Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, Number 2, 1999

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY (ISSN 0042-143X)

EDITORIAL STAFF

MAXJ EVANS, Editor

STANFORD J LAYTON, Managing Editor

KRISTEN S. ROGERS, Associate Editor

ALLAN KENT POWELL, Book Review Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS

AUDREY M. GODFREY, Logan, 2000

LEE ANN KREUTZER, Torrey, 2000

ROBERT S. MCPHERSON, Blanding, 2001

MIRIAM B. MURPHY, Murray, 2000

ANTONETTE CHAMBERS NOBLE, Cora, WY, 1999

RICHARD C. ROBERTS, Ogden, 2001

JANET BURTON SEEGMILLER, Cedar City, 1999

GARY TOPPING, Salt Lake City, 1999

RICHARD S. VAN WAGONER, Lehi, 2001

Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utah's history. The Quarterly is published four times a year by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Phone (801) 533-3500 for membership and publications information Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, Utah Preservation, and the bimonthly Newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $20.00; institution, $20.00; student and senior citizen (age sixty-five or over), $15.00; contributing, $25,00; sustaining, $35.00; patron, $50.00; business, $100.00

Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate, typed double-space, with footnotes at the end Authors are encouraged to submit material in a computer-readable form, on 3/4 inch MSDOS or PC-DOS diskettes, standard ASCII text file. For additional information on requirements contact the managing editor Articles and book reviews represent the views of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Utah State Historical Society

Periodicals postage is paid at Salt Lake City, Utah.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to Utah Historical Quarterly, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

JESSIE L. EMBRY "In HisOwnLanguage": MormonSpanish-Speaking Congregations inthe United States LAMOND TULLIS 181

FORREST G. ROBINSON, ed. The New Western History: The Territory Ahead W. PAUL REEVE 182

RICHARD PATTERSON. ButchCassidy: A Biography E. LEO LYMAN 183

SHAWN HALL. Old Heartof Nevada: Ghost Towns and MiningCamps ofElko County .STEPHEN L CARR 185

SCOTT B. VICKERS NativeAmerican Identities: From Stereotype to Archetype in Artand

Literature ERIKM . ZISSU 187

LEONARDJ. ARRINGTON. Adventuresof a Church Historian. .WILLIAM MULDER 188

CHARLES WALLACE MILLER, JR The Automobile Gold Rushesand Depression Era Mining .PHILIP F NOTARIANNI 190

In this issue

For readers of history, a certain poignancy lies in the ability to know the conclusion of a story—to see how hopes and expectations play out in the end. Beginnings, of course, carry a certain charged energy. Witness these beginnings: In 1862 a group of devout St. George settlers, assigned to raise cattle for the Cotton Mission, move forty miles north to establish a new community; a generation later, a young cowboy sets out to build a livestock empire in the Price area; during the depression in southern Idaho, a young man plans a lifework of poultry raising; four young women leave their smalltown homes to earn teaching degrees at Snow College

But events never seem to unfold in ways that, during those hope-filled beginnings, can be guessed. The students at Snow College, for example, had expectations for the future as they both worked and romped through a year away from home; however, changing cultural conditions would alter the trajectories of these women's lives. Reuben G. Miller, the young cowman in Price, probably saw only success ahead as he grew to become the region's most prominent stockman and businessman; he, too, could not have guessed how his fortunes would change. As the Cotton Mission settlers put their faith and energy into building a community, they did not forsee that their hamlet of Hebron could not survive And finally, the would-be poultry farmer, Leonard Arrington, could never have imagined that he would become Utah's most-honored historian.

History's retrospective view links these beginnings and endings. By exploring the territory in between, the articles in this issue illuminate the whys and hows of unfolding events. In addition to the above-mentioned stories of labor and lifework, a photo essay on movie theaters shows how entertainment, like everything else, has evolved in previously unimaginable ways Together, this issue's articles and the memorial tribute to Society Fellow Arrington offer perspectives that cannot be had at the beginning of any endeavor.

Cows crossing the Virgin River. USHS collections.

School Days and Schoolmarms

BY DAVID A HALES

DURIN G THE DEPRESSION YEARS, four young women left their homes in Oak City, Utah, to attend Snow College. In doing so, Helen Shipley, Sadie Lovell, Blanche Nielson, and Lucile Roper1 were taking a step that was both adventurous and conventional: While most of their friends married right after high school, these young women decided to leave familiar surroundings in order to prepare for careers. With few alternatives available, however, they chose to pursue a traditional female occupation. As Lucile later recalled, "Aunt Jane and Mabel [Lucile's sister] tried to get me to follow in their footsteps and become a nurse I was not interested in nursing As a child I loved to play school and I decided I wanted to become a school teacher."2 Teaching also attracted the other three women.

Lucile, oldest of the four, left home first. After graduating from Delta High School in 1929, she spent a busy summer helping her father care for the family's large truck garden and orchard at their home in Oak City, a few miles east of Delta. Although even before the depression the Roper finances were meager, the family managed to accumulate enough funds to send their daughter to college

Lucile truly wanted to become a teacher, but it was difficult for her to leave home for the first time. Although she had the reputation of being the "life of the party," she was actually shy Besides, as the

David A Hales is Director of the Library at Westminster College, Salt Lake City

1 Lucile, the author's mother, carried the full name of Rachel Lucile Roper The women's married names were Helen S. Anderson, Sadie L. Christensen, Blanche N. Crafts, and Lucile R. Hales.

2 Lucile Roper Hales interview by author, Deseret, Utah, June 1989 Lucile also wrote a detailed life history, and it is mainly through her perspective that the story unfolds

School Days and Schoolmarms101

youngest daughter of a close-knit family of eleven, she had always been sheltered and protected by her older brothers and sisters.

Lucile joined her cousins Glenn and Lynette Rawlinson at Snow College, and the three rented a pair of upstairs rooms from Orval Peterson. Glenn slept in the kitchen/living area while the two girls shared the bedroom. Other students also rented rooms in the Peterson home, heating and cooking with a wood stove and using an outhouse with accommodations for two (affectionately known as a two-holer). The students bathed in an old round galvanized tub.

Lucile wrote, "I surely got homesick that year and didn't enjoy it much. Lynette was always running off to play [piano] for people, so I never got help or companionship from her. Glenn was real good and helped me out a lot."3

At that time, students at Snow College could earn an associate degree in education in two years by completing ninety-six hours of credit Among the required courses were religion, handwriting, health education, educational psychology, curriculum, organization and administration, and practice teaching. In addition to maintaining a B average, students were expected to "be free from habits of using tobacco or intoxicating liquor, and be able, otherwise, to give evidence of good character."

Tuition for three quarters was $50, which included a studentbody fee admitting the student to all regular lyceum numbers, dances, sporting events, and entertainments; it also included a subscription to

Opposite page: Lucile Roper and Blanche Nielson. This page: Helen Shipley and Sadie Lovell. From Snowonian, 1931. All photos courtesy of the author.

3 Lucile Hales, life history notes (original copy in possession of Rawlene Hales Hansen, Washington, Utah; pagination by author), 20-21

the college newspaper, SnowDrift. The Snowonian, the annual yearbook, cost $2.50 Two-year graduates received a Utah State First Class Certificate permitting them to teach in Utah's elementary schools for five years without further examination.4

Lucile was confident that she would be able to find a position once she completed the program. She was also quite sure she would find a position in Millard County since she knew several young women who planned to resign in order to marry. As Miriam Murphy has recorded, "Besides their generally lower pay, women teachers were saddled with another handicap that cut short their careers and effectively kept them from working toward higher-paying supervisory positions Most school districts fired women teachers who married."5

After a year of homesickness

Lucile returned home the next summer to help her father. In the fall of 1930, her hometown friends Blanche, Helen, and Sadie convinced her to return to Snow College and room with them. At this time the Roper family was able to gather the necessary funds even though, as Lucile recalls, "We were still having hard times Father sold a calf for about $2.00."6

Lucile's parents were only able to send her $5.00 each month to meet her expenses; since her share of the rent and electricity was $2.50, her budget was very tight, but it was comparable to that of other students The college catalogue reported: "The cost of living in Ephraim is much lower than in the large cities of the state. Good room and board in a private house can be obtained at from $5.00 to $7.50 per week. Nonresident students can reduce their expenses by renting rooms and boarding themselves. Rent is from $2.00 and up per room per month."7

•• • Sadie (left) and Blanche (right) on washday. From Snowonian, 1931.

4 Thirteenth Annual Announcement of Snow College, 1929-1930 (Ephraim: Snow College, 1929), 31, 32,36,27

5 Hales interview; Miriam B Murphy, "Women in the Utah Work Force from Statehood to World War II," in John S McCormick and Joh n R Sillito, eds., A World We Thought We Knew: Readings in Utah History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 189-90

6 Hales life history, 24

7 Annual Announcement of Snow College, 27, 28

The young women chose to "reduce their expenses" by renting two front rooms in the home of Peter Hansen and bringing all their food with them from home. One room was used as the kitchen/living room and the other as the bedroom "We had to go outside to the twoholer and some times it was pretty cold," wrote Lucile.8

Blanche recalled, "I remember my Dad dropped me and a hundred-pound bag of flour off at school. We took all our food from homecanned fruit and vegetables We ate what our families were eating at home. If they killed a beef we got some; if they killed chicken we got some, too. During the year they would send us food packages through the U.S mail We also ate lots of bread and sardines. Canned sardines were very cheap in those days. We would have starved otherwise." Lucile confirmed, "We had to take a good supply of food because we could get home only at Christmas and at the end of the year. The old man [Hansen] let us put our food storage down in his cellar."9

Helen remembers that, although she was a farm girl, she had never liked sweet corn. However, because Mr. Hansen let the girls pick all the corn they wanted from his garden, that changed: "I learned to like corn just to have some variety." Lucile remembered, "We would take turns making the bread and running home, which was a block from the college, to bake our bread Sometimes it would be well cooked."10

Wash day was a major chore for the students The girls had to heat water on the stove then wash the clothes with a scrubbing board in a number 3 metal tub. In winter, they had to hang their laundry in the kitchen, creating a small obstacle course.

Mock wedding, one of the coeds' favorite games. The "bride " is Lulu Jensen and the "groom " is Lucile Roper.

8 Hales life history, 24

9 Blanche Nielson Crafts and Lucile Roper Hales interview with author, Hinckley, Utah, June 1989; Hales life history, 25 10 Helen Shipley Anderson interview with author, Oak City, Utah, August 1997; Hales life history, 25.

All "dressed up": left to right, Blanche, Helen, and Sadie. From Snowonian, 1931.

Lucile's wardrobe was typical for the time. She had one pair of shoes, two every-day dresses, a blouse and skirt, and a Sunday dress. For Easter one year she was excited to receive a new dress from her sisters. Blanche and Helen had similar wardrobes, but they did own two pairs of shoes each.11

Naturally, the coeds anxiously awaited care packages from home. One day they received a large box in the mail. Excited and expecting to receive some special items from their families, they opened it "But to our sad plight," reported Lucile, "[we] found an old dead crow. We were a sad bunch of hungry girls. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry." The girls blamed the hoax on some "fellows" who had been coming to the house. But when, several days later, Ned Armstrong came by with a hefty fish he had caught at Fish Lake, the girls overlooked the prank. "Boy, was it ever good," Lucille wrote.12

Fellows had been showing up at the house since the beginning. The first night the young women were in Ephraim, some local boys dropped by to meet the new arrivals The young men, who had been drinking, insisted that the girls go out on the town with them and became obnoxious when the girls refused. Finally, Lucile told them that she was the mother of the family and that her daughters could not go out. After that, everyone called Lucile "Ma." Blanche, the small-

Above: TheJorgensen home, where the girls were often invited for dinner. Top left: Astrid Jorgensen, friend and schoolmate. Left: Astrid's mother Alma, who often served home-cooked meals to the coeds.

Helen Shipley Anderson interview; Crafts and Hales interview Hales life history, 25

est of the girls, acquired the nickname "Buzz." On campus, the entire Oak City group became known as "Hansen's little pigs" because their landlord raised and sold pigs. The girls detested the nickname.13

Although on that first night "Ma" had sent the unruly young men packing, Hansen's house soon became a popular place for boys Late one evening Mr. Hansen appeared at the door in his nightshirt and cap, holding a candle; he told the boys it was time for them to leave. Lucile wrote, "The boys left in a hurry, but it did not stop them from coming back." Hansen apparently reported the late-night activities to the college, though, because the administration called Lucile in and told her she needed to see that there was more studying and less play at her residence. She spoke to her roommates, and the situation improved.14

Still, "We hardly ever spent a weekend without doing some crazy thing," Lucile wrote. For one thing, the Oak City coeds and their friends liked to put on mock weddings. One would dress as the groom, another as the bride, and the rest as bridesmaids and other members of the wedding party. And at homecoming, "not any of us went to the dance, but stayed home and goofed off. Lula [Jensen] and I dressed up silly and the rest bet we wouldn't dare go in those clothes up to the bakery on Main Street and get some candy Well, we took them up on it and went. Of course, we went sneaking through the lot,

Snow College Building, 1931; teachers Lucy Phillips and Heber C. Snell. From Snowonian, 1931.

took off our silly duds, went and bought the candy, and went back to the house," donning their funny clothes again before they returned. They shocked their friends with their apparent audacity.15

A special friend of the girls was Astrid Jorgensen (now Larsen), who attended college classes but lived at her home in Ephraim. Astrid spent many hours with the Oak City crowd, and her parents, George and AlmaJorgensen, often invited them all for dinner. Since Astrid's father was a farmer and sheepraiser, the girls enjoyed mutton, lamb, and produce at the Jorgensen home. They also enjoyed some hours of respite there According to Astrid, whenever contention arose among the four, the one who was in the most trouble with the rest of the group would go home with Astrid and stay until relations improved.16

Despite the fun of college, Lucile still suffered from homesickness. She specifically lamented the time when she was not able to return home for the funeral of her two-year-old niece But warm relationships with both friends and teachers may have helped ease the pain of separation At the small Snow College of the 1930s, students and teachers formed great friendships, and despite their limited food supplies the Oak City coeds enjoyed inviting their teachers for dinner. Lucile wrote, "We had some grand teachers at Snow. Miss Lucy Phillips was a sweet lady who really understood people and was always willing to help out with our problems. [Heber C] Snell was a good old gentieman, too. He taught religion. There were many more, but these two stand out in my life." Lucile spent one Thanksgiving holiday with the Phillips family in Springville, and she always remembered the warm hospitality she received from the entire family.17

As the year passed, their experiences together bonded the young women. Before they returned home for the summer Lucile wrote in Blanche's yearbook: "Dear Buzz, Our old school days are nearly o're, And we shall swim to the same old shore, And live as friends forever more I surely have enjoyed living with you this winter in the 'College City.' I love you dearly. We have had some good old times, the kind that batchers always have. I don't know what I would have done without you kids to cheer me along in this old world of ours. I hope you will always remember me as your 'Ma' of dear old school days at 'Snow.' May success be your lot is my wish. Love, Lucile (Ma)." Lucile

15 Crafts and Hales interview; Hales life history, 21

16 Astrid Jorgensen Larsen interview with author, Ephraim, Utah, April 1996

17 Hales life history, 28, 29

and Blanche had played together as young girls herding cattle on the banks of the irrigation ditches in Oak City Helen had also been a friend since childhood, and these three women remained close throughout their lives.18

Although she had not completed her student teaching, Lucile graduated in the spring of 1931. Since students did not have money for the traditional caps and gowns, the young men wore suits and the young women their best dresses. "My graduation dress was light blue with ruffles going from the front to the back," Lucile wrote.19

That summer Lucile worked for her sister Mabel, a nurse who ran Delta Hospital for Dr. M. E. Bird. In the fall, she completed her student teaching at Ephraim. Although she had been confident that she could find ajob, when Lucile finished in December she was not able to find a single teaching position. However, she did learn from Dr Bird that the government was looking for teachers who would establish kindergartens. She inquired and received permission to start one in Oak City "Each parent who wanted their children in the school had to pay ten cents per child and the government would pay the rest. So that's how I got started teaching." With very few supplies available, Lucile relied on her ingenuity: "I got along well with the Sears and Roebuck Catalog and the Montgomery Ward Catalog for the kids to learn to cut out."20

When Lucile learned that one of the teachers in Oak City was getting married, she went to see Clead Nielson, a school board member, and he helped her get ajob teaching third, fourth, and fifth grades. She enjoyed that first year of teaching. "Edith [Stevens] and I spent many hours in the evenings, (especially around Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter) decorating our rooms." Lucile lived with her parents, paying $20 per month for board and room, which helped her brother Rawlin attend school at BYU.21 Her time at Oak City was to be short, however. "The next summer we were in the canyon to a program and Dad heard a man talking to the Superintendent about me. He said I favored my own relatives too much. When our assignments [for the new school year] came out I was assigned to A.C. Nelson School at Deseret." In Deseret, Lucile

18

19 Hales life history, 27

20 Ibid., 30

21 Ibid., 31

Snowownian, 1931, original in possession of Ralph Crafts, Hinckley, Utah Lucile and Blanche married men who were cousins to each other, and for the rest of their lives the two families lived only three miles apart

taught third and fourth grades and lived in an old schoolhouse owned by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Schoenberger, a couple who had boarded teachers for many years. At this point Lucile was earning $75 per month and paying $25 for room and board, which included a lunch to take to school. "I was envied by many. People just couldn't believe a single woman would have $50just for herself."22

For three years Lucile taught at A. C. Nelson School, attended Brigham Young University during the summers, and continued to provide financial support to Rawlin, who graduated in 1935 with a teaching certificate. After teaching his first year in Millard County, Rawlin was eager to go to Carbon County, where pay was higher. He learned that there was a vacancy for a teaching couple in Wattis, with housing provided, and he convinced his sister to go with him after the superintendent agreed to hire the brother/sister team. Lucile wrote, "It was quite a raise too, from $85.00 per month to $175.00 per month."23 However, when the two arrived in Price, they learned that the position had been given to a husband and wife. Instead, the district offered the Ropers teaching positions in Consumers and Gordon Creek.

During her first year in Carbon County, Lucile was severely injured in an automobile accident and required several months of recuperation at the family home in Oak City By the end of her second year teaching there, she was engaged to marry Albert (Bert) Hales, whom she had first met while she was teaching in Deseret. Lucile recorded, "I did want to teach one more year, but Bert said, 'now or never,' so I decided it better be now." When they married on June 28, 1940, Lucile surmised that her teaching career had ended.24

She was the last of the four roommates to marry. Sadie married Anthony Christensen in 1931 after her first year at college. She wanted to continue her schooling, but her husband was a teacher and said, "One schoolteacher in the family is enough." He and Sadie settled in Aurora, Utah, where they farmed and raised a family; she never completed her college studies.25

Blanche and Helen both graduated in the spring of 1932. Helen taught school for one year then married Harold Anderson. She never returned to teaching. Blanche taught for one year in Deseret and two

22 Ibid., 31-32; Hales interview

23 Hales life history, 40

24 Ibid., 47

26 Sadie L Christensen telephone interview by author, February 1990

years in Lynndyl. When she married Ralph Crafts onjuly 1, 1937, she too assumed that her teaching career was over

However, World War II changed the status of married women in rural classrooms. Many young men who had fought in World War II either lost their lives (as was the case with Lucile's brother, Rawlin)26 or moved to larger metropolitan areas when they did return. Also, many young women had gone to live and work in cities during the war and chose to stay there afterward. The resulting demographic shift caused a teacher shortage in many small rural areas.

In 1947, although they had not taught for many years and were not certified teachers, Lucile and Blanche were contacted by Hinckley High School principal Kenneth Robins, who persuaded them to teach at Hinckley Elementary School. The school administration was so desperate that the superintendent agreed to provide transportation for both Lucile and her babysitter. Each weekday morning Lucille Cahoon, the babysitter, would board the school bus in front of her home in Oasis and ride to the Hales residence in Deseret. There she would get off the bus, and Lucile would get on and travel to school with the students After school the bus routine was reversed.27

Blanche taught until December, when she and her husband had the opportunity to adopt a baby boy. Lucile had become pregnant, but she was able to finish the year because her pregnancy was not obvious.

"Mrs. [Fannie Lee] Hilton was surprised when I told her I was pregnant. She said, f just thought you were getting pleasantly plump.' She told the Superintendent and he said to let me go on teaching if I felt like it." School ended on May 31, 1948, and Lucile gave birth to a baby boyjust a week later With a new baby and two other children at home, Lucile decided not to return to the classroom in the fall.28

Both Blanche and Lucile spent the next years raising their families. By 1960, however, expanding economic opportunities in fields other than education created new demands for teachers. That year Blanche returned to the classroom, teaching at Delta Elementary, and Lucile began teaching kindergarten at the Sutherland Elementary The two were hired because of their experience but with the understanding that they would acquire the current credential, a bachelor's degree in education. Blanche and Lucile, now in their late 40s and

26 Hugh Rawlin Roper enlisted in April 1941 He became a pilot and was killed when his plane collided with another plane during their return from bombing the Ploesti oil fields in Romania on August 1, 1943

early 50s, were not typical coeds anymore, but they took correspondence courses and went to summer school year after year until they finally graduated from the College of Southern Utah in June of 1966.

Lucile taught until 1974 and Blanche until 1977, ending careers that each exceeded twenty years and spread across five decades. During this time, the two women saw many changes. They themselves had become harbingers of change as they, like many other young women, left the comforts of home with plans to pursue an education and return to their communities to teach They became role models, both for other women and for the children of rural Utah. Lucile provided hundreds of Utah children with their first introduction to reading, and Blanche was responsible for acquiring a grant and establishing the first media center in any Utah school.

