MAY/JUNE 2025
SILENT SURVIVORS
Utah’s elusive kit foxes endure against the odds
BART THE BEAR
The nine-foot grizzly who stole Hollywood’s heart
BACK OF BEYOND
Cathedral Valley’s rugged 58-mile loop adventure
Trivia Firsts you didn’t learn in school +
Salt Lake City, pg. 9, 10, 40
Emigration Canyon, pg. 6
Heber City, pg. 24
Springville, pg. 41
Elmo, pg. 38
Fruita, pg. 16
Moab, pg. 8
Oljato-Monument Valley, pg. 44
A kit fox pup resides in Utah’s harsh desert environment. Story begins on page 14.
Photo by USFWS/Clint Wirick.
5 Editor’s Letter
6 Honeycomb Historic diner, library cat, scorpions and Gilgal sculpture garden.
12 Trivia
Test your knowledge of Utah’s firsts. Answers on page 43.
32 Kitchens Ice cream treats for summer heat.
36 Poetry Cosmos comes into lyric focus.
38 Uncommon Champions
Twelve-year-old miniature bull riding champion is ‘gem of a little cowboy.’
40 Explore Utah Celebrate with the Days of ’47 and World Folkfest.
46 Last Laugh Curse words just aren’t in Utahns’ vocabulary... so they get creative.
Ghosts of the Deser t
Follow the elusive kit foxes and their subtle survival in southwest Utah. by Scott Baxter 16
Back of Beyond: Cathedral Valley
Dan Leeth explores the remote redock sanctuaries of Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef’s Northern District. story and photographs by Dan Leeth
The Bear Who Stole the Spotlight
Bart the Bear starred in Hollywood films for two decades and formed an unlikely relationship with the Seus family. by Bianca Dumas
Where the West was Framed
How Monument Valley’s iconic buttes became the quintessential backdrop to American Westerns. story by Ariella Nardizzi photograph by David Bailey
Jim White
Editor’s Letter
The Many Ways We Endure
THE FIRST TIME my daughter Liesl told me she was spending her summer hauling carp out of Utah Lake, I pictured something almost idyllic: early mornings on the water, the sun glinting off calm waves. She’d always been creative, filling our home with paintings of marine life and by her freshman year in college, she could rattle off more Latin fish names than I’ll ever manage.
That image didn’t last long. Each day, she and her team set out to haul in nets holding thousands of pounds of fish, sometimes more than a ton in a single run. They worked waist-deep in reeds and muck, hoisting carp with the determination of fishers on the Sea of Galilee – minus the robes, plus a lot more sunscreen.
She told me the hardest part wasn’t the weight or the heat. It was watching her waders fill with water again and again, like a muddy initiation you never quite graduate from. But she kept going, sorting invasive carp from native catfish and bass, recording every measurement and coming back just tired enough to feel it was worth it.
If you’re wondering why anyone would sign up for this, here’s the answer: Liesl is a marine biology major who discovered in college that sometimes the most important work is also the messiest. Utah Lake’s native June sucker – found nowhere else – nearly disappeared under the pressure of these hardy carp. It’s taken decades of persistence to bring it back.
That’s what her summer showed me: resilience isn’t just about hardship. It’s about showing up, day after day, and doing what needs doing.
You can see that same spirit in the kit foxes of western Utah, emerging cautiously from their dens. Few creatures are better suited to a landscape that tries so hard to shake them off.
In the sandstone cathedrals of Capitol Reef, centuries pass in the time it takes a shadow to cross a cliff face. The roads out there test your patience – and your tires – but remind you that endurance can mean simply holding your ground.
Bart the Bear lumbered into movie fame from a ranch near Heber, proving that even wild creatures can adapt to us – if we adapt in return.
There’s the northern scorpion – nearly invisible until you sweep a blacklight over the rocks and see it glowing greenish blue under the stars. On Antelope Island, it survives weeks without food or water and temperatures from freezing nights to scorching afternoons.
Resilience shows up in creatures that outlast drought and winter and in the places we build and refuse to let slip away.
Ruth’s Diner has outlasted the Great Depression, war and generations of canyon traffic. When Ruth Evans started flipping burgers in 1930, Utah had about half a million residents. Today, with more than three million people calling this state home, her Mile High Biscuits are still a rite of passage – and a reminder that the No Smoking Section only applied to the first bar stool.
It’s the same spirit you’ll find in the young bull rider from Elmo who trained on a homemade barrel rig and kept getting back on, no matter how many times he hit the dirt. When asked how he did it, he just shrugged: “There wasn’t nothing to it.” I’d argue there was plenty to it – the same quiet persistence that drives a student to pull carp from a muddy lake, a kit fox to wait for dusk or families to keep a diner going through every hardship.
Sometimes resilience comes down to a simple question: What’s worth preserving? For Ruth, it was a trolley-car diner. For the kit fox, a quiet den. For my daughter, a native fish most people will never see. And for all of us, maybe it’s the stories we tell – the ones that remind us how to endure and start again.
Just don’t forget your waders. They’re going to fill with water – but you’ll be glad you wore them anyway.
CHRIS AMUNDSON Publisher & Editor editor@utahlifemag.com
May/June 2025
Volume 8, Number 3
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Ruth’s Way
Utah’s second-oldest restaurant serves up biscuits and comfort fare with a kick
by ARIELLA NARDIZZI
The first thing to know about Ruth Evans is that she wasn’t the only one guarding the door of her diner in Emigration Canyon. Her tiny Chihuahuas, who had just as much bite as their owner, patrolled the trolley car of Ruth’s Diner, nipping at the ankles of customers they didn’t recognize.
In the 1950s and ’60s, you didn’t just waltz in – you earned your seat. And if the dogs didn’t test you, Ruth might. The Utah legend swore like a sailor, smoked like a chimney and flipped burgers with the kind of authority that comes from running your own show since 1930.
Even before that, Ruth performed as a cabaret singer in Salt Lake City bars between 1912 and 1916. She recalled one night when a woman dragged her off stage by the hair. The ever-audacious Ruth later told friends, “the biddy regretted herself for some time to come.”
By 1930, she’d opened Ruth’s Hamburgers in the Meredith Building at 120 E. 200 South – just across from a brothel, where she’d keep seats open for the working girls and listen to their stories.
When the building was sold and demolished, Ruth wasn’t deterred. She bought an old Utah Light and Traction Company trolley car and hauled it up Emigration
Canyon, where Ruth’s Diner was born in 1949. She lived in an apartment attached to the trolley – now the restaurant’s lower dining area and kitchen.
In its heyday, Ruth’s was a haven for colorful characters: canyon residents seeking gossip and fraternity boys in search of a cold beer, thanks to her relaxed ID policy. Her disregard for rules showed in a handwritten sign that read, “No Smoking Section – First Bar Stool Only.”
In 1977, she sold the business to one of the frat boys, Curtis Oberhansly, who had spent plenty of time on those barstools. Ruth lived out her days in a home behind the diner and passed away at 94.
Ruth’s Diner
Today, the diner is older than Ruth ever was – 95 years of business and counting, making it Utah’s second-oldest restaurant after Logan’s Bluebird Restaurant. Although she didn’t see the full legacy she left, Patrick McIver still feels her feisty spirit in the trolley car walls.
McIver was hired as a busser in 2002 and has stayed ever since, working his way from bartender to general manager in 2011. “Ruth’s was always home for me,” he said. “It’s that way for a lot of our customers, too.”
Though the diner has changed hands again, the current owners, Erik and Tracy Nelson, go way back. They met working at Ruth’s in the ’80s – Tracy was a server and Erik a chef. “When it went up for sale in 2007, they didn’t want it going to anybody who wouldn’t respect the tradition Ruth left,” McIver said.
The restaurant still pays homage to its larger-than-life founder. The original trolley car holds polished woodwork, paneled windows and a sense of nostalgia. Photos of Ruth, her jukebox and an old-fashioned phone booth greet guests in the foyer.
