 1880), a Swedish manufacturer and financier who came to dominate the match industry in Europe and America. Through a series of lending schemes with American and foreign banks, Kreuger built an empire of match companies based on inflated assets When the stock market crashed in 1929, investors sought to reclaim their shares; Kreuger, unable to make the returns and realizing that his empire was crumbling, committed suicide in 1932 Investors like John Held, Jr., were left to count their losses
27 Deseret News, September 11, 1922; Salt Lake Tribune, September 5, 1935 See also Armitage, John Held,Jr., pp 53-54
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Illustrations for 50th anniversary ofAuerbach'sstore, 1934. Courtesyof USUSpecial Collections and Archives.
visually creating the raucous era of the twenties.28 Indeed, according to most observers of that generation, he was a phenomenon. According to Walt and Roger Reed, historians of American illustration, Held, "more than anyone else, expressed in his pictures the brash spirit of the 'twenties with his famous flappers and collegiate capers, bootleg gin, jazz bands, and necking parties."29 Writer and humorist Corey Ford stated that "Fitzgerald christened it the Jazz Age, but John Held, Jr., set its style and manners. His angular and scantily clad flapper was accepted by scandalized elders as the prototype of modern youth, the symbol of our moral revolution. ... So sedulously did we ape his caricatures that they lost their satiric point and came to be a documentary record of our times."30
While some Utahns may not have been so quick to adopt Held as their "golden boy," his reminiscences are a lively account of Salt Lake business and leisure life. What could be dismissed as tales of a young man's precocious childhood are a sampling of Utah's turn-of-the-century society and, for a moment, give us a glimpse into Zion's seedy side.
The following text contains selected chapters from his reminiscences, taken from the microfilmed collection housed in the Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C. Most errors in punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and word use have been silently emended to conform to current standards; however, some idiosyncratic uses have been retained.
MY LIFE AND TIMES IN DESERET
My Mother often said that when Brigham Young, the Great Mormon Leader, beheld the fertile valley of the Great Salt Lake he said, "This is the place," meaning this is the place for me to be born. I always discounted this, as I have always had a feeling that Mother was prejudiced.
• Deseret News, March 3, 1958; Salt Lake Tribune, March 3 and 4, 1958; Salt Lake Tribune, May 12,
1970
29 Walt and Roger Reed, The Illustrator in America, 1880-1980: A Century of Illustration (New York: Madison Square Press, Inc., 1984), p 129
30 Corey Ford, The Time ofLaughter (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1967), pp 4—6
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Many of my fondest memories stem back to my younger days in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah was called Deseret before it was named after the Ute Indians One of my early memories recalls the time that my Father and I engaged in the advertising business. It was Father's idea, as I was around eight years old at the time and about the only idea I had in those years was an elaborate plan for the retiming of meals, sort of shortening the interval between breakfast, dinner, and supper
Father hadjust taken to playing the Cornet, the start of a long career of Corneting My memory is dim as to his technique at that time; he later became a Master of the instrument and his Cornet Soloswere heard throughout the land where he traveled with his Military Band.31 He was probably the Founder of the "Sweet" school of Cornet playing. His Cornet Solo was his meat, and he would make the Welkin32 ring with "Sweet Alice Ben Bolt" or "Silver Threads Among the Gold." He often brought his audience to their feet with a rendering of "Where the Silver Colorado Wends ItsWay."This last tune will figure prominently in the last chapter of these reminiscences.33
31 John Jr is mistaken here; his father took up the cornet in 1881 and organized his band in 1885, both before Joh n Jr.'s birth. The office of Held's Band and Orchestra was located at 19 West South Temple The band was managed by W G Clark and later by Otto Grow Joh n Held, Sr.'s, music collection has been deposited in the Utah State Historical Society library, MS B49.
32 The vault of heaven or the skies
33 Judging from the typed manuscript, Held never returned to the subject because the reminiscences were never fully completed
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John Held, Sr., (inset and at right) and an early photograph of his band.
I mention the Cornet, because it was an important part of our advertising business in Father's conception He went to the Big Livery Stable on the West Temple Street, and there he rented a one-horse express wagon This equipage was a springless, low, light box wagon drawn by one horse Father erected four poles, one in each corner of the wagon box, about five feet high On these he stretched white muslin On this white muslin were to be painted the advertising message of our clients Father was successful at the start in selling this advertising' space as he had many friends among the trades people. One of them, R.K. Thomas, who ran a drapery shop that later became a large department store,34 subscribed for a side on our mobile billboard. Mr. Thomas lived in our ward, and Father solicited his business in the evening. Another was a local shoemaker who also lived on the bench near us. Another, and the most important, was another neighbor, who owned and operated a saloon down in the hardest part of town, near the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad yards. I think he paid a premium to be included among the more respectable trades.
Father's plan was to drive the wagon through the streets of the city during noon hour, when most of the city took a breathing spell. I was to do the driving. Even at my early age I had experience with horses, as I had been going to school on horseback for two semesters. Dad's part in the advertising was not only to solicit and sell the space, [but to also] paint the signs and, as we drove in the town, to attract attention to our display by sitting inside the bannered wagon and playing his Cornet. On our first Saturday noon day, our wagon parade was a huge success. We not only traveled the unpaved business streets of the fair city, with Father making music on his Cornet, but we would pull up in front of each of our clients and there Father would exhaust his repertoire. The music would attract a crowd, and they in turn would read the advertising, and one and all pronounced Father's idea as very original and effective.
We went on our waywith music down to our star customer. It was a long drive to the Denver and Rio Grande Rail Road Station. Father's solos [were] becoming fewer and farther between as his lip was beginning to swell up and he wanted to save himself for the highest rates paid.
We pulled up with pomp in front of the West Side Saloon,35 and the largest crowd that we had attracted that day gathered So with no more ado, Father opened up with his finest gold-plated tone with his first selection, which caused the crowd of rather tough customers to break out with loud boisterous guffaws Our best customer who had paid us the highest rates rushed from his saloon with a roar [and] a bung starter,36 and proceeded to
Before the Flapper 303
34 Richard K Thomas (1844-1915) was a native of England and built one of the most prominent and highly esteemed dry goods businesses in the territory, founded in 1885 It was located at 26 to 32 East First South
95 Located at 50 North 300 West
36 This refers to a mallet or a broad-headed stave used for starting the bung of a cask
tear our advertising display to pieces As he tore down the painted muslin, there sat Father giving his all He had reached the second chorus of "Nearer My God To Thee,"when he broke in the middle of a note, tucked his Cornet under his arm,jumped from the wagon and ran for his life, leaving me paralyzed with fear and gushing tears of terror The horse was contingent to the emergency, and turning the wagon, returned his way to the livery stable unguided, with me in the seat of the wreck, bawling at the top of my lungs If our signs had not been destroyed, my wailing would have attracted as much attention as Dad's Cornet
Dad never went back to collect his fee But the saloon keeper later saw the humor of the situation and came to the house and paid Father, and I think I remember he tossed two bits to me
He advised Father to learn some music other than religious hymns, that being all that Father knew. His only public appearances up to that time had been to play a solo now and then in the Twentieth Ward meeting house. I think that was the reason that Father had the largest musical library of arrangements for solo Cornet west of the Rockie Mountains
TH E INDIAN WARS
One of the first things the Church of Latter Day Saints did when they settled in the valley of the Great Salt Lake was to make a peace pact with the warlike Ute Indians. Part of the pact was that members of the tribe could come into the settlement and collect tribute from Saints in the form of sugar, flour, cotton and thread and any other items they could panhandle. The settlers gave reluctantly on orders from their bishops, and the Indians took the contributions without thanks.
We lived high on the north bench, and our house was usually the first visited as the braves and their families came off the reservation, and Mother would present them with a cornucopia of sugar and coffee.
I was a youngster of play age While the children of my age today play dive-bombing and are expert in the uh-uh-uh-uh-uh of the machine gun, we children played at our favorite game of Indians and cowboys.
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Heldfamily, showingJohn Held, Jr. (top row, center), John Held, Sr., Annie Held, James Evans (with hat), and others, c. 1897. USHS collections.
There was [a] silent old Ute with three squaws and countless children who visited us regularly every fortnight. The Chief would leave the children of our same age to amuse themselves at play with my brother and myself. So Jumbo, my brother, and I were the sinecure of all the other kids in the Twentieth Ward.
We played at Indians and Cowboys with genuine Indians. After these games, Mother would spend several evenings reading our heads37 and giving us a once-over-lightly with a fine-tooth comb and a continuous clicking of her tongue. Our towheads were a sort of desert for the multitude of Ute lice we garnered from our redskin playmates.
The small fry today are armed with imaginary Garand rifles and Bazookas and fast vocal firing of machine guns, while then we fought with muzzle-loading rifles and bow and arrow and tomahawks We made the mountains ring with our war whoops, at which the Indians kinder were experts Many a rousing reenactment of the Mountain Meadow Massacre took place in the dry Mormon afternoons
I was the oldest of the children, and so had my choice of the character that I wished to play in the games. My choice was usually that of Buffalo Bill, and a very imposing Buffalo Bill I made. Mounted on my prancing broomstick cowpony, my long straw-colored ringlettes blowing in the wind, I galloped in search of Indian marauders My brother, Jumbo, also had long blonde ringlettes He always chose to be General Custer, aswe both were fascinated with the large lithographic reproduction of Custer's Last Stand that was displayed in the window of a saloon on State Street I am still intrigued with the print, in the collections of Americana The only thing I miss in seeing the poster nowadays are the fly specks that formed the border on the old one in the cafe display
No matter what we were doing or what game we were playing, we always dropped it and went wholeheartedly into the Cowboy-Indian game whenever the Ute family appeared during our vacation from school.
As autumn approached and the hills were dry and parched, it was neaping the time for us to abandon our vacation sports and go back to school. The Indian children staged a rebellion. They refused to play our game. They took the stand that they were sick and tired of always having to play at taking the part of Indians. They thought it only fair that their side be allowed to win once in a while.
JUMB O DANCED THE MINUET
When myyounger brotherJumbo was eight years old, Mother made up her mind that we children needed culture and refinement She announced
37 The "reading" of heads is a reference to phrenology, a practice popular in late nineteenth-century America as a method of revealing character and mental capacity. But the reference is only playful; Annie Held was not practicing phrenology but examining her children for lice.
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Print shop, probably the shop ofJohn Held, Sr. From Roland Held collection, USHS.
that she was not going to raise a gang of Harry Traceys, he being the popular bandit of that season. 38
She didn't consider the classical musical education that we were getting in the reflection of Father's concert band. Music in Mother's scope was a business that had no relation to the Arts. Music was bread and butter to Mother; I suppose after listening to Father practice cornet in the house for years, she was firmly convinced that it was not art.
Mother had no ear for music and couldn't carry a tune. She attended Father's band concerts to see if he had his pants pressed.
Mother kept a firm grip on the niceties of life by keeping Jumbo and myself with long blonde ringlettes Sometimes I suspect she did it to save on hair cuts. Our long golden hair gaveJumbo and me many dark and trying moments.
Jumbo later grew into youth and became a mule skinner on a gravel wagon Several years ago Mother told me thatJumbo had done a stretch at Alcatraz, but I think she was boasting.
Mother conceded that my drawing was a distant relative of the Arts, but in it she saw a living for me, perhaps in a garret. But even at that time I was making small money with my cartoons and I was engraving initials on the popular fad of the day, friendship hearts, these being small silver or gold bangles that the younger female set collected. The donor always had his initials engraved on the gift I got to be pretty expert at engraving these at two and a half cents a letter, after school in Dad's shop.
To clear up this last sentence, I will explain that Father was a copper-
38 Harry Tracy (1876-1902) was a notorious outlaw who roamed the northwest, near Spokane, Washington Several books treat the subject; see, for instance, Jim Dullenty, Harry Tracy: The Last Desperado (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1989)
plate engraver as well as a band leader and cornetist. He ran an engraving and embossing shop in the city.
So thatJumbo could share in the higher things, Mother enrolled him in dancing school. This was not an academy of the waltz, polka, or two-step, but fancy dancing was curriculum.
These afternoons of terpsicore39 were very painful toJumbo, as it meant being washed, and his ringlettes spun on a broom handle Often on dancing school days,Jumbo would leave home in the morning and go to hide in City Creek Canyon. Then I would have to go and round him up. In some strange manner, Jumbo was forced to finish one term of light fantastic, and he was cast for a part in the school's recital
He was one of the four who danced the minuet in costume
Mother stitched and hemmed and whipped up a lovely fourteenth-century costume for him, of black sateen with white lace cuffs and tight trouser bottoms. She fashioned a starchedjobo40 that cascaded down his chest, and with his long blonde ringlettes was a picture worthy of the French court
painters
Came the evening of the recital in the Eighteenth Ward amusement hall. The amusement hall, as the meeting house annex was called, had not been completed in the Twentieth Ward
The Auditorium was filled with the families of the dancing pupils, who were gratified and pleased with the performances of their small brothers and sisters.
The performance went without a hitch, until the music for the minuet was struck on the upright piano There was a flutter at the side of the curtain. The dancing teacher was also the stage manager, and signaled to the pianist that something was amiss. The pianist repeated the introduction to the minuet many times. After an indominable wait the curtains parted and the dancers came to view Three of the stately dancers were immaculate in white cotton batten wigs and bright costumes of the period The fourth was Jumbo, who stood bowing from the waist. His golden ringlettes were awry. Hisjabo was soiled and disreveled. The lace was gone from one pant leg, and his seat was ragged and torn To complete his wreckage he wore two large and fast-swelling black eyes
His performance was perfection; he didn't miss a step or a courtesy.41 Jumbo had been the victim of a deep-dyed plot. The other members of the "Rusty Dozen"juniors had lured him out of doors and chided him on his get up, and he had fought his way back through the gauntlet to the dance.
39 Or of dancing
40 Held means jabot, a series of ruffles down the front of a shirt
41 Whether intentionally or not, Held had a tendency to garble words like this Compare "indominable" and "disreveled" in the paragraph above
Before the Flapper 307
POLIC E RECORD
For a family the size of the Held clan, their record with the police is fairly clean. The four boys were wild and exuberant but somehow or other kept from the clutches of the law Jumbo had several sorties with the constabulary, but always without record. In his early youth he went on the "bum" several times to gain experience and to see the world outside of Salt Lake City.
He always managed to keep from getting arrested for vagrancy by going at once to the local officer of the law and asking for a night's lodging. This procedure usually appealed to the sheriff or constable and resulted, in most cases, with a bed and a breakfast and sometimes a small monetary offering
Once he did reach a trial before a court in a small town in Idaho. His useful appeal not only got him a dismissal of the vagrancy charge, but the judge took up a collection for him in the court house and sent him on to the next municipality with pockets ajingle.
The Salt Lake City police were a kindly lot, and the Held family called many of them friends. In fact one member of the force played the bass drum in father's Military and Concert Band. One of Father's brothers married the daughter of the chief of police That made our family a close relative of the force by marriage.
The police uniform in those dayswasindeed imposing They were attired in a double-breasted long frock coat of blue. On their head they wore a large grey helmet shaped like a rendering kettle. They were armed with long billy clubs. In the eyes of us youngsters, they were all elderly men and stout.
They were tough when need be, and Salt Lake Citywas fairly orderly for a frontier town The fair metropolis was the largest settlement between San Francisco and Denver and it attracted many undesirable characters, but the Force kept them in line and moving. In the night the long hickory billy club met many skulls, and crime was usually at a minimum.
It was my sister Bessie who put the blot on the Held escutcheon She was the only one in the family with a police record.
When she was a small lass, she was a cherub, frail, pretty, light blue eyes and long curly cornsilk-colored hair Bessie always kept herself clean and dainty, even if her vocabulary was on par with us older boys. In cussing she could hold her own with any of our gang. She was shy and that was her saving grace.
Bessiewas around four years old when she accrued the police record. She was at her most angelic period. We were living at that time at D Street and Seventh Avenue in the Twentieth Ward on the north bench Our house was approximately six miles from the police station at State and First South Street One bright spring morning, we children had been fed and turned out into the hills No one happened to notice Bessie's absence She often went off with her dolls and amused herself, when she was not in the mood for the rougher pastimes of our set.
308 Utah Historical Quarterly
At noon when we were called in for mid-day dinner, Bess was among the missing. Mother didn't worry about her absence, as the child had often been enticed into a neighbor's dining room.
At six o'clock that evening when Father got home on his bicycle, Mother reported Bessie as missing, so Father organized a posse of all of us to search for the Truant.
Dad, as a last resort, had turned up wearily and late at the police station to list his darling daughter as a missing person, and there she was, sitting on the Sargent's desk, surrounded by adoring policemen She had been stuffed with Reely's ice cream, 42 and she had lost her shyness and was entertaining the patrolmen with first rate mule skinner's profanity.
Father returned home in triumph with the child on the handle bars of his bicycle. She was put to bed without supper, that she could not have eaten anyway, as she was filled to the teeth with ice cream and cake
In the routine of the desk sargent, her name was entered on the police blotter. Bessie had a record that only a Governor's pardon would erase. To make matters worse, she turned out to be a repeater and a third offender, as two weeks later she ran away from home again Father didn't dally in searching the ward this next time. He went directly to the goal, and there she was where she knew she was popular.
The third time she was arrested, the police failed to provide ice cream and cake, at Father's request, so Bessie decided to reform and give up a criminal career
TH E DAYS O F THE BICYCLE
In the archives of my memories the bicycle fills many pigeonholes, and my archives go back to the high-wheeljob that Father rode before the introduction of the "Safety" model.
It was the days before the streets of Salt Lake knew the smoothness of paving The sidewalks were more level, and the bicycle was used on the sidewalks, unless forbidden.
My primary memory was the time Mother spent almost a week picking gravel out of the skin on Father's face.
Just inside the Eagle Gate there was a horse's watering trough for the horses to refresh [themselves] with cold mountain water before the hard pull up the hills to the North Bench.
Dad had been to band practice in the large room over Denhalter's Music Store43 and was riding home in the dark of the late evening Only
42 ProbablyKeeley'sIceCreamfactory,locatedatrear268SouthMainStreet
43 HenryC.Denhalter (1832-1914),ownerofaSaltLakeCitybottlingcompany,musthave operated a musicsupplybusinessaswell He organizedand financed apopularband known asDenhalter Rifles and Band thatwon prizesin the leadingband concertsin SaltLake Cityin the 1890s. See Men of Affairs, s.v "HenryC Denhalter."H DenhalterandSonsBottiedSodaWorkswaslocatedat28WestThird South
Before the Flapper 309
Brigham Street was lighted with street lights, so on State Street inside the Eagle Gate it was dark as pitch Father, pedaling gayly homeward atop his high wheel, turned a sharp curve into the darkness and ran smack bang into the watering trough that some prankster had pulled across the sidewalk. The high wheel came to a sudden halt, but Father kept on, and did a standingsitting-Jack-knife dive into the gravel path Father carried the scars of the extracted gravel through his life.44
The next bicycle highlight came with the "Safety" type of wheel Pleasure riding was the mode, and it was the era of the "Century," or one hundred mile ride. Father equipped himself with a "White," and for Mother he imported the lastword in a "Victor."I need not emphasize the sensational attention that Mother attracted. She made her bicycle debut in—bloomers. They were long and baggy but exceptional enough to bring out long editorials in the Press. Thus Mother became Salt Lake's first "Bloomer Girl."
I wasn't much for size at my age. Father was fortunate in being able to supply me with a bicycle, where Iwas able to reach the pedals. No boy's bicycle securable met that requirement, so mine was a girl's model.
Dad did an exceptional job of salesmanship in convincing me that I would not meet with ridicule when I rode out, and I didn't. Iwas the envy of all my contemporaries, and I grew to love my girl's model. It was a unique design It was built with but one bar of tubing connecting the front with the rear All other women's bicycles were braced with two or more rods in their construction.
At that time we lived high on the North Bench, at Seventh Street and D Street. That high in the hills was sparsely populated. Many times the Cyotoes came down from Black Mountain and raided Father's brown Leghorns, that he housed in an upright piano box
It was my pleasure to mount my bicycle in front of our house, placing my feet on the fork of the front wheel, and coast down D Street, gaining speed at every crossing. When the wind was right, I could coast to within three blocks of the Tithing Office.
One bright morning I started for town. The air was washed and clean after a mountain rain. It didn't rain often in those hills, but when it did rain, it rained
At the crossing of First Street [Avenue] were the street-car tracks that led to Fort Douglas in the pass of Emigration Canyon The torrents of rain had gushed down from the eastern slope of the Wasatch Mountains and washed out the street, leaving the car tracks high above the surface. Down I came with the rushing wind in my young face If I remember correctly, D Street was around an eight percent grade and my speed increased in my carefree descent. The car tracks loomed ahead before I had a chance to
310 Utah Historical Quarterly
44 Apparently injury was no stranger to John, Sr On another occasion, he was injured when, jumping aboard a street car, he ran into a telephone pole. See DeseretEvening News, August 16, 1898.
brake my speed by putting my toe to the tire under the forks. I struck the car tracks at full momentum and bicycle and I came down together. I was unhurt, but my beloved bicycle lay in twain It had broken in half The single tube that connected the front to rear had parted. At this tragedy my grief was unbounded. I picked up the two parts of the wreck and carried it into town, bawling at the top of my lungs Father was not impressed with my sorrow. He took the pieces to a machine shop and had the parts welded, and my bicycle was better than ever. I rode it as I grew, and finally was forced to give it up, as it was making me round-shouldered to reach the handle bars
In my early teens, Father went off the deep end in bicycledom He imported a White racing model with a high speed gear. This wheel weighed sixteen pounds and Dad spent more time hefting it than riding it. It was my pleasure to borrow the machine every time Dad's back was turned
Salt Lake Citywas a focal point for professional bicycle riders Down at Ninth South Street and State was the Salt Palace, a medium-sized amusement park. The Palace was a large frame structure, stuccoed with coarse rock salt, and very glittering at night with arc lights playing on it. In the grounds of
Marshall "Major" Taylor, racer at the Salt Palace, July 21, 1911. Shipler photograph, USHS collections.
the Salt Palace was a quarter-mile saucer bicycle track, used on Tuesday and Friday evenings for bicycle races. 45
Father's Band was the musical attraction. Between the heats of the races he conducted popular selections for concert bands.