The careers of the two were significantly affected by events and laws of the time. They entered the teaching profession in the 1930s confident that they would be able to find jobs, since most women were not allowed to teach once they married. In the late 1940s, years after they had married and left the profession, school officials begged them to return—although they were not certified to teach—because of the teacher shortage caused by the war. They left teaching to raise their families but re-entered the profession during the 1960s when a booming economy again caused a shortage of teachers. After years struggling to juggle families, jobs, and education, and after they had produced a legacy of quality job performance, these same women were forced to leave the careers to which they had devoted much of their lives, talents, and energies Ironically, it was not their choice to retire; instead, the mandatory retirement law abruptly ended their careers.

Toward the end of their lives, both women agreed that their greatest rewards had come from their experiences in teaching and raising families. Yet they still looked back fondly on those memorable days as students themselves, sharing hard times and sardine sandwiches at Snow College during the Great Depression

Going to the Movies: A Photo Essay of Theaters

BY ROGER ROPER

MOVIE S ARE A 20™-CENTURY phenomenon, and movie theaters are a distinct type of 20th-century architecture. Though descended from opera houses and playhouses of an earlier era, movie theaters quickly developed characteristics of their own. The first theater designed specifically for motion pictures opened in 1902 in Pennsylvania, and by 1905 most large cities in America had one

The evolution of theater design in Utah paralleled national trends. The flamboyant, exaggerated architecture of movie palaces—including regal Neoclassical designs, exotic Egyptian and Spanish Colonial revivals, or daring Art Deco and Art Moderne styles—set them apart from their more mundane neighbors on Main Street And if this "pay attention to me" styling was not enough to capture the public eye, projecting marquees bedazzled with lights ensured attention. Other notable features included sidewalkaccessible ticket booths, concession stands, and stage-less auditoriums.

Roger Roper is the preservation coordinator for the Utah State Historical Society Unless otherwise noted, all photos are from USHS collections Footnotes are on p 122

The Beaux Arts-style Casino (Star) Theater on Gunnison's Main Street is the most elaborate smalltown theater in Utah and one of the state's first buildings constructed specifically for movies. The commercial spacesflanking the entrance generated additional revenue. When this elegant, modern theater opened inJanuary 1913, the local newspaper noted that "patrons will need a little time to break off old custom, " and offered them thefollowing bits of advice: "Read to yourself. the explaining sentences thrown on the screen and don't annoy, by reading aloud, others who can readfor themselves "; "When you are required to make roomfor another person to pass by, just tip back the seat you occupy "; and "When you leave, go; don't make a church handshake time of it. "l

Movie theaters were usually the showiest buildings in the downtown area. That was true in larger cities as well as small towns. The 1912-13 Renaissance Revival-style Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City (1947 photo), designed by an out-of-state architect, features Palladianmotif upper windows, diamond-pattern brickwork, and a heavily decoratedfrieze and cornice. Though originally built for vaudeville, the theater was remodeled in 1927 to become "the city's leading moving picture palace. " The theater sign arching over 2nd South a distinction afforded no other building in the city— provided further visibility.

A more subtle effect of exuberant theater designs was their ability to create an atmosphere of imagination and suspended rationality. Through those doors and inside those darkened auditoriums patrons were transported to new worlds. The surrounding architectural features helped prepare them for that journey. Though theaters were built for entertainment, they were also businesses. Location was critical to their success, and theaters always managed to occupy prime downtown sites. Return on investment was important, so many theaters included leaseable commercial space flanking the theater itself and sometimes apartments above In some instances the front shops were small, while in others they were full-scale commercial spaces, necessitating the familiar long lobby/hallway (usually carpeted and adorned) leading to the deeply recessed auditorium.

Movies and movie theaters initiated cultural change. They had a broadening and homogenizing effect on small-town Utah, "creat[ing] an unprecedented common culture or experience."2 They brought the larger world into Provo and Panguitch and Parowan, and in the process bound them ever more tightly into the fabric of American culture.

The photographs on the following pages include a rep-

resentative sample of Utah's historic movie theaters . Some of them remain standin g while others have given way to new developments.

The sweeping curves ofProvo's Princess Theater (c. 1913, below; now demolished) and the exotic detailing ofPeery's Egyptian Theater in Ogden (1924) set them apart from their neighbors. The Egyptian Theater alsofeatured an "atmospheric" ceiling in the auditorium that, through special effects lighting, simulated sunsets, clouds, and starlit night skies.

Below: Built c.1930, the Star Theater in LaPoint (Uintah County), typical of many small-town theaters, was used for a wide range of community activities, including stage shows, movies, community meetings, and even funerals. The stuccoed Mission-style facade contrasts dramatically with the roughhewn "stockade" construction (vertical logs) visible on the side walls. Like many small-town theaters, it struggled financially. After it stopped showing movies in 1931, due to the expense of films and projection equipment, it served as a dance hall and skating rink until it burned down in 1940/

Below: Escalante's Star Theater, built in 1938, stands out on the local scene with its rounded parapet and use ofpetrified wood insets on the pebbledashfacade. The building had "Escalante"painted on the roof to help guide early aviators.

The dramatic 1912 transformation of Salt Lake City's ratherplain, but still quite new (1908), Bungalow Theater into the regal Rex Theater illustrates the apparent needfor a theater to have an epic architectural presence if it was to be successful. The crown-topped Rex, complete with sentry knights at the corners, also featured paired ticket booths in front. Freestanding or projecting ticket booths were a commonfeature on theaters in the early decades of the twentieth century.

The castle-like Tower Theater in Salt Lake City (1933 photo) underwent a dramatic modernization in 1950 that obscured its original architecture and added the coffee and ice cream shop next door as a supplemental source of income. Built at 9h South and 9h East in 1921, it was one of the first theaters located outside the downtown area. It was also the city'sfirst theater with air conditioning.

Theaters drew packed houses of children on Saturdays, especially in the pre-television years. Kids could spend much of the day watching thefeature movie, several cartoons, a serial episode, and perhaps a comedy.

Compare the interiors of this theater and the one on the cover (both 1941 photos): The Rialto (on cover) exhibits classical elements popular during the movie palace era of the 1920s, while the Southeast Theater shows the sparse, angular decor consistent with 1930s and '40s Art Deco. Both theaters use the double-aisle arrangement of seats that continues to be the standard for movie theaters.

Opposite: Elegant lobbies presided over by uniformed ushers were one of the most memorablefeatures oftheaters. The lobby of Salt Lake's Capitol Theater (1944 photo), though more ornate than most, was typical in that it included promotionsfor coming attractions. Lobbies were also usedfor more blatant advertising, ranging from the simple adfor a radio station in the Paramount Theatre (1942) to the gauntlet of appliance displays in the Utah Theater lobby (1950).

Utah Theater (Salt Lake City) snack bar at Easter time, 1950. Concession stands became increasingly important sources of revenue in theaters, eventually (by the 1980s) emerging as the main source ofincome.4

The smooth stucco finish and streamlined curves of the Art Moderne-style Murray Theater (1938) represent a dramatic shift toward modern architecture and awayfrom the exotic revival styles of earlier decades.

Upper left: This movie at the Paramount Theater in 1936 attracted a long line of Salt Lakers. Movies were a popular, and affordable, distraction during the depression; escapist orfantasy movies were especiallyfavored during this period.

Left: The Burk Theater on Midvale's Main Street (1949) is typical of virtually all small-town theaters, which were nestled comfortably in the heart of the downtown business district.

Orpheum Theatre, Salt Lake City (1934 photo). Projecting marquees, large vertical signs, and neon lights were signature elements of movie theater promotion. The overlit, overscale nature of theater signage was intended not only to "out-shout" other signs but also to capture the attention of fast-moving automobile travelers.5

At right: The Lyric (later Promised Valley Playhouse) Theater, Salt Lake City, 1947. As the marquee indicates, many older theaters had thefacilities to continue with stage performances even after shifting largely to movies.

Below: The Centre Theatre, constructed in 1937, was the first large theater to be built in Salt Lake City in almost two decades. It featured a distinctive neonlit circular marquee and a 90-foot corner tower (not yet constructed in this photo) that resembled the top of the Empire State Building. The auditorium was set toward the interior of the block, leaving the valuable streetfront locations available for revenue-generating shops. This Art Deco landmark was demolished in 1989.

The Villa Theatre (1949), located at 3092 S. Highland Drive in Salt Lake City, was one of Utah's first suburban theaters large, freestanding buildings located near growing residential areas.

Architect A. B. Paulson's design was described as "modern, though not radical" and included innovative "stadium " seating, which had recently been used in two theaters in Los Angeles.6 True to its suburban character, the theater offeredfree parking for 500 automobiles on the property.

The Star-Lite Drive-in Theater, located at 285 South 500 East in American Fork, c.1950. Going to the movies took on an entirely different meaning with the emergence of drive-ins. Though they had been around since the 1930s, drive-ins blossomed throughout the U.S. in the 1950s, growingfrom 547 in 1947 to over 4,000 by the mid-1950s.7Drive-ins were built alongside highways at the edge of towns, where land prices were low and visibility was high. Due to growth-induced land pressures and changing tastes of moviegoers, these theaters have been in dramatic decline during the last two decades. Today, only ten drive-ins are still in operation in Utah.

1 Gunnison Gazette, January 17, 1913

2 Carrie Richter, "Glitz and Glamour on Main Street: A History of the Small Town Movie Theater in Utah, 1915-1945," (MS thesis, Univ of Utah Graduate School of Architecture, 1997), 53-54.

3 Doris Burton, Settlements of Uintah County: Digging Deeper (Vernal, UT: Uintah County Library, 1998), 459-60 Photo courtesy of Uintah County Library Regional History Center

4 Maggie Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), 176 By 1989, candy counter receipts accounted for 80 percent of profits.

5 Richter, "Glitz and Glamour," 43

6 Salt Lake Tribune, August 22, 1948

7 Valentine, "The Show Starts," 160

Reuben G. Miller: Turn-of-the-Century Rancher, Entrepreneur, and Civic Leader

BY EDWARD A GEARY

UTA H HISTORY FURNISHES NUMEROUS EXAMPLES of once-prominent individuals whose reputations have been obscured by the passage of time and yet whose experiences and contributions are well worth remembering. Reuben G. Miller was such an individual: proprietor of the largest livestock operation in the Carbon-Emery county region, telecommunications entrepreneur, Price civic leader, and prominent local Mormon church official. His career also reflects a struggle against personal adversity and offers an interesting sidelight on the "peculiar institution" of plural marriage.

Right: Reuben Gardner Miller. Above: Miller ranch crew loading wool sacks, c. 1900. G. E. Anderson photograph. All photos courtesy of Photographic Archives, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, Provo.

Dr Geary is a professor of English and director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University

No doubt Miller gained some of his entrepreneurial energy from his family background Reuben Gardner Miller was descended on both sides from prominent pioneer families. His maternal grandparents, Robert Gardner,Jr., andJane McCune (or McKeown), and their family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1847. The following spring Robert and his brother Archibald erected the sawmill that gave Mill Creek its name. Robert took up land and built a home near the present intersection of Highland Drive and Thirty-ninth South where the family lived until 1861, when they were called to colonize the St. George area. 1 Miller's paternal grandparents, Reuben Miller and Rhoda Ann Letts, came to Utah in 1849 and settled on the north bank of Big Cottonwood Creek near Ninth East. Reuben Miller served as bishop of the LDS Mill Creek Ward from 1851 until his death in 1882.2

In 1858 the Millers' eldest son,James Robinson, married Robert Gardner's eldest daughter, MaryJane. The young couple acquired eighty acres south of Big Cottonwood Creek in the angle now formed by Forty-eighth South and Ninth East. Here Reuben G. Miller was born in a log cabin on November 7, 1861, the second of fourteen children The family moved to a five-room adobe house a short time after Reuben G.'s birth. In 1882 they erected a large brick home. This historic structure has been preserved and now serves as a clubhouse for residents of the Pine Lake condominiums.3

The Millers were an enterprising family. According to a biographical sketch composed in later years by Reuben G. Miller, James and his brother Reuben P. made seven round trips between Salt Lake City and Omaha with mule teams during the pre-railroad years, hauling "farm machinery, mill stones . . . and various articles of hardware and drygoods." The Miller brothers worked with their teams and scrapers on the Union Pacific roadbed in 1868, for which efforts they were "hansomely remunerated . . . and returned home with considerable means and useful impliments." In 1869 they secured a contract to haul ore from the Emma Mine at Alta to the smelter in Sandy, and in 1870 they contracted to build the segment of the Utah Central Railroad between Big and Little Cottonwood creeks

The Miller brothers also developed a farm implement sales busi-

1 Delila Gardner Hughes, The Life of Archibald Gardner (West Jordan, Utah: Archibald Gardner Family Genealogical Association, 1939), 25, 37-43

2 "Mill Creek Ward," in Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church offesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941), 503-504

3 "James Robinson Miller," in The History of Murray City, Utah (Murray City Corporation, 1976), 406-407.

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ness, owned one of the first threshing machines in the area, and owned large farms on Provo Bench and in Cache Valley. James R. Miller operated a flour mill on Big Cottonwood Creek from 1866 to 1896. In addition, he was a progressive farmer and was reputedly among the first in Utah to plant alfalfa, thereby getting three cuttings of hay each year where only one cutting had been harvested previously. Finally, a feed, coal, and hardware store first organized asJ. R. Miller and Company (later known as Miller and Cahoon) was a prominent business establishment in Murray for many years. 4

In a typical pattern for the period, young Reuben G. assisted in the family enterprises from an early age, spending, as he later claimed, "most of his time behind a plow, on a freight wagon, or in the saddle." He recalled being assigned, at the age of nine, to carry beer to the workers on the Utah Central construction crew and getting drunk after he decided to sample the brew. His schooling was irregular, confined to the winters, when there was less farm work He spent two terms at the University of Deseret but expressed regret in later years at "being deprived of schooling and embarrassed when drafted into public service in church and political positions."5

The Miller family entered the range livestock business in the late 1860s when the livestock business began to evolve into a major force in the territorial economy. Under early Mormon settlement patterns, communities were built around agriculture rather than stockraising Horses, cattle, and sheep were pastured in the hills near the towns, typically under the care of young boys. But as livestock numbers multiplied, these conveniently situated grazing lands became depleted. Orson Hyde, speaking to an LDS general conference in 1865, recalled that when the pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley "there was an abundance of grass" covering the benchlands "like a meadow." Less than two decades later, however, the grass had been replaced by "the desert weed, the sage, the rabbit-brush, and such like plants, that make very poor feed for stock."6

The range livestock industry in Utah had its beginnings when some individuals and families began to assemble herds of surplus animals and take them to the west desert or to the mountain valleys east

4 Miller Brothers Co ranch acreage list, box 3, folder 7, Reuben Gardner Miller Collection (Harold B Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; hereinafter cited as RGM Collection); biographical sketch ofJames Robinson Miller, box 4, folder 4, RGM Collection

5 Deseret News, November 25 1951, clipping in box 2, folder 1, RGM Collection; notebook, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection; diary, January 10, 1949, box 1, folder 11, RGM Collection

6 Orson Hyde, "Instructions Concerning Things Temporal and Spiritual," in fournal ofDiscourses by President Brigham Young, His Two Counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others (Liverpool, 1867), 11:149.

of the Wasatch Front James R Miller's brothers Reuben P and Melvin undertook such an operation in the Cherry Creek area of the West Tintic mountains, herding cattle at first at a charge per head and later in exchange for a share of the calf crop, which they found to be a more profitable arrangement. Other family members contributed their surplus stock to this growing herd. When James obtained an appointment as pound keeper for the South Cottonwood district, he purchased unclaimed stray animals and sent them to Cherry Creek. The cattle were a motley assortment descended from mixed-breed milk cows, heavy draft animals, and wiry, long-limbed Texas longhorns. In an effort to improve the quality of their herd, the Miller brothers imported purebred shorthorn bulls in 1872 and 1874 "for Range Breeding purposes."7

The western valleys of Utah held a rich supply of accumulated forage when domestic livestock were first taken there Hyrum Bennion, a member of another early stockraising family, recalled, "When we first came to the south end of Rush Valley in 1860 we thought it was the best range in Utah, because we could stay in one place all the year round. But by 1875 it was all et out, and we had to move our cattle to Castle Valley." The Miller brothers faced a similar situation in the Cherry Creek region. Together with another Murray-area resident, Jonas Erekson, who also had cattle in the West Tintic mountains, the Millers moved their growing herd to the Wasatch Plateau in central Utah in the summer of 1875 and then east into Castle Valley for the winter, establishing a camp at the point where Huntington and Cottonwood creeks converge to form the San Rafael River.8

In the mid-1870s Castle Valley, and indeed all of eastern Utah, was virgin range, as the west desert had been fifteen years earlier. Beginning in 1874 or 1875 large numbers of livestock were moved from the crowded ranges of western Utah across the mountainous backbone that separates the Great Basin from the Colorado Plateau. According to Charles S Peterson, "It is difficult to know how many cattle were trailed from the Great Basin into eastern Utah, but it is certain they numbered in the hundreds of thousands." In addition to the Millers, Ereksons, and Bennions, other stockraisers who came to

7 See Charles S Peterson, "Grazing in Utah: A Historical Perspective," Utah Historical Quarterly 57 (Fall 1989): 300-319; biographical sketch ofJames Robinson Miller, box 4, folder 4, RGM Collection; notebook, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection

8 Quoted in Glynn Bennion, "A Pioneer Cattie Venture of the Bennion Family," Utah Historical Quarterly 34 (Fall 1966): 319; undated letter from RGM to Lamont Johnson in response to an inquiry dated January 14, 1950, typescript carbon copy in box 3, folder 4, RGM Collection

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Castle Valley during this period included the Swasey brothers from Juab County, William H. Chipman from American Fork, Mike Molen from Lehi, George and James M. ("Tobe") Whitmore from St. George and Nephi, Orange and Wellington Seely from Mount Pleasant, Lee Lemmon from Mill Creek, William Gentry and the Starr brothers from Springville, Daniel Davidson from Salt Lake City, and a mysterious Britisher who styled himself as Lord Scott Elliott. Under such intensive grazing pressure this range too was soon depleted. A railroad surveyor who worked in the region for several months in 1881 and 1882 reported seeing "great numbers of cattle apparently feeding along the mountainside, although I could not see what in the world they found to eat."9

The grazing frontier was a passing phase Faced with a deteriorating range and the added competition of the permanent settlers who entered Castle Valley beginning in 1877, most of the large livestock outfits left the region within a few years. The Miller brothers remained. In 1876 they had once again trailed their cattle to the Wasatch Plateau; that fall they established a permanent camp on what came to be known as Miller Creek and erected a log cabin that they called the Winter House. The following year they built the Summer House near a spring that still bears that name on the high benches of the Gordon Creek drainage.10

Initially, like most other stockraisers, the Miller brothers established their claim to the public lands by customary use According to a local history, the Millers and Whitmores had an informal agreement whereby "the Whitmores ran their cattle entirely on the north side of the Price River, while the Miller Brothers covered the south side." Over time, the Millers acquired title to key properties that included the Winter House headquarters ranch, the Summer House ranch, several hundred acres of rich meadowland in Pleasant Valley (an area later covered by the waters of Scofield Reservoir), and a 200-acre hay farm near Huntington. From this base in deeded land, the Miller operation dominated more than 500 square miles of the public domain extending from Pleasant Valley to Cedar Mountain and the San Rafael Swell. Pleasant Valley and the 10,000-foot Castle Valley Ridge provided high-quality summer grazing. The Gordon Creek benches, at an elevation above 7,000 feet, supplied an abundant

9 Peterson, "Grazing in Utah," 306; Francis Hodgman, "In the Mountains of Utah," Colorado Rail Annual 1992, 29.

10 RGM to LamontJohnson (1950), box 3, folder 4, RGM Collection

Locations City Locations Minor Roads Major Roads Water Courses - County Lines

Note: Miller Ranch properties are shown in relation to current geographic features Cartogn

Main Miller ranch properties

growth of bunch grass in the spring. The lower benchlands between Price and Huntington were more sparsely vegetated but were seldom covered by snow in the winter.11

Active management of the Miller brothers livestock operations during the early years was in the hands of Reuben P. and Melvin while James managed the business interests in Murray and made only occa-

11

James Liddell, "The Cattle and Sheep Industry of Carbon County," in Thurseyjessen Reynolds et al., Centennial Echoesfrom Carbon County (Carbon County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1948), 52; Miller Brothers Co ranch acreage list, box 3, folder 7, RGM Collection

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sional visits to the ranch. In addition to their Castle Valley ranches, the Miller brothers partnership also owned large farms on Provo Bench and in Cache Valley. Young Reuben G. Miller apparently began working on the ranch in 1879 at age eighteen, riding with the cowboys and picking up some habits of which his parents did not approve. In 1880 his father gave him a mare in return for a promise to "quit using tobacco."12

In 1883 the Millers sold most of their cattle to a Colorado buyer and went into the sheep business. This was a representative move in a trend that saw sheep numbers on Utah ranges increase from fewer than one million in 1880 to almost four million by 1900.13 Sheep, though requiring more care, were potentially more profitable than cattle because they returned a double crop of wool and lambs In addition, they were better adapted to survive on marginal grazing lands, which many Utah ranges had become. The Miller brothers purchased 4,000 sheep in California in 1882, and Melvin Miller trailed them to Utah in company with another large herd belonging to Lee Lemmon and Al Starr. The herd spent the winter of 1882-83 in the Deep Creek Mountains on the Utah-Nevada border. In November, young Reuben G went with Al Starr to take supplies to the overwintering herders, a trip that he recalled fondly in his later years.

