We all live downstream of history and upstream of the future.
Spring 2004
| In This Issue - | Features | News |
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"So delicious they ate the bark" Scarred Tree Investigations in the Uintas A Town Long Drowned: Memories of Hite Stage and Screen: Glimpses into a Time of Transition, a photo essay
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Don't Lose Your Memories! Getting started on oral history
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News and Notes
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"So delicious they ate the bark"
Scarred Tree Investigations in the Uintas
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| A Ute woman and child, 1908 |
Ute mothers sometimes gave their children bark for a sweet treat. |
by Byron Loosle
For years, I have invited schoolchildren to smell the bark of ponderosa trees during nature hikes. I tell the children what one of our foresters told me long ago: that the sweet-smelling sap has a vanilla odor. One day a first grader from Maeser Elementary set me straight. She told me I was wrong and emphatically pointed out that the ponderosa we had our noses against smelled like delicious butterscotch! Her classmates echoed her sentiments with lots of "mmmms" and lip-smacking--as though they were eager to start eating the bark.
The ponderosa pine, sometimes called yellow pine, is one of the most stately and picturesque trees in Utah's forests. Growing at mid-elevation environments (7,000 to 8,500 feet), these giants can live to be well over 500 years old, partly because their thick bark enables them to survive low-intensity fires. Because the ponderosa can live so long, it may pick up a variety of scars throughout its life. A typical ponderosa scar called a "cat face" is a small triangular scar that begins at ground level, usually on the uphill side of the tree. These cars are created during a fire when burning material rolls against a tree, smolders for several hours, and burns through the tree bark. Animals like porcupine also scar trees by eating the bark. Animal-created scars are usually smaller than a foot in size, have an irregular outline, and sometimes have visible teeth marks.
Besides these, archaeologists have discovered unusual, rectangle-shaped scars that usually begin a foot or two off the ground and extend up for about four feet. Humans
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made these scars. They been documented extensively in Colorado and in numerous locations throughout Utah. Human-scarred ponderosas are sometimes called medicine trees, but archaeologists prefer the more descriptive--though less romantic--term, Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs).
We know that Native American groups from Montana and Oregon in the north to Arizona and New Mexico in the south consumed the inner bark of ponderosa pine trees. Actually, the inner bark offers good nutrition. In the spring the cambium contains large amounts of carbohydrates and protein. One pound of phloem, the layer of cells just beneath the outer bark that transports food reserves, has as much calcium as nine glasses of milk. Phloem also contains iron, magnesium, zinc, and other nutrients.
Marilyn Martorano, who has studied many CMTs in Colorado, notes that the Utes of southern Colorado stripped the bark from pine trees to use the sap-laden inner bark for various food purposes. When peeled from the tree in the spring of the year the inner bark is quite fluid and sweet.
Scraped from the outer bark and rolled into balls, it could be chewed as a sweet treat. Mixed with corn and meat, it could flavor stew. It could also act as a tonic. Anthropologist Anne Smith notes that "small strips of the inner bark of the pine were tied into bundles and later eaten with salt" by the Northern Utes. Martorano feels that ponderosa was an important starvation food; she has titled one of her articles "So Hungry They Ate the Bark off the Tree."
Local knowledge and oral tradition have given us some insight into the uses of ponderosa bark in the Uinta Basin. Leo Thorne, a Vernal photographer, asked members of the Ute tribe about the peeled trees. They told him the trees were peeled to get the inner bark and pine gum for healing purposes. Based on this information, Thorne's family generally referred to the trees as "medicine trees," and the term is still used in Vernal. Clifford Duncan, a Ute elder, says that in some areas a medicine man would place the sick person against the scarred portion of a tree as part of a healing or exorcism ritual.
Bertha Cuch, another Ute elder, remembers her grandmother peeling trees and rolling the inner bark into balls to give the children as treats. Another woman remembered her grandmother collecting the sap to use as a sweetener.