Father was always ready to tickle the palate of the music lover, so he larded his program with musical oddities, as a disvertisment46 was included in each evenings concert, such as "The Clock Shop," in which the trap drummer was busy with the chiming of gongs and the striking of clocks The least of these was the Coo Coo. Another favorite with the cycle of fans was one of Dad's creations called "The Echo Quartette," wherein Father gave with the Trumpet and a brass quartette would echo the air from a distance. The tune used in the number was "My Creole Sue," that Dad had arranged for echo effect. Another popular number was then "Anvil Chorus"; in this opus the trap drummer played an anvil solo on a genuine blacksmith's anvil.
I was always able to crash the gate at the bicycle races by lugging in the music to be used in the concert, in a large leather portmanteau. The parts for full band for an evening's concert, in most cases, weighed more than I did at the time, but my custodianship of the sheet music always admitted me to the races.
Dad often relied on the crowd to request numbers, so the portmanteau usually included many extra scores, and these added to the weight
The delivery of the music was only one of my duties to the band. I ran errands and notified the members of engagements. The bicycle was paramount in this.
One afternoon Father decided to include the "Anvil Chorus" in the evening program, and at the last minute remembered that the band's anvilwas not at the Salt Palace Bicycle track It had been used last in the Sunday evening concert in the Grand Theatre It fell upon me to get the anvil to the track before the races, and the only means of transport was my bicycle The Grand Theatre wasten long Mormon cityblocks from the SaltPalace, and how I, a boy of eighty-five pounds, managed to balance and carry on the bar of mywheel a one-hundred-and-fifty-pound anvil that distance isstill a mystery to me I did it, but would not be able to explain how, even if my life depended on it
UNCL E PIERRE AND THE HALCYON DAYS
Uncle Pierre47 was indeed a minor genius. He was one of the most ver-
45 Atthat time,bicycleracingwasasmuch aUtah sensationasitwasanationalone;the old Salt Palace bicycleraceswere apopular pastimein SaltLake Cityat the turn of the century See OliveW Burt, "BicycleRacing and the SaltPalace: Two Letters," Utah Historical Quarterly 50 (Sprinsr 1982): 160-67
46 Heldprobablymeantdivertissement.
47 ProbablyJean LouisPierreViallet (1848-1937),whowasmarriedtoJohn's aunt,HortenseHeld (1866-1922). Viallet,who worked in oddjobs as aminer, afireman, and as a laborer at the Model CleaningandDyeWorks,livedat2145thAvenueinSaltLakeCity
312 Utah Historical Quarterly
satile mechanics I have ever known He had no inventive side, but let someone else invent and he would improve to the extent of making the apparatus do many more things than it was intended to do. He was touched by the Gods
It was in his ascendance that electricity was harnessed and put to use Uncle Pierre seemed to understand this miracle and he tamed it from the start.
In his day the pioneer engineers of the mid-Rockies had utilized the water power in the mountain streams and had electrified the sovereign city of Zion in Deseret Uncle Pierre was the city's trouble shooter The most difficult electrical problem was child's play to him because he always, somehow, managed to make it tick.
Not only electrical problems, but any mechanical poser was his meat. If a machine would not function Uncle Pierre would either make it accomplish its original function or would make it do something different. But right or wrong, he always managed to make it work.
When my father was working out the construction of his embossing presses and the complicated mechanism of printing copper plates, it was Uncle Pierre who supervised the precision castings and the adjustment of the delicate bearings. For all this machinery they made the irregular wooden forms, did the castings from the illustrations in a manufacturer's catalogue of that type of presses, and by the great Jehova, they worked, and were in operation for many years. I operated these presses in my apprenticeship of the copper plate and steel die printing of visiting cards and embossed stationary
Outside interests other than the interests of the Mormon Church crept
Before the Flapper 313
Linocut from preface of Frankie and Johnny, 1930.
48
into the thriving metropolis of Zion, and later the name of the town was Anglicized to Salt Lake City With the coming of statehood, the Territory of Deseret became the State of Utah.
Salt Lake was a booming place and awide open city, a mining and cattle center. The miner of gold and silver and copper came with pockets burning with money to be spent on a high time, and the night life knew no bounds
In every saloon, bar or public place were slot machines, not the nickel variety but the two-bit, four-bit and dollar wheels of chance. These complicated gambling devices had to be kept in repair, and the man to do that job, and who did it with mastery, was Uncle Pierre Whenever one of these machines would become unruly and pay off too large a percentage, Uncle Pierre would appear and, with a few expert touches of his screwdriver or pliers, the machine went back into line and made a larger profit for the owner
In this service Uncle Pierre widened his acquaintance in the half-world or the nocturnal civilization of Salt Lake. He knew and was a friend of every saloon keeper, bartender, gambler, and Lady of the evening. He was a friend of every Madam in established Houses of Delight, of which there were none more delightful or elegant between Denver and San Francisco. It was said that the elegance of these Palaces surpassed the lavishness of even New Orleans or Omaha This was probably hearsay, as a gold or silver miner's or a cattle or a sheep man's idea of elegance was moot in the extreme
Uncle Pierre picked up a tidy income by installing electric bells in these abodes of pastime. His account book read like a Who's Who in the Underworld
In those days the hot spots of Salt Lake were located in a tidy manner on a street that ran between First and Second South and Main and State. This thoroughfare was called, without any attempt at grim humor, Commercial Street. Within the street were saloons, cafes, parlor houses, and cribs that were rented nightly to the itinerate Ladies of the calling. Soliciting was taboo, so these
48 Held was mistaken Salt Lake City was never name d Zion, no r was there ever a Territory of Deseret; it was called Utah Territory
Plum Alley, just east of Commercial Street (now Regent Street), 1907. Buildings with balconiesare brothels. USHS collections.
314 Utah Historical Quarterly
Before the Flapper 315
ladies sat at the top of the stairs and called their invitation to "Come on up, kid."49
The Parlor Houses showed no such publicity. There was no outward display to gain entrance to a Parlor House One pushed an electric bell, installed by Uncle Pierre, then you were admitted by a uniformed maid or an attendant The luxury of these Houses always included a Professor at the Piano. There was none of the brashness of the mechanical piano. Those were heard in the saloons and shooting galleries of the street
The names of two of the Madams are engraved on my memory as they were engraved on the copper plates that Dad engraved for the printing of the Ladies' personal cards. In Dad's engraving shop an order for cards from the Madams was alwayswelcome. They demanded the finest and most expensive engraving, and the cards were of our finest stock, pure rag vellum. The dimensions of these cards were different from the accepted social standard. They were always about one-half inch by one and one-half inches. This size wasvery difficult to print by hand from the copper plate, and this order was in most cases for five hundred more. Thiswas a long run, but the money was fresh and no quibbling about price.
One of the Madams called herself Miss Ada Wilson. Hers was a lavish House on Commercial Street. Another called herself Miss Helen Blazes. Hers was a House that catered to the big money. In her House onlywine was served. In other Houses, beer was the popular refreshment at one dollar a bottle, served to the guests in small whiskey glasses. These were mere token drinks on which the House made a good substantial profit.
It was a familiar sight in the streets of Salt Lake to see Miss Wilson take her afternoon drive in a smart dog cart with a shiny chestnut hackney pony. Her companion was usually a rather handsome mulatto, supposedly her personal maid. Miss Blazes made no such avulgar display, as hers was avery conservative House
There were many other Houses of repute, ill, that is, in the town, but the names of those others are gone from my memory. I do remember vividly that the decorations ran to mirrored ballrooms and red plush.
In my first intro-
duction to these spots,
49 For decades, speakeasies, gambling dens, saloons, and brothels abounded in this tiny section of Salt Lake For descriptions of this district, see Salt Lake Tribune, March 31 and May 3, 1903; Deseret Evening News, Jun e 24, September 2 and 19, 1902
g|
Uncle Pierre was my mentor The first time I went with him as my host, his purpose was purely social, and my pleasure was short-lived. I was around fifteen years old at the time, and after a few dances and light beers I was a sick pigeon. So my baptism in the flesh pots was a dim grey pewly celebration.
The orchard of Salt Lake's night light was bearing rich golden fruit, and it was easy pickings. Both Sodom and Gomorrah were paying high dividends. Many greedy eyes sparkled, many mouths watered and hosts of palms itched for this bounty.
Then, the hue and cry rose to "Clean up Salt Lake." Moral groups were formed quickly and the fight was on. On the outset itwas a moral issue. The opposition newspaper screamed its banner headlines; "the decent people of the city" rose in protest at the system in power. There was a suggestion that control should be exercised to this phase of life—a subtle thought, but it worked, and the battle continued in its planned strategy.
By strange coincidence, all this crusade was at its height when, lo and behold, it was time for election. Those in power had grown sleek, fat and lazy, the golden crop ripened and had been falling in their laps, but when the votes were counted, virtue had triumphed over evil and the opposition was in There was a complete housecleaning in the city administration Most important of allwas a new police department who went right to work making the campaign slogan a reality: "Clean up Salt Lake." The old regime had been cleaning up, but this was a new broom, and what a new broom does is traditional.50
316 Utah Historical Quarterly
Left: Linocutfrom Frankie and Johnny, 1930. Opposite page: cribs in the "Stockade" the block bordered by Fifth and Sixth West and First and Second South— under construction, 1908. Shipler photograph, USHS collections.
FRANKIE WORKED DOHH IN A CRIB-KOIISE
Salt Lake City administrators apparently made several "clean-up" efforts to control illegal gam-
As the opposition had won on a virtue program, so virtue must be enforced.
Soon it was hinted that the oldest profession, after all, was a necessary evil. While it was impossible to do away with this trade, the best way out was to control it, and segregation was the only solution to the problem Just by chance there was a Lady in the town of Ogden, forty miles north of Salt Lake, who was an expert on this sort of quandary, and fortunately she could be persuaded by the new city government to come to Salt Lake and take charge of the entire perplexing situation
She went by the name of Belle London.51 All the gilded ballrooms and the cribs of Commercial Street were closed and the occupants were denied their trade
bling, drinking, and prostitution Mayor John F Bowman made one such effort in 1931 with little success Several undercover agents were sent out to document illegal activities during the month of January and reported numerous incidents of solicitation and gambling in the downtown area See depositions to John F Bowman, January, 1931, Caine Coll., MSS 1, Folder 9, Special Collections and Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
51 Harold Ross remembere d meeting Salt Lake's madams as a cub reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune: "I remember Helen Blazes place well because it was exactly across the street from the Tribune composing room, and I remember Bell (or Belle) London, too I was sent down in an automobile with her for an inspection before the stockade opened I was working on the Telegram afternoons and going to high school daytimes I had my cadet pants on for this trip Belle had been represented in print as a 'friend of the fallen woman,' and so on—their benefactor There was never a hint that she was in the game for profit and, by God, I was so young then that I fell for the publicity and assumed she was an old Methodist I asked the old girl a lot of questions that dazed her as we drove down (one of my first trips in an automobile), referring always to the girls as 'fallen women,' etc I was very well mannered and discrete. She stood the high-level conversation as long as she could, and then said, 'Jesus Christ, kid, cut the honey If I had a railroad tie for every trick I've turned x x I'd build a railroad from here to San Francisco." Harold Ross to Joh n Held, Jr., undated, Held Papers, Archives of American Art
Before the Flapper 317
The new city administration was again in luck by being able to secure a tract of real estate down near the Rio Grande Western Railroad depot, where a walled stockade was built. Inside, buildings were provided, some large, and some were a series of small rooms that opened on the streets and passageways. All of this was to be operated by Miss London under license from the police. Here was perfect control under one management. This made the pickings much easier.52
In Commercial Street all the red lights were extinguished. The street became respectable; it sheltered now only saloons, gambling houses, Chinese laundries, shooting galleries and opium dens. The old familiar feminine faces were seen no more there This touched home because The Held Engraving Co. lost the lucrative business of engraving and printing the Madam's—shall we say—business card? Miss Belle London had her cards done in Denver.
Of course, in all Moral groups there are some fanatics, so while the Stockade was operating satisfactorily for the new police force and Miss London, there was a demand every so often for a cleanup This demand was met by a police raid on the stockade attended with sufficient publicity.
To make these raids painless to the occupants of the segregated area, a system of alarm bells was installed inside its enclosure, in case a raid came without previous warning to the police It was Uncle Pierre who installed this warning system
At the entrance to the Walled City of Sin there was stationed a gatekeeper He was there to guard the inmates from undesirable clientele, so to speak. All he ever did was to keep the kids out and sound the alarm bell in case of a so-called necessary raid.
On the face of things, this was the only entrance to the Stockade, as it was all over in the town It was payday and after a man mucked all week in the bowels of a mine or worked for six days on a railroad construction gang, his appetite was for a high old time with money to be spent on pleasure.
On this particular Saturday night, the lights were bright and the flesh pots were boiling. The alarm bell system went wrong, and Uncle Pierre was called to make repairs.
Uncle Pierre was installing some lighting fixtures in one of the showcases in Dad's store Iwaswith him, marveling at the miracle that he brought forth from electricity.
I went with him to help carry his bag of tools to repair the Stockade alarm bell
The festivities and joys were in high crescendo when we arrived; the walls were bulging with wine, women and song.
52 Joh n S. McCormick, "Red Lights in Zion: Salt Lake City's Stockade, 1908-11," Utah Historical Quarterly 50 (Spring 1982): 168-81 See also Salt Lake Tribune, November 7, 1993
318 Utah Historical Quarterly
Sara Alexander: Pioneer Actress and Dancer
BY SANDRA DAWN BRIMHALL
LOVERS OF DRAMATICS AND EARLY THEATRE-GOERS of Salt Lake will be shocked at the news which reached this city Wednesday of the death in New York of Sara Alexander, renowned actress who began her career in Utah and who is said to have been the oldest living American actress."1
The death of Sara Alexander, who was reportedly the last surviv-
Sandra Dawn Brimhall is a writer living in Salt Lake City.
1 Deseret News, December 30, 1926 Sources differ on the correct spelling of Alexander's name In her correspondence with Isaiah Moses Coombs, she signed her name "Sarah" or "Sallie," but later, on playbills especially, it appears as "Sara."
The Salt Lake Theatre, looking west along First South. Sara Alexander, inset. All photos from USHS collection.
ing member of the Deseret Dramatic Association, marked the end of an era She joined the company in 1863, during the Salt Lake Theatre's second season, and associated with famous Utah performers Nellie Colebrook, Phil Margetts, Annie Asenath Adams (mother of Maude Adams), Hiram B. Clawson, and John T. Caine.2
In some ways, her life was an enigma. Sara was a southern belle, fond of parties, music, and the theatre, but she embraced Mormonism and walked across the plains She was a charming, captivating woman with many suitors, but she never married. And last of all, she was an accomplished dancer and actress who reluctantly began her stage career at Brigham Young's request.
Sara was born April 8, 1839, in Wheeling, Virginia, the youngest of six children of William and Sarah Brentlinger Alexander. The family moved several times before William's death in 1844. His widow and young daughters, Mary Ada and Sara, were converted to the Mormon faith byJames Dwyer.3
In 1858, they moved to St Louis, where they affiliated with other members of the church. Isaiah Moses Coombs, a missionary from Utah who labored in Illinois, Arkansas, and Missouri, was very impressed with Sara. He noted in his journal,
Spent the evening with my father's family till bed time. I then called at Br Howes and stayed there till midnight conversing and enjoying myself
Br. T. Hall, Sis. Alexander and her two daughters were there. It was raining when we broke up. Br. Hall and I escorted the ladies home. Sis. Sarah thought I should never forget this evening She has composed a piece of poetry bidding me farewell which she gave me this morning, also a song called "Sweet Woman ."4
Isaiah was an educated and cultured man who had been invited to join the Polysophical Society when he first arrived in Utah. In St. Louis he was a frequent guest at the Alexander home, where he was invited to dine and engage in conversation On one occasion, he
2 New York Times, December 28, 1926; Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter JH), April 10, 1921, microfilm copy in LDS Church Historical Department, Salt Lake City; Ila Fisher Maughan, PioneerTheatrein theDesert (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1961), p 151; Rhea Coombs Hone, "Biography of Sara Ann Alexander," undated typescript, Daughters of Utah Pioneers. The Deseret Dramatic Association, which is often confused with the Home Dramatic Club, was organized in Salt Lake City on February 20, 1852 The Home Dramatic Club was organized almost thirty years later, in 1880
3 Margaret Finlayson Maxwell, 'James Finlayson, Man of Destiny" (privately published, 1962, copy in author's possession), pp 5-12; George D Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Seaerull Press, 1928), p 164
4 Isaiah Moses Coombs diary, Jun e 12, 1858, MS 1198, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City Coombs had married Sarah Agnes Turk on November 30, 1854, but she, not a member of the LDS church, refused to emigrate with him to Utah in 1855 In 1856, Brigham Young sent Coombs on a mission to the East, hoping he could persuade his wife to return to Utah with him The couple were unable to resolve their differences and were later divorced
Sara Alexander 321
administered a blessing to Sara's mother when she was suffering from a severe headache. 5
When he finished his mission and returned to Utah, Isaiah and Sara began corresponding regularly. She wrote him, "His [the Lord's] hand has been extended over us for good ever since we have been in the church and I know he will not withdraw it if we are faithful." In another letter, she told him, "No one is more desirous of gathering with the saints than we," and reassured him that the family remained firm in the faith. Sara also confided the details of her social life, noting that because she enjoyed good company, some church members thought her proud. She patiently endured Isaiah's teasing about her romances and his advice to have better control of her heart.6
On May 18, 1859, Sara, with her mother and sister, left St Louis and traveled to Florence, Nebraska, aboard the steamboat "Isabella." Two weeks later, on June 1, 1859, Mary Ada married James Finlayson, a Scottish convert she had known in St Louis Theyjoined a company of approximately one hundred families and began their westward trek on June 12, 1859, under the leadership of Horace S. Eldredge. 7
Sara was twenty years old at the time, "at an age when everything was interesting and beautiful—sufficient to lighten the privations and hardships." She walked most of the journey, taking pride that she did not burden the company with her extra eighty pounds, and she later wrote of the experience, "My business among the rest of the youngsters was to gather sage and brush and 'buffalo chips' for fires. Each family prepared its own meals and attended to its own affairs. . . . Everything was managed with perfect system. No friction, no interference from each other. It was a perfectly harmonious journey."
Sara seemed to take pleasure in the primitive life and its freedom from responsibilities and conventions She was fascinated by the Indians, noting that "it was interesting to see them riding like the wind, without saddle or bridle, clinging to their horses and looking as if a part of them I have watched with wonder and delight, as far as the eye could reach over the vast plains, seeing them disappear into the horizon. It is one of the grandest sights my memory recalls."
On one occasion, tired and perhaps a little rebellious, Sara sat on
5 Coombs diary, April 1, April 4, 1858
322 Utah Historical Quarterly
6 Coombs diary, April 19, 1858; Sarah Alexander to Isaiah Moses Coombs, May 10, 1858, May 18, 1858, September 1858, February 23, 1860, Isaiah Moses Coombs Collection, MS 1198, box 3, folder 2, LDS Church Archives.
7 Rhea Coombs Hone , "Biography of Sara Ann Alexander," undated typescript, Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Salt Lake City.
the ground and rested until the last wagon passed. She wrote, "I thought I would be missed and they would feel sorry for me for being so tired and let me ride a little way." When no ride was offered and some Indians appeared on the scene, Sara scrambled to her feet and raced to catch up with her family. She was humbled to discover she had not even been missed and noted that, except for that episode, nothing occurred to vary each day's routine.8
The company reached Salt Lake City on August 29, 1859, without delays or mishaps Sara soon found employment as a schoolteacher, and for a short time she and her mother shared a home on North Temple Street with Mary Ada and James. Sara sent a card to Isaiah, informing him of her arrival, although their correspondence was now less frequent than before; on July 28, 1858, he had married Fanny McLean and settled in Parowan to teach school.9
On January 5, 1860, Isaiah had written Sara and again teased her about her love life. "I sometimes fancied that you might have repented of your former rejection of young Morris of St Louis memory and united yourself to him . . . but then I remembered that you had promised to tell me all about your next 'falling in love. . . . '" His letter took on a much more serious nature when he unexpectedly proposed marriage, asking Sara to become his plural wife.10
Sara responded to Isaiah's letter on February 10:
I received your long looked for letter to day, and was truly happy to hear of your prosperity and well doing. .. . Sis was married at Florence to a gentleman by the name of Finlayson, and he like you thinks he has the best woman in the Territory, I hope you will not quarrel when you see each other I was giving music lessons in the fall but the weather became so cold I had to quit until spring, I have been taking French lessons from brother O [or A?] H this winter and am beginning to read tolerably well I have also been practicing on the Guitar and can play some little, one of the songs I play is 'Maggie's by my side' Now I have given you some items of how I spend my time I have also been attending some of the parties of the season, and in all enjoy myself very well. Brother Fredrick has sent me twenty-seven new peices of music from the states, it is Piano music . . .
She then refused his marriage offer with this explanation:
9
Sara Alexander 323
I am not any more p [r] epossessed in favour of becoming a second wife
8 Sara Alexander, "A Little Story of the Experiences of Sara Alexander When Crossing the Plains in 1859," typescript copy, MS A22, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.
