In This Issue

Humans have a propensity for changing both things that they have made and things that they have not made And although everyone knows that "nothing endures but change"—Heraclitus said this some 2,500 years ago—it is not hyperbole to say that the pace of both kinds of change has accelerated beyond comprehension.

Consider the evolution of the Salt LakeValley landscape Before human habitation, it moved slowly through geologic and climatic modulation (with occasional severe "bumps," to be sure).When human cultures began to locate in the valley, perhaps 10,000 years ago, their modifying influence was slight For centuries, their crossings and dwellings were only small scratches on the land

Of course, the slow rate of change changed with the arrival of Euro-American settlers The southwest corner of State Street and South Temple is a slice of time and space that poignantly shows how quickly the city rushed through social, cultural, and physical modulations. Our first article describes the brief lifetime of a building that once stood on the site In the mere forty years the Gardo House existed, the city evolved from a rural community to a fast-paced commercial center In the end, the Gardo, like so many other extraordinary buildings, could not withstand market pressures.

Human manipulation of the land takes many forms When the first pioneers in Cache Valley dug the first irrigation ditches, for instance, they altered the flows of underground water As our next article shows, when a subsequent generation decided to pipe the irrigation water, they shifted the system again, drying up lovely springs and wetlands How little we humans comprehend the larger consequences of our decisions to change one or two things.

Not only landscapes but also social patterns change, and at an increasing rate Our final article describes the senatorial election of 1932,when economic depression had slammed into peoples lives.And yet, Reed Smoot, the powerful senior senator from Utah, did not recognize that the political and social landscape had undergone upheaval. Failing to adapt to or address the calamity that had engulfed the nation, he suffered the consequences on election day

To record the process of change and its meanings is an enormous challenge. But by seeking to understand the larger environment in which change occurs, perhaps those who pay attention to history can help ground the process of change. They may be the ones to ask"why?"They may be the ones to offer a long-term perspective or to question consequences.

That said,we acknowledge that we ourselves have changed a landscape—that of the Quarterly itself.The journal has gone through some interesting design permutations over its sixty-seven years, but we have not pursued change for the sake of change The masthead we have replaced, created in 1969,seemed to evoke a specific time in history.Yet the Quarterly is notjust about the "oldWest,"nor is it a medium for pigeonholing any part of history Our endeavor is to search beyond stereotypes for new understandings of the past—and then to explore and re-evaluate those understandings The new masthead is only a design, but we hope that it will contribute a better sense of that endeavor.

In the spirit of the search for understanding, we invite you to walk through the lobby of the Eagle Gate Plaza, where the Gardo House once stood; or along the roads west of Smithfield; or through your own neighborhood Stand for a moment Think of what has gone before, and what will come after. Contemplate change.