Ute elder Jonas Grant reports that the sap was used to waterproof moccasins. It may have also been used as a glue to help repair moccasin soles and as a waterproof basket lining (although pinyon was perhaps the preferred pine for this use). Recently, Clifford Duncan told me that, in the absence of horseshoes, a Ute who was going to ride in a steep rocky spot would first glue pieces of rawhide to the bottom of the horse's hooves using pinesap. Then he would wrap the edges of the rawhide piece up around the horse's foot and tie it off with a strip of rawhide. These soft horseshoes would help protect the horse hooves in rocky terrain.
We have other information about CMTs in northeastern Utah because of dedicated avocational archaeologists. Lawrence DeVed, Leon Chamberlain, Tim Sweeney, and other members of the Uinta Archaeology Club--a chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeology Society--have photographed, measured, and cored nearly 40 of these scarred trees. By taking a core sample and counting the tree rings (years) from the bark to where the scar starts, we can tell when a tree was scarred.
Martorano cored 40 culturally peeled trees from three different areas of Colorado and found that the majority of trees were peeled between 1815 and 1875. One scar dated to 1793 and a few dated after 1890. In contrast, none of the trees from the Ashley National Forest was scarred before 1900.
This date roughly coincides with the removal of the White River and Uncompahgre Utes of Colorado to the Ouray Reservation in the Uinta Basin. I suspect the best explanation for this dating pattern is that the Utes of Colorado commonly stripped the bark from ponderosa trees. When they were forced from Colorado in 1882 the practice ceased there but began on trees near the reservation in Utah.
In Colorado, Martorano notes, "The peeling process was undertaken primarily by women and usually done near a campsite. The trees were peeled in the spring, usually in May, when the sap in the tree was running and the bark was easiest to remove." Clifford Duncan says he has heard that Uinta Basin residents also collected sap in May or early June. An archaeologist states that the best cambium from ponderosa trees is "obtained from young trees, before they began to bear cones. It could also be taken from the twigs and branches of older trees."
Martorano's idea that ponderosa was a starvation food does not seem valid in Utah. I would expect to find many more trees with large haphazard scars if the peeling was done for survival. Instead, the peeling we have found in the Ashley National Forest seems more consistent with occasional use of the trees for sealants, glues, medicines, or sweetening, as local Ute informants have asserted.
If you don't yet know why anyone would eat cambium, the next time you are in the woods, stop to smell the bark.
--Byron Loosle, heritage program leader for the Ashley National Forest.
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Answer to previous Puzzler Built in 1856-58, the Jesse N. Smith House in Parowan is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is significant both for its architecture and its association with Smith. Smith, a cousin of Joseph Smith, Jr., helped establish the LDS Iron Mission and was a religious and political leader in southern Utah, serving on the Territorial legislature at age 21 and as mayor of Parowan at 24. The house is an early example of adobe-constructed Classical vernacular architecture, a common style during Utah's settlement era. Verl Taylor and Claire M. Dalton, both of Parowan, correctly identified the house. Ms. Dalton was chosen in the drawing to receive the membership. |
ON THE ROAD: Hijacked by History
by Ed Iversen, Salt Lake City
We never planned to visit the Hurricane Canal; it sort of sneaked up on us while we were heading somewhere else. My wife and I had merely stopped at the Hurricane museum just to get some directions--but the enthusiastic docent pulled us aside and said, "Let me tell you how Hurricane was born!" She told us about the Hurricane Canal and how the first water from the Virgin River flowed through it in 1904. We decided--why not?--we'd go take a look.
The canal snakes along a high steep slope, so steep that the canal seems almost suspended in air: eight feet wide, with four-foot-high walls of lava rock and concrete. Twelve tunnels through solid rock. Six flumes over gullies. All done between 1893 and 1904. We walked along it, amazed.
I'm an engineer, and questions flooded my mind. Did men really build this?all the cut and fill? with just picks and shovels? Where did they get lumber for the flumes? The concrete looked old; instead of crushed aggregate it contained smooth pebbles. Where did they get the aggregate? Where did they get the lime for the cement? This was no simple project. Even with today's equipment, it would be an ominous task.
Then there were the human questions. It seemed incredible that what made the town of Hurricane possible was thought up by two people, James Jepson and John Steele, with an idea to divert water from the Virgin River. People told them over and over that they could never succeed. I pictured them saying, "We can do it." What were their motivation and means? Did they do it for profit? For the community? I marveled that they could overcome the negativity of naysayers to inspire hundreds of families to invest time and effort in the project.