The Millers enlarged their sheep operation through other purchases in Wyoming and northern Utah and by natural increase until the brothers were typically shearing between 15,000 and 20,000 animals each year at their Pleasant Valley pens They continued to run several hundred head of cattle that wintered at the Huntington farm and on nearby Poison Spring Bench and summered on Cedar Mountain A sizeable herd of horses apparently grazed throughout the year in the environs of the Summer House ranch, and the Millers loaned unbroken horses to local farmers without charge; the farmers would break the horses to work, use them for a year, then return them in exchange for fresh animals Of course, the Millers could then sell the broken-in horses for a much better price than they could get for raw colts.14

Beginning in 1883, Reuben G. Miller assumed major responsibilities in the sheep operation He moved camp and hauled supplies for

12 Notebook, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection

13 Peterson, "Grazing in Utah," 305

14 Reuben Brasher and Stella McEIprang, "The Livestock Industry," in Castle Valley: A History of Emery County (Emery County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949), 38

the herders, brought some crop land under cultivation at the Winter House headquarters ranch, and worked long hours during shearing and dipping operations His duties during the year 1884 included supervising, supplying, and paying seventeen men. 15 He spent much of his time in the saddle, frequently riding more than twenty miles in a day and sometimes repeating this schedule for several days in succession. Every two or three months one of his uncles would take over his camp-moving duties for a few days to allow him a brief visit home to Murray. Reuben G. tried to use these rare visits to the best advantage in his courtship of Anna Winder, a daughter ofJohn R. Winder, a prominent LDS church official.

Miller recorded his activities between 1883 and 1888 in a pocket diary and in retrospective accounts Among his adventures and misadventures were a stint in a rooming house at Pleasant Valley Junction (later renamed Colton), where he contracted an infestation office in the fall of 1883, and a session at a tent saloon in Price, where he got drunk while waiting for the train to go home for Christmas When he was sick all the way to Murray, he resolved to be a teetotaler from that time forward. On the range, he carried books in his saddle bags and read in camp in the evenings and on Sundays, when he tried to avoid physical labor. Sabbath-keeping was not always possible, however, especially during sheep-shearing or dipping operations Miller recorded for Sunday, October 11, 1888, "I am sorry to say we broke the commandments yet we dipped the wether band of sheep."16

Miller's diaries provide valuable information about the annual round of ranch activities during the 1880s. The sheep were divided into several different bands, each of which typically numbered about 3,000 animals under the care of a single herder. It was Reuben's job to keep the herders supplied, to scout out fresh range and assist in moving the bands, and at times to do the actual herding when an employee quit without notice.

InJanuary 1884, for example, bands of sheep were scattered from the benches below the Winter House eastward to the Price River and south to Cedar Mountain and Buckhorn Flat In addition to his weekly fifty-mile circuit of these bands, Miller made a supply-carrying trip to the Summer House and another to Spring Canyon, each of which required round-trip travel of more than twenty miles. In February he was forced to stay with the Buckhorn Flat band for a week after the

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herder quit. In March, in addition to his camp-moving responsibilities, he helped his uncle Reuben P. and his younger brother Will build a corral at the Winter House. In April he went home for a two-day visit then returned to the ranch to assist in moving the sheep up to the higher Miller Creek and Gordon Creek benches.

On May 9 he carried supplies to the Summer House and spent the night at the cabin of Frank Rhoades, lower on Gordon Creek, where they "talked about the cattle business and how we need to watch our neighbor ranchers." Several days in late May were spent in docking lambs. On June 5 he went to Huntington to help the cowboys start the cattle toward the summer range on Cedar Mountain. On June 9 he began driving sheep to the summer range in Pleasant Valley, where he later spent several days with his father, his brothers, and his uncle Reuben P. constructing shearing pens Shearing began onJune 23 and continued into mid-July, followed by several days of forcing

the sheep through dipping vats to control ticks and Anna Jane Winder Miller. " & r r » other vermin Miller went home to Murray onjuly 22 and worked on the farm there, putting up hay, until August 4, when he caught the train for Pleasant Valley. After several more days of dipping sheep, he drove a small herd of calves from the Summer House to Murray, a trip that required four days

After a week at home, Reuben took the train to Richmond, Cache County, for a two-day visit with Anna, who was staying there with her mother. Then it was back to the ranch on September 3 and a circuit of the sheep camps, now located in the Beaver Creek area east of Pleasant Valley On September 21 he went to the Summer House to assist with the horse roundup. Then it was down to the Winter House on October 4, followed by a two-week visit home and a return to the ranch on October 27. The first three weeks of November were devoted to moving the sheep to the winter range On November 24, Miller went home to prepare for his wedding to Anna Jane Winder on December 10. Wedding and Christmas parties occupied the time until December 31; Reuben then left his bride in a refurbished log cabin on his parents' farm and went back to the ranch.17

The next year followed a similar schedule, but Reuben managed more frequent visits home, and Anna spent two weeks at the ranch in June. On the other hand, his duties required him to move sheep

17 1884 diary, box 1, folder 6, RGM Collection

camps on Christmas Day The diaries provide only vague insights into Anna's view of this long-distance marriage. During her stay at the ranch, "Anna was croshaing and found it was Sunday 8c said she wouldn't work another bit."18 During a visit home onjuly 1, Miller recorded, "Anna cried at night"; and onjuly 9, "I had to cook breakfast as Anna was sick." In the 1888 diary there appears the notation "Anna had the blues" on the day before Reuben's departure for the ranch.19 It is difficult to determine whether these emotional disturbances were caused by her husband's frequent absences, by her pregnancies, or both. The Millers' first child, Gertrude, was born on March 4, 1886, and James Rex was born on September 29, 1888.

During the period when he was employed by the Miller brothers partnership, Reuben G. was apparently paid a salary plus bonuses based on the wool receipts. For the year 1884 he earned $1,570, a good income for that period. InJune 1885 he recorded, "Pap gave me $400 in cash & told me may be there would be a little more if the Boston wool was sold."20 This payment evidently represented a bonus for the previous year's work

The Millers had an exceptionally good summer range, but with the passage of time it became necessary to go farther afield in search of winter grazing. By the winter of 1887-88, Reuben was tending camps in the Woodside area, a considerable distance farther from the Winter House than the ranges used in earlier years. Even there it seems that the feed was insufficient for the numbers of stock. Reuben recorded on February 4, "Went south to look out a place to move camp but found more sheep than country."21

Miller's ranch life was interrupted in 1888 when he was called to the LDS Southern States Mission. He left home on November 6, only a few weeks after the birth of his second child,James Rex. He spent most of the next two and a half years in rural West Virginia, not the most hospitable environment for a Mormon missionary. In a letter to his parents he compared the narrow Appalachian valleys to the finger canyons on the Miller range at the head of Gordon Creek: 'You know when you get on the Ridge going from Pleasant Valley to Summer House you can look down into the heads of dozens of Canyons well down injust such Canyons in this Country are the homes of the inhabitants of this land." 18

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It was, he added, "one of the roughest places that ever I saw for people to be living in and all pretending to be farmers."22

On his return from his mission in 1891, Miller assumed the full management of the ranch The early 1890s were a profitable period The 112,867 pounds of wool sheared in 1891 sold for $16,648. The return was almost the same in 1892, and Reuben and Anna used a portion of their dividend for a trip to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He also undertook several improvements, erecting a new house and barn at the Summer House and fencing property in Pleasant Valley and Gordon Creek. However, the Cleveland Depression hit the wool market in 1894, when the Miller wool brought only $6,408 Perhaps as a consequence of this decline in profits, the Miller brothers partnership was dissolved in 1896, and Reuben G. made arrangements to purchase the ranch holdings.23

Miller's regular diary-keeping did not continue for long after his mission In an isolated entry explaining a two-year lapse, he wrote, "On acct. of the monotony of all days seeming the same neglected this diary and ceased writing from July 1891 till this dayJuly 11th 1893. My time has been passed on the Ranch and only have been home on short visits of a few days at a time during the two years."24 Apparently there would be a few breaks in the monotony, however. In a summary of important events in his life, composed sometime after 1936, Miller wrote that he had made the acquaintance of the notorious outlaws Butch Cassidy and Joe Walker during the period betweenJanuary 18 and March 31, 1897, evidently while the Miller sheep were wintering in the San Rafael country.

He also recorded, "Was held up byJoe Walker at the point of a Pistol, down in Buckhorn draw, and very much abbused by him in vile

Miller's "commodious residence" in Price, purchasedfrom Carl Valentine in 1897. G. E. Anderson photo.

22 RGM to J R Miller, February 10, 1890, box 1, folder 4, RGM Collection

23 1891 diary, entry for July 4, box 1, folder 7, RGM Collection; 1893 diary, entries for July 11-25, box 1, folder 7, RGM Collection; Cattle, Horse, and Sheep Memoranda, box 3, folder 7, RGM Collection; biographical sketch ofJames Robinson Miller, box 4, folder 4, RGM Collection.

241893 diary, box 1, folder 6, RGM Collection.

words although he did not do me any violent harm." A short time later, after the April 21, 1897, payroll robbery at Castle Gate, the Carbon County sheriff stopped at the Winter House to borrow horses to use in the pursuit of the outlaws. Evidently unimpressed by the lawman's zeal, or lack thereof, Miller noted that he "Killed time to let them get away." The following year, one of Miller's cowhands, Jim Inglefield, was a member of the posse that killedJoe Walker in the Book Cliffs.25

Although he continued to maintain a home in Murray until 1897, Miller was assuming an increasingly prominent role in public affairs in Price and eastern Utah. He was chosen as one of three selectmen (an office roughly equivalent to county commissioner) when Carbon County was created in 1894 In 1896 he was elected, as a Republican representing the five counties of eastern Utah (Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan, and Uintah), to the first Utah state senate. In 1897 he moved his family from Murray to "a commodious residence" in Price By this time the family consisted of daughter Gertrude and four sons, Rex, Milton, Byron, and Clarence. Three additional sons were born in Price but died in infancy.26

In 1898 Carbon County voters elected Miller to the state house of representatives. InJanuary 1899 he was installed as president of the Emery LDS Stake with authority over thirteen local wards that extended in a wide arc from Sunnyside, twenty-five miles east of Price, to Castle Gate, twelve miles north, and Emery,fifty-fivemiles to the southwest. This ecclesiastical position, combined with his civic activities and his large-scale livestock operations, made Reuben G. Miller at the age of thirty-eight the most prominent and influential individual in the Carbon-Emery region

Newly completed Price Public School and students, 1902. G. E. Anderson photograph.

Memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection.

Eastern Utah Advocate (Price, Utah), September 22, 1898; book of family and genealogical memorabilia, box 3, folder 9, RGM Collection

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The settlement of the Price River Valley had begun about three years after the Miller brothers first brought their livestock to the region. In 1882-83 the building of the Rio Grande Western Railway provided a crucial stimulus for development, particularly in coal mining Railroad construction crews uncovered a large seam of coal at Castle Gate; the railroad also improved connections to the existing mines in the Scofield area. Through its subsidiaries—PleasantValley Fuel Company and Utah Fuel Company—the Rio Grande developed several new mines and dominated coal production in the region for several decades.

In 1900 Price had a population of only 655, substantially less than the coal towns of Castle Gate (1,109) and Scofield (956). However, Price was a more important regional center than its size might suggest. The seat of Carbon County, it was home to several mercantile establishments and a weekly newspaper. The city served as the trading and transportation center for the Emery County communities to the south and was also the most convenient rail connection and hence the main shipping point for the communities, Indian agencies, and gilsonite mines in the Uinta Basin. According to the Utah State Gazetteer for 1900, "In the matter of freight handled [Price] is considered the third station on the R.G.W. Ry. system, ranking next to Ogden." Price counted among its residents at the turn of the century several other stockraisers and business entrepreneurs who would play significant roles in the town's development. The capital and initiative supplied by these individuals, combined with the town's advantageous location for a regional commercial center, fostered growth to a population of 1,122 by 1910 and 2,777 by 1920.27

Reuben G. Miller was one of these businessmen, devoting an

Emery Stake Academy building and students, graduation day, 1906 (note the date on the roof). G. E. Anderson photograph.

27 Utah State Gazetteer and BusinessDirectory (Salt Lake City: R L Polk, 1900), 210; Ronald G Watt, A History of Carbon County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1997), 71-74

increasing share of his time and resources to the growing Price economy. He and his family held a majority of the stock in the Price Cooperative Mercantile Institution, established in 1901 Also in 1901 Millerjoined with fellow stockman J. M. Whitmore and others in organizing the First National Bank of Price, with Miller as vice president and director. In addition he served as president of the town board (a position equivalent to mayor) from 1902 to 1904 and as president of the local school board during the same period, overseeing construction of a new eight-room brick school. When the other members of the school board refused to pay the architect's fee, Miller reportedly paid it out of his personal funds.

It is interesting to note that Miller played an important role in supporting both public and church-related education During the same period when he was pushing forward the construction of a new school in Price, he also promoted the growth of the Emery Stake Academy in his role as president of the stake board of education. Founded in 1889 and suspended in 1894, the academy was reopened in 1899 after Miller assumed the stake presidency. Under his leadership a building begun in Castle Dale in 1896 was finally completed and dedicated in 1903, and a competing church-operated seminary at Huntington was closed. Enrollment at the academy grew from sixtyfive in 1901 to 140 in 1907. At the 1907 commencement exercises, President Miller announced plans for a new and much larger building to be erected on the bench overlooking Castle Dale.28 This threestory structure was first occupied during the 1910-11 school year. It would appear from his activities that Miller's concept of the roles of public and church-sponsored education was similar to that held by others in the region: the public schools were to provide a primary education (variously conceived of as extending through grades five, six, seven, or eight), with high school-level instruction left to the church academies. The first public high school in the region was not established until 1912, two years after Miller moved away.

With these business, civic, and ecclesiastical responsibilities, Miller was able to give less time to his livestock interests than he had in earlier years. Still, he continued to manage the ranch and spent considerable time on the range. For example, the local newspaper reported in the fall of 1901, "Hon. Reuben G. Miller has been in the

28 Paul Robert Tabone, "The History of Emery Stake Academy" (master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1976), 105; Emery Stake Academy Announcements, 1910-11, Library Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

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hills for some two or three weeks, looking after his sheep, cattle and horses, which he says are all in good condition."29

The early years of the twentieth century brought significant changes to the range livestock industry. The unregulated growth in sheep numbers had resulted in severe overgrazing and watershed damage; in addition to the locally owned stock, so-called "tramp herds" were shipped into Utah by rail in the spring, trailed over the mountain ranges through the summer, and shipped out in the fall. Eventually, farmers and townspeople, becoming concerned about floods from denuded watersheds and about the quality of their water supply, demanded controls on grazing In response to such concerns, the federal government established several national forests in Utah during the first decade of the century. Despite the political clout of the powerful woolgrower lobby, forest managers, with the support of local officials and small farmer-stockmen, succeeded in reducing the number of livestock allowed in the forests and gave preferential treatment to the owners of small herds who also farmed land near the forests. Largely as a result of these efforts, the number of sheep on Utah ranges declined by more than one million between 1900 and 1910.30

The vast public domain outside the national forests remained unregulated except by customary usage. But there, too, changes were occurring. New immigrants whose cultural traditions were deeply involved with sheep raising were coming to Utah. The French were the first of these to arrive in the Carbon County area, some coming from the Basque country near the Pyrenees and others from the

29 Eastern UtahAdvocate, October 15, 1901.

30

Price Trading Company store, c. 1900. Miller's Price Coop was a rival to this company, which was controlled by stockmanJames R. "Tobe" Whitmore. G. E. Anderson photo.

For a good account of these events on the Manti National Forest see the relevant chapter in Albert Antrei, ed., The OtherForty-niners: A Topical History of Sanpete County, Utah, 1849-1983 (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1982); Peterson, "Grazing in Utah," 305

Piedmont region in southeastern France. They were followed by the Greeks, who originally came to work in the mines but several of whom soon made their way into the sheep business. Because of their experience and their willingness to stay on the range for extended periods, these newcomers were formidable competitors for the grazing lands. (Pierre Moynier, for example, claimed that he once spent three years out with his herd without ever going into town.)31

The Miller ranch was better situated than most to weather these changes. The mountain range on Castle Valley Ridge where Miller livestock had traditionally grazed was not included in the Manti National Forest, established in 1903. Still, there were some who refused to recognize the traditional Miller claim to this range, and competition became ever more intense for the winter and spring ranges in the valley. The Price newspaper reported in 1902, "Hon. R. G. Miller is figuring on taking to the Eastern market in the near future five to six cars of cattle and horses, because, he says, the range is playing out."32

Probably impelled in part by a perception that the era of the big livestock operation was coming to an end and in part by his growing involvement in other activities, Miller disposed of most of his livestock in 1905 and sold his Carbon County ranches the following year to N. L. Nielson, a sheepman based in Mount Pleasant. The Winter House headquarters ranch was resold in 1907, primarily for its water rights, to the company that was developing the Hiawatha mine.33 Subsequently known as the Millerton Ranch, it is still held by a successor company With his ranching career at an end, Miller turned his attention to the fledgling communications industry. In 1890 the first telephone line in the region had been strung from Price to Huntington by the Price Trading Company and was later extended to other Emery County towns. Sometime after 1900 the Harmon Brothers, Levi and Oliver, acquired the line. In 1905 Miller and other Price investors bought the Emery County line from the Harmons for $3,775 and organized the Eastern Utah Telephone Company with both financial and technical assistance from Rocky Mountain Bell. The following year Eastern Utah Telephone purchased the government line between Price and Myton in the Uinta Basin and an independent line between

31 Liddell, "Cattle and Sheep Industry of Carbon County," 55

32 Eastern Utah Advocate, August 21, 1902

33 "Notes & bits of information used in making up replies to Mr Johnson," box 3, folder 4, RGM Collection; Emery County Progress, October 19, 1907

ReubenG. Miller139

Price and Helper The company also strung new lines to Scofield and Sunnyside and obtained a contract from Rocky Mountain Bell to construct a line from Thistle to Price, thereby linking the Eastern Utah system with the nationwide Bell System.34 Except for some local service in Price and Castle Dale, Eastern Utah Telephone was exclusively a toll service with a single telephone in each community it served, usually located in a store or hotel. The telephone company proved to be a profitable operation from the beginning and for several years was Miller's most valuable asset. He remained active in the company as president and manager until 1910, when he was succeeded as manager by his eldest son,James Rex.

The life of Reuben G. Miller can be divided into two almost equal parts. The first half was characterized by great energy and initiative and an almost unbroken series of business and public successes. Miller was a large man for his generation, six feet tall and weighing about 190 pounds in his prime. He was physically strong and enjoyed excellent health and powers of endurance. He was evidently personable and generally well-liked by his associates, although he could also be somewhat overbearing in pursuit of his goals. The second half of his long life, however, was beset with difficulties as his health broke down and he suffered financial reverses and a series of family and personal problems.

Miller dated his change of fortunes to April 1908, when he was "Injured from being thrown from a buggy and received a bruise on left breast causing a tumorous growth which was removed by Surgical operation. The muscles of the heart were also strained from awful shock received from the fall." However, some seeds of his later troubles had been sown five years earlier when, on June 25, 1903, he contracted a

Emery Stake Academyfaculty, 1903-04, dressed in "dusters' for a recruiting tour: (l-r) Mattie Nelson, Horace Merrill, James Peterson, Principal S. A. Harris, Frances Bird. G. E. Anderson photo.

Memo book, box 2, folder 6, RGM Collection

secret polygamous marriage with Martha ("Mattie") Nelson, a thirtythree-year-old teacher at the Emery Stake Academy in Castle Dale. Miller described her as "Good Physique and well developed," an assessment that is borne out by contemporary photographs. She was evidently a popular teacher and an effective public speaker. A talk on "Neglected Opportunities" that she gave at a "conjoint" session of the Castle Dale Ward Mutual Improvement Association in December 1902 was delivered "with such pathos as to bring tears to the eyes of a number of her listeners."35 She was, however, somewhat frail in health, evidently a result of rheumatic heart disease.

