St. George Lecture – Along the 37th Parallel: The Establishment of the Utah-Arizona Boundary

We are looking forward to being with you again for our first DSU Colleagues meeting of this academic year. Our featured speaker will be Professor Steven D. Heath, and his presentation is entitled, “Along the 37th Parallel: The Establishment of the Utah-Arizona Boundary.” 

Professor Heath was born and raised in Utah and is a graduate of the University of Utah. He taught mathematics at Southern Utah University for 35 years. In addition to his mathematics studies, Professor Heath has a master’s degree in the History of Science. He has written several articles on the life and works of Henry Eyring, a physical chemist at Princeton University and the University of Utah, and has done a major study of the life and works of Yale Geologist, Herbert E. Gregory, for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Steven has studied and written several papers on the history of the Old Spanish Trail and is past-president of The Old Spanish Trail Association. His interest in the region along the 37th parallel was prompted by his study of Antonio Armijo, who traveled the region in 1829 and established the beginnings of the Santa Fe-Los Angles trade trail. Professor Heath’s lecture will give the history of Utah’s boundaries and emphasize the survey work of Howard B. Carpenter along the 37th parallel in 1901. Steven will discuss the impact of boundaries and especially how they have affected Utah.

Steven and his wife Donna have lived in Washington, Utah for ten years. They are the parents of four children, and have sixteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He also has a special interest in the histories of Utah, baseball, and Mormonism.

Please mark your calendars and come and learn about how Utah’s borders were established.

Monday, October 7th at 12 noon in Lecture Hall 156 of the Taylor Health Science Center, located at 1526 E. Medical Center Drive in St. George.