Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 69, Number 2, 2001

UTA H HISTORICA L QUARTERL Y (ISSN 0042-143X)

EDITORIA L STAF F

MAXJ EVANS, Editor

STANFORDJ.LAYTON, Managing Editor

KRISTENSMARTROGERS, Associate Editor ALLANKENTPOWELL, Book Review Editor

ADVISOR Y BOAR D O F EDITOR S

NOELA CARMACK,Hyrum, 2003

LEEANNKREUTZER,Torrey, 2003

ROBERTS.MCPHERSON,Blanding, 2001

MIRIAMB.MURPHY,Murray, 2003

ANTONETTE CHAMBERSNOBLE,Cora,WY, 2002

RICHARD C ROBERTS,Ogden, 2001

JANETBURTONSEEGMILLER,Cedar City, 2002

GARYTOPPING,Salt Lake City, 2002

RICHARD SVANWAGONER,Lehi, 2001

Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utah history The Quarterly is published four times ayearbythe Utah State Historical Society,300 Rio Grande,Salt Lake City,Utah 84101.Phone (801) 533-3500 for membership andpublications information. Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, Utah Preservation, and the bimonthly newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $20; institution, $20;student and senior citizen (age sixty-five or older),$15;contributing,$25;sustaining,$35;patron,$50;business,$100.

Manuscripts submitted for publication should be double-spaced with endnotes Authors are encouraged to include a PC diskette with the submission. 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

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

98 IN THIS ISSUE

100 Thomas L. Kane and Utah's Quest for Self-Government, 1846-51

By Ronald W.Walker

120 Wanda Robertson: A Teacher for Topaz

By Marian RoberstonWilson

139 North Logan: A Town without a Plan ByJessie

Embry

152 "You Haven't Got Enough Guts to Shoot — Hand Me That Gun!" Sheriff Antone B. Prince, 1936-1954

By Stephen Prince

172 BOO K REVIEWS

MarlinStum,photographsbyDanMiller. Visions ofAntelope Island and Great Salt Lake.

Reviewed by David Stanley

VirginiaMcConnell Simmons. The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Reviewed by Kathryn L MacKay

TomDunlay Kit Carson and the Indians.

Reviewed by Clifford P Coppersmith

DavidE Stuart Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place.

Reviewed by Winston Hurst

BradDimock Sunk without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde.

Reviewed by James M. Aton

KennethWilliamTownsend World War II and the American Indian.

Reviewed by Jim Vlasich

Robert S.McPherson,ed. The Journey of Navajo Oshley: An Autobiography and Life History.

Reviewed by Gary Tom

BOO K NOTICES

Very often, the course of events creates a situation that calls for someone to step forward and do something, for good or for ill. In 1846 the well-born Thomas L. Kane set out with "dazzling hopes" to forge a notable public career. But those ambitions ebbed when he visited the Mormon refugees from Illinois at their camp near Council Bluffs.Ashe grew to know the Saintspersonally and ashe saw their suffering, he later said, his "higher humanity" overrode his desires for fame. By nature and upbringing Kane had already become interested in -workingin behalf ofunderdogs,and here he found acause that ignited him From this point, he would spend much of his energy and political currency in helping the Saints as he spoke, wrote, lobbied, strategized, and maneuvered in their behalf. His work in helping the Mormons gain political ascendancy in the UtahTerritory isthe focus ofthe first article

A century later, Wanda Robertson made up her mind to serve an oppressed group. As a gifted educator training new teachers at the University of Utah's Stewart School, Robertson received an invitation to supervise the elementary schools at the Topaz internment camp near Delta. The dean of the College of Education frowned on her "going out to help those people" ofJapanese descent, and her family also criticized her decision.Nevertheless, she readily left her comfortable university career.She saw the internees not as "enemy aliens" but as refugees unjustly driven from their homes, and she wanted to use her training and experience to help the incarcerated children. Our second article tells that story.

The third article in this issue deals not with an individual but with a community of individuals—citizens, leaders, developers—working to negotiate the future of North Logan As growth pressured the town, volunteer planners and elected officials tried to make good decisions But since they had little experience, they had to feel their way along Often, they created ordinances, zoning maps,and master plans only after mistakes had made the need for better planning tools painfully obvious Also, their goals of good planning and good neighborliness collided at times Thus the town changed gradually, subdivision by subdivision In examining North Logan, the article eloquently portrays pressures and pitfalls that have been experienced by many Utah towns

Yet another article,the last in this issue,tells the story of aperson "called" to step into alarger arena of service Summoned to theWashington County courthouse in 1936, assistant county extension agent Antone Prince got a shock when the commissioners told him,"Congratulations....We appointed you sheriff today."Unaware of how competent he would actually be at the job, Prince accepted hesitantly Resourceful, fearless, and somewhat naive, this untrained sheriff solved his cases in unusual ways His career covered more than arrests, though Like Kane and Robertson, he was kind to a despised minority:the criminals whom he arrested Not that he circumventedjustice (except in a"crime"involving Dixie College football), but he did treat his prisoners with unusual respect, and he often trusted them in ways that are inconceivable today

The community members of North Logan responded to needs created by the changing times. Likewise, the three individuals described in our other articles responded to circumstances that called for their particular talents. Fortunately, those who stepped forward to address the situations explored in this issue ofthe Quarterly were people ofintegrity and good intentions.

OPPOSITE: Students at Topaz pledging allegiance to the flag. ON THE COVER: A high school student studying in his family's barracks at the Topaz Japanese American internment camp. USHS photo

Thomas L. Kane and Utah's Quest for SelfGovernment, 1846-51

By RONALD W WALKER

On the day the U.S government declared war on Mexico, May 13, 1846, diminutive, twenty-four-year-old Thomas Leiper Kane (1822—83) attended a meeting of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his native Philadelphia With the Mexican War beginning and the Mormon trek west in progress, Kane apparently saw an opportunity for both idealism and ambition: Perhaps he could aid the Mormons and at the same time start a military or political career in California, the rumored stopping place of the Saints.Might he gain a commission in the U.S Army or eventually sit in the U.S Congress as California's (and the Mormons') delegate? His Mormon—California adventure might even provide the basis for writing a book.1

Of course,youthful and highly ambitious goals seldom go asplanned. In Kane's case,his contact with the Mormons led to a different outcome. For the rest of his life—more than thirty-five years—Kane became the Saints' most helpful nineteenth-century ally While scholars have already detailed some of Kane's Mormon-related activity, especially his role in helping to settle the "Utah War" of 1857-58, his early work with the Mormons requires further

Thomas L. Kane

(1822-1883)

1 For Kane's literary and political ambitions, see Thomas L Kane to Elisha Kent Kane, May 17, 1846, Kane Papers, American Philosophical Society, cited in Mark Metzler Sawin, "A Sentinel for the Saints: Thomas Leiper Kane and the Mormon Migration," Nauvoo Journal 10 (Spring 1998): 20

Ronald W Walker is professor of history and director of research at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History, BrighamYoung University

examination.2 Between 1846 and 1851,Kane and LDS leaders built close ties that help to explain several important events in early Mormon and Utah history,most notably Utah's quest for territorial self-government.This quest reached a climax with the appointment of Mormon leader Brigham Young as Utah's first governor It is a colorful and important story, well worth the telling

Kane was a scion of a distinguished family ("I have been born with the gold spoon in my mouth, to station and influence and responsibility," he would say).3 His father, John Kintzing Kane,judge of the U.S. District Court for eastern Pennsylvania and a Democratic party insider, had connections withJames K Polk'sWhite House AlthoughThomas Kane was in poor health when he first met the Mormons (illness plagued him from his youth), during the next several weeks he established aworking relationship with eastern Mormon leaders,and he used his father's connections to visit leading Washington insiders, including Democratic party chieftain Amos Kendall, U.S Secretary of State James Buchanan, U.S Secretary of War William L.Marcy,and Polk himself.These talks,which often included LDS eastern representativeJesse C.Little,led to the approval of aMormon battalion for Mexican War service.4 For the Mormons, the battalion was a godsend While allowing them to show their patriotism to a doubting U.S public, the battalion also provided much-needed money for their western trek—soldiers'salariesbecame achurch resource.

The Mormon battalion may have offered more than met the eye. Kane later revealed that during hisWashington talks he had become party to a secret and never-disclosed Polk administration plan that apparently aimed to involve the Mormons in wresting California from the Mexicans "You never...have understood this," Kane later wrote Mormon leaders in an enigmatic passage that he never explained.At the time ofKane's letter, with Polk dead and other principals to the plan expunging details from their papers, Kane promised to put in his personal papers a detailed memorandum explaining the episode Unfortunately, the memo has never come to light.5 Kane's reports have this much credence:Polk and his administration

2 Sources on Kane include Albert L Zobell,Jr., Sentinel in the East:A Biography ofThomas L. Kane (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing Company, 1965); Leonard J. Arrington,'"In Honorable Remembrance': Thomas L. Kane's Services to the Mormons," Brigham Young University Studies 21 (Fall 1981): 389-402; Richard D. Poll, "Thomas L Kane and the Utah War," Utah Historical Quarterly 61 (Spring 1993): 112-35; and the already cited Sawin, "A Sentinel for the Saints,"17-27, which is useful in describing Kane's earliest contacts with the Mormons

3 Thomas L Kane to Brigham Young, September 24, 1850, typescript, "Correspondence between Thomas L Kane and Brigham Young and Other Church Authorities, 1846-1878," LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City. Unless otherwise cited, the documents in the following footnotes are drawn from this important source.

4 Jesse C Little Journal, July 6, 1846, cited in Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, LDS Church Archives (hereafter Journal History)

5 Kane to "My Dear Friends" (Brigham Young, et al.), July 11, 1850 Kane thought that "No living man survives informed upon the topic, unless [Nicholas P.] Trist[,] the Mexican Treaty Negotiator," who was also formerly chief clerk for the U.S State Department Kane either failed to write the memo or thought better of the idea and destroyed it. David J. Whittaker, director of the L. Tom Perry Special

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

were conspiracy-prone,weaving intrigue within intrigue.

Whatever the plan, in early summer 1846Kane left Washington for California, bearing official government dispatches and a letter of recommendation from Polk The latter's closely worded phrases seemed "written with the goal of hinting at (butconcealing) a special Kane mission. Polk wrote ofKane having his"confidence" andbearing"information ofimportance."Polk's letter also instructed U.S officials to render Kane "alltheaid and facilities in accomplishing theobject ofyourjourney."6 Nothing more than these allusive passages appeared, although part ofKane's mission had to dowith putting theMormons under close watch.7 Atthetime, Mormon intent was unclear andtheir presence intheWest disquieting.

Arriving atFort Leavenworth inJuly,Kane found that hewastoolate to join the regular California migration, already on the plains. Disappointed by the"abasement" ofhis"dazzling hopes ofwhich I only have the secret," he returned the government dispatches toWashington by mail He then traveled totheMormon camps,which were stalled near theMissouri River near present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa, to fulfill the"main object ofmy journey." 8 For the first time, he would have the opportunity to meet Mormon leaders firsthand.

What he saw deeply affected him.Witnessing the Saints' distress and sensing their basic decency, Kane found himself re-examining thevanity of his ambition Helater explained:

I believe that there is a crisis in the life of every man, when he is called upon to decide seriously and permanently if he will die unto sin and live unto righteousness, and that, till he has gone through this, he cannot fit himself for the inheritance of his higher humanity, and become truly pure and truly strong, 'to do the work of God persevering unto the end'.... I believe that Providence brings about these crises for all of us, by events in our lives which are the evangelists to us of preparation and admonition. Such an event, I believe too, was my visit to you. 9

Kane's change from politician—adventurer tohumanitarian maynothave been as dramatic as he later made it.While a young student studying in France, he hadshown enough revolutionary fervor to have theParis constabulary arrest him;at this youthful stage ofhis life he hadbeen studying the writings ofsuch radical reformers asAuguste Comte, Francois Fourier, and Claude Saint-Simon, and he apparently was attending meetings that aimed at social andpolitical reform Another sign of Kane's idealism sur-

Collections at Brigham Young University and curator of the recently acquired but still unavailable Kane papers at BYU, suggests that no such memorandum exists in the collection

6 James K Polk to Kane,June 11, 1846

7 Thomas L Kane to John K and Jane Leiper Kane,July 3, 1846, Kane Papers,American Philosophical Society, cited in Sawin, "Sentinel for the Saints," 21, and Thomas L Kane to George Bancroft, July 11, 1846, Bancroft Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, in Donald Q Cannon, ed., "Thomas L Kane Meets the Mormons," BrighamYoung University Studies 18 (Fall 1977): 127-28

8 Thomas L Kane to John K and Jane Leiper Kane, July 3, 1846, and Thomas L Kane to George BancroftJuly 11,1846

9 Kane to "My Dear Friends,"July 11, 1850

faced when he met the Mormons in 1846;he carried with him letters of recommendation written by Roman Catholic prelates The Kane family made noblesse oblige a matter of routine, even to the point of extending friendship and perhaps service to the unpopular Roman Catholics of the time.10

Two weeks after arriving in the Mormon camps,Kane began to act on behalf of the Saints He wrote a letter to President Polk endorsing the Mormon plan to establish a temporary "Winter Quarters" on Potawatomi land in Iowa.11 The matter was of critical importance to the Mormons, whose migration had stalled on the plains of Iowa and were therefore in need of a way station for their westward journey. In part due to Kane's helpful letter and to the later lobbying of government officers by Kane and his father, the Mormons were allowed to stay on Omaha and Oto land on the west side ofthe Missouri River.12

Then, two months after he first met the Mormons and started his western adventure,Kane's fragile 5'6", 130-pound frame gave way.At the time, his disease was called "nervous bilious fever," perhaps one of those fevers common to the Midwest lowlands or perhaps what one historian has identified as pulmonary tuberculosis.13 Whatever the nature of his sickness, he was severely ill, and for a time those around him despaired of his life. At Kane's request, the Mormons sent an express rider to Fort Leavenworth to get the best medical help available.14 Until the arrival of a doctor, the Mormons themselves nursed their young, elite visitor He had his hair shaved, requested the purgative Dover's Power, and asked to be bathed in order to break his fever, a request that may have led to rumors of his LDS baptism.15

Nursing was not the only bond that drew Kane to the Mormons. He found that he liked the Mormon leaders, including John Smith, uncle of the church's founding prophet At Kane's request, Smith pronounced upon him a "patriarchal blessing." Mormons believed that a patriarchal blessing could foretell the future, and in Kane's case the promises were striking. Despite his poor health, he was promised life and protection ("No power on earth shall stay thy hand"), a distinguished posterity, and even a fullness of LDS priesthood power, despite his not being a Latter-day Saint. Kane put enough credence in the blessing to speak fondly of it in later years and

10 Letters of Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia, and Daniel J Desmond, Consul General of His Holiness Gregory XVI, dated June 9 and 11,1846.

11 Kane to Polkjuly 20, 1846Journal History.

12 For the Kanes' later lobbying, see Journal History, September 4 and 12, 1846

13 Arrington, "'In Honorable Remembrance,' 391 Kane himself called his fever "the congestive." See Thomas L Kane, The Mormons, as excerpted in William Mulder and A Russell Mortensen, eds., Among the Mormons: HistoricAccountsby Contemporary Observers (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1958), 208

14 Brigham Young to Stephen W Kearny or "Whoever May Be in Command," August 10, 1846 For a printed extract of this letter, see Oscar Osborn Winther, ed., The PrivatePapers and Diary ofThomas Leiper Kane:A Friend of the Mormons (San Francisco: Gelber-Lilienthal, Inc., 1937), 21

'Journal History, August 11, 12, and 14, 1846

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

to inquire whether it remained in force.16

Kane found no Mormon leader more fascinating than Brigham Young, and the two began a friendship that lasted untilYoung's death thirty years later. It was a friendship based on more than Kane's warm appraisal of Young's leadership ("an eccentric great man," he calledYoung17) Despite the great differences in their backgrounds,Kane andYoung found that they were congenial spirits. Both enjoyed planning and carrying out great schemes.Both were visionaries who saw themselves asworkers in behalf of the downtrodden. Both felt they had a stubborn independence from society's traditions and corruptions Finally,both Kane andYoung liked to share their ideas with each other, usually by letter or by courier."I have also to thank you for your kind hearted letters,"Kane once wrote,"though short, always so fresh and racy and spirited in composition."18 Hardly a major national event passed without acomment between them, and even some of Young's later policies in Utah seemed to have had an antecedent in their letter-writing.

The day after receiving Smith's blessing,Kane was well enough to return East. He had been with the Mormons for less than two months, but these days were important for both parties, as his later reflections made clear."I am getting to believe more and more every day asmy strength returns that I am spared by God for the labour of doing you justice," he wrote to his new friends.19 For Kane, the Mormons seemed to intensify what was already stirring within him:a sympathy for the unpopular and unfortunate, a need for aprincipled life ofservice,the hope for a cause to set him apart Perhaps some of these impulses had an element of sibling rivalry His dashing brother Elisha was already well on his way to becoming a famous author andArctic adventurer. In 1850 Elisha would serve assenior medical officer in the celebrated Grinnell expedition to rescue SirJohn Franklin; three yearslater he led asecond expedition

As for Mormon religious claims,Kane was guarded A dozen years after Kane first met the Mormons,Young gingerly invited Kane to undertake a close study of Mormonism. Kane replied in such a way as to have Young acknowledge their frank differences and close the discussion.20 Kane, raised a Presbyterian, apparently was not attracted to denominationalism or even to formal Christianity. Ifthese opinions brought distress to his family, espe-

16 For Kane's request for the blessing and its circumstances, see Wilford Woodruff Diary, September 7, 1846, Wilford Woodruff Papers, LDS Church Archives, and Patriarchal Blessing, September 7, 1846, LDS Church Archives Kane later wrote that the blessing "has not failed so far, though there have been times plenty when I could not have insured on it at 99V2per cent.;—but I am curious to know, does...[Smith] say it is still to hold?" For this inquiry, see Kane to Young, Heber C Kimball, and Willard Richards, February 19, 1851

"Kane to James Buchanan, undated rough draft, 1858

18 Kane toYoung, September 24, 1850

19 Kane toYoung, September 22, 1846.

20 Young to Kane, May 8, 1858, andYoung to Kane, January 14, 1859, Brigham Young Letterbooks, BrighamYoung Papers, LDS Church Archives

cially to his future wife, Elizabeth, who hoped for his conversion,21 they probably gave him the emotional distance and tolerance to view Mormonism for "what it was:a new but misunderstood movement of great religious and social promise Whatever its rough edges, these would be smoothed with time

Kane already had been helpful in getting a Mormon battalion authorized during the Mexican War. He had also induced his father to use his influence to gain permission for the Mormons to use Indian land for their Winter Quarters en route west. However, these acts only began his Mormon mission. Upon returning to Washington and submitting a proMormon report, Kane found Polk disturbingly uncertain about his policy toward the Saints.Instead oflistening to Kane,the president seemed to turn to such advisors asarch-Mormon foeThomas Hart Benton, Missouri's senator, who reportedly talked about sending a "dragoonade" to force the Mormons from Winter Quarters. Perhaps hoping to rid himself of Kane's entreaties, Polk tried to persuade Kane to "go abroad upon other public service,"perhaps to serve as anAmerican diplomat. However, Kane refused to be managed. In a private interview with the president he accused Polk of "deceit," and when the Democratic party nominee, Lewis Cass, sought election in 1848,Kane worked to defeat him.Politicians like Polk and Cass led Kane to accept adark view.Political office, he believed,usually reflected "the arbitrary trammels of party" and a likely suppressed conscience in favor ofpolitical expediency22

Facing political uncertainty, Kane embarked on a public relations campaign designed to shape a pro-Mormon government policy. He wanted to "manufacture" public opinion. First, he wrote and placed in the national press supposedly "impartial letters" about Mormon activity.These Kaneauthored letters,published in various newspapers in the United States, had such authentic-sounding addresses as Nauvoo, Galena, St. Louis, Ft. Leavenworth, and other western communities.23

Kane described these first letters as artillery "long shots" of limited impact. Next he fired at "close quarters."This second volley consisted of clearly pro-Mormon articles for leading national journals.24 By December

21 When Kane returned from Utah after negotiating a settlement to the "Utah War" in 1858, Elizabeth was encouraged by her husband's well-marked Bible. However, Thomas later informed her that "the hope that had dawned on him of being a Christian was gone." See Elizabeth Kane Diary, May 21, 1858, as cited in Richard D Poll, "Thomas L Kane and the Utah War," Utah Historical Quarterly 61 (Spring 1993): 133

22 These details are contained in a lengthy letter, Kane to "My Dear [Mormon] Friends,"July 11, 1850. Kane also prepared a memorandum detailing the Polk administration's anti-Mormon activity and promised the Mormons a copy in case of his death Also see "Text of a Conversation between Thomas L Kane,Wilford Woodruff, and John Bernhisel," November 25, 1849, and "Views of Col Thomas L Kane on a Government for Deseret," November 26, 1849, in Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff'sJournal, ed Scott G Kenney, 9 vols (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1985), 3:513-15 For further detail on Benton's antiMormonism, screened through the filter of Mormon leader Jedediah Grant, see Journal History, February 6,1855,2-3.

23 Kane toYoung, December 2,1846

24 Ibid

1846 he had placed articles in Philadelphia's "religious Whig organ," the Pennsylvanian: two describing the ruffianism that forced the Mormons from Nauvoo and another praising the deportment of the Mormon Battalion. The Pennsylvanian's editorial, printed next to one of the articles, revealed the newspaper's debt to Kane

A friend of ours,who has recently passed the summer months in the neighborhood of the camp of Mormon emigrants...has impressed us very deeply with a sense of the gross injustice which they have sustained from the bordermen of Illinois He speaks of thousands of men, women, and children, peaceable, industrious, and prospering, expelled without other cause of reproach, than the eccentricities of their religious faith One of the strange things that his account involves, is the want either of integrity or firmness in the newspapers of the West, from which public opinion has been forced to glean the material for its judgment in the case The truth, as we are assured, remains yet to be told; and woeful truth it is, most dishonoring to the American name. 25

Kane's success went beyond his most optimistic hope.A letter toYoung proclaimed his success and declared his intention to renew his campaign in NewYork City26 Two "weeks later, the New York Tribune published a frontpage, pro-Mormon piece with the headline: "The Mormons—Their Persecutions, Sufferings and Destitution." Next to it was an article taken from the U.S. Gazette that compared Mormon virtue with their enemies' sin Explaining the Tribune's coverage, editor Horace Greeley wrote of an unnamed informant, who from "extensive personal observation" testified to the good character ofthe Mormons and to the "sheer robbery,outrage, and lust" of their persecutors. "Eternal shame to Illinois for allowing...[the Mormons] to be so tortured and ravaged!"said Greeley27

Kane's address before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania was an even more effective piece of image-making. Kane accepted an invitation to speak to the group with an important stipulation: his subject would be announced only after the lecture had been prepared and was ready for delivery.With Kane's pro-Mormon role already being strongly criticized— leading political and religious figures had expostulated with him "almost beyond his endurance"—Kane wanted nothing to come between him and his intended pro-Mormon lecture.28

Unfortunately, his health refused to cooperate.As he prepared his lecture, "pain" and "weakness" so racked him that he held a pen with difficulty. Nevertheless,for a month he did not miss a single day of writing At night he continued his work, sometimes sitting on the edge of his bed,his feet in a pan of hot water, a kettle of strong tea beside him, and a brandy-soaked towel on his head. He hoped his writing, despite his pain, might achieve a

25 Pennsylvanian, November 25,1846, cited in Mark Sawin,"A Sentinel for the Saints," 24

26 Kane to Young, December 2, 1846 When these newspaper articles reached the Mormons at their Winter Quarters camp, they "gave great satisfaction." The Mormons believed that Kane was "doing us all the good he can."Journal Historyjanuary 17, 1847, 1, and January 29,1847, 4

27 NewYork Tribune, December 16, 1846, as cited in Mark Sawin,"A Sentinel for the Saints," 25

28 Orson Spencer to BrighamYoung, November 26, 1846

cool and detached style—perhaps,he said,he could imitate the result of the celebrated nineteenth-century clown Grimaldi, who "took care to dance with [the] most spirit when his gout was at his worst."29 When the time for his presentation arrived, Kane was physically carried to the lecture hall, where he was aided by a strong sedative and a determined will. "I am superstitious enough to believe [I was] spiritually sustained," he said. Although he finished his delivery without hemorrhaging, he collapsed on the way home and remained prostrate for several days. Reporting these events toYoung,Kane thought himself"quite likely to live,if only to swell the chapter ofMormon miracles."30

The lecture was warmly received by Mormons and those of other faiths. It had polish, restrained emotion, and interesting anecdote and detail—all told through the eyes of a supposedly neutral, on-the-scene observer. Kane understood that, for his audience of opinion-makers, the most effective advocacy was a soft voice that allowed readers to make their own judgment. One passage described the city of Nauvoo, quiet and forlorn, after the Mormon exodus.

I was descending the last hill-side upon my journey, when a landscape in delightful contrast broke upon my view Half encircled by a bend of the river a beautiful city lay glittering in the fresh morning sun;its bright new dwellings,set in cool green gardens, ranging up around a stately dome-shaped hill,which was crowned by a noble marble edifice, which high tapering spire was radiant with white and gold The city appeared to cover several miles,and beyond it, in the background, there rolled off a fair country, checkered by the careful lines of fruitful husbandry The unmistakable marks of industry, enterprise, and educated wealth, everywhere, made the scene one of singular and most striking beauty.

This halcyon depiction ended with a sharp disjuncture, calculated for emotion: "I looked," said Kane, "and saw no one."31 He was, of course, emphasizing the Mormon expulsion

The lecture did not weigh evidence or give a non-LDS point of view

Rather, Kane presented the evocative:Mormon virtue, Mormon suffering, and the Mormon expulsion.The result was powerful public relations. "Let the historian quibble about detail," Utah's territorial delegate John Bernhisel reportedly said after reading the lecture."Kane wasn't [just] writing history; he "was creating literature, giving the essence of an epic saga." For Bernhisel, hard at work in the Mormon cause,the lecture was "a masterpiece.