As a nod to Ruth’s cabaret days, the restaurant hosts live music on the outdoor patio overlooking Emigration Creek every evening and Sunday mornings from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The food doesn’t stray far from Ruth’s original comfort fare. Her famous Mile High Biscuits land on the table as soon as guests sit down.
Other standouts include pulled pork eggs benedict on green chili cornbread with barbecue sauce and Hollandaise, Erik’s raspberry chicken and no shortage of dishes from Ruth’s recipe book.
Ruth and her dogs may be gone, but their spunky spirit? Still there – just ask anyone who’s tried to take the last Mile High biscuit.
Utah’s second-oldest diner opened in a trolley car in 1949, serving American fare and comfort meals. The spunky legacy of Ruth Evans has continued for 95 years.
Ruth’s Diner (both)
Paws and Prose Cosmo the Cat finds a home at Moab’s Grand County Public Library
by ARIELLA NARDIZZI
On any given afternoon, Cosmo the Cat might be sprawled across the circulation desk, blinking slowly at visitors who stop to scratch his chin. He watches children pick out picture books, keeps tabs on the librarians shelving returns and occasionally inspects someone’s backpack for snacks.
In 2018, the black-and-white tuxedo cat first sauntered into the Grand County Public Library in Moab. He slunk through open doors and hid in book nooks to evade the staff. One afternoon, an 8-year-old boy named him Cosmo because his fur looked like the stars. Carrie Valdes, the library director, knew her battle of wills was over –Cosmo had found his forever home.
Cosmo was an orphan whose family had relocated. The staff took him in and quietly paid for his care. When the pandemic shut down the library in March 2020, Valdes’ phone was flooded with
calls from people worried about Cosmo.
To ease concerns, the library posted a photo of Cosmo stretched across a bookshelf, gazing wistfully out the window. The image drew a resounding response and inspired “Cosmo’s Corner,” a weekly column in the Moab Sun News highlighting events, new books and library outreach.
“He’s a great writer,” Valdes said. “He’s got a snarky little sense of humor.” The staff helps craft Cosmo’s quips – after all, typing with paws is no small feat.
The beloved 10-year-old feline ambassador greets patrons with a friendly meow, basks atop sunny shelves and draws hordes of visitors. In the guest log, people from Massachusetts, Delaware, Tennessee and California have written, came just to see Cosmo
“Per capita, we are one of the busiest libraries in Utah,” Valdes said. “The library is one of those stops on the tour for people visiting Moab and Arches. We’ve been
Cosmo the Cat has been the unofficial mascot of the Grand County Public Library in Moab since 2018.
The northern scorpion (right page) is Antelope Island’s only scorpion species. Their two-inch exoskeletons glow greenish blue under ultraviolet light.
busy – very much so – since the cat.” Cosmo’s affection matches the love he receives. A young girl once swaddled him in a baby carriage, the blanket tucked beneath his furry chin as he purred. He has favorite nap spots – a fuzzy cushion on the front desk, a warm patch of concrete in the courtyard and the S.S. Catatonic, a wooden boat bed hand-crafted by library assistant Tom Spruill.
“He recognizes that everybody wants to love on him. He’s never snipped at anybody or shown the smallest amount of aggression,” Valdes said.
T-shirts, mugs and calendars with Cosmo’s whiskered face hang behind the front desk. Sales and donations from Friends of the Library help cover his food, toys and care.
Cosmo’s presence isn’t always guaranteed. “He is a smart cat with his own mind,” Valdes said. But for those who do snuggle up with a good book, every visit feels brighter thanks to this cosmic kitty.
Grand County Public Library
by TIM GURRISTER
Antelope Island State Park is known for its sweeping views and iconic bison herd –but every summer, the real show unfolds at ground level. Egg sacs laid the previous fall hatch in spring, and by midsummer, millions of western spotted orb weavers emerge from sheltered nooks to blanket the shoreline in intricate webs. Drawn by dense clouds of brine flies along the Great Salt Lake’s edge, these spiders cascade across buildings, footpaths and sagebrush.
The bison herd can top 700, and the park is also home to pronghorn antelope, mule deer and bighorn sheep. But spiders outnumber them all – by the millions. “More than that,” said park naturalist Trish Ackley. “It’s like Halloween in the summer. They just drape the island.”
The western spotted orb weaver is the island’s most visible arachnid, with a rounded web and an abdomen that can reach an inch long. Though large, they are nonaggressive and harmless, retreating rather than biting. Still, the webs are everywhere – in door-
The Creepy, Crawly Stars of Antelope Island
Millions of spiders, scorpions steal the show every summer
ways, across trails and strung between sagebrush. Park staff clear the restrooms and visitor center daily but can’t keep up. Rangers recommend carrying a walking stick to gently clear paths.
Former Park Manager Jeremy Shaw, who launched the festival, said the event began in response to frequent visitor questions – and occasional fears. “Some were scared, some were creeped out,” he said. “So we decided to embrace it as a chance to educate. Most people couldn’t believe how many there were – or how big they got.”
The 12th Annual Antelope Island Spider Festival is Aug. 15 – from 3 to 9 p.m. Events include guided hikes, spider presentations, crafts, food, face painting and a photo contest. Activities are included with the park’s $15 entry fee.
Also on Aug. 15, the Scorpion Safari departs the marina parking lot at 8:30 p.m. After a brief presentation, naturalist lead visitors into the dark with UV flashlights to track the northern scorpion –the island’s only scorpion species. Under
ultraviolet light, their exoskeletons glow greenish blue, revealing creatures that otherwise slip unseen through the night.
“We never know how many we’ll find,” Ackley said. “Sometimes it’s a handful, other nights it’s countless. Either way, people leave with great scorpion facts –and a deeper appreciation.”
The northern scorpion grows up to 2 inches long and is one of five species native to Utah. The black hairy scorpion, yellow devil scorpion, desert hairy scorpion (the largest at up to 4 inches) and Arizona bark scorpion are all found in the southern half of the state. The Arizona bark is the only one with venom potent enough to pose a serious risk to humans.
Unlike its heat-loving cousins, the northern scorpion tolerates colder temperatures and ranges from Utah and Nevada to Montana and even Canada. Its sting is harmless to humans. “They’re very docile,” Ackley said. “And if you look at them up close – even kind of cute.”
Though their venom helps subdue insects, scorpions are prey for owls, hawks, snakes, coyotes and lizards. Globally, more than 2,000 scorpion species exist –from Utah’s desert hairy scorpion to Sri Lanka’s giant forest scorpion, which can reach 9 inches or more.
On Antelope Island, however, the only scorpion you’re likely to meet is the quiet, nocturnal northern – glowing beneath a summer sky, hunting insects and keeping to itself.
Antelope Island State Park (left); Larry Muench (above)
Tending the Gilgal Sculpture Garden
SLC park is quirky, bizarre, restored
by ERIC PETERSON
A masterpiece of outsider art is hidden in plain view in southeast Salt Lake City.
Named for a biblical memorial in Israel, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is a collection of unusual and elaborate works of stonemasonry at 749 E. 500 South. There’s a sphinx with Joseph Smith’s face, an archway of boulders and the brickwork self-portrait of the garden’s creator, Thomas Battersby Child Jr.
Child began creating the sculptures when he bought the property in 1947 and worked tirelessly until his death in 1963. A stonemason and bishop of the 10th Salt Lake Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Child drew on his faith for inspiration. He also drew on a zany imagination.
Judi Short of Friends of Gilgal Garden (FOGG) calls it an “intriguing conglomeration” of more than 100 sculptures and stones. “Not a lot of people know it’s there,” she said.
The park was nearly lost to the wrecking ball before FOGG formed in 1997 and worked with the Trust for Public Lands and Salt Lake Corporation, raising funds from the community and entities like Salt Lake County and the LDS Church. The group purchased the property in 2000, and it became a Salt Lake City park. FOGG is responsible for maintaining the art and
park in all its glory.
Chelsey Zamir inventoried and mapped Gilgal Garden for the American West Center at the University of Utah in 2016. “I’m not religious myself,” Zamir said. “For me, Gilgal Garden stood out as a unique piece of Mormon history and Mormon art. It’s quirky.”
