CHAPTER
8
THE ERA OF THE GREAT WAR,
1900-1919 1 \ | o r t h e r n Arizona native Ruth Leila Kempe came to Utah County to attend school at Brigham Young Academy. On 15 February 1901 she noted in her diary: "Last night our Dear Beloved Brother Maeser passed away from this world of sorrow."1 Karl G. Maeser had been the leading light at the school in Provo from 1876 until his retirement in 1892. Maeser's death signaled not only the loss of a great contributor to education and culture in Utah County but also the end of an era. The early pioneers of Utah County were dying, and a new generation began filling their place of leadership—participating more fully in business, political, and cultural aspects of the larger American society. There was no greater evidence of this than the introduction and local participation in sports. Baseball and football grew in popularity during this period, as did track, as Utahns competed against each other as well as other teams from across the nation. The Olympic Games, however, b r o u g h t Utah athletes together with other Americans to compete as a team against competitors from other nations, and their participation in the Olympics was another telling 157