That night I was still wondering about the canal. We decided to call "Ranger Bart"--Bart Anderson, well-known in the area for his historical knowledge. He knew where the lime kiln was, though he had never looked for or found the limestone quarry. He told us the aggregate had come from the riverbed, and the lumber had come from up around the present-day Kolob Reservoir.
I really wanted to find that kiln. Next day, we followed Bart's directions (take the road to Zion out of Hurricane, and right at the top of the hill, look for a graded area on the right with a ravine nearby; walk down the ravine). Sure enough, tucked against the side of the ravine stood a rough-built sandstone-block kiln, used to heat limestone until it crumbled to powder and could be mixed into concrete. But where was the quarry?
We wandered down the ravine, farther and farther, searching the walls for signs of digging. Why would they build the kiln so far from the limestone? Maybe because they could only easily get into the ravine from the top?
Sure enough, we came to a sudden steep dropoff at the end of the ravine. And then, as we started to turn back, we noticed hat all along the ravine walls there a narrow band between two rock layers had been dug out. It was a seam of soft white limestone, suitable for making concrete. A minor historical discovery, this, but exciting to us.
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Still, there were those unanswered questions, those perhaps never-to-be-answered questions about the human side of the canal. Bart Anderson was lecturing that night, and we went. There we met descendants of the original canal builders, Iva and Ashby Reeve. They told us that the canal was built as a cooperative, largely by people who had lived in Grafton and Virgin and had had their farms washed out by floods. The men worked on the canal in the winter, they told us (those hot springs had been a nice end-of-the-day treat), and in the summer they farmed.
Mr. Reeve had worked for 75 years helping maintain the canal. "I wore out four teams of horses on it," he told us proudly. He said he'd hauled a lot of gravel and cement on pack horses to fix the canal, he had helped build an access road, and he had shoveled out the ditch when summer storms washed rocks and dirt into it. He told us that the cement we'd seen in the ditch was mostly repair work--that the original cement was not very strong.
So we had more answers. This canal wasn't built for commercial gain, but as a cooperative. Self-interest played a role, but it was combined with community interest--as opposed to most capitalist undertakings today, when people try to make individual profits. On the Hurricane Canal, everybody involved was fairly rewarded for the work done.
There's a story about a very old man planting a peach tree and a young man asking him why. "Young man," he said, "I've gone through my whole life eating peaches from trees I never planted. It's only right that I plant a tree for others." In a way, the Hurricane Canal is like that. Whether or not the builders knew they were planning for the future, people have eaten many peaches watered by the canal, and the canal has blessed the lives of thousands of people in real ways. Those whose lives were affected probably can't completely appreciate the vision and toil of those who worked to protect the community's crops from drought and flood.
Neither can those who take the time to explore the canal today. But, still, the canal gave me a lot to think about. And it taught me this: One way to experience Utah's amazing landscape is to be open to historical "hijackings": to notice remnants of the past, ask questions, investigate. There could hardly be a better way to connect with a place--and to tell the truth, I can't wait for my next close encounter with history.
Two ways to see the canal, starting in Hurricane:
Bowery Trailhead. Take State Route 9 to 200 North and go east to the Historical Marker. A half-mile walk takes you to the canal, a flume, and a tunnel.
Hurricane Hill Trailhead. From State Route 9, take State Route 59 east for 1 mile. Park at the communication towers. A trail along the rim above the canal drops down in several places to the canal and also leads to the Virgin Dam some five miles away.
Be sure not to miss the exhibits at the Hurricane Heritage Park and Museum, open 9:30-5:30 M-F, 10-5 Sat. (435) 635-3245.
A Town Long Drowned: Memories of Hite
Hite, once a tiny town near the confluence of the Dirty Devil and Colorado rivers, now lies under the waters of Lake Powell. Cass Hite and a boomlet of gold-seekers established the town in the 1880s, but the fine gold dust in the river sand resisted even the most earnest recovery efforts, and most of the prospectors packed up and left.