Zamir measured every sculpture and stone in the garden. “How did this guy have the time?” she wondered. “It shows a lot of love and dedication to not only his craft but also his religion. That’s a lot of work.”
She also transcribed all the writing engraved on the stones and tracked down the sources of much of Child’s material. “He had a way of mixing poetry with biblical verse. It does have its own flow,” she said.
Zamir’s survey supplemented a plan first developed by John Lambert of Salt Lake City’s Abstract Masonry Restoration about a decade ago. Lambert’s work at Gilgal Garden has ranged from cleaning graffiti off the sphinx to “healing” the varied
body parts that comprise the sculpture Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream.
“There’s a lot of things with Thomas Battersby Child where I felt a kinship,” he said. “He was the convergence of a very talented mason, a visionary artist, a spiritual leader and a bizarre guy. For someone to do a brick sculpture – not a stone sculpture, but a brick sculpture – of himself as the centerpiece of the garden is nothing short of bizarre.”
Among the statues and dozens of carved stones at Gilgal Sculpture Garden is an unusual sphinx with Joseph Smith’s face.
Above: Wikimedia Commons Right: Gilgal Sculpture Garden
4-6 PM: The Music Never Stopped
Host John Florence shares true stories behind the music that defined the culture. With the Grateful Dead as a jumping off point, the show celebrates music made in the moment by the legends, plus artists of today, and influences of the past.
6-10 PM: Jazz Time
From ragtime to bop, from Havana to Paris to SLC, from Billie Holiday to Joe Lovano, host Steve Williams is your guide through the many varieties of jazz music – past and present.
10 PM-Midnight: The Edge of Jazz
Explore what jazz is with host John Northup – the high peaks and low valleys, the glossy and the gritty.
LISTEN: UPR.ORG OR UPR MOBILE APP
1
Beating John Glenn by more than a decade, what former Salt Lake City mayor in 1985 became the first sitting U.S. senator to travel to space?
2 What mountain man is commonly believed to have been the first known English-speaking person to see the Great Salt Lake, thinking that the lake was the Pacific Ocean because it was so salty?
3 What retailer, founded in Salt Lake City in 1868, billed itself as “America’s First Department Store,” though it would probably come last alphabetically?
4 Inventive teenager Philo T. Farnsworth was plowing farm fields near Beaver in 1921 when he came up with the idea for the first practical ... what?
5 Classes began in 1850 at the state’s first college, the University of Deseret, which has been known since 1902 by what name?
6
Walter Frederick Morrison, born in Richfield, invented the first design of which popular toy in 1946?
a. Frisbee
b. Magic 8-Ball
c. Slinky
7
Which of Utah’s five national parks was the first to earn the designation?
a. Bryce Canyon
b. Canyonlands
c. Zion
8 Who was the first (and still only) BYU quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy?
a. Ty Detmer
b. Jim McMahon
c. Steve Young
9
Utah’s population first topped 1 million in which decade?
a. 1960s
b. 1970s
c. 1980s
10
Martha Hughes Cannon beat which family member in an 1896 election to become the nation’s first female state senator?
a. Brother
b. Husband
c. Father
11
The first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1850.
12 Although the Salt Lake Temple had been announced nearly 30 years earlier, the 1877 St. George Utah Temple was the first temple in Utah to be dedicated.
13
ABC 4 signed on the air on April 19, 1948, becoming the first TV station between St. Louis and the West Coast.
14
Utah was the site of the final link-ups for the first transcontinental telegraph in 1861 and first transcontinental telephone line in 1914.
15
Robert Redford launched the first Sundance Film Festival in 1969, the same year he starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. TRUE OR FALSE
Zuma Press/Alamy
Andrew J. Russell/Yale University
Ghosts of the Desert
The elusive lives of kit foxes and their quiet battle for survival
by SCOTT BAXTER
THE SUN DIPPED toward the horizon, bathing Utah’s desert in hues of amber and rose, as we stumbled out from the cool, shadowy depths of a limestone cave. Our eyes squinted against the stark brilliance, fingers raised to measure the time until sunset. About 90 minutes remained. Descending swiftly onto the desert floor, we turned northward, already thinking of the return home.
Then we saw them: six delicate, playful shadows dancing at the mouth of a hidden den. Kit fox pups, emerging in twilight’s soft glow, seemed oblivious to our intrusion. Their mother appeared briefly, calm and unthreatened, ensuring her family’s safety. As they explored with carefree curiosity, I realized we were witnessing something rare – something elusive, quietly thriving where most life struggled to exist.
Devin Bergquist
They were as much a part of the environment as the brush behind them. Their yellowish to gray coat, dark back, light undersides, keen senses, small size, and stiff tufts of hair between their paw pads indicated that this harsh desert was their home. Their coat was grizzled and coarse, designed for survival. In contrast, we were intruders – clumsy, loud and entirely dependent on carried food, water and shelter. Though I’ve spent most of my life learning about the desert, I knew my large footprint, immense calorie intake, dull senses and soft muscles would never let me survive as they do.
The desert southwest, often imagined as vast and barren, pulses with life uniquely
adapted to survive its extremes. Few animals illustrate this as elegantly as Utah’s kit fox, a tiny canine no larger than a house cat, distinguished by oversized ears and a delicate frame perfectly suited to the harsh terrain. Survival here isn’t about strength or size but adaptability and conservation.
Kit foxes inhabit Utah’s western reaches and the Colorado Plateau, landscapes marked by sparse vegetation and few humans – ideal conditions for an elusive life. These diminutive creatures spend their daylight hours conserving energy underground, protected from scorching summer heat and winter’s chill inside complex dens of loose soil. Each den, featuring multiple entrances and hidden chambers, provides
refuge not just for foxes but for other desert wanderers, illustrating the kit fox’s quiet coexistence with its harsh environment.
At dusk, the desert awakens, and so does the fox. Using exceptional hearing and an acute sense of smell rather than relying heavily on sight, the kit fox deftly hunts jackrabbits, kangaroo rats and even the occasional tomato pilfered from desert gardens. Its oversized ears serve dual purposes – detecting the faint rustle of prey and dissipating heat on warm nights, mirroring adaptations of its frequent meal, the black-tailed jackrabbit.
My first encounter with kit fox pups that evening revealed their youthful innocence – fleeting but vivid. Within months, they’d master silent, solitary hunts covering as many as nine miles per outing, their senses finely attuned to detect both prey and predators. The same keen instincts that lead them to rabbits warn them of approaching danger, notably from coyotes, bobcats and red foxes, threats that ensure fewer than 25% of pups survive their first year.
The kit fox embodies both fragility and fierce adaptability, traits honored deeply by Native American traditions. For tribes like the Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux, the kit fox symbolizes the ultimate warrior – one whose greatest strength lies in adaptability and moderation. Remarkably, the smallest canine thus represents the fiercest spirit.
Yet, even warriors face modern threats. Habitat loss from agriculture, urban development, illegal trapping and expansive solar farms have severely reduced kit fox populations in Utah, dropping numbers alarmingly to just 57 known individuals. My most recent sighting, years ago in the San Rafael Swell, was fleeting and mystical – a solitary fox vanishing silently as if conjured from the desert itself.
Utah’s deserts, far from empty, teem quietly with life and lessons of resilience. Encountering a kit fox is akin to winning a natural lottery – a rare privilege and a stark reminder of our fragile coexistence with nature’s subtle survivors.
The elusive kit fox uses its small frame and exceptional hearing and smell to survive in the harsh desert environment of western Utah.
USFWS/Clint Wirick
BACK OF BEYOND
Utah has no shortage of scenic highways, but some of the state’s most rewarding drives begin where the pavement ends. This series explores the “back of beyond” – remote, rugged routes that require a little extra effort and a good set of tires. These are roads less traveled, where the views are wide, the traffic is thin and the story starts when the cell signal drops out.