Although polygamous marriages were prohibited both by the law and by official LDS church policy as announced in the Woodruff Manifesto of 1890, such marriages continued to be performed clandestinely with tacit approval from at least some church leaders until the so-called "second manifesto" issued by President Joseph F. Smith in 1904. Among the most active proponents of continuing plural marriage were apostles John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley, who were eventually forced to resign from their offices because they refused to yield on the issue.36 Miller was well-acquainted with both apostles and later identified Cowley as having performed the marriage to Mattie Nelson. In addition to Cowley's encouragement, Miller's wife Anna apparently also took an active role in promoting the marriage Miller later wrote of Anna,

She was a firm believer in all the principles of the Gospel, as revealed by Joseph Smith, and especially the law on Celestial marriage, having been born a child in a Poligamous family—her father Joh n R Winder and mother Hannah Thompson. She invited Martha Nelson to her home, and while there as a guest proffered her to become the Second wife of her Husband Reuben G Miller.37

It is not clear how widely known this polygamous union was in the Price community or the Emery Stake Mattie's daughter, Anna Argene, was born on April 9, 1904, in Farmington, which would suggest that Mattie was living an "underground" existence at a distance from her husband. The non-Mormon editor of the EasternUtah Advocate frequently reprinted anti-polygamy articles from the national press, par-

35 Family and genealogical memorabilia, box 3, folder 9, RGM Collection; Emery County Progress, December 13, 1902

36 See D Michael Quinn, "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904," Dialogue: A fournal of Mormon Thought 18 (Spring 1985): 9-105; see Victor W Jorgensen and B Carmon Hardy, "The Taylor-Cowley Affair and the Watershed of Mormon History," Utah Historical Quarterly 48 (Winter 1980): 5-36

37 Family and genealogical memorabilia, box 3, folder 9, RGM Collection

ReubenG. Miller141

ticularly during the debate over the seating of LDS apostle Reed Smoot in the U S Senate And yet there are no apparent hints in the columns of the Advocate of Miller's involvement in polygamy. On the other hand, there are indications that Miller encouraged the contracting of additional plural marriages in the stake, including the marriage of G. F. Hickman, principal of the Emery Stake Academy, to one of his teachers, Chloe Palmer, in 1910. Lowry Nelson, who was a student at the academy during this period, claimed that President Miller was "involved in this matter."38

In November 1908 Reuben and Mattie traveled to California, where they both spent four months in treatment for their heart ailments at the Glendale Sanitarium. Upon his return to Utah in March 1909 Miller entered LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City for goiter surgery but developed pleurisy; as he recorded, "I could not be operated on and death about claimed me and was confined at the Hospital until April 7, 1909, at which time I was shipped home on a stretcher and arrived at Price, Utah at midnight. I remained there in bed until August."39 A few months later he had another "severe attack" of pleurisy and heart trouble that confined him to the home he had purchased for Mattie in Salt Lake City.

The Emery LDS Stake was divided on May 8, 1910, and Miller was released as president. He sold his home in Price and moved Anna and their family to a new house on Seventh East in the Forest Dale subdivision in Salt Lake City. Despite a succession of ailments that sometimes kept him homebound for weeks or months at a stretch, Miller continued as president of Eastern Utah Telephone and the Price Coop. He also became involved in speculative property development. He organized a syndicate to assemble a block of coal land in Spring Canyon that was sold at a good profit to the Rains interests of Los Angeles in 1913 Other ventures proved less fortunate Miller lost a substantial investment in the Trenton Fruitland Company.40

In 1914 he organized the Pingree Land and Townsite Company with plans to develop a large acreage near Blackfoot, Idaho. Over the next several years he liquidated other assets and borrowed heavily to advance the Pingree project. For two or three summers between 1918 and 1922, Miller, by this time in his late fifties, took teams and farm

38 Memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection; Lowry Nelson, In the Direction of His Dreams:Memoirs (New York: Philosophical Library, 1985), 168-69

39 Memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection

40 1913B memo book, box 2, folder 8, RGM Collection; 1915 memo book, box 2, folder 8, RGM Collection.

implements to Pingree and worked to bring land under cultivation. The Pingree development was successful in that agricultural land was brought into production and a small community established However, the sales of townsite property failed to meet Miller's expectations. A store at Pingree operated by his son Clarence failed, leaving Miller with debts that forced him to mortgage his Forest Dale home. In addition, Miller claimed that an employee in the company's Salt Lake City office "stole from me."41 In 1922 he deeded his remaining Pingree interests toJ. R. Miller Real Estate Company, the family corporation organized by his mother and brothers and sisters, and for all practical purposes retired from business. He sold his stock in Eastern Utah Telephone when the company was absorbed by Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1924

There were crises in Miller's personal life during this period as well. His plural wife, Mattie, died on January 27, 1912, from "heart failure and dropsy." Although he was an active and respected member of the Forest Dale LDS Ward, serving as chairman of the building committee to enlarge the wardhouse in 1913, Miller apparently continued his association with Mormon fundamentalists who were determined to continue the practice of polygamy. On March 14, 1913, he married Emma Crossland (who also went by the name of Emma Mills) in a secret ceremony performed byJohn Woolley. Emma was the same age as Miller, having been born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on September 28, 1861.42

The attitude of LDS church leaders toward plural marriages had changed significantly between 1903 and 1913 A few months after Miller's and Emma's marriage, John Wooley was called on the carpet by church leaders and interrogated about unauthorized sealings. He identified Miller as one of those for whom he had performed such a ceremony. Miller was "summoned to appear before a Council of the Twelve Apostles" on January 23, 1914 His excommunication "for insubordination to the disciplines and government of the church" was announced on January 29.43

It was the practice at that period to publish the names of excommunicants in the Deseret News. The publication of Miller's name

41 Memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection

42 Ibid.; 1937 memo book, box 3, folder 1, RGM Collection

43 J Max Anderson, The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact (Salt Lake City: Publisher's Press, 1979), 140-43; memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection,

ReubenG. Miller143

brought a touching, if unorthographic, letter from an old friend, Bishop Alonzo Brinkerhoff of Emery, who wrote,

My ward with me and mine are in deep morning and on account of the news that we seen in the paper, and we are at a loss to understand what is the matter or if thare is any thing to the storrie

Will this find you at liberty to drop me a line and use your best judgement in revealing things to my understanding that you would have me know

As you well understand we are very much exercised and must here more if it is wisdom.

We still love you and remember the good old times that we used to have long time ago when joy filled our souls with peace. 44

Miller replied with expressions of gratitude and admitted, "The trouble was I was over zealous or in other words, using Webster for it, a little Fanatical in my views on doctrinal principles. I tried to make those principles practible and was both deceived and betrayed in attempting to do so. I was deceived in the man whom I trusted was authorized to officiate and then betrayed by him when he was brought in question." Miller responded in a similar vein to an inquiry from a relative in Idaho: "There is a spirit rife among a certain percent of the church members disclaiming that principle has been abolished, or that it ever will be, and that no matter what is done to check it there will be some one authorized to wait upon the worthy. I find many men and women have been imbued with that false impression at the same time disregarding the warning voices of the Authorities. Possibly I am one of them." Notwithstanding the penitent attitude expressed in these letters, Miller apparently continued to maintain a marital relationship with Emma until 1923, when they "agreed to separate and release each other from the bond which had bound us for 9 years and 13 days." Two years later, on December 17, 1925, Miller was rebaptized into the LDS church.45

In 1928 Miller resumed his former habit of recording brief daily entries in a pocket diary The entries made during the months when he was staying in the old family home and caring for his mother (who died in 1929) show that his mind was often occupied with the past He noted on October 28, "My night was full of dreams and especially of handling large bands of sheep." On his birthday anniversary, November 7, he wrote, "67 years ago this morning about 8 o'clock on

44 Undated letter from Alonzo Brinkerhoff to RGM, box 2, folder 3, RGM Collection

45

RGM to Alonzo Brinkerhoff, February 7, 1914, typescript carbon copy, box 2, folder 3, RGM Collection; RGM to "Fred & Lizzie," February 9, 1914, typescript carbon copy, box 2, folder 3, RGM Collection; memorandum book, box 1, folder 5, RGM Collection

this location where Mother's parlor is, was a log cabbon in which I was born. The Log cabbin was torn down in 1882 and the Big Brick house was built." Three days later he wrote,

It was on this date 46 years ago that Joh n Wardell and I left this Home with the Bucks and camp wagon with winter supplies to go to Deep Creek in Nevada to meet Uncle Mell who was coming from California with two bands of sheep We were accompanied by Alfred Starr who also had supplies for himself and Lee Lemmon who each had sheep coming with the same California drove and when we reached Deep Creek a division was made of the several flocks each taking their individual number.46

The diaries indicate that during 1929-30 Miller played an active role in the remodeling of the Forest Dale wardhouse, which is still among the finest Mormon structures in Salt Lake City He was engaged with Anna in genealogical and temple work and received occasional visits from former ranch hands and other old friends from the Carbon-Emery area. Emma Crossland (Mills) had moved to St. George after her separation from Miller but continued to see him periodically on her visits to Salt Lake City. These contacts were evidently displeasing to Anna. Miller noted on August 14, 1937, "Anna and I had unpleasant words because of Sister Mills."47

Recurring bouts of illness continued to afflict Miller. He wrote to a cousin in 1944, "I have been a home-bound for over 30 years and undergone 11 surgical operations. One of my afflictions has lingered with me for 15 years caused by a weak heart in a dropsical form. My limbs swell to a bursting condition or has done I have had 18 attacks in the 15 years." He also suffered family losses. Reuben's and Anna's youngest surviving son, Byron, died from influenza in 1920 while a medical student at the University of Utah Son Clarence succumbed to bleeding ulcers in 1933. The wife of eldest son Rex committed suicide later that same year, and Rex died of a heart attack in 1939. Argene, Miller's daughter by Mattie Nelson, died in 1941, leaving eight young children.48 Reuben and Anna sold their Forest Dale home in 1936 and moved to an apartment on North Main Street. Anna's health broke down in 1940, and she died on June 26, 1942.

In the aftermath of his wife's passing, Miller devoted much of his attention to straightening out the complications caused by his polyga-

461928 date book, box 1, folder 7, RGM Collection

47 1937 diary, box 1, folder 9, RGM Collection

48 RGM to Anna E. Hoxie, February 29, 1944, typescript carbon copy, box 2, folder 3, RGM Collection; 1939 diary, entry for July 20, box 1, folder 9; 1941 diary, entry for July 26, box 1, folder 10; family and genealogical memorabilia, box 3, folder 9, RGM Collection.

ReubenG. Miller145

mous marriages. He was able to meet with David O. McKay, then a counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS church, inJuly 1942 He reported in his diary, "Pres. McKay told me my family affairs were OK so far as Mattie 8c Argene were concerned but not with Emma until we went to the temple and sealed." With this information, Miller caught a bus for St George He apparently found Emma willing to be married to him but unwilling to go through another ceremony. Miller wrote, "We had a day of compromise over our previous John Wooley marriage We agreed to live apart—we could not both consider the sealing ofJohn Wooley authentic. She thought it was, and I contended it was not and we would wait until the Malenium for the Lord's version."49

Two years later Miller's apprehensions were reawakened when he became aware of a letter written by Matthias Cowley in 1936 in which Cowley formally apologized to LDS church leaders for his activities in promoting plural marriage after the Manifesto and admitted that his actions had been "null and void." Miller wrote to the First Presidency on February 23, 1944, quoting from the Cowley letter and adding,

The above greatly concerns me, and by the councils and actions of Brother Cowley was the cause of much suffering and trouble which came to me and my family He, it was, who advised me to marry poligamously two wives

That council was followed and resulted in my excommunication from the church.

At the top of a carbon copy of this letter is written, "March 22, 1944 answer came by telephone to have Mattie and Argene sealed to me in St George Temple by President David O McKay."50

Miller spent the years following Anna's death living in a series of temporary lodgings, the most comfortable of which was a boardinghouse in St. George operated by a widow named Laura Pulsipher. Miller went there at the encouragement of another resident, Levi N Harmon, who had been a friend and business associate during the Price years. For all this past association, however, the two old men evidently made an odd couple in Mrs. Pulsipher's boardinghouse. Miller had been there for less than a month when he recorded in his diary, "Had a tilt with Brother Harmon." A more serious dispute followed a few days later. Miller wrote, "Harmon was off his base this morning

491942 diary, entries for July 28 and 30, box 1, folder 10, RGM Collection.

50 RGM to Heber J Grant, J Reuben Clark, and David O McKay, February 23, 1944, typescript carbon copy in box 2, folder 3, RGM Collection

and quarreled with us. He left the table in a rage."51 Harmon was so angry that he moved out of the Pulsipher home

In response to several notes from Miller attempting to patch up the quarrel, Harmon wrote a lengthy letter in which he accused Miller of driving him out of the management of the Price Co-op in 1904 and forcing him to sell the Emery County telephone line by threats to establish a competing service Harmon's concluding lines reveal something about the personal qualities of both men:

Notwithstanding my many grievances, I have always felt a strong sympathy for Bro Miller When he wrote to me of his condition in Salt Lake, my heart went out to him as it would to the dearest brother. There are so many fine points about him that I felt all else to be minor. Without special interest for myself, I did what I could to get him comfortably located in St. George. Probably without his intention at all, this proved to be another mistake on my part but with less ability to meet it than any other problem that has ever come to me. Yes, ailing day and night, almost blind that I can hardly see, at the age of 86, I felt that I was compelled to give up what I had cherished so much, a residence at the home of that exceptionally fine lady, Laura Pulsipher.52

A partial reconciliation was achieved, and the two old friends continued to see each other periodically during Miller's residence in St. George, but Harmon did not return to Mrs Pulsipher's

In 1946 Miller became a resident at the Sarah Daft Home in Salt Lake City, where he spent the remaining years of his life. His last surviving son, Milton, was killed in a warehouse accident at the Ogden defense depot that same year His once-substantial financial resources entirely exhausted, Miller was dependent on his daughter, Gertrude Cluff, to pay his expenses. Two grandsons were practicing physicians in Salt Lake and assisted with his medical care. In his last years his thoughts returned often to his ranching days. He wrote a "lengthy letter" to a brother describing an 1883 incident when his horse fell on him while he was chasing a wild steer through the timber. After a sleepless night in February 1951 he wrote, "I reflected back over my old ranch life and ownership of land I once owned and the choice parts of it. I arose at 5:30 A.M. sleepy and disappointed from the fact that I in my drowsiness was planning improvements on the Schults Valley tract by piping Trail Canyon Spring to a choice Resident spot in Schults Valley." Three days later he reflected ruefully, "Wasted hours

ReubenG. Miller147

of time have gone never to come back to me Satisfied myself listening to radio."53

Still, not all was regret and loneliness. Miller received visits from old friends He corresponded with several grandchildren He was honored by a letter from the University of Utah inviting him to attend the 1953 graduation ceremonies as one of the last surviving alumni who had studied with early professors John R. Park,Joseph B. Toronto, and Joseph T Kingsbury Always a handyman by temperament, Miller contrived "safety urinal gadgets" to deal with his incontinence and built traps to control the squirrels and quail that were damaging the gardens at the Sarah Daft Home. Photographs printed with newspaper articles on his ninetieth and ninety-second birthdays show a vigorous and cheerful old man The ninety-second birthday article says, "Since he was a boy on his father's Mill Creek farm, he has never had time for idleness and even now he says there doesn't seem to be enough time to get everything done."54

Despite the growing severity of his physical afflictions, Miller's final instructions for the disposition of his effects show that he remained mentally alert and vigorous up to within a few weeks of his death, which occurred on June 8, 1954. His obituary in the DeseretNews identified him as a "pioneer stockman in Carbon and Emery counties" and "a builder of Eastern Utah Telephone Company."55 It might well have added that he was one of the last survivors of a vanished era.

Cattle, Cotton, and Conflict: The Possession and Dispossession of Hebron, Utah

BYW PAUL REEVE

A s MARY BROWN PULSIPHER WALKED TO Relief Society meeting on March 2, 1879, she was completely unaware of the pleasant surprise waiting for her behind the doors of the small Hebron, Utah, meeting-

Paul Reeve is a Ph.D student at the University of Utah He presented a version of this paper at the USHS annual meeting in 1998

Above: Town of Hebron, spring 1903, courtesy ofDoris Truman; Zera Pulsipher and Mary Brown Pulsipher, courtesy of Doris Truman and Kathy Simkins.

Cattle, Cotton, andConflict149

house. Mother Pulsipher, as Hebronites commonly called her, commanded great respect as the oldest resident of this tiny Mormon ranching community resting at the south end of the Escalante Desert in Washington County When she opened the meetinghouse doors that day she found about ninety people—almost every person in town1—seated at long tables "loaded with pies, cakes, cheese, and the comforts of life." As she entered, the Mormon bishop stood and announced that the entire festive spread was in honor of her eightieth birthday; overwhelmed by the sight, Mary began to cry. 2

It was truly a wonderful honor, and at the end of the joyful evening she stood and imparted a bit of weighty advice to those assembled: "I beg of you ... to be faithful, do all the good you can, be united, put your trust in God, [and] you need not have any fears." Four years later Mary had similar thoughts as she prepared to leave Hebron for St. George. She wrote, "I pray my father in Heaven to bless Hebron. Bless the people, may they live humble, be united and keep all the commandments of God. Lord bless the land, the water, the cattle and all— may it be a healthy delightful place."3

Pulsipher's words are telling. They are not only representative of the key values of "unity and order" that Brigham Young sought to instill in the settlers of the communities whose founding he directed, but they also bear the weight of Pulsipher's years of watching over Hebron as it struggled, often unsuccessfully, to achieve those elusive goals.4 She had witnessed battles over land, death by neglect, power conflicts, demonic possessions, and the enticements of non-Mormon mining towns, all of which exposed rifts that threatened to erode the unity for which she so fervently pled.

Prior to the founding of Hebron in 1868, records of the six years of settlement along Shoal Creek—located in northwestern Washington County—offer much evidence of the conflicts that later disrupted Hebron and culminated in its abandonment by around 1905. This

1 Relief Society is the women's organization of the LDS church The 1880 U.S Population Census lists Hebron's population at 110, down one from 1870 By 1890 the total had dropped to 79; in 1900 (as part of the Enterprise precinct) it rebounded to 100 A comparison of these numbers to the manuscript census suggests that these population totals included people scattered on ranches in the vicinity who were not necessarily living in Hebron proper

2 Mary Brown Pulsipher, "Diary of Mary Brown Pulsipher" (typescript, Special Collections, Harold B Lee Library, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah, hereafter cited as HBLL), 8-9

3 Ibid., 8-9, 10, emphasis added

4 For an insightful analysis of these ideals and how they fit into Mormon community building see Dean L May, "The Making of Saints: The Mormon Town as a Setting for the Study of Cultural Change," UtahHistorical Quarterly, 45 (Winter 1977): especially page 91 For a detailed treatment of unity and order as they played out in the United Order movement among the Mormons see LeonardJ Arrington, Feramorz Y Fox, and Dean L May, Building the City of God: Community and Cooperation among the Mormons (1976; reprint ed., Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992)

study focuses upon ten years surrounding the establishment of the town (1862-1872) as harbingers of future discord. These formative years speak loudly of uncharacteristic individualism among Mormon colonizers and tell intriguing tales of nineteenth-century rural Mormon culture.

Much has been written of unity and order among Mormon community builders of Utah. Even outside observers of Utah life have commented upon the success of Mormon settlement practices, and they generally attribute this success to cooperative efforts. William E. Smythe, for example, after visiting Salt Lake City to attend the first National Irrigation Congress in 1891, extolled the Mormon system. He recorded that the Mormon leadership guarded against land monopoly and did not permit any to hold land for speculation. The same was true for public utilities such as water. Mormons bought water rights with their labor, making aridity a compelling force in "the adoption of the principle of associative enterprise." Consequently, Smythe summarized, "Utah is the product of its environment."5

A turn-of-the-century government irrigation investigation headed by Elwood Mead of Lake Mead honor had similar conclusions. The report described irrigation in southern Utah as essentially cooperative: "If new lands must be brought under ditch to keep the young men at home on the farms, the usual procedure is ajoining of forces until the result is accomplished If water for irrigation is to be distributed, the only way the settlers know is to work together until each man has his rightful share. Thus it is that a forbidding country has been made fruitful where individual effort would have failed."6

The Mormon village pattern of settlement likewise played a vital role in colonizing the semiarid West. Sociologist Lowry Nelson contends that the Mormon village was a very effective pioneering device, especially when used by a homogeneous religious group responsive to ecclesiastical authority The village provided protection, facilitated social interaction, mitigated the loneliness of the frontier, and encouraged a sense of obligation toward the broader society As historian Dean May found in studying the Mormon farming colonizers of

5 William E. Smythe, The Conquest of Arid America (1899; reprint ed., New York: The MacMiilan Company, 1907), 52, 60. Smythe's conclusion reflects Turnerian environmental determinism and in retrospect is overly simplistic. His observations, for his day, were nonetheless astute.

6 Elwood Mead, Report of Irrigation Investigations in Utah (Washington, D.C : U.S Government Printing Office, 1904), doc 720, 58th Congress, 2d Session, 213, as cited in Douglas D Alder and Karl F Brooks, A History of Washington County: From Isolation to Destination (Salt Lake City and St George: Utah State Historical Society and Washington County Commission, 1996), 198

Alpine, Utah, "neither land nor family, in the broadest sense, were as important to them as community."7

Certainly, then, as historian Charles Peterson asserts, an understanding of Mormon towns is key to understanding the Mormon experience in the West This is so because, among other things, "the town represented the maximum practical expression of the Mormon withdrawal from the world." If that was true of the Mormon town in general, Peterson argues, then it was quintessentially true of the southern Utah town. While outside influences almost continuously bombarded Salt Lake City, the rural farm villages of southern Utah were "insulated from the world" and became "villages of withdrawal." They were not only geographically removed from the Mormon capital and the Americanization taking place there, but they also benefited from the buffer that the capital city created as it bore the brunt of the gentile impact.8

For more than 300 Mormon families, the October 1861 conference of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had far-reaching implications At the conference, church president and prophet Brigham Young issued calls to colonizers who would relocate to southern Utah. There they were expected to grow cotton and other warmclimate crops in an effort to increase the economic self-sufficiency of the prophet's Great Basin kingdom. Young chose carefully the families for this mission Most were farmers, but the list of occupations represented included everything from blacksmith and wheelwright to vintner, drum major, and hatter, reflecting Young's attempt to furnish a ready-made, well-rounded community that could take care of itself.9 John Pulsipher, a farmer then living in Salt Lake City, found him-

7 See Lowry Nelson, The Mormon Village: A Pattern and Technique ofLand Settlement (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1952); Dean L May, ThreeFrontiers: Family, Land, and Society in theAmerican West, 1850-1900 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 280

8 Charles S. Peterson, "A Mormon Town: One Man's West," fournal ofMormon History 3 (Fall 1976): 3,9-11.

9 Eugene E. Campbell, "Early Colonization Patterns," in Richard D. Poll, ed., Utah'sHistory (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1989), 135. For additional factors motivating Young to form the Cotton Mission, see Alder and Brooks, A History of Washington County, Chapter 2.