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The San Juan High School band helps celebrate the opening of a new road into Hite--a rough and rocky dirt road--on September 17, 1946. |
In 1946 a new automobile road (of sorts) and the start of regular ferry service allowed tourists to travel through this magical country. River runners also stopped there. But when the Glen Canyon Dam blocked the river in 1963, Hite's days were numbered. A marina now bears the name.
Reva Dorrell's family moved to Hite in 1948, when she was a teenager. We captured some of her recollections of this vanished town on a digital recorder. Here are a few stories, beginning with a family vacation from Springdale to Hanksville and beyond:
From Hanksville we went down a place called North Wash. It was a dry river bed, it was winding, and we crossed that riverbed 61 times in 18 miles. It was quite rough. And we went in a 1937 Chevy pickup.
We came to this beautiful little spot on the Colorado River, and it was called Hite. Well, we fell in love with this little farm [which was for sale]. It was beautiful, with all kinds of fruit trees on it. There was figs, almonds, pomegranates, walnuts, nectarines, peaches, pears, and many other fruits. It was so beautiful, so we decided to buy it.
My mother took over [cooking for] the Wonderland Stages which traveled down there, and we cooked for them, and we put up tents out around the fruit trees and the people would stay in there. And they just loved her big beautiful loaves of bread, which were made on a coal stove.
My stepdad used to throw a big line out at night on the Colorado River and stake it with a hook, and we caught some beautiful catfish. And my mother used to pressure them with vinegar and salt in them, and it really made a tasty meal.
We tried raising lots of garden fruits. It was beautiful sandy soil for watermelons and tomatoes, and so we started a little truck garden, and we would take them either out to Colorado or else into Moab and on in, or else we'd come up through Price, and all the stores would take what we had. Later we had a cousin that had an airplane, and he would come down and fly some of our produce out, and that helped quite a bit. They built an airport up on a ledge, right above the Hite Ranch, and they used a horse and leveled it off with a leveler, and he could land there. And we'd go load the vegetables and fruits, and he'd take it out.
And of course Hite was right up a little ways from Cataract Canyon, and so there were a few boat trips that came down the Colorado, and they stopped off at Hite and a lot of them wouldn't go down Cataract 'cause it was too rough, and so they would stop at Hite.
Arthur Chaffin [ran the ferry]. It was powered by a Model A Ford, and it took the ferry back and forth with cables. And because it was such beautiful scenery a lot of people went down there just to go on that trip, and when the sun would go down in the evening and strike those red hills, you'd just about want to cry it was so pretty. I was young yet, but I can still cry about it, thinking about it.
Every evening, our family'd get together and we'd read the Bible and the Book of Mormon and other religious books that we could find, and stories. So our family had a meeting every night with a coal oil lamp. My job was cleaning them, by the way; every morning I had to clean the two lamps.
I was the only girl down there for a time. And I was pretty busy with my mother, canning and everything. There just was a lot of chores and milk cows and there was lots of weeding to be done. And I remember the gnats?oh! There was so many gnats down there we used to put oil around our hairline, and then put a cloth around our head because we couldn't stand the gnats.
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A cabin at Hite. Soon after photo was taken, Lake Powell would cover the townshite. |
I was hanging clothes one day. We had a lot of katydids that were in the trees, and they'd squawk a lot at certain times of the day. And I was out hanging clothes and there were a lot of them that day--it was just before there was a storm--and I hung them clothes and I kept hearing this darn rattling noise, and I went up to it and there was this big rattlesnake all curled up ready to spring at me, and I yelled "Oh, my gosh!" and I ran, and I called my mother, and she brought a shovel and took care of it. But iif I hadn't been looking around I could have easily found out what the experience was of being bit by a rattler.
My brother and I planted a half acre of carrots, if you can imagine, trying to grow a half acre of carrots. We could keep the money off it, and we hoed 'em and worked at 'em, planted 'em, watered 'em, and we put 'em in little bunches, and the Safeway stores in Price would take all that we could take out.
We made enough that we could--when we went out to school, you know, we had to buy some clothes. And I had my teeth fixed; I lost my first tooth cause I hadn't been to the dentist, and I lost my first tooth.