Cathedral VALLEY
A 58-MILE BACKROAD LOOP WINDS THROUGH THE REDROCK SANCTUARIES
OF CAPITOL REEF’S NORTHERN DISTRICT
story and photographs by DAN LEETH
1 Lower South Desert Overlook
2 Lower Cathedral Valley Overlook
3 Upper South Desert Overlook
4 Upper Cathedral Valley Overlook
5 Cathedral Valley Campground
6 Cathedrals Trail
7 Gypsum Sinkhole
8 Temples of the Sun & Moon
THE FIRST TIME I drove into Cathedral Valley, I had to channel my inner Indiana Jones. Just a few miles from the highway, the road plunged into the Fremont River – no bridge, no signage, just a set of tire tracks disappearing into the water.
It hadn’t rained recently, and the current looked tame, but it was still hard to ignore the voice in my head warning, “This could go badly.” Still, I inched forward, gripped the wheel and bumped through the shallows like a fedora-clad archaeologist chasing relics.
That river crossing is just the beginning of Cathedral Valley’s charm. This remote northern district of Capitol Reef National Park offers a 58-mile loop through desert isolation, sculpted sandstone and scenery that belongs on another planet. It’s not technical four-wheeling, but it’s remote, rough and weather-dependent – exactly the kind of place where a little planning goes a long way.
Before heading in, check with rangers at the Capitol Reef Visitor Center for current road conditions. There’s no water along
the route, no gas stations, and cell service is patchy at best. Bring a full tank, extra food, plenty of water and warm clothing – just in case the unexpected finds you before the end of the loop. Traffic is sparse. Help may be hours away.
The drive begins about 12 miles east of the visitor center, where Hartnet Road turns off Highway 24. Within minutes, it reaches the Fremont River – shallow when dry, sketchy after storms. There are two popular methods to test its depth. One is to hand your buddy the keys and say you need to take a photo. The other is to ask your spouse or least-favorite child to wade in. If they don’t disappear and the water stays below mid-calf, it’s probably safe to drive.
Five miles beyond the crossing, an abandoned, rusted-out, bullet-ridden truck and well-drilling equipment sits beside the road. The name on the door indicates the vehicle was owned by J. L. Pinkerton, and sources say it’s been parked here since 1946. While Pinkerton’s rig may have never moved, his well was apparently successful. Water now fills a nearby trough that’s seasonally used by grazing cattle.
Historic Fruita District of Capitol Reef National Park
River Crossing Highway 24
Bentonite Hills
Along the 2.4-mile Cathedrals Trail, hikers follow a low ridgeline paralleling formations known as the Cathedrals.
High-clearance vehicles are required to travel to the Bentonite Hills (top), Fremont River (left), Morrell Cabin (center) and abandoned drill rig (right) on Hartnet Road.
At about 8½ miles in, the road reaches the Bentonite Hills – rounded geologic mounds brushed in dusty reds, purples, greens and grays. They’re beautiful when dry, but slick and tire-sucking when wet. Even a Sherman tank could get bogged down in their clay.
A spur road leads to the Lower South Desert Overlook. A short, easy trail ends with views of Jailhouse Rock – a 500-foot redrock butte rising from the valley floor. The trail continues down toward the basin, offering a good place to stretch your legs before motoring onward.
The first 16 miles of the drive are across Bureau of Land Management land. A sign lets you know when you reenter the national park. Spur roads beyond access more scenic viewpoints, such as the Upper South Desert Overlook, where a short trail leads to stunning cliff-edge views, and the Upper Cathedral Valley Overlook, where pathways lead to vistas sure to make acrophobic visitors nervous.
Hartnet Road soon meets Caineville Wash Road, the route that completes the loop. A half mile beyond lies the no-fee Cathedral Valley Campground, which offers six primitive, first-come, first-served campsites with picnic tables, fire grates and a pit toilet.
The most rugged section of the route lies just beyond, as the road descends a series of narrow, rocky switchbacks. While the terrain can seem a bit gnarly, it’s usually manageable by gearing down and traveling slowly.
A mile ahead lies Morrell Cabin. Built a century ago, the one-room structure originally sheltered a family of eight at a logging camp in the nearby mountains. In 1932, rancher Lesley Morrell bought the cabin, dismantled it, numbered the pieces, and like a giant mail-order kit, reconstructed it here to serve as a cowboy line shack. Usage ended in the 1970s when the area became part of the national park. It stands today as a weathered landmark of Capitol Reef’s ranching past.
A few miles beyond, another spur road heads to the Gypsum Sinkhole – a 200-footdeep pit formed when a large deposit of the mineral dissolved away. Ten miles farther, the route reaches Lower Cathedral Valley Spur Road. One arm leads to Glass Mountain, an impressive, 15-foot-tall mound of crystalline selenite gypsum crystals that glitter in the sun like shards of ice. Walk around the mound and hear the ground crunch underfoot – a sound both strange and satisfying in the silent desert.
Ahead rise the twin temples of the Sun and Moon – Cathedral Valley’s signature rock formations. These 300-400-foot-tall triangular monoliths of rusty-red Entrada Sandstone reach skyward from the flat desert floor. Along the canyon wall behind stand smaller spires, which, in keep-
ing with the astronomical theme, became the Temples of the Stars. This stellar location provides an ideal spot to pause and take in the view – lunch optional.
The road continues 15 miles through open territory bounded by stark, striated mesas. While the route seems straightforward, drivers still need diligence. Steep dips where dry washes cross the roadway may require a bit of negotiating, and with unsigned side roads intersecting the main route, careful navigating may be necessary.
After 58-plus miles of bouncing down dirt roads, the route finally reaches Highway 24. The return to pavement is both civilized and jarring. From here, it’s 18½ smooth miles back to Fruita – and maybe, if you’ve timed it right, a fresh slice of pie at the Gifford House.
Glass Mountain is comprised of large, exposed selenite crystals (top left and right). Visitors can also explore Balanced Rock (bottom left) and the Upper South Desert Overlook (right).
A SLICE OF FRUITA
Back in Fruita, near the Capitol Reef Visitor Center, stands the Gifford Homestead – a modest 1908 farmhouse that today serves something the backcountry lacks: pie.
The shop is open seasonally and sells handmade fruit pies, baked daily in nearby Torrey. Flavors vary, but apple, cherry and peach tend to vanish quickly. Arrive in the afternoon and you may find nothing left but a faint scent and an apologetic chalkboard.
The house itself is part of the historic Fruita settlement. Heritage orchards planted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint pioneers still produce fruit, and deer can often be seen nibbling windfalls from the trees. There are no tables inside, but shaded lawns and nearby picnic spots offer space to sit and enjoy a flaky reward.
After nearly 60 miles of washboard roads, bentonite clay and Entrada sandstone, a quiet bite of pie makes a civilized end to a decidedly uncivilized drive.
Capitol Reef Natural History Association
BEAR THE WHO STOLE THE SPOTLIGHT
From a ranch near Heber City, Doug and Lynne Seus trained one of Hollywood’s most unforgettable stars.
by BIANCA DUMAS
BARTTHE BEAR was nine feet tall and could steal a scene just by lumbering into frame. He shared the screen with Oscar winners and captivated millions of viewers. But before he was a star, he was a 5-week-old cub arriving at the Seus ranch in Heber.
It started with a hardware store and a basket of baby skunks.
In 1975, Lynne Seus brought her skunks along on errands to socialize them. While she stood in line, a man noticed the shiny black noses poking from the basket. He was the prop master for Baker’s Hawk, a film with Burl Ives and Clint Walker shooting in Provo Canyon.
The production needed animal actors. Lynne and her husband Doug had skunks, a raccoon, wolves – and a hawk. Overnight, they had a new line of work.
What started as an offbeat side gig soon grew into one of Hollywood’s most unlikely success stories. From their Heber City ranch, Doug and Lynne trained iconic animal actors – most famously Bart the Bear, a towering Kodiak later paired with Anthony Hopkins. Their story is one of grit, intuition – and trust.