John Pulsipher, USHS collections.

self among those chosen He remembered, "Volunteers were called for at conference to go on this mission, but I did not think it meant me, for I had a good home, was well satisfied and had plenty to do." When Mormon apostle George A. Smith informed Pulsipher that he had been selected to go, the news came unexpectedly. Despite his initial surprise, Pulsipher reasoned, "I saw the importance of the mission to sustain Israel in the mountains. We had need of a possession in a warmer climate and I thought I might as well go as anybody." Pulsipher's change of mind was quickly followed by a change of heart. He recorded: "Then the Spirit came upon me so that I felt to thank the Lord that I was worthy to go. I went home, told my wife that I was selected for the Southern Mission and felt satisfied it was right to go. She said she wanted to go too. [She] would leave parents and friends and prefer to go and help me make a home in the far south. . . .We go withjoy."10

Pulsipher's two brothers, Charles and William, also received calls to the Cotton Mission and joined John on the journey south. The three brothers were among the first to arrive at the future site of the city of St George They immediately set to work digging a ditch "to get a farm prepared against seed time." The brothers, however, did not stay in St George long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labors As settlers continued to accumulate in the south, their livestock did too. Feed to sustain the growing number of sheep and cattle was scarce, and aposde Erastus Snow, as president of the southern mission, recognized the need for good "herd-ground" to graze the livestock. He suggested that some of the saints should go in search of a location where the "spare stock" could feed. John Pulsipher described it this way: "It became necessary that somebody should go out some distance and make it their business to take care of stock outside of [the] cotton producing district to keep all parts of the great work in motion."

The three Pulsipher brothers and David Chidester accepted that chal-

10 John Pulsipher, "The Journal of John Pulsipher" (typescript, Special Collections, HBLL).

11 Hebro n Ward Historical Record, 1862-1867, vol 1:4, 5 (microfilm, archives, Historical Department, Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City) John Pulsipher was clerk of the Shoal Creek Branch at the time this record was made A comparison of his journal with the ward record cited here indicates that Pulsipher used his recordings in the ward record as a basis for hisjournal Some journal entries are identical to the ward record; others are summaries of several pages from the ward account David Chidester, for example, is not mentioned in Pulsipher's journal but appears in the ward record On occasion Pulsipher exercises broader hindsight in his journal to place events within context, but the ward record seems to be the most immediate source, and therefore I will rely most heavily on it It should also be noted that "Hebron Ward Record" is a misnomer in that prior to 1868 Hebron did not exist and was not organized as a ward until 1869 Nonetheless, it is the title given Pulsipher's record book by the LDS Historical Department and will be cited here as such I have added punctuation and corrected spelling for readability

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lenge, and on January 1, 1862, the group "started out for the mountains with a herd of cattle, sheep and horses."11

In taking charge of the Cotton Mission livestock, Chidester and the Pulsiphers distanced themselves from the shared Mormon experience in several ways First, they separated themselves geographically from the core settlement at St. George and from a connection to the broader community of Saints available there Second, they adopted occupations of independence. Ranching, unlike farming, required minimal reliance upon the community for survival.12 Third, their early scattered spatial arrangement denied the ranching families the benefits of Mormon village life. They did not move closer together until 1866, and then they waited two more years to survey a formal townsite—long after they had developed patterns of independence. Finally, they faced enticements from non-Mormon mining towns at Pioche and Bullionville in present-day Nevada. These factors, taken collectively, fed confrontation and conflict amid the communal cotton production of the larger region.

For their first winter as stewards of the Cotton Mission livestock, the Pulsiphers and Chidester traveled about twenty miles north of St. George along Santa Clara Creek, built a log house and corral, and settled in for the season. The country they chose near the Santa Clara was blanketed with plenty of browse but had very little grass, and as the herds under their charge continued to swell they were soon in need of better grazing land

Under advice from Snow, the men spent "considerable time" exploring that winter, and come springtime John and Charles had selected a new location further removed from St. George.John wrote, "When spring came we moved on north past the Mountain Meadows, over the rim of the Great Basin of desert, turned west 12 miles to Shoal Creek, a small stream fed by springs [which] runs a few miles and sinks again. This is about 45 miles from St. George—quite a distance—but the nearest suitable location for a large stock that we could find."13 The group arrived at its new home with flocks and family in tow on April 27, 1862 The area they selected was by some springs near the mouth of Shoal Creek and was surrounded on all sides by a sea of green. The thick grass stretched four to eight feet

12 Newell R Frei, in his "History of Pioneering on Shoal Creek" (master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1932), described Hebron as "primarily a pastoral community" and noted the impact this occupation had upon the town's history I am indebted to him for sparking ideas that led to this study

13 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 5-6; also see Orson Welcome Huntsman, A Brief History of Shoal Creek, Hebron and Enterprisefrom 1862 to 1922 (St George, Utah: Dixie College History Department, 1929), 2—3

Paiute Indians, exact location and date unknown. USHS collections.

high and was tall enough in some spots to conceal a rider on horseback. What the area tendered in abundance of feed it certainly lacked in Euro-America n inhabitants. There was a small band of Indians who occupied the region and who "expressed themselves well pleased with our coming to live with them," John later recalled, but these were the only neighbors the locale had to offer. That fall, when Zera (sometimes Zerah) and Mary Pulsipher, the parents ofJohn, William, and Charles, arrived at Shoal Creek after receiving a call to move south, Zera remembered his new home this way: "I found it to be a very healthy section and I enjoyed myself very well, considering the obscurity of the place. We were a great distance from the abode of the white men, in the very midst of the roving red men."14 Certainly, then, the remoteness of their location and the relatively few people forming their group set the Shoal Creek inhabitants apart from the cluster of colonies being carved from the desert by larger communal associations. The Pulsiphers and Chidester further stand out in the nature of their business. Stock raising did not demand the same type of community-building process required elsewhere within the Cotton Mission In more typical towns, church leaders immediately surveyed a townsite using the Mormon village pattern and then distributed the land using an egalitarian lottery system. Settlers quickly

14 Ibid., 1:6-7; Zera Pulsipher, "History of Zera Pulsipher as Written by Himself (typescript, Special Collections, HBLL), 26

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went to work improving their new properties, building roads and dams, digging ditches and canals, and constructing churches and other public facilities on a communal basis.15

For the Shoal Creek ranchers, however, village life did not make sense. Their herding and dairy responsibilities dictated a different settlement pattern and lifestyle "We were very busy all the season taking care of our flocks in a strange place,"John Pulsipher recalled. "For the first year we could hardly get a chance to rest on Sunday We cut hay, built houses and prepared for winter. . . . Besides our herding and building we helped our women some in the dairy business. We made about 3,000 lbs. of butter and cheese which helped our friends in St. George to a better living than they would have had without it."16 Rather than community-building, Pulsipher suggests, the Shoal Creek group perceived its role primarily as a business venture designed to assist the work at St. George.

These ranchers chose a site about two and a half miles east of the present town of Enterprise to construct their first dwellings Once established, they "passed off the balance of the winter very agreeably," as did their cattle and sheep, which were all "fat in spring." In March 1863 Thomas S. Terry, son-in-law to Zera Pulsipher through marriage to two of his daughters, moved his family to Shoal Creek and joined what had become a family business (David Chidester had sold his share of the livestock business and moved to Washington City,just outside of St. George, in December 1862).17

This close-knit kinship group became the core of the Shoal Creek settlement and busied itself with the tremendous amount of work required to tend the sheep, horses, and beef and dairy cattle under its charge It was the responsibility of the Shoal Creek bunch to take care of each animal entrusted to it and to divide equally any increase with the various owners of the animals throughout the Cotton Mission Terry's daughter Alydia recalled, "We were to have half of the butter and cheese that was made from the cows that we took on share; the owner was to have the first calf and we were to have the second."18

Apparently, Erastus Snow sanctioned the efforts of the Pulsipher

15 For a good description of the surveying process and the lottery system see Nellie McArthur Gubler, "History of Santa Clara, Washington County," in Hazel Bradshaw, ed., Under the Dixie Sun (Washington County Chapter Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1950), 162

16 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 7-9

17 Joseph Fish, History of Enterprise, Utah, and Its Surroundings (MS, Washington County Library, Enterprise Branch, 1967), 35; Hebron Ward Record, 1:7, 10, 11

18 Alydia T Winsor, "Pioneer Ghost Town" (typescript photocopy in possession of Doris Truman, Enterprise, Utah), 1

clan. He visited the area on June 18, 1863, and pronounced divine approval ofit. According to John Pulsipher, he blessed "our families, our flocks and herds, the hills, valleys, the air and waters, and all we have, he blessed in the name of the Lord and said it was our right and privilege to enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom of God." Snow also organized the group ecclesiastically—or, Erastus Snow, USHS collections. mQr e precisely ? h e adv ised them to choose one of their number to preside and one to keep a record. He further admonished them to "hold meetings, bless children, baptize, partake of the sacrament and live the life of saints."19

According to these instructions, the settlers met on Sunday, June 28, and "organized by choosing Father Zera Pulsipher to preside over the branch of the church" and by selecting John Pulsipher as clerk. "Father Pulsipher," as he was commonly called, was anatural choice to head the branch organization. Not only was he the eldest male among the Shoal Creek families, but he had also long before proven his devotion toMormonism, remaining faithful throughout the church's troubled days in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He had known Joseph Smith and served under him as one of the first seven presidents of the Seventy, achurch administrative body. His selection was natural, but it also solidified the Pulsipher family's dominance over the region, especially as 1863, 1864, and 1865 brought an influx of people looking to take advantage of the good herd grounds the Pulsiphers had found at Shoal Creek.20

In May 1863 Wilson Lund moved his wife Ellen and family into the area to dairy and take care of stock Ellen, likely a polygamous wife, stayed two and a half years before Wilson moved her away

19 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 1-2

20 Ibid.; see Zera Pulsipher, "History," and The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church offesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Church ofjesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981), 124:138 According to James G Bleak, "Annals of the Southern Utah Mission" (accn #194, manuscripts division, University of Utah Marriott Library, Salt Lake City 178, 188), Zera's official title was "Presiding Elder" at Shoal Creek In 1865 St. George leaders created the Panaca Ward with John Nebeker as bishop and attached Shoal Creek, Clover Valley, and Eagle Valley to it. A reorganization occurred in 1866, this time bringing Shoal Creek, along with Pinto and Mountain Meadows, under the jurisdiction of die Pine Valley Ward headed by Bishop Robert Gardner; see Bleak, 197, 225 Even so, these ward organizations were loose because of the distance between communities and difficulty of travel, leaving Zera Pulsipher as the most immediate ecclesiastical head for the Shoal Creek Saints

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because he could not be with her very often. John Perkins and family along withJohn Ramsey brought "a herd of sheep and some cattle" to Shoal Creek in August 1863. The following spring a "Bro. Foy," John M Chidester, Ezra N Bullard, Hyrum Burgess, and William Cowley also herded livestock to the area and settled. The fall of 1864 brought James Russell and his wife from Washington City "to act in the office of shepherd." The ensuing year, Levi H. Callaway and his family moved to the region, hoping the cool climate might improve Levi's health.21

Despite the number of people who came to Shoal Creek, there seemed to be an equal number who left John Pulsipher, for example, laments that "of all that have lived here there has been but few that we could depend upon regular to keep up the settlement." He then records a few examples: "Bro. Chidester came from Washington for health, found it and returned. Foy and others went north to the wheat district on account of the scarcity of bread and Hyrum Burgess . . . moves because he thinks there is more money somewhere else—(at the mines west)."22 The Pulsipher kinship group weathered these comings and goings, however, and clearly became a stabilizing force in the region

The broader terrain around Shoal Creek also began attracting settlers and brought an end to the extreme isolation the Pulsiphers had first experienced. In early 1864 a group of Mormons founded Clover Valley, approximately thirty miles west of Shoal Creek in present-day Nevada. Before long, other communities sprang to life at Meadow Valley and Eagle Valley, in proximity to the new town at Clover. It was not just Mormons who recognized the value of land in the region. Large numbers of whatJohn Pulsipher described as "gentiles and apostates" came in search of mineral wealth and founded mining camps at Pioche and Bullionville, just across the Nevada border. 23

As new ranchers arrived in the vicinity, William and Father Pulsipher had in the summer of 1863 already spread out to occupy more land. They moved about eight miles west of the original location to some "springs at the upper end of a grassy plain." There they were able to herd their sheep on "smoother ground," enlarge their farm-

21 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 12, 16, 19, 22, 32, 61 Although in recording the Lunds' stay along Shoal Creek in the Ward Record Pulsipher does not describe Ellen as a polygamous wife, it seems a likely explanation to Lund's moving her to the region and then being absent most of the time, probably with other wives

22 Ibid., 1:61-62

23 Ibid., 1: 18; DeseretNews, February 27, 1867 For a good description of the region and the proximity of towns to each other see Bleak, "Annals," 164

ing operations, and guard the west side of the cattle herd. William and Zera dubbed the new location "Pleasant Valley"; it was more commonly called the "upper place." Next, when "Edw Westover" moved in and encroached upon ground traditionally occupied by the Pulsiphers, they responded by finding yet another site "a little further up the creek among the hills where" they could keep their stock.24

The spatial arrangements at Shoal Creek were scattered at best An 1865 report of Erastus Snow's visit to the area gives a good indication of the ranchers' strewn condition: After breakfasting at Mountain Meadows, Snow and his entourage

traveled 15 miles to Joh n Pulsipher's on Shoal Creek. Finding that the men had gone to an estray sale at Westover's herd-ground, some 5 miles distant on Spring Creek the company followed and attended to some business matters, after which they returned to Joh n Pulsipher's and stayed all night

2d August, The company traveled some 7 miles up Shoal Creek to Father [Zera] Pulsipher's and thence 25 miles to Clover Valley Here the setder's [sic] were found dwelling in log houses so arranged as to make a very good fort This was a pleasant contrast when compared with Shoal Creek improvements of two or three houses in a place and the locations from 2 1/2 to 7 miles apart.25

Clearly, Snow much preferred the unity and order of the Clover Valley settlement over the independence indicative of the Shoal Creek ranchers' dispersion.

More significantly, this scattering seemed to foster an abrogation of community responsibility that played out in one tragic incident. About a foot of snow fell at Shoal Creek in February 1865 and was followed by "the coldest weather ever known since the settlement of the country." The storm killed more of the Shoal Creek stock than had any from the three previous winters. In the middle of this bitter weather a man by the name of Thomas Fuller died while tending Westover's sheep herd John Pulsipher and Thomas Terry attended to his burial. Fuller, a convert to Mormonism from Australia, apparently had no family, was around fifty years old, and was considered a "harmless, peaceable man."26

The incident, however, did not end with Fuller's interment. The following month, on April 16, 1865, Father Pulsipher conducted an investigation into the death of the shepherd and, in particular, into Westover's role in that death. Rumor had it that Fuller "came to his

24 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 16-17, 22

25 Bleak, "Annals," 195.

26 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 37-38

death for want of proper care" at the hands of Westover As ecclesiastical head, Zera Pulsipher presided over the case with two visiting elders from St. George, "Bros. Lund and Moss," sitting with him as judges. Westover made opening remarks in which he described the usual amount of provisions used in his family and claimed that "the old man has had his share and more too, and these reports about the suffering of the late Thomas Fuller are false."

Thomas S. Terry testified next. Terry recalled being called to the Westover camp and arriving with John Pulsipher. They found Fuller dead, "lying in his brush wickiup in the sheep pen about lA of a mile from" the Westover place The men had no provisions for his burial so they secured his body for the night and returned four miles to their homes.

The next day Terry and Pulsipher made a coffin, found a suit of clothing, and traveled through a foot of snow to bury Fuller. By the time they arrived, Westover was on the scene He began digging a grave while Terry and Pulsipher washed and dressed the body. As they removed Fuller's clothing, which Terry described as "very scanty and ragged," they were met with what Terry recalled as "the most horrible sight my eyes ever beheld! The man was literally covered with lice. I am doubtful," Terry continued, "whether a quart cup would have held them—the largest lice I ever saw." He then recounted calling Westover to take a look: Westover declared that he "knew the old man was lousy, but didn't suppose he was so bad as that." Terry and Pulsipher proceeded to brush the lice from the body and then scrub Fuller clean "So much scurf and dirt had accumulated on him that it was an awful job." His hair, too, provided a challenge, as it "had not been cut or combed for so long . . . that it was matted into wads and covered with

Thomas S. Terry, Hannah Louisa Leavitt, and their children. The fourth wife of Thomas Terry, Louisa married him in 1878. USHS collections.

nits." Fuller's physical makeup was also poor. Terry described him as "very thin in flesh, but little more than skin and bones—a mere skeleton."

After hearing Terry's testimony, Westover scrambled to defend himself He claimed that Fuller had been sent away from his previous job because "he was lousy." Westover took him in because "no one else would have him." He then claimed that Fuller had done quite well in his employ as a shepherd "till he froze his feet in the fore part of winter and now because he is dead," Westover continued, "you have got me up here to cat haul me, I believe, and I have a notion not to stay to hear it."

Zera Pulsipher next questioned Westover on a few items concerning Fuller's appetite and health. He also inquired how often Westover allowed Fuller a change of clothing, to which Westover responded, "Why, he could not change at all, unless I had given him mine and I went naked. He had a shirt washed last August and after that he washed some in the creek and my wife mended a pair of pants and got lice all over her apron I told her not to wash or mend anymore for him—let him do it himself."

Pulsipher turned his line of questioning to spiritual matters and found justification for a decision against Westover Pulsipher inquired if Westover had been attending to his prayers, to which Westover "finally confessed that he had not for considerable length of time." Pulsipher then blamed Westover for not reporting the situation to anyone and stated that he personally would have divided his own clothing with Fuller had he known the need existed. The visiting elders also took their turns at chastening Westover, telling him that he had "not done his duty as an Elder in Israel." "If he had attended to his prayers the spirit of the Lord would [have] opened his eyes so he could see what was around him." Why, they queried, "let that poor old man lie and perish with lice?"

After conferring for a few minutes the threejudges handed down their decision They instructed Westover that it was his duty "to make a confession before this meeting and at some convenient time be rebaptized to restore him to full fellowship with the saints and with the Lord." Westover claimed he could not comply with the request for rebaptism and appealed the case to Erastus Snow.27

Unfortunately, there is no further mention of the matter in the

27 Ibid., 1:39-53.

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ward record, but other entries make it evident that this case created a rift between the Pulsipher clan and Westover At the general election that year Westover "made a little opposition," but more telling was his refusal, in 1866, tojoin with the rest of the settlers in "forting up" during the Black Hawk War The Pulsipher clan invited him tojoin them, but "he said he would not come this way, if he moved at all [he] said he would go the other way."28 Clearly, Westover preferred his independence over community responsibility, an attitude that certainly played a role in Fuller's dreadful death.

The move from scattered conditions to a fort community occurred a year after the Fuller affair, at a time when new problems demanded a change While Shoal Creek settlers had managed to maintain friendly relations with the Paiute Indians, the same was not true for the newer towns to the west or for the territory as a whole. The year 1865 marked the beginnings of what would come to be called the Black Hawk War, the worst Indian uprising in Utah history. Threatened by ever-encroaching Mormons, the generally friendly Paiutes of southern Utah joined with the more hostile Utes to raid Mormon towns, steal cattle, and kill settlers In response to this general uprising, Brigham Young in May 1866 sent orders to Erastus Snow and other southern leaders instructing them to fort up: "To save the lives and property of people in your counties from the marauding and blood-thirsty bands which surround you," Young declared, "there must be thorough and energetic measures of protection taken immediately. . . . Small settlements should be abandoned, and the people who have formed them should, without loss of time, repair to places that can be easily defended."29

Prior to receiving such instructions, the Pulsiphers were already making preparations to move to a common spot at Shoal Creek Their plans, however, were not motivated by Indian depredations. Rather, a particularly harsh winter in 1865-66 had convinced them of the undesirability of their dispersed circumstances. Nearly five feet of snow that winter made travel all but impossible for about a month, leaving John Pulsipher to lament, "Our meetings are few." When the weather cleared and road conditions improved, meetings resumed, and talk centered on "locating a town plot where we and many others can live and have more help, more neighbors and build up a larger place."