Kate B Carter, ed., Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 1:321-408; Maughan, Pioneer Theatre, p. 118; Alexander to Coombs, February 10, 1860, Isaiah Moses Coombs Collection, MS 1198, box 3, folder 2, LDS Church Archives
10 Coombs to Alexander, January 5, 1860, Isaiah Moses Coombs Collection, MS 1198, box 3, folder 2
than I was formerly . . . for I have seen so much since I have been here in fact it has almost disgusted from ever getting married, at all. If I should now feel inclined to be a second wife which I think is altogether unlikely it would be to one whom I had not known before they were married and who had a wife older than myself If I had to be in subjection to a woman which is quite contrary to my feelings, it would be much pleasante [r] to be placed under one my senior I never dreamed such a thought entered your head as me becoming your wife, I thought you had only brotherly feeling towards me "
A disappointed Isaiah recorded in his journal, "Received my answer from Sister Alexander. She rejects my offer. She does not wish to marry. I think from the spirit of her letter she does not like Mormonism as well as she used to."12 His pride was later salvaged when Sara's mother told him he was the only man Sara had ever loved and she had refused him only because he already had a wife.13
Sara's disillusionment with matrimony may have been partly founded on the less than blissful relationship between Mary Ada and James Finlayson. The pair seemed incompatible from the start. James was a serious, frugal, and practical man while Mary Ada was artistic, vivacious, and prone to some extravagance. The hardships and isolation of frontier life also put a strain on their marriage.14
Sara's "merry eyes and infectious laugh" and her talents in dancing and drama won her many admirers.15 Her social circle soon expanded to include some of the most prominent men and women of Salt Lake City; in fact, she became a protegee of Brigham Young, who employed her to teach dancing to his daughters She and her mother were invited to move to the Lion House, where Sara was given a room on the second floor. According to Sara, "I was the only one outside a few members of his family who was so favored as to be allowed to breakfast every morning with him for years, at his private table in the Beehive House. I had the joy of knowing all his beautiful and interesting daughters—ten of them, at the time of my advent there . . . they grew to be very dear to me and have always held a special place in my memory and heart."16
One evening, Sara attended a play rehearsal held at the home of Hiram B Clawson When one of the players did not come, Sara was asked to read the part of the absentee. Clawson and the others were
11 Alexander to Coombs, February 10, 1860, Isaiah Moses Coombs Collection, MS 1198, box 3, folder 2
12 Coombs diary, February 23, 1860.
13 Coombs diary, October 6, 1861
14 Maxwell, 'James Finlayson, Man of Destiny," p 164
15 Alfred Lambourne, "Reminiscences of the Salt Lake Theatre," Improvement Era 15 (1912): 696
16 JH, January 11, 1916.
324 Utah Historical Quarterly
so impressed with her performance that they sent her the part, asking her to become a member of the company. She refused the offer three times, doubting her abilities to become a professional actress and having no desire tojoin the players.17
Brigham Young, "sponsor and best friend" of the Deseret Dramatic Association, learned of Sara's reluctance to perform at the theatre. According to Susa Young Gates, the Mormon prophet approached Sara one day and said, "Why won't you join the company?" "I don't want to," she replied." "But, I want you to!" he said Sara finally complied with his request.18
During her early years at the theatre, Sara, who was small in stature, was given all of the children's parts as well as the roles of Topsy and Ophelia. She performed dual assignments in the company as actress and premiere danseuse, directing a ballet group for the theatre The company "gave three performances a week, a different bill each night and almost always a featured dance by Miss Alexander between plays (if a triple bill) or acts."19
17 Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse, p 164
18 Susa Young Gates, "Actress—By Command of Brigham Young," Susa Young Gates Collection, MS B95, box 14, folder 2; box 17, folder 9, Utah State Historical Society See also JH, April 10, 1921 Sara's "call" to the stage was not an isolated event Brigham Young had sent a letter to the parents of Nellie Colebrook stating, 'Would you allow your daughter Nellie to act upon the stage? It would please me very much." There were other players at the Salt Lake Theatre who were serving "missions," where every actor was a "brother" and every actress was a "sister." The performers' salaries were partly paid from tithing funds See Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse, p 164 See also Horace G Whitney, "The Story of the Salt Lake Theatre" (Salt Lake City: Deseret News pamphlet, 1915), Marriott Library Special Collections, University of Utah
19 Gates, "Actress—By Command of Brigham Young."
The ten oldestdaughters ofBrigham Young's plural wives. Known as theBig Ten (to distinguish themfrom the next eight), they onceperformed as dancing fairies at the Salt Lake Theatre. Bottom row: Marinda Conrad, Carlie Cannon, Ellie Empey, Emily Clawson, Fannie Thatcher. Top row: Zina Card, Eva Davis, Jenette Easton, Maime Croxal, Maria Dougall.
Alexander 325
Sara
In 1864, Brigham Young sent word to his followers in southern Utah that he was coming with a large excursion party. The group consisted of some of the most notable men and women in the Utah Territory: Brigham Young,John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Eliza R. Snow, Vilate M Kimball, Willard Richards and others—including Sara Alexander.20
The party began their journey on September 1, 1864, as "one of the jolliest crowds that ever left Salt Lake City. . . . " They traveled through Lehi, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Provo, and Payson and on the morning of the third day arrived in Salt Creek, now Nephi. The
20 Jean S Greenwood, comp., "Brigham Young's Excursions to the Settlements" in Chronicles of Courage, 8 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1990-97), 6:95-110 The group also included Robert T Burton, John R Winder, Theresa Burton, Amelia F Young, David O Calder, Anna H Calder, John T Caine, David McKenzie, Philip Margetts, Henry Bowring, George D Watts, Hamilton J Park, Agnes Park, A Milton Musser, Peter Horrocks, Catherine D Horrocks, Joh n Squires, Lewis Robinson, Seymour B Young, Fannie Young, Thomas Jenkins, Jenette Young, Louis S Hills, Ella Young, Emily Young, James T Little, Leonard Rice, William VanNetta, Theodore Calkins, Mary E Kimball, Elvira F Kimball, Richard J Taylor, Bryon Richards, Chariton Jacobs, Oscar S Young, Hyrum S Young, and Solomon F. Kimball. According to Greenwood, "During the 1860s, the Saints of southern Utah had grown so prosperous that they urged Brigham Young to bring along more younger people than usual in his visits as they would be in a position to entertain them."
326
Historical Quarterly
Utah
An unidentified Salt Lake Theatreplayer.
citizens of that town welcomed them with a brass band and an enthusiastic crowd of men, women, and children dressed in holiday attire.
According to Solomon F. Kimball, a member of the party, "By this time the excursionists were becoming better acquainted, and a spirit of mirthfulness began to crop out in various forms After dinner, they kidnapped the Salt Creek brass band, body and breeches, taking it right along with them."21
When the group arrived at Fillmore, they were treated to a sumptuous banquet and grand ball, which was held in the Capitol.
After a late supper, it was hard to tell which division of the party was getting the best of the situation, as all seemed to be enjoying themselves to the very limit Highland Flings, Pigeon Wings, and other fancy steps taken by the Fillmoreites surely demonstrated that they were more than equal to the occasion. Phil Margetts, Harry Bowring, Sarah Alexander [emphasis added], and a dozen other fun-makers, in the way of innocent amusement, captured the best corner of the Capitol, and such capers as they cut were never before dreamed of by unsuspecting citizens of southern Utah.22
The excursionists traveled on to St. George, where Brigham Young counseled his people and attempted to cheer their hearts The younger members of the party did some sightseeing, visiting Sugarloaf Mountain and what is now Zion National Park.
Returning to Salt Lake City, they again stopped at nearly every settlement of consequence, arriving at Mt Pleasant in time for a public supper. This event
caused more merriment than any one thing that had happened during the whole trip After the company was comfortably seated at the table, and a blessing had been asked, a concealed string band began playing the 'Highland Fling' with considerable vim This undreamed-of occurrence caused quite a stir among the hungry excursionists. However, they soon caught the spirit of the joke, and began to keep time with the music, as they partook of the good things before them. To add fuel to the fire of the fun that was already raging, that wide-awake Scandinavian Band turned loose on the 'Sailor's Hornpipe' with full head on. This was crowding things beyond human endurance, and giving vent to the occasion, Sarah Alexander, the noted ballet dancer, scarcely through her dinner, lightly tripped into the middle of the floor and danced as graceful a hornpipe as was ever witnessed in Sanpete Country.23
During the next few years, Sara branched out into comedy and dramatic roles Her big "break" came when T A Lyne arrived in Salt Lake City from Denver Lyne, who was employed to coach the
Sara Alexander 32 7
21 Ibid 22 Ibid 25 Ibid.
players and was later cast in leading roles, was a famous actor from the East. He had joined the Mormon church twenty years earlier in Nauvoo, when he performed with the Nauvoo Company. Lyne chose Sara to play prominent roles in productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, William Tell, Pizarro, Richelieu, Othello, and Damon and Pythias.24
Brigham Young had dreamed of establishing a theatre that would have a significant influence for good upon the lives of his people and bring culture to the West. The Salt Lake Theatre and its performers soon acquired a national reputation for excellence. According to Lyne, who was well acquainted with eastern theatres of the period, "No where outside of houses of the great popular cities was there such completeness of stage appointments, scenery and accessories as in Brigham Young's theatre."25
Renowned actors and actresses from all over the country, such as George Pauncefort, Joseph Jefferson, Julia Deane Hayne, and Lawrence Barrett, were engaged to play leading roles with the local players. When E. L. Davenport came to Salt Lake City to play in Black Eyed Susan, he and Sara "danced the Sailor's Hornpipe with such grace
4 JH, April 10, 1921
328 Utah Historical Quarterly
5 Whitney, "The Story of the Salt Lake Theatre."
that it was a credit to them and a delight to their audience He often complimented the Salt Lake dancer upon her grace."26
Sara became very popular with Salt Lake audiences and was reputed to be Brigham Young's favorite actress. According to one newspaper, "Even when too tired for anything else, the noted prophet of the Mormon church used to go to the theatre, if Sara Alexander was going to act or dance He always sat in the upper left-hand box, with his favorite wife, Amelia, who was also a friend of Miss Alexander's."27
An actor from the East who performed at the Salt Lake Theatre for some time wished to marry Sara. He called on Brigham Young and during the course of their conversation expressed his desires. "Young man," the President replied, "I have seen you attempt Richard III and Julius Caesar with fair success, but I advise you not to aspire to Alexander."28
In the autumn of 1868, John McCullough, the "prince of the American stage," came to Salt Lake City to star in a series of Shakespeare plays With another famous actor, Lawrence Barrett, McCullough was a partner in the theatre company Barrett and
26 Kate B Carter, ed., Treasures ofPioneerHistory, 6 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1952-57), 1:94-95; George D Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Seagull Press, 1928), p 164
27 Lambourne, "Reminiscences of the Salt Lake Theatre," 696 See also Toledo Blade, May 6, 1921
28 Carter, ed., Treasures ofPioneer History, pp 94—95
Sara Alexander 329
Opposite page, Phil Margetts and Henry Bowring, Salt Lake Theatre players who accompanied Brigham Young's excursion group.
'•'"':\ ,'><*.- ".'."• *
Left, Sara Alexander.
McCullough, which frequently performed at the California Theatre in San Francisco It was at this time that Sara, whose fame had spread throughout the country, decided to leave Utah for a broader field. After a farewell performance at the Salt Lake Theatre on October 15, 1868, she joined McCullough's company and moved to San Francisco.29
Sara's mother and sister, Mary Ada, remained in Utah. When Sara left, her mother, Sarah Brentlinger Alexander, moved in with Mary Ada's family, which had moved to Payson in 1862 to pursue business opportunities. James Finlayson was often away on work and church matters, leaving Mary Ada, who was expecting her fourth child, home alone to care for her three young sons and ailing mother.
InJuly 1869, she gave birth to a daughter whom she named Lisle Sarah after the child's grandmother and aunt. Mary Ada never completely regained her strength, developing a severe and persistent cough The burden of nursing her senile mother, who had to be watched around the clock, also took a heavy toll Then, on March 17, 1870, at the age of sixty-three, Sarah Brentlinger Alexander died
When Mary Ada's condition continued to deteriorate, her physician suggested a change in climate. Sara had often urged her to visit California, and in August 1870 Mary Ada left for San Francisco with two of her children. During her short stay, she attended the theatre several times to see Sara perform
In the summer of 1871, Mary Ada made a visit to Salt Lake City, where she visited with Sara's friends at the Lion House. One of Brigham Young's wives, Clara Decker Young, was shocked when she saw Mary Ada, worn and wasted from the ravages of consumption
Lonely for Sara after visiting her former residence, Mary Ada wrote a letter imploring her to return to Utah
Mary Ada's letter initiated a family drama that rivaled any of
330 Utah Historical Quarterly
Julia Dean Hayne as Juliet.
Maughan, Pioneer Theatre in theDesert, p 139; JH, April 10, 1921
Sara's stage performances. Sara came at once and, after assessing her sister's condition, insisted Mary Ada be allowed to return with her to San Francisco. A tug of war ensued between the headstrong Sara and the equally obstinateJames Finlayson, who was unwilling to relinquish his wife. The in-laws had never been close, and now irreversible enmity developed between them. Sara enlisted the aid of Clara Decker Young, who eventually persuaded Finlayson to allow Mary Ada to go with Sara in a last effort to reclaim her health.
The trio—Sara, Mary Ada, and two-year-old Lisle—left in August 1871. The journey was almost more than Mary Ada could bear, and after they arrived in San Francisco her health steadily declined. She died a few weeks later, at the age of thirty-five. Sara believed Mary Ada's husband had neglected her and was partly responsible for her death. Heartsick and bitter, she arranged an elaborate funeral and burial for her sister at the San Francisco Cemetery. Sara did not notify Finlayson of his wife's death until after the funeral, when she sent him a fistful of doctor and mortuary bills. She also informed him she was keeping his daughter, Lisle, as a comfort and companion.30
Shortly after this episode, Sara and Lisle left San Francisco, possibly to prevent Finlayson from reclaiming his child. They went to Chicago, where, among other starring and featured engagements, Sara played with actor Robert McWade in Rip Van Winkle. She later traveled throughout the country with stock companies, performing in many of the major cities. Sara trained Lisle for the stage, and the little girl performed her first role at the age of four at the McCauley Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky.31
Sara achieved the pinnacle of her profession during what has been classified by theatre historians as the "golden age of theatre." During the latter part of the nineteenth century, an estimated 392 dramatic and musical comedy companies toured the nation's 3,000 theatres. During the 1899-1900 season, eighty-nine new productions opened on Broadway.32
Sara and Lisle were eventually drawn to New York, where they found plentiful employment. Sara was cast in supporting roles with theatre greats Kyrie Bellew, Edwin Booth (brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth), Cora Urquhart Potter, Joseph Jefferson, and
30 Maxwell, 'James Finlayson, Man of Destiny," pp 5-12
31 Gates, "Actress—By Command of Brigham Young." See also Maxwell, 'James Finlayson, Man of Destiny."
32 See Albert Auster, Actresses and Suffragists: Women in the American Theatre, 1890-1920 (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984), pp 4-5
Sara Alexander 331
Katie Putnam Lisle, who went by the stage name Lisle Leigh, also became prominent injuvenile roles.33
In May 1880,James Finlayson, who had been called on a mission to Great Britain, visited New York and attempted to meet with his daughter He recorded in hisjournal, "Spent most of the day trying to find Miss Sara Alexander, who has my daughter Lisle S. Finlayson changed to Lisle Leigh. On May 4th found Miss A. (who is sister to my deceased wife Mary Ada Alexander who died Sept. 18th , 1871 in San Francisco). She is living at 140 High Street, Brooklyn. Did not see my daughter She has not been told of her father and brothers by her aunt, but she has agreed to make her acquaintance with her family relations before my return to America."
Some of Finlayson's descendants believe Sara temporarily removed Lisle from her residence when she learned of his impending visit. There is no doubt she taught the child to loathe her father and brothers, and when Finlayson finally saw her a year later, "she wanted nothing to do with him."34
Sara's feelings for other former Utah acquaintances were more amiable. She often praised Brigham Young, writing to the DeseretNews, "Brigham Young knew more about the needs of a large stage than any
33 New York Times, December 28, 1926 See also Carter, Treasures ofPioneerHistory, 1:94-95
34 Maxwell, 'James Finlayson, Man of Destiny."
From USHS's Susa Young Gates collection, this photo is identified on theback in pencil: "Party which met atJamesDwyer,Jan. 1903, in honor ofMiss Sara Alexander. "The notes seem to identify thepeople as (fromleft): Mrs. Allie Marshall, Mrs. Katie Young,Mrs. Priscilla Young, Sara Alexander, Maille Whitney,JamesDwyer [behind], Eva [Young] Davis, "Bud" Whitney, Mary Joe"Mrs. Jos. A. Young, Spencer Clawson,Jode Burton, Lisle Leigh (Finlayson).
manager now living." She also had fond memories of the Salt Lake Theatre and its players. "I recall that playhouse with tenderness and affection. All the dear associate players who composed the company when Ijoined it, have passed away. . . . There was an atmosphere about that house unlike any other playhouse in the world that I ever heard of. . . . It was one of President Young's prides to have it a perfectly high class place of amusement. No detail was too small for him to supervise and he wasjustly proud of the results."35
As the years passed, Sara tried her hand in vaudeville and even silent movies. In 1916 she received from William Fox of Twentieth Century Fox an offer to perform in motion pictures as a character actress. Sara appeared in Passion Flower, starring Norma Talmadge; Custard Cup, with Mary Carr; Little Miss Happiness and Caprice of the Mountains, both starring June Caprice; and The Cavel Case, with Julia Arthur
She occasionally accompanied Lisle, who belonged to the Grand Theater Stock Company, on tour In 1921, during a visit to Toledo, she was interviewed by a local newspaper, which noted, ".. . Sara Alexander is a dear little old lady of 83. But she is bright and merry and seems to have lost little of the 'pep' of her earlier years." Sara had never married, and she often said, "I guess I saw too much of it in Utah." Her first love was always the stage, where she continuously performed until 1923, when she made a final appearance on Broadway in Rust.36
A year or two prior to her death in 1926, Sara moved to the Percy Williams Home in New York City. She passed away on Christmas Eve, survived by Lisle, who died one year later of heart disease. At her request, Sara was cremated through arrangements made by the Actor's Fund of America. Her death made headlines in Utah newspapers and was noted in The New York Times, all of which eulogized her as a remarkable woman and veteran actress.37
333
Sara Alexander
Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse, p 225 Toledo Blade, May 6, 1921; JH, April 10, 1921; Gates, "Actress—By Command of Brigham Young." Gates, "Actress—By Command of Brigham Young"; New York Times, December 28, 1926
Provonna Beach Resort: Born of a Boom, Died of Depression
BY D. ROBERT CARTER
SINCE THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, Utah Lake has been a recreational mecca, and many places of amusement have dotted her shoreline. At least five different private resorts have been established near the mouth of the Provo River in close proximity to Utah Lake. They all catered to excursionists who traveled to the lake to dance and picnic under the trees or to fish, boat, or bathe in the river and lake. The first four resorts were located near a site on the south side of the river a short distance northeast of the present Corleissen Bridge.
Swim In The Surf At Provona Beach
It's great! Splash in the waves of Provona Beach. The swimming is fine! A big, broad, clean sandy beach. Bathing suits, bath houses and every convenience The ideal place to bring the*whoIe family for a swim. Jump in the car - - it only takes a few minutes to get there.
Eat Your Luncheon In Cool Breezes Under the Trees At Provona Beach
Very little is known about early bathing parties to the mouth of the river and Utah Lake. It appears that in Provo's formative years only a few people made use of that natural beach. However, as the years passed, bathing became more socially acceptable, and the population of Provo gained more leisure time A larger number of people made the trip to the lower Provo River and Utah Lake on what must have been a very primitive wagon trail During the summer of 1879 numerous sweltering local inhabitants traveled to Provo River's delta and found the waters "pleasant and exhilarating." Provo's local newspaper, the Territorial Enquirer, made a plea for amenities: "All that is needed now is a
Mr. Carter is a retired history instructor and local historian H e gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Clarence "Bud" D Taylor with this article
bath house and a few other accommodations, and bathing at the Delta would be among the chiefest of pleasures."1
Nine years later, vehicles were taking bathers to the lake every day during the heat of summer, but few improvements had been made on nature's bathing facilities. Provo's newspaper again made a pitch for development near the river's mouth: "Two miles from town is found a bathing spot as fine as there is anywhere on the Lake. We wonder why a little capital is not spent on this, or some other locality, in fitting it up for a regular bathing resort. It would pay. "2
Provo entrepreneur Niels Omanson, who had recently emigrated from Sweden, began plans for the development of such a bathing resort. For years citizens had been urging the city council to open a good road to the lake. In December 1888, Omanson petitioned the council to open a public road from the end of Center Street to the lake. The officials agreed to furnish the road.3 Omanson then hired contractors to construct bathhouses and other amenities on the site of his future resort, including a 40x50-foot, beautifully illuminated dance pavilion and a straight half-mile horse racing track.4
Many people enthusiastically awaited the opening of the resort, but not everyone was pleased with the prospects the new business presented; local church officials expressed vehement opposition to its establishment. At a Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association conference held in the Provo Tabernacle in May 1889, Elder Rodney Badger and other church officials struck out at Provo's future resort and the older bathing resorts on the Great Salt Lake Badger told those attending the meeting that the resorts "would do more harm than all the liquor saloons and houses of prostitution in the Territory combined." A string of other speakers harangued about the evils of resorts, and George H. Brimhall summed up the feelings of the offi-
1 Territorial Enquirer, August 23, 1879 In an October 17, 1976, article in Provo's Sunday Herald, Dr Willis Brimhall, then professor of geology at BYU, reported on a study of core samples taken from the bottom of Utah Lake He had found that current sediments were little different from those laid down in the past centuries and that the lake had never been clear and blue Brimhall pointed out that Utah Lake is shallow and that sometimes waves five or six feet high nearly reach the bottom of the lake, stirring u p turbidity At th e same time, conditions in the lake have always bee n ideal for th e growth of algae However, Brimhall stated, it was possible that at the time the pioneers arrived "the waters were clear during nearly all of the days of the year" where streams entered the lake Th e author has talked to numerous elderly natives of Utah Valley who all remembered the lake being clearer earlier in the 20th century than it is today Maybe both are correct It is likely that Utah Lake has never been perfectly clear, but that its water was less turbid in earlier days, especially at the mout h of Provo River
2 Utah Enquirer, July 13, 1888
3 Journal of the Proceedings of the Provo City Council, July 3, 1882, p 143; August 6, 1883, p 208; August 13, 1883, p 210; September 3, 1883, p 211; February 13, 1886, p 360; December 18, 1888, p 512; an d Jun e 4, 1889, p. 551, City Recorder's Office, Provo, Utah.