Lynne Seus
“IF YOU WANT A RELATIONSHIP THAT NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD HAS,” DOUG SAID, “YOU MUST BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOUR OWN LIFE AND YOUR OWN LIMB TO ACHIEVE THAT.“
Even before the skunk incident, Doug had begun assembling a menagerie. Near Lehi, he met a government trapper who quietly kept many of the animals he was meant to destroy. Doug already owned a female wolf; when the trapper gave him a male, Doug started breeding a pack.
But what could they do with a wolf pack? An answer appeared when Lynne worked as script coordinator on a Noah’s Ark film in Park City. A Los Angeles firm supplied the movie’s beasts, and Lynne thought, If only we could ever do that
That notion was the spark; the hardware-store moment was the kindling. Their first real test came fast.
Supplying skunks, wolves, raccoons and a hawk for Baker’s Hawk (1976) was a breakthrough, though not without drama. On set, Mizzer the raccoon ran up a tree and refused to come down for two days.
“The tree was too tall and skinny to climb, or I would have grabbed him by his neck,” Lynne later wrote in her memoir, The Grizzlies and Us
The couple nevertheless impressed the crew. They bought a run-down farmhouse on 75 acres outside Heber and secured a USDA license to operate an animal-training facility.
During the 1970s and ‘80s wilderness adventure films were hot, and studios needed bears. The Seuses realized that to turn their venture into a career, they needed a bear with genuine screen presence.
That bear was Bart.
Born in 1977 at the Baltimore Zoo, Bart arrived at five weeks old with litter-mate Zack. Doug had never trained a bear before, yet remained unfazed. “I’m a believer in experience as the indelible force,” he said.
Joel Sartore
Doug and Lynne Seus raised and trained Bart at their ranch near Heber City since he was a cub, building a deep bond that captivated filmmakers and audiences alike. After Bart passed away, they adopted an orphaned grizzly bear and named him Bart 2 (right).
Lynne Seus (left), Jim White (right)
Bart's training at the Seus' ranch opened doors for him to travel to film sets and work alongside actors like John Candy, Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. His career spanned 20 years.
Bart and his successor, Bart 2, have appeared in an estimated 40 movies and TV shows combined.
Lynne Seus
Bart and Doug perform in The Edge (1997).
MGM Studios
Bart makes one of his first on-screen appearances in Windwalker (1981)
Lynne Seus
1973,
BART GREW TO nine feet tall and 1,500 pounds, yet to Doug, he was a student and friend. Training, Doug said, was about building trust and establishing dominance.
“You apply common sense, and you teach each other. I believe there’s nothing greater than trust,” he said.
Doug knew one swipe could kill him. “You’ve got to remember, if you’re gonna work with a big bear, you better hold sway. But sway must be held with honesty and dignity,” Doug said. “To have a relationship, you have to dominate. Bart was a kingpin – but I was the king.”
That partnership held; Bart never injured Doug.
The bear brothers, Bart and Zack, had their theatrical debut in 1977’s Once Upon a Starry Night, the Grizzly Adams Christmas special. Wolves howled. A fox, badger
and coyote bounded through snow. Merlin the owl swiveled on a spruce.
Bart and Zach were supposed to chase Mizzer the raccoon up a tree, then play in the snow. Once again, Mizzer had other ideas. He launched from the tree onto Bart’s head. Zack bolted; Bart spun like a rodeo bull trying to shake off the raccoon. Actor Dan Haggerty doubled over laughing. Bart would prove to be an actor who loved to ham it up on screen, but Zack was a shy and nervous bear.
Lynne said, “For Zack, life was a drama. And for Bart, life was a situation comedy.” Zack, more sensitive, retired to the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska. Bart forged ahead.
In 1981 Bart appeared in Windwalker, with Doug doubling for the lead. Months of play-based rehearsal taught Bart to ac-
cept a retractable knife as though it really pierced him. The routine became Bart’s favorite game.
As they worked together, Doug began to appreciate wide shots where human actors could share the frame with giant Bart. In The Edge (1997), Anthony Hopkins stood beside him on a log while Doug crouched just out of view with a hand on Bart’s paw for safety. Hopkins later complimented Bart as a true actor who was emotionally expressive on screen.
Bart’s most public stage came at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998. Under Doug’s silent supervision, Bart presented the Oscar alongside Mike Meyers for Best Sound Effects Editing. Calm and camera-ready, he charmed Hollywood’s elite and sealed his reputation not just as an animal actor, but as a performer in his own right.
Since
Doug and Lynne have devoted their lives to training and caring for animals. In 1990, with Bart as ambassador, they founded the Vital Ground Foundation to protect grizzly corridors across the Northern Rockies. The nonprofit safeguards more than one million acres.
Jed Seus
A decade earlier The Bear (1988) had inspired a grassroots push to nominate him for Best Actor – unheard of for wildlife. The Academy declined, but the effort underscored the respect Bart had earned as a serious screen presence.
More than a performer, Bart was family. Lynne had rocked him in one arm while cradling her own baby in the other. “I’ll use the word love,” she said. “I loved that bear, and I think that bear loved me.”
In 1990, the Seuses founded the Vital Ground Foundation to protect grizzly corridors across the Northern Rockies.
The nonprofit now safeguards more than one million acres.
By 1998, the mighty Bart began to slow. While working on Disney’s Meet the Deedles, he struggled to stand on his hind legs. Soon after, Doug found a lump on Bart’s wrist – cancer.
While ill, Bart served as the official spokesbear for Colorado State University’s Animal Cancer Center, promoting awareness and fundraising for cancer treatment in animals. His example demonstrated how close bonds with wild creatures can inspire scientific progress and a commit-
ment to their care. Despite treatment, the disease advanced.
When the time came to say goodbye, Lynne called their vet. On May 10, 2000, at age 23, Bart was euthanized on the Heber ranch where he’d lived nearly his entire life.
Moments after making the call to Bart’s vet, Lynn picked up the phone to answer a call from Alaska Fish and Game: two orphaned grizzly cubs needed a home. “It was a little miracle for us,” Lynne said.
The cubs – later named Bart 2 and Hon-
Bart (right) presented an Oscar alongside Mike Meyers at the 1998 Academy Awards. After he passed, Bart 2 (above) carried on his legacy.
John Hechtel
ey Bump – were three months old and had known the wild. Doug returned to what he knew best: building trust moment by moment.
Bart 2 followed his namesake onto set, traveling to New Zealand for The Lord of the Rings (2001), Alaska for Into the Wild (2007) and Canada for An Unfinished Life (2005). When shipping him to Ireland for Game of Thrones proved impossible, producers instead flew the cast to Los Angeles.
Today the Seuses still train animals at Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife Ranch,
blending film, television and conservation outreach. Until his death in 2021, Bart 2 was both actor and ambassador, championing the habitat Vital Ground fights to protect.
Doug values that connection above any credit roll. “If you want a relationship that nobody else in the world has,” Doug said, “you must be willing to sacrifice your own life and your own limb to achieve that.”
For Doug and Bart, that bond is the lasting legacy – larger than any bear and bigger than the big screen.
BART FILMOGRAPHY
From heartwarming family films to wilderness adventures, Bart the Bear built a remarkable résumé over more than two decades on screen. Here are some of his most memorable appearances:
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977-78)
Once Upon a Starry Night (1977)
Windwalker (1981)
The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
Benji the Hunted (1987)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
The Bear (1988)
White Fang (1991)
The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991)
On Deadly Ground (1994)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
The Edge (1997)
Meet the Deedles (1998)
Academy Awards appearance (1998)
Homemade Ice Cream
Cool summertime treat comes in fresh flavors
recipes and photographs by DANELLE
McCOLLUM
While ice cream can be enjoyed year-round, it comes into its own during the long, hot days of summer. Not only is ice cream a cool, refreshing antidote to the blistering sun, it comes in as many flavors as the human imagination can conceive. And as fun as it is to eat ice cream, it can be just as fun to make at home. Here are some of our favorite ice cream recipes to use in an ice cream maker.