28 Ibid., 1:57,70-71

29 Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, to Erastus Snow and the bishops and saints of Washington and Kane counties, May 2, 1866, in Bleak, "Annals," 226-27

This undoubtedly reflected a desire among the Shoal Creek saints to achieve the order and unity that the Mormon village offered. In consequence, they selected a site at the center of all the waters of Shoal Creek called the "big willow patch," laid off lots, built houses and corrals, and moved into "Shoal Creek Fort" in April 1866. The group consisted of only five families: Zera,John and William Pulsipher, Thomas Terry, and Levi Callaway; sheep herder Reuben James also joined them, but as noted earlier, Westover refused.30

It was not long before this newly banded bunch learned of Young's advice to abandon small and unprotected locations. Initially the Shoal Creek settlers thought the prophet's counsel included them, but inJuly Erastus Snow told them otherwise. He visited the ranching outpost and told the residents that "the protecting power of the almighty has been over you" and prophesied that "the time is near when there will be a flourishing settlement here." He complimented them on the good spot they had chosen for their fort and said he would instruct the Clover Valley residents to abandon their community and join those at Shoal Creek.31

By the end of 1866, ten families from Clover Valley—Amos, James, and Jonathan Hunt; James, Joseph and Hyrum Huntsman; Dudley and Jeremiah Leavitt; Zadock Parker; and Brown B. Crow— moved to combine with the Shoal Creek group. 32 With this merging, the old residents of Shoal Creek situated themselves in a semblance of a Mormon village for the first time since being sent off to tend the Cotton Mission livestock four years earlier

It must have been somewhat of a pleasant change of pace as the small fort began to bustle with social activities typical of a Mormon town. The ward record describes such events as theatrical performances and dancing parties complete with songs and recitations. The families of the fort further arranged themselves in a variety of ways: they formed a weekly "Mutual Benefit Society" for "improvement of old and young in public speaking"; activated a military organization and conducted drills to guard against Indians; worked communally to build a $500, eighteen by twenty-five-foot schoolhouse and social hall; and joined forces to dig a town ditch to conduct water to the fort. They further organized wood-gathering excursions, began a Sunday

30 Hebron Ward Record, 1:66-71

31 Ibid., 1:78-81.

32 See Orson Welcome Huntsman, "Diary of Orson W Huntsman" (typescript, Special Collections, HBLL), 14-15, and Hebron Ward Record, 1:88.

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School, and held regular afternoon and evening Sunday services, all of which left John Pulsipher to pen, "Our time is well occupied and we enjoy ourselves very much!"33 Based upon such evidence, it seems that the Shoal Creek ranchers finally achieved a sense of community and benefited from the close associations the fort created.

Despite the protection and ease of social interaction this coming together offered, it also generated problems. The merging of two communities that had separately developed patterns of independence proved troublesome, and soon noticeable fissures appeared. Land issues, positions of power within the community, and non-Mormon influences at the nearby mines would beleaguer the tiny settlement and pull and tear at the seams of unity too feebly stitched by the village system.

Shortly after the establishment of the Shoal Creek Fort it became evident that the men from Clover Valley had different habits in regard to Sunday worship. On Sunday, December 9, 1866, John Pulsipher noted in the ward record, "Most of the Clover men were fixing to do a big week's work by commencing it on Sunday and saving a day This seems to be a common practice, so the meetings are small, yet."34

The differences between the two groups became more pronounced as later that month the men gathered to divide the land. The assembled men chose Zera Pulsipher as chairman over the proceedings while the "Clover brethren" selected "Father Huntsman" to act as their spokesman Huntsman began by expressing fear that there was not enough land available to accommodate all the families, especially because the Shoal Creek brethren "claimed the best." This was an understandable concern among those who had abandoned their lands at Clover Valley and now had nothing other than the protection the fort proffered. Orson Welcome Huntsman, Father Huntsman's son, articulated it best as he recalled the "very discouraging outlook" his family had for making a living at the new place. He wrote, "For more than the five [families] that were already located here there was nothing ... to subsist on, only in raising stock; this was a good place for that but there was no market for stock, butter or cheese."35

but

34 Ibid., 1:94.

35 Ibid., 1:95; Huntsman diary, 15

33 Hebron Ward Record, 1: 97, 98; Hebron Ward Record, 1867-1872, 2: 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 Prior to "forting up," the Shoal Creek settlers did get together on occasion to dance and had previously organized militarily,

the extent and frequency of such activities clearly increased after the settlers moved to the fort

164

Fortunately for the Clover men, the Shoal Creek ranchers were sympathetic to their plight. The Pulsiphers responded quickly to solve the problem; they offered their land claims, including their enclosed and cultivated lands, "all to be used for the public good." In an additional effort to smooth over any division, those gathered agreed to drop the name of "Clover brethren" and "Shoal Creek brethren." As John Pulsipher put it, "we are all citizens of this place, so let us be united." At the conclusion of the meeting the people selected Thomas S. Terry, Father Huntsman, and John Pulsipher as a committee to divide the land.36 By May 1867 the committee had laid out one public field for gardens, one as a pasture or hay field, and a third for unspecified use. Each family received about half an acre of the garden spot, one acre of the hay field, and two or three acres of the last field, depending upon the size of the family. As was customary among Mormons, the settlers drew for the land by ballot "and the people were very well satisfied."37

The following spring, however, after high floods destroyed much of the farm land as well as roads and fencing, those feelings of satisfaction diminished greatly. In March 1868 the men of the fort were preoccupied with building and repairing roads, constructing a water ditch, and surveying and dividing new land The men's independent attitudes as they completed these tasks are perhaps a good indication of the divisiveness that plagued this tiny community. According to the ward record, at least a "few" townsmen "expressed some stubbornness and a stiff will and [went about] doing things according to their narrow notions, or not at all." Ecclesiastical leaders condemned such attitudes and advised the offending parties to "humble themselves and get the spirit of the Lord." Only then, 36 Hebron Ward Record, 1:96 37 Ibid., 1:110, 111

Orson Welcome Huntsman as an older man. Courtesy of Charmaine Roper.

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Pulsipher declared, "[can we] do business in union." Pulsipher continued with a prophetic warning to the settlers: "Without union we can't do business acceptable to the Lord and unless we are united the Devil will have power over us, we will be broken up and have to leave our homes."38

Such admonition notwithstanding, independent attitudes persisted at Shoal Creek In August 1868, due to a general cessation of Indian depredations, Erastus Snow deemed it safe to abandon the fort at Shoal Creek and to found a proper Mormon village. Accompanied by G. A. Burgon, the county surveyor, Snow traveled to the area for that purpose. According to Orson Huntsman, when Snow arrived there was some disagreement over where the townsite should be: "Some wanted the town one place and some another, but the most of the brethren wanted it right where the fort was and immediately around the fort." Snow looked over the situation and counseled with the men as he inspected the land Huntsman described the site chosen by the majority of the people as "a very nice location," but he also remembered that "it did not suit Brother Snow very well." Snow agreed that the spot was likable, but he felt it was just not practicable He prophetically warned the people that the locale was too remote from their water source and it would be expensive to channel water to the town and keep it there. But the self-ruling settlers persisted, even against Snow's advice, and he gave in to their wishes.39

Before long, the Mormon grid system scarred the earth as the surveyor laid out three streets running east and west and five north and south. Burgon also surveyed four areas into fields for farming. In choosing a name for the new town, John Pulsipher borrowed from Old Testament scripture and suggested Hebron, after the site where the ancient prophet Abraham had tended his flocks and herds. The people voted to accept the name, and Snow then blessed and dedicated the locale for a new town.40

There was something more telling about the parallel to ancient Abraham that Pulsipher drew upon in selecting Hebron as the town name. Abraham settled at Biblical Hebron as a solution to the conflict that existed between him and his nephew Lot. According to Old Testament verses, "There was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's

38 Ibid., 2:18-19

39 Huntsman diary, 29-31

40 Ibid.; Hebron Ward Record, 2:34-35

cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle . . . and they separated themselves the one from the other."41 A similar detachment, likely for the same reason, took place at Shoal Creek prior to the founding of Hebron

Pulsipher, in early 1868, noted a dispersal from the fort as the Clover brethren returned to their former lands at Clover Valley. He wrote of the removal of Jeremiah Leavitt and Jonathan Hunt, for example, and then chided them: "The brethren have had no counsel to go—nor did they ask for any that I know of. They can't see inducements sufficient to stay here and work, although this is the place we are counseled to live by the presidency of the mission."42

Apparently, Snow felt similarly. After dedicating Hebron he expressed sorrow over the families that had gone to Clover Valley. He remarked that he "wished they had stayed here and tried to fulfill the counsel that he gave to build up this place. . . . [He] wished [the] saints to feel the spirit of gathering, build good houses and make themselves comfortable homes, have good schools and meetings and educate the children and not scatter off and live like Paiutes." Some of those who left eventually returned to Hebron, but the trend seemed to be that the few who relied upon ranching (primarily the Pulsipher kinship group) stayed at Hebron, whereas the remaining 41 Genesis 13:6-7, 11,18. 42 Hebron Ward Record, 2:21

Map by and courtesy of Stephen Carr, from Stephen L. Carr, Utah Ghost Towns (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1972).

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population became fluid, often moving in search of better conditions elsewhere.43

Even those who formed the Hebron core shortly returned to habits of independence. The tremendous amount of labor required in the ranching business constantly occupied most Hebronites, particularly during the summer months, making it difficult to attend community events and social gatherings. On April 5, 1868, ecclesiastical leaders responded to this situation in what would become a regular occurrence at Hebron each spring They canceled all weeknight meetings "until winter comes again." Even the regular Sunday gatherings, although not abandoned, declined in participation during summer months On Sunday, April 19, 1868, for example, Pulsipher recorded that Sunday school and sacrament meeting were "quite thinly attended" that day.44

Some residents began dispersing to their dairy ranches to be closer to their work. In January 1869 John and William Pulsipher moved south of town a few miles to Little Pine Valley, where they built a sawmill and dairy. Thomas Terry did likewise, moving to the old "upper" location and establishing what came to be called Terry's ranch. In April 1870 Huntsman recorded, "I moved in company with Father Terry to what was called the upper place We went there to spend the summer, milk cows, [and] make butter and cheese." In 1872 Pulsipher explained a similar model that he followed: "[We] spent the summer in Little Pine Valley at [our] dairy ranch—milked forty cows and attended to our little farming and herding. . . . [We] generally attend [church] meeting in town and [go] back at night to our work."45 Although they gathered for worship services on Sunday, this dispersal of ranchers demonstrates a certain abrogation of community responsibility. The autonomy it spawned manifested itself in other areas of conflict at Hebron.

Leadership issues, for example, caused contention at the new community. For the most part, the Pulsipher family had maintained its dominance over political and religious affairs throughout the years spent at the fort, with Zera in charge and John generally serving in a support role. Less than a year after the settlers moved from the fort, a

43 Ibid, 2:38 For a good example of the transient type of people who passed through Hebron see Juanita Brooks, On the RaggedEdge: TheLife and Times ofDudley Leavitt (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1973) Brooks chronicles Leavitt's experience in several southern Utah towns, including, in chapter ten, his stay at Hebron.

44 Hebron Ward Record, 2:19-20

45 Huntsman diary, 204; John Pulsipher journal

conflict arose among Hebron's school trustees that would end with Zera being stripped of his power and an outsider being brought in to preside over the infant town

According toJohn Pulsipher's version of the incident, strife centered around the hiring of a schoolteacher for the 1869 winter term. The school trustees,Jonathan Hunt, Amos Hunt, and J. S. Huntsman (all Clover brethren), talked of employing a female teacher for the winter school. Father Pulsipher recommended waiting three days before signing a contract with the woman to see if the trained teacher sent for at Salt Lake City would arrive. If so, then the trustees could make an informed decision on whom to hire Apparentiy the trustees believed Pulsipher was interfering in their business, and they fired off a dispatch to Erastus Snow at St. George charging Pulsipher with opposing winter school at Hebron altogether Snow, without investigating Pulsipher's version of things, replied that he was "tired of hearing complaints." He advised Father Pulsipher to resign from the office of presidency at Hebron and scolded that if Hebronites could not agree on so small a matter as winter school, "there is need of repentance and reformation and confessing of sins to God and each other."

At the meeting called on January 2, 1869, to deal with this affair, Zera Pulsipher immediately "resigned gladly the responsibility that he has so long borne." The Hebron men accepted this surrender with "a unanimous vote of thanks" and then unitedly elected Dudley Leavitt to preside over them until Snow officially reorganized the town's religious leadership

John Pulsipher, in his capacity as clerk, sent a record of these proceedings and an explanation of the subsequent school situation to Snow. As it turned out, the teacher from Salt Lake City had arrived, met approval of the trustees, and shortly thereafter began teaching the Hebron children. Pulsipher also informed Snow that the people of Hebron "are not so badly divided as might be supposed. Our meetings are well attended by nearly all the people, we have good times and the spirit of the Lord is with us." He then recorded in the ward record his take on where the blame for the discontent rightfully lay Trustees

Amos Hunt and J.S. Huntsman, he wrote, "are a little inclined to be passionate and stubborn and have not in all things tried to consult the interests of the people who elected them."46

Regardless of who was to blame, the contention overturned

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Hebron's power structure and, more important, established a precedent: residents often appealed to St. George leaders when local conditions caused dissatisfaction. During the fall of 1869 Snow organized Hebron into a ward with Clover Valley attached to it Instead of looking for a leader within either of those communities, he elected to bring someone in from the outside to preside, perhaps to avoid any potential conflict that might arise from selecting a member of one of the kinship groups at Hebron George H Crosby, a young resident of Washington City, which was about fifty-five miles southeast of Hebron, got the nod from Snow and arrived at Hebron in December 1869 to officiate as bishop of the new ward.47

During Crosby's tenure in office he organized ward teachers to visit all Hebron families each month and report on potential areas of conflict. This became an effective device in maintaining peace at Hebron, although divisions persisted. Even the teachers' visits, like other meetings, were suspended during the summer months as ranchers dispersed to their various locations. Bishop Crosby lasted at Hebron until 1877, when a fire destroyed his home and he gave up and moved away. Thomas S. Terry then became bishop. By 1894, however, townsfolk demanded a change and lobbied St George leaders for a new ecclesiastical head who was not away from Hebron so much. St. George authorities granted the request and made George A. Holt bishop. When Holt selected his counselors, however, one refused to serve and the congregation voted not to sustain the other.48 Clearly, Hebronites, beginning with the school issue, adopted democratic notions in regard to who would lead them.

At least some residents also developed self-governing attitudes regarding the mining camps located twenty to thirty miles west of town. In an effort to prevent non-Mormon control of the area's mineral wealth, Erastus Snow in 1864 founded the town of Panaca, in present-day Nevada, and instructed settlers to lay claim to the "principle lead" in the surrounding region. He exhorted them to "build up a clean thriving respectable town first, and then, if they mined, let it be secondary consideration in their feelings and works." Such tactics by no means kept non-Mormons away In fact, it seems the region became a battleground in a broader conflict for political control of

47 Ibid., 2:75, 77

48 Terry, a polygamist, spent a considerable amount of time hiding from federal marshals at his Beaver Dam Wash property south of Hebron. For additional narrative of these transfers of leadership see W Paul Reeve, A Century ofEnterprise: The History ofEnterprise Utah, 1896-1996 (Enterprise, Utah: The City of Enterprise, 1996), 18, 55

the Great Basin kingdom. Patrick Connor, the U.S. military commander stationed at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, detested Mormon dominance of Utah Territory. He saw Utah's mineral wealth as a great way to attract a large non-Mormon population to the area and thereby vote the Mormons out of office. His tactic of encouraging his soldiers to prospect for minerals never worked the way he hoped, but it did earn him acclaim as the father of Utah mining Connor and other territorial officials laid claim to some of the mines west of Hebron, and before long two thriving mining communities, Pioche and Bullionville, were in full swing.49

Due to the perceived evils and economic instability that mining and trading with the non-Mormons generated, Brigham Young felt strongly that his people should avoid such activities. Those at Hebron were certainly aware of such admonitions In 1868 local leaders informed the people that trading with non-Mormons would be considered a "matter of fellowship." In March 1869 Hebronites were instructed "to cease trading with and sustaining gentiles—don't run after the mining or rail roads, but stick to the farms and business at home and you will be richer and have more of the spirit of the gospel." Likewise, at an 1872 conference at St. George, Young told the Saints that "those who will stay at home and mind their legitimate labors, will be better off, eventually, than those who will go to the mines and work for the gentiles."50

Despite such preaching, the mines apparently offered too much allure for some settlers along Shoal Creek to resist In September 1871 Orson Huntsman described the economic enticements of the mining camps: "I made several trips to Pioche with lumber, in company with Father Terry and others from our place. Pioche proved to be a great camp [and] made a good market for lumber and other products or produce, also a great amount of labor. Bullionville was also a place of great note."51

Apparently, trading and freighting at the mines did not merit excommunication, but moving there sometimes did Hyrum Burgess left Shoal Creek for the mines in 1865 and three years later was "cut off from the church "for unfaithful conduct." Brown B Crow also learned the severe consequences of relocating to the mining camps. In August 1868 Hebron ward leaders "cut off his wife, Lucinda Jane,

49 Bleak, "Annals," 161-66

50 Hebron Ward Record, 2:42, 63; Bleak, "Annals," 168

51 Huntsman diary, 53-54

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from the church "for leaving her husband and the society of fhe Saints and choosing to live with the wicked at a gentile camp." Brown Crow not only lost his wife but was also "suspended from fellowship" with the Saints "until he makes satisfaction, for moving his family away from the gathering place and exposing them to be overcome in society of the wicked." Three months later, no doubt humbled by the loss of his wife and his fellowship in the church, Grow returned to Hebron and made public confession. He expressed his sorrow for the course he had taken and declared his determination to be a Saint Hebronites restored him to full fellowship by a unanimous vote.52 Certainly, then, proximity to the mines and the economic inducements they offered created yet another challenge to community cohesion at Hebron.

A final trial eventually provided Hebronites with an explanation for the divisiveness that gripped their town. During the fall of 1867 and winter of 1868, the town had what John Pulsipher described as a "school" that "tended to unite the people because they have seen the power of the Devil exerted to destroy an innocent brother." According to Pulsipher, the devil overcame Orson Welcome Huntsman "many times" and "would take full possession of him and cause his body to cramp and be in the greatest agitation sometimes so it would take several men to hold him on the bed." On occasion, the devil talked through Orson and told "all manner of lying deceit and considerable trick to deceive us and divide our faith." The leading devil in possession of Orson declared his name to be John but said that two others, Charles and Frank, assisted him.53

One Sunday evening in February 1868, following church meetings, an "uncommon-noisy-impudent-devil who talked in a strange tongue" took possession of Huntsman. The men gathered to exorcise the demon but found it very difficult to do so. The devil "mock[ed them] while [they] were administering and trying to cast him out." After about half an hour the noisy devil left, but the one named John entered. "This one stayed as long as he could, declared he would not go, [and] said his business was to destroy the Kingdom of God and his time was short." The men "prayed, anointed with oil, and administered one after another, some times for several hours, with all the faith and power [they] could command before the young man could be relieved."54

52 Hebron Ward Record, 1:62; Bleak, "Annals," 282; Hebron Ward Record, 2:36, 44

53 Ibid., 2:12-13

54 Ibid

Two other young people at Hebron experienced similar demons in early 1868. A devil named Cain took possession ofJames Wilkinson, and "when in the boy, had full control of his body and tried with great force to kill the boy or anyone that came to help him." The same evil spirits that possessed Wilkinson then afflicted Adelia Terry, and the men "had a hard struggle to drive and keep the devil from her."55

The devil and his cohorts returned to Hebron in 1874, this time afflicting young William McEIprang. When the demons overpowered McEIprang they caused "terrible pain most of the time" and occasionally "tried to run him wild into the mountains."John Pulsipher stood guard over the young man one night and described the "principal spirit" that possessed him as "a very stubborn dumb sort of a fellow." The night Pulsipher stayed with McEIprang "a very raving noisy spirit got possession of him which when ordered to tell his name said it was 'Suzi Borem."' Upon learning this, Pulsipher promptly rebuked Suzi and cast her out, and she apparently "returned no more"; but the "old stubborn fellow" continued to plague William until finally the townspeople gave up They took him to Cedar City, more than forty-five miles northeast, to live with his father.56

While Pulsipher viewed these experiences as a unifying force, the town's interpretation of the demonic invasions is more significant. Apparently, the demons became a scapegoat of sorts, offering an otherworldly explanation for the town's failure to achieve the elusive goals of unity and order demanded of nineteenth-century Mormons Although no contemporary explanation has been found, a story apparently grew with time that "Hebron was located over an old battleground and that many evil spirits were roaming around the valley."57 Perhaps townsfolk used a legend that began in Mill Creek Canyon in northern Utah to explain the strange events. As tradition had it, a man named Alexander owned a sawmill in that canyon that was plagued with curious occurrences Every tool in the mill ended up missing, and all those borrowed from a neighboring mill became lost. Puzzled by these and other mystic happenings, Alexander appealed to Brigham Young for an explanation. The prophet, after visiting the mill, told Alexander he was trespassing on property that had belonged to the Gadianton Robbers, a nefarious band of thieves from Mormon

55 Ibid., 2:27-29.

56 Hebron Ward Record, 1872-1897, vol 3 (holograph photocopy, Enterprise Branch, Washington County Library, Enterprise, Utah), 39-40

67 Nancy LaVerne Jones Hirschi, ed., "Nancy" (unpublished typescript in possession of Doris Truman, Enterprise, Utah)

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scripture. Once Alexander moved his sawmill, the difficulties ended. An almost identical story was told about another mill in Big Cottonwood Canyon, and apparently the same thing happened at a sawmill at Pine Valley near Hebron.58

Plausibly, when residents along Shoal Creek began experiencing trouble with evil spirits, they associated the situation with the sawmill story and believed that they had founded their town on ancient Gadianton Robber territory. Carrie E. L. Hunt, who spent much of her youth in Hebron, stated, "As a child I remember of hearing the older folks talking about how evil spirits seem to hover about that part of the country. It was the people's belief that way back in history, that strip of country had once been the hideout of the notorious Gadianton Robbers that were so much talked about in history They felt their spirits still haunted the country."59

In the end it was an earthquake, not evil spirits, that led to Hebron's ultimate demise Many other divisive incidents preceded the quake, though. The town failed miserably in its United Order attempt in 1874. Family feuds erupted on occasion, such as when William Pulsipher struck Jefferson Hunt with a rock in 1879, causing "a gash one-and-a-half inches long on his head, besides some bruises"; the bishop eventually smoothed over the problem. The Huntsmans and Callaways had disputes, as did the Laubs and Barnums, but a more significant problem was the town's lack of water By the mid-1880s Hebron's canal had dried up, and its flume had collapsed in disrepair. Townspeople began several abortive attempts to construct new flumes or canals, but disunity plagued their efforts—as did a perplexing degree of complacency.60

On November 17, 1902, an earthquake rattled Hebron and provided an excuse for the abandonment of the town The quake damaged most homes and made the safety of their foundations questionable. According to one memory, "some of the older ladies

58 James H Gardner, "Incidents in Early Utah History: Some May Call it Folklore," in Kate B Carter, ed., Heart Throbs of the West, vol 5 (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1944), 185-86 This story's link to southern Utah is made in Andrew Karl Larson's "Ithamar Sprague and His Big Shoes," in Thomas E Cheney, ed., Lore ofFaith and Folly (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1971), 31-35 I have written different versions of this tale and its connection to Hebron that have previously been published as "Evil Spirits Plagued the Residents of Hebron, Utah" as part of the Utah State Historical Society's and the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission's "History Blazer" project and in Reeve, A Century of Enterprise, 16—17.