Don't Lose Your Memories! Getting started on oral history
Every person on the planet carries inside a whole world of experience, thoughts, and feelings. Oral history is a wonderful way to capture glimpses into those worlds. And let's be honest: We're all going to die sometime. Oral history can keep a person's voice, expressions, and memories from slipping away forever.
People on both sides of the tape recorder can enjoy oral history. Try these suggestions for getting a good oral history:
1) Decide what you want to accomplish. Don't waste precious time getting facts you can get elsewhere. Instead, plan to ask a lot of "why," "how," and "what" questions.
2) Learn as much as you can on your own. Then prepare a list of topics and questions. You don't have to stick to your list, but it helps to have some topics in mind. Remember to ask questions that go beyond Yes and No answers. Sometimes the best questions are personal--those that bring out some emotion. (But perhaps you won't want to start out with these questions! Begin with easier ones.)
3) Set up, in advance, an uninterrupted time and quiet place for the interview. Try not to have a third person present. Even a third party who doesn't say a word can change or impede the interview! Tell your subject in advance what topics you'd like to cover.
4) Practice with your tape recorder in advance. Bring the recorder, extra batteries and tapes. Or you might want to use one of the new digital voice recorders, which have certain advantages. Either way, remember Murphy's Law,* and don't rely only on the recorder. Take good notes also.
* If anything can go wrong, it will.
5) Spend some time just chatting with your subject to put you both at ease. Get permission, in writing, for you to use the interview. Let your subject know he or she will be able to see and approve of the transcripts or notes.
6) At the beginning of the interview, record your names, date, place, and subject.
7) During the interview, ask a question, then wait and listen. Don't interrupt or correct or add your own comments. Show your interest. Ask questions that probe deeper. Be alert for clues that your subject knows stories or details you might not get unless you ask.
8) Bring pictures, documents, or items that might spark memory and bring out details.
9) Reliving memories and emotions can be tiring. Don't try to spend more than an hour or two interviewing.
10) If your subject doesn't want to talk about something, respect that.
11) You can make notes from the tape recording, but a transcription is best. Transcribe the tape using the subject's exact words.
12) Let the subject see and approve the transcription, and be sure to offer him or her a copy. Also remember that the Utah State Historical Society would love to receive a copy (call 533-3574).
13) Enjoy the process!
BOOK MARKS: Just the Ticket
I love reference books! I have shelf upon shelf of them at home and in my office. I enjoy nothing more (reading-wise, anyway) than browsing through this or that encyclopedia, dictionary, or bibliography. Like most people, my time is limited, and I cannot always read an entire book about a subject that interests me or that I need to research. That's why a good reference work will often be just the ticket. Entries are usually concise and to the point, but they contain enough pertinent information to give you at least a solid base to build from if you want to know more.
For history buffs like you and me, what could beat a quality encyclopedic reference book on history? And, since those who read this column are presumably aficionados of Utah history, how much better if that book was on Utah history? You won't find a more comprehensive modern topical history of Utah than the Utah History Encyclopedia, edited by Allan Kent Powell, editor of the Utah Historical Quarterly.
Some 270 historians and writers, comprising a veritable Who's Who of Utah literati, produced some 500 articles and essays on everything from "Anazasi" to "ZCMI." People, places, events, organizations, and other subjects are covered (some in surprisingly fine detail) by these authors, who are all experts in their fields. Photographs from the USHS archives accompany and illuminate the text. As I have browsed many times through this wonderful book, I could hardly think of a subject that wasn't included. (Well, my mother's hometown, Springdale, isn't there, but I guess they couldn't include everything.)
In addition to the many well-known, mainstream individuals you'd expect to find in this 674-page volume, there are also lesser-known but colorful characters such as Patrick Edward Connor, Bill Hickman, and Joe Hill. Of course, you'll find the account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, but you can also read equally riveting stories of the Black Hawk War and the Scofield Mine Disaster. Most of us know about mainstream Mormons, but what about the Godbeites and Morrisites, two fascinating Mormon dissenter groups that are explored in the book? As you first read this book you may feel--as I did--that you don't know as much about Utah history as you thought. But the good news is that, after reading even part of it, you'll know a lot more than you did before. And that's what's so enjoyable about a first-class reference book like this one.