4 Utah Enquirer, January 22, Jun e 7, and July 19, 1889.
Provonna Beach Resort 335
cials by saying "that the sandy beach was created for our use and not for our abuse, and [he] regretted that harm had flowed from the people attending them."5
In spite of this antagonism, Niels Omanson continued with his plans to open his business the next month, and he assured the people of Provo that he intended to "conduct the business so that even the most fastidious can go there and enjoy themselves No intoxicating drinks of any kind will be allowed on the grounds." On June 8, 1889, Omanson opened the Provo Bathing Resort, the first known place of pleasure on the lower river.6
The attraction drew big crowds that year; on some days more than a thousand people took advantage of its accommodations. Bathing, swinging, picnicking and horse racing provided entertainment. Also, Professor Tappan, an itinerant dancemaster who decided that Provo needed instruction on "tripping the light fantastic," sponsored moonlight hops at the resort. Provo's Silver and Opera House bands and Professor Kent's famous military orchestra provided music for the dances. The steamer Eastmond plied the water between the Provo Bathing Resort and similar places of pleasure at American Fork and Saratoga. Hacks from Provo could be engaged for stylish rides to and from the lake. The resort was always kept neat and tidy, and local people agreed that the Provo Bathing Resort beat "the Garfield resort very much in attractiveness."7
Omanson's strict control somewhat allayed the fears of Provo church leaders who worried that patronizing the resort would lead to wholesale debauchery The Provo paper reported, "The management of Provo's Lake Resort is to be congratulated upon the good order maintained there on all occasions The absence of hoodlumism so prevalent where intoxicating liquors are sold, is a popular feature and one which brings favorable comment." The Provo police also visited the resort every night that an activity was scheduled. They found that "the best of order always prevails."8
At the beginning of its second successful year of operation, everything seemed to indicate that the resort would continue to make a good living for its owner. Omanson even planned to build a bridge across the mouth of the river and to open the bucolic land on the
5 Utah Enquirer, May 14, 1889
6 Utah Enquirer, Jun e 4 and 7, 1889
1 Utah Enquirer, Jun e 14 and 28; July 12, 16, and 26; August 2 and 9, 1889; Utah ValleyGazette, Jun e 28, 1889. The Garfield Resort
8 Utah Enquirer, Jun e 28, 1889; Utah Valley Gazette, Jun e 28, 1889
336 Utah Historical Quarterly
was located on the Great Salt Lake, west of Black Rock.
north side to picnicking.9 But suddenly, agonizing legal problems developed when a dispute arose over the ownership of the accretion land on which the Provo Bathing Resort was constructed Andrew and Herman Knudsen, farmers who lived near the river's mouth, succeeded in having an injunction placed on the operation of the bathing resort and eventually proved in court that Omanson had actually built on their land. Operations at the resort ceased permanently, and what might have been a long-lived and successful business was brought to a premature end.10
Through the years some recreationists continued to use the land near the location of the former Provo Bathing Resort. Provo City eventually acquired the title to ten acres of this land, which was called the City Grove, and set it aside for recreational purposes. In the early 1900s some small facilities for picnicking and boating apparently existed in the grove. During the summers people held launching parties; carrying picnics, small groups of weekend sailors boarded launches at the mouth of the river for excursions around the lake, sometimes visiting Geneva and Saratoga Resorts.11
William M "Billy" Wilson, an enthusiastic boater and devotee of Utah Lake, became increasingly aware of the financial possibilities of the City Grove, and in 1908 he leased the ten acres from the city That summer he created under the cottonwoods and willows at the edge of the river a small resort that he called Camp Riverside or Riverside
9 Utah Enquirer, July 2, 1889
10 District Court Records, First Judicial District, Utah County, file #2153, Andrew Knudsen et al v Niels Omanson, County Recorder's Office, Provo; Utah Enquirer, March 22, 1894
11 Utah County Democrat, August 15, 1906
A launch at the mouth ofProvo River at the Camp Riverside Resort. Thesemotor launches took peoplefor rideson Utah Lake and visited other resorts on the lake. There may have been more than a dozen of these boatson the lake in the earlytwentieth century. Photo courtesy of Nanalee fohnson Stratton.
Provonna Beach Resort 337
George Taylorphoto of Billy Wilson before he ran Camp Riverside Resort. Later in his life he owned several excursion boatsthat were used on the lake. Courtesy ClarenceD. Taylor.
Landing His intent was to stay as near to nature as possible and "maintain only what few little conveniences that are necessary." He improved the natural beauty of the spot by planting grass and adding more trees, then he brought in tables and benches, put up swings for the little ones, and pitched a large tent used as a refreshment stand and a shelter during storms. Wilson also built a new wharf from which patrons could rent boats and charter boat rides; the launches Cleo, Martha Ann, Grace, Abba, Minnie, and others took visitors out onto the lake. Wilson hired Jake Westphal, veteran boater, hunter, and fisherman, to operate the resort.12
William Wilson, Jr., son of Billy and a native Provonian, remembers his father telling of one Fourth ofJuly celebration at the resort The older Wilson had stocked up on soft drinks, beer, candy, and other refreshments for the holiday crowd. However, it snowed that year on the Fourth, and few people showed up for the celebration There was a plentiful supply of goodies around the Wilson household for quite some time.13
Billy Wilson controlled the lease on the land until the spring of 1911, when the city accused him of breaking the lease agreement The city council then cancelled his lease and granted the use of the property to William Gammon, who opened a small stand and offered the public a place to picnic, swim, boat, and fish.14 The new lessee named his place Riverside Boat Landing, but many people simply referred to it
12 Salt Lake Tribune, April 8, 1908; Utah County Democrat, June 25, 1908
13 Interview with William Wilson, Provo, Utah, May 11, 1995
"Journa l of the Proceedings of the Provo City Council, April 3, 12, 26, and May 2, 1911; Ordinances and Resolutions Notebook of the Provo City Council, May 2, 1911, City Recorder's Office, Provo; Provo Post, June 12, 1914.
Harriett "Hattie" Clarissa Taylor McClellan andJames F McClellan. "UncleJim" was apartner ofFrank Eastmond and laterArthur N. Taylor at Riverside and Provonna Resorts. Courtesy ClarenceD. Taylor
as Gammon's Resort. Gammon operated the resort until the end of 1918.
At this point Provo's prominent Taylor family began providing recreation at the Provo River's mouth. The family descended from George Taylor, Sr., pioneer photographer, early banker, and founder of Taylor's Furniture, one the most notable businesses in early Provo; following his example, many of Taylor's children and grandchildren became important business, political, and religious leaders in Provo Members of the family owned or managed resorts at the mouth of the Provo River for more than a decade, and for many years they also owned and operated Geneva and Saratoga resorts
In 1919 Frank Eastmond, an ambitious Salt Lake schoolteacher, was looking for a summer job. He and his wife, Clarissa Taylor Eastmond, a granddaughter of George Taylor, Sr., took over Gammon's lease on the small resort. They managed the business, which they called Riverside Resort, in partnership with James F. McClellan, husband of the aunt for whom Clarissa had been named, Harriett Clarissa Taylor McClellan. Uncle Jim took care of the boat rentals, watched the small resort during the school year, and ran a twenty-acre farm on the north side of the river during the summer, when Eastmond and his wife were free to watch the concessions. The partners expanded their business by converting the front part of the caretaker's cabin into a small store stocked with candy, drinks, and a limited supply of picnic groceries They also served light lunches Rowboats were available, and the partners also rented bathing suits to excursionists.15
Swimmers frequently traveled the quarter-mile from Riverside to the shore of Utah Lake to bathe. People who made the trip found that there were advantages to bathing in the lake. The water was warmer than the water of the river, and beautiful sand covered the beach,
'^Clarence Dixon Taylor, comp., "George Taylor, Sr and His Family: Photographer - MerchantBanker," p 257, copy in possession of the author
making it a perfect place to sunbathe Besides, for certain bathers some of the scenery was really rather appealing. In 1920, when the printers of Provo took their annual bath in the lake, they reported that many people were using the beach, some of them quite curvaceous. The printers enthusiastically wrote that sitting on the beach had "any bathing revue beat that the stickers of type have witnessed."
They also noticed one definite disadvantage: there was no convenient place to change clothes The printers complained about "the long pull from the swimming water to the dressing places ... as going that distance in a wet bathing suit is no warm picnic, especially with the lake breeze fanning you." This problem did not go unnoticed by the operators of Riverside, and they were encouraged by Provo's Commercial Club to take steps toward solving it.16
The first action was taken in 1919 when Arthur N. Taylor, Provo mayor Le Roy Dixon, Frank Eastmond, and associates helped complete plans to form the Skipper Bay drainage district. Taylor, an uncle of Clarissa Taylor Eastmond, was a prominent Provo businessman who was vice president and assistant manager of the successful Taylor Brothers Department Store. When his health began to decline, he felt that ajob in the fresh air might help him recuperate. In the latter part of 1920, Arthur N sold his stock in the department store to his brother, Thomas N. Taylor, for $50,000 and other considerations. Arthur N. then invested the money in the Skipper Bay reclamation project and eventually bought about 140 of the area's 600 acres of farmland, hoping to reclaim it from the seasonal ravages of Utah Lake and plant it in sugar beets. In the fall of 1920 Taylor and other farmers began to dike the area north of the Provo River The dike, which extended more than a mile from the mouth of the river, was about six feet high and twelve feet wide at the top. A large drainage canal ran along the landward side of the structure; seepage water from the canal was pumped over the dike and into the lake.17
After the land behind the dike was safe from the lake's seasonal fluctuations, Eastmond planned "to build a large dancing pavilion on the north side of the river, across which a bridge . . . [was] to be built, and [to place] a large number of bath houses near the west dike."18 Before Eastmond's plans came to fruition, however, he and his father-
16 Provo Herald, March 18, August 12, 1920
17 "George Taylor, Sr and His Family," pp 145-48; Provo Post, April 22, 1921; Lehi Sun, April 28, 1921
18 Provo Post, June 20, 1919; DeseretEvening News, June 21, 1919
340 Utah Historical Quarterly
Provonna Beach Resort 341
in-law, Walter G Taylor, Arthur N.'s brother, acquired an option on the Geneva Resort, which was located on the lake slightly north and west of the present Geneva Steel Plant. Arthur N. Taylor now bought out Eastmond's interest in the Riverside Resort, retaining James McClellan, his brother-in-law, as a partner. During the summer Arthur N.'s boys could work on the nearby farm and help their Uncle Jim with the operation of the store and boat rentals.19
In the spring of 1921, as the Skipper Bay Dike neared completion, the climate for business expansion seemed favorable. Arthur N. Taylor confidently announced that work had begun on what he hoped would become a large resort on the sandy beach at the mouth of the river. A headline in the Provo Herald optimistically proclaimed in bold letters, "UTAH'S FINEST BATHING BEACH TO COST HALF MILLION."
The accompanying article described the future resort in glowing terms: "There will be parks, lawns, flowers, walks, quiet nooks and all that goes to make a resort that will give to the visitors a real touch of nature." Then the paper quoted Taylor as saying, "We not alone think but we know that the mouth of Provo river offers the possibilities of one of the finest bathing resorts to be found in the world. We have so much faith in the project that we are willing to spend money on it. We have already spent several thousand dollars in the way of starting the work. We will continue to spend until the resort iswhat we have in mind." Taylor further stated tihat the resort's motto would be courtesy and fair treatment. "We would rather have one visitor who goes away satisfied even if he does not spend a cent, than to have one who spends $10 and goes away dissatisfied."20 Unfortunately, Taylor was to eventually have his rathers.
The first problem to be solved was how to get cars to the new resort. There had never been an automobile bridge near the mouth of Provo River. Since the resort was to be on the north side of the river, and Center Street terminated on the south side, workmen began a wooden span across that stream. Providing a sturdy but economical bridge called for a great deal of Utah Valley frugality and ingenuity. "Doc" Loveless, who owned a farm in northeastern Provo, agreed to provide the piles for the bridge. Tough black locusts grew along the irrigation canal that ran through his property; Loveless furnished eight of the largest and straightest trees he had and hauled them to the site of the bridge. These twenty-foot-long locusts were driven into the bed of the Provo by means of an ancient horse-powered pile driver
19 "George Taylor, Sr and His Family," p 147
20 Provo Herald, May 11, 1921; Provo Post, April 22, 1921
belonging to Utah County. The pile driver was pulled down the north side of the river, and four posts were driven from that side Then it was pulled upstream about two miles to the county bridge on Geneva Road and taken back down the south side of the river to drive the four remaining posts.
The material for the trusses came from the old Provo Tabernacle. When George Clark had demolished the tabernacle during the winter and spring of 1918-1919, he salvaged its red pine (Douglas fir) beams and trusses and stored them in his backyard. Taylor bought from Clark the majority of the material used to finish the bridge Two of the best beams, approximately one foot thick, were placed as plates, one on each side of the pilings. Using fishing barges borrowed from George Madsen as working platforms, workmen then placed two trusses on the plates and secured them together at the top with 3x12 planks Other 3x12s were then nailed to the girders spanning the river After the bridge was completed, several of the workmen danced a jig on it as part of a christening ceremony. 21
High water delayed the building of the bathhouses, but as soon as it was possible Taylor hired local carpenterJ.W. Howe, Sr., to supervise their construction Howe, working with Taylor's sons, built the bathhouses with their rear sides resting on the dike and the fronts supported by piles driven into the sandy beach. It was not until July 12, 1921, that the workmen finished construction on fifty of these bathhouses on stilts.22 The boat rentals, picnic tables, and concessions remained at the grove upstream from the beach
In preparation for the resort's opening, Taylor bought boxes of sturdy woolen swimming suits, and the family went to work with white lead paint, brushes, and stencils Soon the word 'Provonna' was emblazoned across the front of the suits, and they were ready to rent. The Provonna Beach Resort opened to the public on Saturday, July 16, of that year. It was basically a no-frills, family-run operation, but it provided the people of Provo with a place to cool off and have fun.23
Arthur N. Taylor's family of eight children usually took care of business at the beach Two of his sons acted as general supervisors Another of the boys was stationed at the bridge to collect the fees for using the beach. Yet another son was in charge of renting out the
21 Elton L Taylor, "My Association With Utah Lake," pp 31-35 MS, Elton Taylor Collection, Manuscripts Division, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
22 Ibid., pp 36-37; Provo Post, July 12, 1921
23 Interview with Clarence D Taylor, Provo, Utah, August 19, 1997
342 Utah Historical Quarterly
swimming suits. If people had their own swimming suits on under their clothes, they were charged a usage fee of fifteen cents each. If they needed to rent a suit and use the bathhouses, they were charged thirty-five cents Each night, a daughter took the used suits home, sanitized them in Clorox, and washed them.24
The bathhouses needed constant maintenance They had no electric lights at first, so kerosene lamps lit the dressing rooms. Each day a family member had to clean the glass chimneys, trim the wicks, and add new kerosene to the lamps. In addition, they swept the bathhouses and carried fresh water from the well to fill the foot tubs where the bathers rinsed the sand from their feet. After the boys had finished their evening work, they frequently ended the day with a swim in the lake. Those who stayed at the beach slept in the screened cabin in the grove. 25 Apparently some of the townspeople were disappointed that Provonna did not have more to offer. An editorial in the Provo Herald reminded the people of that town not to expect too much that first year: "A mountain isn't moved in a moment, cities are not built in a day, and bathing beaches are not perfected in a month." The paper proceeded to remind its readers that only with their support could the resort grow and improve. It concluded by cautioning that this could not be done "if the 'knockers chorus' works overtime."26
Each member of the Arthur N. Taylorfamily helped to run Provonna Resort. Front row, left to right: Arthur D., Maria D., Ruth Elaine, Arthur N., LynnD. Back row, left to right: Elton L., ClarenceD., Alice Louise, Henry D., Orson Kenneth. CourtesyClarenceD. Taylor.
24 Elton L Taylor, "As I Remember Events in My Life" (privately published, 1984), p.15 Elton Taylor Collection, Marriott Library
25 Elton L Taylor, "My Association With Utah Lake," pp 38-39
26 Provo Herald, July 20, 1921.
The resort made only enough money that first year to pay for the capital improvements, and Arthur N. sought another source of revenue to sustain his family. It was natural for him to turn back to the occupation that he knew best, the furniture business. He and a group of associates organized a business named the Dixon Taylor Russell Company, and they erected a three-story brick building at the corner of Third West and Center Street, on the south side of Provo's main business district. The new company opened on November 1, 1921. Business was good, the company grew rapidly, and eventually the directors opened ten branches throughout central and eastern Utah
The owners of Provonna planned on making a profit in 1922, but their hopes were dashed when nature intervened. That winter huge piles of ice driven by a northwest wind swept ashore and demolished the bathhouses. When the spring thaws began, the Provo River became a rushing torrent and flowed over its banks east of the resort. Its waters filled Skipper Bay, flooded the resort from above, and finished the resort's destruction by scattering the wood from the bathhouses all over the bay When the floodwaters receded, salvage crews used George Madsen's fishing barges to pick up lumber and doors all along the lake front Salvagers even found some lumber washed up on nearby farms. The workmen stacked the lumber on dry land along the river.27
Although Taylor hoped to reopen Provonna that summer, the furniture business monopolized his time Meanwhile the family rented rowboats to visitors. Other than that, business at Provonna was almost non-existent.
In 1923 the U.S. Government considered helping to dike areas along the eastern and southern shores of Utah Lake. Taylor announced that when assurances were given that the diking work would begin, he would start rebuilding the resort. The diking program lost favor, however, and apparently it was two years later before Taylor made much effort to reestablish the resort near the present location of the ice skating rink at Utah Lake State Park.
Then in 1925 Taylor hired workmen to bring in power, construct a store, drill a well for drinking water, and build an ice storage shed not far from the bridge. After the resort re-opened, family members cut ice during the winter and hauled it to the ice shed; there they 27 Elton L Taylor, "My Association With Utah Lake," pp 28-30, 39
344 Utah Historical Quarterly
packed it in sawdust until it was needed to make ice cream and cool soft drinks. The family also continued to operate the store in the grove located further up the river.28
J. W. Howe, Sr., again supervised a group of workmen, who built thirty bathhouses out of the lumber that had been salvaged from the first, ill-fated buildings. The lake's demolition of the first bathhouses had provided a learning experience. Since the water level of the lake fluctuated widely, the carpenters constructed the dressing rooms on log skids so they could be moved to and fro and kept near the water's edge They could also be moved back from the edge of the lake so that they would not be victims of the next ice breakup.29
These improvements brought more business to the area. Many excursionists visited the beach in the evening and at night to cool off. One balmyJuly evening in 1929, Don McEwan and Porter McDonald of Provo were walking along the beach north of the resort when they made a startling find: in the distance a lifeless form lay on the beach Without closer investigation, the two rapidly returned to Provo and contacted the police. Equipped with flashlights, deputy sheriff Elias Gee and police officer George Durnell accompanied the two back to the scene of their discovery and found the body "dead as a door nail." In fact, it was completely inanimate Some ingenious bathers had molded a reclining man from sand and smoothed its lifelike exterior with a thin coating of mud The embarrassed pair and the officers had a good laugh and left the beach.30
28 Daily Herald, September 7, 1923; Sunday Herald, July 5, 1925; interview with Clarence D Taylor, Provo, Utah, June 11, 1996
30 Evening Herald, July 15, 1925
An excursion boat tied to the Provonna movablepier. Courtesy of Clarence D. Taylor.
29 "George Taylor, Sr. and His Family," p. 258.
In 1926 the resort was incorporated, and the family made more improvements. Connected to the south end of the store they built a screened 30x60-foot lunchroom complete with electric lights, sixteen picnic tables, ample benches, and a sand floor. Workmen planted clover on the grounds, placed tables under the trees near the river for those who wished to eat outside, built swings for the amusement of the children, and added 30 more bathhouses, making the total number 60. The bathhouses were now illuminated with electric lights.31
Late in the summer the river was often very low, and a sand bar formed across its mouth. To make boating in the lake more accessible to the public, the Taylors built a portable pier on wooden trestles As the water receded, the pier was picked up and carried into deeper water. Boats were rented from the pier, and owners of private crafts were charged a small fee for the use of the facility. The pier also provided a walkway for bathers.32
Ashted Taylor, Arthur N.'s brother, and his family managed Provonna that year. It was a year of exciting and bizarre happenings at the resort. One of them involved the pier. Even though the first flying machine had landed in Provo in 1911,33 airplanes were still somewhat of a novelty in Utah Valley in the 1920s. Those pilots who did come to the area frequently used the sandy beaches of Utah Lake as landing places. And when holiday crowds assembled at Provonna, it was not unusual for enterprising pilots to bring in planes and sell rides. On July 24, 1926, as a large group of bathers, sun worshipers, and observers gathered at the resort, one Milo Morrill of Provo brought in his plane piloted by H.A. Sweet of Salt Lake for the purpose of selling rides to thrillseekers. Two Lakeview teenagers, Clinton Shaw and Herbert Madsen, scrambled into the plane for their first ride. It proved to be a short one, but what it lacked in length it made up for in excitement
The plane was parked on the east side of the resort about one hundred yards north of the bathhouses. As it started to taxi toward the waterfront for a takeoff, pilot Sweet noticed two small boys lying in the sand in a direct line with the course of the plane. He made a sharp turn to the left, spun in a complete circle, and barely missed the suit rental room of the resort's bathing department by a few feet. The plane careened straight toward a car parked at the edge of the water
31 Evening Herald, May 12 and 27, 1926
32 "George Taylor, Sr. and His Family," p. 260.
33 Sunday Herald, February 24, 1957
346 Utah Historical Quarterly
Pilots chargedfor rides on holidays and weekends, using the sandy beaches of Utah Lake for landings and takeoffs. It was a plane similar to these that was involved in the 1926 crash. Above: photo courtesy of Roland Strong. Below: Chuck Sisto and his Wacoon the Utah Lake shore in about 1929. Courtesy Norma Smith Wright.
Provonna Beach Resort 347
about four feet south of Provonna's pier. Mr. and Mrs. Leon Petit sat riveted in their large car and apprehensively eyed the rapid approach of the wayward plane. Their six-year-old son, Leon, stood transfixed on the running board of their car. A few yards away from the automobile the plane became airborne, but it was not high enough to completely miss the vehicle. There was ajarring racket, and the Petits must have flinched as the plane tore a large chunk from the roof of their car, struck a zigzag course along the pier, ripped a section of it out, and nosedived into the water, practically demolished.
Miraculously, Mr. and Mrs. Petit, the pilot, and his passengers were unharmed. However, the hapless Leon, who fortunately ducked his head fast enough to remove it from harm's way, left his arm resting against the roof of the car. Some part of the plane must have struck his arm and rolled him onto the sand. Bruised and shocked, he was taken to Provo's Aird Hospital suffering from a compound fracture of the left arm. Doctors expected him to make a complete recovery. However, he may have suffered from an aversion to airplanes the rest of his life.34
A little over a week later people at the resort witnessed another stirring event that almost turned tragic On the warm, lazy Sunday afternoon of August 1, four teenaged girls, Mable Olsen, Pauline Vincent, Beulah Thurgood, and Lorna Jones, decided to ride their bicycles to the lake and go for a swim Their parents were against swimming on Sunday so the girls had to act clandestinely. They arrived at the beach hot and sweaty after their three-mile ride, and they were ready for a cooling dip in the lake After walking out into the water as far as they could, they decided to swim out to a launch where several other young people had gathered.