Kane's public relations campaign had two immediate effects. It made any U.S. action against the Mormons difficult, perhaps impossible, including

29 Kane to Young, September 24, 1850 Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837) was sometimes described as the "father of modern clowning"; he popularized the white-face clown in distinction to the traditional Harlequin

30 Ibid

31 Thomas L Kane, The Mormons: A Discourse Delivered Before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: King and Baird, Printers, 1850), 26.

32 Cited in Samuel W.Taylor, Nightfall at Nauvoo (NewYork: Macmillan, 1971), 15

Benton's rumored plan to force the Saints from their Winter Quarters campground Second, it had the by-product of helping raise funds in the eastern United States for the migrating and needy Mormons.To this end, Kane gave Mormon solicitors letters of introduction, convened a public meeting in the "Declaration Room" of Philadelphia's historic Independence Hall to support the fund-raising, and probably wrote a"Call for Sympathy" that circulated in the East He also appealed to his personal friends for donations and made his office a place of deposit. Thus, with Kane assuming "the responsibility of laying...[Mormon] claims before the public,"between $5,000 and $10,000 was raised.33 The money was desperately needed

Kane's support for the LDS cause did not end with image-making and fundraising. From his first visit with the Mormons in summer 1846, he believed that Mormon security required self-government. The question first arose ashe explored Mormon attitudes and Mormon settlement plans WouldYoung and other Mormon leaders accept a U.S.territorial government in theWest? And if so,on what terms?Young replied as though the Great Basin region that the Mormons hoped to settle was already U.S. territory, although theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was not signed until two years later.Waving aside this technicality,Young expressed his willingness to accept aterritorial government and confirmed the matter several days later with aformal letter to Polk.According to thisletter,written likely at Kane's direction, the Mormons regarded the idea of a territorial government as "one of the richest boons of earth"—but with the provision that such a government should reflect local values.Ifasked to submit to territorial officers who delighted in"injustice and oppression, and whose greatest glory is to promote the misery of their fellows, for their own aggrandizement, or lustful gratification," the Mormon people,Young insisted, would retreat to "deserts/'"islands,"or"mountain caves."Young's plain words may have been prompted by Kane's inside information that a Mormon nemesis, former Missouri governor Lilburn W Boggs, was seeking a political appointment in theWest.34

Despite their hope of securing a territorial government on favorable terms, Mormon officials undoubtedly had mixed feeling about the U.S. government and those who administered it; their American loyalties were tested by their feeling of alienation arising from past persecutions Nor were they alone in their government suspicion. Looking atAmerican conditions through the prism ofhis stern idealism,Kane saw corruption,just as the Mormons did. "My heritage is among the mixed oppressors and oppressed.. of an ancient and corrupt society," he toldYoung Such views

33 See minutes of church conference in Silas Richards's house, December 3, 1847, General Church Minutes, LDS Church Archives, and Davis Bitton, "American Philanthropy and Mormon Refugees, 1846-1849,"Journal ofMormon History 7 (1980): 63-81.

34Journal History,August 7 and 9, 1846

left Kane feeling estranged, apart.At one point in his career, he refused a Democratic party offer that he stand for Congress in what was deemed a "safe" seat and instead showed sympathy for the newly organized Free Soil party.What America needed was major reform, Kane believed, and he was unsure whether the nation was prepared for such a remedy. If"the angry waves of crime and passion" became too great, he toldYoung, he would leave Pennsylvania to seek haven among the Saints.35

Although Kane and Young had dark views about American society, especially of the men who led the nation, both understood the practical reasons for limited political activity: Some causes, after all,were worth the effort, like securing the Mormon commonwealth in the West. In April 1847,while the Saints still remained in NebraskaTerritory,Kane prepared a draft for American authorities on the question of Mormon territorial government and sent a copy to the Saints for approval. No doubt basing his document on his previous discussions with Young in Iowa, Kane sought imprecise but ambitious boundaries for a new Mormon territory: California's Sierra Nevada on the west; the Salmon River andWind River territory on the north; the Laramie plains in present-day eastern Wyoming on the east;and on the south the American border, which until the end of Mexican-American hostilities remained uncertain. It was a princely domain,more than twice the size ofthe state ofTexas.36

Kane's letter, significantly, showed that the Mormons were not only talking about an American territorial government but were also taking concrete steps to secure one.The point is important for historians who have claimed that church officials' talk about aKingdom of God meant that the Mormons, by going west,were seeking an immediate and independent temporal kingdom.This is a historical view that the Kane-Young letters do not support.37

When Kane sent his draft proposal on territorial boundaries to Winter Quarters, he requested that Mormon leaders respond by signing and returning blank sheets of paper.After learning of the Mormon reply to his proposal, Kane apparently hoped to write a more polished draft over the imprimatur of the Mormon signatures.The procedure, full of potential dangers for the Mormons, showed the trust that had grown between the two parties.The signed sheet,in other hands,would have been carte blanche for much mischief.

Neither Kane nor Mormon leaders chose to reveal their growing ties.To maintain their arrangement, news between the two often went by courier instead of U.S.mail, which was not always secure.And when government

35 Kane toYoung, September 24, 1850

36 Kane to Willard Richards,April 25, 1847

37 For a review of the literature on the topic of Mormon intentions as well as his own argument that the Mormons hoped for political independence, see Klaus J Hansen, Questfor Empire: The Political Kingdom of God and the Council of Fifty in Mormon History (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1967), 111-20

mail was used, meaning might be expressed in veiled or carefully written language Both Kane and Mormon officials knew that his value as a Mormon lobbyist was based on his acting asan interested but semi-impartial humanitarian, not as a formal Mormon agent. In fact, the Mormons never sent "instructions" to Kane, only a periodic request or an exchange of information Kane would then act on his own, and his work might remain anonymous or only partly told, even to church leaders. Notwithstanding this freelance mode, Kane served Mormon interests as fully asifhe had been their emissary.

In February 1848 Mormon officials, now in the Great Basin,asked Kane to put the question ofterritorial government before Congress with "all the Agitation...the nature of the case will admit."38 When Washington took no action,Young and other Utah leaders in the winter of 1848—49prepared a petition for a territorial government that ran to twenty-two feet and contained 2,270 signatures.39 The Mormons' proposed slate of officers would have put church leaders firmly in control: Brigham Young, governor; Willard Richards (Young's second counselor), secretary of state; Heber C. Kimball (Young's first counselor),chiefjustice;and Newel K.Whitney (presiding bishop) and John Taylor (apostle), associate judges To present the petition inWashington, church leaders selected as their representative Dr. John M.Bernhisel, a quiet-spoken, fifty-year-old doctor who had attended the University of Pennsylvania.

In seeking territorial status, Mormon leaders wanted a government on their own terms.As they had told Polk in 1846,the new government must be democratic in the sense that its officers should be local citizens, not office-seekers selected by people in far-off Washington.40 Such a demand coincided with American political philosophy, which in turn reflected the checkered history of 170 years of British colonial rule. In fact, the American founding fathers felt so strongly about the issue that they produced the famed Northwest Ordinance of 1787,which promised settlers in new territories basic civil rights, increasing degrees of representative government based on population growth, and an orderly and quick transition to full statehood.41

Utah popular sovereignty met resistance inWashington for the same reasons that the Mormons wished it At issue was the question oflocal control as well as its corollary:What kind of social and political conditions would be permitted in Utah? If Mormons were appointed to territorial offices, they would continue their theocratic ways.Moreover, government officials

38 Young to Kane, February 9,1848, BrighamYoung Draft Letterbook, LDS Church Archives

39 Dale L Morgan, The State of Deseret (reprint, Logan: Utah State University Press, 1987), 26

40 For examples of this theme in LDS correspondence, see Evan M Green to Brigham Young, October 7, 1848, Journal History; and George A. Smith and Ezra T. Benson to Brigham Young, October 10, 1848, Journal History.

41 For an introduction to the American territorial system, see John Porter Bloom, ed., Conference on the History of the Territories of the United States (Athens, Ohio: University Press, 1973).

were hearing rumors of the Mormon practice of plural marriage Was the U.S government willing to give de facto recognition to this practice, too? When Kane spoke with Polk in late fall or winter 1848-49,he learned that the president was growing more cautious about his Mormon policy and wanted to appoint his own Utah officers For Kane,this opened the alarming prospect of "strutting...military politicians" who might injure the Mormons while filling their "pockets" with graft Thoroughly upset with Polk and without consultingYoung, Kane withdrew Utah's request for territorial government No U.S government for Utah was a better option than this kind of government, Kane believed It was his "last sad & painful interview"with Polk.42

When preparing their petition for territorial government, Mormon leaders had been unaware of the Kane-Polk interview; during the first years of Utah's settlement, six months might pass in wintertime between the receipt of eastern dispatches, and these might be delivered by slow-moving emigrants in early summer. 43 However, onjuly 1, 1849, Mormon leaders received news that they excitedly likened to "the revolutions of kingdoms" that "operated like the harvest shower on the earth."44 What was so momentous and"earth-shattering"? Likely,it was Kane's letter of November 26, 1848, apparently only now arriving in Utah, telling of Kane's final interview with Polk, along with all its troubling implication. In addition to this document, Kane's mood was recorded by Apostle Wilford Woodruff, who met with Kane in the East.According toWoodruff, Kane believed the appointment of non-LDS territorial officers would create the turmoil of two side-by-side governments, federal administration and church rule.Rather than accept such aprospect—"You owe...[the national government] nothing but kicks,cuffs and the treatment ofwicked dogs, for that is the only treatment you have received from their hands since you have been a people"—Kane advised Mormon officials to abandon their goal of a territorial government led by local leaders and to work instead toward statehood, which would free Utah of the threat of territorial appointees.As the Mormons pursued this new goal,Kane advised them to stay aloof from eastern factions agitating the question of extending slavery into the western territories.Mormon political objectives could best be met by building a broad-based coalition in which no easterner saw the Mormons asapolitical enemy 45

To the persecution-weary Mormons, the prospect of having hostile territorial officers in their midst seemed almost apocalyptic in consequence, especially if such officers were drawn from the U.S. military. For half a

42 "Text of Conversation between Thomas L. Kane and Wilford Woodruff and John M. Bernhisel."

43 Orson F.Whitney, History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1892), 1:392.

44 Willard Richards to KaneJuly 25,1849,Journal History

45 Kane's interviews with Woodruff took place at the end of 1849 See "Text of Conversation between Thomas L Kane and Wilford Woodruff and John M Bernhisel" and Wilford Woodruff Diary, December 4, 1849, LDS Church Archives

dozen years they had been hearing rumors (many coming from Kane) of a U.S. Army action against them, first in Nauvoo, then during the Iowa and Nebraska exodus, and now in Utah The latest news was all the more alarming because of its apparent source:Mormons trusted Kane and they trusted his appraisal of what nonLDS territorial appointees might bring, in part because Kane's strong feeling coincided so closely with their own.

Within weeks of receiving the July mail, Mormon leaders embarked on a remarkable course Following Kane's plan, they abandoned the idea of territorial government and adopted a determined, almost panic-stricken quest for statehood Their vehicle was the establishment of a provisional government, which they called "Deseret" (a Book of Mormon term meaning honeybee and symbolizing industry).The idea was to force the issue of statehood by implying the possibility or the reality of independence. Texas had succeeded with the tactic, and California was employing it at the very moment. Earlier, the ephemeral "states" of Franklin (embryonicTennessee) and Oregon may have hastened the process ofstatehood by using the maneuver. 46

When the Mormons submitted their State of Deseret constitution to Washington, they provided alist of qualifying events:apublic notice calling for a constitutional convention, February 1, 1849; a five-day convention beginning on March 5; and the convening of Deseret's legislature to request that the new state be admitted into the Union "on equal footing with other states," on July 9. But historian Peter Crawley's study of the period suggests that none of these events actually took place.47 Anxious to slow the hostile policies ofPolk and his successor ZacharyTaylor and worried about getting aresponse toWashington asquickly aspossible given the poor overland communications, Mormon officials apparently invented each of these incidents. Perhaps Mormon leaders hoped that their will (and political need) might be taken for the deed.

While it was apolitical and public relations ploy,the State ofDeseret also expressed Utah attitudes. Once more, the Mormon appetite for land was clear. Although on the east and south they gave up claim to parts of

Utah Territory delegate and state hood lobbyist John Bernhisel.

USHS Photo

46 Dale L Morgan, The State ofDeseret (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1987), 7-8, fn

47 Peter Crawley, "The Constitution of the State of Deseret," BrighamYoung University Studies 29 (Fall 1989): 7-22

present-day Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, their desire to occupy the central core of the Intermountain West remained. On the question of leadership, the State of Deseret again petitioned that Mormon leaders might serve as secular leaders: Brigham Young as governor, Heber C. Kimball as lieutenant governor, Willard Richards as secretary of state, and a group of second-tier Mormons as members of the legislature andjudiciary.48

"The little sapling, then in form of territorial government, has assumed the features of the mountain pine, under the name of the State of Deseret," Willard Richards,Young's counselor, wrote Kane in lateJuly. Richards also assured Kane that the Saints intended to follow his advice by remaining apart from sectional controversy: "Of slavery,anti-slaveryWilmot provisos,etc., we, in our organization, have remained silent."49 Accepting another item of Kane's counsel,the Mormons tried to appear not "too Mormon" by selecting Almon Babbitt as the State of Deseret's representative to Washington. Babbitt, anominal Church member and partisan Democrat, seemed a good choice to meet congressmen on their terms. "I dont care if he drinks Champagne & knocks over a few Lawyers & Priests all right—he has a right to fight in hell," saidYoung with rhetorical flourish.50 Deseret was engaging Congress on its own terms.

During the crucial negotiations for a Utah government, Utahns had three representatives inWashington: Kane,Babbitt, and Bernhisel In Kane's mind,Young had chosen too well with Babbitt, whom he saw as a "small politician but a rough one of the Missouri Stamp"—an allusion to querulousTom Benton This censure,unusual for Kane,deepened as the congressional session went forward Kane thought that Babbitt was always "weaving paltry[,] peter funk combinations, incubating trivial[,] five pennybit leagues,making declarations and pledges whose inconsistency he was at no pains to reconcile, and confiding to everybody the keeping of secrets that he had no power to keep himself One could have believed nature to have

48 Ibid., 11,15

49 Richards to KaneJuly 25, 1849Journal History Nothing illustrates the shift in Mormon policy as much as a comparison of this letter with another sent to Kane two and a half months earlier The earlier letter had expressed a desire for territorial government; see Richards to Kane, May 2, 1849, Journal History.

50 Brigham Young, RemarksJuly 8, 1849, General Church Minutes, LDS Church Archives.

Almon Babbitt, State of Deseret's representative in Washington.

USHS Photo

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

gifted him "with a kind of instinct opposed to truthfulness."51

In contrast, Kane thought Bernhisel was poles apart from Babbitt While the choice of Babbitt as the State of Deseret's official representative technically put Bernhisel on the sidelines (his official assignment was to represent Utah's request for a territorial government), Bernhisel took lodging at the National Hotel—"the centre ofpolitics,fashion and folly"52—and began to cultivate Washington's opinion-makers, who eventually would praise him by citing small virtues: he was dutiful, selfless, and an unpretentious gentleman.While Kane at first also described him narrowly, citing his "modest good sense"and "careful purpose to do right,"Kane came to abroader estimation Many Washington politicians were "faster horses for the Quarter heat" than Bernhisel, Kane thought.Yet "I do not think I know another Member [of Congress] of whom I could assert "with equal confidence that, in all his career, he has not committed one grave mistake or been betrayed into a single false position."33 Bernhisel ran the long race

The Congressional session of 1849—50 was tumultuous.At issue was the Mexican cession of land, made more difficult by the question of whether slavery should be extended into the territories To solve the national North—South crisis, president-elect Zachary Taylor floated the idea of admitting California and Utah as a single state "with no mention of slavery but with the understanding that the new unit would likely be a free state.A de facto, non-slave California—Utah might thereby balance the large and recently admitted pro-slavery state ofTexas;each state -would be subdivided in the future.54 The plan was designed to get the issue of slavery out of the halls of Congress and leave it to local determination. When Californians rejected the proposal,Taylor, no longer having a reason to restrain his feeling about the Mormons, reportedly called them a"pack of out-laws," unfit for self-government, either territorial government or statehood.55

By March 1850, Utah's future seemed bleak.The Mormons' worst fears seemed to be coming to pass."I am thoroughly convinced from my knowledge of the views and feelings of the President and his Cabinet," Bernhisel wrote Young, "that they would not nominate the present officers [of the State of Deseret],nor any persons that we should select, and if they did, the Senate "would not confirm them." Instead of Mormon officers, Bernhisel predicted the appointment of "hungry office hunters"—"whippersnappers,"he called them—who would be willing to "make a man [an] offender for a word."56 Among Bemhisel's sources of information was Stephen A.

51 "Text of Conversation between Thomas L Kane and Wilford Woodruff and John M Bernhisel"; Kane to Young and Advisers, September 24, 1850; and Kane to Young, Heber C Kimball, and Willard Richards, February 19, 1851.

52 Bernhisel to the First Presidency, March 21, 1850Journal History

53 Kane toYoung, September 24, 1850; and Kane to YoungJanuary 5, 1855.

54 B H Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930) 3:437-39; Dale L Morgan, The State of Deseret, 39

"Babbitt toYoungJuly 7, 1850Journal History.

56 Bernhisel to the First Presidency, March 5, 1850Journal History

Douglas, chairman of the U.S Senate's Committee on Territories, who extended no hope that a church leader could receive a territorial appointment.57

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, the gloom began to lift. American political leaders led by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed an "omnibus"ofmeasures designed to solve the western problem and preserve the Union. Later known as the Compromise of 1850, these measures balanced sectional concerns with such diverse provisions as (1) the establishment of northern and western boundaries ofTexas and the agreement not to admit states from adismemberedTexas;(2) the admission of California as a free state; (3) the side-by-side organization of territorial governments of New Mexico and Utah; (4) the passage ofastringent fugitive slavelaw; and (5) the prohibition of the slave trade in the nation's capital.These "compromise" measures, largely in their original form, passed the House on September 7, 1850,and two dayslater passed the Senate.

The Compromise of 1850 effectively ended the provisional State of Deseret and with it several of the Mormons' most cherished hopes. Although the Mormons would seek statehood repeatedly during the next forty years, the central government had decided that that quest would be settled on its terms and not the Mormons'. Even the theological and uniquely Mormon name of "Deseret" had to be surrendered, as the Compromise of 1850 chose "Utah" as the name for the new territory. Still more disturbing to the Saints, Congress severely pared the new territory's proposed borders, rejecting the Mormon argument that the territory must be expansive to support apopulation in semiarid conditions.The new borders, enclosing much of the present states of Utah and Nevada, curbed Mormon ambitions and created artificial, not topographical, boundaries on the north and south ("The ignorance of the collected wisdom of the nation in regard to our region of country is most profound," groused Bernhisel58).

Of course, the crucial question remained—the concern that lay behind the Mormon exodus west and four years ofsubsequent political maneuvering,including the singular step of manufacturing "founding events"for the State of Deseret.Would the Mormons have self-rule? Or would outsiders be appointed for the new territory of Utah?

Bemhisel's dispatches began to brighten. Shortly after the passage of the act creating theTerritory of Utah, he reported that the new U.S.president, Millard Fillmore (Taylor died after only four months in office), was seeking national conciliation, even for the Mormons. In fact, Fillmore, surprisingly, seemed "favorably disposed" to the appointment ofYoung as Utah's governor. 59

57 Bernhisel toYoung, March 27, 1850Journal History

58 Bernhisel toYoung, September 7, 1850,Journal History

59Bernhisel to Young, September 12, 1850, Journal History, and Bernhisel to Millard Fillmore, September 16, 1850Journal History

What had happened? Several factors, each cumulative in effect and perhaps none decisive, were responsible for Utah's improving prospects. Young's State of Deseret had presented the government with the difficult choice of overturning the status quo, while Bemhisel's patient diplomacy had had an effect, too.Perhaps still more important was the nation's shifting climate of opinion. Emotionally spent after months of sectional wrangling, the country's leaders were in no mood to test Mormon resolve by appointing officials unacceptable to them

However, Utah's prospects also owed a debt to Kane The impact of his public relations campaign had the good fortune to crest just as the grand compromise was being forged—late summer 1850.When Kane had given his lecture in March, he at first believed that it would accomplish everything that he desired The "battle"to improve the Mormon reputation was won, he toldYoung at the time "There is nothing more left to do than scatter here or there a routed squad or two, and bury the dead upon the field."60

Bernhisel,sensing the contrary political wind in early 1850,knew better. He urged Kane to publish the lecture and hurried to Philadelphia to aid with its editing At first 1,000 copies were issued, "very handsomely got up,"at a cost of about $150,which Kane apparently bore However, byJuly the document was proving so popular that an edition of another 500 was run. Kane himself helped with the circulation. He sent a copy to each U.S. senator and to three-quarters of the congressmen, who reportedly were "highly pleased with it." Bernhisel made a further distribution: Copies went to Bemhisel's personal friends, government leaders, local libraries, PresidentTaylor,and to"corps editorial."61

Perhaps to maximize its effect, for the first and only time Kane allowed his name to be attached to his writing about the Mormons."It is contrary to my Rule to print anything of literary pretension over my signature," he toldYoung,"but I embraced this opportunity of expressing some...of my regard."62 Because ofKane's high-profile name and especially because of the pamphlet's skillful prose, public opinion began to shift. Men and women might continue to be put off by Mormonism's religious claims, but after reading Kane's work they were more willing to accept the Mormon people ashard-working and wronged Nor was the effect fleeting Throughout the rest of the century, The Mormons would be quoted again and again by a stream of derivative works,its impact reaching asfar asEurope.Even urbane France had few readers left "unmoved"by its evocation.63

After Kane delivered his lecture, the crisis of his health deepened, and

60 Kane to "My Dear Friends,"July 11, 1850

"Bernhisel to Young, May 24, 1850Journal History, 2; and Bernhisel to YoungJuly 3, 1850 Journal History, 4—5

62 Kane toYoung, September 24,1850

63Wilfried Decoo, "The Image of Mormonism in French Literature: Part I," Brigham YoungUniversity Studies 14 (Winter 1974): 162

despairing doctors prescribed a trip to theWest Indies as perhaps his only chance of recovery. 6 4 Anxious to remain near climaxing events in Washington, Kane refused to go, and he won his gamble by beginning a slow recovery. If too ill to lobby during the titanic 1850 congressional session, Kane was able to give Bernhisel and Babbitt valuable backroom advice about decision-makers and policy Once again, he warned that the Mormons must remain aloof from sectional controversy

In late summer he assumed a larger role As Fillmore grappled with the question of Utah appointments for the new territory, Kane returned to Washington to meet with Fillmore several times The two had met earlier during the Free Soil movement and had liked each other.65 Although Kane did not make a full record of their discussions,he did reveal several important details Seeking a deft political compromise that might displease the fewest people, at first Fillmore asked Kane to accept the Utah governorship.66 Kane refused

At another point in their ongoing discussion, Fillmore invited Kane to speak, "not as a politician" but "as a gentleman," about Young's qualifications for appointment. In an age offormal honor and propriety,the request was designed to lay aside partisanship for candor. Kane responded by vouching for Young's "excellent capacity, energy and integrity" and his "irreproachable moral character," ajudgment based on Kane's "intimate personal knowledge." He would later strengthen his recommendation by placing it in writing In response, Fillmore claimed to be "fully satisfied" with Kane's assurances and nominatedYoung asUtahTerritory's first governor. 67 Fillmore had"relied much" on Kane's witness,he would later say. 68

As part of his decision, Fillmore agreed to appoint a broad slate of Mormon officers to Utah's new territorial government The president, Kane reported,was a democrat in the full sense of the term, opposed to the "principle ofmonarchy and centralism by naming aViceroy or Governor-General over the Mormons asasubject people."69 Unfortunately, Fillmore'splans were undermined by Babbitt's machinations Seeking apersonal advantage, Babbitt tried to change the proposed list ofMormon-favored officials by nominating some of his friends We "nearly lost the whole," said Kane Although Kane moved quickly to staunch the harm, the incident probably cost the Mormons one or two appointments.70

When Fillmore at last announced his nominations, they included

64 Bernhisel toYoung, March 27, 1850,Journal History, 4

65 Kane toYoung, Kimball, and RichardsJuly 29, 1851

66 When the Taylor proposal to admit a unified California-Utah was being discussed, Kane had also rejected an offer to become a U.S senator from the new state See Bernhisel to Robert PattersonJune 29, 1859

67 Kane to Young, Kimball, and RichardsJuly 29, 1851, Kane Papers For Kane's written assurances, see Kane to FillmoreJuly 11, 1851

68 Millard Fillmore to Kanejuly 4, 1851 Journal History, 11

69 Kane to Franklin Pierce, September 3, 1854.

70 Kane toYoung, Kimball, and Richards, February 19, 1851.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Brigham Young, governor; Broughton D Harris, secretary; Joseph Buffington, chiefjustice (later replaced by Lemuel G. Brandebury); Perry C. Brocchus and Zerubbabel Snow, associate justices; Seth M. Blair, U.S. attorney; and Joseph L Heywood, marshal The nominations of Young, Blair, Heywood, and Snow (a non-practicing but recently rebaptized Mormon) met Mormons' hopes;Harris,Brandebury, and Brocchus did not. Still,Bernhisel was probably close to the truth when he put the best face on the government's action."The appointing power has been far more liberal to us, than it has ever been to any other Territory," he told Young.71 Young's appointment, of course,was the key one,allowing the Mormons to retain control oftheir government.

