In This Issue

The erudite Henry Adams, writing in 1895 as a member of the first generation of professional historians in America, voiced concern over history's reputation as an objective discipline. Noting that every person carries a predilection for error in the observation of basic facts behind an event and that this tendency toward error is compounded by people who write about that event, Adams then pointed to the possibility of errors within the facts themselves (being correctly stated but still leading to wrong conclusions) and to the reader's personal errors "The sum of such inevitable errors must be considerable," he concluded pessimistically

The first two selections in this issue stand as excellent examples of historians meeting the challenges of these errors and biases head-on and proving, in the words ofJ H Hexter, that indeed "truth about history is not only attainable but is regularly attained." The first article sorts through the pitfalls of yellowjournalism in early nineteenth-century Utah to analyze differences in popular perceptions of the Utes and Navajos The second treats the emotionally charged question, complicated by many conflicting sources, of child enslavement within two very distinctive frontier cultures. Both articles succeed admirably in elucidating the historical record and in vindicating the craft of history.

The last two selections in this issue present similar challenges. Here the difficulty is not with unreliable or incomplete sources but rather with sifting through the many existing ones, assigning relative value to them, and making an accurate assessment. Deciding on a southern or a northern route for Utah's primary highway to California was not a simple matter of cost analysis, miles, and topography in the 1920s; regional boosterism, political muscle, and personalities all added to the mix and need to be explained by a historian. Similarly, describing the busy life of one of Utah's favorite literary sons and summing up his niche also requires patience and reasoned judgment in dealing with the mountain of facts, anecdotes, testimony, and creations left behind Again, in both cases, we see historians rising to the occasion in splendid fashion Henry Adams, who died a decade before Utah Historical Quarterly was founded, can rest in peace Historians have thrived on his challenge

Automobile Club of Southern California sign-painting truck, probably in Utah (sign on hill advertises a business on Auto Row, Salt Lake City). Photo courtesy of auto club.