Before they reached the boat, however, they became exhausted and decided to swim back to the beach. Beulah and Lorna led out; Mable and Pauline followed. After swimming a short distance, Pauline's strength left her, and she called to Mable for help Mable, who was a swimmer for Provo High, turned back to aid her friend. Pauline was panicky and almost pulled her friend down, but Mable pushed her away, grabbed her by the hair, and swam for shore with her one free arm. Seymore Prows, a Salt Lake insurance salesman, heard cries for help and rushed to the aid of the two girls. Mable was just about overcome by fatigue when he reached them Prows helped
348 Utah Historical Quarterly
34 Evening Herald and Deseret News, July 26, 1926.
Provo SecondWard girls bathing near the mouth ofProvo River about 1920. Thebeach on the north side of the river was covered with sand. Courtesy Kathleen Swenson.
the girls to shallower water, and they rested for a while before returning home The girls were afraid to tell their parents what had happened, and Mable's mother did not find out about her daughter's heroic actions until the next day, when she read the evening paper. Her first words to Mable were, "I wondered what was the matter with you." Fortunately, life at the resort was not always that dangerous.35
In 1927 Arthur N. Taylor became the sole owner of the resort, and again his family helped him operate the facility The Provonna slowly continued to grow as Taylor made several new improvements. Near the beach his workmen built a new dressing area with a freshwater shower North of the pavilion, overlooking the lake, they built two one-room cottages on seven-foot stilts; the cottages would be used by Taylor's family and their guests. Also, the Taylors doubled the size of the pavilion and added a first-class maple dance floor overlooking the river. A small, white, moveable picket fence between the dancing and picnic areas could be moved in either direction to provide either more lunchroom space or a larger dance floor One of the first electric amplifying phonographs, a Brunswick Panatrope, furnished the dance music. Later a Victor Electrola, which played ten records before it needed reloading, was installed For five cents, customers could hear a record of their choice. The new operators also added an eight-section ice cream cabinet, an eight-foot refrigerator, a sodawater fountain, a soda bottle cooler, and a Magnus root beer barrel to the store. In later years the Taylor boys fondly remembered the root beer barrel and how much they enjoyed making each new batch of the beverage. Many adjustments had to be made in the amount of concentrated syrup
35 Evening Herald and Deseret News, August 2, 1926; Mable Olsen, interview with author, Provo, Utah, March 21, 1993; tape and transcript in author's possession
added to the barrel to give the root beer that "heavenly taste," and with each addition of syrup one of the boys had to taste-test the root beer. The end result was that belching became a routine part of the root beer taster'sjob. Consequently, it became a Taylor family custom to say "magnus" rather than "excuse me" every time somebody in the family belched.36
The city tried to help the resort by upgrading the road to the beach in 1928. For more than a week all of Provo's road equipment and a large crew of men worked on the unpaved segment of West Center David Stagg, supervisor of streets, hoped to make it "one of the best roads in the city."37
In spite of all the improvements, Provonna made very little money, even though in the late '20s the management staged several unique activities there in an effort to bring in customers. One of the most notable was a water carnival in 1929jointly sponsored by BYU, Provonna Beach Resort, and the Provo Yacht Association. Shirl Wilson of the Provo Yacht Association was appointed Lord High Admiral of the fleet of boats and general manager of the entire show Leroy Whitehead, president of the "Y' studentbody, became the grand master of the program that preceded the pageant and carnival. BYU professor E.H. Eastmond assisted in decorating the boats.
At 8:00 on the evening ofJune 30, a free program of music and dance was presented on a platform erected near the edge of Provo River After the program, a brilliantly lighted boat parade called "King Neptune's Fleet"—featuring bathing beauties and aqua board riding—sailed up the river from the lake to the bridge, a distance of about one quarter of a mile. The parade was followed by dancing at the Provonna Resort.38 For Utah County in 1929, this was a pretty exciting program, and it was accomplished on a small budget since most of the labor was contributed
In 1930 Taylor lost two of his family helpers to school graduation and a mission. This, combined with the increasing amount of time that he spent on his other business interests and the fact that the Provonna had not been very successful financially, induced him to lease the resort toJohn and Denzil Brown. The Browns, who renamed the resort The Beach, had previously operated Benjamin's Arrowhead Resort in southern Utah County. The brothers provided twenty rental
36 Sunday Herald, June 12, 1927; "George Taylor, Sr. and His Family," pp. 259-60.
37 Evening Herald, June 14, 1928
38 Evening Herald, June 21 and 27, 1929
350 Utah Historical Quarterly
Provonna Beach Resort 351
boats for the public, opened a new cafe, and built a 64x100-foot openair dance hall with a cement floor adjoining the enclosed dance floor. They held weekly dances during the summer season; the noted Ralph Migliaccio's Chicago Hotel Orchestra furnished music for the grand opening.39
The resort's only fatality happened during this year. After Thomas Christiansen of Salt Lake City purchased a speed boat, he and other members of his family drove to the beach to enjoy an outing and try out the new boat During the day Christiansen and other family members cruised on the smooth surface of the lake That evening Ruth Cole, Thomas's married sister, persuaded him to take the boat out again, even though a brisk breeze had now whipped up sizeable waves. The two were about three-quarters of a mile from the mouth of Provo River in water eight feet deep when the driver attempted to turn the boat and return to shore A wave struck the craft squarely and flipped it over. Thomas, who was heavily clothed, swam to his sister, and she seized him by the shoulders. Thus encumbered, he swam for the beach. But his clothing became waterlogged, and they both sank, just forty yards from shallow water.
On shore, George M Nuttall and Bob and Matt Phillips had seen the boat overturn. They rapidly launched a power boat and sped to the aid of the pair in the water. Mark Oakley and Barmore Snell also assisted. When they arrived, Thomas was floating unconscious in the water; his sister had disappeared. Men dived for the body of the missing woman while the unconscious man was taken ashore and revived by artificial respiration administered by Dr. CH. Smith.
Meanwhile, a search party frantically sought the body of Mrs. Cole using draglines and grappling hooks. The accident had happened at about five o'clock; at eight o'clock the hooks caught in part of the young woman's clothing, and her body was pulled from the water, only about ten feet from where the boat had sunk. Cole was taken to shore, where Provo fire chief Reed Boshard waited with a pulmotor to revive her; for nearly an hour he worked in vain attempting to restore life. Mrs. Cole, whose parents lived in Provo, was the mother of a one-yearold son. 40
Events at the beach that year were not all somber, however.
During the summer of 1930 Provonians witnessed the glitziest spectacle ever staged at the resort. The Provo American Legion Post No. 13
39
Taylor,
40 Evening Herald, Salt Lake Tribune,
26, 1930; Springville Herald, May 29, 1930
Evening Herald, June 5, 7, and 13, 1930; George
Sr and His Family, p 260
May
NAVAL BATTLE-PRO^
helped sponsor a Fourth ofJuly fireworks program that reenacted the Battle of Manila Bay. The Herald advertised it as "worth coming miles to see and something so different from what is expected on any but the great waterways of the country, that it will be the subject of pleasing comment for weeks to come."41
In preparation for the spectacle two mock battleships were constructed a quarter of a mile offshore in Utah Lake. The construction itself offered some entertainment to those present on the shore one Saturday night. On that night, Provo teenager Bob Boshard left work at the Paramount Theater and joined several of his friends for a ride to the lake When the car loaded with young men arrived at the beach, a group of skinny-dipping workmen was laboring on the boats. As the auto pulled into a parking place, its lights skimmed the surface of the lake and illuminated the naked workmen, who scampered into deeper water to cover their white bottoms. Women in cars onshore, many of whom were wives of the workmen, guffawed loudly and honked their horns. Despite this enemy attack, the ships were put in fighting trim, and early the following morning the men came wearily back to the beach on shore leave.42
In order to advertise the event, the Legion constructed a large battleship float and took it to parades as far away as Ogden. The veterans also made special preparations at the beach. South of the river
41 Sunday Herald,June 22, 1930
42 Interview with Bob Boshard, Provo, Utah, November 23, 1995; Evening Herald, June 23, 1930.
352 Utah Historical Quarterly
Ii mm m '" '*' "• •' < - 'iMMMM-
Float advertising theJuly 4, 1930, reenactment of theBattle ofManila Bay. The float, seen here infront of the Utah County building, was entered in parades throughout the state. Courtesy Roland Strong.
they cleared a parking area big enough to accommodate 15,000 cars, and they also constructed a pontoon bridge over the Provo to make it easy for the holiday throng of pedestrians to cross the river Utah Power and Light installed floodlights along the beach. The legion obviously planned on a large crowd.43
When on July 1 the explosives to be used as fireworks during the naval battle arrived at the train station, they caused some alarm. The station agent frantically called the chairman of the fireworks committee and told him to come down to the depot as quickly as he could.
When the chairman arrived, he found more than a dozen barrels and crates marked "Dangerous—High Explosives—Keep away from fire— Don't drop or jar." Naturally, the agent wanted the material removed from the station as rapidly as possible
But nobody wanted to move or store the explosives—until an ingenious member of the committee came up with a plan. The men removed the warnings on the boxes and replaced them with stickers that said, "Glass—Handle with care—Liquids—This side up." Then they hired a transport company to take the merchandise to the lake, where guards were placed around it. The deceivers had clear consciences; after all, during those days of prohibition there were both dry and liquid fireworks.44
On the afternoon of the Fourth, more than 4,000 cars filled with people surged toward The Beach to witness the "Great Naval Battle." Activities at the lake started with a program featuring a parade of bathing beauties (the top prize was a $100 diamond ring), up-to-date vaudeville acts, fancy dancing, and musical and vocal numbers. On the river there were swimming races, fancy diving contests, and fly-casting and aqua board riding exhibitions. Chairs and benches had been set up under the trees for those who desired them Fifty legion members patrolled the grounds as special police.
The evening "battle" came off without a hitch. Specially made shells and rockets were launched from the boats along with other fireworks, and in a spectacular finale one of the ships was blown up It was well after midnight before all the cars had left the beach.45
This event in 1930 proved to be the resort's last big hurrah That same year Arthur N. Taylor suffered a severe hemorrhage of the stomach caused by worry and long hours of work, and he was never entirely
43 Evening Herald, June 16, 23; July 2, 1930
44 Evening Herald, July 1, 1930
45 Evening Herald, June 19, 22, 23, 1930.
353
Provonna Beach Resort
well after that. He had neither the strength nor the inclination to oversee the resort business With the coming of the depression, business dropped off, and the lessees did not maintain the resort well. By 1932 the beach was closed, and the surrounding land was again being farmed The Taylor family eventually dismantled the dance hall; much of the lumber was used to build two new houses for the Lynn and Henry Taylor families on the hill above where the Provo LDS Temple is now located.46
The short life of Provonna, the last private resort at the mouth of the Provo River, spanned a little more than a decade. The resort had been born at a time when Arthur N. Taylor was optimistic about business and searching for a way to expand. It died with the beginning of the Great Depression, when Taylor was forced to retrench In the end, the project resulted in a great deal of experience and many lasting memories but very little profit.
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. Th e 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: 3,302 copies printed; 90 dealer and counter sales; 2,938 mail subscriptions; 3,028 total paid circulation; 42 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,112 total distribution; 190 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total, 3,302
The following figures are the actual number of copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,371 copies printed; 10 dealer and counter sales; 2,931 mail subscriptions; 2,941 total paid circulation; 33 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 2,974 total distribution; 397 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 3,371
354 Utah Historical Quarterly
46 "George Taylor, Sr and His Family," p 260
The Lynching ofRobert Marshall 357
watchman for the Utah Fuel Company, was shot and fatally wounded while making his rounds It was a brutal murder, likely the result of a personal grudge: Burns was shot five times, beaten about the head with a revolver, and kicked in the face. There were no eye-witnesses, but two or three young boys playing near the scene later identified Bob Marshall as the assailant, who immediately after the shooting fled into surrounding hills Soon thereafter a search party, organized by Carbon County Sheriff Ray Deming and eventually numbering upwards of 150 men, combed the hills in pursuit After Burns died on June 16, community anger over the heinous murder of a popular lawman increased and reached a fever pitch during the course of a twoand-one-half-day manhunt that included a brief exchange of gunfire between Marshall and his pursuers. 4
Sometime during the night of June 17 an exhausted Robert Marshall returned to the cabin he had been sharing with fellow black miner George Gray, a mere half-mile from the murder scene. The next morning, while Marshall slept, Gray went to Utah Fuel Company headquarters in Castle Gate and advised authorities of Marshall's whereabouts. At approximately 9:30 A.M. a nine-man posse led by Deputy Sheriff Henry East descended upon Gray's cabin and captured Marshall without any resistance. A three-car procession, headed by an auto containing Marshall and driven by East, headed for Price about ten miles away. En route, the party met up with Sheriff Deming. Deming told them of reports that a lynch mob was forming in town and then sped away in the opposite direction. Upon reaching town, the caravan stopped in front of the county courthouse amid an angry crowd But instead of taking Marshall directly to jail, East went into the courthouse, leaving the prisoner unattended. Members of the crowd, rope in hand, commandeered the vehicle and headed out of town followed by a parade of "at least 100 cars."5
As extralegal executions, lynchings typically were out-of-sight occurrences, but in this instance Carbon County residents knew in advance of the "necktie party." Several hundred—some estimates say upwards of 1,000—men, women, and children gathered at approximately 10:20 A.M.around a tall cottonwood tree on the Critchlow farm,
5 T/^Szm,Junel9 , 1925
4 The account of the Marshall lynching and its aftermath is based upon the author's research for a monograph on the subject The basic sources include reports of events contained in the two Price newspapers, the Sun and the News-Advocate, and in every other newspaper published in the state; major national and regional dailes as well as the leading African American papers; official government records; archival materials in local and national depositories; and numerous oral interviews.
some two and one-half miles east of Price, near Wellington. The crowd, described by a reporter on the scene as consisting not of "disorderly, violent, undesirables" but, instead, of "your neighbors, your friends, the tradespeople with whom you are wont to barter . . . public employees, [and] folks prominent in church and social circles,"watched as a noose was placed around Marshall's neck and as he was hoisted into the air and hanged.6 Ten minutes later three deputies belatedly arrived and cut him down; when the lynchers detected evidence of life, Marshall was hanged a second time and died from a broken neck. Although the newspapers reported that "No attempt at concealment was made by any member of the lynching party [and] in fact, participation in the affair seemed to be a matter of boasting," Deming and his deputies professed not to know the identity of those responsible for the lynching.7 But an investigation conducted by District Attorney Fred W. Keller and County Attorney Oliver K. Clay resulted in warrants being issued on June 20 for the arrest of the five ringleaders, four of whom were charged with "pulling the rope"; the next day warrants were issued for the arrest of six principal accomplices.8 All
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
8
Price Main Street, probably early 1920s.
The five initial arrest warrants were issued for Charlie Atwood, barber; Joseph Golding, proprietor of Golding Brothers Vulcanizing Works; George O'Neill, barber; Morgan King, Price city electrician; and Henry East, deputy sheriff of Castle Gate and special agent for the Utah Fuel Company The subsequent six arrest warrants were for E E.Jones, superintendent of Utah Fuel Company at Castle Gate; Warren Peacock, Price city marshal; Joseph Parmley, chief clerk of the Utah Fuel Company; Joh n Daskalakis, night watchman for Utah Fuel; L.T Davis, store manager for Utah Fuel; and Joseph Caldwell, Utah Fuel employee
eleven men, six of whom were employees of Utah Fuel Company, were charged with murder in the first degree; they subsequently waived preliminary hearing and were bound over for trial But instead of proceeding to trial, Keller and Clay, against their better judgment, bowed to the insistence of Governor George Dern and State Attorney General Harvey Cluff and agreed to summon a grand jury—whereupon the eleven men, whose time in jail had resembled more a celebration than an incarceration, were released on bail on June 30, itself an unusual act in a first-degree murder case. 9 The grand jury opened on July 28. The identity of the lynchers was common knowledge, but none of the 125 witnesses called before the grand jury could—or would—testify against any of the eleven suspects. On August 18 the grand jury concluded that there was insufficient evidence to indict any of the Carbon County Eleven, and they were accordingly released
The basic facts of the Marshall lynching are well known, as they are part of the public record. Less well known and therefore difficult to explain succinctly are the actions taken—or not taken—by those directly and indirectly involved in the events, from the murder of J Milton Burns through the conclusion of the grandjury proceedings Explanations run the gamut from ethnic tensions and labor unrest to social vigilantism in the guise of the Ku Klux Klan, from irresponsible hooliganism and mob psychology to racism. These complicated and complex issues need not concern us here; what does concern us is the meaning of the Marshall lynching.
The summer of 1925 claimed numerous victims, to wit:
1. People were victims. Robert Marshall was a victim of premeditated, cruel, and unusual murder; his wife, Pearl, of Van Buren, Arkansas, was also a victim. J. Milton Burns was a victim of a brutal, senseless murder; his wife, Olivia, and six children were also victims.
2 Impartial and honest law enforcement was a victim Lynchings rarely occurred when police showed any determination to protect a prisoner. Peace officers sworn to uphold the law were derelict in their duty by turning Marshall over to a lynch mob, by failing to intercede and stop the lynching, by refusing to cooperate with the district and county attorneys, and by lying to the grand jury If any one person is not protected by law enforcement officials, then no one is.
3 The judicial process and the sanctity of the law were victims
The Lynching of
359
Robert Marshall
9 The Salt Lake Telegram, June 30, 1925, reported, "The prisoners have been the idols of the Carbon County citizens since they have been incarcerated in the county jail, according to sherrif's officers, citizens in sympathy with the alleged lynchers made pilgrimages from various sections of the county and brought foodstuffs, delicacies and candy to the prisoners during the past ten days."
Not only did vigilantes take the law into their own hands and thereby deny Bob Marshall his fundamental constitutional rights of due process and trial byjury, but also public officials and judicial officers from the statehouse in Salt Lake City to the courthouse in Carbon County conspired to undermine the legal system and prevent the accused lynchers from coming to trial. Newspapers in Price and elsewhere in the state expressed a common rationalization: the lynching, while unfortunate, merely expedited the administration of justice to a guilty party. But the hallmark of a civilized society is rule by law, not justice That Marshall's guilt was assumed—but never proved—by blacks as well as whites is irrelevant. The murders ofJ. Milton Burns and Robert Marshall were lawless, criminal acts, but the greater crime was the subsequent lawlessness within the law. As the Apostle Paul counseled Timothy, "the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; . . . the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient . . . for murderers [and] manslayers."10 The worst injustice is the use of the law to perpetuate or cause injustice. What happened—the murders of Burns and Marshall—was tragic. What did not happen is the more tragic:justice was not allowed to run its course; the lynchers were never brought to trial. At the conclusion of the grand jury, Fred Keller declared: T am ashamed at the disgraceful mockery of law and order which has resulted in the affair right from the beginning, and the manner in which the state has been held up to ridicule."11
4. The moral fiber of a community was a victim. Hundreds of people saw the lynching but were blind tojustice. Not a single person summoned before the grand jury would tell the truth—while under oath! The lynching was a tragedy not only because Bob Marshall was illegally executed but also because so many good people behaved so badly either by directly abetting the subversion ofjustice or indirectly by raising no voice in protest, thereby helping erect a wall of silence; their commitment to protecting fellow community members transcended their commitment to protecting supposedly inalienable constitutional and legal rights. Most residents either condoned the lynching or acquiesed in it.12 A thin line separates civility from savagery, and whenever normally decent, law-abiding people decline the obligations of citizenship and dictates of conscience, commit injustice
101 Timothy 1:8-9
11
12
360 Utah Historical Quarterly
Quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Ogden Standard-Examiner, August 19, 1925.
A photograph of Marshall hanging from the tree limb was displayed in some store windows and sold as postcards
The Lynching of Robert Marshall 361
in the name ofjustice, and engage in lawless disorder in the pursuit of law and order, the line becomes dangerously close to being obliterated.
5. The integrity of the press was a victim. The two newspapers in Price, as well as papers in some other Utah communities, failed to denounce the lynching and the miscarriage ofjustice that followed it Upon the arrest of the alleged lynchers, the Sun proclaimed, "If these eleven men are in any danger of severe punishment this community is not awake to such a condition. And there is fast growing a feeling that is about time that the matter was closed up." At the conclusion of the grand jury, the same paper ran a front-page editorial headlined "All is well that ends well." The editor explained, "The general sentiment of the folks of Carbon county is that even were the men under accusation the actual perpetrators of the lynching there was little to be gained by carrying the matter to a point where they would be severely dealt with."13 Instead of condemning the lynchers, exposing the manipulation of the judicial system, and acting as the voice of community conscience, the press excused the lawlessness, the perversion ofjustice, and the community cover-up and thus by acts of omission and commission was a party to the travesty ofjustice.
6 The final victim was history Those responsible for culling official government files in Salt Lake City and destroying legal records in the Carbon County Courthouse are guilty of obstructing historical justice. We can never know the full story of the Marshall lynching or, more precisely, of the role of state and local officials and private citizens alike in ensuring thatjustice would not be served
There are those who would say that events of long ago, like the Marshall lynching, should be consigned to the dustbins of history, as they have no relevance to our lives today. That was then; this is now. But history is cumulative, for good and for ill. Mr. Jefferson's Declaration of Independence lives today, as do Abraham Lincoln's quest to preserve the Union and the achievements of the immigrants and pioneers who settled America. So, too, we live today with the legacy of slavery, ofJapanese internment camps, and lynchings such as Robert Marshall's. Freedom comes from knowing the past, learning from the past, and using the lessons of the past to elevate the human condition.
What do we learn from the history of the Marshall lynching? We
13 The Sun, June 26 and September 11, 1925
learn that the circumstances of the lynching and its aftermath are complex, but that the root cause is simple—racism Bob Marshall was lynched primarily because he was an itinerant black man. The language used by those who were a party to the lynching underscore that it was an act of racial violence. And subsequentjustice was denied for the same reason: the victim was black and without standing in the community
We gather here today because Robert Marshall was lynched near Price and is buried in the city cemetery However, we gather not to commemorate the lynching but rather to address its importance, and that is less about what happened in Price and Carbon County than about what was happening in Utah, the Intermountain West, and America itself. The Marshall lynching was symptomatic of a societal ill—the racism that afflicted, and still afflicts, America. The Marshall lynching, then, affords the occasion for us to meet in a ceremony of historical recognition and racial reconciliation.
Reconciliation cannot truly occur unless past injustices are fully acknowledged. The Marshall lynching is a representation of past injustices; acknowledging the miscarriage ofjustice and the subversion of the judicial process is an essential part of the healing process Sometimes in trying to save face, we lose face; sometimes in trying to forget, we are unable to forget. We remember past injustices because that is one way of making amends to the victims of injustice. It is also a means whereby we as individuals and as communities can cleanse our historical souls; admission is the first step toward reconciliation.