Recognizing Kane's achievement, Bernhisel presented the Mormons' friend with an elegant robe of wolf and fox skins lined with drugget and tipped with scarlet—"the most splendid sleigh robe ever seen," Bernhisel thought.72 After receiving the garment, Kane first displayed it as an "ornament" in his Independence Hall office Still later he loaned it to his brother Elisha,who used it on hisArctic expeditions. InformingYoung of its transfer, Thomas, tongue-in-cheek, spoke of it as "the first missionary of Mormonism to the North Pole."73

Kane also had professional debts to pay, and he, too, used a token to express his thanks.Taking a set of Deseret-minted gold coins that Young had sent him, Kane commissioned the manufacture of signet rings, which he then sent to "leading friends" who had helped in his campaign to mold public opinion While Kane did not leave a complete record of recipients, NewYork Tribune editor Horace Greeley was one of the first.74

News that Utah had been organized into a U.S. territory reached Salt Lake City in the middle of October.Then, a month later, Mormon leaders in Salt Lake City talked about the matter during one of their desultory discussions that served to unify and inform the Mormon leadership At the time,Young and the others were not aware ofYoung's appointment as governor. Nor did they know of Kane's crucial lobbying with Fillmore. However, they knew enough of Kane's activity to describe it as one of "the richest gifts of heaven till this weary pilgrimage is done."75 Kane's role in the political maneuvering had been in fact decisive

However, something as complete had worked within Kane himself. During the troubled summer of 1850 when both his life and the Mormon cause seemed at risk, Kane had taken the time to look back on events, and in the process he wrote a passage to his Mormon friends that was both biographically and historically revealing "Our relations have much changed

71 Bernhisel toYoung, November 9, 1850Journal History

72 John M Bernhisel, Remarks, August 3, 1851, General Church Minutes, LDS Church Archives

73 Kane to Young and "Immediate Advisors," September 24, 1850, and Kane to Brigham Young, Kimball, and Richards, February 19, 1851

74 Young to Kane, October 20, 1849, and Kane toYoung, September 24, 1850

7Journal History, November 20, 1850, 4

from what Fortune and Mr.Polk seemed originally to intend them to be," he reminisced in the warm tones that an expected death can bring

I thought myself near enough to some ofyou,when you bade me God speed, beyond the Missouri;but in little more than a month after, I was committed beyond recovery to the course which I had afterwards to pursue, and then, from being your friend, in the sense of your second in an affair of honor, it happened that the personal assaults upon myselfmade your cause become so identified with my own that your vindication became my own defense and as"partners in iniquity," (to quote one particular blackguard of those times) we had to stand or fall, together This probation it is, that has made me feel our brotherhood, and taught me, in the nearly four years that have elapsed since Ileft the Camp where your kind nursing saved my life,to know from the heart,that Ilove you,and that you love me in return.76

It was not simply that the careers of Kane and the Mormons had become joined. Kane sensed that he had become "morally more or less a changed man" and that there was "something higher and better than the pursuit of the interests ofearthly life for the spirit made after the image ofDeity."77

Kane sometimes lapsed into melodrama, and during the summer of 1850 he wondered ifhe should bequeath his heart to the Mormons,to be placed in the yet-to-be-built Salt Lake Temple "that, after death, it may repose, where in metaphor at least it often was when living."78 Yet, as before, human uncertainty asserted itself. Instead of falling to an early death, the fragile, often-on-the-precipice Kane would live for another thirty years, outlasting most of the LDS men and "women "whom he had met in 1846, includingYoung. During these remaining years, Kane -would continue to serve notjust the Mormons,but other causes"turned desperate,"to use his own phrase.And he would realize, at least in part, an epitaph that he had once held out as an ideal—to serve society as one of its "unthanked and unrewarded pioneers of unpopular reform."79 That, of course,isyet another story

'Kane to "My Dear Friends,"July 11, 1850.

1 Ibid

Wanda Robertson: A Teacher for Topaz

By MARIAN ROBERTSON WILSON

In recent years a number of publications and television documentaries have recounted the story of Topaz from the perspective of the Japanese Americans interned there. Here is yet another account of that internment, one that tells the tale from the point ofview of Utah educatorWanda Robertson, who voluntarily went to live and work in that isolated desert compound. Her story begins in late fall 1942.WorldWar II is raging and America still recovering from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 Anti-Japanese sentiment is running high Some 110,000 Japanese Americans have been forcibly removed from the West Coast and relocated in hastily constructed detention camps scattered inland across the country. Topaz, officially known as the Central Utah Relocation Young children write in a Topaz Center, isone such place.1 classroom.

Marian Robertson Wilson is a linguist and musician retired from Utah State University and widely known for her studies of Coptic music. She has written a prize-winning biography about her father, Leroy Robertson, and is currently writing a biography about her aunt,Wanda Robertson

"Wanda Robertson: An Interview by Winifred Margetts, June 25, 1985," Everett L Cooley Oral History Project,Tape No. U-296 (hereafter Oral History), 17; tape and transcript at Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah Among many works dealing with internment, one may cite Ken Verdoia, producer and director, Topaz (Salt Lake City: KUED-7, University of Utah, 1987); LeonardJ Arrington, The Price of Prejudice:TheJapanese Relocation Center in Utah duringWorld War II (1962; reprint ed., Delta, Utah: Topaz Museum, 1997); Yoshiko Uchida, Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1982); Michael O Tunnell and George W Chilcoat, The Children ofTopaz:The Story of aJapanese-American Internment Camp, Based on a Classroom Diary (New York: Holiday House, 1996); Sandra C.Taylor, "Internment at Topaz:Age, Gender, and Family in the Relocation Experience," Utah Historical Quarterly 59 (1991): 380-94; Sandra C Taylor, Jewel of the Desert: Japanese American Internment at Topaz (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993);Thomas James, Exile Within: The Schooling ofJapaneseAmericans, 1942-1945 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987)

Fresh from Columbia University's Teachers College and a well-liked instructor at the University of Utah's Stewart Teacher Training School,2 Miss Robertson has just been asked to become supervisor of elementary education at Topaz, a position she would very much like to accept Accordingly, she meets to discuss the situation with her administrative superior, the dean of the College of Education. After a few minutes, the dean—reflecting the current attitude—avers, "Wanda, I am not sure the University of Utah would approve of any faculty member going out to help those people," to which Wanda replies, "I am not sure I want to be affiliated with any university that would object."3 She did succeed in securing aleave of absence from the university, set to begin in mid-December at the end offall quarter Very soon thereafter, off she drove to Topaz

Why would this thirty-nine-year-old woman so staunchly oppose the prevailing mood of the country, face ridicule from her family, and risk a promising university career at this point in her life? Her answer was that she found all war very ugly, and going to Topaz was her way to ease troubles.4 But there were other commanding reasons as well. From her earliest years,Wanda had by nature been very independent and extremely curious to know about the diverse folk who lived both within and beyond the mountain-rimmed valleys of her native Utah. Even before Topaz, her adventurous ways had taken her to teach in many schools far and wide.

According to family records,Wanda Melissa Robertson -was born May 10, 1903,toJasper Heber and Alice Almyra Adams Robertson in Fountain Green, a thriving Mormon community nestled at the base of Mount Nebo in northern Sanpete County. She once described her childhood as"just an old-fashioned country life...a very simple life, good, but very simple."5 As a youngster she did the chores and played the games common to most little girls growing up in rural Utah, with but one exception. She loved to help her sheep-raising father, especially at lambing time when, among other duties,she tenderly cared for the newborn "starvy lambs"thatJasper placed in her arms to keep alive and bleating when their mothers rejected them.6

2 The Stewart Teacher Training School, named for University of Utah professor William M Stewart, was founded in 1891 in order to give student teachers the experience of teaching under the supervision of professionals During Wanda's tenure, it served kindergarten through sixth grades The building it occupied, southwest of the present Utah Museum of Natural History, was demolished after the school closed in 1965.

3 Wanda Robertson, conversation with author, Salt Lake City, early 1950s At this time the dean of the College of Education was John Wahlquist.

4 Renee Robertson Whitesides, interview 'with author, Kaysville, Utah, August 30, 1998 Whitesides is Wanda's niece and also took teacher-training classes from her Unless otherwise indicated, all notes of interviews are in possession of the author

5 "Family Records" in possession of Renee R Whitesides, Kaysville, Utah Wanda Robertson, interview with Brenda Anderson Daines, Salt Lake City, c 1985, 9-10 (hereafter Daines interview), transcript in scrapbook about Wanda Robertson compiled by Brenda's mother, Nancy O Anderson, Nephi, Utah I thank Brenda's parents for kindly lending me this scrapbook. Wanda was the fourth of seven children, six of whom grew to maturity

6 Oral History, 2

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

She wasalso intrigued bythecolorful gypsies who came to Fountain Green hawking their wares; and she envied the family of mixed ethnicity living at the west end of town, whose long and lusty parties heard throughout the valley often kept her awake.Wanda wistfully felt that those celebrating westenders "always seemed to have themostfun." She loved music, could play by ear any tune she heard, and spent hours listening to the recordings ofclassical music brought home by her older brother Leroy7

She attended school first atFountain Green Elementary, then Moroni High School, and finally Snow College in Ephraim, where she earned aNormal Degree (then the equivalent ofa five-year teaching certificate).Already shehaddecided tospend herlife teaching children.The title ofhervaledictory address at Snow typifies her lifelong thinking: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Descriptions byclassmates also characterize herwell:"Full ofpep,talkingis her chief occupation [She] loves street meetings."8

After graduating from Snow, Robertson eagerly began teaching atage nineteen, and she would prove to be a"natural."Very tall, very thin,and always impeccably dressed with nary astrand ofher thick black hair outof place,shepresented quite animposing figure to herstudents Nonetheless, from the outset she easily related to each child. As one of her former fourth-graders would later reminisce:

[At last] I had a teacher who liked me! No matter that she seemed to like all the other kids as well How did she know my name before I knew hers?.. And how did she make me feel right from the start that I was going to like. .school?.. If it had been her style, she could have been the envy of any disciplinary schoolmarm, but in her classroom discipline was not imposed—it just seemed to happen I cannot picture her seated. Much of the time, almost imperceptibly, she moved around the room in a way that allowed her to engage every student...[of which] the primary effect was to form a bond with each student and with the class We didn't need to be told, as we often were...that Miss Robertson was a vital, caring person and a truly exceptional teacher. We knew that almost from day one. 9

7 Wanda Robertson, interview with author, Salt Lake City, December 1980, tape in Addenda to the Leroy J Robertson Collection, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah Wanda's brother, Leroy Robertson, would go on to gain international recognition as a composer For more information about Wanda's childhood and the Robertson family's early years in Fountain Green, see Marian Robertson Wilson, Leroy Robertson: Music Giantfrom theRockies (Salt Lake City: Blue Ribbon Publications, 1996), 7-29

8 Wanda took this title from Proverbs 29:8. For the valedictory address, see Oral History, 8. For the classmate descriptions, see Robertson's copy of the Snow College Snowonian, 1921—22, where these comments are found under her class picture and autographed on the back flyleaf. This copy waskindly lent to me by the Development Office of Snow College

9 Gordon E.Porter, Utah State University professor emeritus, to author, November 17,1998. Copies of all letters cited arein the author's possession.

Wanda Robertson, c. 1939.

During these early teaching years Wanda managed to earn a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and a master's from Columbia University in New York, mostly by going to summer school and taking correspondence courses. 10

Before Topaz,Wanda taught both in Utah's Mormon farming communities and in the mining towns ofPark City and Bingham Canyon,where the children's immigrant families came from more than twenty countries, spoke different languages,and were often in conflict with each other How Wanda herself learned from these diverse children, and in turn helped them listen to and learn about each other, makes a tale to be told elsewhere.11 She met another challenge at Logan'sWhittier School,which was then connected to the Utah State Agricultural College as a teacher-training institution similar to Stewart School Here she not only had to teach the children but also arrange programs for the student teachers (trainees).12 The mid-1930s would find her in New York City teaching at the prestigious Lincoln School, then associated with Columbia University's Teachers College and recognized for its innovative teaching programs At Lincoln she worked with the children of some of the nation's "most rich and famous," many of whose parents had also emigrated from several countries According to Wanda,these youngsters,too,had their problems.13

Wanda may well have remained in NewYork City the rest of her life, for she loved the diversity of its people and the offerings ofits many museums, theaters,and concert halls But astime wore on she came to feel ever more isolated from her loved ones in Utah, and at the outset ofWorldWar II in 1939 she decided to return home By 1940 she was teaching at Stewart School,and in late 1942 she moved on toTopaz.14

Although Wanda was not due to begin work at Topaz until December 31,she arrived a couple ofweeks early in order to settle in,assay conditions

10 While taking her M.A from Columbia University (September 1935-June 1936), Robertson had the luxury of attending school fulltime Due to her delay in getting all the BYU credits properly organized, she received her master's degree from Columbia one week before officially obtaining her B.S from BYU; Oral History, 14, and Wanda Robertson, Transcript of Credits from Brigham Young University, 1927-36, and Transcript of Credits from Teachers College, Columbia University, 1935-36 and 1944-49 (copies in author's possession).

11 Oral History, 11-12

12 Whittier School was built in 1908 as part of the Logan City School District In 1927 USAC arranged to incorporate Whittier into its Department of Education as an elementary teacher-training school As such, it first opened its doors to students in 1928 Robertson was one of the first teachers on the staff The Whittier Building, still standing on its original site at 290 North 400 East, now serves Logan as the Whittier Community Center.

13 Oral History, 12-13, 15. Operating under the aegis of Teachers College, Lincoln School was founded in 1917 and closed its doors at the end of the 1947-48 school year; David Ment, Special Collections, Milbank Memorial Library, Teachers College, Columbia University, telephone interview with author, November 20, 1999

14 Oral History, 15—16.Here is a synopsis of Robertson's pre-Topaz teaching career:Willard Elementary School (Willard, Utah: 1922-23); Fountain Green Primary School (Fountain Green, Utah: 1923-26); Washington School (Park City, Utah: 1926-27); Upper Bingham Canyon School (Bingham Canyon, Utah: January-June, 1928);Whittier Teacher Training School (Logan Utah: 1928-35); Lincoln School (New York City: 1936-40); Stewart Teacher Training School (Salt Lake City: 1940 mid-December 1942)

at close range, and prepare for the winter ahead She did go forewarned, for she had previously visited the camp on two occasions and had met Topaz project director Charles F Ernst She also knew the superintendent of schools, Dr John C Carlisle, a longtime friend with whom she had worked during her years atWhittier School in Logan Both men had proved to be sympathetic and concerned about the welfare of the internees However, the whole situation was chaotic,to saythe least

Because school had already begun in October before the buildings were finished, operations had been largely dependent on the weather After some four weeks of fitful scheduling,with teachers and students demoralized due to a series of dust storms, heavy thundershowers, and a severe snowstorm, Dr Carlisle suspended allschool activities until the interior walls and stoves could be installed and the roofing completed With the help of volunteers from the compound working alongside the regular builders (a workforce described November 28, 1942,by the Topaz Times as a"small but colorful conglomeration of humanity"), winterization was completed, and schools reopened the lastdayofNovember with afull-day schedule for the first time

However, Dr. Carlisle himself was slated to depart Topaz on New Year's Day, so upon the November reopening of schools, everyone realized that significant changes in the administration were inevitable. His announcement ofWanda's imminent arrival came as welcome news to all involved.

A barracks and dusty street in Topaz.

She herself recognized that she would face many challenges Drayton B Nuttal, who had immediately and very briefly preceded her as elementary school supervisor, had provisionally staffed the classes and placed preliminary orders for some textbooks and teaching supplies, but little else had been done Life in this desert compound would not be easy 15

Topaz, nicknamed "Jewel of the Desert," took its name from a mountain some nine miles distant upon which topaz crystals could be found. Built under the direction of the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers in the broad SevierValley and located sixteen miles northwest of Delta, the camp sat at the edge of the Sevier Desert on the bed of ancient Lake Bonneville In constructing it, the crews had removed all ground cover, leaving only a thick layer of loose, white alkali sand. As a result, the slightest breeze or footstep could stir up fine powder that would inevitably creep into and over anything about Blinding dust storms could unpredictably and suddenly blow in from the desert to penetrate everything and cover everybody with choking grit. Should it rain or snow, as it sometimes did, one slogged through ankle-deep, sticky clay mud, and after a storm the saturated soil could become an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes At an altitude of about 4,650 feet, temperatures at Topaz ranged from 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to 20 degrees below zero in the winter. No trees, no flowers, no grass could grow inside the camp, and in the land surrounding it only salt grass and stunted greasewood shrubs clung fast to the soil.

16

Though the center itself covered but one square mile, it housed nearly nine thousand internees (whom Wanda, in accordance with administration policy, always called "residents"), thus making Topaz the fifth-largest

15 Oral History, 21 For information about Robertson's earlier visits to Topaz and her scheduled arrival, see the Topaz Times, December 19, 1942; for the activities of Mr. Ernst at the camp, see ibid., August 1942—August 1944, passim; for information about Dr Carlisle at Topaz, see ibid., October 29, 1942—January 1, 1943, passim The Topaz Times was the newspaper published by the residents of Topaz Copies are on microfilm at the Marriott Library, University of Utah

Carlisle had been on leave of absence from USAC, where he was then associate professor of education and assistant to USAC president E G Peterson Drayton B Nuttal became Topaz elementary school head in mid-November 1942, following the brief stint of Dr Reese Maughan as acting head Upon Carlisle's departure, changes in the school administration seemed to resemble a game of "musical chairs." LeGrand Noble, who had been the first principal of the high school, replaced Carlisle as superintendent of schools; Nuttal then became high school principal for a short time, to be followed by Dr Golden L Woolf, who served in this position during the winter and spring of 1943; Nuttal returned as high school principal the next year; see Topaz Times, November 17, 1942—August 16, 1944 passim; and Ramblings, Topaz High School yearbook, 1942-43 and 1943-44 All these administrators had Utah backgrounds Lome Bell, who came from California, was project administrator for the entire Topaz school system

For the elementary schools, the full-day schedule lasted from mid-September into June; then after a small vacation, school would hold forth throughout the summer for half a day For an eloquent portrayal of the early problems for schools at Topaz, see Uchida, Desert Exile, 115, 117—18, and 124 For other information about this early period, see the Topaz Times, October 29, November 28, and December 19, 1942

16 Oral History, 17; Arrington, Price of Prejudice, 22; Uchida, Desert Exile, 109, 119; and Wanda Robertson, conversation with the family of Leroy Robertson, Provo, Utah, 1943, hereafter "Conversation with Leroy's family."

community in Utah.17 In addition to this square mile,the government had acquired some seventeen thousand acres of land surrounding the camp; the land contained a poultry farm, a turkey farm, a hog farm, and a nursery. There was also a cattle ranch at the northernmost boundary and a fifteenacre community garden plotjust outside the city.18

The compound was completely ringed by a six-foot-high barbed-wire fence guarded by soldiers who constantly patrolled outside and manned guard towers located every quarter-mile along the camp's perimeter Big floodlights, placed at regular intervals atop buildings throughout the camp, played over everything all night long.19 InWanda's eyes,such controls were both insulting and unnecessary, for she regarded the residents as"some of the most orderly people" she knew—thrifty, hard-working, well-educated, and anxious for good schools.20 To her they were not "enemy aliens,"as the government labeled them, but rather refugees driven from comfortable homes,who, moreover, had been allowed to take with them no more than what they could carry in their arms Wanda told of a man who chose to bring his phonograph and some phonograph records "And that was all that he could bring," she would later recall She would vehemently continue, "And here they were...in these stark, dry, dusty, wintery winters and hot, hot summers."21

Inside the compound, the buildings were grouped onto a grid of fortytwo blocks, of which thirty-three were residential Meant to house from 250 to 300 people, each block contained twelve small, one-story barracks, which stood around a mess hall where everyone ate in common, and another building, of which one-half was used for bathroom facilities and the other half for laundry (All laundry had to be done by hand with only old-fashioned washtubs and washboards as appliances and a few outdoor clotheslines for drying.) One other structure,smaller than the others, served asarecreation hall.22

17 Oral History, 17, and Daines interview, 7 At this time, Utah cities larger than Topaz were Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, and Logan Due to the constant arrivals and departures of inhabitants, the population of Topaz was never static. According to Taylor, Jewel, 222, at its height Topaz had 8,316 people. The term "resident" was but one of many euphemisms all Topaz inhabitants were instructed to use; see Uchida, Desert Exile, 109

18 For the location of these farms and the cattle ranch in relation to the center, see the map in Roscoe E Bell, "Relocation Center Life, Topaz, Utah, 1942-1945, n.d., typescript manuscript in Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah

19 Oral History, 17, and Daines interview, 8 All military police were quartered outside the fence and were permitted to come inside the gate only for special business with the administration. The sentries sometimes seemed more like lonely homesick young boys than enemy soldiers. While the administration and staff interacted with them by playing an occasional baseball game, the Japanese Americans were not friendly for obvious reasons; see Uchida, DesertExile, 112

20 Daines interview, 7. The Japanese Americans had a longstanding and well-known tradition of respecting education and recognizing the need for quality schools on all levels; see Taylor, Jewel, 8-9, 19, and 27-28, and James, Exile Within, 12-22, and passim thereafter

21 Oral History, 18 For the citations, see Daines interview, 7

22 Oral History, 17-18; Daines interview, 7; Kenneth Farrer, interview with author, October 12, 1999 Along with providing a place for the inhabitants to spend time outside their cramped lodgings, certain recreation halls were used for the preschools and various adult education classes Recreation halls were also

Topaz elementary school teachers and staff, 1943-44. Wanda

Robertson is seated front row, third from right. Others include Lora Bane, Thayer C. Barrus, Josephine Wycoff, Martha Chastain, Horuko Hagiwara, Grace Fujimoto, Keiko Omura, Sumi Kato, and Eome Otsuki.

Although these residential barracks were each divided into six rooms, an entire family had to crowd into one room. 23 And what a drab,bare room it was,lit by a single electric bulb and heated by a coal- and wood-burning potbellied stove that had to be stoked by hand. Each family did have a hot plate for warming "water and making snacks, but because electricity was in short, erratic supply, use of it had to be made sparingly Any needed water had to be hand-carried from the building that housed the bathroom and laundry facilities,since no other place on the block had water. (The story is told ofamother who daily carried asmallbucket ofwater to ascraggly little plant growing outside her family's room,just to keep a bit of greenery nearby.) Sheets hung between the beds (actually army cots),and the "living area"around the stove offered the only privacy to be had,and this was only visual, since every sound could be heard. Moreover, because the barracks were entirely devoid of insulation—constructed merely of one-inch board siding covered with tarpaper and lined with flimsy sheetrock, they were so drafty that dust "wasalways seeping or blowing in It became almost pointlessto try to keep things clean.24

At the beginning of her tenure,Wanda also lived in similar barracks and, like the other staff members, had the same eating and laundry facilities as

used for the church services of the various denominations Topaz had active communities of Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and Seventh-day Adventists; the Christians and Buddhists also formed an Interfaith Council See Sandra C Taylor, "Internment at Topaz," 390; Topaz Times, November 21, 1942, January 1, 1943, and passim thereafter. The few staff members who were Latter-day Saints held two hours of meetings each Sunday; see Farrer interview.

23 Tunnell and Chilcoat, Children, 16-17 The barracks were only 120 feet long and twenty feet wide The rooms varied in size, with a four-person room generally being twenty by twenty feet For more information on the construction of these facilities, seeTaylor,Jewel, 92—96

24 Daines interview, 7; Uchida, DesertExile, 77,109, 115, 123;and Farrer interview

the residents But, unlike the residents, she enjoyed a room all to herself, one made slightly more liveable by the old drapes and pieces of carpet she had been able to transport by car from the attic of the family home in Fountain Green.25 She felt fortunate to have such luxury and would actuallyfeel guilty ayear later when she was told to move into asmall apartment, one of a few built for the staff when their barracks became needed for administrative use Because the residents lived in such crowded conditions, Wanda at first felt it unfair that she should have so much space, but like everyone else she had to live where she was assigned As time went on, however, she was happy to have the apartment since the resident teachers frequently asked ifthey could come to her place for an evening of socializing without the whole family being present Many years afterward she would remark, "I hadn't realized before how important privacy is in one's life,especially when there isno place to be alone."26

The camp also contained larger barracks that housed the military quarters, administration buildings, and a canteen. In addition, there was a hospital staffed largely by residents, some of whom were specialists much better trained and more highly skilled than local physicians in the area.And physicians were badly needed,forTopaz seemed to have more than its share ofillness.27

Sadly,because all the blocks and barracks were so much alike,it was not uncommon for the inhabitants—especially the children—to lose their way. Even after the "streets" and "avenues" were named and signs posted, one could get lost A poignant entry in a diary kept by a class of third graders tells the tale:"David, our new pupil, was absent this afternoon because he could not find his way to school."28

Guards checked the credentials of everyone entering or leaving the compound, and residents were permitted to go beyond the barbed-wire fence only ifthey had official business,such asto labor on the nearby farms or go shopping in Delta. "But," asWanda averred, "if you went to Delta, you had to shop for the 300 people in your block, so you wouldn't have very much fun." Now and again the residents could also leave the compound to go hiking, hunting for arrowheads (a popular pastime), and

25 Oral History, 17-18John W Carlisle, a seventh grader at Topaz and son of the first school superintendent, John C Carlisle, remembers that he and his parents lived in barracks, but that they occupied two or three rooms He further recalls that his mother hosted afternoon "teas" in an effort to provide a bit of social life for Topaz inhabitants Like Wanda and many others, he speaks of the omnipresent dust filtering through everythingJohn W Carlisle, telephone interview with author, August 2,1999

26 Oral History, 17-19; citation on 19.

27 Ibid., 18.

28 "Our Daily Diary," March 16, 1943. The diary was compiled by the children of the Mountain View high third grade class under the guidance of their teacher, Mrs Lillian Yamauchi Hori, and dates from March 8 through August 12, 1943 Since Wanda was Hori's supervisor at Topaz, this diary reflects many of Wanda's own teaching ideas and therefore may be considered a reliable secondary source about Wanda herself as a teacher The original manuscript is in the archives of the Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.The "streets" and "avenues" were named in November 1942 (Topaz Times, November 12, 1942), but apparently the signs were not all posted until the following May; see "Daily Diary," May 17, 1943

fishing on anearby reservoir or the Sevier River.29

Ever since her years at Logan'sWhittier School,Wanda had proved to be a diplomatic and cooperative team player,but rarely,if ever,would she sacrifice her strong beliefs about how best to teach children.At Topaz these same qualities elicited respect from her colleagues,some ofwhom held her in aregard almost "verging on awe"due to her experience and training In staff meetings she firmly stood her ground with "crisp professionalism," and to the amusement of the other female staff members (ofwhom there were very few), she could, if need be,"deftly put her male colleagues...in their places."Several co-workers have described her as generous, helpful, outgoing, and courteous. And they report that, even in harsh Topaz, she still dressed in her customary meticulous fashion. "I don't know how Wanda always managed to look trim and well-groomed despite the desert dust and sand,"recalled colleague Eleanor G Sekerak.30

Through it all,Wanda's prime concern was for the children, and clearly, the children ofTopaz did require much special understanding.All of them, having been abruptly torn from familiar friends and surroundings, were confused and upset. Although most were ofJapanese origin, a very few who had come with their staff-member parents were Caucasian, and this inevitably gave rise to some racial tension.Whereas these youngsters would for the most part learn to work together, some reverse discrimination did develop. Even in the elementary schools a few Japanese Americans took sport in bullying their Caucasian classmates Incidentally, each elementary child was assigned to attend the school nearest his/her living quarters These assignments were based strictly on location, not race,and all schools had bothJapaneseAmerican and Caucasian teachers.31

As elementary school head,Wanda was responsible for the operations of Topaz's two nursery schools and its two elementary schools, which had been christened "Mountain View" and "Desert View" in a camp-wide contest.These were situated at opposite ends of the compound while Topaz High School sat more or less in the middle Mountain View and Desert View, which served grades one through six plus kindergarten, each

29 Citation in Daines interview, 7 For the residents' recreation, see "Daily Diary," May 20, 1943, and passim

30 For Wanda as a team player at Whittier and thereafter, see Oral History, 12-13,15; for the other descriptions of and comments about Wanda, see Farrer interview and Eleanor Gerard Sekerak to author, November 28, 1999 For the citations, see Sekerak letter Sekerak (then "Miss Gerard") was a popular teacher and administrator at the high school

31 As of December 5, 1942, the Topaz Times reported that there were but twelve Caucasian students in the entire school system However, this number would vary through the years as staff members came and went with their families Information about reverse discrimination comes from Jean Sanford Lundstedt (whose father, Ray Sanford, Sr., was the assistant project director at Topaz) in a telephone interview with author, December 9, 1999 Lundstedt reports that, although she herself suffered little overt discrimination, her two younger brothers were constantly tormented, and the youngest was even beaten on at least one occasion For the assigning of children to school see Grace Fujimoto Oshita, interview with author, November 15, 1999 Oshita was one of Robertson's secretaries and remembers her as being kind, patient, and understanding, all while being a meticulous perfectionist.

occupied one complete block; the two nursery schools had one barracks each Topaz High,which served grades seven through twelve,was also allotted an entire block and, in addition, had the use of a larger building that contained amuch needed gymnasium-auditorium.