Pink Lemonade Ice Cream
A favorite summer drink is transformed into a cool summer treat. This pretty pink ice cream is pure refreshment. The ice cream is a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, and perfectly creamy and delicious.
In medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Turn on ice cream maker and add milk/cream mixture to bowl. Mix for 15-20 minutes (according to manufacturer’s instructions) or until ice cream reaches soft-serve consistency. Transfer ice cream to air-tight container and freeze at least 2 hours, or until firm.
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup pink lemonade concentrate, thawed Zest of one lemon
Pink or red food coloring (optional)
Ser ves 6
Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream
Coconut milk and fresh pineapple come together with a hint of lime in this creamy, cool dessert that is perfect for summer. The flavor is similar to a piña colada, without the rum. Because this recipe doesn’t use actual dairy, it might be more accurate to call it a sorbet.
Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate mixture until very cold, at least 3 hours. Remove from refrigerator and whisk mixture to blend. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Store in airtight container in freezer until ready to serve.
3 cups fresh pineapple, cubed
1 13.5-oz can full-fat coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
Ser ves 6
Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Like two delicious desserts in one, this creamy vanilla cheesecake ice cream comes with a homemade blueberry swirl. The cheesecake ice cream base is versatile – depending on what one adds, it can be used to make nearly any flavor of cheesecake ice cream.
In medium saucepan, bring blueberries, 1/3 cup sugar and lemon juice to boil over medium heat. Cook 8-10 minutes, or until blueberries have burst and mixture has thickened. Chill in refrigerator until cold.
Beat cream cheese and 1 cup sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in cream, milk and vanilla extract. Chill mixture for several hours, until cold. Pour ice cream mixture into ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Pour half of ice cream into freezer-safe container, top with half of blueberry mixture. Top with remaining cream and remaining blueberry sauce. Run knife through ice cream to swirl blueberry mixture. Cover and freeze 2-3 hours, or until firm.
Blueberry Swirl
2 cups blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Ice Cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Ser ves 6
What’s in Your Recipe Box? The editors are interested in featuring your favorite family recipes. Send your recipes (and memories inspired by your recipes) to editor@utahlifemag.com.
Upon nightfall, the red rocks and alpine peaks become mere outlines. Beneath the dim starlight and constellations, our poets give nuance to the vastness, drawing upon memories, feelings and the pulse of the universe.
Sand Storm
Mirra Mitchell, West Jordan
I fell asleep to stars and awakened to their falling past my eyes in the darkness. Those stars, so much bigger than my world, fit within the sand and burned with unearthly fire on my skin. I had to hide from so much beauty.
In the morning, I shook all those stars back into the sky and spilled them from my shoes to find the morning paved with all their glitterings before me
Splendor
Vaughn Neeld, Cañon City, Colorado
“ To cut across the shadow of a star,” William Wordsworth
A satellite’s steady red bead glides serenely across the purple-black of a summer night’s majestic sky as it slices through flickering star shadows casted by an eternity of suns as they tremble, shiver, and spark like razor wire slashing the crests of river waves. I lie in my sleeping bag and drink in the splendor.
Grant Collier
Stargazing At Capitol Reef
Michael Shoemaker, Magna
It’s a mysterious nonmystery. As I contemplate numberless stars with the same mind that counts out my correct change at the checkout stand at the supermarket I am baffled by the mathematical infinity, an expanse of beauty I see and yet I do not feel alone or distant. There is something right on the outskirts of the soul that lets me know I am in some way more a beloved brother than rejected outlander to these living rotating masses of hydrogen and helium. So glad you are here to hold my hand.
Under The Stars In Utah
Jim Garman, Richfield
Utah accomplished a feat so amazing you know, about viewing the stars clearly, where you should go. They had the first Dark Sky lodging certified ever in the world, at the Under Canvas glamping retreat, let the flag there be unfurled.
The one Dark Sky international certified is at Lake Powell, it’s so great, and their tents there are set up with star viewing that’s first rate. Over 80 percent of North Americans can’t see the Milky Way at home, the setup there is like viewing the stars through a protective dome.
Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase, a safari-inspired tented resort, honored by the authority that safeguards night sky pollution per global report. In the stargazer tents there, as you’re lying comfortably on a king size bed, there’s an awesome star viewing window that’s right above your head.
During the daytime, there are plenty of hiking trails around, there’s also an on-site restaurant with great food to be found. It’s an unmatched celestial experience on the wonders of the night sky, if you’re an avid star gazer, you simply have to give this place a try.
Send your poems on the theme “Winter’s Edge” for the November/ December 2025 issue, deadline Sept. 1 and “Where We Began” for the January/ February 2026 issue, deadline Nov. 1. Email your poems to poetry@utahlifemag.com or mail to the address at the front of this magazine.
Night Sky
Lorraine Jeffery, Orem
The floating sparks brought wonder to my children’s faces as they breathed, Fireflies.
A kind of magic
As an adult, I watch in amazement as nimble thumbs move quickly over the small rectangle; reading, listening, taking pictures, talking with the world.
A kind of magic
Away from city lights, both children and adults, stand in the shadow of huge telescopes but are still,
awed by the shimmering galaxy blasts of eternity, from the homeland of magic.
Hoyt Horton World Minibull Champ
Elmo, Utah
Across Utah, extraordinary champions rise from unexpected places. “Uncommon Champions” spotlights Utahns – from athletes to innovators – who excel in uncommon fields and embody the state’s grit, passion and drive. Greatness here isn’t confined to arenas – it thrives on ranches, mountain trails and in small towns across the state.
by BIANCA DUMAS
“There wasn’t nothing to it,” said Hoyt Horton, 12, reflecting on his journey to the 2024 World Championship bull ride. Horton is the current Junior World Champion of the International Miniature Bullriders Association (IMBA).
In these unique events, young riders compete on full-grown pygmy bulls specifically bred smaller to provide an authentic bullriding experience. Competitors must hold onto the bull rope with one hand, remaining atop the animal for a challenging eight seconds. Cowboys accumulate points through multiple rounds, with judges scoring both the rider’s performance and the bull’s intensity.
Horton lives in rural Elmo, population 419, where his family has long been engaged in farming and ranching. Hoyt and his two brothers actively participate in cattle branding, vaccinations and moving herds. Occasionally, for fun, the kids ride calves or sheep around the corral. Their father, Colby Horton, set a rodeo example by participating in team roping and bullriding in his youth.
To prepare, Horton trains diligently on a practice barrel in his backyard – a makeshift bull made from a 55-gallon drum that simulates the dipping and spinning movements of real bulls. The cowboy rides on the drum, and learns to get “up off his pockets,” which will earn him a better score in a competition ride. It takes a lot of lower-body strength to stay on a bull for eight seconds.
“You’ve got to squeeze your legs and try your heart out,” Horton said.
Regarding his inspiration for the sport, Horton shared, “When I was little, bullriding didn’t even fly past my brain until first grade.”
Further honing his skills, Horton attended the Frost Legacy Bullriding School in Randlett, where four-time National Champion Joe Frost coaches youth riders on younger stock, like calves and steers. This training emphasizes critical fundamentals such as body positioning and agility. Notably, both the 2024 IMBA Ju-
Michael Magill
nior and Senior Division champions were Frost’s students.
The IMBA World Finals, held early September at Ogden’s Golden Spike Arena, hosted young bullriders 6 to 17 years old. To qualify, competitors had to rank among the top three point-earners in their association throughout the season. At the finals, riders compete in three rounds, with the highest scorers advancing to a fourth.
IMBA rodeos are family-friendly events emphasizing faith, integrity and sportsmanship. Each rodeo begins with the National Anthem and a prayer, though competition quickly intensifies. Families fill the stands, cheering on every ride.
“We’re all friends, but you gotta put on your mean face,” Horton said about the competition mindset. “You can’t worry about nothing else when you’re in the bucking chute.”
