THE U T A H STATE HOSPITAL A S T U D Y I N T H E C A R E O F T H E M E N T A L L Y ILL B Y CHARLES R.
MCKELL*
T
he problem of mental illness is not a new one. It likely has existed as long as the human race, but recognition of, and provisions for, it have varied with time place and people. In Utah we started out with a small group of Pioneers in 1847, whose religious convictions seemed to overshadow almost everything else. The practice of medicine was thought by some to be in "direct contrariety to the revealed will of Heaven." The church and its priesthood was paramount; President Brigham Young, on October 24, 1855, actually preached a sermon in the Tabernacle on the subject of "Let the Doctors Alone." It is surprising that there were any doctors at all in early Utah, for judging from occasional comments and news items in the Deseret News, the doctors found little acceptance and turned to other pursuits. 1 The following, under "Doctors and Lawyers in Deseret," May 27, 1857, seems to indicate very little respect for the practice of medicine: After the departure of the company that went with the Governor there were only two lawyers and two or tbree doctors left in die city. Both of the lawyers have been steadily at work, and all of the doctors have been following some useful employment, aside from their profession, but one, and we are sorry to state that he has not been seen, to our knowledge, with either ax, hoe, pick, shovel or spade in his hand for a long time, though he seems to be busy every day. * Charles R. McKell is presently Director of Social Service at the hospital. This article is largely a condensation and an outgrowth of his master's thesis, "History of the Utah State Hospital" (University of Utah, 1948). Much of the basis for his material, especially the later years since 1936, has been acquired by reason of his employment by that institution. iSee Joseph R. Morrell, "Medicine of the Pioneer Period in Utah," Utah Historical Quarterly, XXIII (April, 1955), 127-44.