The elementary schools had two levels ("low and high") in every grade, to make a total of twelve classes plus a kindergarten at each school. "We had lots of children,"Wanda would later recall.32 All the schools were housed in barracks, but unlike those of the residents, these barracks were divided into two rather than six rooms. Nonetheless, the resulting classrooms were not really very large and tended to be dark because the windows were small and few The children sat on wooden straight-backed chairs placed around tables large enough to accommodate about four Every class alsohad abig table covered with allkinds ofpicture- and storybooks for the youngsters to peruse at will.Most of the furniture was made by resident volunteers from scrap lumber left over from the original barracks construction As in all other barracks, each room was heated by a single hand-stoked potbellied stove,and in cold weather this could be quite uncomfortable, for, depending on where one was,the room was either too hot or too cold. In the summertime these rooms would become unbearably hot since they were, after all,completely uninsulated and "without air conditioning. In order to brighten their drab surroundings and reinforce their studies,the children drew pictures,made posters,and designed colorful friezes, which they tacked on the walls as decoration. In at least one class the girls even made curtains for the windows and happily hung them one day inJune.

Because she had to watch over both Mountain View and Desert View, Wanda maintained a small office at each school, making do with only a typewriter and primitive mimeograph machine as office equipment. To assist with the extensive record-keeping, she did have the help of two youngJapanese American girls who hadjust graduated from Topaz High.33 One of her chief tasks was to set up the entire course of study for the elementary school children. Like all relocation-center schools,Topaz was required to be affiliated with and meet the standards of the state where it was located, as well as conform to federal government regulations As a means of affiliating with the local school system,Wanda invited teachers from the surrounding communities to visit classes atTopaz,and in order to

32 Oral History 19 Children were assigned to class by age and at midyear were promoted to the next level; Kaye (Keiko) Aoki, telephone interview with author, November 21, 1999 Aoki was one of Wanda's cadet teachers.

Exact population figures of Topaz school children are difficult to establish because staff and resident families were always on the move, either departing or arriving due to the ongoing relocation According to Taylor (Jewel, 121), at the end of the 1942-43 school year there were 182 children in the preschools, 675 in the two elementary schools, and 1,037 in the high school, making a total of 1,894 pupils

33 Descriptions of the classrooms and Wanda's offices come from "Daily Diary,"June 10, 1943, and passim; Oshita interview; Aoki interview; and Ted Nagata, telephone interview with author, November 29, 1999 Mr Nagata was a pupil at DesertView

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

involve the Topaz children she suggested that they exchange letters with their peers in Delta She also arranged for their teachers to take them on field trips and personal visits to schools in that nearby city (The Topaz youngsters had become so accustomed to being surrounded by blackhaired, dark-eyed people that they were quite intrigued to see the blond, blue-eyed schoolchildren of Delta.)34 Regarding their studies, Wanda emphasized the basics (reading,writing, and arithmetic),but she was obliged to work these subjects into arather idealistic curriculum imposed by the government upon all the relocation centers.This curriculum would soon prove impractical forTopaz.35

Another ofWanda's responsibilities was to keep track of supplies,and this posed aperpetual problem.The scrap-lumber furniture broke so easily that she was constantly having to write it off her inventory, not knowing when it would be replaced The same could be said for other items as well Although she was able to keep the pupils well supplied with paper, notebooks, pencils, and other such equipment, the quality was usually inferior, largely due to the war."Our paper folders tear so easily that we have decided to pay 8^ each for some material to make new folders," wrote the MountainView high third graders.36

The need for books was never ending Although she had an adequate budget for texts and a few maps for classwork,Wanda also had to stock the two elementary school libraries. At first, she sought "hand-me-down" books from other schools and even from family members. She also collected samples sent by publishers, which she and the teachers reviewed together Wanda further learned that by buying needed texts in smaller sets she would have extra money for purchasing library books.Thanks to her ongoing efforts, Topaz eventually had two of the best children's libraries in the state of Utah This was important, for these libraries served a double function Because there were few opportunities for outside recreation, parents would bring their younger children to these school libraries to read at all hours ofthe day37

Of course, "where there are schools there must be teachers, and one of Wanda's greatest challenges would prove to be the constant recruiting and

34 Aoki interview For teachers visiting Topaz schools and for children exchanging letters, see "Daily Diary," May 12 and May 14, 1943, respectively For a brief outline ofWanda's responsibilities, see the Topaz Times,December 19, 1942

35 The curriculum had been designed by a graduate class in curriculum at Stanford University, under the direction of Paul R Hanna For more information, see James, Exile Within, 38—42, and Eleanor Gerard Sekerak, "A Teacher at Topaz," in Roger Daniels, Sandra C Taylor, and Harry H L Kitano, eds., Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986), 40-41

36 Oral History, 19; Aoki interview For the citation, see "Daily Diary," May 18, 1943

37 R R Whitesides interview; Oral History, 19-20 The school libraries supplemented the offerings of the two community libraries organized and operated by the residents For more information about these libraries, one of which was devoted exclusively to materials in Japanese, see the Topaz Times, November 24, 1942;Tunnell and Chilcoat, Children, 56-57; and Toyo Suyemoto Kawakami, "Camp Memories: Rough and Broken Shards," in Daniels, et al., Japanese Americans, 29 After a visit to Topaz, the Dies Committee reported that Topaz had the best library system among the camps; see Taylor, Jewel, 224.

training ofthem due to the ongoing relocation.To help bring some stability to her staff, she succeeded in recruiting seven or eight very experienced "outsiders" who, along with one or two women who had come to Topaz with their husbands, became a strong unifying force.38 However, most of the teachers came from the residents.Though extremely willing and dedicated,they were largely inexperienced, untrained for teaching,and often on the move with their relocating relatives.39 This steady relocation intensified when, in early 1943, the War Department began recruiting Japanese Americans for the Armed Services.Wanda could not hide her bitter feelings about the ironic injustice ofit all as she walked along the rows of barracks and saw displayed in many windows the small banners that bore one or more stars to indicate the number of people from a given family who were fighting for the very country that was imprisoning them.40

In this constant relocation, the better-educated residents were the first to leave, and as a result,Wanda finally had to recruit and train graduates of Topaz High.Though completely new on thejob,these young women were sincerely devoted, and their hard work made up for their lack of experience.As for the nursery school teachers, all were young resident women, many ofwhom "were mothers.41

To help these cadet teachers master their craft,Wanda organized many activities for them.As their supervisor-teacher, she felt that her main purpose was to have free, open dialogue and learn their problems so that she was assisting,not just checking up on them.To this end, she prepared class outlines and met with the cadet teachers every Saturday to review the

38 Oral History, 22-23 After more than forty years, Wanda recalled a few names: Laverne C (Lora) Bane, whose husband was Topaz director of adult education; Jessie Harroun, a retired principal from the Salt Lake City school system; Josephine Wycoff; and Martha Chastain, who had worked in the Indian schools She also mentioned a "Mr Barrus" (Thayer C Barrus, who came to Topaz from Fairview, Wyoming).

The student-teacher ratio of 48:1 cited by James (Exile Within, 43), and reiterated by Taylor (Jewel, 122), does not really apply to the Topaz elementary schools during Wanda's tenure For example, in June 1943, the 675 pupils (see note 32) had at least thirty-six teachers (thirty-one named in the Topaz Times, December 5, 1942, plus the "outsiders" imported by Wanda), which makes for a ratio of about 19:1 Kaye (Keiko) Aoki, first a third grade then a sixth grade teacher at DesertView, remembers that her classes numbered from twenty-one to twenty-three pupils;Aoki interview

39 According to Wanda, this lack of trained teachers among the residents was due to the fact that most had not considered teaching as a profession because California had consistently discouraged persons of Japanese origin from teaching In fact, according to James, in the 1930s teaching as a vocation was closed to them (Oral History 22, and James, Exile Within, 21) As exceptions, three well-trained Japanese American teachers of whom we have record at Topaz, and for whom Wanda was truly grateful, were young Lillian Yamauchi Hori, Keiko Uchida, and Grace Fujii Trained as nursery school teachers, the latter two had organized the nursery schools before Wanda's arrival and would do excellent work in training other young women before their own relocation within a few months (Oral History, 22). Hori also relocated in less than a year; see "Daily Diary,"August 10, 1943.

40 Conversation with Leroy s family, 1943 In late 1942 military personnel had come to Topaz seeking Japanese-speaking men for service in Military Intelligence (Topaz Times, December 4, 1942) Then, on January 28, 1943, Secretary of War Stimson announced that the Army had decided to accept Japanese American recruits This recruitment began in February in all the relocation centers For an eloquent description of the conflicting attitudes in Topaz, see Uchida, Desert Exile, 135-37

41 Oral History, 22-23.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

materials to be taught during the coming week She often visited classes to observe the cadets at work; and in order to show her young teachers "how it is done," she often taught the children herself When working with the little ones,Wanda was "caring and gentle—an ideal teacher." However, one of Wanda's secretaries, who knew her schedule in advance, has wryly observed that the cadets, under pressure from these visits, were relieved to learn whenWanda would not be visiting their school.42

As further incentive,Wanda occasionally took the trainees to visit elementary schools in Delta, where they had more opportunity to observe professional teachers at work. As one second-grade instructor at Desert View would subsequently write,"I marveled at the skill of the professional teacher and went back to camp determined to improve my own teaching methods.But the delicious lunch at the Southern Hotel and the ice cream soda later in the day werejust as important to me as the visit to the school, and lingered as a pleasant memory for several days."Occasionally,Wanda also drove a cadet to Salt Lake City when she went to transact official business.43

AsWanda helped the cadets improve their teaching, she hoped to instill in them some of her own love for the profession. However, though she may have felt deep-seated sympathy for them, outwardly she showed the young internees little pity. She consistently required a great deal from them—sometimes more than they felt prepared to give. Nevertheless, although the hard-working cadets did at times get discouraged, they soon came to realize thatWanda's paramount goal was to help them master skills they could use upon their return to the outside world after Topaz. Her stern approach must have succeeded, for according to one colleague, the cadets themselves ultimately reflected Wanda's "let's get down to business and not "wasteprecious time"philosophy, and after Topaz a number of them did go into teaching. Indeed, one of these young cadets has observed in retrospect that "Miss Wanda" did give them purpose, held them together, and kept them from falling to pieces under the strain of their apparently hopeless and endless incarceration. It should be noted thatWanda was likely more demanding upon herself than upon the trainees.According to colleagues, her barracks light frequently burned at odd hours of the night as she sat correcting papers and otherwise preparing for the day ahead;44 and she often came late to meals because she had been working "over and

42 For the citation, see Sekerak letter For the other comments, see Oshita and Aoki interviews

43 For Wanda's ideas about supervision, see Oral History, 33, and WR, general letter to Robertson family, December 1962, in Anderson scrapbook; for the citation, see Uchida, Desert Exile, 130-31; for Wanda's driving cadets to Salt Lake City, see Ruth Allen Robertson, telephone interview with author, June 12, 2000 Mrs Robertson, a sister-in-law to Wanda, recounts that in the fall of 1943, while on one of these business trips to Salt Lake City, Wanda took the cadet to have Sunday dinner at the Robertson home before their return to Topaz As dessert Mrs Robertson served pumpkin pie, a family favorite The kindly gesture backfired, however, for to everyone's surprise the bewildered cadet could not eat even a bite of this traditional American delicacy; it was too strange and different from her own family's Japanese fare

44 For the comments about Wanda and her work with the cadet teachers, see Aoki interview and Oshita interview; for Wanda's demands upon herself, see Farrer interview and Sekerak letter; for the citations, see Sekerak, ibid

above the call of duty."

To supplement her regular teaching staff,Wanda became acquainted with and enlisted the help of the many highly skilled professionals among the residents An outstanding climatologist showed the children how to understand the weather station and do their own forecasting. An artist taught them stick-painting.Two noted astronomers would accompany groups of children on night excursions "within the camp to teach them about the moon, planets, and stars that shone so brightly in those desert skies One can imagine the children's excitement when a schoolmate brought a telescope to class:"Everyone wanted to look through it. Even boys and girls from other classes formed a line for their turn to peek through Harry's telescope."45 From time to time,Wanda herself would take three or four sixth graders in her car to the Sevier River,where they would fill containers with clay, which they then brought back for "curing" so it could be used for modeling purposes. Children throughout both schools used this clay to fashion dishes and figurines, and on special occasions a class would proudly present a homemade clay pot as a gift to some special person. 46 As for the very young children, they delighted in being allowed to go "over the fence" to watch newborn baby lambs (reminiscent ofWanda's own childhood) or to climb and play in a few big dead trees—there being very little playground equipment for them inside the compound.47 Most people well acquainted withWanda will readily surmise that while driving her passengers back and forth on their junkets she had them singing folk songs like"Apple-pandowdy" and"Blue-tail Fly."When in acar withWanda, one never had aquiet ride.48

Though Topaz could be harsh and stark, and while the children missed countless things a different environment might offer,Wanda found ways to give them many new kinds of experiences afforded only by the desert.As they mastered their reading, writing, and arithmetic, they also studied the native animals firsthand Numerous are the stories ofthe children caring for ants, frogs, and "beautiful lizards."Witness, for example, the sad saga of young Edwin Narahara and his short-lived horned toad:"Edwin brought us ababy horned toad It isnow living with our five lizards... Edwin's little horned toad died Some of the boys made a cross for it and buried it behind the barracks."49 During her visits to the classes,Wanda complimented the children on their work and gave them practical advice about life in the desert:"Miss Robertson came today and told us how much she liked

45 Oral History, 20 For the citation, see "Daily Diary," May 21, 1943

46 Oral History, 20-21; "Daily Diary,"August 6,1943

47 Oral History, 21

48 Regarding Wanda and singing in the car, the author vividly remembers that when she was a young teenager traveling cross-country by car with her "Aunt Wanda," they sang folk songs almost nonstop from the plateaus ofWyoming to the banks of the Hudson River.

49 "Daily Diary," May 18 and June 4, 1943. For information about these children's ongoing interest in desert animals, see "Daily Diary," March 12,1943, and passim thereafter

Student at Topaz.

our diary She also told us how to kill mosquitoes in ponds. Mosquitoes are pests because they have bitten almost everyone in Topaz." It is likely no coincidence that her name appears in the first entry of the Mountain View high third grade's "Daily Diary": "Miss Robertson told us today that we must be careful about touching jackrabbits because they have a disease. She told us also about abadger atBlock 42.We shall go see it very soon."50

The older children learned about Native Americans, the fragile ecosystem, and geology "[We saw movies] about Pueblo Indians, their homes, farms, soil and other interesting things.We also learned that dust storms arose when sheep and other grazing animals ate all the grass." "Yesterday the High Sixth [Grade] went to Mt. [name omitted] and found hundreds and hundreds of trilobite fossils"51

The main stimulus propelling such activities was the need for the schools to help these uprooted children cope with their strange new life. In this regard, one important event each day became the informal talks held by the teachers and pupils as a sort of group therapy "show and tell"period, during which they expressed their feelings and discussed matters close to their hearts.They talked about the weather with its extremes of heat and cold and its frightening storms: "Today the mountains seem full of lightning." They told of school activities:"Miss Robertson came to our class to listen to us read She thought we read very well."They voiced their grief over the sad death of elderly Mr.JamesWakasa, shot and killed by a sentry when he walked too close to the fence and did not stop.Another pervasive topic was the sickness constantly plaguing the compound But most of all,they spoke of their families: fathers and mothers departing Topaz; a little sister getting lost in the maze oflook-alike "streets"and "avenues";ababy brother whose crying all night kept everyone awake in those flimsily constructed, overcrowded barracks They reviewed both their sad and happy times together No subject was off limits to these,the youngest and most innocent victims of incarceration.52

50 "Daily Diary," May 31 and March 8, 1943.

51 Ibid., May 13 and May 31, 1943, respectively.

52 For the citations, see "Daily Diary," June 14 and July 23, 1943, respectively; for accounts of other activities, see ibid., March 12, 1943, and passim thereafter The accounts ofWakasa's death are incomplete

Though Wanda, unfortunately never wrote an account of life in Topaz, throughout her tenure there she often urged others to do so Thanks to her encouragement, one of the cadets became so interested in children's literature that after leaving Topaz she began writing of her experiences as a Japanese American and eventually became an outstanding children's author with many books to her credit.53

Life atTopaz proceeded asusual,with days becoming weeks,weeks turning into months,and months adding up to years.Then came the summer of 1944 Just asWanda was conducting an intensive twelve-week teachertraining course for the cadet teachers, she received an unexpected letter from the dean of education at Columbia University, her alma mater He expressed his pleasure at having been able to track her down and invited her to return to NewYork and complete her doctoral studies.54

The program atTopaz was rapidly phasing out. Residents were relocating in ever-increasing numbers,and even Charles Ernst,the project director who had been there from the beginning,was leaving.55 Furthermore, at that moment, more advanced study at Columbia University was an offer no educator could refuse "And so,"Wanda recalls,"after two years in Topaz, I went straight to New York." She left on a hot August day, quietly driving away without fanfare just as she had quietly arrived on that bitter-cold December day of 1942 "There was universal regret when she had to leave,"remembers colleague Eleanor Gerard Sekerak.56

Because Wanda had often worked so unobtrusively behind the scenes, her efforts may have gone unrecognized or perhaps were soon forgotten by many But her teachers did not forget her, nor didWanda forget Topaz For the rest of her life,whenever she spoke of that desert city,tears of compassion welled into her eyes and choked her voice.57

The schools of Topaz closed in June 1945, never to reopen, and the

and contradictory The children, who were always affected by any crisis in camp, could only have been very confused by this tragedy For a short, lucid account of the fatal shooting and its effects on the residents, see Arrington, Price of Prejudice, 32-33

53 When this author, who was likely Yoshiko Uchida, visited with Wanda in Salt Lake City c 1984— some forty years after Topaz—she stated that she owed her success as a writer to her experiences at Topaz (Oral History, 20) While in the sources neither Wanda nor Yoshiko refer to the other by name, Grace Fujimoto Oshito, who knew and worked with both of them, has positively identified Uchida as the author in question Unfortunately, I could not confirm this with Uchida, because she is deceased, and not even her publishers knew of any survivors to contact; Ken Verdoia (KUED) to author, July 26, 1999, and Maggie Pincus (University ofWashington Press) to author, August 4, 1999

54 Oral History, 14-15, and Daines interview, 8 The teacher-training program would last from June 12 into early August. For details see Topaz Times, May 17June 10, and August 5, 1944.

55 Mr Ernst's replacement, Luther T Hoffman, arrived June 4; Topaz Times, June 7, 1944 Drayton B Nuttal, principal of the secondary school (see note 15), would also soon leave to serve in the armed forces; Topaz Times, August 5, 1944

56 For the citations, see Daines interview, 8, and Sekerak letter Wanda left Topaz August 19, 1944 Her replacement was Maude Boen, who came from the relocation center at Jerome, Arkansas; Topaz Times, August 16, 1944

57 Janice Wright, interview with author, Salt Lake City, December 28, 1998 For the teachers remembering Wanda see Oral History, 20, and Martha Chastain to J Kyle Robertson, March 10, 1990, in possession of Max and Nancy O.Anderson, Nephi, Utah

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

entire compound officially shut down the following October 31. Ultimately, everything was torn down.Except for afew potsherds and rusty scraps of metal scattered alongside the obscure remains of the "streets" and "avenues," only a monument now marks the spot where Topaz once stood.58

After leaving Topaz, Wanda continued her active schedule. She finished her doctorate at Columbia then returned to the University of Utah, where she taught, became head of the department of elementary education, and eventually took emeritus retirement in 1971.During these years, she also lived in Ethiopia on two occasions, helping establish a department of education at Haile Selassie I University while developing a teacher-training program there That, however, is another story She never married, although as a young woman she was courted by many ardent swains and did fall inlove afew times along the"way.

Wanda ended her days rather sadly. Pain-ridden and weakened by old age, she—who had always been so active and outgoing—became lonely depressed, and largely dependent upon friends and family. She died February 28, 1990, in Salt Lake City Her nieces and nephews remember her many kindnesses and ever-generous spirit. Others around the world remember the help she unstintingly gave to countless children.

58 For

the school closing, see Tunnell and Chilcoat, Children, 68 For the closing of Topaz, see Verdoia, Topaz. Ted Nagata, whose family was among the very last to leave Topaz, remembers that during its final weeks the city was a veritable ghost town, "no people, no street lights, only wind"; Nagata interview. The barracks buildings found their way onto farms and lots in the Delta area, and many are currently being used as outbuildings The Great Basin Museum in Delta displays a replica of one of the barracks

North Logan: A Town without a Plan

By JESSIE EMBRY

When Governor Michael Leavitt asked state residents in 1998 to "Envision Utah,"1 the state's communities already looked much different than the Plat of Zion Brigham Young had imposed on settlements in the Great Basin. Few residents lived in villages laid out on a grid with uniform blocks, a central town square, and farms just outside of town Instead, most lived in subdivisions "with curved streets and cul de sacs.

What brought about these changes? While North Lo9an> 1971' from the there are many factors, some came because mouth of Green Canyon in the no one "envisioned" Utah's growth in rural foothills east of town.