Horton’s dominant performance earned him four impressive belt buckles, a high-scoring bull ride of 86 points, and a man-size check exceeding $10,000. He purchased a steer roping dummy to practice in his yard but is carefully saving the rest. When classmates suggested he spend his winnings, Horton replied, “Don’t you guys ever think about what you’re gonna need when you’re older?”
For Horton, future essentials include
a truck, gas and rodeo entry fees for his future wins.
Horton finished an astonishing 148.5 points ahead of second place, prompting one announcer to remark, “That’s not a win, that’s a statement.” The announcer added, “What else can you say about Hoyt Horton this week? He’s a gem of a little cowboy, he’s awesome to be around. He’s so supportive and happy behind the chute. The world needs more Hoyt Hortons.”
When told such compliments might be worth more than the world title itself, Horton thoughtfully responded, “Everything is worth more than a world title. If I had a chance to help out a friend, I would.”
Hoyt Horton of Elmo grips the bull rope during competition, where determination meets adrenaline. His calm focus, strong legs and unshakable spirit carried him to a world title in miniature bull riding, a sport that tests young riders as much as any arena.
Rocking Bar S Photo
Haylie Horton
HISTORY
DAYS OF ’47
THROUGH JULY 24 • SALT LAKE CITY
At 7 a.m. on July 19, families gather at Donner Park to lace up boots and don bonnets. Some wear wool vests and calico skirts while small American flags flutter in their hands. They follow Emigration Creek for five miles, tracing the footsteps of the Mormon pioneers who gazed across the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.
The Days of ’47 began as a remembrance of that arrival, but it has since grown into something larger: a celebration of vision and legacy. For nearly two centuries, July 24 has stood as Utah’s own Independence Day.
In the city, the KUTV Pops Concert fills the air with orchestral echoes of the pioneer spirit on July 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. Lark & Spur join the Choral Arts Society of Utah and Salt Lake Symphony for two free nights of entertainment.
CULTURE. ADVENTURE. HISTORY.
by ARIELLA NARDIZZI
The luxurious Grand America Hotel hosts the Pioneers of Progress Awards on July 17 at 6:30 p.m., honoring modern trailblazers whose service carries the pioneer spirit forward.
No celebration would be complete without one of Utah’s longest-standing traditions: the Days of ’47 Rodeo. The Utah State Fairpark roars to life July 22–26 with broncs, barrels and buckaroos.
On July 24, the festivities culminate at 9 a.m. in a parade brimming with vibrant floats, clowns, bands and horses. Thousands of spectators line the start at State Street and South Temple.
Whether retracing pioneer steps, cheering at the rodeo or watching the parade, Utahns of all ages take part in this enduring legacy. daysof47.com. (801) 254-4656.
July 24 commemorates the day Mormon pioneers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
WHERE TO EAT
LOG HAVEN
Dine amid waterfalls, wildflowers and canyon walls at this historic log mansion in the Wasatch National Forest. The fine-dining menu features local and natural ingredients. 6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Road. (801) 272-8255.
WHERE TO STAY THE ANNIVERSARY INN SOUTH TEMPLE
This romantic getaway offers themed suites styled as a log cabin, jungle safari, enchanted forest, sultan’s palace or secret garden. 678 E. South Temple. (801) 363-4950.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
CULTURE WORLD FOLKFEST
JULY 30-AUG. 2 •
SPRINGVILLE
Immerse yourself in the vibrant cultures of 10 countries across five nights at Springville Arts Park – no passport required. Utah’s only international festival has been celebrating global folk traditions since 1986. This year, 250 dancers from Slovenia, Poland, South Africa, Brazil and beyond will share their heritage through dance, song and storytelling.
An exciting Parade of Nations and dance party kick off the festivities at University Place Mall in Orem on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Bring your dancing shoes and an appetite for adventure.
On Wednesday, colorful traditional clothing swirls on the outdoor amphithe-
ater stage as drums beat and music rings long into the night. Sample global flavors from food trucks serving international cuisine and sweet treats.
Peruse stalls of international art during Thursday’s festival and learn the art of Indian Rangoli on Friday. This traditional practice uses colored powders, sand, petals or rice to craft intricate patterns. Gates open nightly at 5:30 p.m., performances start at 6:45 p.m.
Springville residents can also host performers in their homes, building lifelong friendships and showcasing their warm, hometown hospitality.
worldfolkfest.squarespace.com
WHERE TO EAT MAGLEBY’S
This award-winning eatery offers an eclectic menu from lunch buffet to dinner banquets. Savor plates like blackened salmon with creamy dill sauce, penne rosa or slow-roasted prime rib. 198 S. Main St. (801) 370-1129.
WHERE TO STAY ART CITY INN
Eleven suites in a stately Victorian Eclectic hotel in Springville’s Historic District. A serene courtyard features a hot tub, fireplace and water features, while rooms show off exposed brick, high ceilings and elegant furnishings. 94 W. 200 South. (801) 477-7365.
World Folkfest
Outdoor spaces around Moab transform into musical ampitheaters for the 33rd award-winning Moab Music Festival from Aug. 27-Sept. 12. Experience chamber, jazz and Latin music while floating on the San Juan River or surrounded by a red-rock grotto on the river’s edge.
Other
events you may enjoy
JULY
Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire
July 16-19 • Cedar City
Wooden carts filled with vendors’ wares line the city’s walls. Though it’s no longer medieval times, one of the country’s longest-running Renaissance Faires returns to Main Street Park to honor this tradition with harp music, traditional artisans and dancing. 200 N. Main St. (435) 233-5862.
Water Lantern Festival
July 19 • Salem
Thousands of glowing lanterns light the night sky at Knoll Park. Personalize a lantern with a note or drawing, then set it afloat with candles, wishes and memories. Rooted in Asian traditions, the ceremony symbolizes letting go, honoring loved ones and sending hopes forward. 150 W. 300 South.
Wasatch Wildflower Festival
July 19 • Snowbird
The festival returns to Snowbird Resort to celebrate mountain beauty and biodiversity. Since 1996, it has promoted land stewardship through guided walks, kids’ crafts, music and education in Cottonwood Canyons. Registration is free. 9385 S. Snowbird Center Dr.
Price International Days
July 24-26 • Price
Watch Bollywood dancers, Middle Eastern belly dancing and Scandinavian performers all within the same park. This free festival promotes cultural understanding through performances, workshops, exhibits and a global market. (435) 636-3180.
Utah County Fair
July 30-Aug. 2 • Spanish Fork
One of Utah’s iconic county fairs returns to Spanish Fork Fairgrounds for four days of family fun. Cowboy poetry begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, while antique tractor pulls, a car show and animal exhibits gather crowds all weekend. 475 S. Main St.
AUGUST
Bear Lake Raspberry Days
Aug. 7-9 • Garden City
This three-day festival celebrates the harvest of the famous Bear Lake raspberries, which happens around the 3rd week of July. Join a pie-eating contest, cheer on the Laketown rodeo and dance to live music all weekend. Heritage Park.
Helper Arts Festival
Aug. 14-17 • Helper
This lively festival transforms downtown into a hub of creativity and connection. Explore painting and sculpture installations, a youth art yard, a gallery stroll on Main
Street, an antique car show, film screenings, a beer and wine booth, art giveaways and live music filling the summer air.
Legends Weekend
Aug. 22-23 • Kanab
Frontier festivities take over Kanab, showcasing Western heritage with Friday night’s rodeo at the Kaneplex Arena. A bustling vendor fair at Jackson Flat Reservoir features cowboy poetry, live country music, Western movie star appearances and a vibrant quilt show at the Kanab Center.
Dinah ‘Soar’ Days
Aug. 22-24 • Vernal
A rainbow of hot air balloons soars above Vernal’s red-rock cliffs. Launches begin at Vernal Middle School, with brilliant night glows each evening. Join the Dinodash costume fun run, create chalk art on Main Street, and test your courage at the belly-flop contest.
Moab Music Festival
Aug. 27-Sept. 12 • Moab
Around Moab, wilderness and outdoor spaces transform into echoing music amphitheaters at a festival unlike any other. Join the award-winning festival to experience chamber, jazz and Latin music while floating the San Juan River or hiking into the hidden Colorado Wilderness grotto. Take a scenic jet-boat ride to a red-rock grotto with pristine natural acoustics. (435) 259-7003.