59 Carrie Elizabeth Laub Hunt, Memoriesof thePast and FamilyHistory (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing Company, 1968), 33

60 Huntsman diary, 122; Hebron Ward Record, 3:151-52; ibid., 2:116-17; ibid., 3:184-85, 190 For a complete description of the dispute between Pulsipher and Hunt, see Reeve, A Century of Enterprise, 22-23 For more on the flumes and canals, see Reeve, A Century ofEnterprise, 23-26

thought the quake was an Act of God,' while others declared its cause was the evil spirits that hovered about the area."61 No matter the reason, by December talk in town centered on moving elsewhere. Before long, Mormon ecclesiastical leaders approved the dispossession of the town, and by September 1905 it was largely abandoned.

Does Hebron, a Cotton Mission settlement, fit into the cooperative, "village of withdrawal" framework that characterized most nineteenth-century Mormon agricultural communities? Undoubtedly, Hebron pioneers held that model aloft as the ideal; however, other dynamics seem to have been at play, consistently keeping that goal beyond their reach. The independence of ranch life at Hebron gave rise to a bold type of Mormon democracy on the southern fringe of the Great Basin. Hebron was a ranching community, not an agricultural one, and therefore lacked the binding force of water that Smythe and Mead described as central to the cooperative agricultural communities they observed. Ranching is an occupation of independence carried out over great distances and requiring little reliance upon community for survival. Rather than a product of its environment, as Smythe suggested of Utah, Hebron seems more a product of its occupation.

Hebron differs too from the village of withdrawal pattern articulated by Charles Peterson After arriving in southern Utah as part of the Cotton Mission, Hebron's founding families underwent an additional withdrawal. Charged with grazing, milking, and tending the cattle of the Cotton Mission, they removed themselves more than forty miles northwest of St. George. This removal, combined with ranching duties, demanded self-reliance simply because there was no one else to depend upon. It could mean, as well, the abrogation of community responsibility, which in one tragic case led to death

Even when the ranchers coalesced at the Shoal Creek Fort, their four years of individualism dominated their attitudes and led to additional conflict. Land issues, stubbornness, and struggles over positions of power marked life at the fort and continued to surface as the settlers founded Hebron. Finally, instead of protecting Hebronites from worldly influences, their isolated location made them vulnerable to the enticements of the non-Mormon role models in the mining communities that emerged around them.

Mother Mary Pulsipher lived through most of these experiences 61 Hirschi, "Nancy."

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and in her final years pled with Hebron to "be united." When unity failed, it seems settlers turned to explanations suggesting that the situation was beyond their control; traditions regarding evil spirits developed that placed the blame for the conflict at the feet of the treacherous Gadianton Robbers. More probably, however, culture, environment, and occupation all blended together to form a curious mixture at Hebron that challenges the historical model of the cohesive Mormon community. Regardless, if the Gadianton legend is true, then when the last resident finally left Hebron the evil robbers regained their land, and Hebron became a true ghost town.

In Memoriam: LeonardJ. Arrington, 1917-1999

WHE N LEONARD ARRINGTON DIED at his home in Salt Lake City on February 11, 1999, the history profession lost a major player. He had suffered from diabetes and heart problems and severely declining energy, but to the end his mind remained sharp. Alert and attentive, he had continued to send a weekly letter to his children and demonstrated a lively interest in the historical projects of his colleagues. Not originally a Utahn, he lived in Utah much of his life, and many of his speeches and scholarly writings enhanced our understanding of Utah's past.

Born near Twin Falls, Idaho, onjuly 2, 1917, Leonard James Arrington would not come onto the playing field of historical scholarship for more than three decades, but his formative years tell much about his character and help to explain the particular convergence that was Arrington the historian.

Noah and Edna Corn Arrington, Leonard's parents, were from Tennessee. They had joined the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, learning of agricultural possibilities in Idaho's Magic

LeonardJ. Arrington177

Valley, put down their roots there. Noah became bishop of the LDS ward and for a two-year period served a mission for his church, leaving his family to fend for themselves.

The oldest son, Leonard was bright. He did well in school and took on responsibilities in the church During his early teens, he became seriously interested in poultry farming and avidly learned what was required. At high school he was president of the Twin Falls chapter of Future Farmers of America and, at the national convention, was elected one of the officers. As he approached the end of high school, it seemed, young Arrington was getting close to becoming a poultry farmer in his own right.

But the Great Depression weighed heavily on farmers, and higher education seemed to offer a way out Encouraged by his father, Leonard entered the University of Idaho, at Moscow, and began his study of agriculture on the college level. By the time he graduated, he had made an important adjustment in his major Instead of agriculture, he obtained a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics.

Leonard had impressed some of his professors, who encouraged him to apply for graduate school. This he did. Instead of returning to the Idaho farm, he set out for Chapel Hill to study economics at the University of North Carolina Influenced by his reading of the southern agrarians and by the strong urging of his advisor, Milton Heath, he began to produce seminar papers on the economic history of the Latter-day Saints. It was another slight but significant shift. From agriculture to agricultural economics to economics to economic history— each step had seemed natural at the time.

Employed as an economist for the North Carolina Office of Price Administration, he became romantically interested in a charming North Carolinian Baptist named Grace Fort. The two fell in love and were married Then World War II intervened; Leonard was drafted into the U. S. Army. He was sent to North Africa and assigned to work with Italian prisoners of war. Recognizing an opportunity, he learned the Italian language The invasion and liberation of Italy led to his assignment as controllore of the Central Institute of Statistics in Rome, a significant position with military government that gave Leonard valuable experience in investigation and administration.

Returning to North Carolina after his discharge, he found faithful Grace, with whom he had corresponded almost daily throughout the war, waiting for him. He now obtained the approval of his supervisory committee for a dissertation on the economics of Mormonism. He was

gratified to obtain employment at Utah State University in Logan, moving there in 1946. Willing to learn from historians who had something to teach him, he attended a seminar in historical method taught by S. George Ellsworth, whose professional standards Leonard highly respected The dissertation was completed in 1952 and, after extensive revision, was published by Harvard University Press in 1958 as GreatBasinKingdom:AnEconomicHistoryoftheLatter-daySaints, 1830-1930.

Leonard had finished his magnumopus, but his scholarly productivity and contribution to history were far from over Until 1972, he remained a professor at Utah State, where many students were introduced to economics and economic history in his classroom. Except for leaves of absence—as a visiting professor at UCLA and a Fulbright scholar in Genoa—he had apparently found his niche. Starting in 1951, he produced scholarly articles one after the other and encouraged bright students, such as Thomas Alexander, whojoined Leonard in co-authoring several articles on Utah defense installations. Arrington produced a history of the relocation camp for Japanese Americans at Topaz entitied The Price ofPrejudice; a history of Bingham Copper mine entitled "The Richest Hole on Earth "; and Beet Sugarinthe West, a history of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company Had he simply stayed on this track, Leonard, like other professors who produce scholarly works and inspire students, would have had a significant impact on the writing of Utah history. But he was destined to range more broadly and touch other bases.

In 1963, when Walter Prescott Webb, at the University of Texas, organized a series of videotaped lectures by such eminent American historians as Samuel Flagg Bemis and Henry Steele Commager, Leonard was invited to give two lectures about pioneering the Great Basin. In 1969 he served as president of the Western History Association and the next year as president of the Agricultural History Society Later he was elected president of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. What other Utah historians had achieved such national visibility? From 1969 to 1972 he was editor of the new WesternHistoricalQuarterly, ably assisted by S. George Ellsworth, who later took over the editorship.

When Dialogue: A Journalof MormonThoughtbegan publication in 1965, Leonard was listed, along with Lowell Bennion, as advisory editor. At about the same time, the Mormon History Association was offi-

dally organized at San Francisco in December 1965, and Leonard, the moving force behind the planning, became its first president.

In 1972, in an unprecedented move, LDS church leaders called Leonard to be Church Historian. Never before had a professional historian occupied this position. For ten years, he energetically directed a small staff of historians in a burst of productivity that had no equivalent in Utah or Mormon history. In 1982 the "Camelot" decade came to an end when the Arrington team was transferred to Brigham Young University and set up as theJoseph Fielding Smith Institute of Church History. In the meantime, Leonard had been appointed to the prestigious Lemuel Redd Chair of Western History at BYU and head of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies After passing on the baton of the Redd Center (to Thomas Alexander) and the Smith Institute (to Ronald Esplin), Leonard continued to work on his own projects and to encourage his younger colleagues.

Leonard's three children—James, Carl, and Susan—had married and moved on to their own successful careers. Grace, who had become a Latter-day Saint in Logan, died in 1982. Less than two years later, Leonard married Harriet Ann Home, who also shared his historical interests and provided support and companionship for the remainder of his life.

It is impossible to list here Leonard Arrington's historical articles and books They are simply too numerous When some of us published a festschrift volume in 1987 entitled NewViews of Church History, the bibliography of his writings filled thirty pages, and now twelve more years of productivity have passed. Perhaps all would agree that in addition to Great BasinKingdom his major works include Buildingthe City of God:CommunityandCooperation amongthe Mormons (with Dean May and Feramorz Fox, 1976), TheMormonExperience (with Davis Bitton, 1979), BrighamYoung: American Moses (1985), and a two-volume Historyof Idaho (1994). He had many irons in the fire. In the middle of 1998, his memoir, Adventuresof a Church Historian, appeared. As he approached the end of his life, he published a biography of Madelyn Stewart Silver and completed a biography of W. W. Clyde. Naturally, he hoped to recover from illness and looked forward to producing a major study of the New Deal in Utah.

During his lifetime Leonard received many honors. In 1960 he was named a Fellow of the Utah State Historical Society, the most prestigious award granted by the Society's governing board. Governor Norman Bangerter appointed him a member of the Utah Board of

State History in 1985 and reappointed him in 1989 In 1986 the Society of American Historians, a select group of authors "who have written at least one book of genuine distinction," named him a Fellow. At the Omaha meeting of the Mormon History Association in 1997, a special session of testimonials demonstrated the respect and appreciation of a large audience At Leonard's death, the Idaho State Senate passed a resolution of appreciation "for his many contributions." Utah governor Michael Leavitt signed a similar declaration of commendation.

Awed by his productivity and his irrepressible enthusiasm, all who are interested in western, Utah, or Mormon history recognize the huge void left by the death of Leonard Arrington. Those of us who were close to him also grieve over the departure of a fellow-laborer, a positive and cheerful companion, a dear and steady friend

DAVIS BITTON Retired Professor of History University of Utah

JESSIE L EMBRY

The "melting" of the United States' "ethnic melting pot," we were told forty years ago, was largely an accomplished fact, awaiting only a little more time and patience to be completed. Almost everyone could—would—be assimilated into that great American homogeneous pool But then time and patience were rudely disturbed with "Black Pride," "Brown Pride," "Red Pride," and "Roots." Time and patience were subsequently set on a fast backtrack with millions of additional immigrants—mostly Hispanics—who found the warmth and comfort of their own language, ancestral customs, and ethnic identities immensely preferable to the cold if not socially sterile hyperindividualism of America's dominant culture In the last thirty years, new "ethnic groups" have jumpe d out of the social woodwork Millions of people have looked for their roots, Active or real, in an effort to connect with a comforting reality they believe they must either preserve, discover, or create The issues are race, language, religion, national identity, culture, and the social psychology of "place."

In this cauldron of increasing U.S ethnic ferment, the LDS church has tried various proselytizing and pastoral strategies ranging from temporary ethnic accommodation, with assimilation as a goal, to a halting but perhaps increasing tendency to allow the church's membership to participate in language congregations in which they

feel comfortable This, of course, results in additional administrative overhead on the central church, which is one reason why the idea has been so resisted over the years Still, the ethnic logic of our time is making its own demands. There is a reluctant but increasing attention being paid to it

Jessie Embry's book is a pleasing and immensely important contribution to our understanding of the LDS church's historical experience with its U.S Spanish-speaking members The author gives us a historical perspective on the church's ethnic missions in the United States and its undulating policy regarding "assimilation" and "accommodation." She reviews Hispanic members' perceptions about advantages and disadvantages of ethnic wards, explores their views regarding integrated wards and branches, and advances a modest but important policy proposal. She offers consequential background information and contemporary insights and does so in a concise way that I have not seen duplicated in other LDS-oriented literature.

Aside from archival research, Embry utilizes oral histories and interviews, particularly those conducted under the auspices of the Charles Redd Center's LDS Hispanic American Oral History Project She has taken rich advantage of direct and peripheral literature bearing on the subject

Embry recognizes the statistical nongeneralizability of her interviews but

"In His Own Language": Mormon Spanish-Speaking Congregations in the United States. By

(Provo, Ut.: Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University, 1997. x + 134 pp. Paper, $14.95.)

convincingly shows their insightful relevance for church policy and for the worshiping comfort of Hispanic members Hers is not an ideological treatise designed to trash Anglos and promote Hispanic ethnic pride It is a careful examination of the whirlpool of sentiments, some quite temporally unstable, that identify the "comfort zone" of a given people at a given time. Not all Hispanics are the same, not all have the same comfort zone, not all want ethnic wards, and not all even want to

preserve their Spanish language. But for people whose zone of comfort and understanding is ancestrally tied to language, culture, and hero stories of another time and place, Embry convincingly shows that ethnic wards have their place Her examination of how those wards have functioned, how they have been treated, and whose interests they have served makes a wonderful read.

The New Western History: The Territory Ahead. Edited by Forrest G. Robinson. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997. vi + 218 pp. Cloth, $40.00; paper, $17.95.)

Since the advent of the "New Western History" in 1989 its major proponents, the sometimes-called "gang of four"—Patricia Nelson Limerick, William Cronon, Donald Worster, and Richard White—have produced several articles and books focusing upon conquest as an overarching theme. In their stories, capitalistic Anglo-males were the conquerors who, in the guise of national progress, exploited western lands and minority peoples. This new school and its attempt to distinguish itself from the so-called Old Western History has produced a spirited debate among scholars as to the merits of its root arguments.

With an announced task "to advance the lively and very important discussion that the New Western Historians have helped to set in motion"(10) seven scholars from diverse backgrounds (American Studies, English, History of Consciousness, Women's Studies, Natural Resource Management) proffer six essays that challenge key elements of the New Western History The seven scholars—Forrest G Robinson, Jerom e Frisk, Krista Comer, Carl Gutierrez-Jones, Stephen Tatum, Sally K Fairfax, and Lynn Huntsinger— each agreed to carefully study a prede-

termined list of twenty-six New Western History "core texts" and then generate a critical response The result is this book, a provocative and at times hardhitting deconstruction of New Western History

Jerome Frisk leads out with a solid critique of fundamental beliefs espoused by the "gang of four." He convincingly contends that the New Western History is not new at all Much as Frederick Jackson Turner created a false barrier in 1893 when he announced the closing of the frontier, Frisk asserts that the New Western historians have begotten their own false barrier By claiming that the histories of the old school monolithically recount the triumph of civilization over wilderness with n o regard for race, class, gender, or the environment, Frisk believes that New Western Historians (Worster specifically) have created an "all but Gnostic bifurcation between the dark past and the enlightened present" (20) The anti-Turnerian air of ascendency that permeates the New Western History additionally shines in the face of post-modernist relativism

Other essays in this collection similarly contend that writers and historians, long before the contrived birth of

LAMOND TULLIS Spring City, Utah

Book Reviews and Notices183

the New Western History, told of defeat and the harsh realities of the American West. Frisk, Robinson, and Comer see Wallace Stegner as a prime example. His histories as well as his literary works anticipated the New Western History by several decades, telling complicated stories that often included disappointment as a western reality In addition, most of the essayists assert that the New Western History has largely ignored the literary West, and they argue for the inclusion of fiction, literature by women, and popular-culture media into the pool of sources that New Western historians should consider. As a whole the essays suggest needed correctives that, if made, could only serve to strengthen the future of New Western History

This is not to suggest, however, that this book is without flaws. The final essay by Fairfax and Huntsinger, two natural resource managers, seems a retreat from important advances made by other essays. While the two authors argue against western "exceptionalism," they "end feeling surprisingly closely allied with the New Western historians" (208) and accept unquestioningly what Frisk criticizes as a "Gnostic

bifurcation" between the Old and New Western histories. Such inconsistency tends to undermin e the strength of Frisk's argument and diminishes the impact of the collective critique Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of these criticisms offers insights likely overlooked by historians, yet many of the failings suggested by the essayists center upon lack of attention to evidence from their respective disciplines—which, considering the fact that New Western historians do practice history, is not a significant finding

Finally, I take exception to the promotional blurb on the book's back cover It suggests that these essays make the debate over the validity of the New Western History "accessible to anyone with an interest in the history of the West." Certainly, serious students of western history should read this collection for its valuable scrutiny of the core texts of the New Western History, but for the lay reader the jargon-laden prose and the theoretical diatribes of several essays make it much less than "accessible."

W PAUL REEVE Salt Lake City

This book is an excellent assimilation of what appears to be the most reliable information about the life and exploits of Robert Leroy Parker, drawn from virtually all of the previously published accounts of him and his associates in the Wild Bunch A retired attorney, Richard Patterson generally succeeds in his aim to "piece together who he really was." He has attempted to present all of the known information on each aspect of Cassidy's life, weigh the contradicting facts, and suggest what he thinks is the most likely

chain of events or course of action

The author concedes that we would all like to know mor e about "Butch Cassidy's" life, but it is actually quite amazing that so much information has turned u p about a figure who essentially strived to keep most of his actions secret There is certainly more known about him than anyone else of his type and time in the Intermountain West

The author has succeeded in presenting a good biography, readable for all interested audiences, of one of Utah's most famous—or infamous—sons

Butch Cassidy: A Biography. By RICHARD PATTERSON (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. xvi + 362 pp. Paper, $19.95.)

One of the strongest aspects of the book is the extent to which Patterson has been over Cassidy's routes and visited the spots important in the various aspects of his life In many cases he offers excellent verbal descriptions of the geographic setting of such events. Another impressive aspect of the work is the author's use of his knowledge of the law and legal procedure to illuminate Cassidy's Wyoming trial, his relationship with lawyer Douglas Preston, and his incarceration. And the chapter on Butch's time in southern Arizona offers many good new insights His discussion of the origins and life of Etta Place is also particularly strong

On the other hand, as with almost all complex works, there are some questionable aspects. After describing Brown's Park as being on both sides of the Utah-Colorado line, south of the Wyoming border, Patterson places the transcontinental railroad as running south of the park In discussing the Parker family's attempt to get Butch's brother, Dan, pardoned from prison, the author mentions that they urged assistance from Utah senator Frank Cannon and Wyoming senator Joseph Rawlins In fact, Joseph L Rawlins was at the time Utah's delegate to Congress and later a United States senator from that state And toward the end of the book, where possible alternative theories and reports of where Cassidy ended his life are offered, one of these is a residence in the Pahrump Valley of southern Nevada Patterson also mentions the involvement of the Mormon church in mines there. In this there are mistakes concerning the time when the church was involved, actually 1895-96; the facts involving the gunfight, which did occur at the Chispa mine; and the numbe r of deaths in that incident, which was actually but one. (For more information on the Chispa mine, see an article co-authored by the reviewer and Leonard Arrington forthcoming in Nevada Historical Quarterly.)