Historian Leonard Arrington called this book "an accurate and comprehensive reference to Utah history." Utah educator Lily Eskelsen noted that the Utah History Encyclopedia is interesting and easy to read and that it "is a must for every library in the state." I would say that should include the personal library of anyone who cares about Utah history and wants to learn more about it.
--Curt Bench, Signature Books, Salt Lake City
STAGE AND SCREEN: Glimpses into a Time of Transition
Almost since the time that the Mormon pioneers first rolled into Salt Lake Valley, drama filled a large role in Utah--starting with open-air plays presented in the Old Bowery. Brigham Young reportedly once said that if he had the responsibility of bringing "civilization" to a cannibal island, he would build a theater. Indeed, in 1862 he built the beautiful Salt Lake Theatre, which became one of the nation's great stages. Wherever people settled in Utah, both in tiny towns and in large towns, drama usually followed.
In 1896 U.S. audiences saw their first movie. Although editorial writers worried that films would have a harmful influence on society, people flocked to see silent films. Entrepreneurs converted storefronts into instant movie theaters, setting up chairs for enthusiastic audiences. By 1913, when the American Theatre opened its doors on Salt Lake's Main Street (claiming to be the world's largest movie palace), the film business had moved way beyond storefront screenings. By 1920 the Salt Lake Tribune theater page listed five movie theaters and four stage theaters in the city. Over time, as people increasingly chose films over theater, many dramatic theaters went out of business. Buildings, habits, and even social structures changed.
All the photos come from the Utah State Historical Society library.
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Florence Roberts, an actress born in 1861, played on stage in her early years and toured to Utah. A 1904 Park Record reported, "The most brilliant and satisfying dramatic event of the season in Park City will be the appearance of Florence Roberts at the Dewey Theatre." Roberts, the Record said, was earnest, studious, handsome, and magnetic--all in all, perhaps the West's favorite actress. In her later years she played character roles--little old ladies--in dozens of films. |
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Little Hip, the newsboy elephant, came to strut his stuff on the Mission Theatre stage in 1910. The Mission specialized in "Imperial Vaudeville" acts that the Salt Lake Tribune regularly praised. During June 1910, the theater also offered such acts as the highly lauded Berini opera team, a George M. Cohen farce, the "best canine act the city has seen," a tragedy, an aerobatic routine by "four decidedly good looking and shapely young women," and a billiard-shooting man and wife--the wife being the world champion lady billiardist. |
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In September 1912, the Colonial Theater staged Northern Lights, the "remarkable" story of a Sioux, John Swiftwind, who attends Yale and becomes a surgeon for the Seventh U.S. Cavalry, which is stationed in Montana around the time of the Battle of Little Bighorn. In this photo, Willard Mack, who plays Swiftwind, poses with American Indian cast members (none of whom got the lead role). It was a big week for Mack. He had married his co-star, Marjorie Rambeau, shortly before this picture was taken. Because his divorce decree from another actress was too recent to satisfy Utah laws, the couple had to fly to Wyoming for a quick ceremony; they flew back to perform on stage that night. |
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Mothers and their babies stand in front of the Liberty Theatre in 1916 in a promotional event for the film Twilight Sleep. Early in the 20th century, "Twilight Sleep," a drowsy state induced by a mix of morphine and scopolamine, became a popular way to ease the pain of labor; presumably, this film had something to do with childbirth and babies. |
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In 1919, the owners of the old Pantages Theatre on Main Street built a new 2000-seat building. To christen the stage (built before the shell was finished), they had "Kyra, the wonderful oriental dancer now playing at the Pantages," and her troupe perform for the public "mystic dances of the orient" with their "weird and graceful undulations." The Pantages offered vaudeville and, later, film. It later became the now-closed but still-standing Utah Theater on Salt Lake's Main Street. |
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D.W. Griffith's influential Birth of a Nation played at the Salt Lake Theatre in 1916, accompanied by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Publicity for the movie included these Civil War era costumes and accoutrements. The film itself shows the power of the new medium. Skillfully made but racist, Birth of a Nation presented members of the Ku Klux Klan as heroes; it likely created greater racial intolerance and brought more people into the Klan. Griffith acknowledged the influence of film by saying (paradoxically), "We've gone beyond Babel, beyond words. We've found a universal language--a power that can make men brothers and end wars forever." The renowned Salt Lake Theatre was razed in 1928 amid anguished protests from the public. The new owners put a parking lot on the site, then a gas station shaped like an airplane. Later the Art Deco Mountain States Telephone building went up on the lot. A plaque on that building commemorates the lost theater. |
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During World War I, the U.S. Army kept POWs, German nationals, and others imprisoned at Fort Douglas. Though the government claimed that the German nationals--who happened to be in the U.S. when the war began--were dangerous subversives and terrorists, most were innocent. The Germans did what they could to pass the time, including staging their own plays. These actors posed in 1917. |
AncestryPlus now at USHS library
The Utah State Historical Society recently subscribed to AncestryPlus. Patrons visiting the library can access military, census, birth, marriage, death, immigration, court, land, and probate records. A number of biographical publications and directories are also available. The program is great for researching individuals and provides a wealth of information. The library is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Friday.