A second necessary requirement for reconciliation is the sincere extension of understanding and respect to others. Because Marshall died without family in Utah, some of the estimated 100-150 blacks in Carbon County at the time pooled their resources to pay his funeral expenses but had no money for a marker. Today a broader group of friends, not of Bob Marshall, but of racial understanding, gather to dedicate a headstone—a tangible act of atonement that symbolically links the recognition of an historical tragedy with present-day efforts to promote racial harmony and hopes for a tomorrow marked by brotherhood and sisterhood among all peoples We cannot turn back the hands of time and do what should have been done in 1925. But we can, in our time, recognize the injustice that was done to Robert Marshall and accord him the most basic of human dignities by marking his grave with a proper headstone. It is the least we can do. The
362 Utah Historical Quarterly
best we can do is to strive to affect racial reconciliation and understanding.
As the African-American scholar Cornel West reminds us with the title of his 1993 book, Race Matters—then as now The racism that fueled the Marshall lynching persists to a disturbing degree today. In recent months we have learned about racial incidents at ajunior high in Davis County, Utah, at the Martinsville High School in Indiana, and at the University of Indiana; if racism continues to manifest itself in schools, supposed bastions of education and enlightenment, then we assuredly face nothing less than a national crisis in race relations. Thus President Clinton's "Initiative on Race" is welcome; a national dialogue on the issues of race and racism for the purpose of creating a more just and more united America is an admirable objective.
14 Personally, I am not optimistic about its success. Local dialogues about race will likely be more meaningful and more effective in promoting racial understanding We cannot mobilize nationally to combat racism unless individual communities, and communities within communities, act to recognize and confront racism, as we are doing here today
But community dialogues will not be successful unless we as individuals make a personal commitment to keep the faith Summarizing the history of the Marshall lynching, dedicating a headstone, and offering spiritual pronouncements will not get the job done. Others rnay not, indeed many do not, share our sense of historical justice, embrace our belief in the importance of racial healing today, or endorse our vision of tomorrow We cannot help that But we can learn from today's events and resolve to have conversations with our individual consciences, with our family and friends, and with our communities about race relations in America. Do not look to others to resolve the problem of race in America. Instead, embrace the challenge of the poet Robert Frost: "I bid you to the one man revolution— the only one that is coming."
So it is that we gather at the site of a historical tragedy, the Marshall lynching, on the date of another historical tragedy, the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, to address the racism that caused each tragic event. In front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C, on August 28, 1963, Dr. King told us that he had a dream; he
14
363
The Lynching of Robert Marshall
On June 14, 1997, President Clinton announced a program, "One America in the 21st Century: The President's Initiative On Race," to encourage during the ensuing year candid discussions throughout the nation of racial issues as a means of promoting racial understanding and reconciliation He also appointed a seven-member advisory board chaired by the distinguished African American historian Joh n Hope Franklin to assist in promoting the initative and its objectives
later told us he thought that we would not have to go too far and that it would not take us too long to reach the goal of racial harmony in America Today, his dream remains vision, not a reality, and it is clear that we still have far to go and will not soon reach our goals
In an essay entitled "Where Do We Go From Here?" published in April 1972, Dr. King said, "We must first recognize honestly where we are now." I would add that we cannot understand where we are unless we first recognize honestly where we have been. We cannot realistically envision the future without understanding the past History is not a compendium of dates and names It is a tool We learn from history, we gain solace from history, we derive inspiration from history, we find meaning in history We cannot undo the past, but we can recognize what has happened and why. To ignore past misdeeds is to condone them, if only by silence; to acknowledge past misdeeds is to educate, and to educate is to prepare the way for a better tomorrow. Historical tragedies must not be forgotten but kept alive in our individual and collective historical memories as tangible reminders of what can never be allowed to happen again. Take with you, as an appropriate conclusion to our discussion of the Marshall lynching, the insightful, inspiring words from Maya Angelou's poem, "On the Pulse of Morning":
History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, but if faced With courage, need not be lived again
4, 1998
LARRY R. GERLACH Price, Utah April
364 Utah Historical Quarterly
With the focus of the last several years on overland trail history including the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, the editing and publication of the 1846 and 1847 trail journals of Thomas Bullock have made an important contribution to the understanding ofwestern trail history and of Mormon history. The Bullock journals are the first of a proposed fifteen-volume set focused on the Mormon experience in the West to be published by the Arthur H Clark Company under the editorial direction of Will Bagley. Bagley has previously published A Road from Ft Dorado: The 1848 TrailJournal of Ephraim Green and Frontiersman: Abner Blackburn's Narrative.
Thomas Bullock was born on December 23, 1816, in Leek, Stratfordshire, England, and in his teens became a law clerk He married Henrietta Rushton in 1838 and two years laterjoined the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Bullocks traveled to Nauvoo during the spring of 1843, and by October Thomas had become a clerk for Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon prophet. During the next eight months until Smith's death, he was privy to many of the public and private affairs of Smith and the church. Asthe Quorum of the TwelveApostles under the direction of Brigham Young moved into the vacuum left by Smith's death, Bullock continued his role as clerk to the church leadership. He became deeply involved
in the practices of Mormonism at Nauvoo, embracing plural marriage when he married Lucy Caroline Clayton as a second wife and, later in Utah, Betsy Prudence Howard as a third wife. He wasinvolved in Mormon temple ordinances at Nauvoo, and he also became the adopted son of Willard Richards through the "Law of Adoption."
Bullock's 1846 and 1847 journals describe his experiences, along with those of his family and his neighbors, during the Nauvoo exodus, the migration across Iowa (the Poor Camp Journal), and winter on the Missouri River. Most important is the narration of thejourney of the first Mormon pioneer company directed by Brigham Young to the Great Basin and the return trip to the Missouri River In his writing style, Bullock is descriptive and direct. Both he and Brigham Young come into much clearer focus with the publication of these journals. The inclusion of the National Park Service Mormon Pioneer Trail map appended to the back cover of the book is helpful in following the day-by-day journal accounts.
Bullock's vantage point in relating the exodus should not be overlooked. He was both an insider and an outsider. A relatively new convert to Mormonism, he was allowed to witness virtually all that made Nauvoo Mormonism what it was by the time of the Nauvoo exodus; yet he was a clerk
> 1 £ 1 1 1 i 1 i i {•HlflHi innimiiiiitiiiii j 1 11 > •
Book Reviews
The Pioneer Camp of the Saints: The 1846 and 1847 Mormon TrailJournals of Thomas Bullock. Edited by WILL BAGLEY. Vol.I of Kingdom in the West:The Mormons and the American Frontier. (Spokane:Arthur H. Clark Co., 1997. 393 pp. $39.50.)
and as such experienced and recorded events but did little to shape them. Eventually, in 1865, released by Brigham Young from the clerk's position that he had held for mor e than two decades, Bullock moved to Summit County He died in 1885
Bullock was kept busy doing many tasks, including writing, during the pioneer treks of 1846 and 1847, and the writing style in his journals reflects the varied nature of his life. H e drove oxen, took a turn at guard duty, and tended cattle in addition to clerking for Brigham Young and Willard Richards His often brief journa l phrases are descriptive and reveal a subtle sense of humor from an individual who is often self-effacing. Brigham Young appears as a strong and very direct leader. Bullock complains to his journa l of hardships and difficulties but also revels in the westward trek of the Mormons and the place that h e sees this trek has in history
The footnotes are informative and
well done Ther e is a question concerning the date of Bullock's marriage to his second wife as cited by Bagley (31) The date noted is Januar y 23, 1843, when the Bullocks were preparing to leave England It is questionable whether plural marriages were being performed outside of the environs of Nauvoo during this era, and it seems more likely that Bullock married Lucy Caroline Clayton Bullock following his arrival in Nauvoo in the spring of 1843 Many Mormon historians would take issue with the statement mad e by Bagley that, at the time of his death, Joseph Smith, Jr., "probably would have wanted his offices to go to his son" (42). Despite some minor differences of opinion on issues of fact and interpretation, this edition of Bullock's journals is an important addition to the history of western trails and the Mormons
RICHARD W SADLER Weber State University
The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846-1848. By NORMA BALDWIN RICKETTS (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996. xx + 375 pp. Cloth, $39.95; paper, $22.95.)
The book jacket announces, "Norma Ricketts has written the first thorough history of the battalion's march and subsequent experiences." The foreword lauds Ricketts as the "foremost authority" on the battalion (xi). If the jacket and foreword can be believed, the author has brought to publication what others have attempted but failed to do.
Ricketts provides preliminary statements about research methodology, appreciative expressions of past and recent publications, and the hope that battalion stories will become a part of Mormon folklore. Then the text begins with a day-by-day historic record of the trek From "Fri., Jun e 26, Mt Pisgah, Iowa, to Fri., July 16, Pueblo de Los
Angeles," the story of the unparalleled military march unfolds (11, 160) Maps, rosters, lithographs, and sketches are interspersed in the daily entries.
The remaining text highlights the contributions of battalion veterans Th e epilogue is a collage of diverse themes—illness, festivities, accolades, mothers, and sweethearts. If the reader is not diverted by the epilogue, battalion rosters in the appendix are worth perusing.
The few missing entries in the dayby-day trek (March 5, 9, 11, 12) are too infrequent to criticize The sparsity of diarist reflections augmenting the heavily quoted Coray journa l is of minor concern. However, Ricketts's textual
366 Utah Historical Quarterly
contradictions and failure to compare or analyze rosters with Carl V. Larson, A Data Base of the Mormon Battalion (1997) or Mexican War records is problematic. For example, Ricketts lists Private William Bush as arriving in California, while Larson and Mexican War records place him on detached assignment at Pueblo
If it were not for a serious concern over scholarly protocol, the reviewer would join in declaring Ricketts to be the "foremost authority" on the Mormon Battalion since Daniel Tyler The concern stems from a comparison of the Ricketts text with the dissertation, "A Ram in the Thicket: Th e Mormo n Battalion in the Mexican War," byJoh n F. Yurtinus (1975).
In the following quotations Ricketts makes no reference to Yurtinus Under the entry August 29, 1846, Yurtinus wrote, "Twenty-eight member s of Captain Brown's quarrelsome company were unde r the waters of the Neosho River for the remission of their sins" (1:100). Th e Ricketts entry for that date reads, "Twenty-eight members of Captain Brown's 'quarrelsome' company were baptized in the Neosho River for the remission of their sins" (48) For September 4, 1846, Yurtinus recorded, "At least the sun appeared in the afternoon brightening the soldiers' hopes. For the first time on their journey, the Mormons saw prickly pear cactus and other semi-arid plants" (1:126). Ricketts wrote, "The sun finally appeared in the afternoon and brightene d the soldiers' outlook They saw prickly pear cactus and other desert plants for the first time" (51) For the October 2, 1846, entry Yurtinus wrote, "Hancock built an altar and prayed" (1:161). These exact words are recorde d by Ricketts (61). For the Decembe r 11, 1846, entry Yurtinus wrote, "One of Paymaster Jeremia h Cloud's pack mules was gored to death " (2:397) Ricketts recorded, "Paymaster Jeremia h Cloud's pack
mule was gored to death" (94). Yurtinus continued his entry with, "While attempting to fire at another, two lead bullets accidently fell into a cylinder causing one of the balls to misfire and rip off the uppe r join t of Stoneman's thumb " (2:399) Ricketts continued the December 11 entry, "Lieutenant Stoneman was reloading his rifle, when two bullets fell into a cylinder causing one ball to misfire. It ripped off the uppe r join t of Stoneman's thumb" (94).
After the day-by-day entries a short editorial by Ricketts begins Chapter Five, "Colonel Cooke, the strict, orthodox disciplinarian, was shocked at the military situation in California" (132) Yurtinus penned, "Colonel Cooke, the strict, rigid, orthodox disciplinarian, was shocked at the United States military situation" and adds on the same page, "Fremont refused to obey General Kearney's orders because he considered the countryside unsafe" (2:499) Surprisingly, Ricketts concludes, "Fremont refused to obey General Kearny's orders because he considered the countryside unsafe" (132)
However similar the text is to the dissertation, no reviewer of The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 18461848 can take away from the author the fact that she accomplished what other moder n historians have not achieved She has made available to the public a readable account of the march an d accomplishments of the Mormo n Battalion.
For Ricketts, the preparation of the text revealed glimpses of the personalities of the battalion members "Each has a name and each shines in the spotlight when his story is being told" (xvi). For a brief momen t Ricketts has also bee n seen in the spotlight, bu t this reviewer finds that the light-generating plaudits may have been misplaced.
SUSAN EASTON BLACK Brigham Young University
Book Reviews and Notices 367
Southern Ute Women: Autonomy and Assimilation on the Reservation, 1887-1934. By KATHERINE M. B. OSBURN. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. xiv + 165 pp Cloth, $45.00; paper, $19.95.)
In Southern UteWomen: Autonomy and Assimilation on theReservation, 1887—1934, Katherine M B Osburn examines interaction between government officials, white reformers, and members of the Ute tribe in southern Colorado during the years when the Dawes Severalty Act dictated government policy. The Office of Indian Affairs sought to "civilize" the Indians and transform them into farmers by breaking up communal reservations into allotments for individuals and educating Indian children in government schools Osburn tells her story from the point of view of Ute women
At the heart of federal policy lay late nineteenth-century Euro-American values that decreed that men and women reign over separate spheres; me n would be breadwinners and women would keep house Prior to European contact, Utes hunte d and gathered food in territorial bands Lacking a centralized political structure, their lives revolved around localized kin networks; hence Euro-American notions of separate public and private spheres did not apply. Politically, men did not dominate women; age and experience rather than gender functioned as the most important prerequisite for power Osburn finds that as white officials tried to control them, ".. Ute women carried out an agenda of selective cooperation and resistance" (p. 114).
Together, Ute me n and women fought poverty by mixing small-scale farming and ranching, annuities and rations, and the selling and leasing of land. Women supplemented family incomes by producing and selling crafts Few Utes of either sex took jobs off the reservation As they settled into their new lives, women insisted on being heard at public meetings that focused on land issues, rations, reservation policy, and education Though
they resisted efforts to turn them into quiet housewives, Ute women did adopt white sanitation and health care procedures that resulted in lower infant death rates. But when whites attempted to impose their own standards of sexual behavior on Ute women, many refused to be forced into a life-long commitment to a relationship they judge d to be harmful Osburn's conclusions seek to dispel common notions of Indians that either have them disappearing completely or living in isolated squalor, rejecting all white ways out of hand.
By necessity, Osburn's sources are those produced mostly by whites, the majority of them government documents. She is mindful of the difficulties inherent in such accounts and proceeds carefully, informing readers about what can and cannot be concluded from such records. Many times, reports of disputes produce snapshots of conflict, then the combatants disappear from view, leaving the researcher without "the rest of the story." In addition, white accounts obscure Ute motives, forcing Osburn to speculate often, but she always provides die reader with a variety of possible interpretations. The author also pays close attention to details; for instance, she carefully notes the differences between the reservation superintendents over the years and always takes those differences into account Osburn treats all parties concerned—Utes and whites, men and women—in a very even-handed fashion As a case study, Southern Ute Women provides us with an interesting and illuminating portrait of life on one reservation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
KIM M. GRUENWALD Kent State University Kent, Ohio
368 Utah Historical Quarterly
White Man's Medicine: Government Doctors and the Navajo, 1863-1955. By
A. TRENNERT (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998 xii + 290 pp $39.95.)
Th e Navajo Tribe not only enjoys one of the largest Native American populations in North America, but it is also one of the most intensively studied Many scholars have attempted to explain the complicated workings of Navajo ceremonial practices, which relate a world-view embedded in spirituality Central to this view is the belief that physical ailments are symptoms of an illness caused by transgressing spiritual bound s established by the Holy Beings. Until the mid-nineteenth century, healing ceremonies were the Navajos' main defense erected between the m and the diseases introduce d through white contact Yet times were changing, and with them a new system of beliefs and practices challenged traditional thought.
Robert Trennert's work is a fresh view of an old issue: How did the dominant society infuse its theories and practices, in this case its medical knowledge, into a native culture? The story is enlightening. The process began with the army doctors at Fort Sumner during the Navajos' forced incarceration (1864-68); continued with the efforts of missionaries, political appointees, and untraine d professionals; then shifted direction to the enlightened attempts to provide self-determination and cultural sensitivity of the New Deal administration of Joh n Collier, commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Each of these phases, though sometimes marred by malpractice and conflict, moved the Navajos closer to accepting alternative forms of healing without shaking their beliefs in the power of their ceremonies
Contagious diseases found an easy breedin g groun d on the reservation during this period In the earliest era of contact, today's current germ theory of disease was unknown Unsuspected
ROBERT
vectors spread sickness in various ways, leaving Navajo medicine men to ponder the cause and the white doctors to find a cure While there were many different types of illness, the three most prevalent were venereal disease (particularly rife during and shortly after the Fort Sumner years), trachoma (an infectious eye disease that could eventually result in blindness), and tuberculosis. Discomfort, pain, and death occurred In some instances, the new cures produce d similar results Not until the 1950s and early 1960s were these scourges brought under control and a unified health system set in place to maintain a stable source of medical assistance.
At the same time, Navajo faith in the white man's system of healing had also grown. Th e initial battles waged by "enlightened" doctors against medicine me n were long and bitter; the Navajo were reluctant to give u p a world-view and healing practices that had carried them effectively through centuries Their culture, however, accepted and even fostered inclusion rather than exclusion. Onc e certain Anglo-American healing arts ha d proven themselves worthy, large numbers of Navajos welcomed them, even with the blessing of medicine men Today, the Indian Health Service employs full-time traditional Navajo practitioners in certain hospitals serving reservation communities
Trennert is to be congratulated for his well-documented and readable book His research and interpretation add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the Navajo At the same time, h e has enoug h human-interest examples to allow the reader to understand the impact of federal policy and cultural practices on both sides of the reservation fence. He has tried to
Book Reviews and Notices 369
include thevoice of the Navajo people although his predominant sources are government records and published manuscripts. This book is recommended for both the scholar and lay reader interested in thehistory of med-
ical practices, the Navajo, or Native American studies.
In Pioneer Women Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith provide an overview of women in the West by combining illustrations and words to describe "westering women of varied origins, ethnicity, and circumstances." The book consists of an introduction and five chapters, with a notation system that replaces endnotes but may confuse readers The bibliography contains mainly secondary references, published first-hand accounts, and only a few unpublished primary sources. With so few primary documents, one opinion may appear to represent many viewpoints For example, an emigrant who crossed the plains asa child reminisced that itwas "one long, perfect picnic," yet many youngsters did not feel this way. Peavy and Smith recognize this limitation and state that overviews lead to generalizations.
Since Pioneer Women is not a scholarly work, it can be enjoyed by various audiences, including young people. Chapter headings and subheadings help readers focus on the content. The writing has vivid explanation and detail The illustrations complement the text, but the time frame is confusing because dates arenotidentified on many photographs and sketches Apicture of sun-bonneted pioneers in covered wagons isquite different from one of early twentieth-century travelers riding in a surrey.
Several items are not clear in the text. What do Peavy and Smith define
as "pioneer," "theWest," and "American Frontier"? Howdoes a quote from a Canadian Indian woman and a photograph of Russian immigrants in Saskatchewan fit a possible definition? How many years are discussed in the book? The authors blend time periods, places, and pioneers together. Yet within various decades of settling the West, pioneers faced distinct problems and challenges.
Peavy and Smith also lack research on Mormon history and culture. They emphasize polygamy and state that a "goodly percentage of the early Latterday Saints had two or more wives. "In reality, less than one-fourth of the men practiced polygamy, and these usually had two wives. The authors state that Brigham Young banned plural marriage, yet he died more than a decade before the edict was issued With the book's multicultural perspective, Peavy and Smith fail to mention that some Indian tribes also practiced polygamy They note handcart pioneers coming from factory towns in England but ignore other British Isle countries, Scandinavia, and parts of western Europe. They imply that one pioneer's impression of handcart travel was the general consensus: "This isa glorious wayto come to Zion." Most emigrants did not consider it glorious.
What isvaluable about this book? It appeals to a variety of reading audiences It provides illustrations and an overview that can whet the reader's
370 Utah Historical Quarterly
ROBERT S. MCPHERSON College of Eastern Utah— San Juan Campus
Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier. By LINDA PEAVY an d URSULA SMITH (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.144pp.Paper, $17.95.)
appetite to dig deeper into the lives of pioneer women of various races and cultures. The authors include several Native American, Hispanic, black, and Asian American voices Althoug h more should be written from a multi-
cultural perspective, this boo k is a beginning.
ROSEMARY G. PALMER Boise State University Boise, Idaho
Glen Canyon: An Archaeological Summary.
ByJesse D.Jennings. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1998 xxiv + 131 pp. Paper, $14.95).
This volume is a reprint of Jesse Jennings's 1966 summary of the archaeological salvage work conducted by the University of Utah prior to the flooding of Glen Canyon by the waters of Lake Powell (Glen Canyon: A Summary, University of Utah Anthropological Papers 81, Glen Canyon Series 31). A new foreword by Don Fowler describes some of the circumstances that led to the construction of the dam and gives perspective on the magnitude of the changes to the area since then For instance, he notes that few people visited the canyon prior to dam construction but that now more people visit Lake Powell annually than visit any other national park, including Yellowstone and Yosemite.
This small volume summarizes the archaeological work conducted over a period of six years by the University of Utah and the Museum of Norther n
Arizona. Nearly 2,000 archaeological sites were recorded, dozens were excavated, and more than 150 technical reports were produced. Th e Glen Canyon Project was the largest single archaeological project ever conducted in Utah, costing one million dollars and employing hundreds But it was no t enough Tragically, only a small fraction of the rich archaeological record of the canyons was ever investigated before the remaining vestiges of thousands of years of Archaic, Fremont, Anasazi, Paiute, and Navajo culture were destroyed when inundated by the dammed waters of the Colorado
In the thirty-two years since the work was first published, interest in the cultural heritage of the West has increased. More and more people are learning about the ancient cultures that once made their homes in these arid canyons and are realizing how fragile and irreplaceable archaeological sites are Jennings's summary is an excellent introduction to the archaeology of this magnificent area. Its republication will bring to a new generation of readers an
Book Reviews and Notices 371
appreciation for and understanding of archaeological treasures which, for the most part, no longer exist
Old Fences, New Neighbors. By Peter R Decker (Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1998. 160 pp. Cloth, $40; paper, $19.95.)