Incidentally, it is doubtful whether Butch could have found a place in the United States at the time that was more distant from law enforcement officers than the Pahrump Valley, if he was in fact there

Despite the excellent summary and discussion of what is presently known of Butch Cassidy, there are yet some aspects of his life for buffs and historians to continue pursuing There is at least one unsolved central Utah bank robbery during his heyday, though never linked to him More interesting are the suggestions of much more than simple fiction in the possible Salt Lake City love affair treated in Ardyth Kennedy's Good Morning Young Lady, not discussed in Patterson's book but dealt with some by Larry Pointer and Lula Betenson And perhaps most tantalizing of all are the bits of Mormon folklore that has Butch Cassidy riding in norther n Mexico with Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Supposedly, several former Utahns about to be shot by the revolutionaries were saved by a man they recognized as Cassidy who interceded in their behalf

Certainly the greatest unresolved mysteries relate to how the notorious outlaw's life actually came to an end There has been significant recent research on this, including DNA testing of huma n remains from Bolivian graves, as yet inconclusive but apparently not completed. Those involved obviously believe that Cassidy and Harry Longbaugh were killed in the San Vincente, Bolivia, shootout even though there are aspects—such as their staying in town instead of camping outside and using an easily recognized mule from an earlier robbery—which are far from characteristic of their usual modus operandi. Patterson does not necessarily share the assumption of Cassidy's death in South America, although he presents those views fairly. Besides the long-known assertions of Butch's sister, Lula, the present author

marshals similar statements by a brother residing at Milford, Utah, and by the Bassett sisters from Brown's Hole, Wyoming, each of whom claimed visits with Cassidy well into the twentieth century Other convincing accounts of later sightings are also discussed

The search for the rest of Butch Cassidy's story will continue At one time, after Charles Kelly's The Outlaw Trail was published in 1959, it appeared that the story was as complete as it would ever be. But Patterson shows that Kelly had essentially ignored perplexing reports of a Washington man who went by the name of William Phillips. Later, Larry Pointer and others traced the details of that story, and when Pointer published In Search of Butch Cassidy in 1977, it appeared rather conclusive that the former outlaw eventually died in Spokane, Washington, in the late 1930s But thereafter, energetic students of Wild

Bunch history raised serious doubts and concluded that Phillips was a wellinformed imposter More recently, Ann Meadows, assisted by her husband, Dan Buck, did extensive South American research on the possible deaths of Cassidy and Longbaugh there. Her book, Digging Up Butch and Sundance, has shifted more attention and perhaps opinion concerning their final demise. Thus the saga continues. The reviewer has a friend just back from Patagonia who noticed there great interest in Cassidy's former residence in the region For those who wish the most complete and readable summary of all that has thus far been written on Butch Cassidy, Richard Patterson's biography of him presently stands as that work.

E LEO LYMAN

Victor Valley College

Victorville, California

Old Heart of Nevada: Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Elko County. By SHAWN HALL (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998. xii + 308 pp. Paper, $21.95.)

If one were to happen into the history section of a local bookstore and notice on the spine of a book the title Old Heart of Nevada, one would probably think that here was a book detailing the history of central Nevada, possibly the towns of Eureka or Austin or the counties of Eureka and/o r Lander. After all, the word "heart" usually denotes the center of an object Then if one were to extract the book from the shelf he would note that the subtitle reads, Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Elko County. Elko County! Since when was Elko County the heart of Nevada? This county, although one of the largest of the state's fifteen counties, is clear up in the northeast corner of Nevada

In actuality it must be agreed that the word "heart" doesn't necessarily

mean the center of a body, whatever that corpus may be It could mean the locus of activity and the focus of attention of something more abstract.

Due to all the mining exploration, development, and production in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first two or three decades of this one, the northeast quadrant of Nevada probably had the greatest population and most business activity of the territory and state during that time. After all, the nickname "The Silver State"didn't come from all the silver dollars won and lost in Las Vegas. And the city of Elko, with its immediate environs and county, was indeed the heart of mining, business, and cultural Nevada.

This volume, then, is a snapshot history of the dozens of ghost towns in

Elko County Surprisingly, counting numerous tiny mining camps and other hamlets that may not have housed more than fifteen to twenty-five residents, and which other ghost town writers may not include as full-fledged ghost towns, this one county alone boasts more ghost camps and towns than many other western states do.

Not surprisingly, the great majority of towns and sites described were involved with hard-rock mining, mostly silver, lead, zinc, gold, and copper. Both Nevada segments of the overland transcontinental railroads, the Central Pacific (later absorbed into the Southern Pacific) and the Western Pacific, were constructed through the county and left along their lines numerous stations and maintenance villages that have since gone by the wayside.

Far from producing a drab, mirthless tome, the author has researched enough to come u p with a variety of tidbits to liven up his descriptions. For example, concerning the town of Shatter: ".. in September 1953 Joe LaFrance was named postmaster, mostly because he was the only eligible resident." And, referring to the town of Tobar: "During the construction (of the Western Pacific Railroad), the owner of the Rag Saloon, which was housed in a canvas tent, put up a sign that said simply, T O BAR. The two words became one, and the new town had its name."

The book is divided into five regions: northwest, north-central, northeast, southwest, and southeast A map accompanies each region, locating the sites and road access to them. Each town is then discussed in alphabetical order rather than by geography as others have done. Brief directions to the sites are given from a still-existing settlement or landmark Some 115 photos have been used, approximately half from various historical repositories

within the county or state; the remainder were taken by the author

Author Hall, originally hailing from the northeastern United States and graduating from Harvard University in 1983, became so involved with ghost towns in Nevada after working summers on a cattle ranch in Nye County that he moved to Elko and lived there for four years while doing his research This involved enough material over a total of eight years that he has already had books published concerning the ghost towns of Eureka, Lander, White Pine, and Nye counties.

Of the 308 pages, the last fifty are comprised of references to each site mentioned, an additional selected bibliography and one of the most extensive indexes ever seen in a book of this nature

If there were to be a serious concern of any kind about the book, it is in the relative sameness of many of the towns. After reading of about twenty sites, the reader finds that the towns had many of the same types of characters, murders were committed for the same reasons, and eventually the towns were abandone d for similar causes On e could change the name of a town and plug in new names and it would seem as if he had just read the same information a short time back. Of course, this is not the fault of the author or editor; it is simply the nature of the subject. Most mining and railroad towns began life the same way, exhibited a similar type of existence, and were inhabited by the same types of people

Although the book is not intended for everyone, those who are interested in ghost towns and mining and railroad history, particularly in Nevada, will find a volume of very interesting details that would unlikely be impossible to discover in any other single work

STEPHEN L CARR Holladay, Utah

Native American Identities: From Stereotype to Archetype in Art and Literature. By SCOTT B VICKERS. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. xvi + 194 pp. Cloth, $40.00; paper, $19.95.)

The field of identity studies is rapidly becoming a scholarly thicket It is a dense entanglement of politics and emotion enmeshed in the context of a social history that dotes upon the powerless. In the case of Native American history, a spirited contest is underway to establish authentic and legitimate voices of authority.

In Native American Identities, Scott Vickers is intent on contributing to the destruction of older, "colonialist" constructions of Indianness. Making liberal use of the theories of Carl Jung and Roland Barthes, among others, Vickers attempts to isolate past trends in the manufacture of Indian images and thus begin the process of rendering them impotent. Of central concern to his study are the concepts of stereotype and archetype and their role in the creation of identity.

In the book's first section, entitled "The Language of Conquest," Vickers covers a lot of historical ground in order to establish the stereotyping of Indians In so doing, he rounds up the usual suspects: Mary Rowlandson on the godless savages of New England, Mark Twain on the Gosiutes, and Joh n Wayne on Indian-hating. He cites federal officials at length in order to indict federal policies for their genocidal designs

Vickers includes in this survey writers, thinkers, and artists who displayed greater sympathy for Indians but who nevertheless embraced damaging stereotypes. Helen Hunt Jackson and the philanthropists and artists drawn to Taos, for example, are depicted as romantics who furthered the image of the "Noble Savage." Unable to break free from the artificial renderings of Indians, they perpetuate the cultural, ethnic, and racial biases of the society in which they live

The study takes a more interesting

and novel turn in Vickers' analysis of lesser-known purveyors of Indian images, particularly the painters William R. Leigh, Bert Geer Phillips, Joseph Sharp, and Walter Ufer. There exists a stimulating tension in these painters' work. Drawn to increasingly unromantic, empathetic views of their subjects, they nonetheless must address their own needs to make a living. The paintings that result invite the reader to contemplate the range of ways that a society oftentimes depicted simply as "white," and thus homogenous, has come to create views of the Native Americans in their midst. Similarly, the experiences and writings of Frank Waters, who lived for decades among his ethnological "subjects" in the Southwest, suggest a far more complex picture of how outsiders think about Indians as well as the limitations they encounter.

But the aim of Native American Identities, ultimately, is to replace colonialist constructions of the Indian "other" with the emerging voices of contemporary native artists and writers. Using archetype, a concept borrowed from Jun g and one that is more delicate and less clearly elucidated than that of stereotype, Vickers examines how Indianness springs from deep within the individual, from a realm untouched by, yet capable of combating, stereotype

The second section of the book examines a series of Indian artists as they wrestle with the fundamental issues of identity. Juane Quick-to-See Smith, Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds, and Diego Romero are three of those held up as offering fundamental challenges to the predominant stereotypes of Indian life At the heart of their inspiration, Vickers maintains, is anger. "If emotional content be the stuff of spirituality, as Jung has suggested, and

the archetypes be symbols of emotion at the deepest level, and, further, if anger be such a primal emotion, then I think we can see [in the above-named artists' work] the emergence into consciousness, the articulation, of a central archetype of the modern, and historical, Indian: Anger with a capital A" (116) A similar anger fuels newer generations of writers, including Leslie Marmon Silko, Simon J Ortiz, and Sherman Alexie

One problem with this approach is the difficulty of reconciling the exterior constructions, or stereotypes, and the interior elements of identity, or archetypes These matters quickly devolve into rancorous political debate

Legitimacy and authenticity are matters of intense struggle. Who is an authentic Indian artist? How does one prove one's Indianness? If such notions derive from within each individual, then the search for a legitimizing authority is inevitably futile This is not a problem that is Vickers' alone but rather one that haunts the field It is also one that is bound to provide fodder for future debate and discussion

The strength of Vickers' book is its examination of art, where pioneering efforts to articulate identity are taking place.

ERIK M Zissu University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh,

PA

Adventures of a Church Historian. By LEONARDJ. ARRINGTON. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998. viii + 249 pp. $29.95.)

As a boy of twelve, the late Leonard J Arrington wrote an eleven-page autobiography and histories of both sides of his family Thanks to what became a lifelong habit of keeping a diary, Arrington's memoir is a detailed, factual recollection of a career that made him, long before his death at eighty-one, the acknowledged genial dean of western historians. The solid evidence for this achievement may be taken in at a glance at Utah State University's Special Collections, which houses the Leonard and Harriet Arrington papers, awards fellowships, sponsors an annual Arrington Lecture, and, with the Arringtons present, last fall unveiled a fine portrait of the historian by artist William Whittaker. The portrait captures what someone has called his "avuncular, beneficent presence."

Davis Bitton has described the course of Arrington's career from his farm-boy beginnings in Idaho to his professional eminence as a series of short steps: from agriculture as a young

Future Farmer of America to agricultural economics (his major at the University of Idaho); from agricultural economics to economics (his graduate studies at the University of North Carolina); from economics to economic history (his Ph.D. dissertation, which became the eventual classic Great Basin Kingdom); and finally, from economic history to history and biography. Economics has been called "the dismal science," but in Arrington's hands economic history has been the plow that broke new ground Arrington, who was present at the creation, so to speak, of what has been called the New Mormon History, was an insider unafraid to call a spade a spade—in his case a fact-finding spade that has excavated the ore of regional history in ever-widening topical circles like the expanding terraces at Kennecott's open-pit copper mine.

Arrington is generous in his credits to associates and assistants whom he trained and guided in research and writing projects—which, while he was official LDS Church Historian, was a

massive undertaking reminiscent of the way H H Bancroft's histories were produced; and Arrington is unfailingly generous in recording even incidental hints and help from anyone who crossed paths with him long enough to stir and stimulate his ideas. He mentions, for instance, the invitation in March 1951 to speak to the Mormon Seminar (irreverently dubbed "The Swearing Elders"): "This request forced me to focus seriously on the meaning of all my research." In so doing, he found a theme for his dissertation: "the consistent application of [cooperative] antebellum policies in the Great Basin while the nation was adopting a more individualistic and freewheeling capitalism."

An equally significant passage in the memoir lies at the heart of Arrington's work as a faithful historian writing faithful history He calls it "a peak experience—one that sealed my devotion to Latter-day Saint history." Arrington felt transported, as when he listened to the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. "Whatever my talents and abilities an invisible higher power had now given me a commission." The experience remained "regardless of frustrations and obstacles that came to me in the years that followed." (We can thank Jan Shipps for urging Arrington to include this transcendent momen t in the memoir; in reading the manuscript for the publisher she noted its omission, having heard it in private before.)

An introductory autobiographical chapter acknowledges that his "remembered truth may not be the same as that of my associates and adversaries," but he is "trying to be both circumspect and honest." That's a cat's cradle of ambivalence readers will have to untangle for themselves as Arrington's lucid narrative describes the stages of his development: "How I Got into Mormon History"; "A Fraternity of Mormon Scholars"; and "The

Founding of the LDS Church Historical Department," a halcyon period of freedom in using archival sources and in unfettered publishing that came to be known as Camelot

The counterbalance to that chapter comes later in "A New Pharaoh and New Directions," when Mormondom's "general authorities" demoted Arrington as official Church Historian, dismantled his operation, and sent him and several associates down to Brigham Young University to form the Smith Institute of Church History at a safe distance from original sources. The authorities rationalized that "the world" would have greater respect for work produced in an academic setting rather than as in-house history

Arrington gives a most detailed account of the meetings and the figures involved (he names names), but he absorbed the hurt, his testimony of Mormonism's latter-day work still unshaken

Fully half the volume describes the publications that Arrington, with or without collaboration, produced, beginning with early studies and moving, one or two works per chapter, through the publications of his later years, including The Mormon Experience (with Davis Bitton) and Brigham Young: American Moses. A penultimate chapter treats "The Ongoing Process of Writing Mormon and Western History," which is not the philosophical reflections we might expect from a Carl Becker or Wallace Stegner, but an account of the ceaseless round of public lectures and the incredible body of writing Arrington continued to engage in. One finished work awaiting publication is his "first full biography of a woman," a life of Madelyn Cannon Stewart Silver commissioned by the Silver family

In tone and temperament the memoir is a perfect mirror of Arrington's personality, his equanimity, and good cheer. David Bigler, in reviewing New Views of Mormon History, the Arrington

festschrift edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, observed that "Truly one of Arrington's most remarkable accomplishments has been to gain an international reputation for scholarship among historians of all persuasions without ever becoming a polarizing influence or controversial figure himself." Except for his personal epiphany, the memoir records no lightning strikes exposing hidden corners of establishment history The light of commo n day falls on these non-presuming pages, pages rich in anecdote and meticulous in recalling person, place, and event

Photographs from early childhood and later life, of family and colleagues, of military, academic, church, and public service enhance the volume The

dust jacket photo does not show the standard typewriter Arrington preferred over computers, but the typewriter does appear in an uncroppe d photograph within Second wife Harriet Hom e put her husband's typed pages (and many scripts in his large, generous hand) on the computer, and not without some editing of her own Arrington belonged to an indispensable profession Milan Kundera has said that "the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." We owe Arrington's memoir a great debt.

WILLIAM MULDER Emeritus Professor of English University of Utah

The Automobile Gold Rushes and Depression Era Mining. By CHARLES WALLACE MILLER, JR (MOSCOW: University of Idaho Press, 1998. xii + 200 pp. $29.95.)

Mining in the American West continues to form a fascinating subject of historical inquiry That nineteenth and early twentieth century mining formed a significant theme in the development and industrialization of the West, and especially Utah, remains clear. Author Charles W. Miller, Jr., in this volume, probes the mining frontier and its relevance to an era beyond the boomtown days of the late nineteenth century For Miller, the underlying importance of mining, both in the late 1800s and in the 1930s, lay squarely on the sense of optimism that the search for precious metals provided the American psyche The lure of wealth based on gold and silver proved a tantalizing prospect in both periods. Miller labeled mining in the 1930s as the "automobile gold rushes."

Charles Miller begins his study with the traditional historiographical approach of citing the frontier school of thought espoused by Frederick Jackson

Turner and then taking exceptions to parts of it. In his view, "the mining frontier remained active and significant long after 1890." Miller seeks to probe mining activity in the 1930s, a neglected and overlooked subject For him, the automobile gold rush became well-known in the western United States by mid-1932, and such activity took people out of the cities and food lines The author studies this phenomenon from the perspectives of amateur and professional involvement, constantly comparing earlier mining efforts with those of the 1930s. In the end, however, Miller returns to the ideas of Turner, stating that the 1930 automobile gold rush "manifests many aspects of Turner's views in terms of providing a true social 'safety valve.'"

The study traces the process and effects of the automobile gold rushes in various western states; it also discusses the United States gold and silver policies and large-scale mining and

smelting activity. Utah receives some coverage, but California and Colorado remain the best-scrutinized Various key points emerge in the discussion: the increase in mining activity in California in 1931 was repeated in other locales, including American Fork and other Utah locations; people of all racial and national origins profited from the Colorado mines; and, unlike the rushes of the nineteenth century, "many women" participated in the automobile gold rush.

In 1934 those in the gold fields had more of "an immediate reason for optimism" than those in other sectors of the economy Miller states explicitly that "gold rushes, even in the 1930s, had and have a distinct psychological effect, including extreme optimism as well as independence and selfreliance." The majority of individuals and families who mined for gold "were not finding fortunes," but they were realizing incomes at a time when such were difficult to find In fact, Miller succinctly states that, "with mining prosperity, the Rocky Mountain region was one of the areas of the country least affected by the Depression. . . . " In a later chapter he notes that "some income was to be made in mining, and for those with developed skills in hardrock techniques, the returns were the best of any industrial occupation in the Depression."

In discussing the aftermath, Miller

homes in on various western mining areas that made it big in the industrial metals. He mentions the Bingham Canyon area, where copper prices had collapsed at the beginning of the depression "The boost that higher silver prices gave to copper cannot be quantified, but all copper mining regions began to show signs of recovery [by 1934]." The shift from gold and silver to the industrial metals such as copper meant prosperity.

In this regard, Miller, digressing a bit from his main emphasis, mentions land and resource policies; ".. finding meaningful employment was a dominant public attitude during the era, and issues regarding environmental damage from the use of particular methods were not considered of primary importance." Such a perspective necessarily takes into account the issues within their place in time.

The Automobile Gold Rushes and Depression Era Mining offers an analysis of that rarely-studied time in the history of western mining The Utah reader will be disappointed though, since the author only occasionally mentions the state and areas such as Bingham, Park City, American Fork, and Moab For those who study mining history, however, the book is worth a careful read.

PHILIP E NOTARIANNI Utah State Historical Society

Book Notices

Music, Music, Music! Sixty Years of Broadcasting. By PAUL COBURN. (Salt Lake City: author, 1998. 128 pp. Paper, $12.00.)

Long-time disc jockey Paul Coburn reminisces in this melange of anecdote and nostalgia Of interest are his accounts of early radio in Utah (including his first radio performance, when he and a friend walked into a radio station and asked if they could play their harmonicas and guitars on the air) and the wild promotional schemes of the 1950s and '60s (like the "Purple People Eater" contest). Sprinkled throughout the chapters are other bits of Utah life as Coburn talks of hitchhiking, stealing melons from Brigham City trucks, and picking u p girls at dances The book also includes long lists of song titles and lyrics, names of musicians and radio programs, and jokes

events of the Basin both as she experienced them and as she later came to understand them Particularly poignant are her associations with the Utes, whom her parents treated equitably but regarded as inferiors, and her awakening to the truth of white-Indian relationships. The author has supplemente d memory with significant research into sources that include interviews and primary documents.

The Desert's Past: A Natural Prehistory of the Great Basin. By DONALD K. GRAYSON (Washington, D.C : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. xvii + 356 pp Paper, $27.95.)

Indian Summers: A Memoir of Fort Duchesne, 1925-1935. By VIRGINIA CARLSON PARKER. (Logan: Agreka Books, 1998. Paper, $17.00.)

At first glance this little volume could be easily dismissed. Apparently self-published, the book suffers from some stylistic and organizational lapses But this collection of essays is nevertheless engaging Parker is a fine writer, for one thing Her keen eye and her memory for detail vividly evoke time and place.

Parker explores the people and

For a long time the Great Basin was a vast puzzle on maps of the American West, a blank area that was mostly unexplored and virtually unknown Much of it is still that way today, at least in the minds of moder n westerners who see the Basin—mainly—as a lot of empty space.

For those with enough curiosity and sense of adventure to explore beyond the obvious images of sagebrush and remote mountain ranges, this book fills in the spaces The book does indeed tell what happened there in prehistoric times. But it also lets the reader know how we know what happened—author Grayson tells the discovery stories of the scientists who have tackled hundreds of geographical, biological, and archaeological questions about the Great Basin

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

MAX J. EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary

MARILYN CONOVER BARKER, Salt Lake City, 1999

MICHAEL W HOMER, Salt Lake City, 2001

LORI HUNSAKER, Brigham City, 2001

KIM A HYATT, Bountiful, 2001

JOEL C JANETSKI, Provo, 2001

CHRISTIE SMITH 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, Associate Director

PATRICIA SMITH-MANSFIELD, Assistant Director

STANFORD J LAYTON, Managing Editor

KEVIN T TONES, State Archaeologist

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