Moving toward the big move
Behind the scenes at the Rio Grande Depot, the USHS library staff is preparing to relocate its reading room and extensive collections. The reading room, now tucked away on the second floor of the north wing, will move to the ground floor of the south wing in 2005. 50,000 books and pamphlets, 500,000 photos and manuscripts, 30,000 maps, and more will move along with it.
The USHS staff is preparing by helping to plan new storage space that will better protect the collections from fire, floods, and dirt--and by bar-coding all of the items in the USHS collection.
Staff is also working with the State Archives staff to coordinate operations, computer systems, and furnishings of the new joint reading room for patrons of the two agencies.
Mormon History Association to meet in Provo
The annual conference of the Mormon History Association will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Provo, Utah, May 19--23, 2004. The conference will present recent scholarship in Mormon studies and various activities. This year, it will include stories and tours of Porter Rockwell sites, a tour to Spring City and Manti, concurrent paper sessions, and plenary lectures by Pulitzer Prize winner Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and religious architecture expert Dell Upton, of the University of Virginia.
Call (888) 642-3678 for reservations or information, or visit www.mhahome.org.
OCTA Outstanding Educator Award
The Oregon-California Trails Association annually recognizes outstanding achievement in educating students of all ages and abilities about westward migration. If you are interested in nominating an individual, group, or institution for this award, write octa@indepmo.org or OCTA, P.O. Box 1019, Independence, MO 64051, or call (816) 252-2272. Deadline for applications is March 31.
AASLH awards
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) invites submissions to its 2004 awards program. The AASLH awards are the most prestigious national recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of local, state, and regional history.
To find out how to nominate an individual or organization, see www.aaslh.org, or contact Craig Fuller, the Utah state awards chair, at cfuller@utah. gov or (801) 533-3538.
Charles E. Peterson Competition
Architecture students or teams of students may enter the Charles E. Peterson Competition, with prizes given to the best sets of measured drawings submitted. Drawings must be submitted to the Historic American Buildings Survey by June 30, 2004. For more information, contact Kelly Young at (202) 354-2160 or kelly_young@nps. gov. Or see www.cr.nps.gov/ habshaer/joco/pete/.
Cemeteries and Burials Database
As of this spring, the Utah State Historical Society has entered data from 350 Utah cemeteries in its online database. The searchable Burials and Cemeteries databases include names and other genealogical information about people who are buried in Utah cemeteries.
USHS grants have helped scores of cemeteries convert their sexton records to electronic databases that include GIS coordinates; the cemeteries then share the data with the USHS cemetery project.
Cemeteries that have already converted to electronic data have also donated their records to us. Other information has come from volunteers, like local genealogists and cemetery buffs, who record grave marker information in small, inactive, and abandoned cemeteries and submit the information to us.
The latest cemeteries we have added to the database are Paradise (Cache County), Greenville (Beaver County), and Valley View Memorial Park (Salt Lake County). Search for yourself at: http://history.utah. gov/library/burials.html
UHF events
Utah Heritage Foundation Annual Historic Homes Tour Saturday, May 15, 2004
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Gilmer Park, Salt Lake City
This year, the tour will highlight historic Gilmer Park. Gracious Period Revival houses line the curved streets of this distinctive Salt Lake City neighborhood. Join us for tours of six to eight private homes, a Historic Homes Fair, and lectures on historic furniture and architecture. Tickets are available on May 1 and cost $10 for UHF members and $15 for the general public. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Utah Heritage Foundation at (801) 533-0858.