Jessie Embry is the assistant director of the Charles Red d Cente r for Western Studies, Brigh University She is the author of North Logan Town, 1934—1970.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

areas during the 1960s and 1970s.At first there were no rules, and when there were,very often they were not followed Inexperienced planning and zoning commissions, new regulations that city officials did not always enforce and that contractors often ignored, the desire to be good neighbors, and disagreements and jealousies undermined attempts at controlled growth Understanding how one community, North Logan, stumbled into development may help in future planning While North Logan never did conform to the Plat of Zion, its development during the 1960s and 1970s matched that of other areas ofthe state.2

The rocky area between Logan and Hyde Park, the site of North Logan, did not immediately attract settlers, because there was no water available and the land was less desirable.As more people arrived in the CacheValley, however, farmers moved to the marginal lands,anticipating the completion of the Logan, Hyde Park, and Smithfield Canal, which was started in 1881 but,due to financial difficulties, not completed until 1889

North Logan's initial settlers were Logan resident Ralph Smith, his son Thomas, and two friends, Hyrum Maughan and Julius Johnson, who all filed for homesteads along the east bench in 1878.At first they continued to live in Logan while they worked their homesteads In 1884 Smith and his family moved into arock house on the bench, the first building in -what is now North Logan. Maughan and Johnson joined him that year, and by 1890 ten families had moved onto their homesteads.3 In 1891 Andrew Jenson, an employee of the LDS Historian's Office, described the settlement:"The North LoganWard consists of the saints residing on their farms in a somewhat scattered condition between Logan and Hyde Park." According to historian Dean May,Jenson disapproved of towns that did not adapt to the Mormon village plan, and his reference to a town as "scattered"was an insult.4

North Logan remained a rural community until after World War II. Nearly everyone farmed and had a few cows and chickens.The 1934—35 Polk City Directory listed 104 heads of households During the 1930s there were only seventy-five houses in town, according toVern Krebs, who grew up in town during that decade.5

2 While many other communities in Utah grew in much the same way that North Logan did, the issues have not been extensively studied from a historical point of view In the 1970s a group of planning students at the University of Utah wrote "Why Summit County: A Survey of Land Subdivision Impact" (August 1972) and arrived at conclusions similar to those in this article

3 Joel E Ricks, "Expansion of Settlement," History of the Valley, Joel E Ricks, ed (Logan, Utah: Cache Valley Centennial Commission, 1956), 81; Lydia Thurston Nyman andVenetta King Gilgen, Miscellaneous Papers on the History of North Logan, Utah, 1885-1959 (North Logan, Utah: North Logan Friends of the Library, 1998 edition), 2, 110-18, 224, 226, 228

4 North Logan Manuscript History, LDS Church Archives, Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; Dean May, "Ward as Community," Sunstone Symposium Lecture, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1995, audiotape copy at the Learning Resource Center, Harold B Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

5 1934-35 Cache County Polk City Directory, Archives and Special Collections, Milton R Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan (hereafter referred to as USUSC);Vern Krebs Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1998, 2, North Logan Oral History Project, Charles Redd Center for Western

But post-WorldWar II developments affected North Logan as they did the rest of the United States Returning service personnel used the GI bill to attend college; as enrollment increased at Utah State University, the college hired more teachers,some ofwhom chose to live in North Logan. According to North Logan native Farres Nyman,"Logan City was crowded. So North Logan became the bedroom for the university,and houses started popping up everywhere."The 1955 Polk City Directory listed 121 heads of households; by 1971 there were 304, and only fourteen listed some aspect of farming as an occupation. The largest single employer was Utah State University,with seventy-five heads ofhouseholds working at the university; fifty-one of these were professors. Residents also included public school teachers, doctors, lawyers, dentists, store owners and managers, federal and state employees,contractors,and blue-collar "workers.6

This growth required alot of new home construction At first, the newcomers lived on or near existing roads Many bought property to build on and then sold off portions to others Bertis L andAnna E Coulson Embry for example, moved to North Logan in 1947 Embry, a 1941 engineering graduate of USU, came to North Logan intending to do contract farming, but with the influx of students at USU he was hired to teach drafting and farm machinery At the time that the Embrys were looking for land, Sarah H (Sadie) Nyman, a widow, was planning to move to Salt Lake City Embry bought ten acres from Nyman; then, in turn, he sold five of those acres in two parcels to Carroll I Draper in February 1949 and toJames L Shupe in December 1950 Eventually,Draper, also aprofessor at USU, built ahome on hislot Shupe sold his

In October 1952 Embry purchased ten acres on 1200 East from Lawrence Batt at atime when Batt needed money.Embry figured that if he was going to teach farm machinery he needed to keep up with the latest technology, and the best way to do that was by actually farming. But land did not buy equipment, and he sold lots from that piece to Roice Anderson, a professor at USU, and John Stocking, an employee of Cache Valley Breeding Association.The Stockings had been renting an apartment from developer Don Loosle.Eileen Stocking remembered,"There were not too many lots available then. I'm surprised that [Embry] sold us this.We found out later it wasbecause it had so many rocks on it."7

Dean Haslem moved to Logan to become assistant manager of the USU bookstore At first, the Haslems lived in Logan,but they did not like living so close to ditches full of water In 1951 they purchased a lot in North Logan from local farmer George Maughan and had contractorJoe Jacobsen

Studies, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Harold B Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (All oral histories come from this collection.)

f' Ferris Nyman Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1998, 8; 1955 and 1971 Logan Polk City Directories, USUSC

7 Bertis L Embry, Personal Papers, copies in possession of author; Eileen and John Stocking Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1998, 10

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

build a home for them. Haslem recalled, "The old timers here hesitated [about the town's growth].They didn't "want people to move in, but they didn't hesitate to sellthe land to build on."8

One of the most active builders in North Logan during the 1950s and 1960s was contractor Don Loosle.Loosle,who grew up in Logan, enjoyed hunting in the North Logan area and knew many of the old-timers. He also enjoyed building;asateenager he worked with afamily friend to construct a home for his parents in Logan Later, he trained as a carpenter in Ogden and obtained a contractor's license. In the 1950s, when his father purchased land in North Logan from George Maughan, just above Dean Haslem's land,Loosle built ahome for his parents and abasement home for himself and his new bride He later added asecond floor to his home

Like others,Loosle purchased land that North Logan residents "wanted to sell,but he planned to build homes for those who wanted to move to the area. He bought property between 1700 and 1900 North and 1200 and 1600 East from Louis L Madsen, then president of Utah State University One of the oldest homes in town sat in the middle of the property on a lane. Loosle remodeled it and lived there for several years. But his dream was to build anew home on the brim of ahill,a site with alovely view of CacheValley.9

Loosle eventually sold the remodeled home to Lorna Nyman Dewey, a native of North Logan, and her husbandWade Dewey, aprofessor at USU

In the early 1960s the Deweys decided they "wanted anew home, and they asked Loosle to construct one down the lane closer to 1200 East. Wade Dewey remembered, "Now when everybody builds a house, they get their plans and their blueprints all made up Don asked me what I wanted in a house,and so Isat down with a8^2by 11piece of graph paper....Don built the house from that one sheet of graph paper.... I thought alot ofDon asa builder."10

As more residents moved into town, the custom of simply building houses on farms or along existing streets led to chaos Other U.S communities had already faced the problem and established zoning ordinances— which involved abalancing act between property owners'rights to do what they wanted with their property and a municipality's need to preserve order and value by regulating land use Hartford, Connecticut, established the first regulations controlling the use ofproperty in 1907;NewYork City and Berkeley, California, followed in 1916.The U.S.Supreme Court ruled in favor of a community's right to manage growth in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. in 1926 Although towns and cities controlled central zoning regulations, they could do so only after state governments granted them the authority to do so.For example, Salt Lake City organized a Civic

8 Dean and Evelyn Haslem Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L. Embry, 1998, 2.

9 Don Loosle Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 2000, interview in process

10 Lorna Nyman Dewey and Wade Dewey Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L. Embry, 1998, 13—14.

Planning andArt Commission in 1913 and considered its first zoning pattern in 1917, but it could not pass zoning ordinances until after the Utah State Legislature authorized city zoning regulations in 1925.11

During the depression of the 1930s andWorld War II, home construction slowed throughout the country, and zoning became less important. However, after the "warAmericans again had the resources to build new homes Logan City considered its first zoning laws in 1950,and adapted its ordinance from the state's model ordinance. By 1955 Logan and River Heights were the only communities in Cache County -with zoning ordinances That year the Logan newspaper, the HeraldJournal, commented that Logan should plan for double its population and that smaller communities in the area should alsoprepare for growth. In a CacheValley survey of mayors in 1956,Smithfield's Mayor M.T.Van Orden complained that the town needed zoning, but he added, with no explanation, that there were "too many farmers" in town, and it would not be possible to pass a land use ordinance.The county passed its first zoning ordinance in 1958, but this covered only unincorporated areas. 12

North Logan followed the trend two years later. On January 25, 1960, the town board appointed one ofitsmembers,engineer and university professor Bertis L.Embry, to chair and select a committee to start developing an ordinance.A month later,the town minutes listed the zoning committee members: Utah State employee DuWayne Goodwin, farmer Dewain Berger, chicken business owner Farres Nyman, and county extension agent Ray Burtenshaw.InJune the town board named Embry zoning administrator.The North Logan Zoning Ordinance,adopted in 1960,followed a state model and was similar to Logan City's 1950 ordinance.13

Several factors led to the decision to start regulating growth. One was a water shortage. In 1934 North Logan had filed on springs in Green Canyon, east of town These initially provided adequate water, but as the town grew there was an occasional shortage, especially during dry years Peter Larsen, who read the water and power meters for years,wrote, "For the 135 families in 1959 there seems to be an adequate -water supply.We remember well that during the summer months the stream in Water Canyon [east of Green Canyon] often disappeared into the ground That's

" Thomas G.Alexander, "Sylvester Q. Cannon and the Revival of Environmental Consciousness in the Mormon Community," Environmental History 3 (October 1998): 494—98; Peter L Abeles, "Planning and Zoning," in Zoning and theAmerican Dream: Promises Still to Keep, Charles M Haar and Jerold S Kayden, eds (Chicago: Planners Press, 1989), 128-37; Thomas G.Alexander and James B.Allen, Mormons and Gentiles:A History of Salt Lake City (Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Co., 1984), 171

12 F. Ross Peterson, A History of Cache County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society and Cache County Commission, 1997), 316-17; HeraldJournal, June 5, 1950, May 15, 1951, October 30, 1955, July 24, 1958

'

3 North Logan Town MinutesJanuary 24, 1960, February 22, 1960June 27, 1960; North Logan City Ordinance 20, North Logan City Offices, North Logan, Utah; "Survey of Cache Valley Municipalities," 1956, USUSC.The "Survey of CacheValley Municipalities" includes a copy of a Logan City's 1950 zoning ordinance

why one fearful person.,.said,'There ain't The Logan-Hyde Park-Smithfield enuff water in Green Canyon to wet the canal, 1971. The fields east of inside ofthe pipe! " the canaJ are fmjng up wjth

Throughout the 1960s North Logan , , •, , i j subdivisions. would nave a chronic water shortage, and often the city would have to restrict outdoor use. Lack of water did act to control growth, although at first the city granted building permits despite the shortage When DonYounker, a native son,returned from California to North Logan in 1960,the town board told him, "We're in a drought right now, and we don't know whether we can supply you water or not. But ifyou buy a building permit, we'll give you water."Younker "bought North Logan's number-one-on-the-list building permit.... It cost me five dollars."15 The board continued to approve building permits in 1960 and 1961 However, after granting six permits in March 1961,it decided to stop issuing them until the town resolved its water shortage In April the town dug test wells and, based on the results, began selling building permits again.However, it warned new permit holders that water hookups "wereno longer guaranteed.16

Zoning was a new concept that was not always remembered. So by August 21, 1964, the zoning commission was no longer functioning, and the town board asked Embry, -who had been on a foreign assignment from 1960 to 1962 and had been reappointed to the board upon his return, to fill the vacancies. On February 11, 1965, the board was reorganized with farmer Dewain Berger as chair, university professor Carroll Draper as vice chair, Mary Lynn Peterson as secretary, and Dorothy Bills and Logan High School math teacher Richard Bradford ascommittee members.17

14 Nyman and Gilgen, Miscellaneous Papers, 61

15 DonYounker Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1998, 11

16 North Logan Town Minutes, October 24, 1960, February 27, 1961, March 7, 1961, April 3, 1961, May 1,1961

17 Ibid.,August 21, 1964, February 11,1965.

The zoning committee did not keep minutes or records, but the town minutes occasionally record zoning-related actions.The first decision by the revised zoning commission was to allow longtime resident and USU bookstore employee Larry Batt a variance to build a garage closer to an existing building than the ordinance allowed Batt explained that he had originally built a single garage. By the time he decided to add a double garage,his parents had built next door, and there would be only eighteen feet between the new garage and hisparents'home;the law required twenty Variances were not always granted, however Wade Dewey, "who briefly served on the town board,"wasone who helped enforce zoning regulations He measured "side yards and back yards on building permits"and required compliance from people who did not want to meet the requirements.18

Until the late 1950s homes were located on or near existing roads. Eventually developers wanted to build homes on new streets that would cut through farms In 1957 EarlAnderson andWillisTingey asked permission to build the town's first subdivision, between 1900 and 2100 North and at about 1000 East,just west of a four-year-old Mormon chapel. The two men planned fifty-seven houses on the nineteen acres, to be built at the rate of five houses per year, each costing at least $12,000 The town board made no decision at the time

Two years later,Anderson andTingey came back with approximately the same plan.At first the board complained about the number of houses, but twenty days later it conditionally approved the subdivision map so that Shardon Morrill, who had purchased a lot in the proposed subdivision, could build his home The Morrills were newcomers with no connection to the community; Shardon and his wife, Iris, had graduated from Utah State University, and he had accepted a position teaching math at Logan Junior High School. Floyd Krebs, one of the developers, was a longtime North Logan resident, though, and might have had some pull "with the town board.More likely the board recognized that Morrill had bought the land and needed aplace to live and sowere willing to grant his request.

19

North Logan did not have a subdivision ordinance, so the Montague Park developers had no standards to follow.They initially installed a twoinch water line.When Floyd Krebs met with the town board protesting a water hookup fee to the Morrill home, the board responded that not only would there be a charge but there would also be no further hookups until the subdividers put in a four-inch pipe.After some discussion the board compromised, requiring that when there were ten houses the subdividers must put in the larger pipe As late as 1968,however, the subdivision was still operating on a two-inch water line According to then-town board

18 North Logan Town Minutes, January 14, 1965; Larry Batt Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L. Embry, 1998, 6; Dewey Oral History, 18

"North Logan Town MinutesJuly 10, 1957June 2, 1959; telephone conversation with Iris Morrill, March 2000

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

memberVern Krebs (Floyd Krebs's brother),"Fire protection was out of the question."20 The developers never were held to the requirement, and the town itselfeventually installed alarger water line

The lack of a subdivision ordinance also led to inferior roads The Montague Park developers and homeowners worked out an arrangement in which each owner was required to pave halfway across the road in front of his or her home.An owner could pay the subdividers to do this or do the work himself Since many residents were first-time homebuyers on tight budgets,most elected to do the paving themselves According toVern Krebs, this created "a checkerboard effect." Town board president Farres Nyman agreed,"We got some pretty lousy roads...because one guy would pour acurb and gutter and build aroad and his neighbor wouldn't It wasa >521 mess.

In February 1968 the town board said it would not issue any more building permits in the Montague Park subdivision until it had received and approved road and gutter plans.Town attorney Brent Hoggan suggested "that to preserve tranquility the town [should] notify the owners of the unsold lots" that no building permits would be issued Still, there were people who wanted to build homes, and the town board wanted to meet their needs.Despite the attorney's suggestions,building permits were issued inJuly for two lots.In October 1969 Floyd Krebs came up with his plan: the road would be competed in twenty-five years,with twenty feet being paved everyfiveyears.The town board demanded abetter plan.22

Eventually,the city itself completed the road,but no sidewalks were ever built. In 1999 there were fifty-five houses on the nineteen-acre property. Most of the homes are the ranch style popular in the 1960s, but more recent "Victorian"styles have been added,and some lots are vacant

The town faced the same types ofproblems with the second subdivision, built west of 1600 East. Don Loosle built Highland Drive, a cul de sac between 1700 North and 1900 North, in 1959.He developed the subdivision because he was building a road to his new home on the brim of the hill;he decided to selllots along the road The subdivision was not recorded in the county offices, however. Loosle simply sold lots and then required the owners to deed aright-of-way back to him for a road.23

Because there were no specific regulations at the time it went in,Loosle's road did not meet later requirements, and the town considered it a private lane. But the new homeowners—college professors and businessmen— were not aware of these problems when they bought; they had merely been impressed by the house styles and the new cul de sac concept They argued

211 North Logan Town Minutes,June 2, 1959June 22, 1959, September 28,1960; Krebs Oral History, 15

21 Krebs Oral History, 15; Nyman Oral History, 11-12

22 North Logan Town Minutes, February 28, 1968, October 1, 1969, October 29, 1969, November 5, 1969

23 Loosle Oral History; Lot 2, Block 19, Plot G, Logan Farm Survey, 1958-1965, Cache County Recorder's Office, Logan, Utah

that the town had accepted Loosle's proposal to build houses and that therefore the board was responsible for road maintenance and repair. According to town councilman Vern Krebs, the board "had to face the music with no money to do itwith.Itwas atough situation."24

After agreat deal of discussion,the town board agreed in 1968 to accept Highland Drive as an approved road but refused to accept the incomplete sidewalk and inferior curbs and gutters,despite Loosle's claims that the gutters matched those installed at the time the subdivision was completed. Highland Drive residents had complained that they were discriminated against;other roads were being accepted without prerequisites,and they felt they should not be penalized for the developer's mistakes.After the residents'presentation, the town agreed to accept Highland Drive but told the residents that ifthey wanted new curbs and sidewalks the request would be considered "extraordinary"25

These two subdivisions taught the North Logan board some lessons Utah had passed legislation allowing local governments to regulate subdivisions in 1953,but it was not until ten years later that North Logan adopted a subdivision ordinance.The 1963 ordinance required sidewalks,roads, and water lines that met town requirements There was also a forward-looking provision which ordered that no less than 5 percent of the subdivision be deeded to the town for future school and recreational development. (Unfortunately, this provision was later repealed, and the land was returned to the developers.) During the next few years, developers continued to submit subdivision plats The town checked these against the ordinance and required revisions ifthe standards were not met.26

A subdivision ordinance, however, did not eliminate all the problems Don Loosle built Country Estates,a subdivisionjust east of 1200 East near the service station on 2100 North. On November 16, 1965, the town board noted that Loosle had started work on the subdivision before gaining final approval Wade Dewey a town board member, agreed to check with Loosle. Even after approval was granted, the roads were not completed as required, and inJuly 1968 the town board amended the subdivision ordinance to require completion bonds. Board members told Loosle that no new building permits would be issued until the road was finished. Planners working with North Logan urged more care,saying,"It is unfortunate that this subdivision has proceeded to near completion -without proper design and construction of surface improvements.We recommend that immediate steps be taken to adopt and enforce standards which will ensure orderly,

24 North Logan Town Minutes, September 1, 1959; Glen and Lou Anna Fifield Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1998 ; Krebs Oral History, 15-16

25 North Logan Town Minutes, August 23, 1963, September 20, October 23, December 12, 1967, February 7, April 25, May 15, May 21, 1968

26 "Summary of Utah Law: Land Use, Zoning and Eminent Domain," Brigham Young UniversityJournal of Legal Studies (Provo, Utah: J Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University), 32; North Logan Town MinutesJanuary 4January 25, February 22, May 30,June 28July 19, September 27, 1963

attractive,and functional subdivision develop- Don Loosle's Country Estates ment in your community.The natural beauty subdivision, 1971. ofyour area certainly merits every consideration for orderly growth."27

Although the town had a zoning law and a subdivision ordinance, variances were common. North Logan was still a small town, and board members wanted to cooperate with their neighbors. In March 1969 Don Loosle requested building permits for three more houses in the Country Estates subdivision, arguing that he needed to start work on the houses immediately and promising that the road work would be done in three months.The town board issued the permits but denied water hookups until the road was completed.28

While the town board had tried to anticipate allthe building possibilities, it "was not ready for requests for multiple housing units. In 1969 Don Loosle proposed to build the town's first apartments.He had purchased the service station and surrounding land at 2000 North on 1200 East and had built a small country grocery store there, but he got little business Since the rest of the area -was zoned commercial and Loosle could build any structure allowed in an R-2 zone, including two-, three-, and four-family dwellings,he looked to fourplex apartments to recoup his investment.29

Because his request for apartments did meet the zoning ordinance, the town board issued building permits, conditional upon adequate sewage arrangements—a serious consideration because North Logan residents used septic tanks and did not have a sewer system until after 1976. Loosle also asked for and received a variance to make the front yards only thirty feet deep, ten feet less than required by ordinance The planning board justified granting a variance because some front yards in town -were only thirtythree feet deep.When some residents complained about Loosle's plans, the board told them that he had met all the requirements of the law and that nothing could stop the construction John Stocking,who -was"in charge of

27 North Logan Town Minutes, November 16, 1965July 31, October 22, 1968.

28 Ibid., March 25, 1969

29 Loosle Oral History; North Logan Ordinance 20.

enforcing what few zoning laws we had at the time," told Loosle,"I -will oppose you on this [apartment] project, but in my position I have to support all the law allows."Loosle built his apartments, but when Larry Batt replaced Nyman asboard president in 1970,the board conducted a survey and found that the community did not want apartments allowed even in homes New ordinances banned apartments.30

When Larry Batt became board president in 1970, Farres Nyman told him,"The first thing you need to do is to develop amaster plan for North Logan."Actually,North Logan had already started work on aplan In 1967 the Cache County commissioners asked the communities to cooperate on a countywide master plan.LeRoy France,from the North Logan Planning Committee, went to a Cache County meeting in which the county suggested that North Logan and Hyde Park work together and pointed out that federal funds would pay for two-thirds of the cost of planning. After some discussion about the costs, North Logan agreed to participate and work with Planning ResearchAssociates.31

The plan recommended a residential growth area from Providence to North Logan. Because of North Logan's close location to Utah State University,the community was seen as"an ideal place for steady growth in population."The concept at that time was self-contained neighborhoods,so Planning Research Associates suggested four neighborhoods, each with an elementary school. Collector streets would separate the areas, so there would be little traffic in the immediate neighborhoods.After several public meetings, the town rejected the master plan as written, pointing out that small elementary schools of 250 students were not economically feasible and that animals could not be eliminated in the rural community.The plan was modified to allow for 500-student schools and horses in residential areas After additional meetings, the town adopted the master plan in June 1970 However, almost no one thought that the town would ever grow to meet the plan's projected 7,000 residents.32

The master plan made a difference. For example, prior to adoption of the plan Keith Hoffman had received a permit to build a home on a lane just off 1700 North But the new plan called for homes to be in subdivisions or on existing roads So when Carroll Draper asked permission to sell lots on Hoffman's lane, the town first asked him to wait until the master plan was finished and then told him no. Farres Nyman said that Draper accepted the decision,although he may have been upset since there were so many variances granted for other nonconforming properties In fact,Vern Krebs resigned from the zoning committee because "I couldn't live with some ofthe [variances]."For example,once when subdividers failed to pro-

30 North Logan Town Minutes, March 25, November 5, November 19, November 29, 1969; Stocking Oral History, 13-14; Larry and Helen Batt Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L. Embry, 1998, 7-8.

31 Batt Oral History, 7; North Logan Minutes,April 4, 1967, March 13, 1968.

32 North Logan Minutes, October 15,1969, March 12,March 18June 4, 1970

vide access,the committee put a moratorium on building in the subdivision, but the town board overrode the committee's decision.33

North Logan continued its haphazard growth even after it had a zoning ordinance and a master plan.The zoning (or, later, the zoning and planning) commissioners -were not trained and did not always understand the regulations. Nor could they devote a great deal of time to planning.The commission included farmers and professionals who donated their time and had other occupations and church and family obligations.

There were also disagreements about how North Logan should develop After twenty-eight years on the town board, fifteen as president, Orvin Nyman retired Lyle Israelsen,who won the election in 1962,ran on aplatform that encouraged growth He argued that the previous president, Orvin Nyman, had set building permit and -waterhookup fees too high.34

Once North Logan started to grow,residents disagreed on how subdivi-

Aerial view of North Logan, 1999, looking east, showing a pattern of scattered subdivision, commercial, and institutional growth.

Nyman Oral History, 12; Krebs Oral History, 18 Lyle and Nancy Israelsen Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L. Embry, 1999, 13.

sions should be laid out.Vance Waite, the town clerk, argued with town council members who insisted that all roads should be at right angles, pointing out that he had studied the new trends in city planning and supported subdivisions -with no through streets. In 1966 Gael Lindstrom, a professor of art at Utah State and a member of the planning commission, also recommended against a grid pattern, "which only bows to the automobile, and [he] said all resident streets should be a dead-end or a cul de sac.

The 1970s taught North Logan and many communities like it the need for more careful planning, but in the late 1990s the town still struggled to know how to deal with newcomers and how to balance property rights "with the needs of the community. The agenda of the March 2000 joint meeting ofthe North Logan city council and planning commission included zoning issues debated in the 1970s,such asthe use ofprivate lanes.With a population of approximately 6,000 in 1999, the community -was still small, and the city council chose to assist its citizens whenever possible by allowing numerous variances In 1965 Merlin and Elna King had subdivided their farm at 1000 East and 1900 North into two-acre lots This arrangement -was included in a master plan However, in 1998 Elna King asked for a variance Her two acres were more than she could care for, and she had grandchildren who wanted building lots Her neighbors rallied in her support The overwhelming view at the city council meeting was that the Kings had given the neighbors a great deal by allowing them to build in the area, and the Kings should be given anything they wanted She was granted the variance.36

The present Envision Utah program asks Utahns to examine how they want their state to look in the future, but it does not resolve the fundamental questions that residents of North Logan and similar communities continue to face How much control should local governments have over private property? How much development is "progress"? How do citizen planning boards balance zoning regulations, the need for open space and increased revenue,and neighbors'wants,needs,and concerns? North Logan City officials continue to stumble as they try to resolve these questions— because there isnot asingle answer that will please all residents

35 North Logan Town MinutesJanuary 31, 1966;Vance Waite Oral History, interviewed by Jessie L Embry, 1999, 5

36 North Logan Town MinutesJune 10, 1965; Elna King Oral History, interviewed by Jessie Embry, 1998,6

"You Haven't Got Enough Guts to Shoot— Hand Me That Gun!" Sheriff Antone B. Prince,

1936-1954

By STEPHEN PRINCE

Antone Benjamin Prince did not aspire to thejob of sheriff, but fate dictated otherwise. On the afternoon ofJune 2, 1936, his brother-in-law,Washington County sheriffJohn Cottam, volunteered to move a large and very heavy safe from the recorder's office to the clerk's office at theWashington County Courthouse Assisted by his son Mason,J.T.Beatty, and Ralph Whipple, Cottam was attempting to lift the safe when he suddenly straightened up, took a couple of steps backward, and started to fall.Beatty caught him and eased him to the floor and called for aglass ofwater,believing that Cottam had fainted

Then, sensing that the condition was more serious than he had thought at first, Beatty Antone B. Prince, sheriff of frantically urged that a doctor be called,but it Washington County, was known was too late A blood vessel had burst at the for his tracking skills.

Stephen Prince, D.D.S., is a native of Los Angeles and attended UCLA for both his undergraduate studies and dental school He is a practicing dentist in west Los Angeles This article is excerpted from a forthcoming book

base ofJohn Cottam's brain,and he was dead.1 Informed by his wife Juanita of Cottam's death,formerWashington County sheriffWill Brooks immediately asked, "Who shot him?" for Cottam always carried a gun and took such chances that Brooks figured someday he might meet a bullet.2

A good man had been lost,but after a short period of mourning it was time to find a successor A total of twenty-one men filed applications to serve the remainder of the elected term,butAntone Prince was not among them. Considering himself unqualified to be sheriff, he was content to -work at avariety ofjobs,including driving amail truck from Cedar City to Kanab, working as a fieldman for the State Agricultural Conservation Service, and serving as deputy Indian agent and later as deputy county extension agent for the federal government. While serving in the latter position, about three weeks after Cottam's death Antone returned late to his home in St George from a district meeting at Beaver and -was told by his wife Vilate that the county commissioners had been trying all day to reach him. He could not imagine what they wanted of him and found it very mysterious that ifhe got home by midnight he was to come immediately to the courthouse.What happened next was beyond belief to him.