There is probably not a place in the West that has not been rocked by change in recent years Growth has blindsided many towns, leaving residents not exactiy sure of what happened.
Old Fences, New Neighbors tells what happened in Ouray County, Colorado But the basic themes of this story could apply to any western community. The book narrates the evolution of place, from the time when the Utes were shoved out to make room for newcomers and new ways until the present— when, in a way, it is the same story, only with different players
Through the years, national events have powerfully influenced this corner of the West The use of the land has changed according to society's changing needs and desires, and the less powerful are continually supplanted by the more Ralph Lauren's kingly retreat in Ouray County, land where once cattle ranchers worked long hours to survive, symbolizes this trend
Clearly sympathetic to the ranching life threatened by growth, the book vividly describes what has been lost in the last two decades. But neither does it ignore what has been gained. Th e town of Ridgeway, the author says, is no longer a close-knit community, richly connected to its ranching history, but neither is it the insular place it once was. Pain and division may have fol-
lowed growth, but "if a community is a place where people struggle in a climate of tolerant discourse toward a set of shared goals, then Ridgeway is today a far stronger, more vibrant and democratic, and certainly far more interesting place than ever before." (158)
Heart of the Circle: Photographs byEdward S. Curtis of Native American Women. Edited by Sara Day (Washington, D.C : Library of Congress; San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1997 128 pp Paper, $29.95.)
Edward Curtis, photographer, friend to John Muir and John Burroughs, winner of accolades from Theodor e Roosevelt, conceived a large mission for himself: During the first quarter of this century he set out to documen t the "disappearing" Indian tribes of North America. However, with only a thirdgrade education, Curtis had no ethnological background, and he has since been roundly criticized for romanticizing his subjects Yet although his photographs are not reliable documents, they remain artistically strong and perennially fascinating.
And the faces are real. Despite the way Curtis staged, costumed, retouched, and soft-focused his images, the faces wear the truths of individual and cultural personalities and experiences
Heart of the Circle, as the title itself demonstrates, does no t completely avoid romanticization, either But this artfully designed book provides a good cross-section of Curtis's images of women, a description of the photographer's life and work, informative captions, and explorations of the lives of Indian women, both "then" and now.
372 Utah Historical Quarterly
INDEX
Italic numbers refer to illustrations.
Abbott, Mary, aunt ofJ. Walker, 130 Adams, Annie Asenath, actress, 321 African-Americans, 291, 311, 355. See also Lynching; Marshall, Robert; Racism
Agriculture: assessment of, in southern Utah, 116; Carey Act, 119; dry farming, 5-8, 21-25; effects on, of depression, 18-19; in Emery County, 206-208, 210-12, 223; and Hispanic labor, 160-61; and irrigation, 119-20; supply and demand in, 24. See also Irrigation, Homestead, and Livestock
Aguayo, Esperanzo and Gavino, depression experiences in youth, 164
Ah Sing, lynch victim, 356
Alexander, Mary Ada (Finlayson), sister of Sara, 321-324, 330-331
Alexander, Sara, actress, 320-333, 320, 329, 332: and feud with J Finlayson, 330-332; migration to Utah, 322-23; national career, 330-31, 333; and Salt Lake Theatre, 325, 327-329
Alexander, Sarah Brentlinger, mother of Sara, 321-323, 330
Alexander, William, father of Sara, 321 American Legion, Provo, and "Battle of Manila Bay," 351-53
Anderson, George E., photographer, 204, 207, Summer cover
Andrew, Frank, and store in Park City, 236
Aneth, 80
Angelou, Maya, poet, 364
Antes, Howard Ray, founder of Navajo Faith Mission, 79, 80
Argenta, mining camp in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 140-41, 141, 145-47, 151
Arnold, Ben, frontiersman, and George Crook, 267
Arrington, LeonardJ., historian, 179
Asia, 19th-century perceptions of, 36-37
Atwood, Charlie, and lynching, 358
Aviation, 346, incident at Provonna, 346-48
Avila, Jesus, and Sociedad Honorifica Mexicana, 169-70
Badger, Rodney, LDS church official, and "evils" of resorts, 335
Bailey, (Lt and Mrs.) Harry, and F Benteen, 267
Barben, Archie, resident of Millard County, 133
Barben, Henrietta, and generosity of Elizabeth Tracy, 128
Barrett, Lawrence, actor, 328-29
Bates, T.H., speaker lauding Utah's progress, 32
"Battle of Manila Bay," Utah Lake, 351-53
Bauer, George: businessman in Mancos and Bluff, 74; friend of Charles Goodman, 75
Baxter, John, northern Utah merchant and real estate agent, 11
Beard, George, photographer, 230, 233, 234, 237
Beckwith, Frank A., newspaperman in Delta, 119, 122
Benson, Charles A., lynch victim, 356
Benson, Ezra X, 326
Benteen, (Maj.) Frederick William, 264 ff., 264; and court martial, 268-70; and Fort Duchesne, 267-9; and Little Bighorn, 265-66
Bicycles, early 1900s, 309-312
Bingham Canyon: fire in, 164; Hispanic workers in, 164, 169; mines, 163
Blazes, Helen, SLC madam, 297, 315, 317-18
Blue Springs Valley, 8, 11, 13, 22, 24
Bluff: gold rushes in, 74-76; home of Charles Goodman, 66, 68; Old Swing tree, 68-69, 69; tour group in, 81
Boshard, Bob, and Provonna, 352
Boshard, Reed, Provo fire chief, and Provonna drowning, 351
Bowring, Henry, 326-27, 328
Box Elder County, land development in, 5 ff.
Braley, Thomas, candidate for mining recorder, Big Cottonwood Canyon, 140
Brimhall, George H., teacher in Spanish Fork, 54: and "evils" of resorts, 336
B
Brinkerhoff, Mrs. Joseph, and delivery of triplets in Sugarville, 133
Brown, John and Denzil, resort operators, 350-51
Buck, Fraser, Park City historian, 239
Built environment: Emery County, 205, 209, 212, 214; Park City, 225 ff
Bullen, Herschel Jr., state senator and land promoter, 8, 8-9, 17, 24: meeting with Joseph F Smith, 11
Bullen, Newell, and appraisal committee for Promontory-Curlew, 9
Burns, James Milton, town marshal of Castle Gate, murder victim, 356-57, 359-60
Burns, Olivia, wife ofJames, 359
Burrows, Hal, art director at MGM, friend ofJohn Held, Jr., 295-96, 298 Burt, Andrew, SL County deputy sheriff, 148
Burton, Jode, 332
Burton, Robert T., 326
Burton, Theresa, 326
Cache County, dry farming in, 6
Caine, John X, actor, 321, 326
Calder, Anna H., 326
Calder, David O., 326
Caldwell, Joseph, Utah Fuel employee, and lynching, 358
Calkins, Theodore, 326
Campbell, Robert L., school superintendent, 52
Cannon, Sylvester Q., LDS presiding bishop and apostle, 173
Carbon County, creation of, 206; and lynching of R Marshall, 355 ff
Careless, George, musician, friend of Obadiah Riggs, 49
Castle Gate, 291, 357
Castie Valley, Emery County, 197 ff.
Castle Valley Mining Company, 220
Central Iowa Fuel Company, 17
Central Pacific Railroad, and land ownership, 8
Cherry, , district court judge, SL County, 148, 150-151
Christiansen, Thomas, and drowning at Provonna, 351
Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: attitude toward resorts, 335-36; and John Held, Jr., 295-96; and depression assistance, 172-176;
and Deseret Employment Bureau, 172-173; and education debate, 49, 58-59; missionaries of, 50, 56-57; and Rama Mexicana, 172-176, 173, 174; Tithing House, 294. See also Mormons
Civilian Conservation Corps, in Emery County, 214, 215
Clark, George, and demolition of Provo Tabernacle, 342
Clawson, Hiram B., actor, 321, 324
Clawson, Spencer, 332
Clay, Oliver K., Carbon County attorney, and lynching investigation, 358-59
Cleveland, Grover, U.S. president, and F. Benteen, 270
Climate: droughts of 1931, 1934, 160; severe winter, dry summer of 1909-10, 13; severe winter of 1872, 30
Clinton, Bill, U.S president, and Initiative on Race, 363
Cluff, Harvey state attorney, and lynching investigation, 359
Coal: in Emery County, 195, 210, 211, 212-13, 215, 220, 222-23
Coalville, and attempt to move county seat, 238-39
Cochran, (Col.) Phil, and Third Air Commando Group, 245
Cole, Ruth Christiansen, and drowning at Provonna, 351
Colebrook, Nellie, actress, 321, 325
Collins, (Father) James, and Guadalupe Mission, 170-171, 172
Colorado, 67, 71: Charles Goodman's work in, 66-68, 70, 72; gold rushes in, 71, 73; San Juan Mountains, 67; survey of Colorado-Utah border, 110-117
Colorado Plateau: Emery County, 196 ff.
Colorado (Grand) River, 111, 112, 116
Cooley, Everett L., historian, 178
Coombs, Isaiah Moses, LDS missionary and schoolteacher, and Sara Alexander, 321-24
Cotton, Sterling, sheriff, and quarrel with F Benteen, 267
Crime, in Emery County, 221; in Carbon County, 355 ff
Crocker, Charles, Central Pacific RR owner, 8, 11
Crook, (Brig Gen.) George: and F Benteen, 266-68; and Little Bighorn, 266
374 Utah Historical Quarterly
Curlew Valley 8, 13-14, 15, 22
Curtis, Bill, art student under Mahonri Young, 296
Curtis, Charles S., Emery County settler, 200-201
Custer, (Lt Col.) George Amstrong, E Benteen's opinion of, 266
Daley, Mrs., founder ofJolly Stitchers, 131
Dallas, Leonidas, chainman for Reeves survey party, 103-104
Dallin, Cyrus E., artist, 299
Danger Cave, excavation of, 85-86
Daskalakis, John, and lynching, 358
Davenport, E. L., actor, 328
Davis, Joseph, and Dolly Varden claim, 151-52
Davis, L. T., and lynching, 358
Davis, Thomas, manager of Promontory and Curlew Ranch companies, 9
Defense Plant Corporation, and coal for Geneva Steel, 215
DeLapp, John, resident of Millard County, 125
DeLong, Charles E., U.S ambassador to Japan, 33, 41, 43-44
DeLong, Mrs Charles E., 34
Deming, J. H., Park City mayor, 231
Deming, Ray, Carbon County sheriff, and lynching, 357-58
Depression, Great. See Great Depression
Dern, George, governor, and lynching investigation, 359
Deseret Dramatic Association, 321, 325
Dewey Xheatre (Park City), collapse, 238
Dixon, Le Roy, Provo mayor, and Skipper Bay drainage district, 340
Dixon Taylor Russell Company, 344
Dodge, (Capt.) Francis D., commander of Co D, Ninth Cavalry, 103
Dolores River, settlement at "Big Bend," 110, 114-116
Dresser, Norman, editor of Millard County Chronicle, 121
Durnell, George, Provo policeman, and incident at Provonna, 345
Dusenberry, W. A., Utah County superintendent, 54—55
Dwyer, James, LDS missionary and Sara Alexander, 321, 332
East, Henry, deputy sheriff, Castie Gate, and lynching, 357-58
Eastmond, E H., BYU professor, and show at Provonna, 360
Eastmond, Frank and Clarissa Taylor, resort operators on Utah Lake, 339-40
Eccles, David, businessman, 8, 9, 24
Economy: 1920s, 159-160, 162-63; 1930s, 160, 163; WW I, 160 See also Emery County
Education: Deseret Teachers Association, 51; Normal Institute, 51; territorial schools 52-56; Timpanogos Academy, 53; University of Deseret, 50
Eldredge, Horace S., leader of LDS emigrant train, 322
Electricity, and Big Cottonwood Canyon, 143
Ellsworth, Maria, wife of S George, and Heritage Room at USU library 180
Ellsworth, S George, historian, in memoriam, 178, 178-180
Emery, George W., territorial governor, 202
Emery County, 196 ff., 199, 204, 210, 211, 214, 215: creation of, 201-202; division of, 206; early travelers in, 197-98; economy of, 204-205, 212-13, 216-17, 220-23; geography of, 196; Indians in, 196-97
Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, and development of marginal lands, 7
Etzenhouser, Rudolph, member of RLDS church, 60
Evans, James, wheelwright and carpenter, 294, 304: and Grand Theatre, 295
Farrer, Thomas, settler in Emery County, 206
Ferron, Summer cover, 204, 207
Fillmore, and B. Young excursion party, 327
Finlayson, James, 322-24: and Sara Alexander, 330-31
Finlayson, Lisle Sarah (Lisle Leigh), niece of S Alexander, actress, 330-33, 332
Fish, Hamilton, U.S secretary of state, negotiations with Japanese delegation, 45-46
Index 375
Fisher, Joseph, lynch victim, 356
Florez, Encarnacion, traditional healer, 164-65
Florez, John, and depression experiences in youth, 164—65
Florez, Reyes, worker for D&RG, 164
Ford, Bob, killing of, photographed, 68
Ford, Corey, writer and humorist, 301
Forrest, Thomas, lynch victim, 356
Fort Douglas, 264, 269
Fort Duchesne, 266 ff.
Foss, Luther, L A businessman, and Promontory-Curlew, 18
Four Corners, Spring cover, 105, 107
Four Corners Regional Commission, 216
Francis, (Dr.) Edward, and tularemia research in Delta, 137
Free Lance Society, 150
Friendship Thimble Club, Millard County 132-33
Frost, Robert, 363
Fruhauf, Hattie, wife of Obadiah Riggs, 60
Fuller, Frank, territorial governor, 40 Fullmer John, bishop in Millard County, and tularemia, 136
Gammon, William, resort operator, Utah Lake, 338
Garcia, Cruz Campero, depression experiences in youth, 161-62
Garcia Manuel, Jr., and work during depression, 168-69
Garcia, Maria Dolores, and depression experiences, 163, 166, 176
Gates, Susa Young, daughter of B. Young, and S Alexander, 325
Gee, Elias, deputy sheriff, Provo, and incident at Provonna, 345
Geneva Steel Corporation, 215
Glen Canyon: archaeological research in, 86; gold rush in, 76—77
Golding, Joseph, businessman, and lynching, 358
Gonzalez, Francisca "Pancha," depression experiences in youth, 161, 168
Gonzalez-Mayo, Maria Dolores, and Guadalupe Mission, 171
Goodman, Charles, photographer, 65-83, 66, 67: in Bluff area, 73-75; and boomtowns, 76-77; in Colorado, 70-73; and Navajos, 79-80; pho-
tographs by Winter cover, 3, 65, 67, 69, 71, 75, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83
Goodspeed (Capt.) , owner, Reed and Goodspeed Mining Co., 148
Gorringe, C.H., chainman for Reeves survey party, 103-105
Government, federal: and depression, 167, 175, 214; legislation affecting Utah, 214, 217; in Emery County, 214, 216-17
Grand County, 113-16: La Sal, 110
Grand Xheatre, 294-95, 312
Grant, Heber J., LDS church president, speech on relief, 175
Gray, George, miner in Carbon County, and R Marshall, 357
Great Depression: effects of, on farmers, 18-19 effects of, on Hispanics, 159-177; in Emery County, 212-14; and federal relief, 167, 175
Green River (city), 206, 209-12, 216-17, 218, 219
Guadalupe Mission, 159, 170, 170-71, 172, 176
H
Hale, Frederic A., architect, 235-36
Hall, George, proprietor of Park City Hotel, and Park City fire, 227, 233-34
Hall, (Maj.) Robert, and investigation of E Benteen, 268
Hall, William C , legislator, secretary of state, judge, 151-53
Hamilton, (Rev.) Charles H., pastor of Presbyterian church in Delta, 129
Hammond, E A., assessment of San Juan gold rush, 76
Hanna, Major, businessman in Mancos and Bluff, 74
Hansel Valley, 8, 13, 22, 24
Harvey Sam Joe, lynch victim, 356
Harvey, William H., lynch victim, 356
Harwood, John, and Park City house, 241
Hatch, (Gen.) Edward, commander of the Ninth Regiment of Cavalry, 102-103
Hatch, H. E., bank president and land promoter, 8, 8-9
Hatch, L. Boyd, agent for PromontoryCurlew, 18
Hayden, Ferdinand V, and U.S. Geological Survey, 109, 110
Hayne, Julia Dean, actress, 328, 329
376 Utah Historical Quarterly
Hayzlett, George, Navajo agent, 80
Headlund, J. A., architect, 228
Held, Annie Evans, mother ofJohn Jr., 293-94, 301, 304, 305-307, 309; and bloomers, 310
Held, Bessie, sister ofJohn Jr., 308-309
Held, Hortense, sister ofJohn Sr., wife of P Viallet, 293
Held, Jacques and Marie, parents of John Sr., and Hortense Held, 293
Held, John Jr., 292-319, 292, 304: career, 299-300; development of art, 297-98; illustrations by, Fall cover, 292, 295, 297, 300, 301, 313, 316; youth, 294-298, 301-319
Held, John Sr.: as band leader and musician, 293-94, 296, 302-304, 302, 304, 312; and bicycles, 309-311; and engraving shop, 307, 309, 315
Held, Judy, daughter ofJohn Jr., 300
Held, 'Jumbo," brother ofJohn Jr., 305-307
Herendeen, George B., civilian army scout, and F. Benteen, 265
Hersleff, Xaggy, and E. Xracy, 125
Henderson, G.M., sales agent for Promontory-Curlew, 17-18
Hills, Louis S., 325
Hispanics, 159, 167, 177: Centro Civico Mexicano, 169; and the depression, 159—77; and federal relief, 167; and field work, 160-61; Guadalupe
Mission, 159, 170, 170-71, 172, and mining, 164; Rama Mexicana, 172-75, 173, 174, and railroad work, 159, 161-64, 162; Sociedad
Honorifica Mexicana, 169; women, 164-67
Hite, Cass, and Glen Canyon gold rush, 76
Hofer, Theophilus, miner, death and estate of, 142-43
Holdredge, Mrs. Herman, resident of Millard County, 126
Homestead system, in Emery County, 202-204
Horrocks, Catherine D., 326
Horrocks, Peter, 326
Hoskaninni Company, San Juan County, and gold dredge invention, 77
Howard, Elizabeth A., SLC resident, 35
Howard, William, resident of Huntington, and polluted water, 208
Howe, J W., Sr., carpenter, and Provonna, 342, 345
Howell, townsite in Blue Springs Valley, 4,11-12,12, 21, 23-24
Howell, Joseph, congressman and land promoter, 5, 7—10
Hunter, L X, Castle Dale druggist, 216
Huntington, 218, 219
Huntsville, schools in, 54
Hurtado, Alex, and immigration to Utah, 166
Hyde, , Park City marshal, 233
Hyde, Frank, and San Juan flood, 68
I
Indians: Archaic, 197; Black Hawk War, 200; Fremont, 197; Little Bighorn, 265; Paleo-Indians, 196-97 See also Utes.