Capitol Discovery Day
Saturday, June 26, 2004
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Utah State Capitol Building, Salt Lake City
Where can you find the largest solid marble columns in the United States? A room decorated in 23-carat gold? A seagull with a six-foot wingspan? All these treasures reside in one of Utah's most important historic buildings, the Utah State Capitol. Come learn about the history and architecture of the Capitol and the project that will preserve it for future generations at Capitol Discovery Day.
This exciting free event offers a variety of hands-on activities, tours, and presentations to engage everyone in the family. For more information, call the Utah Heritage Foundation at (801) 533-0858 ext. 101.
What's happening in Murray
Murray City has just released its final centennial publication, "Faces of Murray." This 176 page book includes 315 short family biographical sketches along with photos of a wide variety of early and longtime Murray residents over the past 150 years. The book can be purchased at the Murray Parks Office for $24.
Murray City has also been working to provide easy access to records for residents and students researching Murray history. The new Murray Museum includes a library of more than 2000 historic photos, city scrapbooks, oral histories, and a growing family file section of more than 300 family groups who have resided in Murray for multiple generations.
The collection of historic Murray photos is still being catalogued and can be seen on the web at www.murray.lib. ut.us. The library has also worked with the U of U Marriott Library to scan old local Murray newspapers, which can now be
found on the same web site.
Letter to the editor
I would like to compliment you on your interesting article, "Tribes R Us," on the Utah State History website [editor's note: see history.utah.gov/news/ fall03.html]. The story of the Japanese Americans who evacuated from California to Keetley to avoid incarceration during World War II was of special interest to me since I was one of the 130 individuals who moved to Keetley during the last week of March 1942.
My parents, Frank and Yoshiko Endo, were interviewed by Mrs. Helen Z. Papanikolas regarding their Keetley experience when she was doing research for her book The Peoples of Utah, which was published in 1976; some of their experiences can be found on pages 353 and 354.
One minor error in your article is the name of Mr. Fisher [who invited Japanese Americans to relocate to Keetley]. It should be George A. Fisher rather than Jack Fisher.
Even though George A. Fisher was severely criticized by most of the people who lived in and around Keetley, he allowed us to start a new life in Utah and avoid the indignities of being imprisoned in an internment camp. For those of us who evacuated to Keetley, we are forever indebted to George A. Fisher for withstanding the pressures of intense racial discrimination and allowing us to prove that we too were loyal, patriotic Americans.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Endo,
1942 resident of Keetley, Utah
Agoura Hills, CA
For more on this subject, see The Peoples of Utah; "Keetley, Utah: The Birth and Death of a Small Town," by Marilyn Curtis White, in Utah Historical Quarterly, Summer 1994 issue; and "Japanese Americans and Keetley Farms," by Sandra C. Taylor, in Being Different, edited by Stanford J. Layton.
Utah Prehistory Week: May 1-8
Millions of years before the first human beings migrated to the Utah area 11,000 years ago, this was a land teeming with prehistoric animals. During Utah Prehistory Week, you'll have a chance to learn about paleontology (the study of fossils, including dinosaurs) and also archaeology (the study of past human cultures).
Utah Prehistory Week runs from May 1--8, 2004. You can celebrate Utah's rich and diverse prehistory at events that will be held all over the state?events such as tours to important archaeological and paleontological sites, free public lectures, museum tours, and many hands-on events.
This week of prehistory will begin with a kick-off at the Utah Division of State History on Saturday, May 1 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Our annual Prehistory Open House will include hands-on activities for kids, spear and atlatl throwing, Navajo tacos, and demonstrations on prehistoric technology and rock art. The open house will be held at the Rio Grande Depot, 300 S. Rio Grande St., Salt Lake City.
The Division of State History, in partnership with Utah State Parks, will offer free guided tours of Danger and Jukebox caves on Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 9. Space is limited, so call Ron Rood at (801) 533-3564 to reserve your space.