I went to the courthouse and knocked on the door and George H. Lytle, chairman of the county commission, stopped and shook my hand and said, "Congratulations, sheriff," and I said,"What?"He said,"We appointed you sheriff today."I said,"Not me," and he said,"We just appointed you sheriff.We had twenty-one applications filed for the position We went through them, sifted them out, Rex Gardner mentioned your name So we appointed you sheriff." I said,"Well, I haven't had any experience, brother Lytle,"and he said,"Well,you helped your brother-in-law John Cottam a little."I said, "Yes, I've been out with him a few times Give me time to talk to my wife." He said, "I'll give you five minutes."

Well, I started to bawl like a baby. I thought a minute and I said,"Well, if you bear with me 'til I learn the game, I'll accept it."He said,"We'll support you 100%."I said, "What is the pay?"and he said,"$90 amonth, and you furnish your own car We'll give you 5 cents amile to operate."3

Ninety dollars a month was a good but not great wage—he had earned that much driving the mail truck (though he gave up the job because his brother-in-law Charles Petty,-who had the mail contract from Cedar City to Kanab, gave him no time off to spend with his family)—but at least it gave promise of steady employment.The morning after accepting the job he visited County Attorney Orval Hafen and said,"Orval, they appointed me sheriff last night and I don't know a thing about it." Hafen replied, "Well, I'll be glad to help you in any way I can." District Attorney Ellis Pickett then gave him a copy of the 1933 Utah Statutes and said, "Learn that allby heart and you'll be okay."4

1 Washington County News,June 4, 1936.

2 Will Brooks, UncleWill Brooks Tells His Story, as recorded by Juanita Brooks (Salt Lake City: Taggart, 1970), 219

3 Antone Prince, interview with Gregory Prince, St George, Utah, September 21, 1971 Transcript copies of all interviews cited in this paper are in possession of the author

4 Ibid.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Antone memorized the statutes,particularly the section referring to "the duties and responsibilities of the sheriff." Fortunately, he was able to ease into the job, as relatively few events during his first year required police action, and most of those that did were centered on the possession of wine or liquor.5 In the most violent case, a man described by the Washington County News as a"demented Negro" stabbed two men on a Union Pacific bus thirty miles west of St. George in December 1936, critically injuring one of them.6 Three men were arrested and sent to the Utah State Prison for terms of between one and five years for selling liquor to Indians, and two men were convicted of"indecent liberties"with a minor.There were also,of course,the usual intoxication and drunken driving arrests aswell as the arrest of a few cattle rustlers, but no case gave any indication that Antone possessed any special law enforcement capability until it was suggested that he look into a crime that had actually occurred while John Cottam was sheriff.

On March 18, 1935, Spencer Malan, a rancher in Enterprise, a small town about fifty miles northwest of St. George,was reported to be missing. John Cottam looked into but could not solve the case, and Antone had never even heard of it.After being asked by George Hunt, Enterprise city marshal, to investigate the disappearance, Sheriff Prince, dressed in civilian clothes (he almost never wore a uniform), went house to house in Enterprise on November 16, 1937,to gather information.

Hunt, who had followed up on a strong suspicion based on the fact that Malan was last seen on St. Patrick's Day in the company of Charles Bosshardt, had been investigating the case for several months.7 According to Prince's later recollection, Hunt took him to Bosshardtsfarm Antone pretended to be a soil expert—his experience as deputy county extension agent paid off in the ruse—while Hunt, who feared Bosshardt, hid out of sight on his hands and knees between the seats of the sheriff's car. 8 Bosshardt became suspicious after being peppered with questions and said, "What's this all about?What are you questioning me like this for?"Antone shook his finger at him and said,"Charlie,I'm charging you with murder in the first degree and you're under arrest right now."9

Bosshardt was shocked and said that he first had to finish plowing his soil,but the sheriff told him to forget it "You go unhitch your horses and

6 Washington County News, December 24,1936

' The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Prince had been working on the case for a year, ever since he had become aware of neighborhood rumors in Enterprise The Washington County News, however, says that credit for solving the case went to Thomas Hunt, who had been keeping a close watch on Bosshardt for a year

8 Antone Prince, interview with Delmar Gott, St. George, Utah, April 22, 1975. In the interview, Prince was clear in stating that Hunt was in the car because he was "scared to death."

9 Antone Prince interview (Prince)

5 Sheriff Prince kept his arrest records on simple 3x 4 index cards; for many years these records were in the Washington County sheriff's office, but they are now in possession of the author

go with me to St. George," he ordered. Ushering the accused into his car, Antone called Bosshardt's pre-teenage stepson over The boy -was actually the missing man's son; a year after Spencer Malan's disappearance, his wife Eva had divorced him for desertion and married Bosshardt.10 "You go in and tell your mother that your father has gone to St. George "with Sheriff Prince,"Antone told the boy The arrest was a bold move, since there was no evidence that a crime had been committed, the body of Spencer Malan never having been found Before the sheriff left with his prisoner, Hunt cautioned, "You be careful; he's a very mean man," but Antone seemed to have no fear

Night was at hand asthe sheriff and his prisoner began the return trip to St. George.After informing Bosshardt that he did not have to answer any questions, the sheriff began the interrogation "You might as well go back, because I don't know anything,"was Charlie's response. For about ten miles Antone drove along in the dark contemplating his next move Suddenly he -whirled at Bosshardt, pointing his finger and saying,"Charlie Bosshardt, as sure as there is a God in Heaven you are guilty of murder in the first degree,and I can tell you within two places where the body is."

Bosshardt was stunned and asked incredulously, "Where?"

"Either up in the cedars back of your home or down on the desert in a well,"the sheriff replied.

Charlie was dumbfounded. "Down on the desert in awell,"he blurted.

Antone couldn't believe his ears."You mean it is,huh?" It was a bluff, a ruse, a grand deception, but Antone had thrown out the bait and, to his astonishment, Charlie swallowed it whole.

"We had a fight down at the place and George Schaefer and I had to kill him," Bosshardt continued. "We took him down on the desert and threw him in this well.Then we sifted alot of dirt down on him."11

It was late at night, and Antone had extracted a confession but still had no evidence that a crime had been committed.What if Bosshardt -woke up the next morning and decided to recant? What if the body could not be found? The quick-thinking sheriff concocted another plan. Going to Dick's Cafe in St George, he told proprietor Dick Hammer to fix up the best meal he could and put a couple of candy bars on the side to sweeten the deal In the meantime, Antone asked Charlie if he could find the well at nighttime, perhaps fearing that with the dawn an attorney -would appear

10 Before and during the trial, Bosshardt and his wife, the former Mrs Malan, denied having had an affair prior to the death of Malan Bosshardt claimed he only married Eva Malan because he felt sorry for her and wanted to help her raise her son For her part, Eva claimed to have known nothing of the murder—or that her former husband was even dead—until Bosshardt s arrest. After the arrest, she vowed to stand by her husband; see Salt Lake Tribune, November 18 and 19, 1937

11 Bosshardt later said that after a dance, while he was mounting his horse at the Malans' corral, Malan had drunkenly approached and attacked him In self-defense, Bosshardt had hit his friend with an iron bar Eva Malan's brother, George Schaefer, helped Bosshardt take the body to the well and dispose of it. Schaefer stated that he did not think Bosshardt had been "paying attention" to his sister at the dance and that he did not know how the fight started; see Salt Lake Tribune, November 18 and 19, 1937

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

and tell Bosshardt to keep his mouth shut.12 Bosshardt claimed that the killing was not intentional but rather in self-defense, that he and Malan had been best friends since they had known each other, and that he was very willing to lead the sheriff, by moonlight, to the well where the body had been deposited.13 Armed with rope and flashlights, a group that included Prince,Bosshardt, City Marshal Paul Seegmiller, and Claire Morrow located the well Antone began almost immediately the arduous task of searching for the body, but the well had partially caved in and was filled with tumbleweeds.The next day the sheriff worked with a crew that labored diligently to remove dirt and obstructions from the 110-foot-deep well.

The admission to the killing by both Bosshardt and his friend George Schaefer -wasvery big news statewide On November 18,1937,the headline of the day in the Deseret News, in bold lettering about one inch tall, was "TWO CHARGED IN SLAYING OF SOUTHERN UTAH PUNCHER."14 After a difficult and dangerous day of digging in the 110-foot well, during which time the sheriff openly doubted Bosshardt's veracity, Spencer Malan's body finally was recovered, prompting a banner story in the Salt Lake Tribune, complete with a large mug shot of Charlie Bosshardt and a diagram of the abandoned desert -wellin Iron County where the body had been entombed for nearly three years. 13 But asit turned out, there -was one rather significant problem,asAntone explained:

I tied this rope around his legs and said,"Take him away."He had ablue suit on, and when they started pulling they pulled the right shoulder off and his head. I thought that was all that was necessary.When they started pulling him up the juice from him came down on me in astream Just imagine how I felt

Well,we took him to St George and I went to the district attorney and I said,"Ellis [Pickett],we've got this man."He looked at him and said,"Well,we've got to have the head; without the head we haven't got any corpus delicti We need a complete body,a corpus delicti,so he can be recognized."16

So it was back to the well, but it was obvious that locating the skull would be done at great risk."Considerable work -will have to be done at the well,"Sheriff Prince said,"before it will be possible to locate the skull. The well is a death trap as it stands, and another attempt to delve into its secrets would be suicide."17 Under the direction ofE A Hodges,state mining engineer,the -walls ofthe well were timbered and,after about five more feet of digging—all by the sheriff, since his helpers refused to enter the

12 Antone Prince interview (Prince)

13 WashingtonCounty News, November 18,1937

14 Deseret News, November 18,1937

15 Salt Lake Tribune, November 19,1937

16Antone Prince interview (Prince). According to the Salt Lake Tribune, November 21, 1937, Pickett's reason for wanting the skull was to examine it for a fatal blow Pickett suspected that Malan may have been alive when he was thrown in the well; if so, the case would not belong in the jurisdiction of Washington County but of Iron County, where the well was located When recovered, the skull did show that death occurred from a blow to the head; the trial was therefore held in Washington County

17 Salt Lake Tribune, November 20,1937.

hole—the badly crushed skull was located on November 25.18

Following the drama of the original arrest and the search for the body in the -well, the trial of Charles Bosshardt and George Schaefer seemed almost an afterthought. Though "the preliminary work by Sheriff Prince,Attorney [Orval] Hafen and Attorney [Ellis] Pickett...came in for praise,"the prosecution failed to break down the self-defense plea,and thejury came back -withaverdict of "not guilty."19 In reality, the prosecution may have made only a half-hearted attempt to assault Bosshardt's self-defense plea, for Orval Hafen recorded in hisjournal at the time of the arrest, "When I took Bosshardt's confessionWednesday morning I came away feeling that it -would be much easier to defend him than it would to demand his life."20 Predictably,Antone Prince disagreed with the verdict: "That was a slap in the face of the law enforcement officer, because even though they killed him in self-defense, they took him down in the desert and threw him in a well and concealed him."21

That should have been the end of the story,but about four days after the verdict was read,Antone got a call to go to Bosshardt's farm Common sense dictated caution, but the sheriff went alone Itwas the final surprise ofthe strange case:

When I got there they had a big dinner prepared I'd never seen such a dinner— chicken or turkey,dressing,salads,dressing to go with it They said,"Sheriff,you were so fair in this trial,you didn't try to do anything but to be fair andjust We wanted to give you adinner for it."

Well, naturally, I thought they were going to poison me. They would pass the mashed potatoes,and I'd thank them and let them go allaround the table and let everyone take some and when it came back to me I'd take some.My fears were to no avail, because they were just trying to show me consideration because I'd been fair with these men. 22

Shortly thereafter, Sheriff Prince was called back to Enterprise, where Bosshardt -waspointing agun at RoyAdams and threatening,"Ifyou move,

18 Washington County News, November 25,1937.

19 Washington County News,January 27,1938

20 Orval Hafen, "Journal of Orval Hafen," November 20, 1937, in possession of grandsonJason David Archibald, Durham, N.C.

21 Antone Prince interview (Prince)

22 Ibid

A Salt Lake Tribune photo, November 20, 1937, shows Prince, wearing a tin kettle on his head for protection, being lowered into the well to search for the body of Spencer Malan.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

I'll kill you right here."Antone, typically fearless, took the gun and told Bosshardt, "I'll take you to jail and lock you up and you'll go forever if I have anything more like this happen."That was the last trouble the sheriff ever had with Charlie Bosshardt.23

Unlike John Cottam, who had carried a gun at all times,Antone was unarmed as he approached Bosshardt "All the time you were running around without a gun?" he was later asked "Oh," Antone answered nonchalantly,"I had a gun in my car." In the glove compartment, to be exact, completely out ofreach "That was my philosophy Inever carried a gun."24

In retrospect, the wonder is that Antone Prince, notJohn Cottam, never got shot The first opportunity for that to happen came on November 16, 1938, a day afterJack Herman Gordon robbed G.W Simmons of Salt Lake City of his car and money and left him tied in a gulch just west of Santa Clara. Simmons worked himself loose and flagged down a Shivwits Indian bus driver named Yellow Jacket, who alerted authorities. Notified that a man matching the description of the robber had purchased a ticket for Las Vegas on the Union Pacific bus line,Antone and G.P.Howell,deputy sheriff, waited for the bus to stop near the Big Hand Cafe in St. George.

The lawmen were too obvious, and a suspicious Gordon escaped through the emergency door of the bus and ran across Main Street into an alley behind the J.C Penney and O.P Skaggs stores There, he hid among some packing boxes Antone followed him into the alley, unarmed of course, and ordered him to come out -with his hands up As he flashed his light in the direction of Gordon, however, he saw a gun aimed right at him.25 "You don't have enough guts to shoot," growled the sheriff in what became afamiliar refrain "Come on out with your hands up."

The next morning at breakfast Antone mused,"I can't figure out why he didn't pull the trigger."A few days later,Antones sons Clayton and Alpine were taking a trailer full of trash out to the city dump and asked their dad for a gun to take with them in case they saw a rabbit.Antone gave them the gun he had just taken from his prisoner, but -when they saw a rabbit and Alpine pointed the gun, he was unable to pull the trigger. It finally dawned on Antone that the reason he wasn't shot was that the mechanism was jammed.26

It was a close encounter but hardly the only one he ever had. Henry Ward, the sheriff of LasVegas,calledAntone one night and told him that a man who hadjust robbed a garage at gunpoint in LasVegas was headed in the direction of St. George and "was armed and dangerous. Sheriff Prince set up a roadblock, which in this case amounted to him standing alone in

23 Ibid

24 Antone Prince interview (Gott)

25 Washington County News, November 17, 1938 Gordon admitted his guilt to Judge Will L Hoyt on the very day he was arrested, and he was sentenced immediately to from five years to life in the Utah State Prison

26 Interview with Clayton Prince by Stephen Prince, St George, Utah, August 29-30, 1998

the middle of the road, armed -with a hunting rifle At two o'clock in the morning, about seven miles west ofSt George,he spotted the car:

I yelled at him to stop and leveled my .30-.30 at him but hejust kept a coming 'til he got right up to me almost He plied on his brakes and I had to ask him to come out of the car with his hands in the air I turned my head just a fraction of a second; I looked back, Ilooked right down the mouth of his revolver There we were,out on the desert,just the two ofus,and Iwas looking down his gun Ijust stood there,he told me what he was going to do,he was going to kill me and throw me into my own car, haul me so far that I'd never be found.

I let him talk—didn't appear to be frightened, but I was—and finally I said, "You yellow son-of-a-bitch, you haven't got guts enough to shoot—hand me that gun!" His arm dropped and I took the gun out of his hand and threw it out in the sand I left his car right in the middle of the road while I brought him to St George and locked him up On the road in he said,"I don't know why I didn't kill you."27

Antone knew -why.A humbly religious man, each morning he prayed, beginning with the words "Righteous and Eternal Father in Heaven" and put his complete trust in the Lord. He was not a gospel scholar and never preached to anyone, but he was committed to and had complete confidence in his religion.With very few exceptions (such aswhen he was staring down the barrel of a revolver) he claimed to be never afraid of a man, for through his faith he knew he would be told -when it -was time to get out; in the meantime, he would be protected. On many occasions he disarmed a man -who could just as easily have shot him, but he oozed confidence and always got the gun.

In November 1938, after more than two years in office filling the remainder ofJohn Cottam's term,Antone ran for election for the first time. Following his work in the Charlie Bosshardt case, the returns from Enterprise -werepredictable:Antone had picked up allbut eleven votes, and nobody was quite sure why he didn't get those.He didjust about aswell in the rest of the county. "Sheriff Antone B. Prince, Democrat, proved to be the best vote-getter," said the Washington County News in reporting that he received more votes and alarger margin ofvictory than all other candidates in the election.28

There -was no doubt that Sheriff Prince was widely popular, but it did not hurt that he ran asaDemocrat, a cagey move,since theretofore he had been a Republican "Sweeping seven candidates out of a possible 10 into office, the Democrats in Washington County definitely showed that their candidates were the peoples' choice at the polls Tuesday," reported the Washington County News.29

Ironically, one of the major depression-era programs of his new party

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

was indirectly responsible for a significant portion of the crime with -which the sheriff had to deal.The Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, was created by a Democrat-controlled Congress in 1933 as an employment measure to provide work for young men in reforestation, road construction, prevention of soil erosion, and park and flood control projects. In southern Utah and across the border on the Arizona Strip there were a total of eleven CCC camps, with most of the young men hailing from outside Utah. More than a few got into some sort of trouble while attached to the corps, causing an increase in the crime rate in Washington County.And a former CCC boy was responsible for the only murder that Sheriff Prince knew to be committed in hisjurisdiction while he was in office.30

Royal Hunt, a rancher residing at St. George but having a ranch about twenty-eight miles north in the Pine Valley Mountains near Central, met Vae Monroe Fenley,an eighteen-year-old ex-CCC member, on November 21, 1941, and offered him employment at his ranch. Fenley, who had been dishonorably discharged from the CCC for multiple thefts at his camp near Sacramento, worked on the ranch for two days, but on the third day he shot his boss through a window in the ranch house with a .22 caliber rifle and robbed him.While Fenley saddled a horse with the intention of riding to Nebraska, a trip of more than a thousand miles,Hunt revived enough to telephone the operator at Central to report he had been shot.Fenley subsequently reentered the house and shot the wounded rancher three more times,killing him.31

Mrs Mahalia Bracken, the telephone operator, had already called Sheriff Prince, who hurried to Hunt's ranch with his deputy Art Mitchell, Judge GeorgeWhitehead, and Royal Hunt's wife He then organized aposse that searched all night for the fugitive Early the next morning a government trapper known only as Mr Norman captured Fenley, who was weakened from his nightlong wanderings in the severe cold In his possession was Hunt's watch and $21.51 taken from Hunt's wallet

When taken into custody by Sheriff Prince, Fenley initially denied any knowledge of Hunt's death,but with repeated prodding he finally admitted that he knew Hunt had $15 in his possession and had killed him to steal the money 3 2 Justice was swift for the young man. Apprehended on November 25, 1941,he was arraigned on December 1;thejury was selected on January 6; on January 12, after three hours of deliberation, the jury delivered a verdict of guilty. Offered the choice of death by firing squad or hanging, Fenley chose the firing squad, and the execution was scheduled for March 10.Before the execution, however, his sentence was commuted

31 Iron County Record, December 4, 1941

32 Salt Lake Tribune, November 26, 1941

30 In 1954 former CCC employee Stanley Julius Dzwiacien of Ohio confessed to the 1938 murder of a fellow CCC worker, whose death was at the time ruled a drowning. See Washington County News January 14,1954.

to life in prison, probably because of his age. 33

Some of Sheriff Prince's work had its origins in the Arizona Strip, a vast but sparsely populated area between the Grand Canyon and the Utah—Arizona border. Isolated from the rest of Arizona by the Colorado River and out of the reach of Utah authorities, the Arizona Strip was an ideal home for a number of polygamists seeking to live without government interference as -well as for a variety of thugs, thieves, and cattle rustlers, the most notorious of whom was Bill Shanley. Born William Franklin Bragg in New Mexico in 1885—he became Shanley after *~ killing a posse member by that name—Bill was a twelve-year-old tending cattle in a remote mountain area of southeastern Utah when he met and for nearly three weeks shared a campsite with four desperados, including Butch Cassidy.The infamous outlaw introduced Bill to the fine art of his trade and invited him tojoin his gang;Shanley declined the invitation but did follow in Cassidy's direction, eventually becoming, according to his biographer, one of the great cattle rustlers of all time.34 The Arizona Strip,with plenty of cows,provided aperfect venue for Shanley who, with Honore Cook, rustled and killed cattle and brought the beef across the

rton County News, January 15, 1942; Antone Prince's arrest records Fenley's fate thereafter is unknown; the Utah State Prison has no record of him, and the newspapers dropped the story when, two weeks after his arrest, Pearl Harbor was bombed Fenley was luckier than the previous three men arrested for murder before Antone became sheriff, each of whom was hanged by vigilantes; one of the three, Tom Forrest, who killed a man in Silver Reef in 1881, was taken forcibly from the county jail and was hanged from a large cottonwood tree in front of the home belonging to Vilate Prince's father, George Cottam, leading an onlooker to comment, "I have watched that tree grow nigh onto twenty years, and this is the first time it has borne fruit." See Douglas D Alder and Karl F Brooks, A History of Washington County, 351; Mark A Pendleton, "Memories of Silver Reef," Utah Historical Quarterly 3 (October 1930): 117

34 See Grant B Harris, Shanley: Pennies Wise-Dollars Foolish (New York:Vantage Press, 1980) Harris wrote that Shanley "stole more cows than any man who ever lived"; see dust jacket of Shanley:Pennies Wise.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Antone B. Prince, Vae Monroe Fenley, and Art Mitchell after the capture of Fenley.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

state line into Utah In May 1941Antone got a tip that Shanley and Cook were bringing beef into the cafes in St George He arrested the two While Cook remained in jail, Shanley "was released on $1,000 bond, but he did not stick around for atrial.35

Shanley had made a statement that he would kill the sheriff if he ever came out on the Arizona Strip. Antone most likely had no interest in testing this resolve, and knowing that he did not have authority across the state line,he was content to wait until Shanley came to St.George. Months later, Sheriff Prince spied the fugitive at the Liberty Hotel Going into the hotel,he tapped Shanley on the shoulder and told him he was under arrest. As always,Antone did not have a gun, but nevertheless he said,"You'd better hand me that thing under your arm, too; I don't want a scene here." Shanley looked at the sheriff, reached under his arm, and handed over his .45 Colt revolver.36

Shanley -wasgiven a $300 fine and six months in the county jail for the "slaughtering of beef without a slaughterer's stamp," the only charge that could be leveled against him in Utah, since the cattle rustling took place in Arizona During thejail term,Antone began carrying two or three meals a day to the prisoner from Dick's Cafe, but after a couple of months he said, "Bill, I'm not going to carry another meal to you. If you can't get your own meal, you can starve."Bill looked at Antone and said, "Do you trust me?""If I didn't think I could, Iwouldn't do it,"came the response. 37

Time and again Bill "went to Dick's Cafe, had his meal, and came right back.When his time had been served,Antone took him down to the judge, "who said,"The sheriff tells me that you have been a model prisoner, Mr. Shanley.You're afree man."Shanley replied,"Well,I'm not going."Both the sheriff and the judge tried to explain that he was free and had to go, but turning to Antone, Bill repeated, "I'm not going!You're the only man who's ever treated me like I was a white man, and I'm going to stay"38 No man had ever treated him with the kindness and trust that the sheriff had, perhaps for good reason;he was,after all,a cattle rustler

Many months later,while on business in Kanab,Sheriff Prince heard that Bill was living about seven miles south in the small town of Fredonia, so he made a special trip to see him "Come in," Bill said in a gruff voice as Antone knocked on the door Now in the chicken business,Bill looked up from scalding chickens and said,"Well,you old son-of-a-bitch, you. Come over here." Shanley threw his arms around Antone and reiterated, "Sheriff, you're the only man who's ever treated me like awhite man."

Antone could not help but respond, "That's quite different from the statement that ifIever came on theArizona Strip you'd kill me." 35 Washington County News, May 8, 1941 36 Antone Prince interview (Gott) 37 Ibid 38 Ibid. Shanley was Caucasian; the remark, of course, reflects the racism of the time.

"Well,"said Shanley,"I'll tellyou again,ifyou ever come on the Arizona Strip,Bill Shanleyshome isyourhome;anythingBillShanleysgot isyours."39

The sheriff continued to trust many prisoners,frequently allowing them to fetch their own meals and then return on their own to thejail, though one time he got stung.InAugust 1942 Harold Messenger,Bill Shanley, and afew other prisoners went to Dick's Cafe for breakfast under the charge of Deputy Sheriff IsraelWade As they started back after breakfast, Messenger claimed that he urgently had to go to the restroom and was permitted to go ahead.When Wade arrived at thejail,however, Messenger was nowhere in sight.