Influenza epidemic, 1918, 135-36
Irrigation, 279: in Emery County, 203-204, 206-207, 210; in Millard County, 119-20; on PromontoryCurlew lands, 11-12. See also Water, domestic
Irwin, C.J.O., friend ofJames Monk, 149, 157
Ivins, Anthony W., LDS apostle and First Presidency member: friendship with O. Riggs, 49; and Hispanics, 173, 174
Ito Hirobumi, member Iwakura Mission, 27: memoranda suggesting treaty negotiations, 45—47
Iwakura Mission, Japanese delegation, 26-47: purpose of, 28-29; SLC stay assessed by contemporaries and historians, 30-31, 42; stranded in SLC, 30-47
Iwakura Xomomi, Japanese prince, 26, 27, 29, 36, 41-43, 45, 47
Jackman, Captain, gold rusher in Mancos, Colo., 73
Jackson, William H., photographer, 66, 68,72
Jacobs, Chariton, 326
James, William E, superintendent, Maxfield Mining Co., 148, 154-55
Janes, Margaret Schuyler, wife ofJ. Held, Jr., 300
Japan: Iwakura Mission, 26-47
Japanese-Americans, and internment, 215
Index 377
Jefferson, Joseph, actor, 328
Jenkins family Millard County: 135, and generosity of Elizabeth Tracy, 127, 128, 134
Jenkins, Thomas, 326
Jennings, Jane Chase, wife ofJesse, 84
Jennings, Jesse David, archaeologist, 84, 84-87
Jennings, Myrtle, wife ofJ. Held, Jr., 298
Jensen, A W., supervisor of Manti National Forest, 208
Jensen, J C , SL County recorder, 147-48, 151
Jimenez, Juanita, and depression experiences, 168
Johnson, Ada, wife ofJ Held, Jr., 299
Johnson, LaVell, local historian, Millard County, 125
Jolly Stitchers, women's club, Millard County, 131-33, 132, 134
Jones, E. E., superintendent of Utah Fuel, and lynching, 358
Jones, Lorna, and Provonna, 348
Jones, Robert M., and construction of Stairs Power Station, 143
Jones, Stephen Vandiver, member of J W Powell expedition, 198
Juab County, Sevier Bridge Dam, 119
Judge, Ivers, and Keith Stable, Park City, 226, 235
Kearns, Thomas, U.S senator, and woolgrower interests, 208
Keller, Fred W., district attorney, and lynching investigation, 358-60
Kelley, W. H., editor of Mancos Times, 72, 74-76, 78
Kelly, , member of Reeves survey party, 103-104
Kent, , orchestra leader, 336
Kido Takayoshi, Iwakura Mission member, 27, 47: impressions of SLC and residents, 34, 38, 40; and visit to B Young, 42-43
Kimball, Elvira E, 326
Kimball, Heber C : confirmation of Obadiah Riggs, 49
Kimball, Mary E., 326
Kimball, Solomon E, 326-27
Kimball, Vilate M., 326
King, Isaac, postmaster at La Sal, 110
King, Martin Luther, 363-64
King, Morgan, and lynching, 358
King, Ralph, friend ofJerome Tracy, 137 Kletting, Richard, architect, 236
Knudsen, Andrew and Herman, farmers in Utah Valley, 337
Kume Kunitake, Iwakura Mission recorder, 26: impressions of SLC, 34-35, 39, 40
Land development and sale: Carey Act and Millard County, 119; dry-farming land companies, 7, 20; Oasis Land and Water Co., 119; PromontoryCurlew Land Co., 4-25; Utah-Idaho Land and Water Co., 14
Land survey, 115: of Utah-Colorado boundary, 1878, 100-117; surveying instruments, 100, 102, 106, 106-107, 287
Lang, Charles B., photographer in Mancos and Bluff, 74
Langton, Seth A., officer in PromontoryCurlew, 9
Larsen, Christian, G., president of Emery LDS stake, 202
LeCompte, E P., Park City doctor, and Park City fire, 229, 229
Lemmon, Dave, businessman in Mancos and Bluff, 74
Lewis, Xhomas P., sheriff, SL County, 149-50
Little, James X, 326
Livestock: damage to watersheds, 207; in Emery County, 198-99; Xaylor Grazing Act, 214; and water pollution, 207-208
Logan, headquarters of PromontoryCurlew, 9
London, Belle, SLC madam, 297, 317
Loring, (Col.) W W., and Salt Lake Wagon Road, 112
Los Pinos Indian Agency, 111, 112, 113
Loveless, "Doc," and Provo River bridge, 340
Lowe, George A., and Dolly Varden claim, 151-52
Lyman, Francis M., LDS apostle, in Emery County, 198, 203
Lynching, 355-64; victims in Utah, 356
Lyne, X A., actor, 327-28
Madsen, George, and fishing barges at Provonna, 342, 344
378 Utah Historical Quarterly
K
M
Madsen, Herbert, and airplane ride, Provonna, 346-48
Manti National Forest, creation of, 208
Margetts, , judge, SL County, 148
Margetts, Phil, actor, 326-27, 328, 341
Marsac (ore) Mill: and Park City fire, 229; demolished, 241
Marshall, Allie, 332
Marshall, Pearl, wife of Robert, 359
Marshall, Robert, lynch victim, 355, 355-60, 362
Martinez, Castulo, Rama Mexicana member, 174
Maxfield, Richard, mining recorder in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 140
May brothers, R. W. "Dick" and "Billy," ranchers on Col.-Utah border, 110
Mayer, Bertha Amador, and Centro Civico Mexicano, 169
Mayer, Vicente, Union Pacific worker and president of Centro Civico Mexicano, 169
Mayo, Marlene J., writings on Iwakura Mission, 28
McArthur, Shirl C, and coal development in Emery County, 220
McClellan, Harriett Xaylor, wife of James E, 339, 339
McClellan, James F, resort operator, Utah Lake 339, 339, 341
McClenahan, Owen, and account of uranium mining, 216
McCullough, John, actor, 329
McDonald, Peter, and incident at Provonna, 345
McEwan, Don, and incident at Provonna, 345
McKay, David O., LDS president, son-inlaw to O. Riggs, 49, 60-62, 61
McKay, Emma Ray Riggs, daughter of O Riggs, courtship and marriage to David O McKay, 60-62, 61
McKenzie, David, 326
McLean, Fanny, wife of I. Coombs, 323
McMaster, , SL justice of the peace, 148, 153
Medical practice, in Millard County, 1910-1930, 125-27, 130, 133, 135-37
Mendel, Jose, railroad worker, and depression, 163
Mendenhall, Walter, miner, 74
Mexican Hat, and mining, 77
Millard County, "North Tract," 118-38; Woodrow, 123
Miller, Ed, and burned hand, 125 Mills, Charles K, biographer of Frederick Benteen, 266-67
Mineral development, Winter cover, 65, 75, 78, 83:1887 mining law changes, 44-145, 147; in 1920s, 163; Big Cottonwood Mining District, 139-58, 155; and depression, 164; gold rushes in southern Utah, 74—77; and Hispanic labor, 164; Maxfield Mining Co., 148, 154, 156, 158; miners, 146-47, 152; on Promontory-Curlew lands, 19-20; Reed and Good speed Mining Co., 142, 148; and silver collapse of 1890s, 232; systems for separating gold from silt, 77. See also Coal
Moench, Louise F, school superintendent in Ogden, 54
Mohrland, coal camp, 195
Monk, James X, mining recorder in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 139, 139-58: election of, 140, 143-44; and lawsuits, 147-48, 150-51, 153-57; and mining activities, 140-43, 151; and records manipulations, 144, 148, 153-57; and resistance to mining law, 145, 147-51
Moore, Gladys, wife ofJ. Held, Jr., 300
Mormons: and Jolly Stitchers Club, 131; perceptions of, byJapanese, 39-40. See also Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mormon/non-Mormon conflict: over visitingJapanese delegation, 41-44
Morrill, Milo, airplane owner, and Provonna, 346
Morrow, (Gen.) , at Camp Douglas, 37
Mosely, , member of Reeves survey party, 103-104
Mt. Pleasant, and B. Young excursion party, 327
Murphy John, lynch victim, 356
Musser, A Milton, 326
Navajo Faith Mission, 79, 80
Navajo Indians, 79, 109: conflict with miners, 79-80; and C Goodman, 78—80; effect of drought and depression on, 80; sheepherding, 108; and trade with Utes, 105, 108
Nelson, Lowry, writer, 202
Index 379
N
Nephi, and B. Young excursion party, 326-27
Newspapers: conflicting accounts of Japanese visit to B Young, 41-44, 47; in education debate, 55-56; and lynching rationalization, 360-61; and Mormon/non-Mormon conflict, 56; and Park City fire coverage, 226 ff., 229; as promoters/boosters, 71-76; as watchdogs, 149-50
Nieves, Roberto, CCC worker, 168
Non-Mormons, in north Millard County, 128, 127
Norrell, Judge , SL County, 153, 157
Nuttall, George M., and rescue attempts at Provonna, 351
Oakley, Mark, and rescue attempts at Provonna, 351
Ogden: Iwakura Mission arrival in 1872, 26; schools in 1875, 54
Oil and gas development: on Promontory-Curlew lands, 19-20; on San Juan River, 77
Okubo Xoshimichi, Iwakura Mission member, 27, 45, 47
Old Spanish Xrail, 197-98
Oliphant, Clare, World War II POW, 255, 257, 259
Olmstead, (Capt.) J. A., and F. Benteen, 267
Olsen, Mable, and rescue at Provonna, 338-39
Omanson, Niels, resort operator at Utah Lake, 335-37
O'Neil, James, actor, 295
Ontiveros-Gomez, Clotilda (Xilly), and depression experiences in youth, 166 Ottley, Doris, and Jolly Stitchers, 131
Park, Agnes, 326
Park, Hamilton J., 326
Park, John R., president of University of Deseret, and adoption of Held children, 293
Park City, 225 ff., 227, 238, 240; architecture in, 241-42; and bid for county seat, 238-39; and Great Fire of 1898, 225 ff., 225, 228, 232-33, 230, 234, 240; rebuilding of, 234-37, 240; relief efforts in, 234
Park City Bank, 240
Park Record: ad from, 235; building, 239; produced from tent, 234, 235
Parker, (Capt.) Charles, commander of Company K, Ninth Cavalry, 103, 117
Parmley, Joseph, clerk for Utah Fuel, and lynching, 358
Pauncefort, George, actor, 328
Peacock, Warren, Price city marshal, and lynching, 358
Petit, Mr and Mrs Leon, and airplane incident at Provonna, 348
Petit, Leon Jr., and airplane incident, 348
Phillips, Bob and Matt, and rescue attempt at Provonna, 351
Plural marriage, 59, 323-24
Police: Carbon County, and lynching, 359; and prostitution in SLC, 316-18; Provo, and resort, 336, 345; SLC, 308-309
Polygamy. See Plural Marriage.
Politics: education issues, 56-57; legislature vs. territorial governor, 52
Pope, (Gen.) John, commander of the Department of the Missouri, 102
Potmecky, Henry, chainman for Reeves survey party, 103
Pound, Mrs E E., founder of Jolly Stitchers, 131
Powell, Allan Kent, historian, 204
Powell, John Wesley, in Emery County, 197-98
Pratt, Orson, speaker of territorial House of Representatives: in education debate, 55; speech signed by, 33
Pratt, Orville C , War Department official, in Emery County, 198
Prehistory: in Emery County, 196-97; in San Juan County, 108
Price, 358, and lynching, 358
Prohibition, in Emery County, 213
Promontory-Curlew Land Company, 4-25, 4, 5, 10; attempts to sell marginal lands, 17-19; dissolution of, 20; and Howell townsite, 11-13; mineral and oil rights, 19-20; promotional efforts, 14-16; success of, 24-25; and water development, 11-13, 23-24
Promontory Peninsula, 8
Prostitution, SLC: clean-up campaign, 316-19; Commercial Street, 297, 299, 314-16, 314, 318; Stockade, 299, 317, 318-19
380 Utah Historical Quarterly
Index 381
Provo: schools in 1875, 54-55; Ximpanogos Academy, 55
Provo River, 349: bridge, 341-42; and recreation, 334 ff.
Provonna Resort, 334, 334, 337, 349, 341-54
Prows, Seymore, and rescue at Provonna, 348
Racism, 362-64
Raddon, Sam, editor of Park Record, and Park City fire, 230, 234, 239
Rama Mexicana, 172-76, 173, 174
Recreation, in Emery County, 213, 223-24
Redd, Seth, camp in Dark Canyon, 81
Reed, Walt and Roger, historians, 301
Reeves, RollinJ., land surveyor, 101-17
Reid, John K, settler in Castle Dale, 203 Relief Society, disbursements during 1920-30, 173; Rama Mexicana R.S members, 174
Reorganized Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 60, 63
Resorts, Utah Lake, 334-55, 334, 337, 345
Rhodes, L.R., attorney for J Monk, 148-51
Rice, Leonard, 326
Rice, N. E., U.S. embassy interpreter, 33
Richards, Bryon, 326
Richards, Franklin D., 326
Richards, Samuel, LDS apostle: in education debate, 55; journal entry on Japanese, 35
Richards, Willard, 326
Riggs, Almina Wilson, wife of Obadiah, 59
Riggs, Annie Wilson, wife of Obadiah, 59
Riggs, Emma Louisa Robbins, wife of Obadiah, 51: divorce, 59; marriage, 49-50; teaching, 50
Riggs, Emma Ray, daughter See McKay, Emma Ray Riggs.
Riggs, Hattie Fruhauf, wife of Obadiah, 60
Riggs, Lawrence, son, 60
Riggs, Lisle, daughter, 59
Riggs, Marie, daughter, 60
Riggs, Obadiah H., 48-64, 48, 64: as educator, 50-56; marriages of, 49, 59; as merchant, 58; mission of, 56-57; as
physician, 59-60, 62; and RLDS church, 60; and school reforms, 52-53, 57-58, 63
Rio Grande Railroad: and Hispanic workers, 161-64; and photographer C. Goodman, 72
Rio Grande Western Railway, through Colorado Plateau, 205
Ritter, Willis, federal judge, and boyhood home, 241
Roads: 1-70, 217, 221; Midland Xrail, 212; Salt Lake Wagon Road, 112, 117
Robbins, John Rogers and Phoebe Ann Wright, parents of Emma Louisa Robbins, 49-50
Robinson, Lewis, 326
Rodriguez, (Father) Reyes, and childhood near Guadalupe Mission, 171
Ross, Harold Wallace, founding editor of New Yorker and friend ofJ Held, Jr., 296-97, 99
Roy, Morris J., World War II POW, 263
Salazar, Eufemio, Rama Mexicana member, 174
Salt Lake City: host to Iwakura Mission, 30-47; impressions of by visiting Japanese, 34-35, 38-39; John Held, Jr.'s boyhood in, 300; Xabernacle, visit byJapanese delegation, 32; Townsend House, SL hotel, 31, 31, 45
Salt Lake County: and lawsuits over mining recorder's books, 148-51, 153—57; mining in, 139-58
Salt Lake High School, yearbook, 292, 297, 297, 298
Salt Lake Theatre, 320, 326, 333, 328: and J Held, Jr., 295; and S Alexander, 321
Salt Palace, and bicycle races, 311-12, 311
San Juan County, 65, 65, 68, 69, 69: gold rush of 1894, 74-77, 75, 78, 83; Navajos in, 78-80, 79; Southern Utes, 78-79; survey expedition in, 103-17; tourism in, 81, 82
San Juan River, Winter cover, 65, 69, 75, 78, 83, 103, 107-108, 116: crossing of, 104-105; flood, 68; Mitchell's Ranch on, 103-104; and Navajo Indians, 49; oil discovery on, 66
San Rafael River, 215
San Rafael Swell, uranium mining in, 215-16
Sanders, Scott Russell, essayist, 224 Sanpete County, and colonization of Emery County, 200, 202
Savage, Charles R., photographer, 66, 68,210
Scott, , member of Reeves survey party, 103-104
Seely Hannah, wife of Orange, 201
Seely, Orange, leader of Castle Valley colonization, 200-201, 203
Segal, George, lynch victim, 356
Shannon, , member of Reeves survey party, 103-104
Shaw, Clinton, and airplane ride, Provonna, 346, 348
Sheridan, (Lt Gen.) Philip H., and E Benteen, 268-70
Shields, Tracy, resident of Millard County, and Elizabeth Xracy 128-29, 133
Shirts, Peter, settler on San Juan River, 103-104, 104
Sisto, Chuck, pilot, 346
Smith, C. H., doctor, and Provonna drowning, 351
Smith, George A., LDS first presidency member, 326
Smith, Israel A., son ofJoseph Smith III, 60
Smith, Jedediah S., in Emery County, 197
Smith, Joseph III, friendship with Obadiah Riggs, 60, 63
Smith, Joseph E: in education debate, 55; meeting with Promontory-Curlew directors, 11
Snell, Barmore, and rescue attempt at Provonna, 351
Snow, Eliza R., 326
Snow, Erastus, in Emery County, 203
Snow, Lorenzo, LDS apostle and president, 326: speech signed by, 33
Southern Pacific Railroad, and possible rail route, 22
Southern Utah, early tourism in, 81, 82
Southern Utes: 112, removal to reservations, 78-79; trading with Navajos, 103; on Uintah Reservation, 266
Spanish Fork, schools in 1875, 54
Springville, schools in 1875, 54
Squires, John, 326
Stagg, David, Provo supervisor of streets, 350
Stanton, Robert B., inventor of gold dredge, 77
Stegner, Wallace, writing on central/eastern Utah, 224
Stephens, Roy, and Woodrow Hall, 133
Stephenson, Ruth, and influenza epidemic in Delta, 135-36
Stohl, Oleen N., director of Promontory-Curlew, 9
Sturgus, J. J., chainman for Reeves survey party, 103-104
Surveyors: account of Col-Utah border survey, 100-117; instruments used by, 100, 102, 106, 105-107, 287, 287
Sutton, Ernest V, mayor of Pasadena, and J and E Xracy, 135
Sutton, William, Susie, Edna, and Willie, and journals of Park City fire, 227, 230,234-35
Swasey, Sid, rancher in Emery County, 199
Swedish Match King (Ivar Kreuger), 300
Sweet, H. A., pilot, and Provonna, 346, 348
, dancemaster, 336 Xappan,
Xaylor, Alice Louise, 343
Xaylor, Arthur D., 343
Xaylor, Arthur N., resort operator, Utah Lake, 340-42, 343, 344, 349; family of, 342, 343, 349- 50, 353-54
Xaylor, Ashted, manager of Provonna, 346
Xaylor, Clarence D., 343
Xaylor, Elton L., 343
Xaylor, Henry D., 343, 354
Xaylor, John, LDS apostle and president, 326: and territorial schools, 55-57
Xaylor, Lynn D., 343, 354
Xaylor, Maria D., 343
Xaylor, Marshall "Major," bicycle racer, 311
Xaylor, Orson Kenneth, 343
Xaylor, Richard E, 326
Xaylor, Ruth Elaine, 343
Xaylor, Thomas N., Provo businessman, 340
Taylor, Walter G., resort operator on Utah Lake, 340
Taylor Grazing Act, 214
382 Utah Historical Quarterly
Thomas, Richard K, dry goods business owner, 303
Thompson, Almon H., and irrigation potential in Emery County, 200 Thompson, George, Park City historian, 240
Thurgood, Beulah, and Provonna, 348
Toof, Edwin, member of Reeves survey party, 103
Torres, Manuel, Rama Mexicana member, work and business startup during depression, 175
Torres, Rafael, Rama Mexicana member, work and discrimination against, during depression, 174—75
Torres, Ruth, daughter of Rafael, recollections on LDS depression assistance, 176
Torrington, William, lynch victim, 356
Tostado, Eliza, and work during depression, 166
Tracy, (Dr.) Elizabeth Cahoon, doctor in Millard County, 118-38, 118, 121; faith of, 129-31, 138; generosity of, 126-29, 131-33; namesakes, 128; and women's issues, 131-33
Tracy, Jerome, husband of Elizabeth and justice of the peace, 120, 121, 122, 119-23, 125-26, 128-29, 133-35, 137; namesakes, 128-29
Tripp, George, avocational archaeologist, 87
Trout, (Lt.) Harry G., and F Benteen, 267
Tularemia, and E Tracy 136-37
Turner, Cornelia, friend of E Tracy, 124
Turner, Reuben and Cora, and children's medical treatment, 130
Tuttle (Capt.) H P., astronomer for Reeves survey party, 103-105, 114, 117
Typhoid fever, from polluted water, 208 U
Uintah County, creation of, 201
Union Pacific Railroad: and Hispanic workers, 163; trains blocked by snow in 1872, 30, 44; transportation for Iwakura Mission, 30, 46
University of Deseret, 50
University of Utah, Utonian, 291, 296-97, 297
Uranium, in Emery County, 215-16
Utah Fuel Company 356-58
Utah-Idaho Land and Water Co., 14
Utah Lake: resorts, 333-53, 333, 336, 346; Skipper Bay Dike, 340
Utah Launch Complex, Green River, 216-17
Utah Power and Light, and generating plants in Emery County, 220, 222
Utah Southern Oil Company lease of Promontory-Curlew lands, 19-20
Utah State Agricultural College, dryfarming research, 6
Utes: in Emery County, 197 See also Southern Utes
Van Netta, William, 326
Varnum, (Lt.) Charles A. , and F. Benteen, 265-66
Viallet, Jean Louis Pierre, uncle of J Held, Jr., 312-14, 316, 318-19
Vidler, S Goring, geologist, 19
Vincent, Pauline, and near-drowning at Provonna, 348
Walhause, , manager of ZCMI delicatessen, 175
Walker, Josephine B (Josie): and difficult labor, 130; friend of Elizabeth Tracy, 126, 129, 131
Water, domestic, in Emery County, 203, 207
Water projects, in Emery County, 216 Watts, George D., 326
Webb, Franklin, and Dolly Varden claim, 151
Weber County, schools in 1875, 54
Webster, George, store owner in Woodrow, 133
Welsh, Driscoll & Buck, dry goods store in Park City, 235
Westphal, Jake, outdoorsman, 338
Whitehead, Leroy, BYU studentbody president, and show at Provonna, 350
Whitney, "Bud," 332
Whitney Maille, 332
Widstoe, John A., advocate of dry farming, 6
Wilberg Mine disaster, 222
Wilberg Resort, Emery County, 213, 214
Williams, Dick, miner in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 147
Wilson, Ada, SLC madam, 297, 315
Wilson, Allen D., surveyor, 107, 117
Index 383
W
Wilson, Shirl, manage r of show at Provonna, 350
Wilson, William M., resort operator, Utah Lake, 337-38, 338
Wilson, William Jr., 338
Wilson Produce Company, melongrower in Green River, 211-12
Winder, Joh n R., 326
Woodrow Hall, 123, 124, 133
Woodruff, Wilford: LDS apostle and president, in education debate, 55; journa l entry on Japanese, 35
Woods, George L., territorial governor, and nomination of O Riggs as school superintendent, 52
World War II, and Emery County, 214-15; and PO W experiences, 244 ff., 248, 254
Wright, Phoebe Ann, mothe r of Emm a Louise Robbins, 49-50
Wrigley Ann Singleton, settler in Emery County, 201
Yamada Akiyoshi, Iwakura Mission member, 29, 36
Yamaguchi Masouka, Iwakura Mission member, 29
Young, Allen Dahl, WWII POW, 243 ff., 243, 244, 254
Young, Amelia E, wife of Brigham, 326, 329
Young, BettyJun e Fisher, wife of Allen, 244, 244, 245, 250, 251, 263
Young, Brigham: and colonization of Emery County, 200; daughters of, 324, 325; and excursion to St George, 326-27; Japanese visit and controversy, 41-44; opposition to free schools, 51, 56; and S Alexander, 324-25; and theater, 328, 332-33
Young, Brigham Jr., in Emery County, 203
Young (Cannon), Carlie, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325
Young, Christine Marie, daughter of Allen, 263
Young, Clara Decker, wife of Brigham, 330-31
Young (Empey), Elbe, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325, 326
Young (Clawson), Emily, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325, 326
Young (Davis), Eva, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325, 332
Young (Thatcher), Fannie, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325, 326
Young, Hyru m S., 326
Young (Easton), Jenette, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325, 326
Young, Joh n W., son of Brigham, museu m ru n by, 32
Young, Katie, 332
Young, Lawrence Alonzo and Lovie May Dahl, parents of Allen, 243
Young, Mahonri, artist, 295, 297-98
Young (Croxal), Maime, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325
Young (Dougall), Maria, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325
Young (Conrad), Marinda, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325
Young, Mary 'Joe," 332
Young, Oscar S., 326
Young, Priscilla, 332
Young, Richard W , 2d Lt., U.S. Army, 264, 265, 269
Young, Scott Fisher, son of Allen, 263
Young, Seymour B., 326
Young, Xerry Allen, son of Allen, 245, 250, 251, 263
Young (Card), Zina, daughter of Brigham, 324, 325
Yount, George C , membe r of William Wolfskill party, 198
384 Utah Historical Quarterly
Zuninga, Jose, Rama Mexicana member, 174
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, 2001 Vice-Chair
MAXJ EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary
MARILYN CONOVER BARKER, Salt Lake City, 1999
MICHAEL W HOMER, Salt Lake City, 2001
Low HUNSAKER, Brigham City, 2001
KIM A. HYATT, Bountiful, 2001
JOEL C. JANETSKI, Provo, 2001
CHRISTIE SMUH NEEDHAM, Logan, 2001
RICHARD W SADLER, Ogden, 1999
PENNY SAMPINOS, Price, 1999
PAUL D WILLIAMS, Salt Lake City, 1999
ADMINISTRATION
MAXJ . EVANS, Director
WILSON G. MARTIN, AssociateDirector
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 amended
This program receives financial assistance for identification and preservation of historic properties under Tide 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 furtlier information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C 20240
BY LARRY R. GERLACH