Matt Davidson
1
4 Television (or “image dissector”)
Trivia Photographs
Peach Days
Aug. 28-30 • Hurricane Hurricane’s pioneer roots come alive with a festive parade, evening rodeos and the aroma of fresh peaches. Browse vendor booths of handmade goods and desserts, or explore Pioneer Corner’s living-history displays and crafts. Locals share their best peach recipes at the Saturday cook-off. From the rodeo arena to orchard-lined streets, Peach Days captures the heart of this southern Utah town.
Swiss Days
Aug. 30-31 • Midway
Celebrate Swiss heritage with a parade, live folk music and over 180 artisan vendors offering crafts and treats. Bratwurst, fresh scones and raclette fill the air while yodeling, alp horns and folk dancing bring the Alps to life. Each year, Swiss Miss royalty greet the crowds, honoring the pioneers who settled the Heber Valley and built a lasting community.
Canyon Jams
Through Sept. 6 • Providence
Cache County’s outdoor concert series returns to Von Baer Park, hosted by Stokes Nature Center. Evenings come alive as roots, folk and indie bands perform beneath the canyon sky. Bring a blanket or chairs – concerts start at 7 p.m. Enjoy wood-fired pizza, craft drinks and artisan vendors. A family jam session lets kids try ukuleles. (435) 755-3239.
the world
Dinosaurs!
tracks over to Blanding and
Where the West was Framed
MONUMENT VALLEY’S LANDSCAPE IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL
LONG BEFORE THE silver screen glamorized Monument Valley, Harry and Leone “Mike” Goulding opened a trading post with the Navajo Nation in this sandstone kingdom. By the late 1930s, their humble outpost had become a gateway for Hollywood films.
When word reached Harry that United Artists was scouting a new Western movie backdrop in 1938, he carried photographer Josef Muench’s portfolio of sweeping
buttes and mesas to Los Angeles. The result was Stagecoach (1939), the first of 11 John Ford-directed films shot here. The production launched John Wayne’s career and secured the valley’s cinematic legend.
Today, Monument Valley remains sacred to the Navajo and a showstopping destination for set-jetting travelers eager to stand where the classics were filmed. The layered red rock, the endless sky and the silence give this place a grandeur that no studio
can recreate. “You have to see it to believe the scale of these monuments,” said Ross Rutherford, general manager of Goulding’s Lodge. “Film and photos can try to capture it, but the landscapes are so grand.”
Visitors flock to “Forrest Gump Hill” (1994) on Highway 163, Dead Horse Point State Park’s cliff from Thelma & Louise (1991), the sunburnt ridges featured in Back to the Future Part III (1990), and Totem Pole spire as shown in Clint Eastwood’s
BACKDROP OF AMERICAN WESTERNS
photograph by DAVID O. BAILEY Story by ARIELLA NARDIZZI
The Eiger Sanction (1975). But the heart of the story still beats at Goulding’s Lodge.
The old trading post from 1928 is now a museum filled with film stills, call sheets, memorabilia and a replica set from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). John Wayne’s Cabin, once a vegetable storehouse, even served as his personal quarters during movie filming.
But the most intimate frame is outside. Tucked behind one of the guest lodges is a quiet patio where, each night during filming, Ford and Wayne lit cigars, leaned back in their chairs and watched the sandstone monuments fade into darkness.
The next day’s scenes were born right there, in that high desert hush.
The Stagecoach Restaurant, once a chow hall for Wayne and his crew, now serves Southwestern and Navajo cuisine. Inside a 40-seat movie room, Ford’s Westerns play on loop.
From John Ford’s Point in San Juan County, a striking trio of rock formations – East Mitten Butte, West Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte – served as the backdrop for classic Hollywood Westerns.
story by KERRY SOPER illustration by JOSH TALBOT
Utah’s Lexicon of Nearly Naughty Words
Cursing comes with a side of creativity – and a whole lot of fudge, fetch and fart.
IF YOU’RE NEW to Utah, you’ve probably noticed folks here don’t swear much. That doesn’t mean we’re boring. Because only a handful of words are truly taboo, we’ve filled the gap with a riot of almost-swears, letting us vent feelings with jazz-like improvisation.
F-words. This vast fake-swear family includes Fudge, Freak, Frig, Fetch, Frick, Flip and simply Fuh, as in “Bruh – what the fuh?”
That hard F flirts with danger while
staying family-friendly: “Fetch, does this friggin’ place have any flippin’ fry sauce?” or “Flip, you met freakin’ Lindsey Stirling with her fricken’ fiddle?”
Our state’s preferred term for flatulence – fart – deserves honorable mention. Used widely by 7-year-olds and uncles seeking easy laughs, many Utahns still find it edgy, leading to even milder euphemisms like stinkers, cutting the cheese, pooters or toots, as if we each have a cute trumpet in our derrieres.
Speaking of bodily functions, Utahns substitute shoot for the harsher sh-word when frustrated. But for actual excrement, bolder alternatives are deployed: turd, crud, crap and poop. The most uptight prefer
softer evasions like Number Two and Doodoo. Then there are those socially awkward middle-aged dudes announcing bodily functions with metaphors more scarring than actual profanity: “I need to drop the kids off at the pool.” “Welp, I’m off to build a log cabin!” “Whoa, gotta go float a trout,” or “Off to bake some brownies.”
My favorite euphemism bordering on pathological repression comes from a friend’s family unwilling to acknowledge bowel movements. When someone in their clan needs to lay bricks, as it were, they announce, “I have a stomachache,” as if acknowledging any activity further down the digestive tract is too mortifying.
The D-word in Utah also has mild
impostors: Dang, Darn, Durn, Drat and Dagnabbit, making you sound like an 80-year-old sidekick with a high-pitched voice in a John Wayne movie. Most famously, people replace the H-word with heck, as in “What the HECK – that fricker went to Sodalicious without me?” or “Heck, honey, how do we spell Braeydun’s name again?”
Utahns excel at creative alternatives evoking transgressive-sounding consonants but ultimately conjuring wholesome imagery: SON OF A BISHOP! SON OF A BISCUIT! or SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! typically articulated with greater intensity than a hardened sailor’s genuine curses. My favorite inexplicable example: CHEESE AND RICE!
they’ve gathered strength for rare moments when a Utahn needs emphasis. The legendary J. Golden Kimball, the swearing apostle, artfully shocked and entertained audiences in the early 20th century by inserting comedic hells and damns into sermons.
AUTHOR Kerry Soper writes and teaches satire, humor and history from Provo.
The ban on traditional swear words hasn’t eliminated them completely. Instead,
People enjoyed his pulpit profanity so much that his speaking schedule had to be kept secret to prevent small-town overflows. A popular 1980s joke asked, “What do you get when you cross J. Golden Kimball and Spencer W. Kimball?”
Answer: “Do it, damn it!”
Maybe you had to be there. I grew up in a lexicologically sterile family: I heard my mother swear once during my childhood. I was 9 and we were heading for my yearly physical. Pulling into the doctor’s parking lot after a 30-minute drive
from Farmington, it dawned on me to announce, “Hey mom, just thought you should know – I’m not wearing underwear today.”
Without hesitation, she blurted out, “Damn it, Kerry! What the HELL?”
She shocked my coddled brain. I was so scandalized that I moped silently for the entire ride home to get underwear, as well as the 30-minute drive back to the doctor’s office for the appointment.
To Mom’s credit, she never swore again – and for my part, I wore underwear every day after that. As a bonus, I’ve had the satisfaction of being able to make my mom flinch and groan with repressed shame, even now in her 80s, by randomly mentioning, “Hey, do you remember that one time you swore at me?”
So, fetch, Mom may not be another J. Golden but his frickin’ spirit lives on whenever a Utahn drops a perfectly placed nearswear – proof you can keep it clean, keep it funny and still land the punch.