Sheriff Prince was notified. He found the escapee's tracks in back of the jail and surmised that he had headed north.Driving up to the Sugar Loaf,a boxy red sandstone formation overlooking St George, he did not see Messenger, so he drove towardWashington.When once again he could not locate the escapee, he returned and drove up the old road that went to Enterprise. Getting out of his car, he spotted the man climbing the Black Ridge about a quarter of a mile away The sheriff ran, out of sight, to a point where he expected the prisoner to come over the ridge; he was in exactly the right location when Messenger cleared the ridge,and he immediately took the escapee into custody.Held in solitary confinement, Messenger vowed that,-when released,he would come back and kill the sheriff.40

Undeterred, Prince continued to trust many of his prisoners A young man from Cedar City named RedArmstrong was apprehended after breaking into the service station right next to Dick's Cafe. Shortly after, Sheriff Prince one night got a call from Mesquite, Nevada, warning that a man driving a stolen car was headed for St George Antone did not have a deputy at that time and could not find Art Mitchell, his part-time deputy, or Paul Seegmiller, St. George city marshal, to help him.Armstrong said, "Sheriff, if you let me help you, I'll put my life on the line and won't do anything to disgrace you."Antone trusted the prisoner, gave him agun, and took him to Middleton, where they set up a roadblock and apprehended the fugitive.41 Armstrong soon came beforeJudge GeorgeWhitehead, who, on the recommendation of Sheriff Prince,was lenient.After getting out of jail, he joined the army and was sent to Okinawa; while a soldier, he frequently -wrote Prince expressing gratitude for his trust, and he also sent the sheriff abeautiful satin pillow.42

At the close ofWorldWar II,Antone andVilate invited their son Clayton and his wifeJoy,who were visiting St.George with their year-old sonJohn, to go to a dance. "I'll get babysitting," said Antone, who left and soon

39 Antone Prince interview (Prince)

40 Washington County News, August 13,1942

41 Virginia Anderson, telephone interview with Stephen Prince, September 7, 1998.

42 Clayton Prince, Wilmer Anderson, and Virginia Anderson, interview with Stephen Prince, Cedar City, Utah, April 1999

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

returned -with a young man. "Now you take care of this boy," instructed Antone. "I'll guard him with my life, sheriff," came the response.While at the dance, Clayton andJoy asked who the babysitter -was."Oh, one of my prisoners,"Antone answered casually43

This was truly a most unusual sheriff. His reputation, already established in the Charlie Bosshardt case, grew to epic proportions in 1940 with his handling of the most famous Dixie College prank of all time."I'll tell you, everybody heard about it,"recalled Everard Cox forty-nine years later.44

What later became Southern Utah University in Cedar City was called, at the time,Branch Agricultural College (BAC) and was the archrival of St. George's Dixie College.Both schools were small,so the teams played football with only six players per side. In 1940, as the big game bet-ween the two approached, Merrill "Bud" Kunz, one of the Dixie players, came up with a brilliant plan.Taking teammate Justin Token along to Cedar City, they carefully measured and laid out a large block "D" on a grassy hillside near the football stadium.45 Kunz, who was a skilled carpenter, took great pride in making the letter perfect with string line and tapes before pouring gasoline on the grass to kill it The D,between twenty and thirty feet tall, was an overwhelming and unwelcome sight for the hometown fans the next day

Irate officials called Sheriff Prince, who investigated and in short order found the perpetrators At the behest of leaders at BAC, an assembly was arranged for Kunz andToken to meet and apologize to their enemies "Can you believe this?"said Kunz "Now I've got to get up in front of the whole school!"

On the appointed day,Sheriff Prince picked up the culpable parties and began to drive them to BAC and their doom. After chastising them, not more than halfway to Cedar City Antone suddenly put his foot on the brake."Oh, I can't take you up to apologize to those Cedar people,"he said as he turned back to St. George. But it was too soon to return—everyone would know they had skipped the assembly—so Antone took them to Washington, where they drove through the fields and stopped to get a milkshake for about aslong asit would have taken to go to Cedar City and back.46

As word of the escapade made its rounds, Sheriff Prince was elevated to folk hero status among the younger set. However, though the Bosshardt case got the most press and the BAC prank story -was repeated most frequently, the case that Antone always thought to be his most important was

43 Clayton Prince interview.

44 Everard Cox, telephone interview with Stephen Prince, May 10, 1999

45 Ibid

46 Lewis Kunz, telephone interview with Stephen Prince, May 8, 1999 Kunz said that his father got a kick out of two things: that Sheriff Prince did not make them apologize and that, through the years, so many others took credit for the prank Everard Cox, meanwhile, had one regret: "I 'will have to tell that I'm sorry that I wasn't there."

his encounter withJoe Lewis,the FBI's most wanted man. So often did he repeat the story in his later years thatVilate,upon hearingjust afew words on one occasion, said,"I've got to leave the room, I've heard it so many times!" and on another she simply said,"Oh, bull!"Vilate's reaction would seem to indicate that Antone embellished the story each time he retold it, but hisaccount isremarkably consistent not only with the Washington County News but alsowith the official account in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

On the night of September 26, 1944,Highway Patrolman Loren Squire calledAntone to report that he had been shot at twice while stopping a car for speeding After reaching Toquerville and talking to Squire, Sheriff Prince approached the automobile and shouted,"Ifyou're in that car,you'd better come out with your hands in the air,because you're surrounded and somebody's going to get hurt." Nothing happened, so he looked in the car and found a box on the front seat containing $364 in silver dollars, three brand new guns that had never been fired—a .38 special police revolver,a .32 automatic revolver, and a .22—and well over 100 rounds of ammunition.47

Antone phoned Jay Newman, chief agent for the western district of the FBI, to report the incident Newman heard enough and interjected, "Do you know who that cookie is?"Antone did not, so Newman told him:"Joe Lewis, the number one enemy inAmerica today."Lewis hadjust robbed a bank in Prairie City, Oregon, and earlier in the year had escaped from the Texas State Penitentiary.48 "You be careful; by daylight I'll have several agents down there to help you,"Newman said

"Mr.Antone B.Prince, Sheriff ofWashington County, St. George Utah, who is a fearless police officer took up the search for Lewis immediately after he had fired at the highway patrolman," reported the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. At daybreak, Antone started tracking Lewis In all his years running livestock he had become an expert tracker, as recognized by the FBI Bulletin: "Sheriff Prince is a tireless worker and has in the past proved himself expert in the art oftracking down fugitives."49

After a few days of tracking but not sighting Lewis,the sheriff tried to hand off the case to Newman, who had ten FBI agents with him, but Newman declined, saying,"No,it's your baby.You know this terrain of the country; it's up to you.You tell us what to do and we'll do it."While they were talking Prince received a phone call from Robert Phillips, who, like all residents of southwestern Utah, had been notified of the search. Phillips had spotted Lewis.

Though his tracks were easily identified by the unique prints of his rubber heels,which carried the picture of a bell, numerous times Lewis's trail was picked up only to be lost as the outlaw traveled back and forth across

Washington County News, September 28,1944.

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 14 (June 1945): 10 Ibid

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the base of the PineValley Mountains. On the fifth day,Deputy Sheriff Carl Caldwell and two FBI agents again located the tracks and came upon Lewis near a stream The noise of the running water covered their approach, but when they were close and called for him to surrender, Lewis fired two shots and jumped into the creek.The officers returned fire, striking Lewis in the head.50 When Antone arrived on the scene a few moments later, Lewis's lifeless body was being dragged out ofthe water

High praise was given by FBI agent Newman "for the fine cooperation of allbranches oflaw enforcement" and,in particular, for "the trailing ability of Sheriff Prince."51 The next week, Antone received a personal letter from the famous FBI directorJ.Edgar Hoover:

Mr.Antone B. Prince Sheriff ofWashington County St.George, Utah

My dear Sheriff.

Mr.Jay C. Newman, Special Agent in Charge of our Salt Lake City Field Office, brought to my attention your splendid work in the case involvingJoe Lewis,robber of the Prairie City Branch, Grant County Bank ofJohn Day I know this case presented unusual difficulties and the outstanding •work performed by you isworthy of commendation Deputy Karl Caldwell ofLeeds conducted himself in amost creditable fashion I do hope you will convey my thoughts to him and to Mr Robert Phillips of St George who notified you after he saw the fugitive pass

All of us in the FBI appreciate your tireless performance of duty, which, coupled with your detailed knowledge of the terrain and your abilities as a tracker, made possible asuccessful termination of this case

There is perhaps no way in which I can tell the many other deputies and local citizens who joined hands in a search for this dangerous fugitive just how much we appreciate their assistance

I hope that I might have the privilege of having a detailed account of this case from you personally at some future date.In the event that you should come toWashington at any time by allmeans drop in to see me.

With best wishes and kind regards,

Sincerely yours,

[Signed]J

Edgar Hoover

In addition to the Lewis incident,Antone had two cases involving a gun battle While chasing a stolen car that almost ran down the sheriff—who, once again, thought aroadblock meant standing alone in the middle of the road—Antone and City Marshal Paul Seegmiller fired numerous shots Though they lost the car after it turned down a dirt road, raising so much dust that they could not see where they were going, the FBI later found the abandoned car just outside ofWendover, Nevada.When the agents came through St George, they told Prince and Seegmiller that "they had never seen so many well placed shots in a car that didn't stop it,"but they

chided thepair "fornotshooting atthemeninstead ofjust trying to stop the car."52

The other known case of a gunbattle had an almost comical ending. "The tires were shot offAlfred Morris' car by Sheriff Antone B Prince when the car thieves whowere driving it failed to heed the warning to stop," reported the Washington County News on September 30,1943.As Deputy Sheriff LeeAdams drove,Antone peppered the fugitive car with bullets as they raced down Tabernacle Street at a speed of 80 miles per hour.When the sheriff shot out the tires, the carwasforced to stop,and two youthsjumped outandbegan running upahill.

By the time the officers were stopped the boys were nearly to the top of the hill Sheriff Prince reports that he called to them and told them to "stop or I'll shoot your legs off." They stopped immediately and were taken into custody.53

Antone wasno-nonsense inmost respects,buthealsowascompassionate and would try to settle amatter, whenever possible, outside thelegal system."Ifajuvenile wasinvolved nowadays insome ofthese offences, they'd have himincourt andreally make abigdeal outofit,"said Charlie Pickett, whose father wasdistrict attorney for most ofthe time Antone served as sheriff "Antone would getthese kids who-were doing some pilfering—we called it pilfering; it wasn't stealing—he'd get the kids and talk to the parents,anditnever gotpast that OnceAntone would talk toyou,yougot things straightened out."54 Hissense offair play could make friends outof enemies, as demonstrated by Bill Shanley and,to an extent, by Charlie Bosshardt, butthemost unusual example occurred in atotally unexpected location

After graduating from the USCSchool ofDentistry in 1943,Antone's son Clayton took theUtah State Board Examination, theclinical section of which took place at the Utah State Prison, using prisoners as patients Thirteen graduates lined up to work in somewhat primitive conditions, with each patient sitting inanuncomfortable chair that hadaboard nailed to theback asaheadrest andspitting into agallon bucket. Seventeen prisoners were brought out,andLesWarburton, the chairman oftheBoard of DentalExaminers,said,"Thirteen ofyouboysgooverthereandgetinachair." Clayton hadnoticed that oneofthe convicts,number 17,kept staring at him Atthe first opportunity, themanmade abeeline forhischair "Is your name Prince?"asked theprisoner. Ofcourse itwas."Ithought so.You look just like your dad He'stheonewhosent meuphere.""Oh, no;there goes my career," thought the young dentist, but the inmate continued, "He treated memore fairly than anyone else inmylife."When Clayton finished the dental exam, the prisoner rewarded him-with a tooled leather wallet and abraided horsehair belt.55

52 Paul Seegmiller, "History," in possession of FayoneWhitehead, New Harmony, Utah

53 WashingtonCounty News, September 30, 1943

54 Charlie Pickett, telephone interview with Stephen Prince, December 5, 1999

55 Clayton Prince, GoStick It in the Ditch:An Autobiography (St George: privately published, 1999), 22

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Antone easily won reelection in 1942 and by 1946 had become so popular that nobody bothered to run against him. In 1950,an opponent dared to challenge him, but Sheriff Prince once again won by a wide margin Something seemed to be missing, however: The number of arrests had dwindled in the years following 1946 In 1949 there were barely more than a quarter as many arrests as there had been a decade earlier and not many more the folio-wing year. 56

Part of the decrease might be ascribed to the prosperity the country experienced following World War II.The crime rate does seem to have decreased—certainly there were no murders or violent crimes and only a few armed robberies.But the possibility cannot be discounted that Sheriff Prince, after so many years in office, may have started to tire.By 1951,a portion of his attention "was drawn elsewhere when he was elected secretary—treasurer of the Utah StateAssociation of County Officials, a situation that became more acute in 1952 and 1953 after he was elected vice president and then president of the association,but there -wasone last important case to be handled

The case had its roots in Mormon and state history. Although in the early twentieth century the church disavowed its doctrine ofpolygamy and strictly forbade the practice, a number of people continued to practice plural marriage In 1933 the church began putting increased pressure on its members to cease the practice, and in 1935 the Utah State Legislature passed an act"Making Unlawful Cohabitation a Felony,and Providing That All Persons Except the Defendant MustTestify in ProceedingsThereof."57

A small town of polygamists called Short Creek (now Colorado City—Hilldale),which in 1935 consisted of twenty houses and a combination store and gas station, had been established on the Utah—Arizona border inWashington County.As the 1935 act elevated"unlawful cohabitation" from amisdemeanor to afelony, the location of Short Creek became very attractive to polygamists,who could crossback and forth over the state line to avoid arrest. In 1939 the State of Utah began cracking down on individual polygamists rather than on the settlement, and onAugust 30 and September 1, probably acting on orders from the state, Sheriff Antone Prince arrested Cleve LeBaron and brothers Richard and FredJessop.58

LeBaron was a Short Creek fundamentalist, but the Jessops were from New Harmony and were living about a quarter ofamile south oftown on the old James E Taylor ranch The brothers lived in houses about forty yards apart on the property, and two women lived with each brother, according toVivian Prince,a New Harmony resident who happened to be Antone's nephew.59

36 Antone Prince's arrest records

57 Richard S.Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy:A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1986), 195

58 Antone Prince's arrest records Neither the arrest nor court records indicate that Fred Jessop or LeBaron was prosecuted

59 Vivian Prince, interview with Stephen Prince, New Harmony, Utah, August 29,1998

Richard Jessop's trial took place rather quickly. The trial, held on September 19,lasted just one day; he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in the state prison.60 Fundamentalist leaderJosephW Musser and his associates were alarmed at the verdict,which they believed showed that Sheriff Prince, District Attorney Orval Hafen, and Judge Will Hoyt, who were allMormons,were acting in concert "to stamp out polygamy"61

Richard Jessop never served a day in prison, however He appealed his verdict to the Utah Supreme Court, making an important point The law stated,"If any person cohabits with more than one person of the opposite sex, such person is guilty of a felony." But what, asked Jessop's attorney, Claude Barnes, defined cohabitation? Was simply sharing the same house against the law? The court agreed with Barnes's argument, stating, "That the parties may have been seen living in the same house does not by itself prove a prima facie case."Ruling that the evidence was insufficient to prove cohabitation, the court overturned the verdict,andJessop was set free.62

It is doubtful that Sheriff Prince had any emotional stake in the case. He was a faithful Mormon, to be sure,but the law was his primary concern. Asked if the accused harbored any ill feelings toward the sheriff, Vivian Prince, a very close friend of the Jessops while they lived in New Harmony said, "No, they didn't, they were friendly to uncle Tone. They never had any illwill.They knew that he wasjust upholding hisjob."63

A few years passed during which the polygamists were left in peace, which is all that they wanted,but on March 7, 1944,amassive raid coordinated by the executive branch of the Utah state government, FBI agents, and U.S. federal marshals served warrants throughout the region for the arrest of those accused of"unlawful cohabitation."64 Called into duty once again,

Sheriff Prince arrested Fred and Edson Jessop of Short Creek

Though many of those arrested were found guilty in verdicts that were upheld by the United States Supreme Court, the cases against Fred and EdsonJessop were dismissed byJudgeWill Hoyt ofthe Fifth District Court in St. George, the same judge -who five years earlier had found Richard Jessop guilty ofthe same charge.65

No doubt Sheriff Prince would have been happy never to be involved in another polygamist raid,but unfortunately the 1944 Boyden Raid (named after one of its architects,U.S.AttorneyJohn S.Boyden) was amere hint of what was to come. Arizona governor Howard Pyle, elected in 1950, became concerned that the community of Short Creek made welfare

60 State of Utah v Richard Jessop, Criminal 268, September 20, 1939 Court records repose at Washington County Courthouse, St George, Utah

"Joseph W Musserjournal, September 1939, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City.

"State of Utah v Richard Jessop, No 6193, May 6, 1940 Court records repose at Washington County Courthouse, St George, Utah

63 Vivian Prince interview

64 Martha Sonntag Bradley, Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1993), 68

65 Antone Prince's arrest records

demands on Mohave County,but its citizens were paying no taxes Alarmed by an apparent misuse of tax funds for private purposes as well as by the burgeoning polygamist population, -which was doubling each decade and by 1953 included thirty-nine men, eighty-six women, and 263 children, Pyle orchestrated a surprise assault on the town.66

The massive raid took place on July 26, 1953, and involved 200 lawofficers, mostly from Arizona, though Pyle managed to secure the participation of Utah officers lest polygamists simply walk across the border to avoid arrest In defending the raid, Pyle stated that an investigation "had proved that every maturing girl child was forced into the bondage of multiple wifehood" and recalled that the population, just sixteen years before,was two men and ahalf dozen wives."It is easy to see,"he said,"that in another 10 years the population of Short Creek would be in the thousands,and an army would not be sufficient to end the greater insurrection and defiance of all that is right."67

The invasion from both sides of the state line was set to coincide with an eclipse of the moon at 4:30 a.m. The Arizona force was accompanied by National Guardsmen, the Arizona attorney general,judges, policewomen, nurses, twenty-five carloads of newspaper reporters, and twelve liquor control agents, "while the much smaller Utah force consisted mainly of SheriffAntone Prince, his deputy IsraelWade, a few men deputized for the mission, Judge Will Hoyt, District Attorney Pat Fenton, and County Attorney Pershing Nelson.68 What -was supposed to be a secret raid turned out to be no surprise at all,however, for the polygamists had been tipped off the day before. Instead ofbeing asleep in their beds,most ofthe populace stood around the city flagpole singing "America" while hoisting the American flag.

It is impossible to tell where the sheriff's sympathies lay,but he was all business On July 29 he arrested five women on Arizona -warrants, but he released them the next day to return to care for their children.69 No sooner were the women returned than 125 married women and children attempted to flee the town, only to be turned back by Washington County deputy sheriffs -while Prince and Israel Wade searched the steep cliffs for any stragglers.70

The raid turned out to be a dismal failure and was certainly the low point ofAntone's career.Though all 263 children were seized,within three years all had been returned to their families in "what had become an expensive and unpopular public embarrassment and a public relations nightmare. It was a fiasco to forget, but the polygamists had long memories Years later, when Antone's grandson Robert Prince began his practice of orthodontics

66 Bradley, Kidnappedfrom That Land, 112—123.

67 Washington County News,]u\y 30, 1953

68 Washington County News, August 13, 1953

69 Salt Lake Tribune, July 30,1953

70 Salt Lake Tribune, July 31, 1953

in St George, he immediately began seeing a number of patients from Hilldale and Colorado City. One day in about 1990 a young polygamous bride casually asked ifhe was related to Sheriff Prince.Being very proud of his heritage, he beamed and said,"Yes,he was my grandfather." All of his patients from the two polygamist towns immediately had their records transferred to another orthodontist.71

After the raid, the luster of being sheriff was gone, and Antone was getting tired.As the 1954 election approached, he told Democratic officials that he would not run,but they put him on the ticket despite his objection "I never campaigned a bit," he recalled,"only wherever I went I told 'em what a good man Roy Renouf was and to elect him."72 Antone's memory may have been a bit selective, since the Washington County News reported that "Both candidates had conducted vigorous campaigns";still,there is no doubt that he was tired ofthe office.73

Renouf won the election, but out of nearly 3,500 ballots his margin of victory was only sixty votes, an extremely close race considering that Antone ran as a Democrat when the Republicans, led by President Eisenhower, had taken control. Prince's reign was over, and he was openly relieved Now fifty-eight years old, he had served for eighteen and a half years.During that time he wasthe law,and he had become amost memorable sheriff.

Antone Prince died in St.George at the age of 81 onApril 17,1977.

72 Antone Prince interview (Prince)

73 Washington County News, November 3, 1954

71 Robert Prince, e-mail communication to Stephen Princejuly 20, 1998

BOOK REVIEWS

Visions of Antelope Island and Great Salt Lake ByMarlin Stum.Photographs by DanMiller (Logan:Utah StateUniversityPress,1999.xx 4-185pp.Cloth,$36.95; paper,$19.95.)

THIS LARGE-FORMAT COLLECTION ofessays and photographs of Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake may appear on the surface to be another coffee-table collection of rich photos and thin text It ismuch more than that Focusing primarily on Antelope Island with occasional excursions tothe lake's other islands and its shoreline,the essays range widely over geology, paleontology, archaeology, prehistory, nineteenth- and twentiethcentury history, climate, wildlife, parks policy, and management practices

Combining interviews "with former Antelope Island residents and managers;historical texts byJedediah Smith,Kit Carson,John C Fremont,Alfred Lambourne, and others; observations by naturalists;and occasional lyrical passages of his own, Stum attemptsto provide the reader with athoroughly complete portrayal of the complexities of a rocky island in abriny inland sea Like DaleL Morgan and his path-breaking The Great Salt Lake (1947), Stum uses the setting of the lake asanoccasion for broad speculation and insights into Native—European contacts, exploration and settlement, environmental change, and even urbanization Where Morgan was primarily interested inregional history after 1820, Stum isprimarily interested inthe environment of the lake and the island,and he addresses the reader from an avowedly preservationist perspective

Some of the highlights of the book are Stum's tense encounter with what might have been alynx, the reminiscences of the residents of the now-restored Fielding Garr Ranch, an illegal island camping trip that nearly ended inwatery disaster, and a solid overview of the debates over what todoabout the ever-rising lake inthe period 1984—89 Occasionally, Stum's poetic impulses become abit overwrought, but overall he manages to capture well the magic timelessness of alake still almost unknown to most residents oftheWasatch Front

One major disappointment inthis book, however, is Stum's approach to the native peoples of the region,past and present His first chapter, "Coyote Creates a Sanctuary for the Animals," attempts tore-create American Indian myths asaconnective to goals for the preservation ofAntelope Island, but inso doing he

generalizes about all native myths rather than specifying those ofa single tribal group or region To declare, as Stum does, that "American Indians might say that Coyote built this [beach] highway for himself,for easier passage up and down the island" (91) is to appropriate a complex belief system by romanticizing it and homogenizing it The inclusion of Gary Holthaus's imitative but non-native poems "Hunter's Song to the Antelope" and "Antelope's Song to the Hunter" isanother example of appropriation, as is the last chapter, "Touching the Bison Spirit," in "which Stum describes his participation in various synthetic ceremonies attended primarily by Euro-Americans seeking spiritual value in another culture Given the relatively short shrift that prehistoric and historic native peoples are given in this book, afuller description of these cultures -would have been far preferable to the New Age conclusion of the book Nevertheless, this is a valuable and compact overview of one ofthe rarest and most precious environmental resources in North America

DAVID STANLEY Westminster College

ByVirginia McConnell Simmons (Niwot:UniversityPressofColorado,2000.xxii + 323pp.$29.95.)

The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico

VIRGINIA MCCONNELL SIMMONS has worked for fortyfive years as a researcher, instructor, writer, and editor (her publications include Bayou Saldo, revised in 1996, and The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-armed Cross, second edition 1998). She has now filled a void in Native American and regional history by producing a clear, concise, chronological narrative of the Nuu-ci, the people who for generations occupied Utah, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Simmons has pulled together tribal histories,legal documents, and the last forty years of scholarly research into Ute experiences and lifeways and has created a text that should be included in academic and community libraries as the best currently available one-volume history of the Ute Indians. The text will also appeal to general readers.

In aconfident, crisp style,Simmons presents an overview of the Ute Indians and their history to the mid-twentieth century This overview includes adescription of the varied lands the Utes occupied, the stories they tell of their origins, and a chronology of events and strategies,from Ute contacts with the Spaniards to Ute

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claims against the federal government. Clear maps and several photographs strengthen the presentation.

Simmons has carefully sorted through fictional accounts about Ute Indians;redundant accounts of dramatic episodes,such as the Meeker Massacre of 1879;and imaginative accounts of renowned individuals such as Ouray, Chipeta, and Walkara—convincingly demonstrating that Ute history is both greater and richer than those accounts suggest.She has doggedly worked her way through ethnographic materials, collections of folktales and language studies, government documents, unpublished theses and dissertations, and scholarly articles scattered throughout the historical and anthropological journals of the region. This is a thoroughly researched, competent job. Her bibliography is a much-needed update to the checklist produced in 1964by S.LymanTyler.

The Ute Indians were never united by a single political or social organization. The various groups of Utes "who traveled throughout, used,and honored the region were fairly independent of each other. However, they shared alanguage,various technologies,and ceremonies.Simmons uses one ofthose ceremonies—the Bear Dance,which originated "long,long ago,before anyone can remember,"—as leitmotif, as symbol of the change and continuity, sorrow and survival that mark Ute history.And she convinces us that the Utes' scheduling of this ancient dance again this year -will help them survive.

Even as she has drawn on her own earlier work, Simmons has not done much original research for this text That was not the necessary task She has done what was needed She has brought the research scattered in articles, reports, books, studies, exhibits, and tribal histories together in a cogent, thoughtful, accurate account ofthe Nuu-ci

Even as she places the Nuu-ci at the center of their history, Simmons does not use much of the "new Indian history." That history seeks to understand the Indians' own reasons for their actions;it has the Indians speak for themselves ashuman beings to -whom we must listen,with whom -wemight argue.Most texts of Indian history are actually the history of Indian—white relations. And these are usually either stories ofconquest and assimilation of the Indians or stories of cultural persistence.The book Simmons has"written issuch atext.But Indians are not curiosities, marginal to the history ofAmerican regions. Indians also helped create the world asit is today.Hopefully, another scholar will write a history of the Utes that uses the Ute point of view to help us better

understand the human condition Such a work will build upon Simmons's fine work.

KATHRYN L MACKAY Weber State University

ByTomDunlay (Lincoln:University ofNebraskaPress, 2000.xxii + 525pp.$45.00.)

Kit Carson and the Indians

AMONG THE PANTHEON of legendary and controversial western heroes,none occupies the space held by Kit Carson. His reputation and celebrity reached mythic proportions before he was middle-aged. His exploits (both real and fictitious) dominated the press ofhis day and continue to fascinate aswell asrepel modern-day readers of the history of the AmericanWest.Tom Dunlay makes a significant foray into our understanding of this American icon in this study of Kit Carson and his relationships with the nativepeoples oftheWest

Dunlay brings to his analysis years of reading the primary sources available on the subject as well as a mastery of the varied and numerous articles and books that have been written about Kit Carson, particularly in the past thirty years. Since the 1960s and 1970s the reputations of many western figures have suffered the sting of revisionism, and none more than Kit Carson, who has been described by one of his most vociferous detractors as a "genocidal racist."What Dunlay attempts to accomplish isto place Carson in his own time and place (instead of ours) so that we might understand the life of a common man who lived an extraordinary life In the end, the author reveals "a man trying to deal with moral issues and intractable real-life problems that would try anyone's consciencejudgement, and resolution."

While the definitive biography of Kit Carson is still awaiting publication, Dunlay has delved specifically into Carson's professional and personal relationships with Indians. Carson's earliest memories began on the contested ground of Boone's Lick, Missouri,where young Kit recalled families being"forted up" and men standing watch for hostile Indians as their neighbors cleared the forest and plowed their fields. This book traces his career as a trapper, ascout onJohn C Fremont's famous explorations (where his celebrity began), an Indian soldier, a Civil War officer, and finally as an Indian agent in New Mexico It tracks the evolution of a man whose life focused on Indians and his role as a cultural and political intermediary between Indian society and the

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aggressively dynamic society that was the United States during the mid- and late nineteenth century

In addition to the author's adept examination of one man, he also brings to his analysis a significant body of "work on the cultures and peoples of "western NativeAmerica In aprevious book, Wolves for the Blue Soldiers (University of Nebraska, 1982), Dunlay studied the role of Indian scouts and soldiers in the conquest of theAmericanWest A common thread the reader will find in both works is exhaustive research and aclear and engaging writing style that illuminates the truth within stories that have been clouded for decades -with emotionalism, misconception, and myth. Tom Dunlay has found the middle ground in which we can understand the complexity ofboth aman and the times in -which he lived.

CLIFFORD P COPPERSMITH College of Eastern Utah

Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place

ByDavidE.Stuart (Albuquerque:University ofNew Mexico Press,2000.xvi + 249pp. Cloth,$29.95;paper,$15.95.)

DAVID STUART HAS SUCCEEDED in accomplishing something that many of his contemporaries, baby-boomer archaeologists,talked alot about during theirVietnamWar-era college days: He has made the findings of archaeology directly "relevant" to weighty, modern social and political issues. Stuart draws together the findings ofacentury ofarchaeological research in his interpretation of Puebloan cultural history, which he presents in the form ofamoral tale with explicit lessons for modern America.

The tale is structured around an interesting model that contrasts power and efficiency as alternative strategies for cultural survival. Power-driven cultures are expansionistic, growth-dependent, complex, and generally short-lived Efficiency-based cultures emphasize stability rather than growth, are less complex, consume less energy, produce less "waste, and survive longer than powerbased cultures Power-based societies typically expand rapidly at the expense oflesspowerful cultures,but they also tend to overexploit their energy base then collapse like a souffle, leaving their more efficient victims to inherit the earth, at least for a time. In his version of the Pueblo story, Stuart describes the rise and collapse of apower-based Anasazi cultural system,followed by the emergence of a much more stable, efficiency-based Puebloan cul-

tural system The earlier system arose and fell between about 900 and 1150 A.D., leaving behind a spectacular array of abandoned "greathouse"- centered communities and formal roads, with an apparent power center in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Following the Chacoan collapse and a troubled period of regional and local cultural experimentation, the Pueblo people reorganized themselves and reinvented their culture "with a strong emphasis on efficiency rather than growth and power. This new "efficiency" strategy resulted in the establishment of large, stable, plazacentered villages with an intensive, agrarian energy base and a social/religious organization that emphasized community survival over socioeconomic differentiation among individuals and families Many of those communities have survived largely intact to the present time despite almost four centuries of terrific pressure from European diseases and cultures.

At the end of each chapter and in a dedicated chapter at the end of the book, Stuart explicitly pursues and explores parallels between ancient Puebloan cultural developments and the modern world The global techno-industrial culture led by the United States is the very essence of a growth-dependent, expansionistic, predatory power culture, unprecedented in its consumption of energy, production of -waste,and subduction of less-powerful cultures Only the most ardently conservative and entrenched of the "efficient" cultures, including the Pueblo villages, have been able to stand relatively intact against it.The moral lesson to be drawn from the Puebloan experience is that, unless we are somehow able to balance and moderate our power drive with increasing efficiency, we face a future even more catastrophic than that of the ancient Chacoans. Our powerful culture will collapse, leaving more-prudent, less-ambitious,more-efficient cultures to survive in its ashes

Some of the book's qualities may be a bit irksome to knowledgeable students of southwestern archaeology, but it will be refreshing to most readers Stuart's clear and straightforward prose is "written to a popular audience, largely free of the technical and philosophical jargon that often suffocates archaeological and anthropological literature On the other hand, the popular-audience orientation allows for some minor sloppiness and inaccuracy in facts, some unqualified assertions of fact regarding matters that are not only unproven but probably unprovable, and a nearabsence ofprimary source citations While troublesome to some of Stuart's peers,none of these weaknesses -will significantly compromise the effectiveness of his message for the general audience to

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-which the book is addressed

Whether Stuart's model and "just-so" moral tale is elegantly simple or simply simplistic,it is a compelling and interesting idea Regardless of how the reader responds to its philosophical message,the book offers an interesting and insightful journey through Puebloan history, guided by a seasoned and richly experienced scholar of south-western cultures It is recommended reading but should be approached as a philosophical essay rather than as a textbook on Puebloan archaeology or cultural history.

Sunk without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde ByBradDimock (Flagstaff:FretwaterPress,2000 xii+ 282pp Cloth,$28.00;paper,$18.00.)

ON THE LAST DAY of November 1928,Glen and Bessie Hyde were nearing the end of their honeymoon river trip Over a month before, they had launched their twenty-foot -wooden scow at Green River, Utah Using twenty-foot sweeps to steer the boat they had built at the put-in, they had successfully navigated some of the most fearsome rapids in North America Glen -was twentynine, an experienced outdoorsman and scow oarsman, educated and handsome Bessie "was twenty-two, recently divorced, a poet, and beautiful.They "were,says author Brad Dimock,"two brilliant young people on a daring adventure." But something happened that day,probably at the relatively easy 232-Mile Rapid, and their bodies were never found again Their disappearance remains one ofthe great"unsolved mysteries"ofColorado River history.

In the seven decades since, all kinds of extraordinary rumors have surfaced as to -what really happened: Bessie killed Glen and changed her identity;Bessie reappeared in the form of Liz Cutler on a Grand Canyon River trip in 1971; a skeleton found in Emery Kolb's garage in 1976 "was Glen's;and so on and so on. Of course, there -was also a simple explanation: they fell out of the boat and drowned, not having brought life preservers.

Dimock begins by admitting that very little is really known about the Hydes and their disappearance and that his narrative is "by necessity,amosaic,a collage,apastiche ofbits and pieces."But a fine mosaic it is.To understand the Hydes and who they "were, Dimock probes deeply into -what is known of their families'

WINSTON HURST Blanding, Utah

history, past and present He also unravels all the scattered and sometimes conflicting information about the extensive search for them by Glen's father, R. C. Hyde.That in itselfisatouching and fascinating story Dimock skillfully looks at allthe rumors and theories and examines each carefully in light of the background materials and evidence available Most important, he intersperses all this valuable information with an account of a Grand Canyon trip he and his wife,Jeri Ledbetter, took in their own homemade replica of the Hydes' scow The counterpointed narrative is a brilliant strategy It not only provides enormous insight into how a scow handles in the Grand Canyon but also creates abig payoff at the end when Dimock finally offers his own opinion about what happened to the Hydes at 232-Mile Rapid I will not give that away One willjust have to read this excellent work to find out

Dimock is afine river historian.The book is elegantly written, prodigiously researched,and intricately plotted It isalso beautifully designed and well-illustrated with numerous photographs, maps, and charts.My only criticism is that Dimock chose not to cite his sources.Although much of his material obviously came out of the Marston Collection at the Huntington Library,there is so much more footwork that he did Not having these sources easily noted will hinder future river historians searching for information on the Hydes.Dimock has,however,promised to leave an annotated copy of the book aswell asallhis collected materials at NorthernArizona University's Cline Library

That criticism notwithstanding, this is afascinating read that all interested in Colorado River history will want in their libraries. Dimock has spent thirty years rowing professionally for the Grand Canyon Dories During that time he has clearly acquired a vast knowledge of the place and its history He helped found the Grand Canyon River Guides and its very fine publication, Boatman's Quarterly Review, he has conducted many oral histories with Grand Canyon river-runners, old and not-so-old; and he coauthored a fine book on Buzz Holstrom, the first person to solo the Grand Canyon Now, with this excellent addition on the Hydes,he is establishing himself as one of the preeminent historians of one of the most sublime places on earth. I recommend this book highly

JAMES M ATON Southern Utah University

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World War II and the American Indian

ByKennethWilliamTownsend (Albuquerque:University ofNewMexico Press,2000.xii + 272pp.$35.00.)

NO EVENT IN THE TWENTIETH century had a greater impact on world history than the Second World War. Even the most isolated citizens in countries around the globe felt the changes wrought by this conflict Typically, when authorities cite Native Americans' participation in the -war, they mention the bravery of Ira Hayes or the work of the Navajo code talkers. However, asKennethW Townsend points out in World War II and the American Indian, the story is much more involved As a history professor at Coastal Carolina University and aspecialist on the war years,Townsend was able to unearth a plethora of material that reveals every aspect of Indian involvement. He profoundly demonstrates the ironic twists that left native people at the beginning of the conflict in the crossroads of their lives and yet,by the end,in astate ofdisillusionment and despair.

Some readers may be thrown off course by the author's initial chapter because it deals "with the "work of Commissioner John Collier and the benefits ofthe Indian New Deal Townsend's purpose is to show even non-experts how this innovative program prepared Native Americans for their immersion into the mainstream ofAmerican culture after war broke out.Whether involved in wartime industry or military service, Indians came out of the 1930s with skills needed for service to their country The Indian Reorganization Act,however, served as a double-edged sword, for "while it prepared them for full inclusion in American society, it alsorenewed traditional lifestyles

Townsend's most surprising chapter focuses on the use of Nazi propaganda to entice America's natives in a direction away from national unity Nazi methods to achieve this goal "were quite surprising, including the argument that Indians were actually lost tribes of Germanic people and therefore Aryan. The author provides a thorough account of numerous pro-German activists who sought to brand the New Deal asJewish and communistinspired

When the war began, there were two choices for Native Americans: enlist or try to avoid the draft. Given their historic mistreatment by the federal government, one might expect a great deal ofresistance,but they enlisted at ahigher rate than any other ethnic group inAmerica Townsend lists numerous reasons for this phenomenon, including the efforts of the New Deal to inspire

patriotism, the racial genocide under National Socialism in Germany,the Indian warrior tradition, and financial benefits

Resistance to the draft was, for some, a matter of religious conviction, but the author also focuses on a unique twist of racial factors that played a major role in Virginia. Usually, Native Americans were classified with white units, but inVirginia the state registrar treated them asblacks Townsend boldly lays out the case of Indian resistance to this system and how it led to tribal revitalization in the state. In a complete reinterpretation of John Collier's well-known vision of Indian America, Townsend also demonstrates Collier's insistence on total native compliance even ifit necessitated the use offorce and paternalism

The most exciting and re-warding chapters are the ones focusing on the role of Indians at -war and in related industries. For readers who are unfamiliar with the courage displayed by Native American soldiers, this section will be highly informative But as usual "with this book,Townsend offers new interpretations of the war and its impact on the gradual breakdown of racial attitudes concerning Native Americans and their growing sense of inclusion in the white society Reservation life during the war served as a microcosm of "white America, including the purchase of war bonds, women working in industry and the conversion of Indian resources for defense needs. But, enticed byjobs and mainstream acceptance, many Indian people "who left their homelands faced an unclear future choice between two worlds

The end of the conflict brought a downturn in the wartime economic boom for America's native people. Faced with heavy job competition from returning white veterans and aloss of New Deal programs that had bolstered sagging reservation economies in the previous decade, they had nowhere to turn Ironically, the very success of Indians during the war led many Americans to encourage assimilation and the termination of the Indian Bureau. Townsend interprets Collier's futile attempt to salvage his program asboth defensive and paternalistic and yet also as an idealistic venture -whoselong-term goal was anew "world order based on peace and prosperity.The greatest tragedy in this story is that in spite of the 25,000 Indians "who served in the armed forces and the 40,000 "who -worked in defense industries, the post war payoff was a return to pre-New Deal conditions of economic stagnation and cultural rejection. Still, Indian self-determination had asserted itself in the form of draft resistance and renewed pride These beginnings, the author claims, laid the foundation for the Red Power movement of the 1960s.This final conclusion marks the

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high point ofabook that makes for great historical reading World War II and the American Indian isquintessential history.Itis at once impeccably researched, highly interpretive, and beautifully -written This is not simply a book for students of the military or of Native Americans but rather for anyone who loves a provocative examination ofour past.

JIM VLASICH Southern Utah University

The Journey of Navajo Oshley: An Autobiography and Life History

EditedbyRobert S.McPherson (Logan:Utah StateUniversityPress,2000.xiv + 226. Cloth,$39.95;paper,$19.95.)

BORN AT DENNEHOTSO in northeastern Arizona sometime between 1879 and 1893,Navajo Oshley lived most of his life in Utah's SanJuan County until his death in Blanding on October 16, 1988.A few months before his death,Bertha Parrish translated and transcribed fourteen taped interviews conducted with Navajo Oshley in Navajo by his sonWesley Oshley in 1978.Using these interviews,along -with earlier interviews and interviews with individuals -who knew Navajo Oshley, including his daughters,Joanne Oshley Holiday and Marilyn Oshley,historian Robert McPherson hasproduced amemorable book that offers the reader an unbiased look into the real world of the Navajo at many critical junctures of history. Oshley was not a great political or religious leader but made his living herding sheep. Nevertheless, as anthropologist Winston Hurst noted, he lived a life that was "completely free of any self-consciousness and totally at ease -with himself." For McPherson, Oshley's life is one that "speaks to the human experience ofusall."

Written history has not been friendly to the American Indian, particularly in theWest I -would commend Dr McPherson in his effort to cross cultural bounds to reveal a quiet giant in Navajo Oshley My own experience living for a time in the area that Navajo Oshley traveled helped me to understand better the isolation, desolation, and beauty of the land, the simplicity and complexity of Navajo traditional life Also, being an avid reader of biographies, I find that this book could very well have been describing other Indian people throughout theWest

Navajo Oshley was all that was good about Navajo life. Oshley lived through the good, the bad,and the ugly He isbest described by the word "hozho," roughly translated as truth, beauty, and goodness. The Journey of Navajo Oshley isnot abook that is elaborate or overly descriptive;it isastory ofrespect for differences and similarity and of the interaction between two cultures in shaping the history ofsoutheastern Utah

Oshley was especially respectful ofthe simple ritual ofprayer as well as the more traditional ceremonies Through his acceptance into the Mormon church and being partly visible to the white community, he would show and teach "that a person should not talk of another person in a harsh way."The book reflects and shows his amazing ability to preserve and have an open mind in dealing with the Utes, Paiutes, Mormons, and others.He showed his resilience in his example to his family, clan, and tribe. He exuded all that is good, simple, and beautiful. For me, there was that underlying theme of family and tradition in the book Even though Oshley never attended school in the formal sense, he knew it was important enough that he encouraged his children and grandchildren and could be seen accompanying them to and from school in Blanding

McPherson has done a commendable job in making sure that Navajo's voice is heard throughout the book, from the simple truth and Tightness he expressed to his disgust for the disrespect for the earth and all that live on it This was especially difficult, because the writing, researching, and translation was done over a period often years.The Oshley family should alsobe commended for beingwilling to share their father, grandfather, and friend

This book is well written and shows that the journey Navajo Oshley traveled was rough but beautiful I believe that in today's world the many great human qualities that he exemplified are sorely needed in making anyone abetter person.

GARY TOM Cedar City

BOOK: NOTICES

Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870—1903

By ChrisJ Madoc (Albuquerque:University ofNew MexicoPress,2000 xvi+

Cloth,$49.95;paper,$19.95.)

266pp

The author was drawn to this story by the paradox of a "national nature-loving aesthetic" coexisting simultaneously -with the nation's "rapacious natural resource development.""It seemed possible,"Madoc writes,"that the story of the first national park might reveal something of the contradictory impulses of Americans toward the natural world" (xii) Notjust anatural areabut a deliberately created "landscape" in the American consciousness,Yello-wstone Park has from its inception been a commodity This history describes the late-Victorian values that drove the park's formation and approaches toward its protection, tourist marketing and development, and extraction of resources within theYellowstone ecosystem; it also shows the negative effects on the ecosystem of tourism and industrial development,including heavy logging adjacent to the park

Scots in the North American West, 1790—1917 ByFerencMorton Szasz

(Norman:University ofOklahoma Press,2000.xvi + 272pp.$29.95.)

Among the various nationalities that explored and colonized the West, Scots are highly visible. Scots were the leadership core of the Hudson Bay and NorthWest companies;Alexander MacKenzie,the most familiar name,is only one of many In several cases, the mixed-blood sons of Scots and Indians rose to prominence both in their tribes and in the Euro-American world and served as "cultural brokers" (70);for instance, Flathead—Scot Duncan McDonald wrote an early Indian-perspective history and systematically compiled Coyote tales in the early 1900s Scots also gained influence in such endeavors as cattle and sheep ranching and writing EnvironmentalistJohn Muir was one ofthe most influential ofhis compatriots.Both the famous and the unknown are surveyed in this book.

Managing Historical Records Programs: A Guide for Historical Agencies

ByBruceW.Dearstyne (Walnut Creek,CA:AltaMiraPress,2000.xvi+ 271pp.

Cloth,$62.00;paper $24.95.)

A useful handbook for any organization concerned with historical records,this book describes both the current philosophies ofrecords management and the nuts and bolts of storing, organizing, and making records available to the public Topics include the selection of records, arrangement and description, electronic archiving, and the providing of public services Several appendices give

additional help; they include a self-assessment guide for historical records programs,suggestions for cooperative approaches,ahypothetical program plan, guides for donations ofpersonalpapers and deeds ofgift,lists ofvendors,and more.

Evil among Us: The Texas Mormon Missionary Murders ByKenDriggs (SaltLake City:SignatureBooks,2000 xi+ 290pp Paper,$19.95.)

In 1974 in Texas Robert Kleason brutally murdered Mormon missionaries Gary Darley and Mark Fischer Author Driggs has reconstructed the background, the murders, the trial, and Kleason's subsequent life in detail Research sources include extensive interviews, public and legal records, and LDS records.

Patterns of Vengeance: Crosscultural Homicide in the North American Fur Trade

ByJohnPhillipReid (Pasadena:NinthJudicial CircuitHistoricalSociety,2000 248pp $40.00.)

This innovative monograph addresses a"multicultural legal world" (28) in which customs and laws among various Native American nations and fur traders differed -widely An examination of how these groups interacted, how they viewed and punished homicide and other disputes, and how they misunderstood and adapted to the others'"laws"makes for a fascinating study The author points out that even the most culturally sensitive present-day historians often make the same mistake that some of their historical subjects did; that is, they "impose [European] legal values upon Indian actions and...judge those actions by nonIndian values"-when they use such legal terms as"murder" and"theft" (26)

Nearby History, Second Edition: Exploring the Past aroundYou ByDavidE Kyvig andMyronA.Marty (WalnutCreek,CA:AltaMiraPress,xvi +285pp.Cloth,$65.00; paper,$24.95.)

Packed with guidance,information, and sources ofhelp,this handbook is a useful resource for local historians.The authors have set out to help history students see the value of examining a single family; help genealogists and other local historians enrich their work by examining itwithin abroader context; help researchers become more effective; and help everyone realize the relevance of the past to the present.To this end, they provide provocative investigative questions, information on historical "traces," methods and sources of research, and

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

discussions of the scholarship that has been and could be done in local and community history.

The New West of Edward Abbey ByAnnRoland;afterword byScotSlovic (2nded.;Reno:University ofNevadaPress,2000 xvi + 285pp Paper,$18.95.)

Roland's 1982 study was the first book-length literary analysis of the work ofthis influential western writer When it was first published,Abbey was stillliving and writing This new edition exploresAbbey's published work from his 1954 novel, Jonathon Troy, to his last novel, Good News. It also contains a reflective essay written by Roland atAbbey's death in 1989 and an essay on his later works by environmental scholar Scott Slovic

From Pioneers to Powder: A History of Big Cottonwood Canyon ByBob Flodine (Sandy,UT:self-published,2000.xu + 156pp.Paper,$24.00.)

Unable to find a complete history of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Flodine began combing through dozens of sources to satisfy his curiosity The result is this useful and interesting compilation of the canyon's history from 1847 to 1999.Well-organized and illustrated, the book includes a detailed table of contents, documentation, an index, and a helpful mileage guide to the canyon's present and historical sites

North American Cattle-Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion, and Differentiation

ByTerry

G.Jordan (1993;secondprintingAlbuquerque:University ofNew Mexico Press,2000.456pp.Paper,$24.95.)

The western cattle-ranching culture isnot monolithic; each "frontier" has been influenced by various cultures, as this innovative study shows. The author explores varied cattle-raising traditions, including Spanish, British, Sudanese,Antillean,Floridian,Mexican, Carolinian,Texan,and Californian (aswell as sub-cultures within these regions),tracing influences in ranching practices, language, and gear. He analyzes the geographical diffusion of ranching tradition and concludes that "Each cattle frontier was unique and far more accidental than predictable,the result ofchancejuxtapositions ofpeople and places"(308).

Encyclopedia of Local History Edited

byCarolKammenandNorma Prendergast

(Walnut Creek,CA:AltaMiraPress,2000.$79.95.)

This book has entries on almost all conceivable (and some nonconceivable) topics in local and public history Some omissions, inclusions, and subject treatments are head-scratchers, but in general this is a useful reference for anyone working in the field. Since each entry can only touch on its subject and raise a few important issues, many entries include recommendations for further reading By compiling the expertise and insights of dozens of historians and scholars in associated fields, Kammen and Prendergast have made an important contribution

A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement

ByMarkW.T.Harvey (1994;reprint ed.,Seattle:University ofWashington Press,2000. xviii + 368pp Paper,$19.95.)

Initially created in 1916 and greatly enlarged in 1938, Dinosaur National Monument was to become the focus ofasharply contested political battle over dam building in the 1950s Sitting astride the northern Utah—Colorado border, the monument contained some extraordinarily scenic sites, including beautiful Echo Park,that would have been inundated by the proposed dam.

In this carefully researched and well-written work—part of which was published in volume 59 of Utah Historical Quarterly—Mark Harvey tells the Echo Park story It is a most instructive study, one that adumbrates all the issues and most of the players that define environmental issues today.

Utahns, regardless of their stand on conservation issues, will be particularly interested in the details of this history. The personal roles played by Bernard DeVoto,Wallace Stegner, and Arthur VWatkins are illuminated, and the broader context of the Colorado River Storage Project and the Central Utah Project are given context.

With its defeat in 1956,the proposed Echo Park Dam slipped into history but not oblivion. In fact, asWilliam Cronon reminds us in his preface, this dam that was never built is indeed one of the most important in its narrative significance and under Mark Harvey's skillful hands becomes an "intricate and appropriately ambiguous moral fable."Thanks to this paperback reprint, countless new readers will now be able to mine the full meaning ofthose generalizations.

UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Saints on the Seas: A Maritime History of Mormon Migration 1830—1890

ByConwayB.Sonne (1983;reprint,SaltLakeCity:University ofUtah Press,2001. 212pp Paper,$24.95.)

Treating the Mormon migration by water as the important topic that it is—some 85,000 converts undertook the voyage to "Zion"—this book recounts the experiences of missionaries and converts as they traveled by ocean and river. It explains how the careful organization of emigrant companies resulted in successful passages, and it gives details of ships, captains, and ports.Among the book's strengths are its fine writing, extensive research, and appendices that provide more data than the average reader could ever dream of wanting to know about the ships and their devout passengers.

Excavation of the Donner-Reed Wagons: Historic Archaeology along the Hastings Cutoff

ByBruce R Hawkins andDavidB Madsen

(1990;reprint,SaltLake City: University ofUtah Press,1999 178pp Paper,$14.95.)

In 1986 a team of archaeologists worked to excavate and recover what remained of the wagons left by the Donner-Reed party in the Salt Lake Desert The wagons had been visited and"mined" for artifacts several times before, but this was a final, scientific investigation, motivated by the state's plan to flood the desert by pumping water from the rising Great Salt Lake Among other goals, the project sought to ascertain what physical remains and evidence ofthe Hastings Cutoff had survived; investigate the story that some emigrants had buried their wagons in the mud; and determine the kinds ofgoods left at the wagon sites,what had happened to abandoned items described by Howard Stansbury, and whether these goods were indeed left by the Donner-Reed party Besides a report of the team's findings, this volume contains chapters on the Hastings Cutoff, Stansbury's 1849—50 expedition, and visits to the wagon sites made between the 1870s and 1962

UTA H STAT E HISTORICA L SOCIET Y

Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History

BOAR D O F STAT E HISTOR Y

RICHARDW SADLER,Ogden, 2003, Chair

CAROLCORNWALL MADSEN,Salt Lake City,2001, Vice-Chair

MAXJ EVANS,Salt Lake City, Secretary

PAULANDERSON, Salt Lake City, 2003

MICHAEL W. HOMER, Salt Lake City, 2001

KIMA.HYATT,Bountiful, 2001

JOEL CJANETSKI, Provo, 2001

PAM MILLER, Price, 2003

CHRISTIE SMITH NEEDHAM, Logan, 2001

ROSS PETERSON, Logan, 2003

PAUL D.WILLIAMS, Salt Lake City, 2003

WALLYWRIGHT, Salt Lake City, 2001

ADMINISTRATIO N

MAXJ EVANS, Director

WILSON G.MARTIN, Associate Director

PATRICIASMITH-MANSFIELD, Assistant Director

STANFORDJ LAYTON, Managing Editor

KEVINT.JONES, 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 itlive up to itsresponsibility of preserving the record ofUtah's past

This publication hasbeen funded with the assistance ofamatching grant-in-aid from the National Park Service,under provisions ofthe National Historic PreservationAct of 1966as amended.

This program receives financial assistance for identification and preservation ofhistoric properties under TitleVI of the Civil RightsAct of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 The U S Department ofthe Interior prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis ofrace,color,national origin, age,or handicap in its federally assisted programs Ifyou believe you have been discriminated against in anyprogram,activity,or facility asdescribed above,or ifyou desire further information, please write to: Office ofEqual Opportunity, National Park Service,1849 C Street,NW,Washington,D.C, 20240.